Here we look at a typical day at a large competition yard, in this case Carl Hester's, the working day starts at 6.30 in the morning.
The photograph is of Utopia in his stable at the London 2012 Olympics
6.30 am. First feed. Horses are checked as feed is delivered for any signs of ill health, they are then left to eat quiety.
Evening and tomorrow mornings feeds are prepared and left stacked in the feed room.
7 am. Night rugs removed. Start mucking out and bringing in morning hay.
Horses that are going on the horse walker are prepared, rugs changed, boots put on.
Carl Hester arrives to ride his first horse at 8.30.
The horses on Carl 's yard have a special magnetic rug on before they are ridden to warm and stimulate the muscles before work this rug is also used to relax the muscles after work.
8.30 am. Sweep the yard and continue to take horses on and off the walker. Get Carl’s second horse ready, Carl’s horses are walked ready for him to get on and walked off when he has finished. After work the horse is bathed or groomed.
9 am – 2 pm. Carl Hester, Charlotte Dujardin and Katie Bailey work the horses all of which have to be got ready for them to ride and groomed or bathed after they have been cooled down.
2 pm. Lunch break. Start cleaning tack and filling the washing machine. Carl starts teaching.
3 pm. Cleaning tack, tidying yard and wash bays, emptying and re-filling the washing machine.
4 pm. Skipping out, delivering more hay, grooming horses that have not been ridden, rugging up.
5 pm.Evening feeds and hay. Hay trolley is re-stacked for the morning and the morning feeds are piled into the wheelbarrow ready for the next day. The barn is tidied, the yard is swept tidy and the horses are left in peace.
5.30 pm. Final tidy of tack room, wash boxes hosed down, arenas levelled. Informal staff meeting over a cup of tea where everyone has a chance to talk about the day and discuss what needs doing the following day.
9.30 pm. Late night check on the horses.
This is a typical day at Carl Hester's yard in Gloucestershire as described on his website, Carl also insists that all of the horses go out in the field, every single day, for a minimum of 2 – 3 hours.
There are also visits from Farrier, Vet, Physio, Dentist, saddle fitter to be arranged and supervised plus rug repairs/cleaning collection, clipping, ordering feed and yard essentials, unloading deliveries etc.
Weekly Routine
All the horses are worked as above on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
Horses are hacked onWednesdays and Saturdays.
The horse have the day off on Sunday giving staff time to catch up on jobs like pulling manes and tails, cleaning the horsebox.
Find out more about Carl Hester, his horses, staff, and yard by visiting the website Carl Hester there is also an interesting interview with him here at http://www.manage-my-horse.com/NewsManager/templates/mmhnews.aspx?articleid=253&zoneid=1
Photo source Carl Hester 's Twitter
