Principled planning for the readiness and fitness of horses
It does not matter whether you are a weekend recreational rider or a serious, ambitious competitor; properly preparing the horse for the work it is about to do is critically important to ensuring success on competition day as well as maintaining its overall health and welfare.
A successful program should be designed to suit the horse itself and its circumstances, taking into account factors such as age, the level and type of work, and long-term health maintenance.
Hilary Clayton, BVMS, PhD, ACVSMR, FRCVS, director of Sport Horse Science and professor emerita at Michigan State University in Lansing, says: “If you are prepared for an activity, it becomes much easier and much more enjoyable to do it.
Horses have an extraordinary cardiovascular system and, proportionately, can work far more than humans.
But we still need to keep them fit enough to be suitable for the work they do, without endlessly preparing them and thus making them much fitter than they need to be.
” When a horse is properly prepared, its body systems have adapted to the stresses of the intended work.
In recent years, research carried out by Clayton and others has scientifically confirmed some traditional preparation methods and rejected others, and new studies continue to add to this body of knowledge.
Building on this science, fine-tuning the details of a conditioning program often requires a bit of intuition and experience from the horse’s caretakers, trainers, and treatment team.
Mark Revenaugh, DVM, owner of Northwest Equine Performance in Mulino, Oregon, and founder of Ignite for Equine Athletes, a coalition of professionals dedicated to using evidence-based methods to improve horse welfare in sport, says: “At a basic level, when it comes to conditioning, you can think of it as a general, pre-written recipe, but there are so many individual differences; from the rider to the horse, from the discipline to the level of work.
My advice to clients is that having a plan is important, even if it is not the best plan, and then you can determine what works and what does not.
” Getting started on a conditioning plan requires mapping a path from your horse’s current level of fitness to the place it needs to be in order to do its job safely and comfortably.
Being clear about the program’s end goal, as well as its timeframe, also helps set the framework.
Casey Cromer, DVM, a professional services veterinarian at Boehringer-Ingelheim, says “conditioning” is a simple word that has a different definition for every horse, every rider, and every owner.
A “pre-conditioning” appointment allows owners to speak with their veterinarian so that we are all talking about the same definition and the same expectations.
Cromer continues: “Think about performance: there is a physical health component, a respiratory component, a cardiac component, and also an overall talent component.
We have to put all of those together and make sure the expectations set for that horse are truly appropriate.
” Involving the veterinarian from the very beginning means you can develop a program that proactively supports your horse’s specific needs.
Cromer explains: “From a veterinary point of view, if I can see the horse before it enters its fitness or training program, I’m not working from a problem; I’m working from a baseline.
” He continues: “Especially as we move through the season and different questions come up about how to get to the next level, if I have that baseline, I can make better recommendations for that horse.
” Most programs begin with long, slow, distance work and gradually add hill work, speed, and skill exercises over time.
A common guideline is that a horse’s workload should not increase by more than 10 percent from one week to the next.
The early stages of conditioning prepare the horse for about 45 minutes to an hour of work on varied terrain, as well as two minutes of nonstop canter.
Clayton says: “This prepares the horse for ordinary riding and enjoyment, and for competing at lower levels.
This is the baseline level of conditioning I have in mind, and for many horses, that’s enough.
” The cumulative effects of gradual conditioning over time on the body’s systems and structures are cumulative.
A horse that has never been fit needs more time to reach baseline fitness than one that was previously fit and has since had a period of rest.
Revenaugh says: “The more I look at all aspects of medicine, the more I see that much of it is based on adaptation — that is, the body’s ability to respond to whatever stress is placed on it.
” He continues: “When adaptation is effective, the body responds in the desired way.
When adaptation is ineffective, either the wrong things get stronger or systems start to break down.
For all the body’s systems, you don’t go from zero to 10; there are 10 steps in between, and a specific sequence has to be followed.
” If you’re not sure what kind of fitness work is best to help your horse reach baseline, consult a veterinarian or trainer familiar with your discipline.
Tim Worden, PhD, a Canadian sports scientist who has worked as a performance consultant and manager with numerous FEI riders, says: “I encourage people to build a network of people in their own area and discipline and at their own level of competition to see what their horses are doing.
” He continues: “If you realize that, say, everyone else is doing core-strengthening exercises and you’re not, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re wrong; but it’s an opportunity to understand, to become aware, and to decide whether this is something you should do with your horse or not.
” Revenaugh adds: “In the horse world, there is an astonishing amount of collective knowledge.
People have learned a great deal over the years about what works and what doesn’t, and that shouldn’t be underestimated.
” Assessing progress over time, a successful conditioning program makes the horse find the work easier for itself while maintaining organ health and overall condition.
The horse’s muscles and topline become fuller, and under ideal weather conditions, the horse’s pulse and respiratory rate return to normal after work more quickly than when it is not sufficiently fit; usually within 15 to 20 minutes.
Clayton says: “For someone who is preparing for hack or to compete at a lower show level, if the horse is doing its job, isn’t under pressure, and doesn’t need an excessively long time to recover, it is usually fit enough.
” Some riders turn to technologies such as heart-rate monitors or various fitness-tracking tools designed for horses to monitor their horse’s progress more closely.
Wearable fitness tools for horses can measure everything from the number of steps taken to the amount of time spent in each direction and in each bend and movement, and they can also identify patterns of asymmetrical movement.
Experts recommend keeping a journal to record your horse’s progress so you can determine what is working well and what is not.
These notes can include anything from the content of the riding training program itself to external variables; including who is on the horse care team, what his shoeing schedule or diet is like, and how often he competes.
Revenaugh says: “People usually take notes when [things] aren’t going right.
You could say it is even more important to record when something really works well for your program, or for a particular horse.
” Research shows that injuries in sporthorses are often directly related to asking the horse to work too much and too often in a repetitive way, causing its energy reserves to be depleted and putting strain on the tendons, ligaments, muscles, and joints.
It is always better to stop for the day when you feel the horse still has a little “gas in the tank” than to push him harder to reach a specific workout duration.
Regardless of the discipline, it is important to include a variety of cross-training exercises in your program to reduce the risk of overuse and excessive strain injuries.
Cromer says: “We know that training intensity, training frequency, and the speed at which you train the horse all have medical consequences.
Use a wide variety of methods in your horse’s fitness, just like you do for yourself at the gym.
Even if you want to strengthen your upper body, you’re not going to do biceps curls six days a week.
” When a horse has been properly conditioned, its bodily systems have efficiently adapted to the physical demands of the work.
©Adobe Stock Unridden exercises that help improve a horse’s posture or coordination, or engage its mind, are some examples of unique cross-training opportunities; especially when weather conditions prevent more intense work.
Clayton says: “Cross-training ultimately isn’t what takes horses to the highest level of fitness, but it is what protects horses against these injuries.
There is no single type of [cross-training] where you can say, ‘Oh, I absolutely have to do cavalletti work, or I absolutely have to swim the horse.
’ Do whatever you can do that the horse and rider can do and enjoy—but something different from repetitive work in the arena.
” In the end, it is essential to include enough time for recovery in your horse’s program.
Revenaugh says: “Adaptation happens not when you are doing the hard work, but when you are recovering from that hard work.
If you do not give the horse enough time to recover, you minimize the amount of adaptation the horse can create.
Recovery can be passive; that is, after a heavy effort the horse simply goes to pasture and is free for a few days or a few weeks, or active; that is, the horse’s workload is significantly reduced, but still includes light work in the arena or hacking on the trails.
For sport horses, experts usually recommend active recovery rather than passive recovery.
Revenaugh says: “Don’t forget that to determine whether you are overworking the horse, you need to look at the horse’s overall condition.
Someone knowledgeable in the horse world can tell a lot just by looking at him.
Is his body puffy?
Is he eating well?
Is he always cranky?
Does his coat look [poor]?
” Trying to reach the peak may be interesting for riders to know how much basic fitness can advance their horses up the levels.
In fact, most horses can, without much additional conditioning beyond basic fitness, do dressage competitions up to Prix St.
Georges, lower-level eventing competitions, and show jumping up to 3’6”.
But when it comes to increasing fitness to handle higher levels, programs must become both more refined and more individualized.
Clayton says: “The disciplines can be divided into two categories: those that mainly require strength and those that mainly require cardiovascular fitness.
dressage and jumping are both heavily dependent on strength, while in eventing, the main limiting factor in high-level performance will be cardiovascular fitness.
“If you want to move up to higher levels, you have to look at the discipline itself and do extra work that specifically prepares the horse for the kind of work you want it to do,” he continues.
“For example, in dressage there is not a very high cardiovascular demand.
You do not need to go on long gallops to prepare your horse, but you do need to do strength exercises.
Many times, the discipline itself is the exercise and the strengthening.
That is one reason why producing a fully fit Grand Prix horse takes so much time.
” Horses that compete at elite levels in disciplines such as eventing will need greater and more specialized conditioning.
©Amy K.
Dragoo A program for a top-level show jumper can include a combination of jumping exercises along with work outside the arena, on hills, or other innovative approaches.
These complementary methods build the anaerobic stamina needed to clear higher fences without excessive impact and repetition.
Horses that compete in higher-level endurance disciplines such as eventing or distance riding and need more cardiovascular fitness also require a more measured approach.
Increasing a horse’s aerobic capacity raises its ability to metabolize oxygen — the body’s cells’ fuel.
The stronger the horse’s cardiovascular system becomes, the more work he can do at a lower heart rate and thus consume less energy.
To prevent injuries caused by overuse, experts recommend using the rest season to build cardiovascular fitness and the competition season to increase strength and work on the discipline-specific skills of each sport.
“There is something to be said for competing to get fit, because if it is done properly, there is no substitute for the challenges you expect your horse to handle.
” Revenaugh says, “But ideally, during the off-season, you build a serious base of [cardiovascular] fitness so that you can target this part of preparation on your own schedule and by your own choice.
” While horses active in power disciplines are expected to maintain a relatively steady level of fitness throughout the year, horses in endurance disciplines are usually conditioned to reach a “peak” of fitness one or two weeks before a major competition and then go through a lighter period of work until the event.
Clayton explains: “You want the horse to go into the competition feeling good and with all its little aches and stiffness resolved.
After the competition, you also take some of the pressure off and let it do light work and the things it enjoys for a while.
” Ultimately, all horses — regardless of discipline — need time off from competition during the year, and this should be factored into their fitness program.
Worden says: “When you are getting ready for competition, it creates a bit of stress and pressure for the horse.
Whatever discipline you are in, go to trainers whose horses have long athletic careers and try to find out how much those horses compete.
Little by little, you see riders moving more toward entering horses only for specific events and building in more recovery time so that some of that pressure is taken off the horse.
” Looking at the competition season through the lens of physical fitness can be a useful approach.
Revenaugh says: “Have a smart conversation and think about the time frame.
Then see how you set up your weekly program through the month, through the spring season, through the year; how you move the horse from one level to the next.
All of these things need to be considered in the big picture.
” Older athletic horses can still succeed in their job as they age, but some changes are necessary in physical preparation.
As age increases, soft tissues become less flexible and the body’s structures become less able to adapt.
Even so, horses that have been properly conditioned throughout their lives usually face fewer physical-fitness problems as they enter old age than horses that have never been conditioned, or have not been conditioned properly.
Clayton warns that maintaining a horse’s fitness at the end of its athletic career depends on whether the animal had the chance to run and play with other horses during the first six months to one year of life.
Horses that were allowed to run and play when young will perform better as they get older.
©Adobe Stock She explains: “If they do not have that opportunity, then they will never have fully formed, strong articular cartilage, tendons, and ligaments.
Collagen is developing in those very first months of life.
After that, there is not much we can do to truly improve these tissues.
If we are lucky, by the time they are in their early teens, they have already gained all the physical conditioning they need, and we can make sure they do not overtrain — because a horse that has been built correctly from the ground up and trained properly will carry on into late teens and even the age of 20.
» Revenaugh says: «horses that are successful at 18, 19, or 20 years old have had very good decisions made for them during their careers.
Of course, there is also a genetic component involved.
But my experience has been that once a horse reaches a strong base level of fitness, unless it is out of work for a long time, that fitness carries over into the next season.
And for an older horse, if the preparation and training have gone in the right direction, the process is almost like constantly building on it, and it gets better and better and better.
» He continues: «A lot of this depends on whether you are really effective in your decision-making during the first 10 years.
If you put all the wear and tear and pressure on the horse in those first 10 years, it will eventually catch up with it.
» Although older horses may have less capacity for adaptation in their bodies, sometimes introducing new or different forms of exercise can reactivate this mechanism.
Worden says: «If you have a horse that you feel can no longer work as well as before and you start incorporating new and different exercises, this can be a strong stimulus for the body.
» But when your older horse shows signs that maintaining enough fitness to perform at the highest level is no longer possible — signs that are usually seen as reduced muscle building, longer recovery time, and a drop in performance — it is probably time to step him down to an easier level; a level where he may be able to serve as a teacher for a rider who is just learning the basics.
Final points on bringing a horse to the proper level of physical fitness for the work expected of him play a very important role in ensuring the safety and success of the horse-rider partnership.
And although you may be tempted to take shortcuts along the way, the result of doing so will undoubtedly be a setback.
Revenaugh said: «You as a trainer have a choice.
The best way to achieve the best result is to keep your horse sound, in the ring, and improving day by day.
» Source: Practical Horseman – Health