Horse Fitness
Horses are strong and powerful animals.
They generally maintain a good fitness level fairly naturally if not overfed and given enough room to gallop and play.
They are also talented in many different disciplines, most of which require excellent health and fitness levels.
So How Do Riders Condition Their Horses So They Can Become Fit?
With work, by pushing a little bit more in each session in order to build on skills gained in previous training sessions. A horse must have the physcial fitness capable of executing the new move or the strength and power to gallop that little bit faster, but it's not all physical.
A horse also has to be mentally fit to comprehend new skills and interested in the work he's doing to continue it with enthusiasm and passion.
Horses Fitness Level
When everyone is striving for fit athletic horses, and the pressure to keep riding at as high level as you're capable of, how do you keep your horse from over tiring himself?
It's easy to accidently overtire your horse, sometimes you might not even realise that he is tired !.
And there's not only physical fatigue to look out for, but mental fatigue too.
Muscle Fatigue
This is a very common type of fatigue. Horses who are physically tired will often not perform at their best, and this kind of fatigue can be slight that it's barely noticable, or can be extremely severe. Signs of muscular fatigue include:
Horses stumbling often or drifting at the walk.
Profuse sweating, and the horse feels hot to touch.
Horses wanting to stop working and rest.
Elevated (usually high) respiration rate.
Musclar fatigue happens when a horse is asked to work much harder than what he is used to, or beginning work after a spell or break.
If your horse looks tired, is breathing hard and is stumbling, give him a break and walk him on a loose rein for five or ten minutes.
His breathing should return to normal. A fatigued horse who is made to keep working is more likely to injure bones or
tendons if he is not rested. A five or ten minute rest should allow your horse adequate time for his respiration and pulse to return to normal.
That's not to say that a horse who is simply sweating has muscular fatigue.
Feeding your horse right is so important. Ensure he's getting enough feed and that he is able to handle the workload without getting skinny.
Tailor his nutritional needs depending on the work you're doing. More workload means more feed.
Never ride your horse if he is sore from working. Instead, take him for a walk with you leading him to keep his muscles working gently.
Don't overdo it. Horses need to build up slowly. If you overdo it on the first day of a fitness plan, you might injure your horse. Always be considerate as to how he is feeling.
Improve Your Horses Fitness
To improve your horse's fitness, he needs to work up a sweat, but after each session, your horse takes a long time (more than fifteen minutes) to recover, it's time to slow down on your fitness program.
After a workout, it's important not to stop dead, you need to walk your horse to cool him off. Not only does this allow the muscles to cool down slowly and stay supple, but it gives the body a chance to catch up on oxygen, and then your horse can get his breath back. If your horse is always tired after rides, cut his work down a bit, and try to build his fitness up more gradually.
If a horse is suffering from muscular fatigue and continues to work, metabolic fatigue can happen. Metabolic fatigue is when a horse has been ridden at a speed too fast over a distance that is beyond his level of fitness.
Metabolic fatigue can be difficult to see, it can look like normal exhaustion, but can be much more serious.
Sign Of Metabolic Fatigue
Elevated pulse after 20 minutes of rest period.
Horse refuses to eat or drink
Elevated body temperature for a prolonged period at rest.
Sweat becomes thicker, or stops.
Respiration rate doesn't return to normal after 20 minutes.
Metabolic fatigue can lead to collapse, it occurs when the horse is so overworked that his body simple can't keep up with
the demand to keep itself cool. It can take days for a horse to recover from metabolic fatigue, because the biochemistry of the body has been upset.
If a horse has metabolic fatigue, it should be immediately rested. Attempts should be made to cool him down, hose him off and try
to keep him cool. If his vital signs don't return to normal after twenty minutes, and if he refuses to eat or drink, call your vet.
Horse Fitness
Sweating is part of the horse's natural cooling system, and so, is a form of convection. A horse can keep itself cool by the blood circulating closer to the skin.
Have you ever seen a horse who is working hard and whose veins and arteries are visible underneath the skin?
They appear more defined than normal because they are allowing the blood to circulate as close to the skin as possible, in an
effort to let air outside lower it's temperature.
Horses who are overheated are in danger of unbalancing their metabolism, and also of damaging organs and tissues if the body doesn't
cool itself quickly enough. Horses who are overheated after strenuous work should be cooled as quickly as possible, by hosing, or standing
in a creek. If you plan to work your horse hard in winter, a clip is necessary, as his hair will hold his heat in, and
it is possible for a horse to overheat in winter. A clip will allow the heat to escape, and will help his sweat to dry
quickly after he has stopped working.
Mental Fatigue
Imagine you've just finished warming your horse up in the arena you always ride him in. He seems sluggish and not happy at all. He even stumbles a few times. You ask for a trot, he obliges, but refuses to move forward happily, and drags his hind feet. You bring him back to a walk. He stops dead and won't move. He looks so tired, so you dismount and take him back to untack him. You groom him and take him back to his paddock. He waits while you open the gate, walks through, and then the minute he's free from the halter, he gallops off bucking all the way until he reaches his friends.!
He was really tired, right?
Mental fatigue happens when a horse is BORED. He simple can't focus on what you want him to, either because he's done it a million times before,
or is sour with some element of your ride. If you continually practice your dressage in a dressage arena, and don't ride anywhere else,
your horse will get bored and become sour with his work and surroundings. Horses who are ridden in the same places day after day, or horses
who have been made to do the same thing for a long time will also suffer from mental fatigue or go sour.
Mental fatigue can also cause a horse to misbehave, or get to excited when ridden out of the arena. A horse who is bored will
sometimes act out to get out of whatever it is that he doesn't want to do.
Horses can buck, rear, shy, or refuse to move to show their displeasure. If your horse is truly unhappy doing what he's doing, he'll let you know.
The second he hits a trail ride, he'll feel like a different horse, either totally brilliant with a spring in his step,
or so excited that he just wants to gallop ! Either way, time out of the arena can be the best thing for your relationship, and the best
thing for a mentally fatigued horse.
it's important to mix it up a bit, schedule in some trail rides, go out to shows, or just ride him in different places once in a while.
He'll instantly feel better and be a much more happier horse. It's also important not to overdo the training. If you've been working
on a movement for fifteen minutes, and you horse already knows what to do, he will only make the movement sloppy, it's the same with jumping,
if you jump the same jump repetitively, your horse will eventually tire of the thrill before you do.
Keeping your horse mentally stimulated can be a challenge, but you can also try things like gridwork instead of jumping,
something where you can still be improving your riding skills, but it's something that's a bit different and challenging.
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