Horses in winter?

Question

This is my first winter with my horses and I am just wondering how you all ride them enough in the winter. I dont have a lighted or covered arena nor have access to one. Soon it is going to be dark when I leave for work and dark when I come home. I try to ride both days of the weekend but am going to be missing my weekday rides. We just trail ride but if we go 2 weeks without riding they get snippy with us and it takes awhile to settle them. How do you all keep them conditioned in the winter so they are good to go when you jump back on in spring?

LOL Mulereiner - I live in Northern Califonia! When it hits 40 we think its FREEZING!!

Answer 1

Carharts and long johns are your friends :)

I look like something like this while getting ready for Denver Stock Show......

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v729/salt_creek_mules/2005-06-22/8499.jpg

You will find that hand warmers and feet warmers are a gift from God, available at walmart. Stick them directly to your skin if its 10degrees or less. Wear a silk scarf over your face. A cabellas fur hat is priceless. I usually have a blanket over me and my mule to help keep my legs warm, hes blanket broke lol.

I can't believe I do all this for one show.......

I do have access to friday night open riding at an indoor arena and we practice drill teams during the winter there also, so my outdoor riding is few and far between but when I do, that is honest to God what i wear.

Good luck!

Answer 2

You can ride in pretty little light. The last few weeks and the next few we'll be riding the last half hour in the dark, just a little from the barns and the flood light on the house across the yard. It's not exactly the best conditions, but hey it's riding. Since you're in northern cali, like me, you fortunately don't have to worry about the cold like Mulereiner does, so that makes riding after dark even less of a problem. Just make sure to bring a sweatshirt.

If you really don't like riding in the dark put up a flood light somewhere in the yard, it'll give just enough light for you to see by. If you're trail riding bring a few flashlights and wear one of those helmets with one attached( can't for the life of me remember what they're called)

Answer 3

I live in Canada, and in a normal winter we have snow on the ground in November and it lasts until March or April. Riding is really tough then, unless you have an indoor arena, which I don't.
If you have an easy going, older and well broke horse, you can kinda play around and keep them somewhat up in the winter. The worst thing isn't riding in the snow, but it's riding on frozen, rock hard ground or slick ice. In most cases I cannot ride or safely lunge faster than a walk, so its futile to try to accomplish much. Soft snow is actually alot better, you can at least jog without being too hard on your horse's feet and legs, and without worrying about them slipping.
If you have a younger, goofier and less reliable horse, you may just want to give them a nice long winter break and then start back up when spring is settled in. You're right, most horses get out of sorts and silly with a big break, and I'd prefer going through the "settling down" period only once, in the spring, instead of doing it with a high energy horse numberous times all winter.
In the spring you probably are going to have to lunge and do a bunch of ground work for a week or so before you actually start riding. And when you do ride, do it in a safe and familiar place to your horses. Once they're getting back into the habit of obeying and concentrating you can increase their work load and start back trail riding.
Or if they're really actually like brats, it might be worth the money to have a trainer put the first few weeks of riding into them. It costs money, but it can save alot of hassles.
And you were wondering how you keep them in condition if you don't get to ride. The truth is - it's impossible to keep them in good riding condition. It does help alot if they are in pasture turnout. Just the normal activities of walking from the hay to the waterer to paw at some grass and then play with their buddies keeps them somewhat toned. If they stand in a stall or tiny paddock they totally lose all their condition. So try to arrange for safe, large pasture turn-out in the winter if you won't be riding much.
Good luck. I'd think I was in heaven if it never got below freezing. I'll ride if it's somewhere between minus 8 to zero celcius here, and be quite happy, colder than - 10 just doesn't seem worth it to me!

Answer 4

40 is freezing????? I will ride my horse outside (light ride, mostly walking) down to about zero.
You could put a flood light outside for when it gets dark, or go on moonlight trail rides (I love them).
I don't think you a lot of snow/ice if 40 is freezing, but the main limitation to riding here (WI) is that the outdoor arena ices up and it isn't safe anymore. Usually it takes about 2 weeks for the snow to pack down enough on the ice for a good walk/trot arena again.

Riding at least 2 days a week in the winter would be fine if that is all you can manage. Winter is a resting time for the horses and all of ours get a break from the demanding summer. In winter, we ride 1- 2 days if possible with weather/arena conditions, and sometimes go a whole month if it is below zero or all ice. It doesn't take that long for them to "bounce back" into training in spring. They will be more excitable, but that is just the weather.

Answer 5

You can still work with your horse after dark. If you have a yard light or can put up a flood light on the side of your barn or house, you can either ride or simply lunge your horse to keep them conditioned. One thing though, your problem will be if you exercise them enough to cause them to sweat, you will need to blanket them after wards until they are dry, as it could make them sick if you don't. It depends on where you live, but if you have a long driveway or a quiet road that you can ride on the side, using reflectors on you and your horse, that too can condition you and your horse. Do you go on trail rides during the winter? If not, just maintain them and begin conditioning them a few weeks before your first trail ride and don't worry about keeping them in riding condition until you actually plan to ride.

Answer 6

We have trail horses and don't ride much in the winter. When we do ride, we wear long johns and Carhardts, etc. We usually ride on the weekends only and only for short periods of time depending on how cold it really is (1 - 3 hours)

We aren't real concerned about keeping our horses in shape over the winter, since we get to ride into January. February and early March are usually the coldest months here (KY). We lay our horses off during that time and start conditioning in early April and build them back up from there.

Answer 7

Sorry, Shalazar, but this poll is for the big kids ;) 1.) Do you ride at all in the Winter (when it's more chilly out)? If I have time, yes I do ride. The cold dosen't bother me. I just bundle up and jump in the saddle. 2.) Do you have a feeding and riding schedule for your horse(s)? If so, explain when you feed and ride your horses and dodging it all with school/work/etc. Our horses get grain all year around, and during the winter we give them hay. We have large plastic buckets that we stuff twice a day (in the mornings and evenings) with hay. We don't let them just eat from the hay bale because they waste too much off it. 3.) What type of feed do you feed your horse? How much do you feed him/her? Is he/she at the right weight, a little chubby or needs to put some weight on? We give our 2 older horses Triple Crown Senior feed and our younger horse just gets regular sweet feed. The horses get a full cup, our pony gets half a cup. We only have 1 overweight horse he is currently on a diet :) 4.) How much do you work your horse in the Winter? Do you ride indoors and/outdoors? Either or, how long do you ride for and what do you do with him/her? I just ride for fun so I can't really answer this question. I don't have a routine or anything. I just ride. 5.) When turning your horse out and/or stabling him/her, do you blanket him/her just yet? If so, what type of blanket do you use (brand, thickness, etc). If you do not, why don't you just yet or even at all? All of our horses have a medium Weatherbeeta turnout blanket. We only put in it on them when it is very cold/raining/windy/snowing. 6.) When hauling your horse (no matter how long the ride is), do you blanket your horse in the trailer? Do you have him/her wear shipping boots? Wear anything else or even nothing at all? We don't currently have a horse trailer so can't really answer this one. 7.) What does your horse wear out in the pasture? (Blanket him/her? Fly masks? Boots?) **Even though it's Winter. Our horses are 24/7 pasture horses. We only put their blankets on when it's very cold/raining/windy/snowing.

Answer 8

theres really not much you can do about this
just ride on the weekend, your horse will remain reasonably fit pottering around the pasture and being ridden on the weekends.
nobody like riding in the cold and wet including yur horse.
if you have a young friend or retired person who likes to ride and doesnt have a horse maybe they could ride them for you in the week if you trust them
or you could put them in a full board centre where they will lunge and train them for you for a hefty fee.
you dont need an arena as such, what we used to do is draw/spray paint a circle on a flat area of the field and set up a few flood lights, a bit crude, but if you really have to ride it works, you will need a generator or access to electricity to do this.

Answer 9

I have taken a halogen shop light, and run an extension cord out to the pasture before. That gives just enough light to ride by. Just make sure it is fastened to the fence well so that it won't fall over and break or start a fire.

Best of luck!

Answer 10

Alot of people don't ride through the winter and just "tune it up in the spring" or pay someone to get it ready for the good riding season.