So I did my first a.m. ride this morning..beginning my schedule of 2X a day rides. Well, I did this before their breakfast, and figured out that my boy is no more a morning person than I. I am going to ride him again tonight and see if he does better. If so, I may reserve mornings for conditioning, as he was being a pill (pushing and gaping against the bit).
I know he was preoccupied because he usually gets fed first thing when somone comes out in the morning, so maybe in time, he will get it into his routine.
I just wondered if you guys have noticed if your horses are or are not morning horses, or if they just don't seem to care. ??
On show mornings misty usually looks a bit sleepy and not as happy/perky/alert while we are getting ready but she isnt grumpy or rude or anything :?
Maybe it was just because he has never been ridden before breakfast :P
I can't really say if Sonny is not a morning horse or a night horse...but then again I can't come out to ride before he's fed. He seems to behave well enough even if I take him away from his food.
hmm. Well my horses never were fed in the morning so i cant really compare to that. They dont get extra feed unless its winter so yea.
But i used to often swap riding either in the moning and afternoon, especially in the holidays, random times. And honestly i dont think there was much if any at all difference in the way they were, lol.
But yea maby your horse was just a little surpirsed by the sudden change in routine. Im sure he will get used to it over time.
Were is he at night? You dont want him working with an empty tank in the morning when you ride , or hes not going to be able to concintrate or have adequate energy to focus and work for you. Im asuminging he has nibbles to eat over the night ...like either hay or grass from turnout????
Were is he at night? You dont want him working with an empty tank in the morning when you ride , or hes not going to be able to concintrate or have adequate energy to focus and work for you. Im asuminging he has nibbles to eat over the night ...like either hay or grass from turnout????
I ride him at night before feeding time...and now in the morning before feeding. They get fed about 12hrs apart, and it probably takes them about 2 hours to eat. So I ride probably 8 hours after they finish riding. He has never had a problem with this in his evening riding, but I do think that they are just in the habit of being fed as their first human interaction in the morning. I will see if he gets used to the schedule after a bit.
It was frustrating, unexpected, but also a little funny to see what a cranky baby he was.
moomoo, he is actually fine on show mornings too, but I do feed him in the trailer on the way to the show, and let him stand there and finish his food when we get there...so by the time I tack up and ride, he has had his morning "cup of coffee", so to speak.
My horse is a brat if I try to do anything with him earlier than 1pm. He gets his breakfast at seven and gets his pasture snack from 8 until 11. Then he gets to graze on grass. He likes to graze for about two hours, if I take him from grazing, he pouts the whole time. Its kind of cute :roll:
I know that there's a lot of horses that get cranky during feeding time.
Sunny was a butt during feeding time a while ago, but with time and patience he doesn't care anymore.
If you give him some time to adjust, it could work out.
Good luck! I hope your 2 rides a day will work out (I'm sure it will..it'll be best)!
EDIT - I forgot to ad, but during your morning ride just be a lot more alert, too.
all my guys get really cranky if they think they should be eating when we are riding. possum is the worst. she wont concentrate and shes always pulling towards the direction of the feed shed lol its extremely annoying. what i do with them now is give them a small bundle of hay to munch on while i groom, pick hooves, saddle up etc this usually makes them a lot happier when it comes to doing a little work. unless youre jarred then you dont want to do anything at the moment lol
i think he will get used to it over time and once he realises that he will still get fed he might settle down.
maybe he just woke up on the wrong side of the barn
My horses really like to eat first thing in the morning, but they put up with it when they are ridden before they eat. They are sleepy at first, but once they get stretched out they are real nice.
Well, day two went much better. He got his grain first, and then I rode about a half our later, and then he got his hay. He was much less distracted, but I focused less on training and did more with flexing and then did a hill circuit. I missed today, because I have a sinus headache like no other, but will update on how it goes tomorrow.
I think he will get used to it...he just has to come to expect it in his routine. I am sort of glad that I took a break last night and this morning though (because I had chores and and this headache), because I feel like I have hit another wall in training and am getting a bit frustrated...I think it will be good to come at it fresh after a little break.
Since he can't always get his grain first, I might try the idea of giving him some hay during grooming...that might help him relax after having a little snack.
Exactly. Horses really like to have a routine, even for work. If you ride at all different times it works out best because they won't get used to a set time for work, they will then work anytime you ask them.
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