What is the routine for your dressage horse?

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Rossifoal1

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I am also interested in eventers and showjumpers routines but since mine competes dressage only I would love to see how others keep theirs to compare/take tips :D

I try to keep mine quite simple as I work 9-5 weekdays but my MAIN interest is how often yours are ridden per week and when?

Allow me to explain my current routine and if anyone could tell me ways to improve it to benefit my horse feel free :)

He is on a winter turnout regime which in the past meant no turnout whatsoever however now he is on 2 hours weekdays from 7.30am to 9.30am. he's stabled with toys and haynet til 5.30pm then i get there and ride. he is fed at 7.45pm and i leave. (this is very vague i obviously groom etc within the time i am there) He has up to 3 days a week off as he cannot be hacked out on his own (no really hes dangerous and doesnt enjoy it) so i dont like the thought of him being bored of the school hence the days off. Would you say this is ok? He is only at nov/elem level with much to learn. He seems a little happier with more time off but i dont know if this will badly slow down his learning/progress?

x
 
A lot depends on the horse, if I gave my horse 3 days a week off he'd never move. He is very lazy but is one of those odd ones that in the more he works the more forward going he is, so the fitter the better!

He is schooled hard 3 days a week (up to 1 hour) and either hacked 2(up to 2 hours) or 3 times, if I can't get a jumping day in. He has one day off and we've missed this on occasion without problem. Equally I have family commitments which means he does get extra unexpected days off, but given the choice I wouldn't give him these!

He's one of those that you could give 6 weeks off then get straight back on and he won't start to play up until a back in work a couple of weeks!

Even during a session he does his best work after about 45 mins, a trainer once referred to him as the diesel engine type and I think this is spot on!
 
I have 2 horses I compete in dressage with.
One is just a 4 year old so I ride him 4 days a week. Usually schooling him twice and hacking him twice along with my other mare who my sister or mum rides.
My other is a 19 year old tb who needs quite a bit of exercise to keep her going.
I try to ride her up to 6 times but sometimes its just 5 times. I try to school her 3 times, lunge 1 time with pessoa and hack twice.

My routine is I have uni 8-6 on monday, tuesday and thursday. I work 7.15- 5.15 on saturday. so I hack them on my days off (fri, sat or sunday).
Routine everyday is they get turned out at around 7 in the morning. They get brought in around 4.30 just before it gets dark (my mum does it if im at uni) and then I change rugs, ride when I get home and then feed. Usually finish at around 6-7 ish.
 
My OH dressage diva pony spends 7am - 5pm in field each day. Schools 2 - 3 times a week, hacks about the same and will sometimes have a lunge session or low level jumping. Currently competing Med/Adv.med.
Only slight concern about your horses routine is his days off. Does it mean he basically is standing around for 22 hours on the days off or is he lunged etc.
 
Also at nov/elem. She get turned out 24/7 in summer and is out from 6.45am to 6.30pm each day in winter, Schooled Mon, Thurs & Fri. Farm ride & xc jumping on Sat and jumping in school on Sun. In summer I tend to jump once in the week (grids) and cours practise on weekend unless competing.

I am working to get her out competing at jumping too though, but she and I love galloping round fields and xc training, keeps her fit!

ETA: She needs to do fast work, gallop to open up her canter, can get very stuffy in her gaits if ridden in the school too often
 
My boy is turned out 7.30am - 6pm, I ride him in the evenings after work. I tend to do 1 lunge session with him in the week, and ride him 2-3 times. He hacks out once at the weekend (little walk hack...he doesn't really do hacking) and either competes/has a lesson/schooling session the other day. I vary his work sessions in the school, doing lots of stretch sessions where the pressure on him is minimal. He's competing Adv Med, working PSG.
 
Can't comment on your routine, each to their own and all that. My routine is as follows -

Weekdays: fed at 6am. Out in the field by 6.30am. Brought in around 3.30pm-4.30pm.

Weekends: fed at 8.30am. Out in the field by 9am. Brought in 4.30pm-5pm.

One day off a week at the very least. I don't hack, Bruce can't jump. One canter in the field per week (currently at the weekend due to winter darkness!).

Otherwise a schooling session between 1/2 hour 1 1/2 hour (walk breaks/warm up/cool down inclusive). We don't do the same work every day - other than our warm up, as that focuses us both and relaxes him which in turn relaxes me - sometimes I get on with a schooling plan in mind, other days I just see how he feels/reacts to certain requests and go from there.

Some days we might only do stretchy walk, trot and canter with very little demand. Other days I might focus on transitions/changes, some days lateral work etc etc. We are competing Med, schooling Adv/Med but he is capable of pi/pa also which erm....always livens things up.... :D
 
I am not riding at the moment due to the darkness. However having an arena built (fingers crossed it is finished soon)

I work 30 mins drive away, mon-fri 8am-5.30.

The plan once arena finished:

Ride Mon, Wed and poss Fri (I go to Jive on a Tues with Hubby) in arena, Wed night SJ gridwork/polework/courses.
Sat/sun - hacking unless I am taking him somewhere. Also I plan to book a dressage lesson once a fortnight so this will be on top of the weekend hacking (easy hack on that day :D)

The hacking around me isn't great due to busy road, so if the weather is bad I will pass on this. If the ground is ok I can ride in my field and have a blast up the hill, Otherwise I would ride in the school again - probably jump or play games (walk, trot and run or handy pony type things) or do side saddle?practice showing.

Might change when I actually have the arena up but thats the plan! :D

Also my horses are currently living out, once I start riding again they will start to live in overnight to make sure they dry out after riding.

Once in, they will be fed a light breakfast and kicked out all day from 7am until I'm home.
 
Mine gets schooled 3/4 times a week (usually an hour per session), hacked once and lunged once.

In summer he only comes in for around 8 hours, sometimes a lot less and will stay out 24/7 for a few weeks. At the moment he's pretty much in 24/7 as he hates being out in winter. Although today he did go out for 3 hours as it wasn't too bad today. He loves his stable, and will quite happily stay in it 24/7 365 days per year :p I can even leave the door open and he'll stay in it, ha ha.

While in 24/7 he also goes on the walker twice per day for 20 mins per time.

I think your horses routine is pretty much spot on IMO as I have found a few hours turnout in winter is all that most stabled horses want anyway!
 
To be honest, I have to try and avoid routine with mine as it totally switches him off. So, I have to mix it up all the time throughout the week. Hacking, fast work, jumping, schooling, lunge work. He has one day off a week and he's turned out at this time of the year for 4 hours a day - he just won't tolerate longer. He lives in an open yard/barn though, so not shut in as such.

Like someone else above, he's lazy too so the more he works the fitter/sharper and more up for it he is. As soon as I lay off him (if we have snow for example), he gets more and more anti work and the first few days back, although he's not silly, are very hard work.
 
Again Nov/Elem.
Turnout and fed by 0630. Back in at between 4-5. Somewhere in there i'll ride, varies in time though because of randomness of my life and also keeps him guessing so he's easy to catch :-)
Generally schooled 3-4 times a week for between 30-45 mins, sometimes i swap a schooling sess for a lunging one. Hacked twice and and if ground is good will have a jump once a week. He always ahs at least one day off a week to just be a horse. He likes routine in turnout times etc but the more varied his work is the better he goes. Trying to slow him down for the winter (in pprep for poss snow) as when he's uber fit he get bored v easily and quickly.
xx
 
mine is competing adv med/adv and schooling PSG.

as long as he goes out at least 4 days a week, he's very chilled, the sort you can get on after a week off and he's exactly the same.

because he's still young (6yo) and finding the work almost too easy, i only school 4 times a week.

he doesnt hack, or jump(hates it) but he does do polework once a week.

mon to fri he is out from 7am to 3pm, and weekends he goes out as and when to fit in with whatever else im doing, but usually at least half a day each day.
 
I'm not sure I've found the right routine for my horse yet.

He is a very relaxed easy going 5yo, aimed primarily at dressage and we have been having trouble with energy levels (lack of) and just general motivation.

At the moment we are stabling more (he turns out 8 - 11/12ish) and increasing his work - a walker session every day at 2pm and then 5-6 days ridden work on top.

Trying desperately hard to get in as much different work as possible. He now jumps once weekly, gets a good cantering/log hopping hack once weekly and just about to start some drag hunting too.

I actually loathe having them stabled for such long periods (ie 20hrs per day) but have a sneaky feeling this horse might perform better for it unfortunately.
 
My two have a set routine in terms of feeding, timing of yard jobs etc but not riding and turnout. As long as the weather is ok they usually go out for an hour or so in the afternoon. I would like this to be longer and whatever the weather but that is not possible on the yard I am on at the moment. I try to make up for this by taking them for a pick of grass in hand. Weekend they usually get ridden in the morning (and at a not antisocial time) but because I am not in a hurry they get a lot more fuss than during the week. At this time of year they usually get a hack one of the weekend days. The baby one gets less hacking because she has to go with someone else. In the week I pretty much have to go in the school at the moment because of the lack of light. Usually lunge 1 day a week so they get about 5 schooling sessions of which two or three will be harder and two or three easier and shorter sessions, so if I am doing both before work that would usually be the shorter sessions and then the next day I might do one of them for longer and the other one would be lunged (if that makes sense). Workdays I sometimes do evenings, but prefer mornings before their breakfast. To be honest the oldie is completely used to slightly antisocial timetable and aside from being a bit grumpy doesnt care and the baby one has got used to it - they get used to most things and I think the solid yard routine helps make up for it.
 
Nov/Elem too.

Breakfast and T/o during the week by 8 am. Weekends more like 9 am. Comes back in anywhere from 4pm to 6pm, depending on my schedule.

Currently being ridden in school about 3x a week, maybe lunged once and hacked during daylight hours whereever possible (usually Sat afternoon, Sundays and the odd Monday).

Work routine generally consists of practicing what's been taught after a lesson (though the first day after a lesson I usually spend an hour just stretching in WTC). I might work on transitions one day, another day practice specific movements that might be on a forthcoming test that I feel are sticky. If I don't have a test coming up or no lessons recently, I sometimes potter about wonderign what to do next ;). It's during those weeks I might just lunge.

Hacking is a mixure of road work or wooded paths - on wooded paths I actually get lots of schooling in. If the ground is good, we'll venture off for a gallop.

Wish I could jump my boy - but it's not our forte (though I'm going to ask trainer to have a wee go as I think he'd benefit from it and maybe jolly him up a bit as he's generally so laid back that he's almost horizontal).

Tucked up in his bed by 6.30 or 7 pm.
 
15yr old stallion competing at Advanced once a month.

Turned out every day 7.30am til 12.

Ridden work is 1 day boxed out hacking/gallops, 1 day hacking round our woods/fields possibly popping some xc jumps/hedges, 1 day lesson, 1 or 2 days hacking round the fields and then schooling and the other days off. He might also occasionally go hunting or have a gridwork/jumping lesson.
 
Some excellent replies. After reading them all I only wish I could incoorporate more variation into his ridden work - i may need to get thinking.

JunoXV said:
My OH dressage diva pony spends 7am - 5pm in field each day. Schools 2 - 3 times a week, hacks about the same and will sometimes have a lunge session or low level jumping. Currently competing Med/Adv.med.
Only slight concern about your horses routine is his days off. Does it mean he basically is standing around for 22 hours on the days off or is he lunged etc.
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Sorry yes should have mentioned he gets loose schooled, lunged in side reins or put on the horsewalker depending on the weather.

MillionDollar said:
Mine gets schooled 3/4 times a week (usually an hour per session), hacked once and lunged once.

In summer he only comes in for around 8 hours, sometimes a lot less and will stay out 24/7 for a few weeks. At the moment he's pretty much in 24/7 as he hates being out in winter. Although today he did go out for 3 hours as it wasn't too bad today. He loves his stable, and will quite happily stay in it 24/7 365 days per year :p I can even leave the door open and he'll stay in it, ha ha.

While in 24/7 he also goes on the walker twice per day for 20 mins per time.

I think your horses routine is pretty much spot on IMO as I have found a few hours turnout in winter is all that most stabled horses want anyway!
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Thanks MD yes mine loves his stable and even in the summer will stand at the gate waiting for his saviour to bring him in after 5 hours ish!

Goldenstar said:
Am feed feel spilt shrug turn out
PM catch up feel spilt feed
BOO HOO
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I get the jist of this but dont understand what you mean sorry

ihatework said:
I'm not sure I've found the right routine for my horse yet.

He is a very relaxed easy going 5yo, aimed primarily at dressage and we have been having trouble with energy levels (lack of) and just general motivation.

At the moment we are stabling more (he turns out 8 - 11/12ish) and increasing his work - a walker session every day at 2pm and then 5-6 days ridden work on top.

Trying desperately hard to get in as much different work as possible. He now jumps once weekly, gets a good cantering/log hopping hack once weekly and just about to start some drag hunting too.

I actually loathe having them stabled for such long periods (ie 20hrs per day) but have a sneaky feeling this horse might perform better for it unfortunately.
Click to expand...

Rossi gets very lethargic after being in the field too long, he is fresh and bright after a coupl eof hours in his stable post turnout. On the other hand I have an eventer that is always up for being ridden even after 24/7 turnout, i think some find it easier to relax in a field that others maybe. I do jump ross once in a while but i get a little worried he might hurt himself as he no longer has the correct physical musculature for jumping (hes also 18hh so quite tall!) but thats probably a different thread ;)

RobinHood said:
15yr old stallion competing at Advanced once a month.

Turned out every day 7.30am til 12.

Ridden work is 1 day boxed out hacking/gallops, 1 day hacking round our woods/fields possibly popping some xc jumps/hedges, 1 day lesson, 1 or 2 days hacking round the fields and then schooling and the other days off. He might also occasionally go hunting or have a gridwork/jumping lesson.
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This is a fantastic amount of variation. I like the idea of boxing up to go to the woods as I have some nearby so will consider that (my only worry is him dumping me and prancing around the countryside riderless)

I think the key to a calm and confident dressage horse is definately down to what they are exposed to, and I really want to get him out and about (besides competitions) to see the world and enjoy himself a little more. I dont think the dark nights are going to help though! So more pole work and sight seeing it is then!
 
As I've just joined BD (horse free, so why not) and only competing at Prelim/novice RC our routine is a mish mash of not sure what I'm doing or aiming for!

Presently he's in at night, out from about 8am to 4pm. I would school once or twice a week and hack in between - he usually has two days off.

I mix it up with a bit of jumping, galloping in the woods and we're hunting this weekend - so not very dressage focused (yet).

In the summer I do bascically the same with showing thrown into the mix, but haven't yet increased his schooling as such and he's out 24/7 unless lots of flys. This may change when I found out we are out of our depth BD!
 
I dont have a routine as such as I work shifts so everyday is different.

I tend to ride for 3 days then give her a day off. I will throw in some lunging too to mix things up a bit if the weather is bad or I'm short on time. We occasionally hack out if someone else is going as she isnt safe to hack on her own.

She goes out in the field most days, the exception being when I'm working earlies. No one on the yard will turn out or bring in for me. This means that sometimes she is in for 3 to 4 days at a time which isnt ideal but on those days I try to lunge her on an evening when I finish.
I try to turn her out for an hour before I ride to loosen her up a bit but again, this isnt always possible.
 
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