Summer is here. The trail rides beckon. You’re eager to go, but what about your horse?
Horses that have lazed around during winter need conditioning to get their bodies back in shape before tackling a long trail ride.
The same goes for horses that will compete in events like reining or barrel racing.
“Asking the horse to do too much, too soon, can spell trouble,” warns Lori Warren, Alberta Agriculture horse specialist, in advice posted on the department’s website.
“This is especially true for those pasture potatoes that have had little in the way of regular exercise and are then suddenly expected to carry their equally unfit owner over a two-hour trail ride.”
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So, what to do?
In an interview, Warren recommended what is called long slow distance training, or LSD for short. That involves low intensity exercises that gradually get the horse in shape.
The exercises include walking, trotting and cantering. Warren said the goal is to condition the horse so it can handle 45 to 60 minutes of easy exercise at a walk, trot and canter.
Workouts for a horse used for pleasure riding typically are done three times a week on alternate days. That gives the horse recovery time between workouts.
But don’t expect to start the conditioning one week and have the horse in top shape the next.
Warren said LSD training can take two months to a year, depending on the horse’s age and its condition before training started. It also depends on whether the horse will be used only for pleasure riding or whether it will go into competitions that demand more of its body.
Warren encourages people to keep some level of conditioning on their horses year-round rather than waiting until spring or summer to begin the workouts. In that case, LSD training twice a week will likely suffice for horses geared toward pleasure riding.
Myna Cryderman, a long-distance endurance rider from Boissevain, Man., spends a lot of time conditioning her horses.
She checks a horse’s heart rate after taking it out for exercise. The animal was probably ridden too hard if 10 minutes after the workout, its heart rate remains above 70 beats per minute, she said. That should be taken into account when deciding the level of exercise for the next workout.
Cryderman advises people conditioning their horses to keep the terrain in mind. Will the horse be travelling down sandy trails or along gravel roads?
“Think about what you are going to be doing and then try to simulate that in low doses at home.
“Don’t go flat out to begin with. Get into it gradually.”
Each time she works with a horse, Cryderman runs her hands along its legs. By doing that regularly, she gains an intimate knowledge of each leg’s contours. Swelling or other injuries then become easier to detect.
“You get to know what a good leg feels like.”
She also likes to put the horse’s legs through stretching exercises similar to the way people limber up before jogging or competing in sports.
Each leg of the horse is gently drawn forward, then backward, and then out to the side.
If Cryderman feels resistance in the leg, she stops drawing it any higher. If the leg relaxes, it can be taken slightly higher.
She also pays attention to the eyes and general attitude of her horses. Knowing the usual demeanour of a horse can tell volumes about its health and whether it is up to the demands being placed on it.
“If one day he doesn’t look quite right, maybe you over rode him the day before or he’s coming down with something.”
Conditioning improves the cardiovascular system of a horse and also helps prepare the muscles, ligaments and tendons. It is an important way to prevent injuries to the animal.
“Ligaments and tendons are so important to horses,” said Cryderman. “Once you have an injury there, you have limited the potential of that horse forevermore.”
