How often should I ride my new horse?

He's a 12 year old paint gelding. I got him on Christmas. We've only ridden him once since then and it was just walking around for about twenty minutes. How often should I ride him? How many days out of the week, and how long at a time, and how many times a day? I got all the time in the world to do it. And what should I do when riding him. Anything like parelli on horseback? Just walking? Excercising somehow?

Well, you seem to be in need of a trainer.

Try to exercise it as often as possible. At his age though, I'd give him longer warm up and cool down periods. I'd also only ride once a day.

It's really up to you about what kind of training to do. Just take a look at where you want to go with it. Do you want to show or trail ride? Ask yourself questions like that, then take it from there. For example, if you want to do a lot of showing, Parelli and such may not be enough for you. You may need a more strict and focused schedule. But if you want to trail ride and relax, you may find the natural stuff to be easier on the horse, enjoyable for both of you, challenging enough to make it interesting, and sufficient for what you do.

Well it depends....I ride my horse around 5-6 times a week and give him at least a day off. But I also jump my horse every week so I have to ride him because a horse can injure itself if it isnt riden the day before jumping. What do you plan on doing with your horse? You can just get on your horse and do fun exercises. You could get on your horse more than once a day but if they have a back problem I wouldnt, but I use to ride my horse then later in hte day I would hop on bareback and walk him around. So personally it is up to you.

I think Parelli is a great idea. That's what I would suggest. Oh, and you CAN show and do Parelli at the same time

Well it may just depend on the time you get I get to ride my horse maybe once a week it all just depends how much homework I got from school but when im not busy I would try to ride 1-3 times a week

All good advise but one other thing to consider is the condition of your horse. A cowboy's horse who gets used every day, all day is in great condition. A horse that has not been used that much needs to be brought back into conditon so the amount of time you want to ride all depends on the condition of your horse.

I think these are all great suggestions. I would only add that I think its great to mix up your schedule, no matter what you do...keep things interesting for both you and your horse with different activities.

I'm in SCA. An old medieval reenactment thing. And I want to use him in the equestrian competitions. Like mounted archery. Tilt rings (where you have a lance and ride trying to get as many suspended rings on your lance), Tilting at Quintain (where you take the lance and hit a target and try to make it spin more than your competitors, takes lots of speed), Behead the Enemy (put simulated heads on posts and gotta weave between the posts and knock off the heads), Javelin Toss (throwing spears off horseback), and maybe Pig Sticking (sticking inanimate objects with your lance). So what should I do to get him ready for this stuff? Like I guess I'll ride him 5 or 6 days. How many hours should I ride him though? He is in good condition, was rode a lot before we got him, and has no back problems we know of. And what should I do while on him? Make him run a lot, or what?

Generally if you built up his stamina you will help increase his speed. So when in training don't go for the all out speed just keep it slow and steady through the training. Running him a lot won't make him faster. Even in barrel racing they hardly ever train at an all out run.

Build up his strenght so he will last you all day...not just through the run.

Sounds like it will be loads of fun. Good luck.

I'm not sure if anyone has said any of these suggestions because I don't have a lot of time to read them all, but here's what I would do:

-try a join-up. It will help you build a bond with your horse
-get used to walking him around the arena/wherever you ride; when you feel comfortable, you could try a trot--etc.
-I would say at least every other day for now until you get used to him/her. Also so you can make a larger bond.
-ride for about 1/2 an hour to an hour. It will let you get yourself used to the horse and fopr him to get used to you.

I hope this helps!