Worried About Riding During the Winter Months

Flipo's Mum

Heavy owner of a Heavy
Aug 17, 2009
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Perthshire, Scotland
Flipo came back from retraining three months ago and since then I've tried to pack in as many rides as possible to clock up time in the saddle to help lessen the nerves about riding. Our time in the school has been about improving our partnership so that Flip listens to what I ask and also working on his flexibility (he's pretty stiff on his offside).
We've done some mini hacking and it is very clear that he prefers this to working in the school so I try to get him out and about after our schooling, even if that means me walking him home via a longer route in hand (because my nerve comes and goes in respect of riding solo).
The clocks are about to change and I won't be able to ride during the week. Added to that is the prospect of days like today during the weekend when the weather isn't great. I've overcome my fear of wind, Flipo isn't particularly fussed but based on his tendency to trip over his own feet on a regular basis, I'm not too enthusiastic about riding when its icey:cold:, in fact I know I won't ride then!
So I've got a couple of questions.
1. What sort of goals should I set myself and Flipo riddenwise over the winter? I intend to use the weekday evenings to concentrate on some groundwork so thats a given, but I'm worried about not being in the saddle that often. I need purpose to our schooling sessions otherwise Flip just takes the pee, but can I achieve much being in there only once a week? The school is very much our safety zone, so if I'm not riding as often I'll want to spend time in there to keep things ticking over.
2. The most I've gone without riding in the last three months is one week and the thought of getting back in the saddle has been crippling on these occasions. I know alot of people will say 'maybe you shouldn't ride then if it upsets you that much' but once I'm on I love it (well 90% of the time!) so I know its just about chipping away at it and eventually I'll get there confidence wise. Faced with the possibility of not being able to ride regularly because of the weather, how do I help my confidence and motivation stay intact?
Does anyone else worry about this? How did you get on last year?
Things have been going pretty well up until now but I feel that the momentum is about to drop away and before I know it I'll be dreading my first ride in the spring because I haven't sat on my horse for six weeks (lets face it, if the winter goes the same way it did last year then January will be a write off).:redface:
PS I will, weather permitting, still be getting my weekly RS lesson but my nerves relate directly to riding Flip, I have no confidence issues riding the RS horses.
 
Oh I know exactly how you feel....

I've found myself a sharer so that at least my horse gets ridden three times a week minimum by a younger lass who is confident, which rubs off on the horse, but I appreciate you might not want to go down this route.

Last year, I just turned my mare away for a couple of months, taking the whole riding problem right out of the equation altogether, bringing her back into work in the spring when the weather was nicer, meaning that my joints were also more flexible. I suffer quite badly with arthritis, and in the winter time I can seize up quite badly, which doesn't make for comfortable riding at all.

Meanwhile, in hand work will always be of benefit in strengthening the bond between you and Flipo, so it's a great way to spend horsey time without being in the saddle.

Sorry, not that much help am I?:frown:
 
I'm totally with you on this one.
I am about to buy my first horse and I have always struggled with my confidence. I'm not sure how much riding I will be able to do due to weather and if I don't, like you, I lose my nerve. The horse I am looking at is a star and he will be absolutely fine but I know that I have bad times ahead of me because of my nerves. However, as you say, we enjoy it too much to give it up.

I will ride as much as possible and if the weather really deteriorates.. I may consider just turning him away and that relieves the pressure.. until I have to ride again :cold:a:)

I'm not sure about goals etc. For me, I just need to keep riding for the purposes of my nerves so probably more for my benefit than for that of the horse.
Sorry, not much help but I think I feel much the same as you do. :biggrin:
 
I'm another one going into my first winter of having a horse to worry about and I don't think I will be able to ride much in the week either. I have also gone down the sharer route so at least she will be getting some work, I am also making plans to ride out with people on the days I do have some free time coz then I know I will make myself ride so as not to let the other person down... If its just left to me I will just make excuses but if I know someone is meeting me for a ride or I have a lesson then it motivates me to overcome my nerves and be ready on time etc.
 
I am also going into my first winter with horses.

I have a sharer for Mattie so he will get out a couple of times a week, which is just about enough for him (he'd like to go 7/7 but his back and hocks wouldn't). Plus my OH may ride him once or twice a week, but he is a very fair weather rider.

I dursn't get a sharer for Zigs until he is more dependable, so I am on my own with him. I hope to get out with Mattie's sharer (also Jane, confusingly) when she goes, so that's twice, and have either a lesson a week as well or get my RI to hack-and-school him. If I am too busy to ride at least I will have the money to pay my RI!

But it's all weather permitting - if we get anything like last winter nobody near us could get out for 4 weeks. In which case the horses get turned away perforce!

I'll try to worry about it when it happens....
 
I'd simply aim for keeping him and you ticking over, no more. There's no need for it. And if he's only being ridden once a week, you can easily stick to the school if you want to, as long as you keep what you're doing interesting.

A ridden session needs to be no more than 10 minutes as long as it's a good 10 minutes, so all you need is something constructive and positive. Do things that will give you a focus and him something to think about - so, for example, put some poles down and ask him to walk over them and stop with front legs one side and back legs the other (harder than it sounds with some horses!). Progress to asking him to step sideways along the length of it. Make a 3 sided box with poles then walk in and reverse out. Or reverse in. Or turn round in it without touching any poles. Try and get a downwards transition just by breathing or getting a turn across the school because you're thinking about doing it rather than thinking about consciously riding it.

Do anything that comes into your head, but think of it as play time, not working him. It's an opportunity to chill out and see what happens if you do xyz. And it means that, come spring when you're back to going out and about, you know each other that much better and you've got more confidence in each other. You can achieve huge amounts by doing just a few minutes once a week or less, so it's most definitely worth it.
 
This is my third winter with Brodie and my first with the new pony 'Moomin' however it's the first year Brodie doesn't have a stable. We've always been on livery yards before.

We've made a bit of progress with Brodie's behaviour over the summer and I am a little worried it will all go down hill once I'm not around so much. I shall be taking full advantage of my child free weekends and riding Saturdays and Sundays- just going for hacks when I can and other than that he will be left to it. He's being broken to harness at the moment but I don't think I'll find the time to complete it before the winter nights so it'll get binned off till the spring now too.

I guess I'm lucky in that Brodie is quite an easy boy and I can pick him up and put him down.
 
Funnily enough, its never been a major issue with Arnie (god knows, everything else was!). I usually turn him away for a couple of months as I just dont have time to do anything and he doesnt behave terribly well on a "once a week" basis - he gets all up himself.

When I bring him back into work I just do a little bit of groundwork and maybe lunge a bit then get on. Not only has he always behaved, he has always come back a much better horse than he was before the break:D
 
Arrrgh FM im feeling exactly the same!!

Really worrying about how the winter is going to effect us :frown:

Last winter i hardly rode which resulted in less confidance for me, and him getting lazy and stroppy. Deffo dont want that happening again espeically as things are going great right now.

I guess if we try mega hard to ride both days on weekend should be fine.
Ground work on weekdays is a good idea! :happy:
 
I was worried last winter about what was going to happen with my girl, we had moved from a place where we had a school and on farm riding to a field where we had to cross a road to hack out. That meant my early morning rides in the dark would be lost and she would not get the 5 rides a week she had been getting. I decided quite early on not to try and set a target of a number of rides a week so that I wasn't letting myself down if I didn't manage it because of rain/snow/ice etc. On occasions when I got an unplanned early finish at work I got out, even if it was only for 20 minutes or so.

As the others said, if you can arrange to ride with someone then that's a good idea, it does motivate me more to get going and actually ride out, especially if I haven't been out for a few days..

Back when I had a more easy use of a school (have to hack to one now!) I had downloaded the prelim dressage cd onto my iPod, it just meant that I had something with structure to work through when I was thinking "god it's cold can I get off yet!?"
 
I worry about this too. Generally my lad is pretty sensible if ridden only at weekends. In a way the fact that last winter he had to have a month off due to the weather has done me good, as he was fine when I got back on him.

This may sound a bit daft but when I bought him it was the middle of winter and I really worried about not riding, so I used to get back from work in the dark and tack him up and wander round the yard for a few minutes. Sounds a bit pointless but at least I had sat on him and it meant that I didn't worry so much.

Roll on next spring!!!!!
 
Nice to hear others have similar concerns.:redface: I'm not so worried about Flipo being trouble not getting ridden so much, the trainer said he's not a horse that needs to be ridden every day. Indeed he was only ridden about ten times over the course of six months last winter because of my lack of confidence. Its more about how I'll feel - I might not have ridden for a couple of weeks, have the opportunity to go out if the weather is good and may bottle it. I don't want to feel that way but I guess I can't stop it, I've just got to push myself out of my comfort zone a bit. I like the idea of hacking out with others - its not something I've done yet but I think its about time, just waiting on Flip's fieldmate recovering from illness and I know my mate will force me to go out I forgot that would be a good incentive thankyou!

I'm now considering if I can change my hours slightly at one of my jobs, getting away at about 2pm one day a week by working more on other days might allow me one more ride over the winter.

I guess I could hop on in the field and ride round for ten minutes. Flip will wonder what thats all about but if its just a walk to remind me I can do it then its worth it. Ta PM!

I also like the idea of downloading dressage tests and trying them out to keep us motivated. And Zingy, I've started what you suggested today - was quite chuffed when I would just look in the direction and Flip was paying attention - we haven't done much pole work, or obstacles. Think you're right, if we're not getting out then I should make it as interesting as possible in the school for him (and me).
So I guess I just need to make it as fun as possible. Thankyou! I think I might just have found my motivation again! I'm gonna do some more despooking - but ridden this time!!
 
Have a look at the ridden exercises in the handbook of horses :giggle: though Ive yet to try them! We should set a fortnightly (??) challenge to complete a new "task" from the book, friendly competition and all that - I just reduce rides out of lazyness and lack of motivation - hoping when change jobs Ill be happier and want to ride more.

Im also going to get a head torch so I can look even more silly, but I can see where we are going, and a nice warm set of gloves - realised last night was the first time I have ever hacked out in the dark :eek: She wasnt bothered at all and about 45minutes into the ride she decided to jump ship and run for home:redcarded::giggle:
 
Have a look at the ridden exercises in the handbook of horses :giggle: though Ive yet to try them! We should set a fortnightly (??) challenge to complete a new "task" from the book, friendly competition and all that

That's a great idea! and we could have photos to prove it - what a good way to brighten up the winter.

Another one going into first winter with a new horse and wondering how its all going to work - my livery closes at 6 pm in the winter and I don't get home until 7 pm ish so I won't even get to see Rafi during the week. I'm really dreading it.

Confidence wise - I know what you mean about getting on after a break because I used to be like that, but funnily I'm not now and I hadn't even realised until I read your post. I don't know what happened to change things, I used to tell myself to just get on and 'do it' and not think about it so much, it didn't seem to do much good at the time but maybe the message got through subliminally in the end!

Don't worry, you'll be fine, I've been reading your posts for a long time and I know you have a battle with confidence, but you always come out on top.
 
You could have a look at Perfect Partners/Manners by Kelly Marks for good ideas about despooking too.

Last winter I did lots of despooking and obstacles with Izzy in hand and then when we were a bit more confident did them ridden. You can easily spend 20 minutes doing 4 obstacles and while it doesn't keep them fit it keeps their minds working.

I have a trunk full of odds and ends that I use for despooking, tarps, plastic bags, weird stuffed animals, tinsel, toy pram. Charity shops are good to get weird stuff.

People did think I was a bit mad though! But now Izzy will go past ANYTHING on a hack and we are often asked to go out with nervy, spooky horses. And it really built our bond.
 
Flipo - know just how you feel. Last winter was out of my control weather wise, so I kind of wrote the whole riding thing off until the weather came back good! Our arena wasn't fit to ride in (thick frost with a layer of snow on top for weeks) so it just wasn't a possibility, coupled with the icy patches all over and the fact that our hacking routes were downright dangerous..........Anyway, the winter's prior to that when we had no school were the hardest, because when the weather was ok and sunny and dry I felt quite pressured to ride - which wasn't easy, as Storm isn't the kind of horse that you can get on after days of not riding! I just took it in small steps, had short hacks (and I mean short!) and made the most of my good memories, thinking about all the successful rides we'd had together, it was the only thing that kept me going! Plus it helped me phsycologically (sp?!) whenever I felt down to watch some of my vids that OH had made of me riding her in the past - it was almost like, if I watched them, then I "knew" I could still canter her and have a good time, and I didn't feel as "out of the riding loop" as I might have done.
Winter is difficult isn't it? It sort of undoes all the good work we put in during the spring and summer (unless you are lucky and have an indoor school that is!). My advice would not be to dwell on the rides that you can't have, but make the most of short and sweet successes. Do hope its a reasonable winter for us all! I intend to catch up on lots of horsey reading if I can't manage to ride every day!
 
one thing to think about is if you think your riding will be reduced during the winter -- do you have a PLAN for getting back into it when the winter is over?

often we expect to start where we left off then our confidence suffers when we can't --

so one thing that boosts confidence is actually thinking things through and having some steps to restart riding when the winter weather is over

ask yourself:

what CAN I do?
maybe one day we start with just mounting and dismounting until it feels boring -- but do nothing. we do groundwork or in hand or lunging instead to instil obedience and to observe how good our horse is
we might do this three days in a row -- on these days we can do inhand hacks to build confidence -- ideally we will aim to be walking back where the saddle is on these walks -- need al ong lead rope!

then on day 5 we ride at walk in the school, checking out with great particularity, our steering and our brakes
and we will continue our in hand hacks

do this for 3 days
on day 9 we add trot -- being very particular about the details of our riding in the school
and today we might go for a mini hack and ride part of the way then get off and walk back in hand

do this for 3 days

now we are almost back to where we were before the winter -- and now we just lengthen the times we are riding


so in 12 days of riding (which might be 3 weeks of real time if we can't ride every day) we will rebuild our confidence on a solid base -- we haven't rushed, we haven't pushed ourselves through any thresholds -- and we are ready for the new spring and summer of riding...

so some planning now can REALLY help our new year's start

in fact I am thinking of starting an email support group to help everyone through this - this would involve either a sign up fee ( only around 5 or 10 pounds, just enough to be able to call it a subscription club for business purposes) or would be given free if people buy the self coaching for confidence book I am currently writing for download from my website -- just a thought -- would anyone be interested in this?

oops didn't mean to market -- anyhow, that is how I deal with any slippage in confidence or skills especially with green horses coming back into work after the winter

Cathy
 
I can't really add to what others have said and I think that you re doing a great job anyway.

As you know I ride pretty much everyday through the winter as well as the summer but my aims over the winter are different. I only ride for about 20 minutes when schooling (during the week) 5 for warm up 10-12 working and 3 walking off. when we are working I keep it short and have an aim keeping his mind working all the time.

At the weekend we hack. I find with his arthrtis he is better in work and not as stiff when ridden daily.

What you do is better then how long you do it. I do think a quick jump on and a walk round will be better to keep you confidence then a longer once a week hack.

Good luck always
 
Well, I've had a week of no riding and considering how I'm feeling right now, it might be ok. I don't think Flip and I will be making any particular progress throughout the winter (in terms of riding out solo and cantering) but if I can keep us ticking over and my confidence at a certain level then hopefully the fear won't set in.
Fth, you're right, its so flippin simple when you actually think about it! I just need to go through a mini version of the same plan I had when Flip came back from retraining, so that when the clocks change next year I'll gently reintroduce myself and Flip to the stage we're at now. Its not as if we've got a target to hit by a certain point, it will take as long as it takes. Hopefully by next year instead of dreading getting back in the saddle more often, I'll be gagging to ride every day - last Friday I nearly spat my dummy out cause I wasn't allowed to ride (babysitting duties!) - thats the first time I've been upset about not riding Flip! (Not that I need to be forced, but usually my fear is always present so I'm ok if something comes up and stops me - I just think thats one less opportunity to fall off!)
I like the idea of some sort of challenge over the winter - I haven't even begun to look at the ridden stuff in that book pf - will be interesting to try!

ETA - yep would be interested in some sort of confidence support system fth, I'm very interested in the psychology of it all and would agree its a good idea.
 
Last winter I made all these plans about dressage comps etc I was going to enter, how I was going to keep up jumping as much as poss etc etc, and it all went to pot because (a) weather was simply the worst I can ever remember and (b) he went lame for a while. So just going to take it as it comes and try to get as much in as poss and try not to sweat if we have to take a break for a bit. Think like you say it would be a great idea to maybe one day swop work hours around a bit so can ride in daylight (HATE riding in the dark).

Anyway Im not accepting it's winter yet until the clocks change! AND we are supposed to be having good weather this weekend!!
 
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