routine schedules

Hi I was just wondering how I could organize my routine based around my horse a bit better. I mainly need help for school days as I leave my house at 6.45am and get home at 5pm. My horse is out on grass 24/7 and he is only 4 so needs training as well. How can I organize my time better so my horse gets the attention he deserves ?? Also any training tips you guys have would be useful as well. Thankyou

If you don't have time to train your horse then maybe lease him out, hire a trainer to work him or send him to a trainer, or what I would do is get a lighted arena and train him in the evenings and/or early mornings before and/or after school. Also make use out of your weekends! Keep in mind that training a young horse(or really any horse) takes time and dedication and if you aren't up to it then maybe you should wait till you get out of school to get a horse or get an older, well broke horse that won't need to be worked as often. Good luck!!!

Welcome to the forum, horsegirlxx!

It can be very challenging to balance school, horse ownership, and other obligations, but it can be done!

As RD11 said, a 4 year old is probably going to need more in the way of training than your school obligations may allow. Depending on your horse's exact level of training, it may definitely be worth it to investigate some pro help anyway.

What matters with training horses, though, is quality, not quantity. Especially youngsters and greenies - they often progress much faster with a couple of short (15 minutes-ish) sessions a day rather than one hour-long workout. It's easier on their bodies and their minds, and in terms of your schedule, you could do a short session in the early morning and in the evening. And remember, every interaction trains the horse. If professional training is not an option for whatever reason, as long as your gelding's needs fall within your training ability, it can be done. Something else to consider might be some sort of lease to a more experienced horseman looking for a fun training project - assuming that your boy just needs miles, and doesn't have any problems that need addressed.

6:45 a.m to 5:00 p.m. Is one heck of a long school day, and I expect that you'll have homework as well. Do you have a long bus ride? You can use that time to get started on homework assignments. Even try taking your homework out to the barn - find a comfy spot against a tree in your horse's pasture, and combine homework with bonding time. Your weekends offer prime time to handle bigger jobs and longer rides, like an in-depth grooming/massage, deep-cleaning tack, and trail rides or lessons.

It'll be tough, and it will take real commitment to juggle everything, but it can definitely be done! Good luck!!

I would suggest writing out a weekly schedule to help organize yourself and to try and fit at least 15 minutes a day in with your horse. I know how tricky it can be, as I got my mare as a weanling when I was in grade 9 and went through high school and university with her.

But really never under estimate how important short session can be. There have been weeks where the longest time spent with my horse in one day would be 45 minutes. Lots of times it doesn't feel worth it to go out and lunge my horse for a whole 5 minutes in between classes, but when I quit even those short handling session, I noticed a huge difference (a bad one too) in my horse's personality and rate of training. Sessions had to become longer after breaks just to get her mind back into a working state.

There have been times where all I would do would be go out, tie her up, and sit down with home work. Always being in such a rush to get stuff done with her she was never really tied or asked to stand still for long. I'm glad I do it now and then, as she is very patient, finally.

You also have to remember that your horse's progress is going to be hindered by the lack of time, there was many times I felt disheartened by how slow my horse's training was going until I broke down how few hours I spend with her.

If you still want to do a lot of his training, maybe consider a sort of part lease. What I am doing this semester is riding 2/3 days a week myself, a friend of mine is allowed to go ride whenever and one day a week I'll be giving this girl a lesson, which really cuts time for me because she can saddle and get ready by herself and I can just show up for the lesson.

Thanks for all of your advice everyone.
I am looking at doing lessons and a couple of places have already said they would like to help me and Bandit out, so will be going there once a week.
Scoutrider - I love sitting out in the paddock and doing my homework out there it makes me more motivated to do it (surprisingly) and can watch and bond with my horse at the same time. Unfortunately its been raining and muddy a lot out here at the moment, so havent been able to do it.
DieselPony - I find the same thing happens with my horse when I spend less time with him, he is way better behaved on ground and undersaddle with the more time I spend with him.