Exercising for sanity out hunting

[autumn7]

Did some pondering whilst on ten mile hack today - mainly power walking on roads with two mile total trot/canter on off road sections.
Should have been autumn hunting today but after mare's second time out this season last Tues she's been so uncharacteristically keyed up that have left her in field the last two days of high winds as felt she's not been 100% safe to hack out. (No school available, we hack.)

Calmer weather today so in lieu of hunting, trailered her out to quiet spot and had good purposeful no-nonsense hack for 2 1/2 hours. Glad I did as although started out unsettled, on high alert and ready for action she had noticeably destressed by the end, still extremely forward going, but listening and responding well, your "push button" ride. Hunting would have been a no-no with her today in the frame that she started. We can go on Saturday when hopefully she's more herself.

Now, I'd value your thoughts on these things I mulled over as I rode:

Assuming one starts the season with a pretty fit horse ie. forward going 16hh MW 8 yr old cob who does tend to find hunting particularly "exhiliarating", in your opinion is it best to:

1) exercise her fairly hard between hunting days (we manage approx 3 - 4 days per month) to give an outlet for her energy & to keep her super fit, or

2) exercise fairly lightly between hunting days so that she doesn't become TOO fit & explosive to hunt.

3) attend several meets in quick succession so that it's not quite so thrilling, or

4) Intersperse hunting days with other outings (we do all sorts - fun rides, SJ, dressage, XC schooling, etc) so her trips out aren't all "galloping with the herd" so to speak.

This is the start of her third season out, first season only totalled eight days and last season twenty three days total and although extra keen throughout she didn't exhibit quite such stressy behaviour between hunting days that she's shown this time round.

I do wonder if she's actually a little too fit for starters, if that's possible? She's had a busy summer with an event of some sort virtually every weekend which she's taken in her stride. It's only hunting that has keyed her up this year which has surprised me a little. I thought she'd be older and wiser another year on as she's got a lot more life experiences under her belt (girth!), but it's as if I've pushed her outside her comfort zone.

Just to add, she lives out, grass by day, bare paddock at night with high fibre haylage and Lo Cal balancer. She thrived purely on this (plus Kwik-beet) all last winter - an incredibly good doer.

 

[spacefaer]

She sounds like fun!! Who do you hunt with? Are they fast and furious?

When you started her hunting, did you keep it all quiet, keep her out of the mad rush and let her acclimatise herself? Or shall she always been in the middle of the fun from day one?

I would suggest that you take her more often, let her settle to the job a bit more - and make sure she's worked hard the day before she goes, so that she has less excess energy to play with

 

[JenHunt]

typical smart coblet... she's twigged what it's about! Mine's still the same at 16 tho he's not quite such a good doer as yours!

once this sort of horse is fit, IME they don't take much keeping fit, so you don't Need to do too much! I'd work with a combination of 2, 3 and 4....

We hunt twice a week up until christmas doing relatively little in between (hack twice a week for about an hour), then after that he goes show jumping one evening a week, and the hacks become a 40 minute stroll, then in mid feb he's quite tired so we do a bit of unaff dressage and only hack out once a week. This way he's not out galloping all the time and we get a bit of schooling in as we don't have a school either. By the time we get to the end of the season he's pretty flat, so gets a month of just strolling out 3 times a week, then gets brought back up for some fun/eventing/RC/SJ etc before getting another light month in september. We don't really do autumn hunting as it winds him up something rotten!

ETA - ditto Spacefaer about working her the day before so she's got less to lark about with!

 

[autumn7]

Thanks both of you for responding, really appreciate it. Have just scribed a lengthy reply, went to edit something on 'preview post' and it's wiped it clean! Now late and I'm swiftly wilting so will begin again tomorrow.

 

[Starbucks]

I would give him plenty of work. My horse is a bit daft at the mo (not normally) because he's getting lots of nice grass and he's just thinking "Whhoop!!"

Better to be fit and giddy than not fit and do injuries.

 

[autumn7]

Agree with you there Starbucks re. fitness. I'm a road pounder with mine (all at a strong forward going walk, mind, only occasional trot up hills.) I think we do enough trotting on roads out hunting where we have little choice.

Following your advice spacefaer and jenhunt re. working hard the day before, we've done a decent 9 miler today in prep for tomorrow. Far more down to earth today too, still more alert than usual but that intense anxiety has gone whereas yesterday (5 miles) she was still very unsettled inspite of Tuesday's 10 miles. There's a fine line between her feeling fit, well in herself and raring to go but still listening and responding, and tippling over in to the tense/anxious state when she can't hear you. Thankfully the latter is very rare with this horse.
I suspect a few factors are influencing behaviour this time.
She's entering the season fitter and slimmer (hah!) than she's ever been, she's in her prime and does look and feel tip top, (as she should), the autumn grass is still exceptionally good (limited as much as poss. by strip grazing) and maybe a handful of hormones are thrown in there somewhere, who knows. Also her first morning out this time happened to be in a larger than average field and fairly fast, think I may have thrown her in at the deep end after months off.
Spacefaer - I hunt with an east anglian harrier pack so even autumn hunting's pretty on the go from the start. She was introduced carefully and quietly by me as a six year old then last season hunted regularly until the white stuff kerbed the nation of it's sport!
By the end of the season she had the makings of a promising hunter so I'm sure once she settles she'll be fine again. Was just her reaction to hacking out that made me think about workload, fitness levels, etc to maintain level headedness.
Jenhunt, we obviously don't hunt as hard as you at 2 days/week but I too slip in an occasional pleasure ride, dressage or whatever in to the mix for just those reasons, to let her see life's not all high excitement. This mare finds arena work as dull as ditch water. Maybe a few dressage shows will do her good if she continues to bubble over between hunting days. That'll sober her up. She can do a half decent prelim under duress, just not her cuppa tea!
Last year she managed just fine with light short hacks between hunts too, stayed sane and fit enough for purpose so confident we'll get there again shortly.
Really good to hear your opinions, all three of you. Will be interesting how the next few weeks will pan out under the "working hard the day before" regime.

 

[Starbucks]

Well good luck - sounds like you are putting lots of thought into what to do for the best!

Was just thinking, went with my new hunt for the first time last week so not sure how the horses normally behave, but there were a lot of very excitable horses with experienced looking jocks.. I'm thinking horses may just be feeling extra good this autumn?

I'm sure she'll be fine when she settles in to her hunting routine.

 

[autumn7]

Thanks X

 

[JenHunt]

Jenhunt, we obviously don't hunt as hard as you at 2 days/week but I too slip in an occasional pleasure ride, dressage or whatever in to the mix for just those reasons, to let her see life's not all high excitement. This mare finds arena work as dull as ditch water. Maybe a few dressage shows will do her good if she continues to bubble over between hunting days. That'll sober her up. She can do a half decent prelim under duress, just not her cuppa tea!

Oh, don't get me wrong - Ron Hates flatwork/dressage, and it sounds like your mare has much more flair for it than he does (we're consistently second last or thereabouts after the dressage when we event!), but the discipline of it seems to do him some good, and it makes for a decent outing if the ground is saturated or frozen hard!

let us know how you get on, she sounds like she's got the right sort of brain for it, and like you made a good inroads last season!

 

[autumn7]

Flair for dressage - nooooo way! To see her flatwork you'd think she was on her last legs, drags her heels like a petulant child if she finds something unmotivating. I can screw one test out of her after no more than a 5 min. warm up and that's that. She goes home fresh as a daisy whilst I'm kn&ckered from the effort!

Had a much more manageable couple of hours hunting yesterday. Like to think she enjoyed it more without the constant checking to bring her back to me.
I reckon a long hack the day before hunts will be the way forward when poss. for the time being - then can lighten the load once she's in the swing again. Sure it won't take long, she's fairly unflappable and an independent type. She should make a great hunter when she gets a bit more experience.

 

[JenHunt]

Ron's idea of dressage is the fastest pregnant racing camel this side of the United Arab Emirates... 20 minutes of warm up to try to make him realise that it really isn't hunting, and pray the judge doesn't beep a horn or ring a bell!

sounds like that is the way forward for a little while, once you get into the season proper I'm sure she'll be fine!

 

[autumn7]

Titter! - polar opposites on that score!