What do you consider light/medium/heavy work?

[Smogul]

Me and my friend were discussing workloads the other day, and what she does doesn't seem a lot but her pony still seems fit?! So it was making me question what I consider light work!
I am in college so my horse currently gets ridden everyday for at least 45 mins or a bit longer if hacking. I would consider this medium work?
My friend is doing A levels so has hardly anytime in the week but rides twice in the week for an hour and then both days at the weekend. Is this light work?

After OH's horse was injured, Dick Vet said he would be fit for light work after successful surgery. They defined this as 45-60 minutes per day, 6 days per week, walk, trot and canter work in each session. I would take their opinion over a feed company's.

 

[SOS]

Interesting to read the feed companies slight scare mongering on the “limited appetite of the horse”. Several quote on websites saying a horse can only eat 2-2.5% of its body weight per day therefore this must be quality food else they won’t get their nutritional value. I feel this is false unless the horse is in heavy work and quite clearly trying to worry owners into feeding more.

 

[JFTDWS]

I'm fairly sure my ponies are capable of eating far more than 2.5% of their bodyweight. Or rather, I'm completely sure, as I've seen the little monsters do it...

 

[Mule]

It doesn't matter to owners who are experienced enough to make their own decisions regarding feeding, or not, but for many less experienced owners who are trying to make choices it can matter as so many do overestimate the work the horse is doing and will read the labels on bags of feed or contact the many helplines for advice and end up overfeeding with potentially serious results.

Feeding should be far more simple than the feed companies are trying to make it, they are selling products to well meaning owners to try and solve every eventuality when in reality most issues would benefit from feeding nothing but there is no money to be made out of that advice.

If this forum can help just a few owners be clearer on what their horse requires then threads like this one are worthwhile.

Agreed. Everyone tries to do their best, but it's not always easy. That's where pooling knowledge on the forum is really useful.

I co-own with a family member who imo overfeeds and over rugs. I'm sure he would say that I do the opposite. It's not always eady to find a way to do what's acceptable to both of us. It's useful to get some varied perspectives.

 

[laura_nash]

Interesting to read the feed companies slight scare mongering on the “limited appetite of the horse”. Several quote on websites saying a horse can only eat 2-2.5% of its body weight per day therefore this must be quality food else they won’t get their nutritional value. I feel this is false unless the horse is in heavy work and quite clearly trying to worry owners into feeding more.

Yes, agreed. I'd like to know the proof of the "can only eat 2-2.5% of its body weight per day" as well, as I don't think anyone has told my cob!

 

[TreeDog]

I would say my horse is in light work, I ride about 6 days a week, usually about 2hr hacks weekends with a few good canters and about 1 hour weekdays (now to be replaced with 30 minutes schooling due to darker evenings )

I recently got an app to track our hacks, interestingly it also gives an estimate of how much energy your horse used on your ride. I haven't used it while schooling yet and I doubt the accuracy but it reckons my horse uses about 5MJ an hour hacking. Speedibeet has a DE of 12MJ/kg so the energy he uses hacking (if the app is correct) is equivalent to just under 500g speedibeet a day. He just gets grass and hay at the moment.

 

[Mule]

Yes, agreed. I'd like to know the proof of the "can only eat 2-2.5% of its body weight per day" as well, as I don't think anyone has told my cob!

Yes my ID would enjoy taking that challenge 😀

 

[JFTDWS]

I recently got an app to track our hacks, interestingly it also gives an estimate of how much energy your horse used on your ride. I haven't used it while schooling yet and I doubt the accuracy but it reckons my horse uses about 5MJ an hour hacking. Speedibeet has a DE of 12MJ/kg so the energy he uses hacking (if the app is correct) is equivalent to just under 500g speedibeet a day. He just gets grass and hay at the moment.

If that's equilab, I don't think their calculations are totally ludicrous - I worked my mare's requirements out from that to be covered by her forage intake. When I calculated it, she was doing fast hacks (1-2 hours, with lots of trot and canter) 3 days a week, and 3 days in the arena (45 minutes, 15-20 trot, roughly 20 canter) followed by a 45 minute walk hack to cool off.

 

[flying_high]

After OH's horse was injured, Dick Vet said he would be fit for light work after successful surgery. They defined this as 45-60 minutes per day, 6 days per week, walk, trot and canter work in each session. I would take their opinion over a feed company's.

I take that as no galloping, jumping, longer hacks, schooling beyond prelim, no polework.

 

[TreeDog]

If that's equilab, I don't think their calculations are totally ludicrous - I worked my mare's requirements out from that to be covered by her forage intake. When I calculated it, she was doing fast hacks (1-2 hours, with lots of trot and canter) 3 days a week, and 3 days in the arena (45 minutes, 15-20 trot, roughly 20 canter) followed by a 45 minute walk hack to cool off.

Yep equilab. Good to hear you found it accurate

 

[Smogul]

I take that as no galloping, jumping, longer hacks, schooling beyond prelim, no polework.

Well, he didn't jump anyway and I am not sure what you mean by no schooling beyond prelim as OH didn't compete. Certainly polework and lateral work were encouraged in the latter part of his rehab and he was definitely up for long hacks although probably quieter than they had done before.

 

[daffy44]

I think the other thing to consider is the general fitness and conditioning of the horse. For example, if someone of a Prelim/Novice standard comes for a lesson, that lesson will cover basics, and would not be considered remotely hard work, but when that horse hasnt been ridden for the past week, suddenly the lesson becomes much harder work. Whereas a horse of that level in regular ridden work the lesson will be easy on the horse.

Totally agree, feed companies over estimate what horses should be eating by a frightening amount.

 

[Casey76]

Interesting to read the feed companies slight scare mongering on the “limited appetite of the horse”. Several quote on websites saying a horse can only eat 2-2.5% of its body weight per day therefore this must be quality food else they won’t get their nutritional value. I feel this is false unless the horse is in heavy work and quite clearly trying to worry owners into feeding more.

Pah... my mare can easily eat 10kg of hay in a couple of hours (if I’d let her)

 

[Casey76]

I think the other thing to consider is the general fitness and conditioning of the horse. For example, if someone of a Prelim/Novice standard comes for a lesson, that lesson will cover basics, and would not be considered remotely hard work, but when that horse hasnt been ridden for the past week, suddenly the lesson becomes much harder work. Whereas a horse of that level in regular ridden work the lesson will be easy on the horse.

Totally agree, feed companies over estimate what horses should be eating by a frightening amount.

Also, I think it depends on what the horse is used to time wise as well. E.g. Blitz is in light work, he will school for an hour a couple of times a week; during those hours he works hard (finishes well sweated with increased HR and respirations - before cool down obviously!), however 1 hour is about his max, and he has little endurance to go beyond that, as that is all he has ever really worked. If I wanted him to work for longer than an hour I would have to really step back on the intensity and slowly increase it along with the time spent.

He hacks for longer, but with certainly less intensity, as my new sharer is just getting used to him.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

Interesting to read the feed companies slight scare mongering on the “limited appetite of the horse”. Several quote on websites saying a horse can only eat 2-2.5% of its body weight per day therefore this must be quality food else they won’t get their nutritional value. I feel this is false unless the horse is in heavy work and quite clearly trying to worry owners into feeding more.

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

they've never met a moor bred pony.

 

[hopscotch bandit]

Me and my friend were discussing workloads the other day, and what she does doesn't seem a lot but her pony still seems fit?! So it was making me question what I consider light work!
I am in college so my horse currently gets ridden everyday for at least 45 mins or a bit longer if hacking. I would consider this medium work?
My friend is doing A levels so has hardly anytime in the week but rides twice in the week for an hour and then both days at the weekend. Is this light work?

Hacking a couple of times a week, odd potter around yard once or twice a week for me would be light work. Hacking five times a week for an hours duration and a fun ride every weekend and getting the horse to work and carry herself would be light to moderate. Moderate would be fun rides, jumping lesson, dressage tests, one or two day event unaffiliated level, schooling for 30mins to an hour with any of these mixed in a week. Heavy I would class as hunting, schooling at a much higher level five days a week, endurance or three day eventing, etc.

 

[JFTDWS]

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

they've never met a moor bred pony.

Even my QH could stuff down more than 2.5% - the highlands, I think they would be willing to have a crack at eating their own full body weight if I let them...

 

[maya2008]

I canter way more than on that link, and even at the point this summer when we were galloping several times a week and our hacking was mostly good going, I would have only said my horses were in light work! They weren't struggling, none needed hard feed to keep weight on (and our field is pretty rubbish grazing) and it wasn't for more than 40min or so a day.

Summers when I was younger would have been medium work - half or full day hacking at least 3-4 times a week, mixed with jumping and serious schooling. With fizzy ponies, working twice a day (long hack am, schooling/jump pm). Now most of mine have the schooling there already, they're getting on a bit to jump much, and I have to take small children with me so can't be out too long!

 

[tabithakat64]

Hacking, light schooling up to 5 days a week the odd RC event - light work
Hacking including more fast work and hill work an hour or more, schooling novice level and above 45 minutes plus competing regularly, 6 days a week - medium work
The above to include hunting, affiliated eventing, polo, endurance - heavy work

 

[SOS]

I’m glad I am not the only one that saw the 2-2.5% and was thrown. Here is the paragraph, this was not the only feed company to mention this:

 

[MotherOfChickens]

Even my QH could stuff down more than 2.5% - the highlands, I think they would be willing to have a crack at eating their own full body weight if I let them...

I keep reading it, and it keeps making me laugh. I think I need to nail onto one of the trees in their paddock

 

[be positive]

I’m glad I am not the only one that saw the 2-2.5% and was thrown. Here is the paragraph, this was not the only feed company to mention this: View attachment 26364

That is frightening, the only horse I have had here that would not have eaten the energy requirements for the work done in mainly hay/ grass/ haylage was the tb while he was racing fit when he did have adlib haylage but only ate what he wanted and did need fairly substantial hard feeds every day, once he retired to be a "normal" horse he gradually ate more fibre and was only just a token feed, in the summer he looked slightly tubby on grass and did low level eventing on grass alone.
Being in hard work obviously limited his appetite but not many horses are in that level of work and most have the option to eat for 23 hours a day if they wish and judging by most of mine that is their aim, hence none are really fed hard feed.

 

[Casey76]

I’m glad I am not the only one that saw the 2-2.5% and was thrown. Here is the paragraph, this was not the only feed company to mention this: View attachment 26364

I seriously want to video my mare eating 15kg of hay (which is 3% of her overweight body weight) and send it to Baileys now.

Seriously, limited appetite, if that was the case there would be no obese equines sitting in pastures, would there?

 

[SOS]

I seriously want to video my mare eating 15kg of hay (which is 3% of her overweight body weight) and send it to Baileys now.

Seriously, limited appetite, if that was the case there would be no obese equines sitting in pastures, would there?

Exactly! Why is everyone complaining about obesity and laminitis? It clearly doesn’t exist as horses only ever consume their recommended amount. It’s absolute bollocks and the whole ‘more per mouthful’ sounds like the horse is struggling to get sufficient calorie intake.