Being a horse owner is an unbeatable experience which creates lifelong memories to cherish from both you and your horse’s perspective, forming a strong bond that simply cannot be beaten. As much as we’d love to spend more time outdoors with our four legged friends, our busy lifestyles can make it hard to dedicate as much quality time as we’d prefer to on a day to day basis. As well as making short visits to top up their feed, change their water and switch to their horse turnout rugs, we’ve pulled together some top tips for keeping on top of time management.
1. Keep a calendar
Although this may seem simple, staying on top of a calendar makes it easier than ever to keep up with horse care, avoiding the chance of those key dates slipping your mind. Start by recording important appointments such as routine vet checks, farrier visits, vaccinations, teeth floating and shoe changes so you know they are being kept on top of. Once these key details are in place, fill in the rest of your calendar with any show dates and a training schedule that fits into your other daily commitments.
2. Track progress
Whether you are a regular attendee of main equestrian events across the country or prefer to stay local with gentle riding routes, keep a log of your activities in a journal. Write down your different training sessions including the timings, results and any relevant notes so you can monitor performance and set realistic goals for the future, helping you grow as a duo.
3. Maintain consistency
Even if you have a busy lifestyle, allocating certain times of the day or week to your horse can really help speed up progress. As well as ensuring you are getting to spend plenty of time with your horse, getting their body into a routine will allow them to improve and boost their fitness ability so you can look forward to more advanced rides.
4. Set end goals
Even if you are just riding for fun rather than preparing to enter into competitions, having goals to work towards is a great way to maintain motivation and keep progressing as a rider. Keep a note of where you are now and where you want to be in a month, 6 months or a year, challenging yourself to improve on an ongoing basis. Having yearly goals is a powerful way to keep things exciting and these don’t have to always be performance related, how about encouraging yourself to ride 4 times a week if you don’t feel like you spend enough time outdoors?
5. Work with a professional
Horse trainers are experienced in the world of performance and can help you accomplish your goals in the most effective way. By giving you the tailored knowledge you need to help you and your horse grow as a pair, develop both your horses skillset as well as your ability as a horse owner, offering lifelong skills which can be used down the line.
