How much time should I spend with my horse?

googoodollsss: How much time should I spend with my horse?
I just bought my first horse, and she is being broke right now to ride and has already been ridden and is great with ground manners. I am a full time worker and was wondering how some of you fit time for your horse if you work an 8-5, and if it’s bad if you only see your horse 2-3 times a week? Like many full time white collar workers I get the weekends off, and would be close to my horse so I may only be able to spend 1 or 2 horse twice a week during my work week, but all day on the 2 days I have off. Any suggestions? I just want my horse to feel loved and not hate me or forget her training because I’m not seeing her every single day. All suggestions and advice are greatly appreciated! Thanks.

Answers and Views:

Answer by Paula J
You should spend alot of time with her cause if you dont her manners will go away and she will turn mean so I would say to ride her every day and spoil her with apples and grains and hay she would love that.

Answer by bear
wate your doing is fine but spend as much time as you can!

Answer by horse_lover <3
You should spend alot of time with your horse , she will get to know you better and when you start riding her she will get more comptable with you riding and she might do better for you.

Answer by kul_sweet_babe
Horses can be a lil sensitive just like us…well you work about 8-5 so probably try getting up early and spend some time..or probably after you finished work..I’m sure you can have a lil time off from the stress…so whenever you think you have a lil time just go off and spend sometime…talking to it won’t hurt either…they understand us much better..

Answer by ml_lansing
If you can see your horse on the weekends, that will be alright. I know it is difficult to see your horse every day when you work full time, but if she is at a good boarding stable with other horses and people that pay attention to her, she will be just fine. As long as your horse is fed, cleaned up after and exercised, she will be fine and as long as she has other horses to socialize with and people to visit she she will do great. If you can only see her a few times a week, even if it is only for a half hour at night after work, she will enjoy the company. She will not forget or hate you for not seeing her every day. Good Luck

Answer by moonkissedwarrior
Most people are not able to see there horses everyday. So to make up for this we try to make the time we can spend with them worthwhile. I only see my horse about twice a week and I groom him down good everytime and i usually go for a ride. If you cant ride I suggest doing some roundpin work to keep your relashonship going the way it should be i.e. your the boss and he is the follower.

If you cant spend time with him everyday (which by the way most people cant) then make the time you can as enjoyable for your horse as well as you. Groom, ride, play, train, do anything you want just make sure you have fun doing it. Horses are not machines we ride then put away, they are intelligent and needy animals that we have to take care of and love.

Good luck with your new horse.

Answer by terry
As much time as possible because they need love and affection.They can turn nasty through lack of attention.

Answer by Kristen J
Is your horse at your house, or is she being boarded elsewhere? If your horse is at your home, then you should definitely be out there every day. If you’re boarding your horse, then I can understand a little more that you can’t. However, the issue is not about your horse “hating you”, it’s about your horse respecting you. You need to be with your horse and participate in her exercises, because horses are very large animals, and the last thing you want is a horse that doesn’t respect you. You could end up getting hurt. The friendship between you and your horse will come later.

Since this is your first horse I would strongly reccommend getting to know other people in your community with horses. A lot of places have groups for horse owners that hold meetings. Also, buy a lot of books. Horses are a lot of work, and a huge responsibility. It’s just important to be well informed. And make sure you’re participating in her being broke so that she learns to respect her owner!

Answer by Patti G
Please tell me you have a trainer who will be training you as well as your horse. A horse that has just been put under saddle is not really what the first time horse owner needs.
Newly trained horses do well with a lot of long, quiet rides, hopefully in the company of another, more experienced horse. Your horse will appreciate consistency and firm rules.
Horses ,(and dogs) do not “hate” us or forget training.
People do that, animals seem to have better sense and respond to us the way we condition them to.
So what you need now is training for you so you are a competent, sensible rider.
There are a lot of systems out there that promise you a wonderful. loving horse- as far as I’ve seen, it really comes down to good basic horsemanship and a lot of practice time.

Answer by swanjarvi
A serious suggestion: you maust see the film “Horse whisperer”! great film, well taken, one learns a few things about the fine animals!

Answer by Buddy
Grant it if we all had the time we would be in the barn 24-7, but we don’t! As long as there are stable staff caring for your horse and turning him out on a daily basis going there 3 times a week is fine. Though your horse won’t stay in top condition so I suggest that you have one of the kids at the stable lunge him or ride him for an hour on the days you are not there, especially since you said he is just being broke that leads me to believe he is still young. Young horses need LOTs of excercise. Otherwise you run the risk of injurying your horse and yourself if he is not conditioned well and he will be more calm when you do get on to ride. Enjoy your new horse.

Answer by bananapancakes
If you’re boarding your horse, you could always see if there is a shareboarder available. Usually shareboarders pay you a fee to ride your horse on certain days. So let’s say you can only come out Sunday, Tuesday, and Saturday; you designate certain days, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, for your shareboarder to take care of your horse for you. Many people who can not afford their own horse, are interested in this kind of opportunity. It will be great exercise and variety for your horse, and it will also help you with the costs of owning a horse!

** Also since this is a young horse, make sure you have an experienced rider to shareboard. You can run an ad in a newspaper or put up ads in your local tack shop.

Answer by …x
I assume the horse is being looked after by professionals, at a decent barn or stables.
The time you spend with your horse should be judged by quality, not quantity. So long as the pair of you can develop mutual respect, then you will get along fine whenever you are together. If you can make all the time you spend with your horse a positive experience you will find she is happy in your company whenever you are around. I know plenty of people who spend lots of time with their horses, yet it always seems to be a battle between them because they have not found a way to communicate with each other in a way that breeds respect.
I would suggest that you spend time under instruction while you get to know this horse, being that it is a youngster and you have not had a horse before. Take it easy. You both have a lot to learn so don’t be too hard on either of you when you make mistakes (EVERYBODY makes mistakes sometimes!).

There is a great method for learning to communicate with your horse, in a way she will understand and appreciate, called Parelli. Check out this link if you are interested:

You can see Parelli videos by clicking this link (click on the blue square marked ‘Parelli’):
https://www.horseandcountry.tv/

Good luck for the future with your horse!

Answer by Danielle B
The best would be every day, but I know that isn’t possible for 90% of people.

I am a full time college student and work 40 hrs a week in addition. I can see my mare usually 3 times a week. I go out Wed, Sat and Sun. Sometimes I can go a Tuesday, but that is about it.
3 times a week is a lot better than other people I know. I see people at the stable I work at come out once a month, and beat on their horse when it doesn’t remember what it did last month.

The way I do it is that my mare is outside during the day in a group pasture setting. That way, if I am not there to entertain her (I am pretty sure that is my role to her, lol), I do not feel bad because she gets to run around with other horses all day. She is not wound up from having to sit in a small area all day. I could never leave a horse stuck in a stall or a small run all day. That is the choice of many, but most of those horses have bad behaviors from not being worked or able to have room to gallop around.

As for forgetting training- it all depends on the horse. My mare can go a week and then she starts to forget (just gets harder to turn). My sister’s horse- he can be left alone for 2 months, and she can jump on him no problem. One of my boss’s horses can not have more than 2 days off in a row or she violently bucks and you need to start from day one (that is an extreme though). 90% can take a week or two off no problem. Just make sure you lunge her or give her free running time before you ride her to get her feel-good kicks out.

She will feel loved for 3 times a week. Have fun with your new horse!

Answer by vigorous_doll
if training, then a minimum of 60 minutes a day five to six days in a row. if you aren’t training your horse, then a minimum of 30 minutes a day is required. grooming alone will take you that long if you do it properly.

Answer by appylover
I have 2 horses on my own property and only play with them about once a week (I also work 40+ hours a week, go to school full time and have an infant). Just spend as much time with her as possible.

Answer by Paint Pony
Right now, since she is being broke to ride (I am assuming that someone else is doing this for you), then once or twice a week going to see her is OK. If you plan on boarding her or keeping her at home after her training is finished, then you will have to make time to see her every day (to feed and care for her), and she will need to be ridden 3-4 times a week if you want to keep progressing with her training and keep her fit. I work full time and I have to just make time to spend with my horses. Somethimes it is at the expense of being able to do other things, but it is well worth it. Good Luck!

Answer by Jack J
if you want the horse to know you as its master then you will have to spend a lot of time showing it affection, it is the same concept if you had a spouse, you would want to be with them all the time, well a horse is the same way, it will eighter know and trust you or it wont, it is tough it this 8 to 5 world but you can only do what you can, maybe find a new home where you can have a horse on the premises, well hope this will help