Can anyone recommend a fittening regime?

Casey76

Casey76

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Either written or perhaps an app? that I can use in conjunction with my mares weight loss regime?

While I would love to be able to do this out hacking, I have severe anxiety issues about hacking, and my mare is difficult to hack by herself (and we both end up feeding on each others anxiety, so it isn't a good combination!); but we have a square track around the yard of approx. 800m, which now has a hateful surface on it, but I could use it in loops. The track itself is slightly undulating, so not completely flat (and my do something to conquer my fear of trotting down hill - not that the track actually has anything resembling "hill" lol.)

anyway, thanks for any info :)
 
No need for an app! Good old interval training is great :)

I would start with one minute of trot/canter and one minute of walk. Repeat three times.

Its all about the recovery, so don't increase the trot/canter until she is recovering quickly. I would do it every four days to get a good result. I would keep the walk at a minute and build up the trot/canter to three minutes :)
 
I found this on line (taken from the Examiner.com)

While I wont be eventing (cough), I though this sounded quite reasonable. however T isn't coming off grass, she is already ridden at least 3 times a week, in w/t/c.

how do you think I could modify this so it works best for us? - though *I* might need to start from the beginning to build my fitness up lol!

A 12 Week Fitness Program For An Event Horse



April 11, 2012
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There are many different ways of getting horses fit, depending on the discipline, individual circumstances, facilities, and routine. The two things that all disciplines agree with as that the horse should be brought into work slowly and that the first month should consist of walking and trotting. For an event horse, you must allow three moths to prepare for the first event of the season. An event horse should be brought up in December rather than in January, so there is enough time for road work if weather is icy and snowy.

An event horse should be turned out in the day after exercise, stabled at night, be fed two concentrated feeds a day with hay at night, and be in good condition. Gradually the concentrated feed ratio should be decreased as the horse becomes fitter. This is to avoid an overexcited or unruly horse, which can cause danger to the horse, rider, and others around. A record should be kept of what the horse has achieved.

　

Week 1

Day 1 : 20 min. walk

Day 2 : 30 min. walk

Day 3 : 40 min. walk

Day 4 : 50 min. walk

Day 5 : 60 min. walk

Day 6 : 60 min. walk

Day 7 : Day of rest

Week 2

Day 1 : 1 hr. 10 min. walk

Day 2 : 1 hr. 20 min. walk

Day 3 : 1 hr. 30 min. walk

Day 4 : 1 hr. 40 min. walk

Day 5 : 1 hr. 50 min. walk

Day 6 : 2 hr. walk

Day 7 : Day of rest

Week 3

Day 1 : 2 hr. walk incl. 1 400 m trot

Day 2 : 2 hr. walk incl.2 400 m trot

Day 3 : 2 hr. walk incl. 3 400 m trot

Day 4 : 1 hr. 30 min. hack incl. 2 800 m trots

Day 5 : 1 hr. 30 min. hack incl. 3 800 m trots

Day 6 : 1 hr. 15 min. hack incl. 2 1100 m trots

Day 7 : Day of rest

Week 4

Day 1 : 1 hr. 30 min. hack incl. 3 5min. trots. Check recovery

Day 2 : 1 hr. 30 min. hack incl. 3 5min. trots. Check recovery

Day 3 : 60 min. walk plus 20 min. of schooling

Day 4 : 1 hr. 30 min. hack incl. 3 5min. trots. Check recovery

Day 5 : 60 min. walk plus 20 min. of schooling

Day 6 : 1 hr. 30 min. hack incl. 3 5min. trots. Check recovery

Day 7 : Day of rest

Week 5

Day 1 : 1 hr. 30 min. hack incl. 3 5min. Trots and 1 1min. Canter. Check recovery

Day 2 : 60 min. walk plus 20 min. of schooling, including pole work.

Day 3 : 60 min. walk plus 30 min. of schooling

Day 4 : 1 hr. 30 min. hack incl. 3 5min. Trots and 2 1min. Canters. Check recovery

Day 5 : 60 min. walk plus 30 min. of schooling, incl. small jumps

Day 6 : 1 hr. 30 min. hack incl. 3 5min. Trots and 3 1min. Canters. Check recovery . Or if possible dressage competition.

Day 7 : Day of rest

Week 6

Day 1 : 1 hr. 30 min. hack incl. 3 5min. Trots and 2 2min. Canters. Check recovery

Day 2 : 60 min. walk plus 40 min. of schooling, incl. pole work.

Day 3 : 60 min. walk plus 40 min. of schooling, incl. small jumps

Day 4 : 1 hr. 30 min. hack incl. 3 5min. Trots and 3 2min. Canters. Check recovery

Day 5 : 60 min. walk plus 40 min. of schooling

Day 6 : 1 hr. 30 min. hack incl. 3 5min. Trots and 2 3min. Canters. Check recovery. Or if possible small show jumping competition

Day 7 : Day of rest

Week 7- Interval training begins

Day 1 : Hack

Day 2 : 60 min. hack plus 40 min. of schooling

Day 3 : 60 min. hack plus 45 min. of schooling

Day 4 : 45 min. hack plus 3 3min. Canters at 400m/min with 3min. Walk in between. Check recovery

Day 5 : Hack

Day 6 : 60 min. hack plus 40 min. of schooling

Day 7 : Dressage or show jumping competition

Week 8

Day 1 : 45 min. hack plus 1 3min. Canter and 2 4min. Canters at 400m/min with 3min. Walk in between. Check recovery

Day 2 : Day of rest

Day 3 : 60 min. hack plus 40 min. schooling

Day 4 : 60 min. hack plus 45 min. schooling

Day 5 : 45 min. hack plus 3 4min. Canters with 3min. Walk in between. Check recovery

Day 6 : Hack

Day 7 : 60 min. hack plus 40 min. schooling

Week 9

Day 1 : 60 min. hack plus 45 min. schooling and jumping

Day 2 : 45 min. hack plus 2 4min. Canters and 1 5min. Canters with 3min. Walk in between. Check recovery

Day 3 : Day of rest

Day 4 : 60 min. hack plus 40 min. schooling

Day 5 : 60 min. hack plus 45 min. schooling

Day 6 : 45 min. hack plus 1 4min. Canters and 2 5min. Canters with 3min. Walk in between. Check recovery

Day 7 : Hack

Week 10

Day 1 : 60 min. hack plus 40 min. schooling

Day 2 : 60 min. hack plus 45 min. schooling and jumping

Day 3 : 45 min. hack plus 3 5min. Canters with 3min. Walk in between. Check recovery

Day 4 : Day of rest

Day 5 : 60 min. hack plus 40 min. schooling

Day 6 : 60 min. hack plus 45 min. schooling and jumping

Day 7 : Cross- country schooling to replace canter work

Week 11

Day 1 : Hack

Day 2 : 60 min. hack plus 40 min. schooling

Day 3 : 60 min. hack plus 45 min. schooling and jumping

Day 4 : 45 min. hack plus 1 5min. Canter at 400m/min, 2 4min. Canters at 400/min finishing with 1min. At 500m/min with 3min. Walk in between. Check recovery

Day 5 : Day of rest

Day 6 : 60 min. hack plus 40 min. schooling

Day 7 : 60 min. hack plus 45 min. schooling and jumping

Week 12

Day 1 : 45 min. hack plus 5min. At 400m/min, 4min. At 400m/min plus 1min at 500m/min, 4min. At 400m/min. plus 1 min. at 550m/min, with 3min. Walk in between. Check recovery

Day 2 : Hack

Day 3 : 60 min. hack plus 40 min. schooling

Day 4 : 60 min. hack plus 45 min. schooling and jumping

Day 6 : First event of the season

Day 7 : Day of rest

Temperature, pulse, and respiratory rate are used to check the fitness of the hors. To obtain what is normal for tour horse you should check them while the horse is calm, usually between feeding and exercise. This can be used as a baseline to help to see the difference after exercise and how long it takes the horse to return to normal. The horses normal resting temperature is 38oC , a thermometer should be used to get a horse’s rectal temperature. A horse’s normal resting pulse is between 36 and 42 beats per minute, which should be taken along the left check bone. A horse’s normal resting breathing rate is between 8 and 16 breaths per minute, which should be taken by the in and out motion of the ribs. Heart rate recovery should drop below 60 and 70 beats per minute within 10 minutes after exercise has stopped. Within 30 minute, the heart rate should be below 60 beats per minute after any kind of exercise. The respiratory rate should decrease with the heart rate recovery. The respiratory rate should drop below the heart rate after 10 minutes. The temperature can reach 103-104oF, but will return to normal 15-30 minutes after exercise.

An endurance horse will benefit more from a longer period of slow conditioning work than the event horse. An endurance horse should be allowed up to 5 months to prepare for an event. For an endurance horse stamina and muscle strength must be well developed. An endurance fitness programme must be conducted at greater consistent speed. The last four weeks concentrate on higher speeds. Training increases the proportion of fast twitch high-oxidative fibres, which enhances the endurance ability of the horse.
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Agree with Casey...old fashioned and some may think laborious, but it worked a treat for my podgy cobx when I first had him, he has really good stamina now, slowly slowly catch the monkey..
 
I would suggest that you always start after a rest day of doing the same as before; do not increase exercise on the first day back after a break, that isn't fair. Like asking you to do 100 sit ups after a rest day when you had only done 80the week before.
 
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