Working out an exercise plan for your horse

In my rehabilitation work, I always work in a progressive manner, meaning make changes and increases in demand slowly so that the horses structures (bones, ligaments, tendons, fascia and muscles) have time to adapt...this is how we avoid injury / re-injury. And I treat general work plans, fittening plans, bringing back into work after time off, postural improvement plans in the same way, and apply the same guidelines...slow and steady is best! 

If you were to go from zero exercise to running a 5k race yourself, you wouldn't start on day 1 or week 1 with running a 5k!! You would start with walking and build some strength and fitness and allowing the tissues in your body to adapt, before starting to add bits of jogging in and then working on your stamina towards the end goal of the 5k run over a period of time, and it's exactly the same with horses! 

The problem we tend to have with horses is we look at them as being big and strong...but ultimately 'behind the scenes' are they actually strong enough, fit enough, do they have enough stamina developed, can they actually safely do what we are asking of them, have they been prepared thoroughly enough?

And this is where exercise planning comes in...take some time to think about your horses level of fitness / flexibility / stamina now, and where you want to get to over a given timeframe (I tend to work in 6-8 weeks chunks), and look at how you can GRADUALLY get from A to B! 

And stand back and look at their body with a bit more of a clear mindset if you can...how do they look in terms of strength, body shape, how does their back look, are they strong or weak looking, what do you see in front of you, a solid nice 'table' 'leg at each corner' type looking posture, or a weak abdominal line and therefore a weak, dropped back? 

This is a good starting point...thinking about where you are now and where you want to get to, and considering how their body looks right now. 

I have previously mentioned cross training in previous blogs, and this is usually my recommendation with exercise planning...build some variety into your horses regime, and train them to be able to do all things not just 1 thing! Consider fitness, stamina, flexibility, postural work, work for the mind AND the body! 

Types of exercise to include in a mixed plan....:

*Core exercises - always one of the most important exercises to add in daily! 

*In hand work - great for flexibility and symmetry, as well and organisation of the body in movement 

*Hacking - great to get your horse out of the arena! Great for strengthening and cardiovascular fitness 

*Polework - even if just walking over poles, this exercise helps with joint mobility and equal stepping

*Lateral work - in hand and/or ridden, whichever way you do it, learning some lateral exercises is really beneficial for your horses body

*Fast work - if appropriate for your horse, canter or gallop work really opens up the body! 

*Slopes/hill work - again, if appropriate for your horse, great for strengthening the hindquarters! 

*Non-ridden work - always add in a couple of days per week of non-ridden exercise such as long reining, lunging, hand walking, walking hacking etc! 

If you're working on all of these areas in a steady and progressive manner, your horse can adapt to the gentle increases with ease, and there is a much lower risk of injury.