How to get your horse fit?

Question

Whats the ideal week (or one that works)

to get your horse to peak fitness for competion or hunting?

in terms of hacking and schooling?

What work needs to be done, and how often?

Answer 1

You have lots of good answers...I read through and noticed that Juliane mentioned that her horses were brought off pasture for three months prior to fitness training.  I just think it's a great idea to rest their minds and bodies like that before starting the finess program.

Answer 2

I've had different trainers tell me that the best excersize for a horse is long trotting (extended trotting) for extended periods.  They've said that if you long trot a horse 3 miles 3 times a week in addition to other flat work he will be fit in no time.

Answer 3

It partially depends on how fit your horse is now.  A horse in good condition would need about 3 months of walking, ground work, and free work in an arena to be in top show shape.  One coming in off a pasture or not used regularly could take twice that.

Walk him 20-30 mins 3x weekly - and then canter/run him-preferably loose in an arena working up to 15-20 minutes.  Then you have 3 days weekly to focus upon ground work and riding.  This mix works well to condition the horse without making him too bored.  Mix up your rides between arenas & trails - it will help keep his ears pricked and attentive in a competition.

Answer 4

You should work with it everyday ( RIDE IT EVERYDAY) try and put it on a diet. That's how i got my horse fit and ready to show!

Answer 5

To get the polo ponies in shape after they come off pasture for 3 months we start by trotting them for 20 minutes, 6 days a week. Slightly increase that amount (only by about 2 minutes) every couple days. After about 10 days (depending on how they are coming along) we start loping them at the end of the trotting session. Start with 2 minutes, work your way up to 7 (or more, if you want. We only need them to be able to lope for 7 minutes straight, that's why we use 7 minutes as a guide). The trotting is what gets them in shape, builds muscle. The loping is what gets them wind, or endurance. It'll take a little while but our horses are usually fairly fit again in about a month, and ready for competition by 6 weeks at the most.

Of course we also pull them off the grass and regulate their hay when we are trying to get them fit. And we don't do much schooling with them as they aren't really that type of horse.  So maybe you'd want to switch 2 or 3 of these rides/week to schooling sessions, yet at the same time try to keep up the same amount of work...if that makes sense...

Good luck!

Answer 6

don't let them graze for more than two hours, give them plenty of room to run and try to exercise them at least three times a week. Don't give them to much grain, It should show results in a few weeks.

Answer 7

I would do 4-5 days a week, lots of flat work. I usually hack my horse 3 days a week for about 20-30 minutes of serious work (during the summer when it's hot, be sure to take a few breaks and maybe not go such a long time) One day a week I jump her big (whatever level you're showing at plus a few inches) and possibly a second day during the week do some smaller schooling jumps to work on other stuff.

Answer 8

to get our hunt horses fit... we hack out 4 x a week. To start with we just walk around the block... after a week or so walk further and further. After 2 weeks we then start doing half walk half trot, and build up the trot work, as this gets them fit and hardens there tendons etc. We also include a short gallop which just opens their lungs.

Answer 9

A way to get muscle and more fit is to w/t/c up hills. mostly trot and walk. Good luck

Answer 10

Typically when I'm fitting up a horse, I'll take them into the sand, either on a beach or riverbed and start trotting them for about 5-10 minutes depending upon the horse and gradually increase it by five minute incraments until I reach 30 minutes.

When I say trot, I'm talking about an extended trot.  I do this on a 6 day schedule with them getting ONE day off.  IF I can't get to the sand that day, I'll work them in the arena, for an hour at a walk, trot and canter.  Depending upon how fit the horse is, depends on how much trotting/cantering we do.