From Burnout to Balance: Protecting Horse and Human through Structured Rest

Seasonal calendar showing how horses and staff could cycle through competition, active rest, and full rest over a year: Competition: Peak performance blocks. Active Rest: Light training, low-pressure riding, more turnout, reduced staff workload. Full Rest: Annual downtime for true recovery (horses in pasture, staff on holiday)

Article by Katie Derer originally published in The Plaid Horse.

Equestrian Sport has undergone a dramatic cultural and structural shift in the past few decades. Historically, the rhythm of horse competition followed the seasons: spring and summer shows, then autumn winding down, with the appearance of no-stirrup November focusing on the rider, and then winter serving as a natural rest period when horses and staff recovered.

Many breed-related disciplines still keep to this schedule, but why are we not seeing the continued trend in the hunter/jumper and dressage areas of sport? Remember, horses weren’t always these high-profile athletic machines that we see today. The show schedules used to mirror the agrarian roots of horsekeeping, when horses were part of a larger seasonal cycle of work and rest. So, where is the compromise between welfare and sport?

With the advent of year-round competition circuits—like the Winter Equestrian Festival in Florida or the Sunshine Tour in Europe—the old “off-season” has vanished. Prize money, sponsorship, and the prestige of continuous campaigning and chasing points and end-of-year awards have driven owners to keep horses in work far longer, and staff must adapt to an endless cycle of preparation, travel, and competition. Horses are noticeably tired, more injuries surface, and staff fluctuations are all a part of the larger picture in recent trends. The topic is certainly gaining traction in the show community, so let’s take a deeper look at what a rest and recovery period during the show year might look like.

Realistic Expectations for Recuperation

Equine physiology is resilient but not inexhaustible. Like human athletes, horses need structured rest to prevent overuse injuries, including tendon strains, joint wear, and metabolic stress. Veterinary science suggests deliberate “down time” periods of at least 6–8 weeks annually, even if light hacking or turnout continues. In addition to routine veterinary visits, we can trust our close veterinary resources to help create individualized downtime. 

Psychological rest–such as turnout, pasture time, and lower pressure work–is as important as physical. I used to follow the Pony Club handbook for conditioning and resting my horses, creating a weekly and monthly journal and calendar for each of my horses. Over the years, I started scheduling time for myself on a calendar, a novelty you might assume, but this sport is just as much mental discipline as physical discipline.

Staff, grooms, riders, and trainers face burnout when the calendar is relentless. Without a cultural shift in the sport, rest will not be prioritized. Unions in other industries have recognized the cost of fatigue on both performance and welfare—equine sport has yet to establish strong guardrails for well-being. I touched on thoughts of creating a union in previous articles. I cannot say it’s the perfect solution, but without regulation improving upon welfare as a new societal norm, reinforcing the principles is exponentially more difficult. If we cannot ethically police ourselves, our governing body must step up.

Parallels with Other Sports

We all agree that change is difficult, but we changed the sport previously in order to end up where we are today. When it comes to change, I like to identify similar sports or scenarios where rest and recovery are successfully integrated. Let’s take a look at some highly popular sports that were once seasonal but are now global year-round circuits. 

In tennis and golf, top players often “schedule themselves out” of events to protect their bodies and careers. The equestrian world could learn from this, but having been inside different barns in the industry, a lot of the income relies on show participation. If unchecked, this cash cow mentality becomes a slippery slope. If equestrians decide to draw parallels in other sports like tennis and golf, the athletes make a premeditated choice to rest as a strategic choice. 

Soccer and Basketball have super long seasons, but there’s an off-season built in. Sports medicine in these fields shows that rest and recovery are essential for career longevity. Just imagine if we truly started treating equestrian sport as an athletic activity. Even marathoners and cyclists plan a peak-and-rest cycle, with structured breaks. 

Looking at the information, horses (and riders) could be managed in the same way: peaking for key shows, resting in between, rather than chasing every ribbon and every point. Perhaps even changing point systems altogether. There has been a lot of discourse regarding how many classes a horse should be allowed to attend weekly at shows. Perhaps we need to take that one step further and limit show entries within a 12-month cycle.

The Core Parallel: Resting the Mind and Body

In both humans and horses, chronic stress without recovery leads to diminished performance, higher injury rates, and burnout. For horses, that means lameness, sourness, ulcers, and loss of willingness. For humans, it means fatigue, mental exhaustion, turnover of staff, and even safety risks. Unlike other sports, horses cannot speak for themselves. The responsibility falls on owners, riders, and governing bodies to balance ambition with welfare.

So the question becomes: 

Should equestrian sport re-introduce a mandated “off-season” (like jockey weight breaks or FEI rest rules after endurance races), or should it follow the tennis model, where the best competitors self-regulate by carefully selecting events?

The rising scrutiny around horse welfare (and the working conditions of grooms/riders) makes a structured rest calendar not just ethical, but strategic for long-term soundness and success. Below is a model framework that borrows from sports science, veterinary research, and parallels in human athletics.

Creating Sustainable Equestrian Calendars (applies across disciplines: show jumping, dressage, eventing, etc.)

Annual Cycle (12 months)Peak Competition Periods: 2–3 cycles per year, lasting 8–10 weeks each.Active Rest Periods: 4–6 weeks between peaks, with reduced intensity. Full Rest / Off-Season: 6–8 consecutive weeks annually (not just light work, but real downtime).

For Horses Daily / Weekly Micro-Rest

1. At least 1–2 non-riding days per week (turnout, hand-walking, or hacking).

2. After major travel/competition: 1–2 days of very light work (stretch rides, pasture time).

Mid-Season Active Rest (Between Peaks)

1. 4–6 weeks where the horse is ridden lightly (flatwork, hacks, conditioning) but not jumping high fences or drilling movements intensively.

2. Travel minimized; more turnout for mental reset.

Annual Full Rest (Off-Season)

1. 6–8 weeks off each year, ideally during the horse’s least busy circuit window.

2. Turnout, pasture life, minimal riding (just hacking or light fitness to prevent deconditioning).

3. Veterinary checks, dental, farrier, and bodywork are scheduled here.

Why? 

Rest prevents repetitive strain, allows musculoskeletal micro-injuries to heal, supports digestive health (reduces ulcers), and restores enthusiasm for training.

For Staff (Grooms, Riders, Trainers) Daily / Weekly Micro-Rest

1. Structured “day off” rotations for grooms, even during show weeks (common in pro sports, rare in barns).

2. Night-check shifts alternated, so no one burns out.

Mid-Season Recovery

1. Between peak circuits, staff should have at least 3–5 consecutive days off.

2. Riders/trainers use these weeks for skill development, clinics, or lighter teaching schedules.

Annual Reset

1.  2–3 week true holiday period (barns staffed at skeleton level, no major shows).

2. Allows mental decompression, family time, and physical recovery.

A Cultural Shift Is Needed

I believe equestrian sport is being pushed to the limit, or even past it. At some point, something will give, and for a sport and animal that we claim to all love so much, we sure know how to push it towards destruction. As a side note, I have friends working within the science community who are alarmed by their studies in the dissection of the sport horse. Their perspective is very valid, and perhaps I’ll share an article in the near future discussing their findings. 

Owners must see rest not as “wasted time” but as an investment in longevity and performance. Governing bodies (FEI, national federations) could require minimum rest blocks (like enforced layoff after certain classes or travel miles). For transparency, we need horses’ competition calendars to be publicly available with logged rest weeks, showing commitment to welfare. In short, horses and humans in equestrian sport should operate on a 3-cycle year: compete → recover → rest, rather than a never-ending grind. This is the only way to sustain peak performance and safeguard welfare.

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