Making time for a second horse

[TwoTrickPony]

@MysticOakRanch

:
I’m curious since some people are saying they can ride 2 horses in an hour and a half… How long do you ride? It takes me 3 hours to do 2 horses - that includes basic grooming, tacking up, untacking, warm up/cool down. And I’m fairly efficient. I can’t imagine doing two in half that time. Maybe this is a different thread - but is it really possible to do them that quickly?

I could “do” two horses in 1 1/2 hours. I do a lot of trail for conditioning, sanity, and variation, so I can ride one and pony the other easily in that time. `My horses look great, but I literally spend almost no time brushing them except to make sure the saddle area is clean. They are in pasture, so I throw them out there when done. If it’s hot and they are sweaty, I hose them off. That doesn’t take long.

If I am pushing time and riding both, I can warm up both on a short trail, take both to the arena, tie one and ride the other for maybe 20 to 30 minutes. They wear the same saddle and bridle, so just switch horses and do the other. The real work I am doing is really no more than 30 minutes. I am not doing 45 minutes to an hour of piaffe/extended trot or changes. I can do that in two hours.

Maybe it’s because mine are not in stalls and moving all of the time, so I don’t have to take that extra long time to make sure they’re super warmed up before working?

[KittyinAus]

@LarkspurCO

It takes me at least two hours to ride one horse (I keep three at home but am riding only one regularly). This includes about 30 minutes of grooming and tacking up. My horse is accident prone and very large, and has a lot of issues, so there’s a lot of ground to cover. He also has a lot of itchy spots that need scratching and muscles that need massaging. This is a horse that really gets into his grooming and thrives on the attention and, er, “foreplay”. Add at least an hour, usually a bit longer, to cover warming up, riding and cooling down. I do a lot of walking and almost always include some hill work with trot and canter sets, in addition to ring work. Also frequent longeing over poles, so add time to set them up, fiddle with the longeing gear, etc.

Post-ride care involves grooming and sweat removal (toweling or hosing), icing legs and/or rubbing down with liniment, going over him with the Thumper, wiping down tack, etc. In cold weather I use a heated throw blanket before and after riding.

My horse has back issues and is another big horse, so this will be me too.

[LilyandBaron]

I have three at home, but only one main horse. I am inspired by an article about Carl Hester’s schedule for his horses. They do dressage 4 days a week, and are hacked out two other days. So could you pay someone to just hack for a few days for conditioning, and then you do the more focused work, or pay the trainer for rides? I’ve also done lessons where trainer is on one horse, I’m on the other, and we swap later - but not all trainers are that flexible. I also realize that my choices to prioritize family time and other interests may limit my riding progress, but horses and family are happy and healthy, so it works.

I think if you are genuinely worried about the time burden, it may not be worth the investment, because to really get anywhere, horse time does take priority, or you need really deep pockets and access to resources to help you get there. I’d hate you to spend the money and regret it… If trainer is available in a few months to take on current horse, I’d wait and see what that does for you. Then if you still want a schoolmaster, and money isn’t issue, you can shop for one then.

[RTF]

I own four, almost hate to say that… but only two are broke to ride, and two are too young. I don’t have a real job, my job is raising my boys and boarding/riding/teaching. One thing that I actually like about having two horses to ride, is that it helps keep me from drilling or overworking a horse. I have a slight tendency to ride or train, or even just try to hard at times. It also takes the stress off of, what if my mare gets hurt…oh what would I do, if I did not have a back up. To actually own a schoolmaster might make a huge difference in your riding. If you really want it to work, and can afford it, why not try it. I bought a warmblood foal that’s hopefully my GP horse in 7 years. Why, because I could. Why else, because a very close relative died at an early age and I decided you only live once. Maybe you will have to juggle things around, but I bet you wouldn’t regret it. Good luck in whatever you choose, but it sounds like a fantastic opportunity to me

[4wdNstraight]

This is my fourth round of having two horses. The first set I was single. The second set, I was married, but no kids. I boarded back then, and had long commutes. My husband was supportive, and were we fairly social. The third set I had at home as we moved to a small property. I had a baby, a full time job, an older FEI horse, and a younger up and coming one. I was way over scheduled. I had an injury that really interrupted my riding, and I sold my FEI horse to be a schoolmaster for somebody who could keep him in work to keep him sound. I really enjoyed the following year of having and competing one horse, as I always felt like I was running. My mare loved becoming queen bee! I had an opportunity to get her half brother as a two year old, and it was too good of a deal to pass up. I ended up selling the mare, as she hurt my body due to the injury, and I bought a 3 year old Andalusian almost a year ago. So now, I have a 4 year old Andy, and a 3 year old Hanoverian, and am suddenly riding two again!

[outerbanks77]

Two is hard with a full-time job. I did it for a few months a while back with a mare that really needed 5-6 days a week of work, and a gelding that could only handle 3 days a week. Like some of the previous posters, I focused my 2-ride days on the weekends, and alternated horses on other days. I should mention that I also travel for work a fair bit, so if I’m gone for a few nights during a week, I then have to compress everyone’s work into the days I’m home.

Now I have a 4yo I’m riding, and another 4yo in training, and have fleeting thoughts of keeping and riding both of them, but know that neither would really get adequate attention. I’ve also thought of selling one and getting a schoolmaster at some point too.

Since you say there are no schoolmasters in the area, I wonder if you could get a schoolmaster, ride him maybe 2x a week, and then make him available for lessons with your trainer another 2x a week, with your trainer schooling him 1x a week or something along those lines? It seems like it would be win-win for everyone, and not be as demanding upon your time as if you take on all of the work for this hypothetical future horse yourself.

[Somantu]

Just chiming in to say: Respect!

You guys are seriously impressive. I have one horse, a very demanding job, no husband, no family –– and all I can handle is two rides a week. I depend on my trainer and rider to put in the other 3 or 4 rides.

Reading all these posts makes me wanna pull up my socks and be less of a slacker.

[Dressage_Strider]

2 or even 3 has been doable for me to give each 5-6 days of work a week IF they are in the stalls when I get there and I can just turn out when I’m done AND I have an indoor arena. I include bareback rides at least once a week, so sometimes I don’t even take them out of the pasture.

I would say you have to be very motivated, and extremely organized to be able to do them AND maintain 40+ hours of work AND a social life

[Fourbeats]

I bought a school master last winter for the same reasons you’re thinking of, to improve my riding and help me train my greener horse. I also work full time as well have a small part time job (that I can do from home) plus I’m working on my dissertation. I work out in the morning before work and ride when I get home unless it’s the weekend.

What I usually do it alternate days where each horse gets a long workout with days that are much shorter. In other words, on Mondays, horse A gets a 45-60 min ride and horse B gets 30 mins. Tuesdays its reversed, horse A gets the shorter work and horse B gets the longer ride. The shorter ride can be a short hack, lunging (very seldom as I prefer to ride them), or just short work on transitions. I typically ride both on the weekends.

It helps that mine are at home and I have lights in one of my arena’s so I can ride any time of day if I want. It also helps that my husband will help out a lot if he’s home by grooming for me. I’ll get both ready and then he brings me the next one and cools out the first one if needed.

My trainer does touch up rides on the school master every couple of months to make sure he doesn’t regress plus I take lessons on him every other Saturday.

Hubby’s not much of a social person but I usually have things going on and he’s content to be home by himself so that makes a difference too.

Yes, it’s hectic but it’s been so worth it in regards to my riding.

[exploding_pony]

Last year I had three going while running my business and being married. Way too much!

Leased out my mare and have the other two in training. My trainer is on vacation this week, so this topic is near and dear to my heart. You can do it, but it is a serious commitment and I always feel like one of them isn’t getting enough attention.

Here’s my schedule Tu/Th/F:
5:00 am Get up, feed animals at home, catch up on work email, pack up work clothes, etc.
6:15 am leave for the barn
7:00 arrive at barn, do a few chores like mixing grain, etc., tack up
7:45 on first horse
8:00/8:15 trainer arrives and warms up second horse, gives me some pointers on horse I am riding
8:45 switch horses - he cools out horse 1 while I spend a few minutes with horse 2
9:15 trainer and groom puts away horses, I jump in the shower
9:30 jump in the car and head for work (you’ll note I do not spend a whole lot of time on hair and makeup!)
10:15 - 7:30/8:00 work

Mon and Weds I don’t ride, but I get up at the same time and work out before heading into the office.

Sat and Sun: school one horse, trail ride the other

It mostly works but honestly I miss doing more of the grooming and care. That said, there are huge advantages to riding multiple horses. But it’s also easy to let it take over your whole life. There is no “efficiency of scale” with horses - two takes twice as long as one. Personally I find that 1-1/2 horses is the perfect amount - so if you can work out a half lease or have one in training, that would be perfect.

If you don’t have a trainer on the schoolmaster, one of two things will probably happen: schoolmaster is going to quickly fall down to your level and/or get confused/upset and start acting out.

[kupeski]

@Nestor

To answer your question… I found having two horses to be hard. And one of those was semi-retired and only being ridden 3 days a week. I never felt that I spent enough time with either, and for that I felt guilty.

Similar situation as Nestor. My semi-retired pony, while more than happy that I’m no longer pushing his canter and having him ‘jump’ groundpoles, I definitely feel like I didn’t love on enough. While I’m currently between jobs, both are in a more regular work schedule, but I’m sure that will change shortly. My pony is a great lesson horse, so I did half lease him to another boarder at my old barn for her 11 year old son, so between their two days and my 1-2 days, he was worked plenty.

When I did have a job, I worked 7-330, got to the barn by 4, and would be there til at least 730 or 8 at night, with a half hour drive home. Since I was living with my parents, I was fortunate enough to have dinner made. When I did have social obligations, I tried to plan a day off for my horses around them.

My new living situation with my SO will be trickier, since he wants to spend ‘quality time’ together. :rolleyes:

[MsM]

I would learn towards spending the money on more training on current horse when available and lessons for you on horses a bit more advanced (if you can find them)
If you do get a schoolmaster, I like the idea of part leasing to the trainer or a client of the trainer.
Trying to keep both going and one progressing while maintaining a job and a social life makes me tired and cranky just thinking of it!