Time Spent with Horses... :)

fjordnaturally · Time Spent with Horses... :)

I may have asked this here before, but I don't believe so (apologies in advance if I have!). I was wondering how much time you guys on average spend with your horses. I know it would be different for every partnership, but how much time do you think you on average people spend to get real progress together?

I'm just curious to here how much time everyone puts in with their horses and around their horses.

bit

Honestly, ground work? Enough to supple, play, and get the mind. Riding, I'm a bit limited on. I can ride for about an hour and 1/2 and try to get out three days a week. Time WITH them? That's a different story. Tons. Grazing, dozing, playing, moving with the herd? A lot. We do easter egg hunts with baby carrots. Great way for a horse to learn how to follow your direction. I try to make "work" fun. That's most of our time together. Even riding, we stop and graze. My horses are my best friends and companions. I spend a lot of time learning how to be better for them. I used to spend a lot of time trying to make them better for me. That was the turning point in my horsemanship.
It's not so much about the amount of time you spend, but the quality of time you share. I'd rather spend a little time with someone I enjoy, than a lifetime with someone that drives me nuts. I just finished up Finding Pegasus, a fictional book with Tom Dorrance as one of the characters. It uses a lot of what Tom has taught. In the book he told a woman to "pet with your heart, not with your hand". I guess that can be said about the time you spend with your horse. Come from your heart, and that'll be the best kind of time you can spend with a horse.

fjordnaturally

I agree. But I have found that if I'm only going out once a week for an hour, we tend not to sustain a connection...wheras if I spend more time with her, she seems really connected to me and very inviting for me to play with her some more.

Of course, it's all about quality, I know...sometimes I spend an hour with her and we come out feeling like we've accomplished nothing (because I got frustrated, was nagging, demanding, or any other number of things) or the times that I am truly displaying my leadership skills, we can go out for the same time and feel like we've accomplished everything, and have her asking for more the next morning.

PasoBaby_CarolU

I have 8 horses and asthma, so how much time I spend with each one depends on what I'm doing with each and what time of year it is. My old horses are semi-retired, get brushed and feet cleaned 2-3 times a week in the winter, more in the summer during fly season. In the winter they are pretty much on their own except for feed and water. In the spring, summer, and fall they get 30 minutes of exercise every other day. As for relationships, these are my original Pasos, Baby was an orphan and Trooper a door prize I raised with her. They had TONS of attention and play for many years and I taught lessons with them. They are two large puppy dogs, very gentle and Baby, especially will sleep in your arms if you love on her. They do not forget between sessions who they are and what they know.

Then I have three older saddle horses. Again, their brushing and exercise program is pretty much like the Senior Citizens. They do get ridden instead of ground work some, but not a lot. Two of these have metabolic conditions that preclude them from riding right now. We'll see how they do next spring.
These two actually get the most attention right now, with regular trims, feet cleaning, hand walking, etc. to save them.

Then Rosie is my main riding/play horse right now. She gets 3-5 hours of play a week most of the time, plus trail rides. This is still dependent on weather. In the winter only on nice days.

Carina is my filly I'm starting. She gets a few hours a week, weather dependent. She's been ponied on some trail rides and will be a lot more next year. She'll start under saddle then, but since she's still small, she won't be ridden a lot, but will still have a lot done with her, both ground and being ponied.

I do a lot of ground work. Lots of play. Always make it happy, make the horse feel like a genius. My horses enjoy our time together as much as I do.

I hope this helps. If you don't have a quantity of time, make sure it is quality time. I think horses really enjoy learning and prefer life to be interesting. There is no reason you can't make that FUN though.

jackspark

They are members of my family and I interact with them as such. During the winter they are turned out to a large pasture and come to see me twice a day to eat/ touch base

In the summer most of my days are spent interacting with them in some fashion...... doing whatever we want to do. We all have been together for a long time and have formed a very tight bond.

gaitinalong

I am fortunate to have my four on my own property.

Mine come in every night and out every morning. My time with all of them averages 2 - 4 hours every day, sometime longer.

I am now fully retired, so I have the time. When I was working, I still spent a couple hours daily with them.

All my horses are broke-to-death trail horses, ranging in age from 16 to 25-1/2. They don't need any sort of work but they get brushed, handled, poked and prodded every single day; for which my vet thanks me profusely during those times when he has to poke and prod.

I could go on and on but I would be preaching to the Choir - lol

thelmanelle

Same here as gaitinalong, except the drafts were rescues and they are so heavy with the hooves. I think they are finally deciding to give the hoof to the farrier better? But, mostly spent so much time that they are follow you puppies, ride or harness anytime.

PasoBaby_CarolU

Laura, there is something that isn't being addressed here and that is that each horse responds to attention and a partnership differently. While most horses seem to become pocket horses and love the attention and time together, there are other horses that would just as soon be left alone. Sometimes it is hard if one of these stand offish horses is the only horse we have, and try as we might, we don't seem to make a connection with that horse.

It is one of the lessons in Horsenality, to realize when we see this kind of horse and to recognize that barely tolerating us is the best the horse can offer. It isn't you or what you are doing, it is that horse's horsenality to want to be left alone. Sometimes you can experiment and find what these horses like - a special spot scratched - but don't be surprised if they don't.

A horse that has a hard time looking at you...that looks away when you look at them, isn't doing it because they don't like you...they look away because they CAN'T look at you when you are focusing on their face. If you think of it like some American Indian cultures, where it is considered rude to look someone in the eye, well some horses feel too much pressure from a direct gaze. You make this kind of horse a lot more comfortable if you do not look at their face and instead focus in the distance while you do things with them.

gaitinalong

Carol, that was really well put; you have a gift for getting the point across.

I have one of those standoffish horses. He is my strong alpha-dominant horse and has been my BFF more than 21 years.

He is the horse that experienced horsemen and professionals quickly take note that he enjoys studying people. He watches people while he's eating in the pasture and most don't realize what he's doing.

HE is my horse that communicated with me before I knew what was happening and still communicates with me on a silent plane.

He is the horse that will not come to the fence and say "HAY!!" when people come to visit - he stands back and studies the entire scene.

He is the horse that, after all these years, if he's not ready to be caught, I can't catch him for at least five minutes - "just because" lollol

He is the horse the majority of horse owners would not want because he is so standoffish and while we have connected on a whole different plane, he is not a mushy in-your-pocket horse by any means.

His philosophy is, "I put my ears up, gave you the nod, what more do you want?". Conversely when he senses I have major trauma to deal with, he will wrap his head around my neck and blow in my ear "as needed".

The partnership is different with each of my four horses and I love every one of them but this standoffish, alpha dominant sometimes snotface is my heart horse

thelmanelle

My alpha dominant wants only me and to control and be the leader of the heard. Yet, he is the smallest and gets ignored despite his attempts. He comes to me in a heart beat.

All of mine do. The Belles play run a bit and then, okay , but they do not seriously run away. But, they can run when they want to do so. I have a interesting herd as they pretty much are steady. They like company and I am always home, but I do allow them to be horses.

bit

Eclipse is one of those horses. I used to take it pretty personal. Now I like how she will consider the situation, whether to be caught or not, to be touched or not. She reallly does treat me with the same consideration as the rest of the herd. I take it as a high complement.
They are all so different. I feel like that new parent that is so surprised that the second child is totally different that the first. Treating them as individuals and embracing who they are is the best we can do for our horse. Embracing who they are, loving how they are, and enjoying all of them...they are my year round Christmas present. I keep unwrapping thier gifts every day.

jackspark

Took my alpha dom. for a walk this afternoon and for the first time I took off the halter and lead on the way home.........testing out the partnership. No fences, no tether, no problem

This is the kinda horse that you think you have the leadership position but grudgingly, you guys know the type

I have been working on really being the leader for a LOOOOOOG time and today I believe I had it........for real.

All of the changes have been mine and he now is beginning to see me as someone he can count on.

I think time spent is HUGE but quality time is HUGER

PasoBaby_CarolU

Deb, you said it..don't take it personally. I would like to add, don't take it out on the horse.

My standoffish horse is Zar, the mare in my profile picture. I got her because people took her standoffish nature out on her. She was at a boarding barn and there are people who refuse to LEARN "horse." She was not a good fit there and thankfully her owner realized it was hurting her and found a 24/7 solution. There are many people who still take the fact that Zar won't approach them or walks away from them "personally" and their normal reaction is to go after her and be even more offensive. Totally the wrong thing and it just devastates Zar when she's "wrong."

Interesting...she is also my Lead mare, and has tons of self confidence. Also, when I take her away from home, we are best friends. And, she is also hard to catch (it has to be her choice), and impossible for a stranger - or group - if she isn't in a confined space. Once I had her at a friend's and turned her loose in the arena while we ate lunch. Afterwards she would not let me catch her, so we circled for quite some time, each time she turned down the choice to come in. A friend there offered to spell me so I could get some water...what do you know, I didn't make it out the gate without Zar's head in my halter once a "stranger" was trying to catch her. LOL Smart horse.

And YES...she is my best teacher and favorite horse. I frequently get asked, "Why?" when she won't approach visitors while the others eat up attention. I guess it's because with these horses you really have to EARN their trust.

At any rate...I wanted to interject this here because a problem "connecting" isn't necessarily about time..or even quality time. Sometimes it is just listening to our horses and understanding them.

Mandy'sMarty

Carol, your Zar sounds a lot like Mandy. Early on I learned that Mandy prefers to be treated in a particular way. The best description that I've come up with so far is that she wants to be treated with dignity. She receives that treatment from other horses and she clearly responds to it when humans do so. Because of her breeding and her training, she almost always cooperates with whomever approaches her, no matter how predatory their behavior. However, I can now clearly feel how responsive Mandy is on any given occasion. It just depends...and it's always her choice.

A couple of years ago, during a clinic with PP Dan Thompson, I learned that Mandy's bubble was at the end of my 22 ft. lead. The biggest bubble of any horse at that clinic. Since then I've learned to be provocative with her and to rely on my draw to attract her to me. It's always better when she feels it is her idea to be with me.

Three summers ago I traveled with Mandy to Wyoming for a week of wilderness camping and riding. Led by a local clinician of international renown, nine of us trailered our horses out for the three-and-a-half-day haul. We boarded our horses overnight at designated stops along the way. Mandy did not know these horses before the trip. On the fourth morning when we walked into the paddock to gather our horses, all nine galloped around us in circles playing keep-away. Everyone else became frustrated and started growling and chasing their horse. I was the greenhorn among the bunch. But I stopped, stood still, and began smiling to myself when I realized that it was Mandy that was the band leader. She was leading the game. It was the first time I got to observe her being a real horse among her own band at play.

I quietly backed away from the drama in the paddock and moved toward the gate. Almost on cue, Mandy slowed to a trot and then to a walk...and then looked for me. The other horses stopped running. I waited a few moments, watching Mandy watch me, and let the others begin gathering up their horses. I then walked directly to her with a smile and easily 'caught' her where she stood waiting for me.

PasoBaby_CarolU

That's very well said Marty, and very true. Zar demands dignity and you never see her doing 'silly' things. She won't even open a latch or push a gate or door open - which is a very common behavior here with silly Paso Finos who DO get into a lot of trouble on their own. Not Zar.

And I find she is very serious. She doesn't like games and that was why she did not like doing Parelli. I spent a good deal of two years trying to get her to touch things with her nose. I finally gave it up totally. She considered it silly and wasn't going to do it period. I had to wait for Rosie to grow up and get under saddle to pass my Level 2...

I found it odd that on one hand PNH talks about maintaining the dignity of the horse...and a horse like Zar or Mandy obviously have a big dignity bubble. But then didn't allow you to opt out of those exercises that weren't dignified.

Zar does much better trail riding or doing dressage, things she considered serious. And she prefers leading the trail ride, even when on a trail we've never been on before. She is a "lead mare."

Hertha

Since working part time, I spend at least 2-3 hrs with the horses unless the weather is truly foul. Than includes half an hour cleaning paddocks every day and moving electric fences.

Depending on what is happening on the neighbouring farms, we go for long walks together (sometimes down the road too if it isn't windy).

Some days we play vigorously in the sand arena, especially in winter when the fields are soggy.

At the moment I am long-reining Boots and we have mowed tracks and patterns set up to keep it interesting.

Lots of Alex Kurland type work, using circles of markers for a large variety of flexion and gymnasticising stuff.

Traveling circles on 30' line out on the farm paddocks.

Lately, spending quite a bit of time playing with each month's new Horse Agility pattern. There is usually something in there that we haven't done before or haven't done in a long time. So we unwrap each task and feel our way through it with Positive Reinforcement Training.

I'm also making themed DVDs which means we focus on something or other for a while until I get it filmed.

And a lot of what Bit describes so well: hanging out, flowing with the herd (only a herd of three, or 4 when Bridget is here). The other day we did a herd migration down a farm track, stopping to enjoy fresh poplar and willow leaves.

Also make a point of gymnasticising stuff life trotting over raised poles, backing up and down slopes, and other suppling games, including C Resnicks' Ueberstreichen exercises for vertical flexion at liberty.

Chablis

Apart from feeding, watering, paddock maintenance, I try to spend at least 5-20 minutes of quality time with Magic (she's two years, 3 months old) on a daily basis. I am now treating her injured leg daily so do this in between playing different games ie 'touch it', etc.

Minx, due to the above and her own injury (now healed!), I have only done a little with, sometimes a few minutes with a focus on how softly I can ask/quality of her response (and mine, of course), other times I will spend 30 + minutes working on something new, longer distance, better posture, etc.

I'm now only holidays so I'm hoping to spend more time and really progress with each horse.

misstux

I spend 30-90 minutes, depending on what I do with Mr. Horse. That may change now that he has permission to go on the trail finally.