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Post by heathera on Apr 24, 2014 10:11:50 GMT -1
Most of our venues are around an hours trailer ride away and I was always told to view trailer time as equivalent in work to a gentle, walking hack. I'd like to try and build up the dales fitness so we can do riding club prelim dressage, a pleasure endurance ride and a Level One TREC.
What type, level and amount of work per week do you think they would need as a minimum to be fit enough to do this? Those of you who go out and about what level of work do you to prepare them for events?
I'm struggling with working mine more than 3 times each a week and that just doesn't seem to be getting them fit enough for any outings.
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Post by dalesnfellfan on Apr 24, 2014 15:13:58 GMT -1
I was hacking 4-5 times a week with lots of walk to start with, then building up the trot work before I started taking Em out and about. We started with some riding club schooling sessions which she found quite tiring to start with, probably more mentally than physically though and some lessons and in a very short time she was taking these in her stride.
When we did our first pleasure ride I wondered whether she was fit enough and had intended to do 7 miles but ended up doing 10 miles as we must have followed the wrong arrows and she coped really well with a steady ride with quite a few trots and 3 or 4 canters, she didn't get at all puffed and was still full of go at the end. She was actually fitter than I thought she was.
I think if you can give them 3 days a week of varied work they should be able to cope with what you are planning, I find giving them a short rest to chill out and take in their surroundings while having some hay or grass when we arrive helps them recover from the journey quite quickly, I also like to give them a bit down time before travelling home.
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Post by harveydales on Apr 25, 2014 5:47:37 GMT -1
I do exactly the same as Andrea including the downtime before and after travelling. It sounds like you want to do the sort of level of activities I do with Harvey. I like to keep Harvey at the level of fitness he has now because at his age, 20, it is best to keep going - and I find the same goes for me too!
We hack usually 3 times a week, generally travelling to a venue because Harvey likes exploring different areas and he enjoys travelling in the trailer! Mostly I travel 30/45 minutes to a venue but some, like when we go over to Linda's, are 90 minutes travelling. The most I am comfortable with doing in a day is 2 hours travelling to a venue. The rides are usually 5 or 6 miles and mostly walk and trot but I do the odd very short ride from home if I'm short on time. Then he usually has 1 short schooling session a week where he either jumps or does his "lateral party pieces" depending on his mood and has some fast canter work for his breathing. This seems to keep him fit and well able to do the sort of things I want. He is so used to travelling that I don't think it takes as much out of him as they say it can do and it certainly lifts his mood! I do think it is the fast bursts of canter work he does which have helped the most with getting his fitness up, just pushing him that tiny bit more than he initially liked - now he loves it!
I think the only way to build up fitness is to push them a bit but allow plenty of recovery time the next day. That's what Sue is doing with Eric the Fell and he did tire towards the end of our first Pleasure Ride but he will gradually build his stamina. Are you working on them all to get to the level of fitness or just one? I would never have the time or energy to work on more than 1 pony this way.
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Post by heathera on Apr 25, 2014 18:38:05 GMT -1
Thank you for the replies. It sounds like we might be able to do some outings this year with any luck  |
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Post by harleydales on Apr 30, 2014 14:37:19 GMT -1
When I was competing with Harley he got ridden 3 times a week max due to other commitments. Generally and average horse should manage a pleasure ride straight out of the field, though obviously it will be more tired than a fitter horse - but you won't do any damage, esp if you stick at the lower end of the speed parameters.
Once he was 30 or 40 mile fit I actually only had to ride once a week to keep the fitness up!
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Post by malhamdale on May 13, 2014 16:28:10 GMT -1
Hi, Just a quick suggestion; transitions between paces expend more energy than a constant pace. So if you want to work a horse in a short period of time, throw in loads, and I mean loads of transitions up and down, in and out of pace during your shorter hacks or schooling sessions and you'll be working them as hard as on a longer hack. Be very inventive and don't let them get into a regular pace, have a competition with yourself as to how many different transitions you can fit into a 20m stretch. You'll be doing well if you can fit in 10!
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Post by nedales on May 15, 2014 16:35:43 GMT -1
I did the 20m transition challenge and found that A: we could do it if we did a lot of side passing, halt and back!-- and B: It works. I feel much more fit! Thanks!
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Post by dalesnfellfan on May 16, 2014 13:09:34 GMT -1
I thought it was supposed to be the pony who gets fitter, but I guess it's a bonus if it does the same for us too. I'm looking forward to getting back to full activity as I feel my fitness levels have dropped off in a very short time.
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