Winter off/time off for 5yos

Bernster

Bernster

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I don't normally give my horses a formal holiday but in winter I tend to do less, so there is usually a month or so of lighter work. I have a 5yo who's going really well at the moment, there's lots to work on but he's getting stronger and fitter all the time. I feel like a break would be good for him and am toying with the idea of taking his shoes off and giving him some time off over Xmas/Jan or possibly over Jan/Feb.

For those of you who give your horses time off - how long do you do it for, when do you do it, and do you find they come back better, or can they go a bit backwards? Would obviously build up fitness again depending on how long he has off.
 
It's an interesting question and one that has multiple answers, I don't think there is a right/wrong answer.

For a horse that has had a hard seasons work (eg a hunter or eventer), then my personal opinion is that a proper holiday is the way forwsrds. Let down, shoes off and let the body heal any little niggles and give the horse a proper break.
Of course there are downsides to this, there is inevitable fitness lost and muscle mass lost. Many come back just as good if not better, some will regress - you need to know your horse. Some are just a PITA out of work and get up to mischief.

For other horses it may be more appropriate to plan regular shorter breaks into their schedule. I have a young eventer at the moment that goes backwards for being out of work (mentally), gets up to trouble in the field! We tried a continuous light workload (ridden 4 days a week) but that wasn't enough for him, so we now do 6 days of decent work a week and then every 6-8 weeks we suffer a week off!!

That kind of routine can work well for a dressage horse too, and is pretty much how I managed my dressage horse.
 
:)

So baby pony who is 4 (5 next year), had 3 weeks off in July and now is on break from 3 weeks ago, until some point in the new year (Feb/March time so i can clip her rather than go through moult)

22yo TB mare, time off would be the end of her in winter, she had a light summer, but will do 6 days through winter.

Horses for courses :)
 
Thanks IHW. In the past I've tended to end up with short break/light work but they've been established/mature horses and more by accident than design. I'm in two minds as to how to do a break for the 'new' boy and for how long, but I am interested in giving him a bit of time without shoes to see how he copes.
 
dianchi said:
:)

So baby pony who is 4 (5 next year), had 3 weeks off in July and now is on break from 3 weeks ago, until some point in the new year (Feb/March time so i can clip her rather than go through moult)

22yo TB mare, time off would be the end of her in winter, she had a light summer, but will do 6 days through winter.

Horses for courses :)
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Hey up D :-) It seems to be very much the thing for 3/4yos to get the winter off, which got me to wondering if people also commonly do that the following year for their 5yos, or whether it's more varied after that initial 'baby' rest period.
 
I give my boy a month off, last year was straight after event season (so he had November off) this year he's still in work atm and is going to have Dec off I think. He feels tired at the end of the event season so feel he needs a bit of a break but like others have said it changes for every horse.mine is a 10yo btw
 
i have a 4 yr old whom i plan to event next season, only got him end of sept but my plan is work through winter to get to know him (he will have 4-5 days off in jan as i go away!) then kick start the event season in march where he wont stop until june (3 weeks off as im away again!) then pick him back up again for the tail end of the event season, not really planning on BE-ing him until a) he tells me he's ready or b) our unaff scores suggest we are.... in my head im thinking july time for an 80/90 BE run, everything before that will be unaff hunter trails and odes. End of the season he will have a month or so downtime with some light hacking to keep him out of mischief and give me a chance to concentrate on the invalid coming back into proper competition work! My plans all got screwed up due to the invalid buggering himself up mid season, hence the new arrival of a 4 yr old!!!
 
I had 2 5yo last year . One was a pain, the other chilled out . They had a month off, and both came back much better for the break. Stronger, willing and forward thinking. We have one 5 yo, this year, and he will be given a month off at some point in the next few weeks. A month /6 weeks for mine was just enough, as they had plenty of turnout so didn't loose too much fitness.
 
I'm a big fan of taking shoes off and letting horses have a winter holiday. Mine have always had one, and always seem to come back refreshed and rejuvenated. I tend towards giving them a shoeing cycle off - so 6-8 weeks.
 
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