rodeo12
Well-Known Member
How do you get your horses fit enough for hunting and how do you know if they'll be fit enough for the day? What about food - do they need to change food in order to give them more energy?
Getting horses fit
- Thread starter rodeo12
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Foxhunter49
Well-Known Member
I get the hunters up end of July and start road work with them They go Autumn Hunting and generally are about three quarters fit at the start of the season. The other quarter comes as they hunt!
doodleberry
Well-Known Member
ditto feed changes accordingly for example you may need to feed a bit more energy for deep boggy day or up and down hill days this just comes with experience and knowing the country but dodson and horrell do a wonderful mix called staypower muesli which is slow release energy!! you dont want your horse too fit and pumped full of food at the beginning as they wont cope to well with standing around autumn hunting is wonderful for doing their canter work as you can use interval training to get a good result and all sorts of lovely fields with good going you wouldn't normally have access too !!
lizziebinks
Active Member
I do roadwork over August. Mostly walking. First week in Sept, a few little trots then cubbing a couple of times a week. They get fit over Sept and Oct and ready to go on 1st Nov. It's a long season and you don't need them fighting fit by 1st Sept.
Our hunting country is low key though. One horse days over flat terrain.
Fitness required is entirely dependant on your country and hunt.
Our hunting country is low key though. One horse days over flat terrain.
Fitness required is entirely dependant on your country and hunt.
Orangehorse
Well-Known Member
When I hunted regularly I didn't really let my horse get very unfit over the summer, but then he never had a hard season and he was one of these wizzy TBs that used to gallop round the field several times every morning.
I used to go to hunter trials and one day events in the autumn and never had to worry too much about his fitness for hunting. But yes, you do need plenty of slow canters, gradually building up. Always increase exercise before you increase the food. Lots of hunters do a full season on surprisingly little hard feed.
I used to go to hunter trials and one day events in the autumn and never had to worry too much about his fitness for hunting. But yes, you do need plenty of slow canters, gradually building up. Always increase exercise before you increase the food. Lots of hunters do a full season on surprisingly little hard feed.
rodeo12
Well-Known Member
I've never been hunting before and decided that I'd quite like to go this year. . . I'd say he is very fit trotting wise but would need the canter work built up. But the canter side should come quite quickly. The food bit worries me though as don't really have much option for changing/increasing it. But would it hurt for a one off? I definitely wouldn't have time to be able to go hunting more than once this season.
Starzaan
Well-Known Member
We bring hunters in at the end of June and from then they do a couple of week of walking on the roads, before we start trotting. They usually trot for about four weeks, and then start cantering. By the start of September they're fit enough to do a full day's hunting.
I'd always rather have horses too fit than not fit enough. Not fit enough and you're risking injury, too fit and you can always let them down a little if they're being prats.
I'd always rather have horses too fit than not fit enough. Not fit enough and you're risking injury, too fit and you can always let them down a little if they're being prats.