Getting my horse fit.

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Conniexox

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So our arena is not coping with the dryness recently and is riding very deep : it feels awful to ride on! There is a field where it is on a slope, with no level areas. I can’t hack alone as I’m only young and the woods are pretty scary sometimes, and I’m struggling to build up her fitness. Any tips?!??? Exercises that will build up muscle? I hate the situation I’m in and eager to get her fitter and she’s a bit podgy from summer grass. Thankyou :)
 
Do you keep your horse at livery? If so is there someone reliable you could hack out with? Or perhaps you could use the sloping field for fittening work by doing exercises, transitions etc
My horse was very fat 3 months ago but I have hacked her out regularly. The hills help to improve fitness immensely. On Sunday I rode her on her first fun ride and she outwalked every one else and came back looking as if she could do the ride a second time!
Good luck.
 
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We have the horse at our house, sadly my dad (who normally hacks with me) has broken his leg , meaning no riding! My no horsey mum has came with me (walked behind) but is too busy most of the time. I ride on my own every time it’s just there’s been bad stories about the woods and groups of people etc so I have to have someone with me. Thanks for you tips :)
 
Can’t you ride in the field? It doesn’t have to be level. I often school in my hilly field as it’s good for getting my ponies fit!
 
Look into interval training and see if you could do some around your sloping paddock
 
As Dab said, interval training should be suitable in your situation. There's lots of info about it on the internet. It isn't suitable for horses that are unfit because they have had a couple of months off. But for horses already in work it's supposed to be good.

I believe you are only supposed to do interval training about twice a week. It's easy to overdo it if you don't follow a programme. If you look up interval training and William Micklem, the programme he has in his book should come up. There will be lots of similar programmes on the internet.
 
Our arena has also gone from a flood to a sand dune in a matter of days. I wish we could have overnight drizzle rather than downpour or nothing.

Do you have a harrow? Ours improves a lot with harrowing if your mum could do it.

Otherwise I agree about using the field. Can you get some poles out and do some polework in there for interest?

Any friends locally who could hack over to you and then you could go out together?
 
Can you find some gallops? I’m hiring local gallops to keep my boy fit as ground too hard to do the canter work I need.
 
It is on a slope and by level I mean where they were turned out in it there’s some deep parts where the hooves went down in the mud
 
I wish it would rain too! Already been harrowed : it didn’t lay. Rolled it as well and now it’s dry like a beach so I don’t want to ride on it because it will go deep again! No friends nearby to hack with (barely anyone rides and most do too far away And would have to ride on busy main roads). I’ll try poles!
 
Can you water the school? Hosepipe with a sprinkler that you move around, even if you just do half of it. It would probably need hours rather than minutes though if it's completely dried out.

Or if it's a long term problem what about putting in some fibre or something in to the surface?

This has worked for me in the past and I'd be a bit worried about doing too much in the field if it's hard.
 
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