A week in the life of your horse

[slipperandpjsmum]

What is your weekly routine with your horse/pony. My daughter is so so keen to get her own pony but would like to show her how much work is involved - from other people and not just her Mum who is standing in the way of her getting the pony of her dreams!!! Thanks.

Well, depending upon how you intend to keep it (ie DIY/Assisted/Part/Ful Livery) the work load varies hugely.

We keep our on DIY which means 2 trips a day (sometimes more) every day. I am on the yard at 5.45am every week day (to get them done before work) and back again every evening around 6. I muck out 2 each morning,groom/turn out/put on rugs etc. Check field waters/make evening haynets/feeds. Poo pick the field as often as possible and if no time in the week we clear it each Sunday (at least 5 wheelbarrows a week)

We ride 3-4 times a week as a minimum, usually more.

Then there's the farrier/vet/deliveries etc to organise.

My DH reckons it's another full time job and is the sole reason I am knackered and asleep on the sofa by 9.30pm most evenings!

But... I wouldn't swap it for anything, they are a major part of our lives and I couldn't imagine not having them, although I do wish sometimes (especially in the cold, dark of winter) that they were on full livery!

Luckily, both daughters are as mad about them as me otherwise I may have to have had a rethink as they are such a huge commitment.

You can get a lot more help than I do though if you choose to/can afford it.

My dd's pony is on working livery, which means that she earns some of her keep by being used in the riding school. She is what is euphemistically known as "not a novice ride" so shoe only gets used by experienced riders.

The obvious upside of this is that we don;t have to go anywhere near the stables unless we want to. Dd goes on Saturday morning and Sundays, Thursday evening and one other evening in the week. And lots in the holidays. But if she can;t go on those days, and on the other days, she is looked after and exercised.

The downside is that dd can't always have her when she wants her. She also doesn't get looked after as lovingly and carefully as she would if dd was doing it herself. And she does get ridden by a variety of people. You have to really trust the yard to go down this route and we do - mostly.

Take it you mean not including the riding? Ours have a simple daily routine because they live out all year round with a shelter. The very basics are that they have their feed while we poo-pick the field and shelter, feet picked out and are left with hay depending on grass situation. In summer they will have fly repellent/fly masks/sunscreen if needed, in winter rugs checked and/or changed. They are checked over for wounds/bot eggs/mud fever. They have the farrier about every 8 weeks and annual teeth rasping/vaccinations from vet. Because we are DIY we also have to do jobs that would perhaps be done for us on other yards, like organising our own hay deliveries, buying in feed, clearing ragwort, cleaning out water troughs (not to mention taking water from home when everything is frozen).
This is just their basic welfare, obviously there is grooming, tack cleaning, repairing rugs etc too. And this is all just for happy hacking, no fancy stuff!

Crikey I took far too long to type all that didn't I? Have probably repeated what everyone else has said. I blame my mum, she phoned me when I was halfway through.

And yes, two visits a day but I forgot that bit because luckily I get to share duties with my mum and my sister.

Pony lives out at grass livery, at a yard where they keep an eye on them, so he doesn't need visiting every day. We've been going about 5 times a week, with say one of those a non-riding visit. Each visit takes a fair amount of time though, if I include driving time then an hour's ride takes about 3 hrs, including bringing in, grooming, etc.

We keep ours in stables/fields which we rent (by ourselves) in our village.

Our routine differs greatly depending on the time of year.

At this time of year (really from Easter to November) they are out all the time so we check them twice a day, top up their water, change their electric paddock configurations, give hay (if necessary), change rugs, poo picking, paddock maintenance (bramble, nettle, thistle cutting) and repairs.

During the Winter/early Spring they come in at night. This involves getting down early, giving breakfast, changing rugs, turning out, mucking out, sweeping up, setting box for night then in the evenings (which are often pitch black) getting them in, changing rugs, doing feeds/wetting hay nets etc.

Obviously you have to factor in grooming/ riding times, tack cleaning, vet/farrier/worming etc.

We wouldn't change it for the word but by March we are exhausted and praying for the clocks to change and warm weather.

up at 5 amongst the moring sickness :(
up the yard feed turn out darlign freind mucks out excersises whilst im at college!
get horses in change rugs feed
when i do up at 8 feed turn out muck out ride up tp 4 horses in one day lunge the others turn out get horses in change rugs feed and repeat :/

Ours (4 Lusitanos) live out all year, at home, which is a dairy farm. In the summer they are on very restricted bare grazing controlled by electric fence near the house, in the winter they run with the cows in their fields. (We ride more in summer )

Checked once a day 365 days of the year, feet picked out. In winter they are fed grass only because they run on about 25 acres, in summer they get 1lb grass nuts because they are on bare grazing. Rugs according to weather, fly rugs and masks in summer if needed, New Zealands in winter.

Barefoot farrier every 6 weeks as our horses are barefoot. Just as note regarding barefoot, a farrier barefoot trim is VERY different to an equine podiatrist, which is what we use. An EP costs as much as shoeing your horse and is not a "cheap option". Worming every 6 weeks before we rotate paddocks.

We've got it lucky as my DH tends to check the horses when he checks the cows, so my winter routine is very easy and I'm way luckier that the majority.

QT

i have a lady who shares my horse on a tues, wed and saturday, and i also have assisted livery for all the mornings mon-fri and 2 evenings!
After receiving the money from my sharer, my livery fees are only £50 a month. And i only have to do weekend mornings and not too early!

Obv i do have to pay farrier/vet on top of all this, plus hay and bedding (which has cost £400 for winter altogether so far)