Winter riding

[ginsparkles]

This is my first winter owning a horse, she's a mother daughter share and I'm wondering how much people are managing to get out and ride ?

We have an outdoor arena and access to hacking although it's quite hilly so I'm wary when it's icy.

Currently we are doing a hour-two hour hack, a 30 minute schooling session and then a 15 minute lunge/groundwork session each week. The horse is a 7 year old lightweight cob who before coming to us had done pretty much nothing so is learning along with us. I work full time and DD is at school, arena is lit but not well enough to do a full school session after work. Does this sound like enough?

I always give mine end Oct-Feb off work because it is just too miserable and I can't be bothered! However that means I have to start fittening from scratch every March.
It is important to give them regular breaks throughout the year as they need it mentally and physically in the same way as we do but you build those in for a time that suits you.
Basically you do whatever suits you and the horse.

Thank you! That's very reassuring! I think as she's only just restarting doing regular work (we got her in September) I'd definitely like to keep her ticking over this winter but it's good to know I don't have to feel over guilty if the weather means she has a week without any actual riding!

For me it depends on how your turnout is. Ours has held up well this year but they are now in overnight every night and with very bad weather on the horizon they may not be out for more than a few hours some days. So even though this is a time of year when I'm least inclined for much riding it's all the more important for the horse's welfare as if I don't ride he could be stood in a box for 16 hours or more straight. So I try and do 45 mins average a day, 6 days a week, a mixture of hacking (weekends only ATM aside from our short loop around the yard's own land which I will brave at first light if not too frosty, sometimes I'll go round it 3 times in a row!), schooling, poles, jumping, groundwork (wouldn't lunge for 45 mins but we might do 20 mins on the lunge or long lines then hand walk for a bit longer, maybe go round the hacking loop on foot). We are lucky enough to have a partially covered well lit 'indoor' school, a well lit outdoor (although not a great surface so it's often partially flooded and/or frozen) and a lunge pen (big yard) so that helps. It does feel a bit of a slog this time of year and he had a little autumn break and will have another in the spring when we're back to 24/7 turnout - if you're lucky enough to have that year round I think you're absolutely fine to not do too much ATM so long as her weight is ok and you're not then expecting to gallop round an XC course first day of spring!

@maxelly good point about turnout. I base my decision on having all year turnout plus indoor, outdoor and walker.

@maxelly good point re turnout, she's out every day from 6.30 am until usually 3. It's getting longer as the nights get lighter. The fields are holding up ok. She was out 24-7 during the summer months.

It's a bit of a slog in winter at times. We have 2x 30 mins indoor arena slots on weeknights/after work, so use those for schooling, and then do something bigger both weekend days, either a longish hack, a lesson or clinic, or occasionally a low level competition. In addition, we might add an extra arena slot if something becomes free in the week. Arena slots are a mix of ridden and ground. So I guess that is usually 4-5 out of 7 days that we try and do something, but something can be a good significant thing, or just literally a potter around the arena in walk.

He is turned out most days for between 3 and 5 hours.

I think it's fine to do less as long as you have time to build up fitness slowly when the weather gets better and we have more daylight.

He naturally gets about 4-5 weeks a year off when we are away on holiday, and definitely 1-2 days every week off to rest.

We try and really vary that arena time though, so it isn't endless circles and transitions and so on. Could be poles, could be some groundwork/lunge, could be a grid etc.

Back in the day when I was at school and had my first horse I used to ride for 30 minutes every afternoon after school aside from monday and then more at the weekend as she was an ex racer and thrived on some level of routine . It was mainly hacking with a bit of off road work .

Also give mine the winter off… blooming miserable for us both hacking out in this. No arena etc. Will be commencing operation fitness in March👍

I would love to be able to do that or for my daughter too, but she can't get to the yard without me driving her and it's dark after I finish work. So she's ridden on my days off and does some ground work occasionally after I finish. As the nights get lighter we can then go back to riding every other day or so, gradually.

@ginsparkles we were fortunate that before we could drive our mum would pick us up from school at 3:30 and we were straight to the yard , horses in and tacked up and out by 4ish . Whilst we rode our mum would do the Shetland , get the feeds ready , poo pick etc all the beds / haynets were sorted out in the morning . We had 2 horse and a Shetland at that point so mornings were one person feeding / rugging / turning out whilst the other 2 ( usually mum and sister ) got on with mucking out / haynets / waters . We were a well oiled machine .

I have two to ride
One is a little rescue cob just coming into work. She gets four hacks of about 45 minutes, one 20 min in school and aim to get out somewhere every other week for experience, say polework or in hand show. I don't want to stop with her as just getting her fit at moment from basis of nothing.
Second one, my dressage pony , gets two 45 minute hacks , two 45 minute lessons, one 30 minute schooling session and a competition or clinic. He is 18 but if he doesn't do quite a heavy work load he just becomes a spooky twassock.
It's very cold though 🤣

Have you explored the possibility of a sharer, or paying someone (yard services if offered or freelancer) to school or lunge her a couple of times a week, just while the turnout is so restricted? They're all different of course and some horses would be fine on 5 hours field time a day and exercise 3 times a week but my boy would be bored and getting stiff/fat on that little. I do get the pain with full time work and the dark evenings, I currently pay the yard for 2 x lunging or hand walking sessions a week cos I just can't make it to the yard in time to do jobs and ride every weekday evening, it's a pretty sucky addition to the livery bill but needs must when you have to work - it costs quite a bit (not very much less than a 30 min lesson) and I suspect from what I see with other people's horses a lot of what gets charged to the owner as 'lunging' or 'groundwork' is actually one of the junior members of staff/apprentices standing in the centre of the pen on their phone while the horse hoolies around them like a wild thing until they tire themselves out, but I still think it's better than a 15 hours unbroken stretch stood still in a stable, not really a natural or desirable existence for an animal bred to be constantly moving around...

I usually Give them a 4-6 week holiday to get past the worst of it…
Otherwise I’ll do what’s sensible. It’s incredibly cold where I am so I won’t hack as I’m not sure where there could be ice, and my mares not the most confident soul anyway and doesn’t need a slip on a road to make that worse.

Ill go in the school and keep things fun, varied but short.
When I used to compete properly I’d be worried about their fitness etc but now it’s meant to be fun, and I don’t find riding in -6 fun, so I don’t.

Sadly it's not really that kind of yard. I think the best option is to up the ground work a little. My plan for next winter is to have a trailer so that I can take DD and horse to have a lesson once a week which will add an good extra ride into our routine as she can go to an proper lit arena.

Not the type of yard where you could have a freelancer or sharer go up once or twice a week to exercise your pony? That to me is a pretty big red flag!

I do think it's fine for ponies to have less work in the winter, to be clear, and I know how tricky it is! Mine is basically just ridden at weekends at the moment- however, he is out every day for nearly 12 hours if not longer- if he was coming in at 3pm, I'd probably want him to at least have a leg stretch some evenings in the week.

I meant more not somewhere I could pay them to lunge her or exercise her. I could get someone into ride her if needed. But I think for now I will add in an extra ground work session.

She's had a good hours hack today and we'll do groundwork on Saturday and then a 2 hour hack on Sunday.

We are having the same struggle. One horse is on schooling livery for a couple of months as we can't get down much during the week.
My daughter has a new pony and it's just too cold and icy to ride, or want to ride. I'm feeling stressed by it all tbh. Worrying we aren't doing enough. We are probably managing twice a week max.
Winter and horses is grim. I would love to do what the other poster said and just give the time off.

Thank you for sharing! It makes me feel better that I'm not the only one! Not many months to go until we get the lighter evenings back!!

I've always found 3 rides a week fine for keeping my horses ticking over during winter, even with the odd few low level shows thrown in. Then up it back to 4-5 days in Spring and Summer. This has always worked well for me fitness wise. I really don't think it matters much unless you're doing high level shows throughout winter. I think what you're doing already sounds great and personally wouldn't bother with a loaner or freelancer as they come with their own issues.

Thank you. This makes me feel so much better.

I'd hack as much as I could throughout the winter. Unless it was really icy, horizontal rain or blowing a gale. I love a cold winter hack.

On saying that, we had a country park right by the livery yard with miles of off-road hacking so I suppose that made winter riding a bit easier.

Just do what you can (and enjoy) 😊

That's roughly what mine do. Jan -march is always a test of endurance just keeping them alive & healthy rather than worrying about riding. It is meant to be enjoyable after all , then gradually do more as it gets lighter & warmer.
Just remember to increase their fitness gradually rather than suddenly demanding a lot more in the spring & keep an eye on their weight/feed as good doers in very light work usually need to lose a bit of weight over winter.