| Trail Horse Conditioning By Lalita Creighton |
Spring has sprung, and the temptation is here to get out and hit the trail. Before you do,
stop and think about a few things. What is your physical condition? Have you added a little
padding over the winter? What about your horse? Has he gotten fatter, or maybe even lost
a few pounds under his winter hair? Have either of you been getting regular exercising and
riding time, or have you both been lounging about?
If you’re like many people (and horses), your activities have been reduced over the winter.
The holidays, the cold, poor footing on trails, all can contribute to us getting out of shape
over the winter.
Just like you wouldn’t want to take a 20 mile hike when you haven’t even walked around
the block once lately, you don’t want to take your horse out on a strenuous ride, either. If
you haven’t done so yet, now is the perfect time to get your horse’s yearly veterinary exam
and your own physical. Finding any health issues now, before starting exercise, is
important. Your veterinarian or your doctor may also have very specific exercise and diet
programs that are important to your horse’s and your health. Assuming you both check out
healthy and are given the “go”, here are some suggestions to help both you and your horse
get back into trail riding shape together.
Important things to keep in mind while conditioning your horse is that there are multiple
systems that have to be conditioned, and they work together. The cardiovascular system
needs to be conditioned so that oxygen can be delivered to muscles that are working.
However, the respiratory system needs to be conditioned so that adequate oxygen can be
taken in for the cardiovascular system to deliver, and to expel the waste gas carbon
dioxide. The horse’s thermal regulatory system also has to be conditioned so that the horse
can cool himself, both through sweating and through taking large breaths of cooler air and
expelling large breaths of warmer air. Muscles, joints, tendons, ligaments, and even bones
also need time to condition, or the risk of injury is greatly increased, especially with
the weight of the rider added in. Skeletal conditioning occurs very slowly, so it’s important
to be especially careful on hard, uneven, deep, or slick footing to help protect your horse
from injury.
Start out slow by taking your horse out for some short rides at a walk, preferably in mostly
flat areas. A half hour daily is a great way to begin. Make sure to increase your horse’s
feed if he’s already a little ribby, but you don’t want him to pack pounds on quickly, either.
After about a week, start increasing the length of your ride, add a little trotting or gaiting,
and add in a few small hills. If you don’t have access to hills, a little extra trotting can be
used to help up the intensity of the workout. Always start with a warm-up period and end
with a cool-down period to help prevent damage to muscles, ligaments, and tendons. The
warm-up and cool-down becomes ever more critical as your riding intensity increases.
Failure to do so can lead to increased occurrence of sprains, strains, and pain.
Some things to look out for while conditioning your horse is profuse sweating, heart rate
over 150 beats per minute, or your horse panting or “blowing”. If any of these happen,
stop and rest your horse. If he isn’t improved after about 5 minutes, and/or his heart rate is
still over 100 bpm after 5 minutes, dismount and walk your horse back and give him
several days off to recover. Also, if your overheated horse gets uncoordinated or lethargic,
this is a danger sign. It’s very important to get your horse cooled down as soon as possible.
Another danger sign is a horse stops sweating that was previously sweating, is still very hot
to the touch, and has not had any fluids to replenish what he’s lost. Here again it’s very
important to start cooling your horse down right away if this happens. After giving your
horse time off to recover (a few days, not just the next day), start back with his
conditioning more slowly.
Continue to gradually work your horse (and you) up to the length and difficulty of your
normal rides, adding in more trotting or gaiting, perhaps some loping, and increasing the
steepness of the terrain as is appropriate for your conditioning needs.
At any point, if you’re not sure that you’re conditioning your horse properly, ask your
veterinarian for his help in assessing your horse’s current fitness level and get his
recommendations for the best fitness plan for your goals. This article is a general guideline
only and is no substitute for competent veterinary care.
One special consideration that should be mentioned is the “weekend warrior”. It is very
hard to get you and your horse conditioned properly. It can be done, it will just take longer.
If you are a “weekend warrior”, and I’m one for at least part of the year, remember to take
your time and to set realistic goals. A two-day ride for 8 hours both days will likely be out
of your reach and that of your horse unless you commit to more conditioning time than a
light trail ride once a week. Not only will your horse likely become very sour to trail rides,
it’s even more likely that one or both of you will suffer an injury. Please, do yourself and
your horse a favor and don’t ride beyond your conditioning level.
One other special consideration that bears mentioning is high altitude riding. If you normally
ride at lower altitudes, but will be traveling to a high-altitude location with your horse, you
need to arrive at your destination three days early to acclimate yourself and your horse to
the lower oxygen levels. On the first day, do not attempt any exercise at all. The next day,
start in with some light exercise. Typically, by the third day you will have acclimated as
much as you are going to, and that will vary person to person and horse to horse. Mules
seem to handle the reduced oxygen better than horses.
It cannot be stressed enough that no article or guideline can substitute for quality veterinary
and medical care and attention. Investing in your horse’s health and your health are key to
staying safe on the trail. Taking the time to properly condition your equine partner will pay
off dividends in the willingness of your trail mount, and will enable you to ride your favorite
trails with reduced likelihood of injury to either one of you.
stop and think about a few things. What is your physical condition? Have you added a little
padding over the winter? What about your horse? Has he gotten fatter, or maybe even lost
a few pounds under his winter hair? Have either of you been getting regular exercising and
riding time, or have you both been lounging about?
If you’re like many people (and horses), your activities have been reduced over the winter.
The holidays, the cold, poor footing on trails, all can contribute to us getting out of shape
over the winter.
Just like you wouldn’t want to take a 20 mile hike when you haven’t even walked around
the block once lately, you don’t want to take your horse out on a strenuous ride, either. If
you haven’t done so yet, now is the perfect time to get your horse’s yearly veterinary exam
and your own physical. Finding any health issues now, before starting exercise, is
important. Your veterinarian or your doctor may also have very specific exercise and diet
programs that are important to your horse’s and your health. Assuming you both check out
healthy and are given the “go”, here are some suggestions to help both you and your horse
get back into trail riding shape together.
Important things to keep in mind while conditioning your horse is that there are multiple
systems that have to be conditioned, and they work together. The cardiovascular system
needs to be conditioned so that oxygen can be delivered to muscles that are working.
However, the respiratory system needs to be conditioned so that adequate oxygen can be
taken in for the cardiovascular system to deliver, and to expel the waste gas carbon
dioxide. The horse’s thermal regulatory system also has to be conditioned so that the horse
can cool himself, both through sweating and through taking large breaths of cooler air and
expelling large breaths of warmer air. Muscles, joints, tendons, ligaments, and even bones
also need time to condition, or the risk of injury is greatly increased, especially with
the weight of the rider added in. Skeletal conditioning occurs very slowly, so it’s important
to be especially careful on hard, uneven, deep, or slick footing to help protect your horse
from injury.
Start out slow by taking your horse out for some short rides at a walk, preferably in mostly
flat areas. A half hour daily is a great way to begin. Make sure to increase your horse’s
feed if he’s already a little ribby, but you don’t want him to pack pounds on quickly, either.
After about a week, start increasing the length of your ride, add a little trotting or gaiting,
and add in a few small hills. If you don’t have access to hills, a little extra trotting can be
used to help up the intensity of the workout. Always start with a warm-up period and end
with a cool-down period to help prevent damage to muscles, ligaments, and tendons. The
warm-up and cool-down becomes ever more critical as your riding intensity increases.
Failure to do so can lead to increased occurrence of sprains, strains, and pain.
Some things to look out for while conditioning your horse is profuse sweating, heart rate
over 150 beats per minute, or your horse panting or “blowing”. If any of these happen,
stop and rest your horse. If he isn’t improved after about 5 minutes, and/or his heart rate is
still over 100 bpm after 5 minutes, dismount and walk your horse back and give him
several days off to recover. Also, if your overheated horse gets uncoordinated or lethargic,
this is a danger sign. It’s very important to get your horse cooled down as soon as possible.
Another danger sign is a horse stops sweating that was previously sweating, is still very hot
to the touch, and has not had any fluids to replenish what he’s lost. Here again it’s very
important to start cooling your horse down right away if this happens. After giving your
horse time off to recover (a few days, not just the next day), start back with his
conditioning more slowly.
Continue to gradually work your horse (and you) up to the length and difficulty of your
normal rides, adding in more trotting or gaiting, perhaps some loping, and increasing the
steepness of the terrain as is appropriate for your conditioning needs.
At any point, if you’re not sure that you’re conditioning your horse properly, ask your
veterinarian for his help in assessing your horse’s current fitness level and get his
recommendations for the best fitness plan for your goals. This article is a general guideline
only and is no substitute for competent veterinary care.
One special consideration that should be mentioned is the “weekend warrior”. It is very
hard to get you and your horse conditioned properly. It can be done, it will just take longer.
If you are a “weekend warrior”, and I’m one for at least part of the year, remember to take
your time and to set realistic goals. A two-day ride for 8 hours both days will likely be out
of your reach and that of your horse unless you commit to more conditioning time than a
light trail ride once a week. Not only will your horse likely become very sour to trail rides,
it’s even more likely that one or both of you will suffer an injury. Please, do yourself and
your horse a favor and don’t ride beyond your conditioning level.
One other special consideration that bears mentioning is high altitude riding. If you normally
ride at lower altitudes, but will be traveling to a high-altitude location with your horse, you
need to arrive at your destination three days early to acclimate yourself and your horse to
the lower oxygen levels. On the first day, do not attempt any exercise at all. The next day,
start in with some light exercise. Typically, by the third day you will have acclimated as
much as you are going to, and that will vary person to person and horse to horse. Mules
seem to handle the reduced oxygen better than horses.
It cannot be stressed enough that no article or guideline can substitute for quality veterinary
and medical care and attention. Investing in your horse’s health and your health are key to
staying safe on the trail. Taking the time to properly condition your equine partner will pay
off dividends in the willingness of your trail mount, and will enable you to ride your favorite
trails with reduced likelihood of injury to either one of you.
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