But generally, Isabel's week might look more like:
Monday:
Usually a day off.
Tuesday:
Jump lesson with Dan. Generally a high-intensity ride.
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday:
These are the 'flex' days of our schedule. I could school on my own, which includes flat work in the arena or trail rides (whether at speed for conditioning or slow and relaxing with friends). Or maybe xc schooling with friends! Isabel usually gets at least one, maybe two, of these days off.
How I structure these days depends entirely on the weekend's plans, and my own personal life (bc I do actually have one of those despite appearances lol). Usually, tho, at least one of these days should be a focused, intentional schooling ride.
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| balance. we has it! |
Jump lesson with trainer P at OF. Also generally a high-intensity ride, plus considerations for travel.
Sunday:
Haha. This day could be anything, it seems. Sundays maybe have the most variety of all days in the week, and are frequently high-impact days for Princess. Could be any of the following:
- horse show!!!! love these <3
- dressage lesson with C at TM - ideally twice a month, but realistically usually once a month
- bio-mechanics lesson with Kirsten - typically the last Sunday of the month, tho we sadly aren't on the schedule for June. Boo hiss to money being a scarce and valuable resource...
- xc schooling with friends?!
- trail riding with friends!
- least likeliest plans are schooling in the arena on my own or taking a day off
So if you're keeping score - Isabel typically works 4-5x a week - with at least 2 but sometimes 3 of those rides being categorized as high intensity. I know a lot of people aim to ride more often than that, but this balance seems to work well for us.
I'm curious, tho - what does your training week look like? Do you have a rigid plan or is it more fluid from week to week, month to month? Please do tell - either in the comments or a blog post of your own!
What a fun schedule!
ReplyDeletethanks! i try to mix in a lot of variety when possible
DeleteYou're more organized than me!
ReplyDeletehaha it only just seems that way :)
DeleteI try to jump 2x a week (rarely happens) and dressage 3x a week (happens always).. Getting jumping in around other peoples schedules and weather seems to be my biggest challenge!
ReplyDeletehaha i might be the opposite - forcing myself to buckle down for a dressage ride is much more difficult than making time to jump. probably related to my lack of dressage experience tho
DeleteThanks so much for sharing, I'm still trying to figure my schedule out :)
ReplyDeleteit can definitely be tough figuring out the right balance, tho i usually figure out what works mostly by seeing what actually sticks haha
DeleteI think my schedule ma fairly similar to yours... Monday is almost always a day off for Maggie (because I go play adult softball which is a hoot), Tuesday is usually a longer ride/high intensity, wed thurs fri are usually flexible - I try to ride at least 2 of those days, and then I try to ride both sat and sun. I actually need to get better at scheduling jump work! I think I'm just too lazy to set up standards lol :/
ReplyDeletewow yea very similar! i am definitely lazy about setting up jumps. every once in a while i'll be struck with inspiration and will drag standards all over creation... but usually not so much haha. that's why lessons are great bc the trainer does it for you ;D
DeleteSince Ries is a teenager now I try and keep it low key. Mondays and Wednesdays are days off. I NORMALLY ride Tues/Thurs/Friday in dressage. Sometimes we jump on Sat/Sun. I try and keep it 3/4 rides a week where 1 is normally a lesson. Now that it is Show time we mostly do "maintenance" riding. High intensity days are normally jump days.
ReplyDeletesounds like a good schedule. i worry sometimes about izzy being a teenager and needing a little more time off - except she's so gung ho all the time and really seems to enjoy the work... i guess that's not a bad problem to have!
DeleteMon - day off
ReplyDeleteTues - flat school on my own
Wed - flat or jump school on my own
Thursday - flat lesson, maybe with a few jumps
Friday - day off
Saturday - jump lesson
Sunday - trail ride, relaxing hack, sometimes day off
nice - sounds like a good balance!
DeleteBaby horse gets ridden 3-4x per week currently. Usually Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. Most of them are dressage rides with 15 minute trail rides to and from the neighbor arena or a 15 minute walk down the road after our ride. I try to get him out on the trails a couple of times a month but I depend on having a babysitter (and a trailer ride) so that doesn't happen as often as I'd like.
ReplyDeleteOnce as he's in a paddock and not pasture, he'll get ridden a solid 4x per week (3x dressage 1x field/trail/jump work) with hacks around the property on the other days. After reading all about Carl Hester's barn, I'm going to try to keep work to 4x per week at the most and try to make a point to not go in arenas on hacks.
interesting - i kinda like the 4x/week schedule too - but then feel guilty when i hear about all these upper level eventers working their horses 6x/wk no matter what... but then again my mare gets 24/7 turnout so i guess as long as she's schooling well the fitness should be ok?
DeleteMy schedule is usually pretty much the same:
ReplyDeleteMonday - Off
Tues & Wed - Flat Ride on my own
Thurs - Jump Lesson
Fri - Off
Sat & Sun - Flat Ride on my own
For show weeks, we do:
Mon - Jump Lesson
Tues & Wed - Off
Thurs - Short flat ride on my own
Fri - Sun - Show!
nice! i like the distinction between show weeks and 'regular'. that's something i'm trying to figure out right now too, esp bc our season is a little helter skelter...
Deletemy riding schedule is totally based off of what I'm doing that day/week. I have a regular lesson (usually jumping) on Monday at this moment and the rest of the time I am trail riding and working on flat work. Since I don't have a ring at my place most of my dressage is done on the side of a hill or in a field about 1/2 a mile from my house (since my ponies live at home) I try to participate in as many clinics and mounted meetings (I'm a horse master in the local pony club) which usually happens on weekends. But I do try to ride at least 4x a week and would like to step it up to 5-6x but sometimes life/weather does get in the way!!!!
ReplyDeleteugh life and weather really need to chill out sometimes haha! sounds like you actually get a lot done for not having true riding facilities at home. i completely lose it when our ring is unusable, maybe bc our horses swear that trolls live in the nice riding field so we never want to go out there... maybe i should fix that tho haha
Delete