Since this is a forum to gather opinions, I’d like to hear everyone’s thoughts about how much competition is too much? Is 6-8 runs a week, every week, at a high level too much?  These can be 2/3 a day fri-sun.  I think it’s too much but curious what others think. 

My horses do not run more than three times in a weekend. That is Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. There are a lot of three day shows around here. That is only once in awhile. Most weekends it is one run. Sometimes one run during the week. I pay a lot of money for someone to ride my horses and we pretty well save them for larger events. I will say this, if you run your horse in a three day show and they get better every ru, you know they are sound and healthy and your program is working well. If they get a little slower or make turns that are not top notch then it is time for a check up. 

I do know a lot of people whose horses are winning so they go from show to show. One used to be a 1D horse and now runs consistently at the bottom of the 2D. I really think horses have so many good runs in them. 

I don't have any horses near that level where I'd even think about competing on them that much. If there were two 3 day races in one weekend, I would most definitely pick one and made one run a day. 

Every week like this or a couple times a year?

Every week, too much.

But around here if you amateur rodeo there are a couple weekends in July where you can pretty easy string 6-8 runs together Thursday-Sunday.  If you REALLY wanted to, I’m pretty sure you could hit a rodeo every night starting the last week of June through the first week of August.

Just because you can doesn’t mean you should, but plenty do.

Totally agree! Horses only have so many runs PERIOD. THink of having 500 one dollar bills in your pocket and every time you make a run, you pay a dollar. If you want to spend all 500 in two years, have at it. My good horses ( I don't ride bad ones, so ALL my horses) only run maybe 1-2X a MONTH.... I will only go where the ground is excellent and with enough money added to make it financially worth spending one of those dollar bills on them. On another note, running barrels to a horse is probably boring. Same old thing over and over and over..... SO keeps them fresh if you don't run their legs off. The amount of runs original poster asked about in a week is about how many runs my horses make in 6 mos. 

Personally, I would not do it.  I would think girls competeing at that intense level are A. pros making a career of it and B.  Have a string of good horses to minimize their amount of back to back to back runs.

Interesting topic.  

If you are taking Appaloosa breed shows for example, 6-8-10 runs a day in various classes is typical.  Take match poles for example. 

If you are a typical NBHA goer, 2 runs (possibly 4, IE Open and Sr) is the norm for most weekends. One per day.  People gasp at having double shows around her at 9am and 4pm. 

If you're a rodeo goer, maybe one per day, once in awhile 2, but hauling comes into play here. 

I rode one POA pony in every event under the sun from age 6 until I was 18.  Started with halter/showmanship in the morning, went to English with jumping, she pulled a cart, western pleasure, and game events.  We'd do 15-20 classes a day I'd say.

 My current barrel horse runs once a day on  a weekend about 25 times a year.  

Overdoing it is in the eye of the beholder. 

Its a good thing you people don't have to do any ranch work with your horses if they can't do any more than a couple 17 second runs in a weekend.  Its no wonder they are not in shape.

I've always capped it off at 4 a week if they're younger, 3 once they get like 15-20, and I do 2 at 20 or older. IMO 6-8 runs a week, week after week isn't going to end well for the horse either mentally or physcially, maybe both. 

I don't like to run mine that much.  

When I hit a 3 day added money show (Friday / Saturday / Sunday)  . .running 3 different horses which translates to my body making 9 runs. . that kicks my a$$. I wouldn't to it to a horse.

I don't have ranch work, but I kind of feel like this is comparing apples to oranges. My horses can trail ride at a nice clip...brisk long trotting, loping, some breezing them out, for 10 ish miles in about an hr over various terrian. I'd do that multiple times a week before putting 6 runs one one in a week. Again, I don't do ranch work so I won't even pretned to know what it entails, but I think most of us DO work our horses, we just don't expect them to make a competition run every danged day of the week. 

I agree with this - but it also brings up something else I was told by a clinician.

a girl at the clinic had a horse who was on the lazier side and dull.  Her significant other had been checking pastures and day working on her to get her legged back up.

the cliniian’s response was that they learn how to conserve energy when being asked to go all day long and then have trouble when they’re asking to expend it in the arena.  

Just interesting.  Mine all have more than 1 job and if they’re fit and healthy (as someone else said, staying consistent or getting faster over a weekend) I don’t have a problem with running them more frequently.

i think it depends on the horse  we had a mare she ran hard sunday than friday i rodeo on her friday  my son run her 3 or 4 times sat 

 2 barrel classes 2 arena race classes and again on sunday    most  all ours did but then jetta   did not  nor speedy as  their brAINS  COULD not handle it

just depends to me on the horse.s brains

For me it doesn't have anything to do with fitness level. My horse could go check pastures, move cattle, brand, etc all day long just fine. Or go ride 30 miles of trails on a weekend camping trip. He's fit enough to also go make 6 runs in a weekend if I wanted him to. It's the torque you're putting on the joints/tendons that I limit it for. Having lost use of some from tendon injuries while running, I've learned not to make so many runs. The stress on the leg structures in repeated runs like that is greater than what is generally done on a day working on the ranch. I had the ground give out on mine at the 2nd barrel Saturday & he went down & is done for awhile because he's injured. His rear swept to the side when the sand gave out & at one point his back legs ended up strung behind him in a position they most certainly don't naturally go. Kind of like how some aussies lay with their back legs straight out behind them. That was his second fall in a month, he may be retired now. Horse's are like a pack of cigarettes, you only get so many runs in a pack. Add in the trailering, standing on concrete stalls at a lot of places for 2-5 days when they're used to 24/7 turnout, and the stress of hauling in general....it's a lot. A lot more than a day on the ranch in my opinion. 

If you have money to burn and a string of horses, then I guess you can run that much. I usually do 2-4 races a month depending...

I grew up on a ranch. We worked cattle with our horses. Many times in the hot summer we worked cows all day. Yes all day. We rode our horses 4 miles down to the riding club, beat the socks off everyone then rode home. Yes my horses had to run a little working cows but not as hard as they ran in the arena. Big difference. My horses got ridden EVERY afternoon she was on better shape then any horse around. I rode in my dress when I got home for school. (I had to wear dresses to school, everyone did back then)

I see kids at jackpots that run their horses in the pewee barrels, open barrels, and poles (3 runs in one night) and do this 2-4 times a week. 

They only have so many runs in them... when they are done they are done.

Every day - I wouldn't -

2-3 times a week in my view is enough.

I also ride my in the pasture - gather cattle, ranch work, check fences, we go 2-3 miles a day,   so they are in good shape, and when I get to a barrel race they have the edge off of them, since they have been rode thru the week. 

We don't have to do endless amount of circles when at a barrel race.

At the end of the day ranch work is at home, I find the hardest part of competing on the horse is the trailer ride, standing on crappy ground like gravel tied half the day and the stress of it all, when I warm up and run my horse hardly gets a work out to be honest. I warm them up, stretch and run, they are not sweated up and lathered. Its everything else that's hard on them. 

There are some ranch jobs my horses absoultly needs the day off after, days belly deep in the feedlot, days truging through spring run off trying to sort pairs, days after being hit and charged my an ignorant cow. But nice days and just checking cows are no that taxing really. I really dont feel like you can compare the 2 to be honest.... so diffrent and such a diffrent group of muscles and mental capacity. 

I believe most of the pros who ran at Pendleton practiced large patterns before entering.They were preparing their minds and bodies for the difference in length. Most of those horses could run a pattern everyday and probably do pretty close to that but their bodies were not prepped for that length without a little extra help.

I too used to run 4 events a day at a full run once a month but we also used to practice all 4 events multiple days a week. I can't say whether it wore any of mine down because that was before xrays and exams were so common.