Get Your Horse Physically Fit for Maximum Performance

The weather is warming up, and many of us are thinking about spending time in the saddle. Whether you are preparing for competition, trail riding or training a young horse, the horse will be a more willing partner mentally if you get him in shape physically. Horses that have received limited exercise for an extended period of time should not be expected to perform the same tasks as when they were highly conditioned. A planned exercise program will not only get your horse in shape to perform his or her assigned task but may also prevent injury. Any time you exercise a horse, there is stress on the bones and tendons. The skeletal system needs to be prepared for the intensity of work to be performed.

In general, a conditioning program should begin with lower speed, long distance exercise. This is commonly referred to as long, slow distance work. The distance will need to increase from a negligible amount to longer distances. Long, slow distance work does not refer to how far a horse goes. Rather, this type of work refers to the amount of time (days) a horse is exposed to low heart rate, aerobic exercise. This early phase of cardiovascular conditioning should take place over a period of 30 days. Exercise will consist of walking, trotting, extended trot, loping and some cantering. These exercises are categorized as "aerobic" because the horse's heart rate will almost always be less than 150 beats per minute. Exercise contributes to skeletal maintenance, because bone will lose its strength if not used. Care should be taken to go slow so that proper skeletal strength is built during early stages of conditioning.

Although it only takes about one month to develop a significant amount of aerobic, cardiovascular fitness in horses, effects on tendons and bones often take much longer. Therefore, the horse person is challenged to spend enough time in the legging-up phase to help prepare the skeletal system for the intensity of work to which a horse will later be exposed. Excess muscular fatigue can certainly contribute to lameness. Both quality and consistency of movement become compromised during fatigue, and the end result is lameness or a significant soreness of some kind. So, effective conditioning programs do not and should not result in highly exhaustive work during each workout. To improve cardiovascular fitness, the work must eventually involve some exercises that will cause the heart rate to move into the range of 150 to 180 beats per minute.

The next step is specificity of exercise. Specificity of exercise is a concept which is of extreme importance. Put simply, this concept says that if you want to be a fast runner, you must train by running fast, or if you want to be a good long distance swimmer, you must train by swimming long distances. You cannot become a fast runner by swimming long distances, nor a swimmer by running. Although that sounds very simplistic on the surface, the consequences are far-reaching. For example, if a horse runs a mile today at a 4-minute pace, his body will respond by storing fuel and rebuilding tissue so that he can run a 4-minute mile tomorrow with greater ease. However, he will not be fit to run a mile at a 2-minute pace. The exercise he performed in training specifically geared him for running a 4-minute mile. In conclusion, a horse must be exposed to the requirements in his or her specialty. Cutters must be able to run, stop and turn for 21⁄2 minutes. Barrel horses must be able to maintain their speed and turn for the entire duration of the pattern. A trail horse must be able to cover the distance desired, plus climb, trot or canter as needed.

Conditioning of the performance horse can and will be influenced by a variety of factors: body condition, nutrition level, environment and purpose of the training. An exact recipe cannot be used for all horses, because horses differ in ability, behavior and strength. But there are two fundamental considerations - cardiovascular, aerobic conditioning and specificity of exercise. It boils down to getting the horse physically fit first and then training him or her specifically for the performance event.

By Dr. Steve Jones, Associate Professor
Animal Science E-News - University of Arkansas
Division of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service