How important is a daily routine for horses?

I think it is easier for ponies living out to be more flexible with their routine as they live in a herd so have plenty of company and not so reliant on food to keep them occupied and also if there is grass always have something to eat to keep them going.

Also they are not fretting about not being turned out on time as they are already out!
 
It's great if you have all day to wander down to your neds whenever you feel like it - unfortunatley my life just doesn't work out like that. Ruby is never stood by the gate waiting for me, she's usually to be found grazing with her field mate and then ambles over when she sees me coming. It's each to their own I think. I should have added i don't have a riding routine or specific hack route - that's weather and time dependent at the moment and Ruby certainly doesn't get stressed our anything because of this. But then again I am very lucky considering Roo's a chestnut TB mare lol, she just takes life in her stride. Like i think I said above, routine is for my benefit, not Ruby's. She is just incorporated into the daily grind of kids, work, house and husband lol.
 
Iwantahorse! said:
It's great if you have all day to wander down to your neds whenever you feel like it - unfortunatley my life just doesn't work out like that.
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Luckily at the moment, I can- I'm in my last year of uni so in the final run to exams and can choose my time as my own.

Obviously when I am working and him being in overnight is essential (due to london yard constraints!) then i will have some sort of a routine, even if it is just time of day related, but will still try and vary things around as if there is any disruption to an establihed routine, then that makes things difficult for me.
 
Mine and my friends horses live out 24/7 always have and they get visited/ridden as and when. My first two horses were 31 and 26 when I lost them and my friends first horse was 30, so I don't believe a routine is that important provided they live out.
 
I don't have a routine in stable work or ridden work as I have to try and fit my day around lectures at odd times.
 
I have to have a routine Mon-Fri as the times I can visit the yard are dictated by my working hours. Weekends are more flexible but I like to do things other than be at the yard all the time so most of the time I stick to the am and pm visit for ease. I visit at roughly the same times each day, every day, even when she's out 24/7, though when she's out full time I might not bring her onto the yard and just check her in the field, or I might ride at each end of the day, so in that respect the routine varies.

My girl doesn't stress if I turn out later than normal or bring in later, but she will be at the gate waiting to come in or will whicker when I get out of the car.

I think some kind of routine is important but don't believe it has to be rigid or by the minute, or even follow a set pattern. My girl is happy as long as she comes in at some point, has plenty of hay and gets to go out in the field.
 
In summer when my mare is out 24/7 if I happen to be later than usual she will be hanging around the gate waiting for me, so I know she expects to see me every day around the same time.
And I have noticed that the herd follows a routine as they graze certain areas at certain times of day and often lie down together at a certain time of day.
So I think routine is very important to horses.
 
The only routine I have is that I will turn up at some time during the morning, be it 6am or noon. With our work (we hire out carriages) they can find themselves in completely different places and routines daily, but they really are very happy about it all.:)
 
No - mine don't have a rigid routine, as it's often dictated by outside influences anyway. Today, for example, farmer came to do some maintenance on my land which meant my two were in the stock yard with hay all day. On some days they go out at 7 in the morning, sometimes as late as 8.30, sometimes come in at 9 - tonight came in at 10.15. They seem happy with it (although if they were left in too late - for example when the farrier comes he's into until 10.30/11) then he gets aggitated a bit. But hey - that's life - and on balance my two have a good life with a lot of attention.
 
No routine, so long as they get their grub each day who cares when it arrives?
 
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