Hello, I have a question about winter riding in upstate NY. I’m from northern CA, and don’t have much experience with this, as I just moved to NY this summer. Currently, I have my horse boarded at a barn with an outdoor sand arena. I’ve heard conflicting opinions on whether I can ride during the winter time. Is there anyone with experience with this, and do you have any recommendations? I currently use easyboots on by TB mare, and I was thinking maybe adding quickstuds for traction, and the pads for cushion in the winter if we happen to run into ice issues? Any thoughts/suggestions would be great!
I thought Winter riding was so much fun the first few years in my new state where snow present. I had come from CA myself. Once kids came along it was just easier to give them a break Jan-Feb for me.
My horses were either shod or barefoot ( depending on their needs) and had traction in snow just fine. I did limit my riding somewhat to places I was familiar with so I knew what was under us. Good footing and clear trails.
Any possibility of ice ( on the ground or under snow) and I did not ride. That to me is a horrible accident waiting to happen. Freezing and thawing and then refreezing happens here, but I am not sure about NY.
I did live in MN for 5 lovely winters and no way would I ride in those brutal temps! I am not that dedicated and too old to be that adventurous 
but horses were allowed out in all weather if they chose , even with ice. They seem to know how and where to go and just walk gingerly.
Common sense is all you need and remember that frozen ground is hard even in a sand arena.
What do you consider upstate NY? I’m about 2 hours from the city in the hudson valley and we don’t get much snow here but then you do have the issue of frozen ground. Not frozen as slippery but hard as rock that you don’t want to work your horse too much on. Frequent fresh snow is great for riding. But without an indoor your not going to be doing much of it
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I was going to ask the same question. “Upstate” depends on where you are, usually. 
My outdoor arena (Capital Region) freezes solid and can’t really be ridden on during the winter. Weather patterns typically include cold rain, then frozen ground, then snow. Sometimes mixing up the order, but generally if there is no snow, the ground is frozen solid. If there is snow, it can be fun for an occasional jaunt, but we don’t typically have frequent, fresh snow, more like snow, ice, melt, ice…mud.
In general, I would say you need an indoor arena if you really want to ride through the winter in NY. Or take the winter off; sometimes you get a mid-winter thaw, but I wouldn’t depend on it.
No real experience riding in boots in the snow because footing is bad enough already. But if you consider shoes for any reason be aware that your horse will need traction control if they are turned out at all. Fluffy snow isn’t usually a problem but flat shoes on ice is treacherous and unfair. Some barns near me don’t want to put traction on their horses so they just don’t turn them out. 
That’s too bad - my horses LOVE the snow.
I grew up riding in upstate NY, and you will not be able to ride year round outside. You might be able to get into december but it gets really cold and the ground will freeze and the footing will become crispy/uneven. We usually just gave our horses a few months off, I think it’s good for their mind anyway.
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IMHO, having lived in Buffalo/Rochester/Syracuse for 60 years, if you don’t have an indoor, you can’t do any serious riding during the winter. Even if the footing is manageable, the temperature is brutal. Your weather choice is usually grey/warm/wet or sunny/freezing/frozen!
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Yes, I grew up near Syracuse and there would simply have been too much snow to ride outside. Here we don’t seem to get enough snow…usually a couple good storms of 2’ at once, and a lot of frozen brown slush for the rest of the winter. Maybe just north of the city…and if you were from NYC you might consider it “Upstate” but the rest of us wouldn’t.
Riding in the winter months only happens on days it in the 30s. But for most part horses get the winter months off that’s from december to april. Too much snow and usually to icey under the snow. Sometimes after a big snow storm i jump on my horse bareback and ride in the deep snow. For the most part it’s to bloody cold to bother with riding with no indoor arena.
Don’t live in NY i live in MN the land of too many months of winter.
Realistically, no, you won’t be able to do serious work outside for somewhere between 4 weeks and 4 months depending on where exactly you are and what the particular winter is like.
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yeah without an indoor, be prepared for a winter of light work or no work. Even here in Virginia the winters are touch and go for riding without an indoor.
Echoing what everyone else said. You will lose riding time in NY without an indoor in the winter. We are 75 miles NNW of Manhattan. Some winters we can use the outdoor well into December. Some years we are frozen out by mid November. We don’t expect to be back in the outdoor until mid March at the earliest. Not only does all the ice and snow need to melt, but the footing needs to thaw and drain to be useable.
Some boarders use a “two barn approach”. If year round riding is important, it might make sense to consider boarding at a facility with just an outdoor for the warmer months and moving to a facility with an indoor for the winter months if your budget allows. Many show barns go to FL for the winter. Your trainer can probably help you find an open stall for winter boarding at a facility with an indoor.
Do be careful of ice during turnout. If it is smooth ice, it can be slippery as heck. If it is uneven “divot” ice it can be a good way to turn an ankle or bruise feet; or worse. Have been at different barns that tried using borium as well as removable studs for traction on the ice. For the barns that choose not to turn out on ice due to the risk of injury, there is plenty of hand walking taking place and you’ll be thankful for that indoor.
I live in upstate NY, first Rochester, now Utica. I can tell you with absolute certainty that without an indoor you will not be able to maintain any semblance of normal riding in the winter. Unless all you plan to do is walk around. The snow gets high enough that it makes movement for the horse fairly difficult. The footing freezes, and the cold/wind/snow itself is just miserable to try and endure. Plus horses in the cold tend to be on the fresh side. If you have one that you might want to put on a lunge to see what you’re working with, that is made much more difficult and risky.
Any of the places that I have kept horses without an indoor, involved hauling to another facility to rent their ring… Which gets expensive and time consuming. It pretty much eliminated weekday rides for me. I would look into a place with an indoor, at least for the winter months.
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I am just going to agree with what others have said, including the part about it depending on what you mean by upstate NY. The amount of snow you get will depend on where you are.
I am near Rochester. Like others have said, if there is not snow the ground gets frozen and clumpy.
The first snow is nice out there and you can gallop around in the snow and have a blast. Then the sun shines (one of the three days per year we get sun) and melts some and then we have ice hidden under snow, etc.
Sounds like you are in my neck of the woods, OneTwoMany. Ditto on the echo. An indoor is a must. I finally built one, basically a covered jogging track around the outside of my barn – but it’s better than nothing.
There are those odd warmish days with lots of sun that allow my stonedust dust sacrifice paddocks to soften up enough for riding, but I always let my horses enjoy those brief outside hours of sun thaw, to run, buck and play while they can. Those days can be far and few between for horses that are turned out mostly 24/7.
Agree with the other upstaters… even a covered arena [ie not an indoor] or covered round pen will get you some work in the winter… but without even those… nope.
You also need good footing… nothing scarier than a wild, revved up from the cold and being underworked OTTB on bad/icy/frozen footing.
Without a covered arena, riding in upstate NY is a half-season endeavor.
I lived in Oneonta, NY for two years and it is very, very hard to ride outdoors - and this is coming from someone who grew up in MA and was not a stranger to cold winter.
The bigger problem than just the snow in the arena is the wind and the ice - upstate goes through a lot of coldsnaps followed by a brief period of temperate/moderate spells, meaning the snow melts into an ice brick… and then it is layered by a seemingly crisp blanket of snow… looks safe to ride in, but is dangerously far from so. Very hard to see through the snow to know where the ice-falls are, and in a flat place like an arena, ice piles up quickly underfoot.
I had one of the worst wipeouts in my horse career one day hand-walking a horse outside in the driveway - it was actually my first month with my fresh-off-track TB and we were handwalking outside because the weekend had been so horrible they had all stayed inside with no turnout… we were just walking and he lost his footing and just went plink and knocked me down with him - thankfully he had the good sense to let me get out of his way before he tried getting up but it was very, very scary.
I think if you want to ride consistently you will need a covered arena. Even though I am back in MA now, I can’t do much more than walk most days in the winter – good for my horse to get a break from intense training, but I’ve found as I get older my riding and fitness definitely deteriorates in the winter.
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Thank you so much for all the advice! My horse is boarded near Ithaca, NY. I really appreciate all the input, as I’m totally new to this!
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I am from Ithaca - moved away a few years ago. I always boarded at a place with an indoor so I could keep riding during the winter months when the temps weren’t too cold. You definitely need to be careful when it’s icy out! I’ve had my fair share of spills (non-horse related luckily) during the winter. But I agree with others…it’s a lot of fun to go out galloping in the snow when the footing is good!
