{"id":129,"date":"2020-08-29T17:09:42","date_gmt":"2020-08-29T17:09:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/horseycounsel.com\/?p=129"},"modified":"2021-09-18T14:03:52","modified_gmt":"2021-09-18T14:03:52","slug":"improving-horse-fitness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/horseycounsel.com\/improving-horse-fitness\/","title":{"rendered":"Improving Horse Fitness – Everything You Need to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Horses might seem like they’re unwavering and tireless. After all, that’s how they are portrayed in movies and TV shows. This couldn’t be further from the truth, as a horse can lose its fitness and quickness relatively easily if the owner doesn’t ensure proper nutrition and frequent exercise.<\/p>\n
You can increase a horse’s fitness in a number of ways, depending on the horse breed, the specific issues it faces, and the amount of space that you have available. Moreover, you need to take into account if you’re training your horse for a specific event, or if you simply want it to be in shape for farm work or leisure activities.<\/p>\n
Weather is an important factor as well. In areas where it’s sunny all year round, a horse can be trained constantly and is able to maintain its resilience throughout its younger years. In cold regions, however, a horse might be confined to a stable for longer periods, which could result in a loss of fitness. The owner needs to be creative and resourceful in this situation.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, I’m here to provide some useful pointers. In this article, I’m going to walk you through several proven ways to increase your horse’s fitness levels. These training regimens are suitable for horses of all types and breeds. However, you might want to fine-tune each activity according to your training space, your horse’s age, and fitness level.<\/p>\n
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Interval training is great if your horse is already doing some work on a daily basis but you need it to become stronger for an upcoming event. Basically, you’ll want to ramp up the intensity of your training routine without relying too much on long, low-intensity sessions.<\/p>\n
Not only is interval training a time-saver, but it also boosts your horse’s muscle tone and lung capacity in a relatively short time span. I repeat, this training routine is best-suited for horses that are already in moderate to good fitness.<\/p>\n
During interval training, you’ll rely on short-duration rides at canter followed by a period of rest at walking speeds. Stat off with longer rest periods and shorten these down as you progress throughout the routine. By the end of the training regimen, the canter sessions should be longer than the resting ones.<\/p>\n
Generally speaking, five minutes of canter followed by three minutes of walk constitutes a solid interval training system. You should perform these activities twice in quick succession, but you don’t need to do them more than once a week.<\/p>\n
You shouldn’t rely on interval training alone in order to increase your horse’s fitness. Instead, use it as part of a general regime in which you can include jumping, schooling, and hacking. More on these below.<\/p>\n
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Naturally, just like humans, horses will build up endurance if they go for long walks or jogs. Trail riding represents a perfect way to boost your horse’s fitness, especially since you won’t have to drill them in school.<\/p>\n
Take your horse on a long hack through a forest road for optimum performance. The uneven terrain and the sloping differences will force the horse to adapt and overcome obstacles. Therefore, trail riding is a great exercise for the body but also for the mind. Increasing physical fitness is incredibly important, but mental fitness must also receive training at the same time.<\/p>\n
A horse needs to know its strength in order to trust itself. It needs to have confidence, and overcoming obstacles found naturally in the wild is a perfect way to achieve it. Depending on your horse’s fitness levels, you will generally practice trail riding at a walk with some trot, or at trot and canter.<\/p>\n
As your horse becomes stronger and more endurant, it will be able to go through the same course faster and without tiring as much. It’s ideal to practice hacking on the same course each week, or at least on a trail that has the same length in order to be able to measure your horse’s progress.<\/p>\n
The goal is to go through the trail with speed and efficiency. If your horse is not up to it at first, don’t worry. Even an hour or 50 minutes of trail riding will do great things for its fitness levels, provided you perform the exercises on a regular basis.<\/p>\n
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If the amount of space that you have available for horse training is limited, then you might want to consider jumping and some gymnastics work. The horse doesn’t need to jump very high in order to achieve a fitness increase. Furthermore, if you keep your jumps low, you will also avoid strain while minimizing the risk of injury. You know what else can minimize the risk of injury? Properly stretching the horse<\/a>.<\/p>\n