If You Bring a Horse Back to Life You Dont Have to Again
March 2021
Whether you are bringing your horse back into piece of work, perhaps due to time off over wintertime or recovery from an injury, or looking to develop their fitness and increase workload, preparation is key! When devising a fitness programme this must be tailored to your horse ensuring individual considerations are fabricated along the way, so the transition tin can be made safely and with success. Thought must also be given to how your horse'due south health and fitness will be maintained throughout all stages of the fitness program and one time the desired level of fitness has been achieved.
Considerations when creating a fitness programme:
Level of fitness: Consider both your horse's and your own current level of fitness. Give yourself time, and where needed have easier days, or a few days off to give yourself and your horse time to recover.
Condition when turned away: If you are bringing your horse back into work post-obit some time off, consider their condition when turned away. For example, were they turned away sound? Are you bringing them back from an injury?
Electric current condition: Any weight gain means a strain on joints, tendons, muscles and the cardiovascular system is highly likely, and must ever be at the forefront of your mind when making a alter to your horse'south workload. To monitor condition fat score your horse earlier your fitness programme begins and at 2 weekly intervals.
Age & Experience: If working with a younger horse consider how established they are in their work and their level of development with regards to the exercises y'all introduce through your fettle program. Putting young joints, bones and muscles under excessive stress and strain as well shortly can lead to debilitating problems after in life.
Facilities: What is your goal for getting your horse fit, for example are yous hoping to complete a prelim dressage test or a 10-mile fun ride? Consider the facilities you will need to accomplish this for example, an arena, or safety hacking for road work.
Time of twelvemonth: Exist prepared for setbacks in your program due to the weather every bit this may bear on facility access. If your horse suffers with allergies or is a head shaker, the fourth dimension of year volition be a really of import consideration when devising a fitness programme.
Length of time out of work: The longer your horse has been rested the longer it will take to bring them back to the desired level of fitness.
Why is it important to follow a fitness programme?
- Gives management for you lot to see what exactly will be achieved.
- Allows you to set up aims and goals.
- Tailors the piece of work to horse and rider in terms of level of fitness and power.
- Provides time scale - be mindful that returning a horse from grass to Riding Order level fitness volition take between six-eight weeks, perhaps longer depending on horses' age, weight, type, and any previous health bug.
- Allows for a gradual load of the systems to heighten performance and preclude injury.
What Level of Piece of work Is Your Horse In?
| Classification of work | Hours worked per calendar week | Breakdown of work | Example activities |
| Light - Depression | one-3 hours | Up to 15 mins trot Up to five mins canter | Hacking Occasional schooling |
| Light - Medium | iii-7 hours | Up to 25 mins trot Upwards to 10 mins amble Occasional jump | Hacking Occasional schooling Low level dressage Low level Riding Club/Pony Club Occasional showing |
| Light - Hard | 5-7 hours | Up to 30 mins trot Up to 12 mins amble Up to 3 mins poles/jumping | Faster hacking Regular schooling Low to mid-level dressage Low level evidence jumping Riding Club/Pony Guild Regular showing Short sessions on the gallops |
| Medium | five-seven hours | Up to 30 mins trot Up to 15 mins amble Upward to ten mins poles, jumping, fast work | Loftier level dressage (Advanced plus) Riding club/ Pony club Medium level show jumping (Newcomers plus) Low-medium level eventing (up to intermediate) |
| Hard | 5-nine hours | As medium, plus up to 1 hour extra over the week of speed work; increase in galloping and jumping duration | Loftier level eventing Racing Endurance rides over 80km (50 miles). |
Rider Fettle
To be a practiced partner for your horse you must as well be focused on your own fitness. When riding you need to exist able to maintain rest and follow the movement of your horse, no matter the bailiwick or ridden activeness you partake in. The passenger's cardiovascular fitness is also an essential part to this. If you lot are finding yourself getting tired whilst riding you volition likely begin to lose your balance. Continuously riding off-rest and making adjustments to how your weight is distributed in the saddle can lead to unclear and inconsistent aids. As a result, the horse may have to adapt how they work to account for the move which tin increment the demands of exercise on the equus caballusii,iii.
Being conscious of your weaknesses and training to improve these areas for case, balance or mobility, is an important aspect to developing and maintaining your horse's health and fitness. Information technology will also help you to be more precise in the saddle and decreases the gamble of injury while riding.
The 3 Phases of Fitness
Please note this is general guidance and all horses are individuals. If you have any concerns about progressing to the next phase, keep them at the electric current workload until you are satisfied they are coping. If your equus caballus has been off due to an injury, keep to follow or seek advice from your vet for their rehabilitation back into work.
PHASE 1) Ho-hum & Steady (Weeks i-3)
- Hardening off- gradual controlled practise to strengthen the soft tissue.
- Prepares the muscles, tendons and ligaments
PHASE 2) Strength & Stamina (Weeks four-5)
- Meliorate basic fitness and strength
- Suppling and developing muscle
- Develop rest and self-carriage
PHASE 3) Schooling & Speed (Weeks 6-9)
- Develop the efficiency of the heart and lungs
- Longer training sessions
- Interval training
Fitness Programme in Practice
PHASE 1 | WEEK 1 | 20 minutes' walk work, moving in straight lines on a level surface. |
| WEEK ii | Increment to 30-40 minutes, reaching an 60 minutes. | |
| Calendar week iii | Continue walk work up to 1 hr, including hill piece of work and big shapes. Work on varied surfaces such equally arenas, roads and grass. Each gives slightly dissimilar benefits to the development of the horse'due south soft tissue4,five. | |
PHASE ii  | Week 4 | Go on hacking out, introducing short schooling sessions (20-30 minutes). Include trot work for around five minutes in total, in short i-two minute stretches. |
| Calendar week 5 | Introduce pole work, basic lateral work and lungeing or long reining. Always ensure to go along circles big and lunge for no more than 20 minutes. | |
PHASE iii  | WEEKS half dozen-viii | Introduce canter work, longer schooling sessions and spring grooming into sessions. Include interval training: Brusk periods of intense exercise for instance trotting for 2 minutes or cantering for 1 minute followed by a recovery period. As fitness improves, the menstruum of exercise tin can increment and recovery menstruum decrease. |
| Calendar week 9 ONWARDS | Your horse should now be back to an acceptable level of fitness. |
Photo credit: Jon Stroud
Retrieve this is a rough timeline, continuously appraise your horse'due south functioning and recovery time, making amendments where needed. Each horse is an individual and must be thought of as this when devising a fettle program.
Measuring Fettle
To measure your horse's fitness, information technology is important to monitor their recovery rates:
- Take your horse'due south estrus rate and respiratory rate at rest.
- Measure both rates again immediately later exercise and at i-minute intervals following this.
- Monitor the time it takes your horse to return to their resting heart rate and respiratory rate (this is known as recovery time).
- Equally your equus caballus gets fitter the recovery time will be quicker.
Watch our video below on how to take your horse'south heart rate and respiratory rate:
Equally well every bit this you can as well look out for visual signs of improved fitness:
- An increased willingness or power to cope with practice
- A change in body shape, with meliorate muscle definition
- Ability to maintain a regular and even speed in any gait
- Less sweating for the same amount of piece of work under similar conditions
- More rapid recovery in breathing subsequently finishing work
Proceed Assessing
It is important to continuously make assessments throughout your fettle programme, adjusting where necessary. Considerations should include:
Recovery Time: Continually assess your equus caballus's recovery times, and how they are coping with their work. As fitness develops and the horse's heart and lungs become more than efficient, yous should find that eye rate and breathing rate are lower during exercise and that both recover much more quickly when you stop exercising. If this is non the case, you may need to extend certain weeks. Deadening work now volition lay down the foundations for faster work subsequently and volition minimise the take chances of injury.
Behaviour: It is important to know what is normal for your horse and to detect whatsoever subtle changes to their behaviour. This tin can exist an indication of pain or that they are non coping in some fashion.
Ground atmospheric condition: It is important to be aware of the ground weather condition yous are riding on equally this volition impact your horse's physical wellbeing. Is the loonshit level? Has it been raining excessively making the ground slippery or slightly deep? Is the footing difficult?
Seek guidance from a BHS Accredited Professional person Coach (APC) at any phase and riding lessons tin embark one time your equus caballus is comfortably fit enough.
References
1) The British Equus caballus Gild (2017) BHS Complete Horsemanship Volume 3. Kenilworth press Ltd.
2) Williams, J & Tabor, G. (2017) Passenger impacts on equitation. Practical Animal Behaviour Scientific discipline. Vol 190. P 28-42.
3) Uldahl, Grand., Christensen, J, Due west. & Clayton, H, M. (2021) Relationships betwixt the Rider'southward Pelvic Mobility and Remainder on a Gymnastic Ball with Equestrian Skills and Effects on Equus caballus Welfare. Animals. 11(two) P 453.
4) Skivington A, et al. (2020). Investigation into Whether Proximal Suspensory Desmitis of the Hindlimb Could Predispose Horses to Sacroiliac Disease. Equine Scientific discipline.
5) Parkes R.S.V & Witte T.H (2015) The foot–surface interaction and its impact on musculoskeletal accommodation and injury risk in the horse. Equine Veterinary Journal. 47(5) P. 519-525.
Source: https://www.bhs.org.uk/advice-and-information/horse-care/horse-health-and-fitness
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