Using the gallops for the first time

[baybertha]

I am taking my 7 year old to the gallops tomorrow and 2 more times after that to get him fit for some upcoming events and to generally build up some muscle as he is quite weak behind. I will be cantering for the first 2 sessions and galloping on the 3rd but have no idea how long to canter/trot/walk for etc in each session please help!?

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Walk for a good 15-20mins before you start any work on the gallops and again for 15-20mins when you have finished. What else you do depends on how fit your horse already is. They will find it very hard work the first time you use them. I would suggest you trot up the first time so you can suss out the gallop before lobbing or cantering up. Speed is not essential to fittening work. If the horse is not working from behind then the exercise is mostly useless.

Depending on how steep the gallop is and again how fit your horse is trot back down to the bottom.

 

[wkiwi]

Walk for a good 15-20mins before you start any work on the gallops and again for 15-20mins when you have finished. What else you do depends on how fit your horse already is. They will find it very hard work the first time you use them. I would suggest you trot up the first time so you can suss out the gallop before lobbing or cantering up. Speed is not essential to fittening work. If the horse is not working from behind then the exercise is mostly useless.

Depending on how steep the gallop is and again how fit your horse is trot back down to the bottom.

As per this.
Re timing/distance: that depends on what level you are preparing for and, as EKW says, what he has done already. Also on ground conditions of gallops and whether flat or sloping; and on how far you are away from competing (timewise). However, I would expect to be able to canter the distance of the crosscountry you are aiming for with ease about a month before competition, then build up the speed gradually.
Each horse is different, but you will be looking for some ball-park figures so these are some to get you started. If i am taking out a horse whose fitness level is unknown (or owner may have exaggerated) then I go on this 'rule of thumb': I would set off on their best canter lead around 350-400mpm and let them cruise along until they change leads themselves (through work, not because of spook which my current mare does - LOL) then do half the time again on their harder lead. I wouldn't do more than the time of the cross country course the first canter up (e.g. if your level is average 4 minutes then i would aim for a 4 minute canter max e.g. 4 min @ 350mpm = 1.4km) then i would stop and take heart rate: if it is more than double that horse's resting rate immediately you stop then you will have overdone it (unless it suddenly shot up with other horses galloping past or something) so would want it to be less than this.
If horse was fitter and one i had worked on myself then i would be working it a bit faster initially and/or do a longer distance. But would still monitor heart rate. I would then take it a few minutes later to make sure it is dropping quite quickly. If hasn't gone up much and drops quite quickly then i would either repeat or do a shorter faster canter. Good long walk afterward (20minutes) - although the horse shouldn't have built up lactic acid from a canter, it is good to have them realise that going to gallops isn't all excitement.
For your gallop one, if it is the horse's first time then I set a time or distance to do (depending on level), but if fitness is unknown then i will slow down again when it takes an extra deep breath (they do a sort of extra gulp feeling when they are trying to get extra air into lungs, but don't know that i have described it that well). If horse working within fitness level i would expect sweat to be clear rather than lathery. If i was doing Novice or above i would do a shorter faster gallop before competition (e.g. 500m at 600mpm) but below this level I would stick to around the level's speed or just above. Don't do a fast or hard work more than every 4th day, and further apart if there is any sign of injury/stiffness/heat/or high heart rates.
If the horse hasn't galloped much before then don't be surprised if it does a bit of a buck when you get to a faster pace; they have to shift their balance and it is common in young horses to do this the first few times but I would think a 7yo wouldn't have this problem.
Note that these are very ball-park figures and you need to adapt based on how the horse is feeling on the day (plus common sense, as if the horse is excited then it won't limit itself) but should get you started without damage. Watch out for the temptation to overdo it just because you are at gallops and want to make the full use of them -but your plan of going 3 times and building up the work sounds very sensible.
Have fun!!

 

[wkiwi]

PS -info covers what i would do on good grass going or firm sand. If gallops are plough or deep anything else then i would be very cautious of the pace.

 

[twiggy2]

how fit is your horse now?

 

[wkiwi]

You might also find using the cardiac recovery index useful. This website explains it well
http://www.behindthebitblog.com/2008/06/is-your-horse-fit-cardiac-recovery.html

 

[baybertha]

how fit is your horse now?

He has been eventing regularly and ridden 5/6 times a week so is relatively fit however I would still like him to be fitter for the XC.

 

[only_me]

I use gallops occasionally for fittening, although I have to travel to use them so tend to just do interval training at home with horse in field or arena.

The gallops we would use are hill gallops, so after walking for 15 mins we would then trot up twice on the bridle. Then would do 3 or 4 normal canters up the hill (faster than a "dressage" canter - probably what people call a sj canter) and then walk down to bottom of gallops again. Then would finish off with a faster canter up the hill and walk until cooled. I'd always increase the amount of normal canters up the hill before increasing the fast canters (usually a max of 2) and can trot down the hill if want extra fitness after each canter up - we don't normally actually gallop on the gallops as there's no need to!

That's what we normally do; of course it depends how fit your horse is and what you are aiming to do & how fit you want them to be!

 

[baybertha]

Successful first session! The gallops are 1/3 of a mile long (2.7 furlongs) and have one uphill section on each rein. Any more suggestions for cantering/trotting lengths and timings for my second session on Tuesday?