Winters Off?

[Fun_Size]

I had a wild idea - maybe not wild, humor my concussed goofy self (see my thread on my fall, I’ll be fine, just a mess for now)

I did a search on COTH and found a 2018 thread about winters off, so I wanted to make a new topic for a more recent take.

If - when - I come back to riding, I’m doing it in a much less high pressure situation at a facility with the maximum turnout I can find (looking at a place that’s very close to 24/7 except bad weather or if the horse needs something else) where I can jump but also go for a nice hack or take my horse to play around with a local hunt for a well rounded me, and horse.

I also have a son in competitive winter sports and I’m having a hard time balancing that with my horse habit.

Given proper turnout - and lots of it - and a herd the horse loves and can play with, and bringing the horse back into work slowly and correctly say…1-2 months before I come back from being the ski mom by a great trainer … is this a thing?

Because honestly if I could get a young horse, have a trainer helping me, and then not have to stress about riding in between spending every weekend on the mountain, all the time December - April, do my riding thing April - November, that would be my ideal horse world.

I will happily trot and canter poles and work on basics for as long as hypothetical baby horse needs it. I’m in no hurry!

The idea occurred to me as a stray thought months ago when I was getting pressure to haul my horse to Thermal (I’m in the PNW) to show, and something one of my old trainers said popped into my head - essentially: “in my day back east horses got the winter off!”

He had a point. I need time off after so many weeks of riding 2-3x / week, forget if I’m showing.

I wonder if doing things the way everyone had / has to do it in real winter with no indoor might be the answer to my horsey dilemma.

And yes, I will ask trainer, I just want to hear from my COTH friends too

[SharonA1]

Just curious; why a young horse, if you’re not planning to ride at an ultra competitive level in the future? Why not some older partner who does not care in the least if you take the winter off, and will not need to be “maintained” by your trainer when you can’t ride, yet still will have all the important buttons well-installed when you do hop on?

[trubandloki]

With the right horse your plan could work perfectly. There is no reason to not do your way, if you have a horse that is OK with it.
I say it that way because there are lots of horses who do not care if they are working or not, and when you go grab them after a few months of doing almost nothing they are fine starting back up. There are also horses who if not in a routine will lose their mind and you will be starting over as if you have never done any of this before.

So, find the right mount and enjoy your winters with your kid, and then enjoy your summer riding time.

[fivestrideline]

@SharonA1

Just curious; why a young horse, if you’re not planning to ride at an ultra competitive level in the future? Why not some older partner who does not care in the least if you take the winter off, and will not need to be “maintained” by your trainer when you can’t ride, yet still will have all the important buttons well-installed when you do hop on?

Seconding this. Why not get something a tad older that is a known entity and won’t care if they sit for 3 months or 3 days? Not every older horse is this way, but if you buy from someone reputable they’ll be able to tell you which ones are spicy in the spring and which ones aren’t.

I followed your other thread OP, and a youngster would not be my first choice for you. Opinion worth what you paid for it, but you also sound like a packer type is more your speed (especially if you want to start eventing). That’s another vote for something older. Older here can be anything from age 10 but has seen the world, to later teens.

You’ll spend less time and money having a trainer maintain your horse, and more time in the saddle yourself having FUN.

[Bonnie2]

Of course it’s fine to give your horse the winter off! Or whatever other block of time your “real” life requires. As long as you are practical about bringing him back to work after his vacation. Realistically, you will be unfit too so a reasonable back to work will be best for both of you. After decades of keeping horses going through the winter so they would be ready for the spring season, this past winter I didn’t ride at all. I hate the cold and didn’t miss riding one bit. My horses are at home so there was still plenty to do and lots of pony time. We’ve been hacking about a month now and just started doing a little ring work. Find a horse you look forward to riding. Find a farm that can keep him happy while you’re not around (not easy or cheap). Enjoy your horse at your comfort level when life allows. Check in with the farm often when you can’t be there in person. Spend time with your kids because tomorrow they’ll be grown, but carve out a little time for you!

[nighthorse6]

It can be done with a horse that is already trained and has the right personality! Heck, I didn’t ride my mare more than a handful of times a year for 8 years while I was having kids. However, she was 9 years old when she came to my farm and we had done lots of showing and riding together prior. I bought her at 4 years old and she is a mellow draft/TB cross.
So last year when I brought her back to start riding her consistently and showing again, she only needed a few months to settle back into work, getting her brain and body back in the game. She hadn’t forgotten anything she knew and in fact came back better than ever.
So if me and my horse can do it after 8 years, it’s certainly possible to do it after a winter off!
Also, after reading your other thread, I would look into a draft cross or Cleveland Bay cross or something with some cold blood and bone mixed in there to take you out of the ring for hunting and eventing, but that can also step into the Hunter ring when you want to play there.

[awaywego]

Just chiming in to say older does not necessarily handle winters off better. Some horses are just permanently youthful I say this as someone who is struggling to get an 18 year old back to his program this spring. Additionally, older can make it harder to physically get them back as well - some it’s better to keep them going, even lightly rather than start from 0.

It can be done. Ask me how by fall every year my horse is looking great to show finally

[DiamondJubilee]

I have done this for the past 20 years. I don’t have an indoor and have 5 ponies of various ages at home, from unbroke youngsters growing up, to 3-4 years old project ponies that I have to start, or have just started, to a going 15 year old been there done that and one retired 27 year old.

I always give them from November until whenever the footing is good (usually March/April as I’m in Ontario). I have newly backed 3 or 4 years olds and they are out in a herd for 14-16 hr/day and they start back in the spring with 0 issues. Same with my been there done that guy. Of course I always start slow (like 20 min rides for the first few weeks, mostly walk with some t/c thrown in) and it has always worked well for me (over many, many different ponies). But they are all homebred ponies with very good minds. Honestly I have started and backed them all myself (ammy here) and I can think of at least 20 different ponies I have started and done winters off with and no problems. Even some of my guys who prefer a program do well with this and I think they like the break from a heavy show year.

[NoSuchPerson]

I think when you are riding at a place that has the facilities to run at a steady pace year round and that is your horse world, your views get skewed and you start thinking that everybody rides that way. They don’t.

I think in the larger world of horse ownership and riding, taking a season off is much more common than riding seriously year-round. When I lived in Florida, I pretty much took summers off because it was just too damn hot to ride and my life didn’t run on a schedule that allowed me to get up and ride at dawn. My horses didn’t care. Now that I live farther north where winters are cold, wet, and mud up to your eyeballs and I’m without access to a covered/indoor arena, I mostly take winters off. My horse doesn’t care.

[beowulf]

I have done this for 20+ years also. It is GREAT for the horse provided they really are out 24/7 and not just sitting in a stall.

It is not so great for your riding if you are seriously competitive because you lose muscle memory and fitness and some position progress. It will set you both back a little in terms of progress as you’ll spend those months legging up versus schooling new things, but I think it is worth it for a sounder/happier horse.

Knock on wood here, I think giving the horse the winter off helps heal any microinjuries or soreness from competition season, preventing any long-term sidelining.

It is a breeze legging them back up in the early spring if they are out 24/7. They’ll already have a baseline fitness. I go right to trotting after walk hacks for a week. I do 2m of trot 3x a week, and increase the trot duration 1m for each new week.

My gelding will be 16 tomorrow I have not noticed it being more difficult to bring him back into work each year, but he is not stalled. I have noticed with stalled horses it takes longer each year and the break is not necessarily better.

[floppyammy]

OP, with everything you have been through recently, and the description of your life, I do not recommend buying a young horse, period.

[Fun_Size]

This is a hypothetical horse for the end of 2025 at the earliest.

It would be the second young one for me, and the first was an amazing process and some of the most fun I ever had. This is wild speculation only

[GoodTimes]

Is there a reason that you feel you need to own one if can’t or don’t want to be at the barn consistently through the winter? I ask because unless you’re at a close to full service facility you’re still going to need to go out to the barn to brush, pick feet, change blankets, deal with cuts, mud fever, etc. It’s not like a motorcycle that you can park and pull insurance until the snow melts.
It sounds to me like you’d be better off finding a part board or something that you can lease through the summer.

[Fun_Size]

I’d like to start with a young horse again because it seems like every horse I get in recently that’s allegedly “ready to go” had baggage I have to work way harder to undo than I would work to just start with something around age 4/5 and take a few years to develop. I’d also like to have them for a long time, longer than an older horse might allow.

[Fun_Size]

No worries - my favorite horse ever was the one I got when she was 4. I enjoyed the process so, so much, which is why I’d like to do it again. I’ve done older, it never seems to quite work out for me.

[Fun_Size]

Thank you! I figure a 2 month “get in shape” ramp up for the horse would be appropriate. I ski 2-3 days / week in the winter so I wouldn’t need a whole lot as far as fitness goes. Ideal world I’d be able to sneak down and go for a hack once a week in between skiing

[Fun_Size]

Lease / lesson options are very very few and far between out here. The other wild though I had would be an April - November lease, but I’m afraid that would get really expensive all the time and I’m not sure I’d want a new horse every year. Or maybe that would be good for me? But I’d rather just bring my own along again at this point.

[Fun_Size]

A little about my personality - I am a hopeless planner. It helps me to relax if I can think of a plan - even if it’s a 5 year plan - that theoretically works or would work for me. Winters off for the horse (at a full care place, where I’d need to be anyway because of work / kid) with 24/7 turnout is an idea I’m exploring. Believe me, it’s going to take me a bit minute to save up for hypothetical horse! Well, Hony rather in the 14.3-15h range

[atr]

Certainly at our barn (dressage) if you are if full training you could disappear for the winter and your horse would be cared for, ridden and ready to go when you came back. We always have one or two “absentee owners” for one reason or another. I was off for 2 months last winter with an injury and it was no problem.

Your son won’t be ski racing forever. Enjoy it!

[GoodTimes]

Fair enough. I just though I’d ask. In my area full service with 24/7 turnout doesn’t exist.