Is riding a horse only 2 times a week enough??

Question

my friend is kinda leasing one of our horses and i asked her how often she was gonna come over and ride and she said probably 2 times a week,i was wondering if thats enough cuz i ride everyday so 2 times a week doesnt seem like enough?

Answer 1

Look, twice a week is fine, besides right now it's twice a week more than it would get exercised.

How can you people come on here and state, that that isn't nearly enough with such little info. This horse could be 47yo with lung problems for all you know.

If you are unhappy because you thought she would be there 5 days a week to go out hacking with you then that's one thing.

If you are asking if it is bad that your horse is only going out twice a week, then no, twice a week is fine.

Yes, we ride 5 or 6 days a week but does that mean everybody should ride 5 or 6 days a week too...of course not.

Should I be jumping 5' just because Ian Miller is...of course not. Each to their own, maybe two days is all the time she can spare!

Be happy that your horse is getting out twice a week and that he seems happy!!!

Answer 2

Well... I ride 1nce sooo Im Ok w/ that but ... If ur leasing it then it would seem u would ride more..... But.... Ya!

Answer 3

well, is she training for anything? it doesn't matter how often she is riding if she isn't training or trying to work up from something. but the horse is not gaining anything by this.

Answer 4

twice a week is pushing it...

ask her that, if she rides... she needs to come out more because your horse needs to be in shape

Answer 5

No, 2 times a week isn't nearly enough. I would say 5-6 times a week, in 45 min-60min long sessions. I would recommend giving your horse one day out of the week off though. :)

edit:

Tell her that she needs to make a serious commitment if she wants to lease a horse. Twice a week isn't enough, remember leasing a horse is supposed to be the equiv. of owning a horse without having legal ownership. If she only wants to ride twice a week.. tell her to stick with taking lessons at your local stable.

Answer 6

Yes, 2 times a week is enough, unless you have a problem horse that needs to be ridden more.

Answer 7

Well, if the horse gets wild when she only rides her 2 times a week, I'd say either lounge her or ride more often than 2 times a week. If the horse is fine and acts the same, then I'd say leave it.

Answer 8

Errm, that depends......

If the horse is standing in a stall then it needs to be exercised in some way everyday. If it's turned out then it's generally okay to leave them for several days. With stuff going on and weather conditions and all mine sometimes get ridden every day and sometimes only once or twice in a week. Obviously the more they are worked the fitter they will be and some horses will lose tone quickly if they are left.

If your horse is in hard condition and you want to keep him that way then a couple of rides a week is not going to do that for you. It's your horse so you set the rules, if she doesn't like it then maybe she would be better leasing from someone else or just taking a lesson/trail ride every Saturday.

Answer 9

if she's not going to ride him hard those two day a week and he's going to be turned out everday otherwise then it shouldn't hurt but she can't just get on and take off loping or anything like that because he is not going to have a lot of "air" or muscle tone to him. and he should be turned out when not ridden so he dosn't get fresh and buck or anything like that.

but, if she is leasing she should take care of him herself every day either turned out or rode

Answer 10

Two times a week is probably fine if she just wants to ride for pleasure. She just needs to keep in mind that the horse will not be super fit. So, on the days that she does ride, she can't just go for hours at a time or do anything super strenuous like a hard gallop. But if she just wants to putter around the arena or go out on trail rides, two time per week should be fine, especially if the horse is turned out on the other days for activity and exercise.

That would not be enough riding to get a horse very fit or tuned up for competition, but that may not be her goal.

As for riding every day, I think horses ought to get one day off per week to just relax, rest,  and be horses.

Answer 11

through the winter i only ride twice a week becasue by the time i get home its getting dark so i cant ride everyday.  So only riding twice a week is fine you just have to adjust their feed so they arent eating the calories that they arent burning off.  Unless it is specifically stated in the lease (which i doubt) that the horse has to be ridden a certain amount of times a week you cant tell her how often to ride.  

Also some people (me included) dont have to ride their horses to enjoy them i like watching my pony while she is grazing in her field.  

So its fine that she only wants to ride twice a week as long as the horse isnt suffering as some mentally need to be worked x amount of hours/times.

Answer 12

it can be. if our horse is ok a behaving alright it is ok. and if u dont have the u cant ride anymore than u already  do. just make sure u take good car of your horse they take alot of time!

Answer 13

It depends on a lot of things. How old is this horse? If its young it will need a lot more exercise than other horses. Horses need exercise almost every day. How much pasture time does it get? If you let him out a few hours every day, he might not need that much riding. If she doesnt want to ride or doesnt have enough time to, does this horse lunge? Lunging is an excellent way to make up for not riding.

But a horse really needs to be ridden, like, 5 times a week.

Answer 14

no. a horse should be ridden 4-5 days a week

Answer 15

if she's leasing the horse she can ride it as many times as she wants.. it's legally ehr horse for a sertain amount of time so if she never rides it that is stil not legally wrong.. if you don't like your freind leasing it than just lease to someone else!

Answer 16

I try to ride at least 4 times a week but latley I only get to about twice.  I have two young kids and a full time job.  My horse just turned 5 but he doesnt care.  He is always ready and never a jerk.  It all depends on the horse, but twice is ok with me.  :)

Answer 17

I ride my horses when I can.  Sometimes not for 2 months.

Does that mean I shouldn't own them?

No..I enjoy just watching them and being with them.  I didn't buy them to just strictly ride.

If she wants to lease the horse and ride just on a Saturday for an hour or two..so what.  

As long as her horse isn't ridden on that day for 4 hours straight (he's not conditioned) then I see no big deal.

Ride your horse every day and let her enjoy the time she wants to spend with hers.

edit:  I don't know what I was reading...but it's YOUR horse she is leasing.  It seems you are into keeping your horses in show and competitive shape.  Her lack of riding is diminishing his condition. He'll end up like mine if she's not careful (fat and jiggly)

What agreement did you have before she leased?

Since it is your horse, maybe ask her to please take more initiative in his conditioning.  You are worried about him.

If you have a written lease and it's in there...there ya go.

Heck, I was thinking she leased a horse and boarded it at your place.  My apologies!  Its YOUR horse she is leasing.

Hmmmmm...  what if you leased this horse out and it was boarded out at another barn?  Would you go visit that barn every day to see if it was being ridden?

I guess it all comes down to what was in your agreement.

Good luck.

Answer 18

It can depend on how long your ride is, what kind of horses you have, what your horses are used for and if you are trying to get a fat horse in shape.

We used to ride up to 8 hours a day on Saturday and Sunday every week (almost) through the woods and on some pretty rugged terrain.  Needless to say, we ddin't have to ride as often during the week and would give the horses a day or two off after such rides. We would also ride a couple of days during the week for 30 minutes to an hour keeping the horses in a good gait (we have gaited horses).

Since we had to sell our horse trailer and cannot go to the larger riding areas, we ride nearly everyday for about an hour each day.  We have several horses and some of them have to be ridden longer because they are out of shape, while the others are in really good shape and don't have to be ridden quite as much.

Horses used in eventing or rodeos should be ridden every day, but may not have to be ridden for long periods of time each day. Trail and pleasure horses can be ridden every other day, but for more than just 30 minutes or an hour...depending on the condition of the horse.

What conditions did your friend lease the horse under?  Did you specifically tell her how much the horse was to be ridden if she leased him?  If you don't have an actual agreement, the only things you could do would be to talk to her about riding more often or ride the horse yourself.  If it is your horse, it is your responsibility to ride him unless your written agreement states otherwise.

Answer 19

It really does depend on the horse and it's fitness level/ability. If you used to ride this horse everyday until she started leasing it then it is used to going everyday, meaning that she isn't riding it enough.

The average horse should be ridden 4-5 times a week.

I personally ride mine everyday but he is at the top of his game ;)

So yes you should ask her to come out more and ride him/her and if she won't then you could always ride it a couple times a week for her. Or tell her to find a horse that she can ride only twice a week.

Answer 20

If it's already your horse then let her ride 2 times a week and then you can ride the other days.  She probally just doesn't want a full lease.  What she wants is a partial lease.  I only ride once a week because that is all that can afford.