Winter ❄️ routine

[racebuddy]

My horses routine doesnt change in terms of turnout ect goes out every day good grazing farm land , i work shifts so often does get brought in tea time and i will do after work too

in summer i wouldnt dream of finishing evening yard on my early shift at 5pm i eould always go back 8pm but now winter hes more than happy to go to hed and grt tucked up xxx

 

[scats]

I was thinking this the other day as I trudged around at 5.30pm in the dark finishing off for the evening. In my head, it felt about 11pm and I was trying to remind myself that 5pm in summer I sometimes haven’t even got down to ride yet.

I really wish I could change my mindset about the dark evenings, I really struggle with November and December as a result.

 

[dorsetladette]

My routine doesn't change much, just bigger feeds and bigger haynets. I ride less in the winter as I don't have lights and poo picking is mostly done at the weekends and just the bits I can see near the yard in the week.

 

[SEL]

I was thinking this the other day as I trudged around at 5.30pm in the dark finishing off for the evening. In my head, it felt about 11pm and I was trying to remind myself that 5pm in summer I sometimes haven’t even got down to ride yet.

I really wish I could change my mindset about the dark evenings, I really struggle with November and December as a result.

Me too - all the way through to the end of Jan and I think with lockdown its going to be worse this year.

My 3 are ready to come in when I get to the yard at 4ish because there's no real grass in the field since Storm Alex trashed it. We were home by 5:30pm last night which was weird. Working from home this year has saved me so much time!

 

[MissTyc]

Same here. No light, no school, no nothing in winter. I usually want to go to bed by about 6pm and SAD kicks in.

This year I'm working from home with clients in different time zones so I am often working until 10/11pm .. Suddenly the torchlight pony care feels less threatening. Maybe because it's now a respite middle of day rather than an en dof day activity. I'm hoping it will be help me change my mindset. Fingers crossed ...

 

[Jenni_]

She lives out 24/7 in the summer... this could technically be all year round but we lost a massive chunk of our field to Scottish Water works in 2018 and we won't get it back until 2021 so there's not enough grass. My thoughts are if we need to feed haylage in the field then she might as well come in at night to be dry and warm whilst she eats, so she's been in since the start of October. It'll also help keep field poaching down.

In the summer I can be hacking until 10pm with the light, now she's running up the field to call anytime after around 2pm desperate to come in!

 

[shamrock2021]

My horse has the same amount turnout in the winter Time she goes out a 9 am and doesn’t come in until 5pm nothing really changes . The only difference is that i go to the yard later because of college. I have light in the yard so I ride 4 days during week and a day on the weekend.

 

[alexomahony]

My routine changes a fair bit but not too drastically. The fields are still lovely and dry so that's really helpful and they're still out overnight at the moment - though I'll start bringing them in a few nights a week starting this weekend just to get them into that routine ready for when winter really hits. They'll then come in every night about 5:30pm and be turned out about 7:30am.

Riding wise I'll still aim to ride 4 nights during the week and both weekend days - I've just moved them to a lovely new yard which has a menage and light, alongside a swanky indoor at the yard next door who hires it for £10 per hour. Very lucky, and plan on using this once a week

I guess the difference is less hacking - in winter I always hack weekend days unless at a clinic or comp, and school during the week. In summer, I hack much more!

The grass is very lush where I've moved to, so will be investing in a thinline grazing muzzle for Spring so my porky Welsh doesn't have to be confined to his stable during the day!

 

[Widgeon]

The grass is very lush where I've moved to, so will be investing in a thinline grazing muzzle for Spring so my porky Welsh doesn't have to be confined to his stable during the day!

I bought one of these this summer for my fatty cob and it's my new favorite thing Rubs his nose though so I've got a new sheepskin noseband sleeve ready for when it goes back on in the spring...