Fittening Plans

[Helen010382]

Subject to vetting I am now the very proud owner of a new horsey.

He has been turned away all winter but before that was sucessfully jumping 1m+ classes so was very fit.

He is now totally unfit and untoned. How do I go about fittening him up??

He is a bit on the 'slim' side so obioulsy don't want to work him too hard to start with as want him to put more weight on.

How many weeks of walking would you all suggest? (I haven't ridden on a regular basis for a few years so I need to get fit too!)

Then how to I then increase his workload? What should I be aiming for?

 

[mrdarcy]

Congrats! How exciting.

You say he's been turned away all winter so I'm assuming he was in full work up until Octoberish last year and fit at that point?

Assuming that he won't have lost too much fitness but I would always start with four weeks of just walking out on hacks, starting with 40 minutes and building up to a good hour and half by the fourth week. And I don't mean ambling - I mean proper striding out.

After the third week I'd also start to introduce some work in the school, supplying work, little bits of trot and maybe a short session or two of lunging.

After the initial four weeks of walking I'd then start to add in a bit of trot work, again building up slowly, adding more frequency and longer bouts of trot. You can also up the trot work in the school and lengthen the lunging sessions.

Build up the trot work until he can comfortably do an hour and a half out on a hack with lots of trotting. Then you can start to introduce canter work and then jumping in the school.

After three months following something along these lines he should be about the level he was at before he was roughed off.

 

[Helen010382]

I am so excited!!!

I think he was turned away about September and was fit before hand. He does seem to have lost alot of fitness - I suppose possibly his age could have something to do with this (he is 18)

Would you give days off or is it not worth it when just at the walking stage? I don't want to put too much pressure on him and stop him from gaining weight.

 

[mrdarcy]

Actually the more years a horse has been fit and working the quicker he regains fitness after time off. The bay horse in my sig is 20 in a couple of weeks. He had most of last year taking it very easy whilst I concentrated on my other horse so he was very unfit. I brought him back into work in January with the aim of starting to compete him again (we do endurance). Within a few weeks he was improving very quickly and we're doing our first competitive ride (40k) on Sunday (weather and all other things permitting!).

I always make sure they have one day off a week, unless the day off involves having to stand in the stable if turnout is restricted.

Weight wise you could try something like Baileys Outshine or Top line conditioning mix. I know lots of showing people swear by NAF Pink Powder to put condition on but as both mine are little puddings its not something I have to worry about. If he's a bit banana shaped at the moment - i.e. no top line but saggy belly - don't worry. Once you get to the stage where you start to introduce longer periods of trot and canter the abdo muscles will tone up and the pot belly will quickly disappear. My lad's has noticeably reduced in the last week and a half now he's doing some serious work.

 

[Helen010382]

[ QUOTE ]
If he's a bit banana shaped at the moment - i.e. no top line but saggy belly - don't worry. Once you get to the stage where you start to introduce longer periods of trot and canter the abdo muscles will tone up and the pot belly will quickly disappear. My lad's has noticeably reduced in the last week and a half now he's doing some serious work.

[/ QUOTE ]

You describe him perfectly when you say banana!! He has no top line and a saggy belly!

I'm actually looking forward to a few weeks of walking - hopefully it will improve my fitness too - only rode for about 20 mins tonight and I am already aching!!!

Good luck for Sunday - hope the weather is OK.

 

[mrdarcy]

Thank you! Hopefully we got all the snow out of the way this weekend. Good luck with your new lad and let us know how you get on.