I try to ride bob every day and then he gets a day off each week where I'll just bring him in and give him a good groom and his dinner, maybe do a few minutes of ground work and then turn him back out. My reason for this is that too much time off and I find he's gone ten steps backwards as he is highly intelligent and needs a lot to keep him busy.
I think it depends on the horse though, it's like some horses you can leave for two weeks and get back on and they are the same as if you rode them everyday. If I did that I'd come back to a fresh Fjord horse who believes he is a thoroughbred stallion!
Ground work is something I would do every day, but thats because that suits my horse, I have to keep him occupied and give him new tasks all the time to stop him getting bored. some horses would need more time. I only give him a day off from riding because obviously its alot of exercise and helps recharge his batteries for the next week. Also once he's fit he just goes and goes and goes and needs hours of riding each day to take the edge off lol.

I think really it all boils down to how much your horse can cope with. my mum and I were discussing lunging/ long lining earlier, bob hates long lining because for him its boring. The tb I used to own was quite happy to whizz round in circles for ages, not that he was dim but I think he worried that he wasn't doing things right so circles was something simple that he didn't fret about.

poor Bob is not going to be impressed with me in a minute, went out for a lesson early this morning and now taking him hacking as well, but first sunny day we've had in like a week so going to make the most of it haha!

Hey Runner

From my personal experience I have learned that it differs from horse to horse. I have a lovely palomino mare with whom I work with every day and the I have another chestnut mare barely work with. My chestnut mare never forgets a lesson I teach her. Show her something today, next week when I try it out again she will do it without wondering what Im asking. The palomino mare is a different story though. She needs to be shown quite a few times and has to be worked with every day. She is almost like chaz's horse. She gets bored very quick and needs to stay active.

Its almost like children... well wait a minute! They are like children. One child seems to grasp something quicker than another, one child is a bit more lazy, one seems to be more aggressive and another is gentle and kindhearted, others are more willing to please and then some are just not very pleasing at all!

Treat your horse like you would a child. I dont personally think that their is a 'too much' or 'too little' when it comes to training your horse or working with him or her. Its true as Chaz said here that the more you work with your horse the fitter he gets and the more exercise he gets the more he is going to want to run around and be active and busy.

Try to get to know your horse. Spent time with him, do join up. Start building a trusting relationship with him first and he'll start to enjoy time spent with you!

Horses are the most wonderful companions ever known! Better than dogs! I thing the saying should go: Horses are a mans best friend and ally!

Thanks to both of you.
I have an 11 year old QH mare. She's a dream. I have only had her a few months. The only person to ever ride her was her former owner and she had been born and raised on that farm. It took her some time to adjust to our farm, but now she seems to have settled in.
I have done join-up with her a few times, but now I want to do some more ground work with her. The gal I bought her from said she had never done ground work with her...so she gets confused and doesn't seem to know what to do. Join-up took us three times to accomplish.
I had a horse-trainer friend over to put her through a few paces and she said it was like working with a new colt.
Since she was already "broke" to ride, I didn't know how much I should expect to work with her without "boring" her.
She did seem to enjoy joining up in the round pen, even though she is a bit on the lazy side. I suspect it's really the good brushing she gets afterward that she really likes the most!
As for "man's best friend", my husband does not get my affinity for horses, but when he sees me working with my Skipper, it seems to endear even him to her more and more. I definately think horses are a woman's best friend!

One more question...what about when the weather is bad?

I tend to go out anyway but I'm a mean mummy with a horse who isn't phased by anything and has 3 inches of winter coat! lol
Obviously if the weather is really stormy or gale force winds and torrential rain then I wimp out lol. but will go if pouring but not windy or windy and no rain etc..

LOL! I'm not so tough that I want to be out in the bad weather. I think I'll give her time off when it gets nasty!