Winter and Horses

[shanti]

Winter and horses are such a crappy combination! What do you manage to get done over winter with yours?

Honestly, between the nonstop rain (I'm in South Australia) the wind, cold and short daylight hours I can manage a daily feed, quick check for injuries and that's it. I feel like I'm failing as a horse owner and am trying to justify the lack of motivation

 

[Jenko109]

Wrong time to mention that the UK is currently in a prolonged heat wave then...

 

[SantaVera]

Winter and horses are such a crappy combination! What do you manage to get done over winter with yours?

Honestly, between the nonstop rain (I'm in South Australia) the wind, cold and short daylight hours I can manage a daily feed, quick check for injuries and that's it. I feel like I'm failing as a horse owner and am trying to justify the lack of motivation

I'm in the UK so it's summer but last winter I managed to do pretty much what you did,there was such a lot of rain and when it wasn't raining it was hard ice and snow. Presently all I'm doing is pretty much the same, can't ride the horse flies are horrible.

 

[shanti]

Wrong time to mention that the UK is currently in a prolonged heat wave then...

Yes! I am extremely jealous of you all right now.

 

[Jenko109]

In answer to your question, take the pressure off yourself!

Plenty of people rough off their horses over winter and do as you are.

I do sweet FA all year round with mine

 

[Barton Bounty]

Me routine doesn’t change at all , apart from I have a bed to muck out

 

[Accidental Eventer]

Im in WA and we are moving to my coaches place for the worst of winter. Arena, lights, only having to do them once per day after 10 years of misery!

Plus winter in Australia is pretty short lived!

 

[poiuytrewq]

Me routine doesn’t change at all , apart from I have a bed to muck out

I’m much the same. I swap turnout from day to night and vise versa but other than that keep at it.
I think I kind of prefer winter. Summer heat flies midges baked ground.…

 

[Barton Bounty]

I’m much the same. I swap turnout from day to night and vise versa but other than that keep at it.
I think I kind of prefer winter. Summer heat flies midges baked ground.…

Im with you after this year! Ive not been able to ride on the days of 22 degrees plus , at least when its pouring we still go out. BB is so much happier going out every day.

 

[Birker2020]

When I have an actual horse to ride I used to ride in the menage after work. Because I've always kept to the same sort of workhours 7.30-3.30/8 - 4pm I've usually been on the horse by 4.30 or 5pm when most are just leaving work in the rush hour.

We have floodlights in the winter.

In the summer my hours make life more awkward because if I am hacking out in the rush hour unless I hang around doing odd jobs then I hack out.

 

[Peglo]

Mine come in at nights in winter. I work 8:30-5 so for the most of winter I don’t see my horses in daylight other than weekends. I don’t ride anywhere near as much (not at all the past winter) but I coped with Tali putting a smile on my face each morning and night. I don’t put any pressure on myself other than to keep the horses as happy as possible and try not to blow away.

 

[MuddyMonster]

It's absolutely fine to not do much other than the basics if you want.

If you do want to ride then invest in a good head torch (I hack by head torch over winter) & waterproofs. If I'm warm and dry, it's half the battle no matter what the weather is doing.

I love my daylight alarm clock to help with dark mornings.

I have a whiteboard outside my stable with things my plan for the week so Monday off, Tuesday lunge, Wednesday hack that kind of thing. If I've written it down it's more likely to happen

I bought a synthetic bridle as I hate tack cleaning and it was another downside to riding in the rain. I can literally just hose it off if it gets muddy

I find having a target for winter really helpful so we competed in a winter league and did some social rides with friends as knowing I wanted to keep my pony fit enough, helped. It was all low level and no pressure but it added to the sense of fun.

And remember, it only lasts a relatively short while and before you know it it'll be horse flies and baked ground again

 

[Northern]

I hear you, poured all day and forecast -4C/-5C the next couple of nights.

I have two riding horses, one is easier to access so gets more riding. The other is younger and I tell myself a few weeks of lighter work won't kill her.
Apart from that, they are fairly self sufficient so I make sure they have all their appendages, are appropriately rugged (or without), feed hay on colder nights and otherwise just wave and yell hello when they are in earshot

 

[Skib]

I started riding one autumn and went riding in winter to ward off winter seasonal depression. Summer rides at the place I used to hack were absolute bliss. I would hack gently all through summer except in August when the schools were on holiday and the horses were needed for children.
The horse I share now is the opposite. She hates the heat and will nap - but who could blame her. She is bred for Irish winters and is now on holiday.

 

[SEL]

I have decided as the years have gone on not to be too hard on myself over the UK winter.

If its nice enough to ride then great. If the ground is sodden or frozen then I just plod around doing chores and realising yet another pair of wellies leak.

The horses survive!

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

I'm not Australian but I find there is little you can do in the winter when the ground is boggy. In the spring or summer sort out your gateways. Put own gateway matting which will stop the gateways getting churned up so much. As for riding in the winter only make tentative plans to ride, if the weather is good then ride or lunge but if the forecast was wrong just do something else. Honestly it's not raining just to P you off personally. At my time of life The days, weeks, months & seasons go by far too quickly anyway.

 

[Red-1]

Last winter I took shoes off end Sept and just did little bits on the school or locally as and when I fancied which wasn't often!

I started work more seriously again once the shortest day had passed. Something about the days getting longer that re-activated me!

 

[spottypony90]

Just take the pressure of yourself and do what you can. I remember feeling the same when it was winter here!

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I've normally had enough of riding as much as I can by Christmas so I just do what I can and if that means days or weeks off for them so be it, I normally pick it up again properly in March horses don't care if they get ridden or not.

 

[Suechoccy]

Have you read Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll?
Alice drinks a potion called DrinkMe and it shrinks her down so she can squeeze through a door just high enough for a mouse. Later on she eats a cake called EatMe which makes me grow back to full height again.
I've often thought it would be nice to give some DrinkMe to my horses around Oct/Nov to shrink them to a size where they will fit into a shoebox, and then I can keep them at home on the smallest amount of grass and keep them indoors in a box if the weather is foul, and not worry about ice, floods, snow, etc....
And then in spring I take them to the field and give them some EatMe and they grow back to their normal height and we can resume our usual activities.

 

[Hallo2012]

depends what you want to achieve.....mine compete so they need to stay in work.

i have floodlights so just grit teeth and get on with it. sometimes hire an indoor. rarely finish on the yard until 9pm. its just how it is-wet and miserable but not impossible if you are happy to put the hours in.

 

[Jenko109]

Have you read Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll?
Alice drinks a potion called DrinkMe and it shrinks her down so she can squeeze through a door just high enough for a mouse. Later on she eats a cake called EatMe which makes me grow back to full height again.
I've often thought it would be nice to give some DrinkMe to my horses around Oct/Nov to shrink them to a size where they will fit into a shoebox, and then I can keep them at home on the smallest amount of grass and keep them indoors in a box if the weather is foul, and not worry about ice, floods, snow, etc....
And then in spring I take them to the field and give them some EatMe and they grow back to their normal height and we can resume our usual activities.

And a bit of extra EatMe when we outgrow our ponies

 

[Above the snowline]

Your not failing - you’re normal! Stick up some lovely summer theme posters in your tack room to remind you that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Spoil yourself.

 

[ThreeFurs]

I think one has to soften up and let go of 'must does' around the time of the Southern Hemisphere Winter Solstice.

Our beloved UK brethren on this forum have heaps of good tips for riding through foul and diabolical weather, because I know, from living in London, that when you have it, you Northerners have it worse. But I'm in the Adelaide Hills, atm its exact mid winter, today its not topped 'feels like 0.7 C' all day; 90k winds, local rivers all flooded, sheep graziers alerts up the wazoo. Its freezing, its dangerous on the roads, there are trees down everywhere, and peeps trying to drive through floods, and having to be rescued by State Emergency Services.

And 'round the Mt Lofty Ranges we often have snow, at this time. Its a European climate without European solutions! and yet we don't have a lot of accessible indoor areas, we tend not ride ride cobs/native horses, but the much beloved ubiquitous Australian off the track tb, who go berserk in storms and starve down to nothing weight wise at the drop of a thermometer.

So, not an easy time to be working horses outdoors, and probs won't ease much til Sept/oct. Cut yourself some slack. My own horse, a senior chap, w/b schoolmaster, late '20s, is tooling around in his retirment paddock in a very good rug. Horseware Vari-layer.

My borrowed ride twice a week boy, a Clydie X, is owned by a Pommie migrant, and he and i are trained by an English expert BHSI / rider position coach over here from the north of England; so I have a Scottish horse with two English connections, so, if I say its 'too cold to ride', they all just look at me and laugh.

Anyway, yeah, look, I don't have any rules, but if you put a saddle blanket on your pony, and it blows off immediately, probs NOT a day for serious training. You can always do some really good groundwork, like teaching your horse 'the clock'; turnng his shoulder, then the hind; working on the lunge on variations within the gaits, small to big trot to back t small. Or even doing some liberty or horse ball stuff. Your horse will appreciate some fun, and he will love being rewarded for focused stuff, to take his/her mind off foul weather.

But if the conditions are really bad, as they are here this weekend, and you might add to the already over burdened emergency services, just to work your horse, just don't.

 

[maya2008]

How about just riding at weekends? It will keep them ticking over and then you can up the workload in the spring.

 

[shanti]

I think one has to soften up and let go of 'must does' around the time of the Winter Solstice. Our beloved UK brethren on this forum have heaps of good tips for riding through foul and diabolical weather, because I know, from living in London, that when you have it, you Northerners have it worse. But I'm in the Adelaide Hills, exact mid winter, its not topped 'feels like 0.7 C' all day; 90k winds, local rivers all flooded, sheep graziers alerts up the whazoo. Its freezing, its dangerous on the roads, there are trees down everywhere, and peeps trying to drive through floods, and having to be rescued by State Emergency Services.

And 'round the Mt Lofty Ranges we often have snow, at this time. Its a European climate without European solutions! and yet we don't have a lot of accessible indoor areas, we tend not ride ride cobs/native horses, but the much beloved ubiquitious Australian off the track tb, who go berserk in storms and starve down to nothing weight wise at the drop of a thermometer.

So, not an easy time to be working horses outdoors, and probs won't ease much til Sept/oct. Cut yourself some slack. I can't. My own horse, a senior chap, wb schoolmaster, late '20s, is tooling around in a very good rug. Horseware Vari-layer.

My borrowed ride twice a week boy, a Clydie X, is owned by a Pommie migrant, and we're trained by the same; so Scottish horse and two English conections, if I say its too cold they just laugh at me. Anyway, yeah, look, I don't have any rules, but if you put a saddle blanket on your pone, and it blows off, probs not a day for training. You can always do some really brain straining groundwork, like teaching your horse 'the clock'; turnng the shoulder, then the hind; working on the lunge on variations within the gaits, small to big trot to back. Or even doing some liberty or horse ball stuff. Your horse will appreciate some fun, rewarded focussed stuff, to take his/her mind off foul weather.

That about sum's it up perfectly. I could handle cold or drizzling rain but the weather is so intense, high winds and sudden torrential downpours are not fun for me or the horse's to be working in, especially a young standy and a crazed Arab
Plus, I moved to SA from the Gold Coast so still getting used to the huge weather change

 

[ThreeFurs]

Its shocking at the moment here. Just keep yourself and your horse safe. Remember [and i have to remind myself] I'm the human paying the bills, so I need to keep myself well first!

 

[cloverlea]

I prefered to ride in the winter, horse clipped and sharp. In the summer stuffed with grass and lazy. Plus all the grass and weeds at bridle hight, perfect for a snack.

 

[scats]

In some ways I find winter easier. I don’t have to worry so much about the grass, there’s no flies, ragwort etc and I do all my work in the morning and it’s done so the evening is quick.
It’s really just the dark that gets to me. If winter kept the same amount of daylight as autumn, I reckon I could cope far better, even in bad weather.
I seem to have some weird thing about the dark that just makes me want to hibernate.