Summer to winter routine changes at Eventful Eventing The wellies are out and it’s soon time to say Hello Mud (I haven’t missed you at all) as the dark nights now start to begin and the late summer light evening disappear into this distances of a memory. For all of us this does change daily routine with the horses, with the nights becoming darker earlier, the grass starting to fade into a mud patch and our exercise routine.
Without having a school and floodlights we do more ground work, lunging, long reining in the field in the dark before the ground gets boggy, we still have the use of the school next door we can walk to and use where last year we didn’t have this. But light is a issue both at home and at the school. So I done some digging of how I can change this and I have saw many good reviews about the workman’s portable lights which I invested in last year so we can see what we are doing and I can add pole work into the workload, I am glad I have this as i can light up most of the school or a large piece of field to exercise in, this also gives me light to muck out in. At the weekends if we are not out at a clinic or lesson we are enjoying a lovely hack, I do less hacking in the winter months then I do throughout the summer months purely because by the time I finish work it is already dark outside.
Apart from the exercise routine change, the horse’s routine also changes, last year they were out most of the winter, but this left me with really muddy fields so this year they will be a lot more. I don’t want them to be spoilt horses where they are always in when the weather is raining or grim, but this winter I want to protect the fields as much as possible. We will be going through a lot more feed, hay and bedding, and spending more time grooming and spending time with them this way when the weather is really bad.
I was really lucky when we was at a livery yard near my parents, as Bailey could live out 24/7 and have enough grass through winter I wouldn’t need to feed or hay him! I do miss this, and I'm sure he does too but I'm also sure he appreciates coming in with bad weather!
Have you thought how much does your routine change throughout the season?