Winter time off

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cazacross

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I’m thinking of giving my boy Jan/Feb off this year. Just wondering what people thoughts are or what you do. He has daily turnout with his friend and all rugged up. Riding week is so difficult with dark nights, weather sucks and he can be a fire breathing dragon in winter. Perhaps just the occasional weekend ride if good conditions but just take the pressure off. He’s only general ridden horse and he 16years old. Thanks all
 
Sanversera said:
Sounds like a good idea. You could always do inhand things with the horse rather than ride if you wan
Amy May In A Manger said:
I always rode up until new year because I was lucky enough to have a good two weeks off over the Christmas period. After that they were chucked out and roughed off for at least 6 weeks.
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I Still bring in just overnight unless it’s particularly nice but with no ménage, work, dark nights and weather it’s difficult to get out. Then I beat myself up for not getting out. It’s not like he competes but it’s so inbuilt for me that you should be regularly out riding after years of competition horses.
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I always take February off from riding, sometimes starting a bit sooner if the weather is making things tough. By March I find myself missing it and wanting to get back on. I think it’s good for them at any age to have a break, heals any minor niggles you might not have noticed yet, and especially young horses come back stronger in spring.
 
Our vets just posted an article on the benefits of this, it’s a wonderful idea! I will copy thier advice for those interested:

The benefits of time off 📖

As the weather gets worse and the mud gets deeper it can be hard to find the motivation to get out on your horse!

Here are some reasons not to feel guilty about giving yourself and your horse a break:
🔸Repair - if worked daily tendons, muscles and ligaments have no opportunities to repair meaning they may be more prone to injury.
🔹Mental relaxation - this is particularly important for young horses who will be learning all the time and need time to process their new skills and experiences. Older horses will also benefit to prevent them becoming stale or bored under saddle.
🔸Turn out - if you don't need your horse mud free to ride then this may mean they can spend more time turned out which is good for their mental and physical health!

What a break is will be different for every horse but sometimes a change is as good as a rest:
🔹Some older horses need continued movement to help with issues like osteoarthritis but consider in-hand walks rather than riding to reduce stress on their joints
🔸Performance horses may really benefit from a reduced workload for a couple of weeks but will still maintain fitness whilst having more recovery time.
🔹Some horses may have several months off after a busy competition season and get to chill out in the paddock.
🔸A dressage horse would consider a week or two of hacking only a break and will hopefully come back to the school eager to work!

Hopefully once spring arrives you'll both be keen to get back to work but remember if you have given your horse time off it’s important to bring them back into work slowly to allow them to regain fitness 🐴

So in short great idea! I’d do the same with my pony but my daughter is obsessed with riding her in all weathers 🤦🏻‍♀️ trying to do less though over winter!
 
In the past I’ve kept my lad going over winter for a couple of reasons; firstly he has mild arthritis and I wanted to keep him moving and secondly he has a very busy brain & gets into mischief if he’s not doing. However, this year I gave him three weeks off in October and have just done light hacking since with the exception of one session in the school when he felt fantastic! I think it was the right call as he had a busy summer and even though I was careful about the ground I think it takes its toll. Looking forward to seeing how he is when we start doing a bit more work. Always a learning process with horses but I do find it rewarding when I get his management right. Small wins & all that. Hopefully this is one of those times.
 
I do it backwards to most, as in mines been off since October for 3 months, and I'm just about to pick him back up now as I find the nights draw out quickly & he's got some fitness ready for spring.
I'll only be lunging, long lining & hacking but its enough to get us back in gear.
I always give a few months break - does both me & them good!
 
Mines been off pretty much for about 6 weeks 😬 it’s been one thing after another and once I get out of routine I’m a bit rubbish.
We were supposed to be back at it tomorrow. For sure. But it’s frozen solid in both directions in patches under trees and tomorrow is colder again so not looking like much hope.
I’ll start in hand stuff tomorrow (been saying that a while too)
I’m not too worried. I think I a bit of a break is good for any horse and mine had no break after finishing racing this year so it’s a good thing maybe, certainly won’t hurt.
 
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I've done this a few times, including pulling shoes while they are off and re-starting work barefoot, so the feet also re-model and improve. I think that with my competition types this was great as we all got a break and missed the most difficult time of year.

I now have really easy horses; the sort that don't need riding every day or anywhere near, plus they are barefoot all of the time, so it is really easy to tick them over as and when. If the weather is bad, we don't bother. If we fancy a ride, we sling a saddle on and go out. I like to keep H fit enough to join in with a group jump clinic but, as he's not fit, we keep it easy.
 
Mine usually gets an easy few weeks in the run up to Christmas as a bit of a let-down from summer and always comes back better for it. I try to crack on again in Jan/Feb purely so we are fit and ready enough for clinics and shows by spring but it depends on the weather, we are snowed under at the moment so doing what we can!
 
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Mine has been on holiday this year since the nights got darker. He's 20 now, so I don't do much arena work barring some jumping/pole clinics or arena eventing and mostly hack so once the nights got too dark to hack after work, I decided to take off his shoes and give him a break until the clocks turn again.

He is loving it - turned out overnight every night and comes in during the day for some hay and a snooze. Working well for us, taken a tonne of pressure off me and this is the first winter I'm actually enjoying because of the lack of pressure to keep him fit enough to take out bloodhounding, then worry about him damaging himself. It's lovely to breath and just groom them :) I would take him out for walks, but he's horrible to lead out.

My retired one still goes long reining every day to help with weight management, which I really enjoy.
 
Most do really well and it’s beneficial for a whole host of reasons.
You get the odd one that doesn’t, usually bigger types that drop muscle quickly.
 
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