How fit is your horse and how much work do you do?

[Neddie123]

Today hacked about 6 miles, fast trotting for roughly 3 miles and mostly walked the rest (apart from the odd sections my horse insisted on cantering). It took an hour including some stops for directions. I think my horse is reasonably fit, we do a similar distance but differing paces 4 x times per week as well as schooling.

I'm interested to find out how far people hack, what pace they go at and how fit they think their horse is.

Just out of curiosity really.

 

[Pedantic]

Did 5.4 miles yesterday, numerous cantering stretches which totted up to 1.5 miles of cantering, he's 26, just getting over a cough, so did good, he did canter for 15 miles non stop when younger on an Endurance ride.

 

[Littlewills]

The one in work is nowhere near as fit as I would like her to be, but its been 18 months of stop start. Shes hacking out and doing 6 to 8 miles four times a week, schooling once, interval training twice and shes also lunged two or three times a week so shes worked twice those days.

 

[Orangehorse]

According to a vet book I have, to get a horse fitter you have to get the heart rate increasing. So if you do a lot of trotting the horse will be fit enough for trotting. To get fitter you need to introduce short bursts of canter, gradually increasing, but you need to let them blow a bit without over doing it. Gradually is the word.

 

[palo1]

It is interesting what people do. My working understanding is that unless a horse's work is contributing to increased fitness or improved/refined skill then 'exercise' as we have often known it is more or less just adding miles to the legs which is not necessarily a good thing. We ride our horses much less than lots of people we know because of this.

Generally speaking, once fit my horse does 1 hard ride a week - either a long mountain ride of up to about 30 miles with work in w/t/c or a full day's trail or drag hunting. As this is likely to be repeated once every 7 days he won't lose fitness unless something goes wrong or he doesn't get worked. However I still like him to do a bit so that he maintains the condition of his back/suppleness so I might ride once or twice in the week - probably not more than for an hour, across terrain in all paces or schooling (not especially technical for us!) but not much more than 5-9 miles. I don't panic if for some reason I can't fit that work in though I won't ride him in hard work without any of that work. He tends to have 2 days off after hard work and a day off before hard work. Of course that doesn't necessarily mean that works for everyone and where you want to refine a skill or learning you might want to do more but most people I know that are jumping or dressaging even at quite a high level don't jump more than once a week or school more than about 3x a week. For a fit eventer then you might ride 4 times a week max; 1 hard work fittening session or competition at an appropriate level, 1 jumping and 2 flat. After a harder competition you might have more time off and less work for a week. After that, to me, it is just extra miles on the legs without much benefit.

I do still know folk that ride 6 days a week but are not doing different or additional fittening work but that doesn't work for my understanding and none of our horses are mad if not ridden for a few days. They all also live out in a herd which keeps them moving. I think that 'work' should count towards something when you are in the saddle otherwise you are just adding wear and tear for no gain but some would see that as a harsh assessment of a routine that works well for them!

 

[Littlewills]

The gain for the wear and tear is a fit horse who doesn't need her feed restricting and for me to be able to ride. The thought of doing nothing all week hen a hard 30mile ride would scare the living daylights out of me.

 

[Winters100]

The gain for the wear and tear is a fit horse who doesn't need her feed restricting and for me to be able to ride. The thought of doing nothing all week hen a hard 30mile ride would scare the living daylights out of me.

I also favour daily work. Mine are on hols now as I am off games, but this is a rare occurrence. Usually we work twice a day, 9 days on and 1 day off. On their day off they still get moved, but it is something gentle to just let them relax, for example an hour or two walking in the forest, one ridden and the others led. To keep them fit they need hard training in the morning, then afternoon is gentle work, either lunging, loose schooling or hacking generally. If I am really rushed they might go to the carousel. I think that with this they are quite fit.

 

[palo1]

The gain for the wear and tear is a fit horse who doesn't need her feed restricting and for me to be able to ride. The thought of doing nothing all week hen a hard 30mile ride would scare the living daylights out of me.

Well that is not quite what I suggested and I agree that you would not want to not ride all week and then do a hard 30 miles even though it is likely that the horse that was fit enough could do that! Marathon runners don't run marathons in preparation for their races either though. Fitness in horses is achieved through the combination of 'stress' (ie fittening work) and rest where the rest is how the horse's body repairs and strengthens torn muscle fibres etc to come back stronger and fitter. I think that is really important to bear in mind when considering a serious exercise/fittening schedule. But all of us have to do what we think right for us.

 

[palo1]

I also favour daily work. Mine are on hols now as I am off games, but this is a rare occurrence. Usually we work twice a day, 9 days on and 1 day off. On their day off they still get moved, but it is something gentle to just let them relax, for example an hour or two walking in the forest, one ridden and the others led. To keep them fit they need hard training in the morning, then afternoon is gentle work, either lunging, loose schooling or hacking generally. If I am really rushed they might go to the carousel. I think that with this they are quite fit.

Wow! That is a huge amount of work - no idea how anyone can fit that in!! Lol

 

[palo1]

I also favour daily work. Mine are on hols now as I am off games, but this is a rare occurrence. Usually we work twice a day, 9 days on and 1 day off. On their day off they still get moved, but it is something gentle to just let them relax, for example an hour or two walking in the forest, one ridden and the others led. To keep them fit they need hard training in the morning, then afternoon is gentle work, either lunging, loose schooling or hacking generally. If I am really rushed they might go to the carousel. I think that with this they are quite fit.

Had a moment to think about this; are your horses kept in? What sort of hard work do they do in the mornings? Genuinely intrigued by this routine

 

[Goldenstar]

Sky is my horse so take him as the example .
Friday I took him to the forest we did an hour and twenty minutes with long uphill trots and canters .
Saturday ,he hunted
Sunday ,he went to beach about one hour .
Today the pro worked him he did flat work had a pop and then hacked for 40 minutes
Tomorrow ,he hacks
Wednesday, he Hunts
Thursday , the pro is back
Friday, the Saddler is here so that be a saddle check pretty well a rest .
Saturday probably just a lunge as I have others hunting and it’s a fair way away
Sunday, we are at a pole work clinic .

He is living out comes in the morning works has a chill goes back out .

 

[Winters100]

Wow! That is a huge amount of work - no idea how anyone can fit that in!! Lol

I get up very early! I work for myself so I can do my work late at night. I guess I am lucky that I have easy horses, so riding 1 and leading 2 is easily do-able. And they are on half livery, so no boxes etc.

Horses are in paddock dawn to dusk, except when working. Sometimes out overnight, but this depends on reasonable weather and no crazy mosquitos! This was not many days this year. Generally I do 40 to 50 minutes riding for each in the morning, lots of transitions and turns. This takes about 3 to 3.5 hours in the morning, plus 1 hour for preparing feeds / general faffing. Afternoon is easier. If I have time each gets 30 mins lunge or loose school, but more often I ride 1 and lead the others for an hour. I am lucky that all are sane and sensible, so usually the afternoon just involves a headcollar and no saddle. I am very organised about the horses, I prepare feeds for 3 days and they are given by the grooms, If I am really rushed morning training is also without saddle except for my relatively new boy. It is a lot, but when you get into a system it isn't difficult, and the huge bonus is that I don't have to worry too much about what I feed!

 

[palo1]

I get up very early! I work for myself so I can do my work late at night. I guess I am lucky that I have easy horses, so riding 1 and leading 2 is easily do-able. And they are on half livery, so no boxes etc.

Horses are in paddock dawn to dusk, except when working. Sometimes out overnight, but this depends on reasonable weather and no crazy mosquitos! This was not many days this year. Generally I do 40 to 50 minutes riding for each in the morning, lots of transitions and turns. This takes about 3 to 3.5 hours in the morning, plus 1 hour for preparing feeds / general faffing. Afternoon is easier. If I have time each gets 30 mins lunge or loose school, but more often I ride 1 and lead the others for an hour. I am lucky that all are sane and sensible, so usually the afternoon just involves a headcollar and no saddle. I am very organised about the horses, I prepare feeds for 3 days and they are given by the grooms, If I am really rushed morning training is also without saddle except for my relatively new boy. It is a lot, but when you get into a system it isn't difficult, and the huge bonus is that I don't have to worry too much about what I feed!

Thanks for sharing this; it is really interesting I can see that in total (in general terms!) your horses are doing about 2 hours of work a day which is not as much as I thought! 14 hours of work a week on average and from what you have said, at least a good part of this may be in the school/arena. That makes sense to me though I couldn't quite work on that schedule and nor would it really work for what I need but it is certainly interesting and sounds very organised!

 

[palo1]

Sky is my horse so take him as the example .
Friday I took him to the forest we did an hour and twenty minutes with long uphill trots and canters .
Saturday ,he hunted
Sunday ,he went to beach about one hour .
Today the pro worked him he did flat work had a pop and then hacked for 40 minutes
Tomorrow ,he hacks
Wednesday, he Hunts
Thursday , the pro is back
Friday, the Saddler is here so that be a saddle check pretty well a rest .
Saturday probably just a lunge as I have others hunting and it’s a fair way away
Sunday, we are at a pole work clinic .

He is living out comes in the morning works has a chill goes back out .

This is very interesting too! So Sky is hunting twice a week (well spaced Sat/Weds) and is ridden most days in between. For us and our horses that hunt once a week usually (sometimes twice) I would consider that not quite enough rest/repair time - not to mention that it would probably exhaust me to work on this system!! However our 2 hunters are both half arab so find fittening work easy and maintain fitness very easily. They generally hunt a full day over hill country though no jumping on a regular basis. We often clock up over 20 +miles over quite severe terrain at all paces and I am used to knowing how to get them fit for that to start with. I think they would go on strike if we asked them to work every day...lol.

In comparison to Winters100 our horses probably work similar hours but over less days. I am always concerned about the wear and tear that ridden work, especially on the road and in the school can cause so we are cautious about putting too many miles on the clock and so far this system of ours (which is clearly NOT what many people do) works well. Horse's heart rates are generally excellent, they don't appear to suffer stiffness, loss of appetite or enthusiasm though I accept that some weeks they don't work enough for my liking. My ideal would be the 1 long/hard day's work with at least 2 other working sessions - 1 arena based suppling/schooling/jumping and one hack out/longer than a basic mid-week ride. Most of our circular blocks are about 9 miles + with serious hills which are not so easy to fit into winter afternoons which is the reason we tend to stick to only shorter rides. Still, it works for us and horses are happy, cope well with the work and are generally very healthy and enthusiastic without being nuts!!

 

[Goldenstar]

At this is of year it’s autumn hunting so that’s shorter .
I like once we into the season proper for the horses to do three days a fortnight hunting unless the horse is a pratt we are sorting out .
Sky does not hunt twice every week and some weeks at the beginning of the season he may go three or four times .
Atm he in the run up to starting BD so we are working that in as well I would describe his workload as medium he gets half a kilo of oats a day 200 grams of micronised linseed and it’s about 300 grams of grass cubes with a bit bran to bind it he also gets a bit of haylege while he’s in the stable .
Hes got a great mind he will hunt one day school the next .
Hes an eight yo ID .

 

[Auslander]

Mine is completely unfit. He hacks out a couple of times a week in walk on a long rein for about 40 minutes, and spends the rest of his time hanging out in the field. He is 23, and has had a long and busy working life, so nowadays it's just about keeping him moving gently and enjoying life.

 

[Winters100]

Thanks for sharing this; it is really interesting I can see that in total (in general terms!) your horses are doing about 2 hours of work a day which is not as much as I thought! 14 hours of work a week on average and from what you have said, at least a good part of this may be in the school/arena. That makes sense to me though I couldn't quite work on that schedule and nor would it really work for what I need but it is certainly interesting and sounds very organised!

Yes, exactly. I work on trying to keep the time / intensity in balance. If I have more time I lessen the intensity of the morning training, and on those lovely days that I have a lot of time I will take them in the afternoon for a few hours in walk and trot (only one ridden of course, although I usually swap over part way).

They are used for (woefully low level) polo, so in summer work is on the field, which allows for fast training. In winter it is arena, so gentler and they are not as fit. But mainly I like them fit because I believe that it is healthy, I know that I feel better when I am fit, and I believe that they do too. Not a criticism of anyone else's regime, I am lucky to have time and horses that this works for, but I am really happy with how they do on it.

 

[Goldenstar]

Mine is completely unfit. He hacks out a couple of times a week in walk on a long rein for about 40 minutes, and spends the rest of his time hanging out in the field. He is 23, and has had a long and busy working life, so nowadays it's just about keeping him moving gently and enjoying life.

Like Fatty ,Fatty is not sound he works three four or five times a week he likes it and he’s sounder managed like this .
He gets some pharmaceutical assistance .

 

[Auslander]

Like Fatty ,Fatty is not sound he works three four or five times a week he likes it and he’s sounder managed like this .
He gets some pharmaceutical assistance .

Ditto! I pop an anti-inflammatory every morning, and so does he! I'm gradually working him back up to going out every other day, as he feels great once he's warmed up. I have to remind myself not to give him a kick and tell him to get on with it til he's walked for 10 minutes - he gets motoring when he's ready!

 

[Winters100]

Mine is completely unfit. He hacks out a couple of times a week in walk on a long rein for about 40 minutes, and spends the rest of his time hanging out in the field. He is 23, and has had a long and busy working life, so nowadays it's just about keeping him moving gently and enjoying life.

Good for you. When mine reach that stage I will do the same - lovely life for them being kept ticking over with gentle work as long as it is good for them. My firm view is that I will keep mine in work as long as I see they are happy with it, then I will ride them walking in the forest, and later on I will walk beside them.

 

[Gloi]

Mine is fit enough for what I do. About 10 hours steady hacking a week and a couple of hours in the arena. A bit less in bad weather and a bit more in summer. It is my energy rather than his that limits things.

 

[teddypops]

I ride my ponies most days, hacking, schooling or in my fields. They are fit enough for what I ask of them. I have them for fun and my enjoyment with some low level competitions. I ride them most days because that’s what I like to do and that’s what I have them for. I would be bored giving them lots of days off. I don’t worry about wear and tear because I’m not hammering them on hard ground or jumping massive jumps. My nearly 30yo mare is still in full work and looks and acts less than half her age and enjoys a good gallop round the woods several times a week, not many horses can keep up with her power walk!

 

[Auslander]

Good for you. When mine reach that stage I will do the same - lovely life for them being kept ticking over with gentle work as long as it is good for them. My firm view is that I will keep mine in work as long as I see they are happy with it, then I will ride them walking in the forest, and later on I will walk beside them.

He and his best friend are at very much the same life stage - both former high level competition horses, both a bit creaky now, and both still more than capable of giving us heart failure at their antics! They live together, hack together, and adore each other - it's so lovely to be part of!

 

[Goldenstar]

I used to give my horses more rest days but I got to thinking they just don’t move enough day to day turned in the fields we have so ATM two to three acre fields
so I have increased the amount they go out and about and reduced rest days.
I don’t think walking about under saddle is a big ask for a fit horse in approaching his prime years .
so get they fewer non ridden days now .

 

[Goldenstar]

He and his best friend are at very much the same life stage - both former high level competition horses, both a bit creaky now, and both still more than capable of giving us heart failure at their antics! They live together, hack together, and adore each other - it's so lovely to be part of!
View attachment 57414

That’s lovely
I took my friend Fatty autumn hunting I was very careful he loved it So did I until he started bucking when we disagreed on speed cantering down a slope .

 

[Auslander]

That’s lovely
I took my friend Fatty autumn hunting I was very careful he loved it So did I until he started bucking when we disagreed on speed cantering down a slope .

Sniggers! Alf isn't a bucker, but my God can he levitate when he's feeling full of himself!

 

[Winters100]

He and his best friend are at very much the same life stage - both former high level competition horses, both a bit creaky now, and both still more than capable of giving us heart failure at their antics! They live together, hack together, and adore each other - it's so lovely to be part of!
View attachment 57414

And that is what horses deserve for their semi retirement xx

 

[Lintel]

Interesting thread! I work 3/4 days a week 12 hours shifts... so no work on the days I'm working.
The Hipo is not fit at all at the moment, only coming back into work properly after 3 years of toddling around every now and then due to my schedule of uni/work.
We have no school so it's hacking alone, we tend to do a route of 6km that is very hilly, with a mix of walk and trot two/three times a week with a half hour schooling lesson once a week at a local RS.
There is hardly a place to canter now, everything is so boggy/has been pathed with stones or been blooming locked!
He rest struggles and tires when getting upto canter so we are trying to figure out some routes or locations locally to get some canter work in!

 

[palo1]

Yes, exactly. I work on trying to keep the time / intensity in balance. If I have more time I lessen the intensity of the morning training, and on those lovely days that I have a lot of time I will take them in the afternoon for a few hours in walk and trot (only one ridden of course, although I usually swap over part way).

They are used for (woefully low level) polo, so in summer work is on the field, which allows for fast training. In winter it is arena, so gentler and they are not as fit. But mainly I like them fit because I believe that it is healthy, I know that I feel better when I am fit, and I believe that they do too. Not a criticism of anyone else's regime, I am lucky to have time and horses that this works for, but I am really happy with how they do on it.

It is interesting to consider fitness in terms of exactly what work horses are required to do. Ours need more endurance/stamina with some short bursts of fast work so the fitness/work schedule is suited to that. Different jobs need different routines and perhaps we don't ask enough of our herd but my aim is to ensure that under saddle work is contributing directly to fitness/suppleness/training and the rest of the time is definately flexible!! It's good to hear of all the different approaches to different jobs/roles.

 

[AUB]

I think mine is fit for our purpose which is dressage. She’s worked 5-6 days weekly, normally 2 hacks, 3 dressage and 1 lunge day. She is also turned out 6-16 every day all year round no matter the weather on a big field with a slope.

She looks good and will quickly breathe normally after fast work, which I take as a good sign of fitness.