Training Plans - How to prioritise?

Ambers Echo

Ambers Echo

Still wittering on
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My ideal week looks like:

Lunge 20 minutes with pro core trainer
Hack X 2
School X 3
Jump X 1 (SJ lesson, XC clinic, SJ practice, grid work etc)
Compete once a month

But I never seem to manage an ideal week!

So in what order to I ditch sessions? Is hacking really that important? In the winter I need to hack for fitness but we are eventing and going to plenty of XC clinics and she is full of running at the end of the XC phaseat events so I think she is ok from a fitness POV. As far as the mental break of hacking - she lives out on 4 hilly acres 24/7 so gets plenty of breaks. So does a horse who is ridden 6 times a week - 4 schooling/jumping and 2 hacking feel more mentally comfortable than one who is only riudden the 4 schooling/jumpinbg sessions but has 24/7 turn out the rest of the time?

I tend to prioritise schooling over everything else. Hacking and lungeing are first two to get dropped but I wonder if I should be a but more strategic about what I drop when I don't have time to ride 6 times a week.
 
What do you feel you are gaining from the lunging day?
I've never used it as a routine part of my training whether that was during my eventing days or now at dressage. If I have time or inclination to do anything in the school with the horses then I find riding is more effective. So personally I'd drop the lunging day, but if that feels wrong to you then I'd lose a schooling day and make the remaining ones either harder work or generally more focussed.

I'd be reluctant to do more in the arena, I hack mine to make sure they see different things and expand their horizons regularly, AND to get them off a surface because I do worry about the long term repercussions of always riding on sand.

What level are you competing at? I know you say she is fit but I'd expect to have to factor in some fast work, or are you doing that on hacking days?

ETA, also, what are your mare's strengths and weaknesses at a ODE?
 
I started the lunging because she was very weak over her backend. She has improved massively but still is a little weak behind and I lunge with the procore trainer and poles. My feeling is that she can use herself better without me getting in the way!

We are only competing over BE80T - fast work is in XC clinics, competitions and occasionally hacks.

Our weakest phase is on the flat, specifically her canter work. This affects both the dressage and the bits in between the fences on the SJ. She struggles to carry her canter and either flattens and runs or breaks to trot.
 
I agree with mp lunging has never been part of my training with event horses and is usually only used as an extra if I felt they needed some more exercise or I was feeling too lazy to ride, I always tried to hack at least 2 days out of 7 and often hacked before or after schooling or jumping to warm up/ cool down, I think it important to do some training/ fitness work on grass to condition them to working on varied surfaces.

I don't think a fit horse living out has to be working 6 days a week but if you reduce the days you may need to increase the intensity or time on the days they do work, hence sometimes hacking/ cantering and schooling the same day.

Just seen your post about why you lunge and it obviously has it's use for you so I would hack then come back and lunge a warmed up horse to really get the benefit, if you have the time even a 30 min brisk hack would be useful and you could then have a day off having covered two things in one go.
 
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I'll go against the grain and say I really like lunging, and am missing it now I can't do it due to facilities at the yard.
I enjoy watching her from the ground, how she moves naturally, if there is any improvement following her ridden work. I found it really helped her balance and also her fitness in general. I wouldn't do it every week, but maybe every other, and I think although they're still working 'in' the school, it's just something different brain wise as I am very conscious of her becoming sour, not that she's shown any signs, but just my worried brain!
 
Swap the lunging for pole work with you on top? That way you get the schooling benefits, transitions, straightness, accuracy ect with the core work out over trotting poles. Mine doesn't hack but we enjoy our pole days as a mental break.

To save time I join up with a friend, one of us puts them out, the other away.
 
I am currently doing rehab lunging – in equi-core band and loose de-gogue and raised poles. 2-3 times a week.

Horse hacks 3-4 times a week. So for us schooling is taking a back seat as I don’t like to do too much work on a surface.

You can also school or hack in the equi-core band. Though I would limit it to hacks under an hour.

Personally in your situation I would possibly lunge and hack on same days (weekend days?) to increase options.

My rule of thumb is typically 3 times a week in school, 3 times a week working outside school on non artificial surface, to keep legs from too much repetitive strain.
 
I used to be mad into training schedule, but i dropped them completely last year, and have noticed no difference apart from having a lot less pressure on myself.

A lot depends on the age and condition of the horse.

i have a one star eventer who is 15 and established in his job. I don't have a training routine for him at all. i just play it by ear on what we need to be working on. I don't want any extra milage on him, so i keep work short, very focused and do less days. I would skip jumping during the week unless I feel there is an issue.

I have a younger horse aiming for 80s, and to be honest once she's fit enough and happy jumping the levels I just play about with the schedule. Once she's ridden four days a week in some shape of form (always with fitness work) then she can pop off to an event and have fun. Any of the others at 80s/90s level are fairly much the same.

We went to a lot of training talks and it really put me off lunging. So i would only ever do it with a young horse for a session of two. I wouldn't do it with them after that unless they were coming back from injury and i was advised by a vet. I think on my older eventer it would be pointless, i would be better off on board doing transition and polework.

I don't think theres any hard or fast rules for training, i got better results when I listened to what the horse needed and was less rigid.
 
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paddi22 said:
I don't think theres any hard or fast rules for training, i got better results when I listened to what the horse needed and was less rigid.
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I think it depends on how organised, motivated you are, and how many competing priorities you have e.g. kids / job / caring responsibilities etc.

I see far too many unfit, unprepared horses and riders doing sponsored rides and low level one day events.

Most amateurs I observe with ridden horses seem to ride 1-3 times a week, if that.

Some people need a structure / schedule to knuckle down to doing enough.
 
flying_high said:
I think it depends on how organised, motivated you are, and how many competing priorities you have e.g. kids / job / caring responsibilities etc.

I see far too many unfit, unprepared horses and riders doing sponsored rides and low level one day events.

Most amateurs I observe with ridden horses seem to ride 1-3 times a week, if that.

Some people need a structure / schedule to knuckle down to doing enough.
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Good point! hadn't thought of it that way. A lot of it is education.

We are doing a training booklet to help amateurs start eventing in Ireland and its amazing how much stuff you just assume is basic sense, but that people don't realised they have to do, stuff like like asking them 'can your horse canter/gallop at the right speed for four minutes and be ok'. So a training schedule would be really helpful for those folks like you said.
 
flying_high said:
I think it depends on how organised, motivated you are, and how many competing priorities you have e.g. kids / job / caring responsibilities.... some people need a structure / schedule to knuckle down to doing enough.
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This is me! I work, I have kids and 2 of the kids ride & compete. So unless I prioritise it, Amber just gets left. I would like to just be flexible it but I know that unless I actively plan to sessions, I end up either not riding at all, or just going down the line of least resistance which is a quick unfocused session in the school. I want to structure a plan and then organise my week around it so I make sure it happens. With the way my brain works if it is on a plan I'll do it. If it isn't I probably won't!
 
I am highly motivated but also have to plan (sometimes weeks) ahead, because if I don't book slots in the school I won't get in there ;)

From your comment above, maybe you need to not just decide what days to do what activities, but also how to get the best out of each of them? Then if you end up only being able to do 5 days, at least they were 5 really productive days rather than just exercise for your horse?
 
Maybe in making your plan, focus on when you have most and least time to ride, and not doing the same thing more than two days running.

I typically hack / day off Monday (after weekend). I like schooling mornings, less keen afternoons / evenings. I am normally tired by Fridays.

I’d maybe aim to hack when you have time but not energy. School when you have most focus and energy. Lunge when are short of both time and energy.

Plan the week like that?
 
I find lunging is highly beneficial. I tend to use it once a week so that I can assess movement, see the progress of self carriage, to check the horses asymmetry without a rider.

But, I don't have a specific day just to lunge, I will usually lunge as a warm up, then do some flexions and a little in hand work and then a shorter schooling session. These usually turn out to be our best session of the week!
 
I don't have kids, just 2 horses. I have a schedule but I found that planning a week at a time didn't work for me. Personally I find working in a 2 week cycle most useful. I find it just helps me work out the best days to give the horses off according to what other things I have on, and gives me a better idea of when I might best fit lessons in, and to make sure I have a solid lead up to an event conditioning and training wise.

I guess I don't drop anything, I just do things like jumping or lunging once per fortnight. I also plan easy days like bush riding for days when I know I'm not going to want to school. And sometimes I will change the plan on the day as to how me/the horse feels at the time.
 
Hacking is really important to me, but then two of my mares tend to switch off a bit if they do too much in the school. For instance, I generally don’t take Diva into the school two days on the run in summer. She prefers a hack one day and school the next. I lunge once or twice a month. I find it useful from an ‘eyes on the ground’ point of view and I do find it has its uses for helping horses to develop their own balance. I tend to do some lunging over poles as I find that makes the session more interesting for them and me. I do find lunging terribly dull if I’m honest, but I do use it as part of training.
If I try to stick to a completely rigid plan, I find that outside influences tend to mess it up, particularly in winter when the weather is so unpredictable. I have two in work at the moment, as one is off for 12 months, so I sit down at the weekend and do a rough plan for the week ahead of who is being ridden on what days and whether it’s flat, poles, or hack. But I allow for some flexibility- if I have planned to hack and it’s blowing a gale and I’m worried about trees landing on my head, I’ll switch to a schooling session (or throw my lunging session in!).
I’m actually at my most knackered on a Monday, first day back in work after a weekend seems to kill me off, so I keep Monday’s relatively relaxed. I seem to gain momentum through the week.

I don’t often have the energy for working two a night, particularly when I’ve been in work, so I try to mix and match it in the week a bit so that it’s one every other day, or if I’m schooling one, I’ll just take the other for a half hour hack. Fortunately I have sane and sensible horses who don’t need working every day, so this makes it so much easier.
 
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