If you are an average AA, not all that interested in showing and you have one, average and off breed horse, how often do you ride in a week?
I am finally getting my schedule together to the point where I am at the barn most days. Obviously, I wouldn’t ride every day. But my 16 year old gelding needs to get back in shape. We don’t have an indoor, so weather will play a role in this. I won’t ride if it is below 25 degrees.
So, how often do you ride your one horse?
Sheilah
I’m an AA, with onsite access to an indoor, who does did not show last summer but intends to show next summer (Third level)
My horse does best right now when I ride every other day, but both weekend days, so that works out to 4 times a week. We often do a groundwork day or a trail ride day or tool around bareback as an extra day. We’ll be doing more groundwork days in between rides as we get into heavy blanket season so that he has some time to move around while naked most days.
I think what is best depends on the horse. Some people are able to progress with 3 rides a week. Some people have very energetic horses that do best with 5 or 6 rides a week. I’ve experimented with fewer more intense rides and more frequent but lighter rides. My horse gets muscle sore fairly easily when worked too much, but also gets uncomfortable when not ridden enough because his natural posture is so crap.
If you’re just getting him back in shape, maybe try for 4-5 light and short rides per week (assuming he’s sound and not returning from injury that needs a special protocol) at first and do core strengthening exercises and some more PT exercises or stretching activities on the days you don’t ride (if you go to the barn every day anyway).
no more than 5. One of those rides is something other than dressage… In the winter I ride less… No indoor, no light so I get in as many as I can.
I try to ride 4 days a week, and lunge an additional day. Never two “hard” days in a row, if I can help it.
Depends on the goals, but generally 3 - 5 days a week. When we were competing CCIs it was more like 5 - 6 (a lot of hacking and fitness days), but now that we’re primarily dressage and some light jumping, 4 is probably my average. I try not to do hard schools two days in a row - if I’m riding two days in a row, one will probably be a hack day, or a fun jump day, rather than two dressage schools. The young horse that is doing primarily groundwork is doing 2 or 3 days a week because he’s not the priority right now. Also limited since no access to lights, and while my older horse can and will work in the dark, by headlamp, etc. I don’t think that’s a fair ask for the 3yo 
I was always told less than 4 will maintain but if you want to build strength 4 is the minimum. That said never more than 4 days of “schooling” + 1-2 days of something else.
We compete but aren’t competitive (one show a month during main season, go 6-7 months without a show, last year I think I had 9 actual days of showing total). I ride 4-5 days (1 hack/hillwork, maybe 1 day cavaletti, 1 lesson, the rest flatting), my trainer hops on 1 day a week for skill development; if I ride 4 days then she might get a low jump lesson with a kiddo for fun. In the winter, I’ll do a “walk only” day where we do a lot of bending and work within the single gait, this is especially useful when it’s cold but not too cold I shouldn’t ride. There’s nothing wrong with riding back-to-back days if your horse can physically and mentally handle it, my mare is happiest when she is working 5-6 days a week.
Equestrian Canada has a horse fitness document they put out during covid that’s really helpful for improving fitness.
I ride 5 days a week. Moving to an indoor soon, but in the past few years of New England weather with no indoor, I’d generally ride down to ~15deg, but since no indoor, I was just walking. I find that if fitness is a concern, keeping up with at least walking as regularly as possible will help a lot.
6 days a week. I try to keep it as different as possible, pole days, jump days, flat days, hack days, play in the field days. Winter I might do more playing on the ground in the arena on the real real real cold days, but I try to even hack come winter in the snowy fields.
We have been road riding two days a week and he has not maintained condition. I trade work for lessons and reduced board at my trainer’s little backyard barn, which has my gelding and her daughter’s large pony. Trainer works out of another barn. I get unlimited lessons, but the weather has been weird here and lessons have been put on the back burner. I subscribe to Ride iQ and try to do an easy walk only lesson a week.
My gelding is AQHA, but with a ton of TB, so a somewhat of a hard keeper. I want to add muscle, which means looking at our work schedule.
Sheilah
Do you have him on an amino acid supplement? I’d look at diet as well as work.
You kind of know my Appendix mare and what she looks like. She does probably 3x a week dressage schooling, 1x jumping, and maybe gives a beginner/easy riding lesson and has tons of muscle. Our schooling days are lots of trot and canter for about 30-40 minutes, on the bit, working gaits and transitions. I would expect at least 3x a week of WORK to maintain condition. She does maintain condition just fine with time off (e.g. she had 3 weeks stall rest and one week no riding this summer and didn’t have visible loss of muscle).
I think that is part of the problem. I am just not asking for a whole lot when I ride. I need to step up my game
He is on a supplement and he gets 4 flakes of quality alfalfa daily ( split between breakfast and dinner). He has an enclosed stall, a run, which is always open to a half acre turn out.
His top line is horrible. He is bright eyed and loves to get off the property and clip clop down the road. He has some fancy buttons, but his trot is bone jarring. And the trot work is what we should be concentrating on.
Sheilah
Yep, just like for people, going for a walk every day is good, but it’s not going to build muscle like pumping iron at the gym 3x a week.
We do two hard work dressage days, two trail rides about an hour apiece at a walk mostly and one trail ride that’s either lots of hills or WTC.
21 yr old prior FEI horse - We do ring work three days a week including one lesson w/ my trainer. Usually a short walk about after. I’d say 4th level work with a bit of piaffe/passage thrown in. On my 4th riding day, weather permitting, we go out in our big jump field and do some walk/trot/canter, then a walk through our small woods and pop over a couple logs. Generally do M-W-F-Sun. As we are both aging, the ring work is as much for me as for him.(trainer gives me the equiv of a core workout, lol).
I ride 3-5 times a week but we are currently rehabbing so we are at a whopping 20 mins walk + 4 mins trot, mostly all straight lines. We are only working on good/flat arena footing so unfortunately trail rides were off the menu this summer and now that we’re in winter I have to stay indoors for the most part due to the weather.
When we weren’t rehabbing I would ride 3-5 times a week with 1-2 more strenuous days (low level dressage lessons) and the other days either tooling around or doing groundwork.
My mare somehow remains remarkably fit despite the lack of work.
Which supplement? How much does the hay weigh? He doesn’t get any grain or ration balancer?
His hay is 15 lbs per feeding, so roughly 30 lbs a day. He gets 2 quarts of equine senior and a scoop of weight gain and a scoop of Farrier’s Formula. He probably doesn’t need the Farrier’s Formula anymore. I put him on it when I bought him last year, when his feet were yucky.
He is feeling pretty darn good. I lunged him this afternoon and he was bucking and farting. Happy, shiny eyes.
I honestly believe (now) that he is just not getting enough work, hence the hay belly and lack of top line. He needs muscle.
Sheilah
Is this the Weight Gain product you’re using? Or something else? https://www.chewy.com/formula-707-weight-gain-crumble-horse/dp/223419?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=Formula%20707&utm_campaign=19725169411&utm_term=&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA0syqBhBxEiwAeNx9N_XIthFvLtpWahdyitKKK681iBUg2i9DGcwmVpsnHirc4qG_JWPumhoC9p8QAvD_BwE
If my math is correct, and a quart of Purina Equine Senior is about a pound, he could be on the low side for aminos, especially methionine. I’d add Tri-Amino for a few months and see if it helps with the topline.
Competing or not, it depends on your goals. If you you want a moderately fit horse who can do lower level stuff well, once he’s fit 4x week is probably fine. Getting fit might take a more focused approach for a while, more of a 6xweek, but the 6x isn’t all hard work or fitness work, it’s a lot of walking, ideally out of the ring (especially for an older horse).
I ride or drive 6x week, and mostly I find that learning/improvement works best in 3 day cycles. It’s not drilling the same thing for 3 days, but rather building up to it. Day 1 and 2 are prepping for day 3. Day 4 is a mental break day, we go for a long walk down the road or it’s a day off.
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