Show horses

[kayla221444]

For all of you that show, in the winter time..what do you do to keep them fit? Or off months during the season. Do you keep sweats on them in the winter?

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Absolutely not.

All my horses are roughed off and turned out for the winter. The colts are now in the big boys field and learning to be real horses all over agian, the girls are out with the open mares.

I do not bring the weanling/yearlings in until about six weeks before their first show and start working them some time before I clip them. The boys will come in about three weeks before their first show and probably be clipped straight away.

If the weather permits it I think it is of paramount importance that our horses get to live naturally for as long as possible. I am very lucky in that I have excellent grass and do not expect to be feeding any hay before Christmas.

 

[Mominis]

Wintertime is for downtime and brainwork. My kids are enjoying turnout daily and are learning stuff also. They get a break from sweats, throat wraps, and pretty much everything but daily grooming and keeping their manes and tails up.

With the yearling, Eli, we are learning turns on the fore and haunch and backing right now. He is showing real promise for halter obstacle later in life. I will work on his hater stand up also this winter, but I won't put the finish to it until spring.

The two year old, Shake, got 30 days off after Nationals and has started his driving training. I've been ground driving him off of the halter in ring figures and we've just started trotting. I will have him driving soon and that's how we plan to spend the winter, just driving in a low to medium frame and learning how to do his job as well as how to keep rhythm. As spring approaches, I'll start putting some finish on him and lifting him up so that he will be ready for spring shows and eventually the futurity driving classes at Nationals 2011.

Shake worked his little spotted butt off getting ready for 2010 Nationals and really is enjoying doing something other than conditioning work. I'm also getting to enjoy just spending buddy time with them both. We will start conditioning again in about February (our first planned show is at the end of May), when the weather is not so horribly cold and having them break a sweat won't be uncomfortable for any of us.

 

[JMS Miniatures]

No they get to be horses. My horse is currently living the life like Momsminis is, he is learning new things, getting prepared to do obstacle next year and soon will start his driving training once I get his harness. I think its great to work with a horse mentally but physically leave them alone over the winter. You couldn't even tell my horse just showed 2 months ago, but thats ok he will look good next year.

Sweats I just don't see the point doing it over the winter. You will have to shave their neck just to get it to work and I'm sure where you live it will just be a scarf to them lol.

 

[midnight star stables]

I work my show horses really hard in the winter, maintain the same training all year long. NOT.

My guys are fat, furry and happy.

I may practice halter the odd day with the young ones, but more or less my kids are free to relax over the winter. Out in the day and in at night. They get groomed and constructively played with regularly, but not "worked". I also don't sweat them.

In the summer I work them up slowly and they do great. I think the break does them well mentally.

JMO.

 

[gvpalominominis]

We still try to keep our show horses "feed" conditioned... in other words... try not to let them get too fat. "If" they need it... yes... we will sweat them while they are stalled overnight. But then, we live in western Washington. Typically not extreme cold and snow to deal with. It's a horse by horse decision. It's no big deal to them while they are stalled.. just more work for me... LOL

 

[kayla221444]

Ok better question...sorry...If they have never shown, before..when would you start conditioning them?

 

[midnight star stables]

Ok better question...sorry...If they have never shown, before..when would you start conditioning them?

When is the first show? That makes a big difference.

IMO, it really depends, but 3 to 4 months before they step in the ring is ideal.

 

[Raine Ranch Minis]

Ok What if their first show is in Feb.? Would you start conditioning now?

 

[Sandee]

Ok What if their first show is in Feb.? Would you start conditioning now?

Simple answer - yes.

Where I am, in Wisconsin, if they've never been shown, I'd just try to keep them in good body shape with diet because we'll soon have deep snow here and no way to exercise except just turn out and hope for the best. I do try to start working my (already trained) horses around April to get them into shape for a June show and sometimes the weather makes it hard to be ready by then. You can't just start with 20 minutes of troting; you have to start slow and build to that time.

 

[Raine Ranch Minis]

They showed "LIGHTLY" this year. They are all a little fat, never where really sleek like your big time show horses. Really sleek is where I want to be by May, because that is when my first AMHR show is. The one in Feb. is just local. I live in MS so no snow! LOL So I can work them all winter. Thank you for responding!

 

[TyeeRanch]

Our first show is not until April. My horses are allowed to get a little more weight on in the winter, but they are still conditioned as usual. I do not sweat in the wintertime. I do enough conditioning to build and/or keep up muscle tone. I also use the wintertime to do most of their training. We are in Eastern WA and are "usually" blessed with cold but decent weather to work in.

 

[dannigirl]

My horses get to be fat and be horses and play with the others during the winter months. We start letting most everyone in the barn go out to play every day right after Nationals--with exception if their hair is to short for the sun--then they have to play inside till they grow a bit of a coat. Don't need sunburn. The only exception is that we start walking the youngsters occasionaly before they go out and we work the upcoming driving horses before they go out to play. Put them in harness and ground drive and such. We slowly start the spring work in late Feb or early March for our first show in early May. That is when we again start the sweats and such as well. We also work almost all in the barn for show. We have about 25 that we get fit for a variety of reasons. We do pony rides and want fit horses for that. We show and want fit horses for that and we have horses for sale and want them fit to be shown the day they sell to another home. We will also body clip all of them starting about 1st of April to be sure there isn't anything under the winter fuzz that we have to deal with and then blanket, blanket, blanket. Whew--tired already.

 

[Barbie]

Our first show here in FL in 2011 is in February. Our last show here was a couple of weeks ago. I've let my yearling stallion out to play with everyone the last couple of weeks. We went to the round pen yesterday for the first time since the show and will continue to do that 2-3 times a week for a few weeks and then get more serious about it. He has stayed on his regular show diet. The 2 weanlings who will show in February need some intensive work between now and then - mainly halter work, setting up, etc, so they will be getting more and more attention.

Good luck in 2011!

Barbie

 

[HGFarm]

I guess it depends on where you live to determine what show season is. Ours starts in late March and is over by mid May, due to the hot temps here. Since we dont get snow here in winter (thank heavens) it is a great time to start shaping horses up for the spring shows, work on driving and other stuff.

 

[billiethekid40]

Even when I was showing, I drove and worked my horse for pleasure more than anything else, so he was kept on pretty much the same schedule all year (1 to 2 hours of trail driving or hand walking 3-4 times a week). He only gets time totally off if the snow gets too deep and we can't make it to an indoor arena to work. We didn't always work up a big sweat every time in the winter because it takes so much longer to dry out, but being kept in good condition year round he could work quite a bit before getting sweaty most years anyway. Many years we were able to drive on trails and the yard almost all winter, the few weeks we couldn't we went for long walks in hand just to spend time together and get away from home for a bit (he loves a change of scenery, it keeps him happy).

That said, for my horse working isn't work, its play and he really enjoys it and I think misses it when we do take a break. I don't focus as much on gait changes and other show ring things all year, but do a tune up in the spring and before shows to help focus his mind.