Fitness in youngsters

[mavandkaz]

Just looking for other people's experiences of bringing on youngsters and building up their fitness - what kind of timescale should I be working on?

So, 3 months ago I purchased a 4.5yr old 16hh 'cob type'. Although he is more draught type then cob (no recorded breeding). He has a thread in the Track Room . He had been with the dealer for 5 days having come over from Ireland and have absolutely no previous history on him. It would not surprise me if he had some tack thrown on, done a couple of basic rides and then put on the boat - there are big gaps in his knowledge. So probably not much ground work, and potentially no leading out etc. he definitely had never been lunged, and I doubt long reined.

So we've been taking it slowly, and we are now 'hacking' a couple of times a week - these tend to be around 30mins all in walk. 'schooled' once a week (twice at most depending on how things work out). Again around 30mins, mainly in walk but building up the trot work (equilab tells me this usually totals around 5mins in a session). The rest of the week is a mixture of long reining, in hand work, just learning about the world and introduced to new things.
He's turned out 7.30-2ish on decent grazing, with another gelding. And has ad lib hay. Small feed twice a day of fast fibre, chaff and supplements.

We have done a couple of longer hacks, around 45mins, and these really tired him out.

I suppose I'm just wondering if this sounds about right in terms of work load, especially for something that is still growing and possibly has done very little previously to me.
He will have a two week break in February.
Our shortest loop hack is about 1hr 15 in walk, so I'm currently having to turn back on myself to do shorter ones. So I'm really looking forward to the day we can do a proper hack! Not in any rush though.
He's my first youngster in 15yrs and by far the greenest one I've had. But he is already turning into an absolute dude, so really don't want to get this wrong. (Have plenty of support from experienced people but always want to learn more).

 

[CanteringCarrot]

I have a 3.5 year old doing that same type of work (we do canter on occasion). I would think it fine for a 4.5 year old. Mine hacked at the walk for a little over an hour last weekend (groomed completely flat and straight trail) and handled it fine. It was good ground and an easy way though.

Just slowly build up to the full hack as you would with a person beginning new exercises. Build up the fitness and stamina slowly. I think that hacking is great for them at this age and mine really enjoys it.

The mixed and varied work is great. So I'd keep that up. I do a variety of things with mine which includes long lining, hand walking, liberty training, obstacles, hacking, and schooling. He gets days off too.

With the varied and slow but steady approach you should be able to address all/any holes in his basic education too. I really don't see an issue with what you're doing, but I do tend to start mine earlier than some.

 

[maya2008]

Every horse is different: experiences, breeding, conformation. I can only tell you what I’ve done with mine - hopefully it helps! I hack everything for 3 months minimum before I take them in the school though - preferably closer to six months.

Currently:
- 3.5yo, DHP but slimmer build sportier type, albeit fluffy. Backed last summer. Turned away for the rest of the summer, came back into work in October and currently does 3-4 rides one week of each fortnight then the next week is led out from another horse 3-4 times. Very full of energy, can manage a schooling session of 20min or so in walk, trot and canter (basics of going nicely under saddle, nothing stressful!) or a hack of an hour to an hour and a bit, walk and trot with the odd canter. Requires regular zoomies or she annoys her field buddies to the point where someone gets hurt . Gold star perfect out hacking as I led her out regularly for six months or so when she was 2!

- 4.5yo part Arab. Very very athletic and powerful in build. Backed in mid summer. Nutty creature who becomes even nuttier if not allowed enough canter work under saddle. She manages a 20-30min schooling session with a good dose of canter, transitions, basic 20m circles - focus on being polite, going correctly but nothing beyond basic prelim dressage level. Or a 20min session with cross poles working on calmness, correctness and basic intro to jumping sorts of things. We do alternate weeks in the arena - so 3-4 sessions one week, then just hacking the next. She hacks for miles, fast, keen, it’s the only thing that keeps her sane. We did 3 hours the other day without blinking, and she can do 12+ miles and still be keen on the way home! Her rider is less than 10% of her body weight so he’s basically not there . She can carry me fine but I wouldn’t hack anything like that far and we school for 20min max, as I am closer to the 20% and she’s still building muscle.

- I also have a 6yo who does less. Had two foals very young, came to us walking a bit oddly due to being very weak behind. She hacked for 6 months solid, max 60min, little canter, lots of walk and gentle hills. We are now in the arena but the focus is still on slow and steady as the arena work is there to get her straight and correct before we dare do more. Mostly, she’s getting there. Looks pretty normal behind now, and no longer wears her feet so strangely. I won’t let her go on really long hacks or jump for another six months though. I want the joints straight and correct before exposing them to much wear.

 

[LEC]

It takes a while for them to build what I call deep fitness. Probably a good year. Mine will do a fair amount of hillwork and it’s fascinating seeing their stamina build. One day they can barely get up one hill and a month or so later they can go up two. Essentially it’s cross training which works the best. A little bit of everything with the expectation that they will get a little sore sometimes from building muscle and strength so tend to get a weeks holiday roughly every 2 months to allow their brain to rest and body to relax. I want the sport horses to learn to be tired and still keep going so an example is they might jump a few things then you stop as they are clearly tired (lose the jump a bit or struggle to hold the canter in balance) so I tend to keep on working them for another 10 mins on the flat doing simple stuff like transitions but keeping them going while tired as often their brains before body. This just keeps them working and building their resilience while not actually physically taxing them so if they go hunting or competing they can cope with being tired better.

 

[FitzyFitz]

I probably do far more hacking distance than most people do with youngsters, but I find it really helps their forward motion and general strength. Walking hacks do a great job of building fitness and strength it just takes a while! Better than rushing though. You've got years to go

Currently got a 4yo, been leading her out in hand several times a week (for several km's a time) since August, done lots of ground work and trec type obstacles, backed in November and started hacking out in walk. Started at once a week ridden and still several in hand or long reins, built up to two or three ridden sessions a week recently but at least one of those will be very short/easy work and we're still 90% in walk.
(She's gaited so no trot and worrying about canter later. On a normal pony I'd be doing short trot stints earlier but she needs to build a really good walk before anything much else.)

Hacks are usually about an hour/90 mins currently, it's hilly lanes here, sometimes do a longer one but will take company, pick less hilly routes and/or less stressful environment because it's usually the brain that gets tired before the legs!

Just started doing ridden schooling in the arena, it's always short sessions at the moment as it's a lot of thinking for her poor little brain and she gets tired. Invisible shapes are harder anyway, we're working on it, but at least the hacking gives her the strength to have a chance.

I wouldn't expect her to do very much more at all until next year, and be at her best from the year after, it takes a long time to build proper long term fitness!