First Season Showing - Training/fitness help

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evejames

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Hi all,

My name is Eve, I'm new to the forum and will post an introduction later :o)

We have a 7 year old Section C Mare called Katie. My partne and I broke her in last year nd would like o take he to a few shows this year. I would like to enter a few showing classes, progressing to some jumping as the season progresses.

She is a very chilled out character and takes everything in her stride :o)

She hasnt done anyting over the winter and I had a short lesson on her yesterday. Myinstructor has advised me to get her a little fitter before I go back to her, with the advice of 'long and low' and 'rhythm', which I can woek on.

My main question is, what would you see as being a fair training program for a novice pony approaching her first showing season? ie length of session times, type of work etc.

I have some field to ride on that are gently sloping with some flattish areas, a dirt track drive of aroud 3/4 mile (on a hill), some quiet roads with a bridle path about 2 miles down the road. I could also ask a friend if I could use her nearby school.

I work 9-5 four days a week the days are getting longer though...YAY!

Thanks in advance,
Eve
 
I would be riding 3-4 times a week for no longer than 45 mins. One of those rides would be a trail ride to give her a change of scenery and avoid getting sour in the arena.

I would be changing it up a little in the arena too, trot poles maybe even some desensitising... Long and low and rhythm are a fantastic starting point as it will allow your horse to develop her topline, that way when you start to ask for harder work her muscles will strong enough. :)

If you are only doing low level jumping, I would still stick to that above amount of riding. Do a bit of canter work and some trot pole stuff before you introduce jumping. Go slow and make sure she is jumping well before increasing height as that way you will end up with a horse who is a confident jumper. :)

My eventer jumps once a fortnight if he's lucky. He is doing lower level stuff (under 1m) and we focus on flatwork as this builds muscle and increases fitness as well. He is worked 4-5 times a week with 2-3 days off. He always gets 2 days off after a show. We do groundwork/inhand stuff once a fortnight and the alternating fortnight we go for a nice relaxing ride.
 
I would be doing 5 -6 days a week if you can, she is 7 so although still green should be able to pick up her fitness levels fairly well with plenty of slow steady work, as much stretching and working forward into a good rhythm on hacks as you can, going up hills will also help, you can school out hacking and maybe just use the arena once a week for some more canter work on a good safe surface.

In the ring they will do a fair amount of canter so gradually build her canter work up, think 2 or 3 circuits of a show ring then changing the rein and another 2 to 3 circuits, they do need to be fairly fit to manage that without falling back to trot or puffing like a train.

Some pole work and basic jumping once she is fit enough will help increase her stamina as well as build up muscle and keep her interested.
 
If you haven't shown her before try to get her out in company, or perhaps hire a school with a friend so that you can have a little practice show class. She needs to be totally happy with horses passing her at close quarters, being close behind someone or having another horse close behind her. M&M classes, even at local level are very popular so you can be in with a lot of other horses.
Also have a little practice at your individual show, ideally with someone on the ground to be the 'judge' and make sure you can trot her up in hand.
The hills are good for fitness and topline, but you don't want her too lean - although I expect as a native as soon as the grass comes through she'll look fab!

Have fun!
 
Hi everyone,

Thank you for your helpful replies. I am trying to ride her at least 4 times a week. Up and down our hilly lane and around the fields. Its just walk and trot at the moment until she gets fitter and more balanced.

She will be hacked out to the bridle path once a week and we have arranged fortnightly lessons with our riding club at an outdoor school with trotting poles etc.

ironhorse: yes, a VERY good dooer, she's a little tank even without the flab!

So at the moment she is stabled 24/7 as she is company for our stallion (her dad) but she will be going out with the other's shortly so that she gets to stretch her legs.

She is just getting haylage at the moment. Can anyone recommend a good balancer that wont break the bank...?

Eve
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