I have been toying with the idea of giving my horse the winter off. Recently he has been somewhat back sore, stiff, and unhappy to move forward. Not lame, but starts pretty stiff and works out of it after 5-10 mins. We have had the vet out and are in the process of a bunch of tests (including Lyme), but I am wondering if perhaps the best remedy would just be taking the winter off and reevaluating in the spring. Might be good as a mental break as well as a physical one. Has anyone ever given their sound/rideable horse an extended period of time off? How did they come back after? Right now he is in great shape, well muscled, etc., but I am beginning to think that this might be the best option for him right now.
The horse wonāt mind and time does help. My only thought was to be sure he is moving and doing something. If you choose not to ride, why to do some type of work like long-lining or clicker training? Give him some attention that involves new mental challenges, but not hard physical work. Most of all be sure he keeps moving; itās the best thing for a horse even if itās moving around in a pasture.
Thanks! Yes he would be outside in a large field with some friends at least 12 hours a day. I might even consider field board for him. Iām just concerned with the amount of fitness that he would lose and how long it would take to bring him back.
Considering the same thingā¦Iām sure they have been considered but how are his feet?
Sheila Wilcox, Eventing Great from the UK advocated giving the horse a few month off.
She had a conditioning program, I think it took about 4 weeks to bring a horse back into full work.
I think I still got a copy of āthe event horseā by her floating around (German translation though, sorry)
but if you can find it, itās rather informative!
How old is he, and what are you doing with him? As a (very) general rule, the older they are the longer they take to come back, although it is less a cardio issue and more a muscle one.
Horse is 10 and has just been doing 2ā6 hunters/eq lately. Maybe 1-2 shows a month and being ridden 5 days a week. (2 lessons, 2 light hacks, and a trail ride/conditioning day)
Horses, especially show horses, used to get down all the time over the winter.
[QUOTE=Gnomeland;8277987]
I have been toying with the idea of giving my horse the winter off. Recently he has been somewhat back sore, stiff, and unhappy to move forward. Not lame, but starts pretty stiff and works out of it after 5-10 mins. [/QUOTE]
I hope you and your vet are also investigating PSSM. That could match the symptoms.
FYI, if you are dealing with PSSM time off is not a good thingāespecially in winter. Routine exercises is part of the treatment. Full field turn-out can work well if your horse tolerates it. Also consider how much your horse moves in their turn-out situation (more movement is good).
In general, I think it does take longer for older horses to come back. You would just need to plan for that.
Hope you can determine a good plan for your horse!
If ātime offā means not riding then that might be a good idea. If it means being turned out with no handling 'till spring thatās probably less of a good idea.
Even if all you do is bring the horse up a few times a week for a grooming and maybe a short session the longe line youāve done enough that when spring rolls around the āconditioningā will return pretty quickly.
Good luck in your program.
G.
I did this two years ago with my gelding that was having back pain. My vet wanted me to try to keep him in some work through lounging or long lining, but he was such a GRUMP from his pain that I just left in on 24/7 turn out with his buddy in November and took him back to a lameness vet in Jan. Got a few things worked out and put him slowly back to work.
He was handled twice a day and groomed, but otherwise not āworkedā. He was the better for it.
I wish you the best.
My horse had about two and a half months off when I lived in Manhattan and commuted to the barn on Staten Island. I could only ride on the occasional weekend, so she effectively had a break that summer. It didnāt hurt her, though obviously had to build fitness back up, but she didnāt come back to work looking like Valegro or making me think, wow, I should give this horse a few months off every year. Obviously itās a different situation if horse is having some kind of physical issue that may benefit from a vacation.
Iām sorry I donāt have time to hunt down the citation, but there was a study done within the past year or so that showed horses on 25/7 turnout (admittedly in a very large area, like 100 acres) with no riding were just as fit as horses in regular work, but mostly stalled. Iād lobby for 24/7 turnout for your horse, to get max. benefit from the time off.
I think even gently moseying around keeps them better off ā warmer in winter, more limber for the arthritic ones, and in better shape than confined to a stall.
I would love to be able to properly let my horse down with a month or two entirely off, but not only does he not enjoy it emotionally- the last time I tried giving him a week totally off work he about tore the barn down- his 20-year-old body has a hard time rebuilding fitness. It has taken me about 4 months of work to bring his muscles back after his āspring breakā of a 6-week span of walking only. He also gets body sore after having time off, even with 12+ hours of turnout with a suitable group of friends over rolling terrain, even with massage and a stretching program on the ground. My vet tells him heās not allowed to be unrideable because heās the only horse she knows who gets worse in his body when given a break.
If your horse doesnāt enjoy being fully let out to pasture and having no riding work, and your facility is set up for it, what I do with my guy instead is give him a mental but not total physical break instead. We spend the interval going out on easy trail rides, mostly at the walk on a loose rein. Heās still getting his needed physical exercise, but heās getting a vacation from schooling and getting to see new sights. Itās been a good compromise between the needs of his brain and the needs of his body.
Whatever you do with your guy, remember that when you bring him back into work youāll need to be mindful of rebuilding his muscular and cardiovascular fitness. The working walk will be your favorite gait for awhile.
12 hours is a great amount of time, winter can be hard on some horses, so if you have the option, keep his routine with lots of turnout
[QUOTE=Gnomeland;8278015]
Thanks! Yes he would be outside in a large field with some friends at least 12 hours a day. I might even consider field board for him. Iām just concerned with the amount of fitness that he would lose and how long it would take to bring him back.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=HealingHeart;8278437]
12 hours is a great amount of time, winter can be hard on some horses, so if you have the option, keep his routine with lots of turnout[/QUOTE]
Well . . . In my opinion, winter is NOT hard on a normal, healthy, not ancient horse. Provided, of course, they have adequate fred, shelter etc. While there can be exceptions, this would be the general, overwhelmingly more common, rule.
Iāve done this plenty of times, though not for lameness issues, just because I didnāt have time to work the horse. The last time the horse hadnāt been ridden or worked at all in over a year. Put her back to work about 3 weeks before a local show I wanted to go to- and she won her class easily. I think I had only actually ridden her 3 or 4 times before I showed her and only once in her double bridle- but she was long-lined plenty, thatās what we do. This is a seasoned show horse that knows and loves her job, and ASBs donāt work very hard for very long.
I know several amateur owners that give their show horses and ponies the winter off because they donāt have the facilities to work all winter. My trainer typically gives several of the older show horses the winter off as well. It doesnāt hurt them one bit.
My horses generally get December - February off. Mostly because work is very busy for me at that time, the weather isnāt great, and Iām too cheap to go to an indoor for the winter. They are outside 24/7 in a .5 acre field with a roundbale and shelter (and water obviously). I will go out a couple times a week and brush them and check their temps. under blankets if itās really cold. If the weather isnāt too bad then I might lunge, do a light ride, or go on a snowy trail ride every now and again. I think that itās very important to give them a break. It makes them physically and mentally last longer, and they are happy to come back to work in the spring (at least mine are haha). If they were stabled part of the day I donāt think it would work, that is just too much standing around in my opinion, my horses would get far too hot.
Just my opinion:
I think a large number of the issues we see in pleasure and show horses are directly related to the fact that it has fallen out of fashion to give horses āthe winter off.ā
Back in the day, it was considered good horsemanship to pull your horseās shoes and kick them out in the pasture to be a horse for a couple months every year. Yet these days, itās increasingly rare to find professionals that recommend doing so.
So yeah, Iām in full support of trying time off. In my experience, two months of turnout should not cause a drastic loss in fitness and condition. You should be able to regain the condition in a few weeks.
Giving up to 6 weeks off can be a good thing, but I donāt advocate just throwing them in a field unless they already live out. Adjust his feed, but keep the rest of his routine the same. I also would do some sort of ground work with him 2 or 3 days a week.
Bring him back slowly over 6 weeks and see what youāve got.
