Why do so many horse owners only ride 45mins a day and even then think its alot?

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sallymoon

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I dont get it, it seems people think they should only ride their horse for an hour or less a day otherwise its too much for the horses!!!!!!!!

What a load of tosh, if you want a fit healthy horse you should ride as much as possible especially if they are stabled 24/7.

Also I read all the time of lunging for a max of 20 mins, for goodness sake that should be the warm up period. Dont get me wrong if your not lunging correctly then 20 mins is about right for the horses sake.

I dont know where this all misinformation comes from, any ideas?
 
I remember as a kid we used to ride out in the afternoon and get back about 4 hours later I didnt realise then how fit those ponies were, mind you we did stop for picnics etc LOL
 
i used to go out for hours on hack when i was younger, would do 15mile round tri[ps including beach gallops etc. These days our get 30-40 minutes every day.........




mind you that is at full gallop sometimes with jumps too!! ;) and they have at least 30 mins on walker before and after so i think im excused!!!:D:D:D
 
If you are riding in a school and working properly after a warmup and followed by a warm down, 45 minuites is plenty!

If someone rides their horse 45 minuites every day it is fit and I am impressed.

I event my horse on about that in the summer and he is always more than adequatly fit. ( do longer at weekends )

Around here they only ride at weekends and only if there is a compitition on.

but then imo there is nothing wrong with how long you ride your horse whether it is 4 hours, 45 mins or not at all, as long as the horse is healthy and happy.
 
some people actually have to WORK for a living which requires being elsewhere in the hours of daylight we currently have.

I will say no more on the matter. Grrrr...
 
some people are lucky to make even 45mins a day, what with work, children or injury..

is the op being judgemental or is it a genuine query about people thinking a horse has had enough after 45mins? 45 mins of what though? hacking round? intensive schooling?

im sure most owners would know the workload that suits their horses. i got my exracer and got a lot of load of snide comments when i was only riding him 20 mins a day at the start. It drove me mad, as I knew myself 20 mins was all he could manage for schooling then. Everyones horse is different, and a heavier person on a smaller or older horse might be well right in thinking 45 mins is enough.

plus some days if he is going well and has learned something new, i'd often cut a session short to end on a good note, instead of pushing him that bit too far.

drives me mad when people judge others!
 
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lannerch said:
If you are riding in a school and working properly after a warmup and followed by a warm down, 45 minuites is plenty!

If someone rides their horse 45 minuites every day it is fit and I am impressed.

I event my horse on about that in the summer and he is always more than adequatly fit. ( do longer at weekends )

Around here they only ride at weekends and only if there is a compitition on.

but then imo there is nothing wrong with how long you ride your horse whether it is 4 hours, 45 mins or not at all, as long as the horse is healthy and happy.
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Agree with this!!
 
sallymoon said:
I dont get it, it seems people think they should only ride their horse for an hour or less a day otherwise its too much for the horses!!!!!!!!

What a load of tosh, if you want a fit healthy horse you should ride as much as possible especially if they are stabled 24/7.

Also I read all the time of lunging for a max of 20 mins, for goodness sake that should be the warm up period. Dont get me wrong if your not lunging correctly then 20 mins is about right for the horses sake.

I dont know where this all misinformation comes from, any ideas?
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Because a lot of people don't have the luxury of more time.
 
When my mare is in full work I ride on average forf around an hour, 6 times a week.

This is mostly hacking, but includes walk, trot, a bit of canter and schooling wherever I can on the bridlepaths.

She is fit enough for what I want to do and that's all that matters.
 
springer1021 said:
Because a lot of people don't have the luxury of more time.
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This ^ ^ is spot on.

I have 4 days (am so lucky!) at present in which I get about 45 mins of riding in each day, of that about 30 mins of it is pretty intensive fittening work, horse is out every day in paddocks for free exercise too.

Does it really matter what 'everyone else' does with their horses/ponies in the way of work/paddock ornaments etc?:confused:
 
Crikey!!!! Because some of us have to got to WORK to earn the money that allows us to keep our horses!!!!
20 mins on the lunge is a perfectly acceptable amount of time, any longer you are putting wear and tear on horses' legs. And 45 mins to an hour of correct schooling or jumping in the arena is all most people need to do on a fit mature competition horse - any longer is too long! On a youngster the sessions may be much shorter than that.
Horses are not bicycles, you can't just flog them round for hours on end!!!!

Why does the OP think that most private lessons with an instructor are 45 mins???

Think they need a few lessons themselves!!!!!
 
noblesteed said:
Crikey!!!! Because some of us have to got to WORK to earn the money that allows us to keep our horses!!!!
20 mins on the lunge is a perfectly acceptable amount of time, any longer you are putting wear and tear on horses' legs. And 45 mins to an hour of correct schooling or jumping in the arena is all most people need to do on a fit mature competition horse - any longer is too long! On a youngster the sessions may be much shorter than that.
Horses are not bicycles, you can't just flog them round for hours on end!!!!

Why does the OP think that most private lessons with an instructor are 45 mins???

Think they need a few lessons themselves!!!!!
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Well said!!
 
i hope the OP means more that even if they had the time they wouldn't ride more than 45 mins as it is too much rather than they don't have time to do more than 45 mins!!

45 mins a day of increased medium cardio work (ie more than a gentle hack) is sufficient to get a horse relatively fit and able to when required do more extended periods of exercise. If a horse was only ridden for short durations on a non daily basis then 45 of schooling would be a lot as the horse would be realatively unfit.

I have no qualms of working a FIT horse for far longer than 45mins+ but wouldn't an unfit one and time is needed to get a horse fit!

after an enforeced winter break I am now in process of getting Fleur fit again in preparation for this season's eventing. Currently 45 mins schooling is the maximum she is getting (not including cool down) as we have only just restarted canter work but we are hacking out happily for up to 2 hours now. If I could ride twice in the day she would get two sessions but I can't so she doesn't, work unfortunately gets in the way!
 
People actually lunge their horses for more than 20mins?! Poor animals! They must be bored stiff.

I rarely ride less then an hour because I only have hacking, no school. 45mins will only just get me round the shortest circit we have at a trot. Average ride is 2hrs and usually 3-4 hrs at the weekend.

But 45mins of intensive school is a LOT of work for a horse (mentally as well as physically) and I don't know anyone who will intensively work their horse for longer than that in one session.
 
I school for as long as I need to. If it is 20 mins & I feel Horse has done a good job, then i stop. On the other hand it could be an hour.

In regards to hacking, especially in the summer, we can be out for 4 hours or so.

Don't forget some of us need to squeeze riding around that annoying thing called work...

(ETA this does not include warm up & cool down I figure that separately)
 
I work full time and only get 45 minute rides in during the winter week days, however I do agree with OP regards some people thinking that's alot, when its not really.

Makes me laugh a little bit when I am at shows/clinics etc and people are saying to their horses... oh you must be tired now... having trotted round for 15 minutes!

Show the same horse a pack of hounds and I reckon it might feel less 'tired'!!
 
Erm because 45 mins is enough for the average horse if being worked properly in the school....?

As someone said above, with a warm up and cool down either side it's actually quite a lot of work, and you have to consider the mental as well as physical work. I'm sure most horses could do a bit longer technically but if you did it regularly then i don't think it would make for a happy horse. They would be pretty bored. I had a lesson which ran on for well over an hour, probably 90min of medium work. Me and the horse were in no fit state to carry on by that last half hour and we are both quite fit. It just gets frustrating for both parties and he gave some of the worst work he ever has.

Hacking is a different story, it's usually a different kind of work. We go out for 2-4 hours at weekends, especially in summer but that's mostly walking with some trot and a few canters. The same as the difference between us going walking for a day, or working out at the gym all day. Most people only do an hour or 2 at the gym because it's harder work.
 
Wished I had time to ride mine 45 mins Mon - Fri. That little inconvenience called WORK gets in the way. What joy w/ends - up at 7, early morning ride 1 -1½1rs virtually no traffic on roads just me & my horse!
 
We all do what we can! As already said work,family and other commitments get in the way it's a balancing act. I know people who don't ride for weeks then expect the horse to be fit enough to go galloping along the beach or sponsored rides with his mates! In winter sometimes we are lucky to ride at all and regular work is better than none at all.
 
Because after a 45minute lesson our fit TB really begins to feel it- his muscles are still developing, so to hold himself properly for a full 45 minutes (even with breaks) requires a lot of effort and strength.

For hacking- a good halk, conducted mostly in a strong walk or trot with canters, 45mins to an hour seems plenty. He's fit enough to do his job well, and is healthy and happy. Why does he need any more?
 
PurplePickle said:
I remember as a kid we used to ride out in the afternoon and get back about 4 hours later I didnt realise then how fit those ponies were, mind you we did stop for picnics etc LOL
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Aaah! You take me back to my good old days! My picnic consisted entirely of sweets! Seriously tho, if i had the time now, i'd ride for 3-4 hrs. I do that at weekends, but in the week, it's 1 1/2 to 2 hrs a day max, sometimes less. Each to their own though for sure.
 
Well my excuse is a full time job, 2 kids,him indoors, the dog and a house to run - we dont all have hours of freedom every day in which to exercise our horses. Mine gets an hour an evening in the school with one day off during the week and then hacked for a few hours both days at the weekend with a jumping lesson on a Sunday (weather permitting of course) He will be plenty fit for what we want to do in the Spring - which is low level XC and showjumping and some showing and dressage classes - if I were planning on taking him to Blair and competing in the 3* I would have to make sure he was way fitter but Im not so he doesnt need hours and hours of riding every night!!
 
sallymoon said:
Also I read all the time of lunging for a max of 20 mins, for goodness sake that should be the warm up period. Dont get me wrong if your not lunging correctly then 20 mins is about right for the horses sake.
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:confused: going round in circles for more than 20 minutes must be deadly boring for a horse!
 
Can honestly say being at a yard. Totally on my own. I have no motivation and actually ride for about 20mins max. I'd say half the time I'm ill or feel utterly crap as well.
Being on a super busy yard where I was being watched, then I'd probably ride for an hour/hour and a half. Either that, or having music to ride with.

I haven't ridden for a bit because I can't really get out of bed at the moment. But my horse is being worked for about 45-60minutes by my Mum and that's all she has time for.
 
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