‘Couch to 5k’ for horses?

[Flicker]

Does anyone have a good fitness regime for a healthy horse who has been at grass for the winter? I’m helping a friend bring her horse back into work after she turned him away to have a baby. He’s been out for 4 months. For the last month she’s ridden him gently once a week for half an hour and now wants to start bringing him back into full work. With baby, she won’t have much time so I will be doing a lot of the work. He’s coming to my Livery yard. We have access to:
Indoor and outdoor schools
Jumps and poles
Horse walker
Turnout - limited in winter but 4 days a week guaranteed turnout, the rest weather dependent
Hacking on and off road (more on than off)
One steep hill

I work full time so will ride evenings and weekends.

Neither of us minds how long it will take. The key for us is to do it safely. He has an old tendon sheath injury that has never given him any trouble, but we are conscious that we need to ensure that the tendon is not overloaded.

The horse is a full ID and a very good doer. He is quite fat.

And he is hairy. When is too late in the year to clip?

Those of you who do this sort of thing regularly, it would be so helpful to hear from you in terms of what works and what we need to be aware of and careful with.

Thank you!

 

[Red-1]

The old rule is 6 weeks walk work, working up from 1/2 hour to 2 or 3 hours, including hills.

Not many people do this nowadays, and it is a pity, as I do wonder if that is why we have an explosion of tendon/ligament injuries. I would do this work especially with your horse as he has a previous issue.

These days people tend to get straight in and at it, on an arena, lungeing etc. I have no issue with lungeing if a horse is frisky when coming back into work as rider safety comes first, but I do think it is for the benefit of the rider, not the horse.

After the initial 6 weeks it is correct to include some straight line trotting, and build that up too, over a few weeks. Then canter. Some slow school work can be brought in, as in a bit of school work then a walk out.

The old BHS books used to have specimen fitness regimes printed in the old manual (showing my age now) but in modern times many people seem to hop on and just start schooling.

 

[windand rain]

If he has been living out 24/7 he will have a fair bit of residual fitness anyway My regime is to walk for as many weeks as the horse has been off in months so in his case 4 weeks brisk walking, introduce trot and canter after that then get on with schooling jumping etc. Might be hard to get the walking in if you are working as its still a bit dark both ends of the day. having said that it also depends on where he has been turned out if it is hilly you could probably just get on and get on with it. My vet who is an endurance vet says any horse should be fit and able to go straight from the field to do a 10k pleasure ride. I still think a bit of walk helps strengthen their legs though. I am ancient too

 

[Flicker]

Thank you very much! That is pretty much what I thought to start off doing so that’s reassuring. Yes I would find it hard to find 3 hours to walk in the evening (an hour at a time is no problem and definitely 2 at the weekend).
Does the walking have to be continuous or could I ask the yard to pop him on the walker when he comes in, to build up a bit more walk time, do you think?

 

[Flicker]

I would also add, he is very safe. I would have no issues with riding straight away. I don’t think he’s ever needed lunging for anything other than conditioning - certainly never to take the freshness out! Which will make the process much easier for all of us I think.

 

[windand rain]

Not a fan of horses going round and round mindlessly but the walker could help quite a bit. I never lunge an unfit horse that is a reipe for disaster in my mind. if you want to or the light situation causes problems I would long rein round the school but to be honest walking round should do the trick it just gets boring. The most important bit of fittening is slowly building up muscle strength so every pace has to be properly forward and connected meandering about slopping on a long rein wont help

 

[Flicker]

Not a fan of horses going round and round mindlessly but the walker could help quite a bit. I never lunge an unfit horse that is a reipe for disaster in my mind. if you want to or the light situation causes problems I would long rein round the school but to be honest walking round should do the trick it just gets boring. The most important bit of fittening is slowly building up muscle strength so every pace has to be properly forward and connected meandering about slopping on a long rein wont help

That is really helpful thank you so much!

 

[Cortez]

Gosh, didn't realise people still did that old fashioned walking-for-weeks type of fittening. I've never done that, and I'm pretty ancient too! I start off slowly, but in terms of the amount of time, not the pace - I'd always at least trot for a few minutes from the very beginning, and a tiny bit of canter too, but I do mean literally just a circle. I generally start young horses with no baseline fitness off with 10 minutes 3 times a week, then after a fortnight or so increase up to 20 minute sessions 3 - 4 times a week. I like to see them starting to puff a little, but not sweat. Older horses coming back into work I would push a little harder, and after a couple of weeks would be doing more trot and canter and finish sessions just as the horse starts to sweat. Walkers can be very a useful addition but can't be relied upon to substitute for ridden work. As a physio friend of mine is fond of saying "Walk is NOT work!".

 

[Flicker]

Cortez, that is really interesting. What would you do with an older horse with an old, healed injury? Would your approach be the same? The horse in question is 14.

 

[Cortez]

Cortez, that is really interesting. What would you do with an older horse with an old, healed injury? Would your approach be the same? The horse in question is 14.

Yes, take it steady and monitor how the horse is doing. If horses are happy bombing about in fields, then they should be capable of a little trot and canter under saddle. I judge the horse's fitness on several levels; how out of puff he gets, how warm he gets, and how the muscles are growing, as well as how eager he is to work. Walking is not going to do any harm, of course, but it's not going to get the horse fit either.

 

[Leo Walker]

There is a very interesting article by David Marlin about fittening. Its worth looking it up.

 

[amandaco2]

mine winter out off work most of the winter...they do a hack at weekends and my days off but realisitically they aren't very fit once we get to spring!..


usually start off with working them as often as poss- usually 6-7x week,

in walk for 30min building up to 2hours over 4-6 weeks.

then start adding in trot starting with just 1minute to 20minutes over the next 2-3 weeks.

then add in canter work and start doing some schooling with them. over 3 weeks building up to interval work of 2minutes canter, 30s walk then repeat 4x.

by 8-10 weeks in I start lessons and clinics and maybe a few outings.

I pretty much just hack over various ground and hills for the first part of their fitness work...

 

[Flicker]

Yes, take it steady and monitor how the horse is doing. If horses are happy bombing about in fields, then they should be capable of a little trot and canter under saddle. I judge the horse's fitness on several levels; how out of puff he gets, how warm he gets, and how the muscles are growing, as well as how eager he is to work. Walking is not going to do any harm, of course, but it's not going to get the horse fit either.

Right - thanks for this. Those are useful markers to watch for.

 

[Flicker]

There is a very interesting article by David Marlin about fittening. Its worth looking it up.

I will look that up, thank you!

 

[Flicker]

mine winter out off work most of the winter...they do a hack at weekends and my days off but realisitically they aren't very fit once we get to spring!..


usually start off with working them as often as poss- usually 6-7x week,

in walk for 30min building up to 2hours over 4-6 weeks.

then start adding in trot starting with just 1minute to 20minutes over the next 2-3 weeks.

then add in canter work and start doing some schooling with them. over 3 weeks building up to interval work of 2minutes canter, 30s walk then repeat 4x.

by 8-10 weeks in I start lessons and clinics and maybe a few outings.

I pretty much just hack over various ground and hills for the first part of their fitness work...

So kind of like interval training? Would you add in any trotting poles for core work during the walk sessions, or wait until they are trotting?

 

[SOS]

Just typed a long reply and H&H received an ‘error’ and it all disappeared. Good advice so far, consider if the horse was ever truly fit before as if not they will need starting even slower. Below I have detailed my previous experience bringing hunters/eventers back into work after a 4 month break. Your own schedule will need to be slightly steadier.

* Week 1: walk hacks 30 mins, atleast 5x a week
* Week 2: walk hacks 30mins-45, atleast 5x a week
* Week 3: walk hacks up to an hour, atleast 5x a week

I prefer doing walk work out on the roads incorporating going up/down hills. The walk should be ‘marching’ and show acceptance of the bit. I am not suggesting the horse must be in “an outline” but the walk should be purposeful and correct. If very short for time we would do the same work in a large field or arena. Occasionally there is a loss of manners by the horse during these first few weeks, if so we will spend a session in the arena working on transitions in and between walk/halt and if horse is capable light lateral work. (Turn on the forehand/hindquarters) This is mainly to remind the horse of the aids and respecting them.

* Week 4: 30-45 mins walk hacks, 10-15 mins trot introduced over the week, atleast 5x a week
* Week 5: 30-45 mins walk hacks, 15-20 mins trot, atleast 5x a week
* Week 6: 30 mins walk hacks, 20-30 mins trot, atleast 5 a week

This trot should be a ‘hound trot’ which is a rhythmic, controlled trot on the slower side. Much harder than letting the horse bowl along fast down a road risking injury/over work.

* Week 7: 2 schooling sessions a week, 4 hacks 1/2 and 1/2 walk/trot
* Week 8: as above introducing short canters on the straight out hacking
* Week 9: as above starting canter in the school

Hunters then start autumn hunting and eventers get taken over by their riders for more advanced schooling at this point. With my own I now start popping a small jump once a week and going to lessons.

With your set up you could use the walker for some walk work however I am not a fan early on in the bringing back into work stage, and I think there is great value in riding. I would not lunge at all until Week 9. As for pole work mentioned above that can be incorporated in walk and trot work but I wouldn’t over do it as it can be hard work for the unfit horse.

 

[Flicker]

Saddleoversofa thank you so much for taking the time to put together such a comprehensive response. Yes, I think in all likelihood the walk Work would need to go on for longer due to limitations on time, although we are very lucky to have all weather facilities here. He’s a lovely horse so fortunately the riding bit won’t be a chore - it will just be finding the time!
Thank you also for your note of caution regarding the pole work!

 

[SOS]

Saddleoversofa thank you so much for taking the time to put together such a comprehensive response. Yes, I think in all likelihood the walk Work would need to go on for longer due to limitations on time, although we are very lucky to have all weather facilities here. He’s a lovely horse so fortunately the riding bit won’t be a chore - it will just be finding the time!
Thank you also for your note of caution regarding the pole work!

No problem! I am lucky as a lot of my fitness hack routes have pubs along the way to keep me motivated

 

[Flicker]

No problem! I am lucky as a lot of my fitness hack routes have pubs along the way to keep me motivated

Haha!