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Formulating a fitness plan

4 February, 2004

To enjoy your competing this coming season, it is critical your horse is fit for the level of work he will be doing, enabling him to produce peak performance when it matters and minimising the likelihood of any injuries.

Fitness should be worked on gradually over a period of weeks to enable the horse's body to adjust to the changes in exercise level. There are no short cuts as sudden increases in work can result in pulled or torn muscles, resulting in enforced time off work.

A horse's general health needs to be checked before any fitness work begins so make sure your horse is ready to start work by organising any vaccinations, dentistry checks, shoeing and worming as necessary.

While most riders follow a similar plan to the one outlined below, each horse is an individual and the period of time required to get a horse fit will be influenced by:

• the horse's age — veteran horses and very young horses will take longer to get fit than those in their prime

• how fit the horse is now — a horse which has been kept ticking over during the winter will be fitter than one which has not been exercised at all

• any injuries — a horse is coming back into work following time off with an injury will need many weeks of slow work to ensure too much pressure is not applied to the injured part

• how fit the horse has been — a horse which is used to being let down over the winter and brought back up in the spring will be fitter quicker than a horse being got fit for the first time

Most fitness programmes can be broken down into three stages: stage one - slow work to harden up bones and tendons; stage two - work to improve strength and stamina and basic fitness; stage three - faster work to prepare the horse for cross-county type events. By completing all three stages your horse will be fit to compete regularly in a variety of disciplines.

A sample programme

The fitness programme set out below caters for a horse which has been kept ticking over during the winter and whose rider intends to compete regularly in lower-level affiliated competitions over the summer. The horse should have one day off per week, with time turned out in the field to stretch and relax.

Week 1 - Around 20mins roadwork in walk each day

Week 2 - Increase roadwork to 30-40mins per day

Week 3 - Increase roadwork to 60 mins per day, including some hills

Week 4 - Extend hacking time to up to 90mins per day (can be in two separate rides) including some trot work on suitable ground (not tarmac)

Week 5 - Start introducing some gentle schooling in the menage (20-30mins max). Exercise can be increased to 2hrs daily including some trotting up hills (not on roads)

Week 6 - Gradually increase time spent schooling and introduce some cantering on suitable ground out hacking

Week 7 - Build up the period of time in canter, including some cantering up hills. Continue with schooling in the menage, start to introduce jumping

Week 8-9 - Continue with the current work and introduce some faster work (strong canter, controlled gallop) in either a continuous training or interval training format

For more information about fitness see both the February and March, on sale tomorrow (5 February), issues of HORSE magazine.

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