How much recovery do they need after hard cantering & galloping?

[MDB]

Hi all,

I have been conditioning and fittening my horse for 4 months now. Hacking 4 to 6 times a week, one to 2 hours, hilly terrain. 80% at walk as some of those hills are very steep through the forest (as a human you have to lean forward to go up), but the rest of the time, trotting and cantering with the occasional gallop. The longest hill is about one and a half miles of moderate incline. We normally trot and walk up, and maybe the occasional canter for a stretch. Depending on what we have done during the rest of the hack.

Anyway, the other day we had been out for an hour and on the home stretch was this long incline. My horse really wanted to go for it. So i let her. She was flat out galloping, then ran out of steam. We walked to recover then galloped again cos she really wanted to go. Then once at the top we walked the last mile home on the flat. She was knackered.

I did the same route again the following day, with half the amount of galloping. She was definitely more tired. But my friend said I should only do this once a week. So perhaps I am risking injury.

So the question is, after a hard hack with lots of galloping like this, would you A). Give the horse the following day off. B) Go out the following day but just at walk or C). Somewhere in the middle, if you felt the horse was tired, then just slow it down.

Thanks all.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

I would definitely go for a walking hack with bits of easy trotting. An easy trot - not flat out, not a dawdle nor a working trot, just a nice easy swinging trot - will help shift the lactic acid build up in the muscles quicker than just walking.

Racehorses canter most days of the week with 1 or 2 work days in there too so they are always on the go.

 

[cundlegreen]

Hi all,

I have been conditioning and fittening my horse for 4 months now. Hacking 4 to 6 times a week, one to 2 hours, hilly terrain. 80% at walk as some of those hills are very steep through the forest (as a human you have to lean forward to go up), but the rest of the time, trotting and cantering with the occasional gallop. The longest hill is about one and a half miles of moderate incline. We normally trot and walk up, and maybe the occasional canter for a stretch. Depending on what we have done during the rest of the hack.

Anyway, the other day we had been out for an hour and on the home stretch was this long incline. My horse really wanted to go for it. So i let her. She was flat out galloping, then ran out of steam. We walked to recover then galloped again cos she really wanted to go. Then once at the top we walked the last mile home on the flat. She was knackered.

I did the same route again the following day, with half the amount of galloping. She was definitely more tired. But my friend said I should only do this once a week. So perhaps I am risking injury.

So the question is, after a hard hack with lots of galloping like this, would you A). Give the horse the following day off. B) Go out the following day but just at walk or C). Somewhere in the middle, if you felt the horse was tired, then just slow it down.

Thanks all.

It very much depends what type she is, and what you are feeding her. No reason why she shouldn't gallop several times a week, as long as the fittening work has been done. But she needs high energy feed to do this. A tired horse will injure itself much quicker, so moderate the gallops or do interval training.

 

[MDB]

She is on hay and forage plus supplement and salt.
She is an Andalusian, age 11. We have built up over 4 months gradually from walking, to trotting and bits of can't ring and galloping. She has lost 110kg and is quite fit and full of energy. When we go for gallons or canters I never push her and she gets plenty of rest between speedy sessions. But maybe I need to moderate the really fast work a bit more and not do it 2 days running.

 

[be positive]

She is on hay and forage plus supplement and salt.
She is an Andalusian, age 11. We have built up over 4 months gradually from walking, to trotting and bits of can't ring and galloping. She has lost 110kg and is quite fit and full of energy. When we go for gallons or canters I never push her and she gets plenty of rest between speedy sessions. But maybe I need to moderate the really fast work a bit more and not do it 2 days running.

I wouldn't gallop a pleasure horse two days running, you are risking injuries by allowing her to gallop flat out anyway so limit it to twice a week max, if you try to keep some control over the pace and pull back to a steady canter before she tires the risk will be reduced, it is when they are tiring and at their limit that the risk is greatest so by keeping her balanced and not bottoming her out the risk should be less but you can still have fun.

I don't think they require high energy feed to gallop, my natives can gallop on no feed providing they are fit enough to be allowed.

 

[MDB]

I wouldn't gallop a pleasure horse two days running, you are risking injuries by allowing her to gallop flat out anyway so limit it to twice a week max, if you try to keep some control over the pace and pull back to a steady canter before she tires the risk will be reduced, it is when they are tiring and at their limit that the risk is greatest so by keeping her balanced and not bottoming her out the risk should be less but you can still have fun.

I don't think they require high energy feed to gallop, my natives can gallop on no feed providing they are fit enough to be allowed.

Good advice Bepositive. It was such fun and she really wanted to go. But I definitely don't want her injured. She has today off Tomorrow we will go for ahack just at walk. Those hills are hard enough anyway even at a walk. She always rests and catches her breast several times going up the steep ones and I let her go at her own pace. I will make sure I control her gallops and give her sufficient recovery days so she doesn't push herself to fatigue.

 

[tallyho!]

I wouldn't gallop a pleasure horse two days running, you are risking injuries by allowing her to gallop flat out anyway so limit it to twice a week max, if you try to keep some control over the pace and pull back to a steady canter before she tires the risk will be reduced, it is when they are tiring and at their limit that the risk is greatest so by keeping her balanced and not bottoming her out the risk should be less but you can still have fun.

I don't think they require high energy feed to gallop, my natives can gallop on no feed providing they are fit enough to be allowed.

Pleasure horse!! BP wash your mouth out with soap

Andalusians are not pleasure horses... you should see them working in the mountains in Spain.... and some even do eventing in this country ;P

eta: mines definitely NOT pleasurable... she's a pain in the backside.

 

[DabDab]

Depends on the horse and how fit they were already but yes I would generally give a day off or do a walking hack. If I pull the horse out and they feel tired I will take it easy/give a day off. Fast hacks with a lot of galloping should be the sort of cherry on the top of fittening work - it's just for building up their aerobic fitness, ideally after the muscles, soft tissues and hooves have already been built up through walk and trot hacking and some work in the school. Twice a week canter/gallop hack for aerobic build-up will do the job.

 

[amandaco2]

mine do 20min trotting and a few 3min canters on an incline about 5x week. if they go to the beach etc and do gallop work I usually do a it of an easy hack the next day with maybe 10min trotting and a few short canters

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

As long as the fittening work has been done correctly I don't see the issue with two days in a row. I believe that you can always tell how the horse is feeling and just go by that. If they are raring to go and want a flat out gallop then okay, if they want to do that again the next day then okay, if the next day they are really slow and sluggish either a day off, or if you are already on board then just a short leg stretch in walk.. The horse knows how they feel that day more than anyone else, let them tell you.

 

[AdorableAlice]

I would think the heat in Spain would have a big input in fatigue. Very different to posing the same question for a UK horse.

 

[tallyho!]

I would think the heat in Spain would have a big input in fatigue. Very different to posing the same question for a UK horse.

As in they get more fatigued? Well they probably would in the 40 degree they've had but normally in spain the andalusians are out for hours moving cattle. They may not gallop for minutes at a time like a tb but they are incredibly famous for their stamina.

In the UK I would expect a andalusian to be able to the same as any other horse.

 

[AdorableAlice]

As in they get more fatigued? Well they probably would in the 40 degree they've had but normally in spain the andalusians are out for hours moving cattle. They may not gallop for minutes at a time like a tb but they are incredibly famous for their stamina.

In the UK I would expect a andalusian to be able to the same as any other horse.

My mistake I thought the OP was in Spain.

 

[MDB]

My mistake I thought the OP was in Spain.

I am in Spain. You are correct AA. But I go out early mornings when it is about 18 deg and am always back before the sun is up too high and the flies are out with the heat.

 

[be positive]

As long as the fittening work has been done correctly I don't see the issue with two days in a row. I believe that you can always tell how the horse is feeling and just go by that. If they are raring to go and want a flat out gallop then okay, if they want to do that again the next day then okay, if the next day they are really slow and sluggish either a day off, or if you are already on board then just a short leg stretch in walk.. The horse knows how they feel that day more than anyone else, let them tell you.

Their instincts will kick in and take over so while at the time they may feel well enough to gallop flat out several days in a row it may be too late by the time they pull up if they have overstretched themselves and pulled a tendon, it doesn't matter how fit they are they can still do damage and most will keep going if they are of that mindset, which is why keeping them balanced, pulling up before they are really tired and using common sense, is important in my mind if you want a horse to last and stay sound.

Pleasure horses is a general term, they may be more than capable of working very hard, and I imagine the work they do in Spain is way beyond what most of us would think of as hard work but the OP is using hers for pleasure not a job and will want it to remain with her to enjoy for life.

 

[MDB]

As long as the fittening work has been done correctly I don't see the issue with two days in a row. I believe that you can always tell how the horse is feeling and just go by that. If they are raring to go and want a flat out gallop then okay, if they want to do that again the next day then okay, if the next day they are really slow and sluggish either a day off, or if you are already on board then just a short leg stretch in walk.. The horse knows how they feel that day more than anyone else, let them tell you.

This is what I have been doing. I don't push my mare because the hills are really hard. When we walk up the really steep hills she rests for breath the same as I do when climbing them. Then she goes off again in her own time. The first occasion we hacked up the steepest hill was about 2 months ago in a slow walk. She could literally only take about 10 steps at a time and then was stopping. Now she stops for breath about twice in the whole climb. It is too steep to do anything faster than a walk. She used to have to stop for breath on the mile and a half long gentler hill. But she can walk the full length now easily but she cannot trot the entire length. I do try to listen to how she is feeling and if we do a faster ride one day we do a slower one the next. But since she is getting fitter she is enjoying the speed more.
She lives out on the side of a hill 24.7 and we previously hacked once a week or thereabouts before we began the serious fittening programme 4 months ago. So she did not start from zero fitness.
I will take people's comments on board and make sure the gallops are not on two consecutive days. Especially because the ground is hard right now from 3 months of no rain and in places rocky and gravelly, although we only trot and canter slowly over rocks and gravel. Her feet are super but it is the tendons etc I think about. I have never been into fast cantering and galloping before but we have both progressed so much in our own ways over the past 4 months that I am now a speed convert! lol

 

[MDB]

Their instincts will kick in and take over so while at the time they may feel well enough to gallop flat out several days in a row it may be too late by the time they pull up if they have overstretched themselves and pulled a tendon, it doesn't matter how fit they are they can still do damage and most will keep going if they are of that mindset, which is why keeping them balanced, pulling up before they are really tired and using common sense, is important in my mind if you want a horse to last and stay sound.

Pleasure horses is a general term, they may be more than capable of working very hard, and I imagine the work they do in Spain is way beyond what most of us would think of as hard work but the OP is using hers for pleasure not a job and will want it to remain with her to enjoy for life.

Yes, Bepositive she is very much a pleasure horse for me. lol. Not sure whether this is putting too much of a human slant on it or not, but she is naturally the laziest horse I have ever met. She will take the easy way out wherever. I dont know if this would work in our favour with regard to instinct taking over and running until ahe breaks herself. You may be absolutely correct though, as tou have far more experience than me. And yes, I want her to last me a long time so I will keep a check on the gallops and make sure she recuperates fully.