5 Easy Ways To Get Your Horse Super Fit

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No matter what type of riding you do with your horse, competition, or gentle pleasure riding, it is important your horse is fit for the type of work they are doing.  A proper riding program is essential.

Maybe you want to increase your horses level of fitness for competition, or you are bringing them back from a period of rest, or recovery from an injury.

 

 

 

 

It’s important to develop your horses fitness level over time, allowing them to adapt to the increased riding program.

When formulating a fitness plan for your horse remember there are many options other than the obvious schooling exercises and variety will help to keep your horse happy. The following are some of the most important options we use to help get our horses super  fit and enjoying life!

 

1.HILL WORK – We are very fortunate in that we are surrounded by hills and we can enjoy riding both in fields and on road hacks. Hill work is invaluable when it comes to your horses fitness plan.

Uphill work is great for cardio.  Asking your horse to push off their hind end while their head is in a medium low frame and on the contact, is great for their core muscles and hind end strength.

Downhill work is also very important as if forces your horse to balance, and uses a whole different set of muscles.

If you only have access to a shorter hill then trot up the hill and walk down to start with, repeat a few times each ride.  If your hill is on the road as your horse gets fitter you can introduce trotting up and then trotting down.  Also transitions from trot to walk, and back to trot.  Encourage your horse to push forward with impulsion in the transitions uphill, this will really engage their hind end muscles.

If you have access to hills in fields you can introduce the canter as your horses fitness develops, however remember it is harder for your horse to balance going downhill so keep the downhill work to the trot until your horse is fit enough to be able to balance for a downhill canter.

 

2.LUNGING –  Lunging is always a good fitness builder.  It will help to get your horses cardio built up and help develop balance on a circle, along with a tool to develop and maintain your horses rhythm.

If your horse is coming back from time off then you will need to build slowly.  You don’t want your horse pushed hard on small circles.

Make sure your lunge circle is a minimum of 15m.  Your horse should start back at lunging with walk, trot exercises, no more than 10 minutes per side to start and working up to no more than 15 minutes a side. 

As your horses fitness level develops you can introduce the canter.  You can also include raised trot poles into your lunge work for extra fitness and core work.

Equipment for lunging. There are so many different types and styles of lunging with varying equipment.

One of the most effective ways is using side reins from your saddle or surcingle that are attached to the bit.  Make sure you know how to properly use equipment and ensure your horse has polo's and bell boots on for protection.

 

 

 

3.GYMNASTIC WORK– No matter what discipline, pole work, raised poles, cavaletti, and gridwork exercises are great workouts for your horse.

There are a plethora of different exercises and types of work you can do to build fitness through gymnastics. The options are fun and endless, not to mention great for your horse's core and agility!

Stride control is another benefit of gymnastic work, developing both fitness in your horse and working on their rideability.

Make sure you know your distances for trot and canter work for your poles and gridwork.  The distances will also depend on whether you ride a horse or a pony, or whether you are riding in an indoor or outdoor arena.

 

4.INTERVAL TRAINING – Interval training is easy to incorporate into your hacks, and is a great way to gradually increase your horse’s fitness.

During interval training you will need to keep your horse’s heart rate at around 140 beats per minute. At this point, his respiratory system is functioning aerobically and your horse can continue working like this for long periods without getting too tired.

When his heart rate reaches 150–160 bpm or above, the horses’ respiratory system starts functioning anaerobically and lactic acid is released into the muscles. This can’t be sustained for long periods and your horse will tire.

Interval training can be done once or twice a week, increasing repetitions over time as your horse becomes fitter.

• Warm up your horse first
• Complete three minutes trotting and one minute in walk. Repeat 3–5 times
• Complete two minutes in canter and one minute in walk. Repeat 2–4 times
• Complete two minutes in trot, one minute in walk.
• Cool your horse off walking out.

After a few weeks of following this interval training routine, you can work up to longer spells of trot or canter, being sure to bring your horse down to walk in between.

 

5.CANTERING – Finally the key to improving your horses fitness is CANTERING!  We can work on our horses muscles and fitness with all the other steps but truly improving your horse’s fitness and physical condition must be done by combining longer canter periods with more intense efforts.

Performance improvement only comes with work and fatigue.  I myself have been guilty of thinking that I keep my horse to a level of fitness to perform but don’t want to push him past a certain level because I want to preserve him for competition.

By doing this we prevent our horse from improving its physical condition and fitness. If you are competing, then preserving your horse can actually compromise its health in competition.

Make sure as your horses fitness increases you include a canter session for 6-8 weeks along with a diverse program for the rest of the week that includes your hill work, flatwork, gridwork, lunging, etc.

A good canter session means about 10 minutes canter at about 400 to 450 meters per minute followed by 5 to 10 minutes at the trot for recovery.

Build to this gradually, starting with 2 minutes for the first week, then 3 minutes, then 4 minutes and increase until you get to 10 minutes.  Your interval training can help get you there!

 

REMEMBER – a horse cannot increase its lung capacity.  Cantering sessions are imperative to improve your horses fitness.

 

FEED – feed and fitness go hand in hand. A big mistake people make is confusing fat for muscle.  If you simply increase the horses feed but not his exercise, he may look like he’s improving but he won’t have the strength or fitness that comes with a proper routine.

That said, your horse needs a feed program that matches the exercise and fitness level you are trying to achieve.  Increased exercise will need the correct feed balance to achieve proper muscle development.  Ensuring your horse has a well-balanced diet to suit his workload is important. Consult an equine nutritionist for advice.