As the weather gets colder, some horse owners are gearing up for early spring riding activities and competitions, while others are getting ready to give their horses some time off after a busy summer and fall. Whichever category you fall into, there are scientific conditioning principals for preparing horses for events, as well as for keeping horses moderately fit during time off. An important concept that one must understand in order to properly condition a horse is what exercise physiologists refer to as metabolic specificity, which basically means that the conditioning program must be comparable to the event or competition the horse is training for; the conditioning program must be designed specifically for the activity the horse will be asked to do.
Horses will often experience some level of fatigue during performance. The objective of a fitness program is to condition the horse in a way that delays the onset of acute fatigue, which is when injuries are more likely to occur. In order to design an effective and safe program, several factors need to be considered such as the age of the horse, its body condition, what previous conditioning has been done, and whether the horse is recovering from an injury or illness. Very young horses and horses that are very unfit or haven’t had much prior conditioning will most likely need 3 to 6 months of targeted fitness work, or more, depending on the type of event they are training for.
Initial conditioning should begin with a planned goal in mind and should be started early enough to avoid forcing fitness development into a short period of time. The fitness program should begin with long, slow distance work that targets aerobic exercises. These exercises are categorized as aerobic because the heart rate will generally stay below about 150 beats per minute (bpm). The goal is to elevate the horse’s heart rate and keep it there for several minutes, while over-time, gradually increasing the distance the horse travels. Exercises will consist of walking and trotting intervals in the beginning, with increasing trotting and slow canter work. Two to three aerobic training sessions per week, alternated with specific skill training sessions, should be done for several weeks up to several months before beginning advanced stages of fitness development. Spending enough time in early conditioning to properly prepare the horse for higher intensity work is critical, and the amount of time it takes will depend on the starting fitness level of each individual horse.
During this time, pre-ride checks should be used to evaluate how the horse is responding to exercise. Taking a resting heart rate, observing the horse at the walk and trot, and checking specific areas for sensitivity will help you determine how to proceed with conditioning. A resting heart rate can be taken by using the fingers to palpate the facial artery under the skin in the area of the horse’s lower jaw. It is a good idea to determine what a normal resting heart rate is for your horse before beginning a new exercise program. An elevated resting heart rate is a signal that the horse is experiencing some level of discomfort due to pain, stress, or illness. Another part of the pre-ride check is observing the horse at the walk and trot for stiffness or lameness. Check the back and loin for soreness by placing the thumb and forefinger on either side of the withers and, applying gentle pressure, move down the back, loin, and croup. Horses will express soreness by dropping down away from the pressure. It is normal for horses to exhibit loin soreness during a new conditioning program, but regular checks will help determine when a horse needs a rest and when and how to continue as the muscles get stronger. If the pre-ride check reveals that the horse is experiencing discomfort, exercise should be approached in moderation or the horse should be allowed a day-off with access to free exercise in a paddock.
Once the horse is responding positively to gradually increasing levels of aerobic exercise, the more demanding exercises can slowly be introduced. Advanced fitness development introduces high-intensity, short duration work. These types of exercises will generally increase heart rate to well above 150 bpm and are considered to be anaerobic as the muscles are now working too hard or too fast to rely solely on oxygen in the process of burning fuel. During this time, horses are more at risk for energy depletion and fatigue, and thus injury. The most effective anaerobic conditioning programs are those that are specific and are increased in a gradual overload fashion, which is also called interval training. Interval training consists of multiple bouts of high-intensity work (galloping, cutting and hard-turning a cow, jumping a course, stopping and rope work) interspersed with relief intervals during which at least partial recovery of heart rate and respiration rate is allowed. This method of anaerobic conditioning allows more work to be done while bringing on fatigue gradually and in a controlled manner; however, this type of training should be done sparingly and one to two days per week will be sufficient. To begin an interval training program, a high-intensity exercise is done for several minutes followed by walking until heart rate and respiratory rate return to close to baseline levels. Then the high-intensity activity is repeated, followed again by a recovery period. It will be important to monitor how quickly heart rate and respiration rate recover as well as how low the heart rate falls during a specified recovery time. If the heart rate has not returned below 100 bpm after 5 minutes of recovery, it is time to quit for the day. As the horse becomes more fit, the high-intensity exercise can gradually be done for longer periods of time, and/or the number of repetitions can be increased until the end goal is achieved. During advanced fitness development, it will also be important to continue with some days of long, slow distance work, making sure to offer one or two days of free paddock exercise per week as well.
Conditioning of performance horses is influenced by a variety of factors, and individuals will differ in their ability, behavior, and strength. Allowing ample time to achieve fitness development and closely monitoring horses during a fitness program will be critical to success.