A fitness/condition question

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sonjafoers

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Assuming hacking only what would be best for keeping a horse who is prone to being overweight in good condition/fitness:

5 hacks a week of 1hr to 1hr 15 or 4 hacks a week of 2 hours?

Thank you :)
 
5 days at 1h 15 would be 6.25 hours of work a week
while 2 hours for 4 days is 8 hours work a week

More hours a week would burn more calories I'd imagine!!

Is the horse stood in the rest of the time our out most of the time?
 
Hi Polos Mum, thanks for your reply.

I was thinking the same as you but am wondering if it's better to work her more days a week than more hours.

She's always been ridden regularly and is reasonably fit but I've moved yards and we have a lot more grazing than she's ever been used to so I'm trying to keep the weight under control.

She lives out but is currently in about 5 or 6 hours a day and that includes her riding time.She will soon be autumn hunting so I won't be so concerned but for the time being I'm not sure how best to keep her as trim as possible.
 
interval training will get her very fit and she will lose weight too and can be done with varied hacking. so 5 min walk 3 minutes brisk trot 5 minutes walk 4 minutes brisk trot 5 minutes walk 2 minutes brisk trot 3 minutes canter repeated for your riding time. Needs to be done briskly though slopping along is not an option
 
Working the horse properly for at least 1 hour every day will have far more benefit, than for a longer period of time over 2 days.
 
windandrain that sounds like a great idea, my only thought is we probably don't have anywhere to do 3 minutes canter especially on a repeated basis throughout a hack. I can certainly canter whlst out hacking but they tend to be shorter ones - perhaps I can do the walk/trot you suggest and fit in the canters a bit more willy nilly!

Thanks amymay you've confirmed my initial thoughts but I just wanted to double check really. In that case she can go out 5 times a week for an hour or so and start doing interval training. I think we might be falling out very soon!!
 
Depends on the hack!! If it has loads of trotting/cantering/hills, a 45min hack will be better than a slow 1.5hour hack...
 
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