If you only have a certain amount of “horse time” in a day manage it well to maximise the time you spend training your horse. I know a lot of people who spend most of their time caring for their horse and pay others to ride “because they don’t have the time”. This can kick off a vicious cycle that can be difficult to break out of!
Figure 33 A Vicious Spiral
As we spend more time on care, we have less time for training. A poorly trained horse is less of a pleasure to ride and we may decide not to ride so much. This gives us more time to spend on care and the cycle persists.
When I was working in my previous career, a typical 24 hours for me used to involve
8 hours: sleeping
4 hours: travelling to and from work
8 hours: (minimum) working
2 hours: eating, cooking, shopping, household tasks
2 hours: horses.
If we have only 2 hours a day to spend on our horses then we must try to find ways of maximising the amount of that time we use for training. Ideas for this can include:
-Finding a yard nearby.
-Getting stable work done for you. If you prefer to care for your horses yourself, or can’t afford to pay for care, then you could save time on mucking out by using rubber mats and a sprinkling of shavings. Mucking out takes 5 minutes this way and your muck-heap will be smaller and better quality.
-Save time watering by fitting auto-drinkers. These are great news for bad backs too.
-Save time on grooming and rug changing by using good breathable multipurpose outdoor rugs with “polishing” linings. Neck covers are invaluable for muddy winter paddocks.
-Avoid the urine smell so common in rubber matted stables (and all over your horses coat!) by teaching your horse to go for a pee outside. It didn’t take mine long to understand. They come in at 5pm. At 10 pm they are let out or walked out for a pee. Again at 8am the next morning. The signal to pee is a low pitched whistle. A pee at the right time gets a “good boy” and a caress. Even cleaner stables and horses. NB This requires consistency!
-Save time tack cleaning by minimising tack (eg no noseband) and using synthetic tack.
-Feed hay on the floor. It’s more natural for the horse and saves time filling and hanging nets.
-Maybe you prefer mucking out, grooming and tack cleaning to riding. If so, it’s not a problem – come and do mine for me too! But be aware and accept that your rate of progress with your riding will be slower.
-Why not use your non-horse time to work on your riding too? Use your commuting time to read those training books; think about your balance and posture; plan your next training session or analyse your last one.
-At work, think about your posture. Make better use of your breaks at work - use them to stretch and practice Pilates. Test the boundaries of what could be possible on the flexible working front eg working part-time or working more from home. There is no doubt that some jobs can negatively impact your riding in more ways than just time. Sitting at a computer all day, lots of stress and tight deadlines can all create mental and physical tension which are the great enemy of the rider. You have to decide what’s more important to you. I tried working part-time and had a couple of career breaks to really focus on horses but what work did to my head and body when I was there was difficult to overcome on my horse.
My survey respondents had the following advice for a working owner rider:
“Find the right horse to suit your lifestyle and find an easy way to keep him. Enjoy your riding. Make time. Love your horse.”
“Regular sessions for the horse ridden by her chosen trainer to help take his education forward faster than she can achieve.”
“Ride as much as possible but it should always be a pleasure, don’t let it dominate your life to the point of becoming frustrated with lack of time, and possibly involve a good trainer to help school and exercise the horse for them.Try to have a weekly lesson.”
“Try and spend as much time riding as possible to keep up the fitness of horse & rider or alternatively get a sharer of the same ability as yourself”
Things to remember
Be focussed and plan.
Choose a horse you like and who you enjoy working with.
Choose a coach you like, who is committed to you and your horse’s long term progress and who you enjoy working with.
Seek feedback and be honest with yourself.
Prioritise.