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 Expert
Posts: 1898
   
| As I was reading the thread on how to increase stamina and energy it made me wonder how are race horses conditioned to run? Do they do an extreme amount of long trotting? Or do they spend more time at higher speeds?
I was once told by an old cowboy if you wanted a horse to be explosive, quick and maintain stamina, work out that way. Breeze your horse often for distance, ask for quick acceleration and lope A LOT. He told me that this type of exercise developed short explosive muscle that allows a horse to really fire out of the turns and explode across the straights, breezing for distances helps increase the stamina at fast speeds and allows the horse to better maintain it's breathing and heart rate when running. If you want to win an endurance race, long trot. Long trotting develops long muscle, muscles that are better equipped to go long distances at a slower pace. Logically this made since to me. The more you train the muscle for its intended use, the better it will be for the job.
Does this theory hold any water or is it just old cowboy logic?
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 Chatty Kathy
Posts: 6635
Location: In Ky following Barrel Races & Walker hounds. | Thoroughbreds long trot 1-2 times around the track(typically a mile +/-), then gallop a mile. or if they're long distance runners they will jog or gallop more. They *typically* get worked once a week and the distance depends on how far along they are in training, some dont even get worked that much. I learned a lot about getting a horse in shape slowly from the racetrack. My boss says the less you rush the better the results, it proved true from the horses I was around. We got in several that had been hammered on pretty bad, we spent more time the first few weeks(months in some cases) going back and fixing the problems they had developed from their previous training than we did racing.
A fit horse is going to perform well, a fit horse that was conditioned slowly vs. one that was ram and jammed on will usually eventually shine through and last longer.
ETA- the main thing is training for a greater distance than you intend on running.
Edited by BlazeFlameHarley 2014-02-12 5:54 PM
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 Blackbelt Babe
Posts: 9405
Location: South Georgia Good o'l USA | We fit our QH's for the track with a long trot around a 5/8th's of a mile track and lope around twice 2-3 times a week, swim them the off days and a breeze with company on Fridays or Saturday's followed by a day off. Too much breezing will take the run right out of some and make some just stupid.
Edited by blackhorse 2014-02-12 7:07 PM
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Expert
Posts: 1898
| Thank you. So, yes, race horses are exercised more normally at speeds higher than a long trot? What is a trainer's opinion on excessive long trotting?
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  Whack and Roll
Posts: 6342
Location: NE Texas | If you can find one, get yourself a copy of The Fit Racehorse and buy a heart rate monitor and study where the heart rate/respirations should be for a fit horse. It will shock you! |
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 Swiffer PIcker Upper
Posts: 4015
Location: Four Corners Colorado | Herbie - 2014-02-13 8:55 AM If you can find one, get yourself a copy of The Fit Racehorse and buy a heart rate monitor and study where the heart rate/respirations should be for a fit horse. It will shock you!
This is great advice! |
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Expert
Posts: 1898
| Herbie - 2014-02-13 9:55 AM
If you can find one, get yourself a copy of The Fit Racehorse and buy a heart rate monitor and study where the heart rate/respirations should be for a fit horse. It will shock you!
Thanks! I will have to get a copy of it! |
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 BHW Resident Surgeon
Posts: 25352
Location: Bastrop, Texas | Bumping.....good subject |
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 Bye-Bye Jiggle
Posts: 1691
Location: Where ever there's sunshine! | Herbie - 2014-02-13 9:55 AM
If you can find one, get yourself a copy of The Fit Racehorse and buy a heart rate monitor and study where the heart rate/respirations should be for a fit horse. It will shock you!
"Used" it cost $118 brand new is 350 is that right? |
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Whack and Roll
Posts: 6342
Location: NE Texas | The complete system made by polar costs right at $500. It has a pad that goes behind the wither and another that goes under the girth. Has a GPS and all of that tranfers to a wrist watch so you can monitor it while riding and without stopping. Then I also have a pad that takes the information from my watch and transfers it to a program on my computer so I can chart my progress. The cool thing with a heart monitor is that the resting heart rate of a horse should somewhere around 35 - 40 bpm and respirations shoudl be around 15 - 20 per minute. If when you saddle and turn on your machine and your horse has an elevated resting heart rate, then that is your first sign of a soundness problem or illness.
You would be shocked when you put this device on a horse you call fit and their heart rate jumps up to 180 after 2 mins of trotting. Will make you question your entire conditioning program. The most important thing is to build from the inside out and then to do competition specific workouts. If you are riding a barrel horse and you lope circles and long trot every day, and think your horse is ready to compete at their top level in a barrel race, they're not. Fast twitch muscles have to be worked and honed for our horses to compete at the top level.
Edited by Herbie 2014-02-13 2:13 PM
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 Cute Little Imp
Posts: 2747
Location: N Texas | Herbie - 2014-02-13 2:09 PM The complete system made by polar costs right at $500. It has a pad that goes behind the wither and another that goes under the girth. Has a GPS and all of that tranfers to a wrist watch so you can monitor it while riding and without stopping. Then I also have a pad that takes the information from my watch and transfers it to a program on my computer so I can chart my progress. The cool thing with a heart monitor is that the resting heart rate of a horse should somewhere around 35 - 40 bpm and respirations shoudl be around 15 - 20 per minute. If when you saddle and turn on your machine and your horse has an elevated resting heart rate, then that is your first sign of a soundness problem or illness.
You would be shocked when you put this device on a horse you call fit and their heart rate jumps up to 180 after 2 mins of trotting. Will make you question your entire conditioning program. The most important thing is to build from the inside out and then to do competition specific workouts. If you are riding a barrel horse and you lope circles and long trot every day, and think your horse is ready to compete at their top level in a barrel race, they're not. Fast twitch muscles have to be worked and honed for our horses to compete at the top level.
What types of exercises accomplish that? I've seen so many people say they long trot and lope x number of miles a day and never lope circles, but I would think circles, at least to some degree, would be beneficial, since that's what barrel horses do...the barrel pattern isn't just straight lines.
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Expert
Posts: 1898
| Gunner11 - 2014-02-13 2:19 PM
Herbie - 2014-02-13 2:09 PM The complete system made by polar costs right at $500. It has a pad that goes behind the wither and another that goes under the girth. Has a GPS and all of that tranfers to a wrist watch so you can monitor it while riding and without stopping. Then I also have a pad that takes the information from my watch and transfers it to a program on my computer so I can chart my progress. The cool thing with a heart monitor is that the resting heart rate of a horse should somewhere around 35 - 40 bpm and respirations shoudl be around 15 - 20 per minute. If when you saddle and turn on your machine and your horse has an elevated resting heart rate, then that is your first sign of a soundness problem or illness.
You would be shocked when you put this device on a horse you call fit and their heart rate jumps up to 180 after 2 mins of trotting. Will make you question your entire conditioning program. The most important thing is to build from the inside out and then to do competition specific workouts. If you are riding a barrel horse and you lope circles and long trot every day, and think your horse is ready to compete at their top level in a barrel race, they're not. Fast twitch muscles have to be worked and honed for our horses to compete at the top level.
What types of exercises accomplish that? I've seen so many people say they long trot and lope x number of miles a day and never lope circles, but I would think circles, at least to some degree, would be beneficial, since that's what barrel horses do...the barrel pattern isn't just straight lines.
I've been doing a ton of reading today. And I think what she means is discipline specific exercise. Not just walk, trot and lope around the pattern, but drills and exercises specific to the physical demands of the barrel pattern. I found this article from Texas A&M very informative.
http://animalscience.tamu.edu/files/2012/04/equine-scientific-princ... |
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Whack and Roll
Posts: 6342
Location: NE Texas | That is a great article T A&M did. What I mean by working out the fast twitch muscle is just that.....short bursts, just like your horse has to do out of a barrel. You can do this without working a pattern....I rarely work a barrel pattern. But you can lope circles then send them down the pen/field for 50 yards or so, then ease them back down ultimately to a trot. If the recovery rate of the heart is where it should be go again. I also like to do alot of stopping, backing, rolling over and pushing out of the stop into a lope. Really push off behind with quickness.
I'm certainly not saying that we should go run the barrel pattern 5 days a week. Once the fast twitch muscle is conditioned and your horse is truly fit, you don't have to work them as often. So when you've been hauling your horse regularly and they were truly fit before that, then you really don't have to exercise them every day, as they will maintain the level of fitness with very little additional exercise if they are continuing to be hauled. The tricky thing is getting the top level of fitness. That being said, every horse is different. I've had some horses that thrive on training/conditioning and some that get really pi$$y when you get them fit. I had one horse that wouldn't work a lick fit, so I just had to haul him fat and out of shape and pray he didn't get hurt and he didn't. Listen to your horse, know what they enjoy, make the program fun for them and get them as fit and prepared to run a barrel pattern as you can while being creating and making it fun! |
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 Namesless in BHW
Posts: 10368
Location: At the race track with Ah Dee Ohs | Herbie - 2014-02-13 2:33 PM That is a great article T A&M did. What I mean by working out the fast twitch muscle is just that.....short bursts, just like your horse has to do out of a barrel. You can do this without working a pattern....I rarely work a barrel pattern. But you can lope circles then send them down the pen/field for 50 yards or so, then ease them back down ultimately to a trot. If the recovery rate of the heart is where it should be go again. I also like to do alot of stopping, backing, rolling over and pushing out of the stop into a lope. Really push off behind with quickness.
I'm certainly not saying that we should go run the barrel pattern 5 days a week. Once the fast twitch muscle is conditioned and your horse is truly fit, you don't have to work them as often. So when you've been hauling your horse regularly and they were truly fit before that, then you really don't have to exercise them every day, as they will maintain the level of fitness with very little additional exercise if they are continuing to be hauled. The tricky thing is getting the top level of fitness. That being said, every horse is different. I've had some horses that thrive on training/conditioning and some that get really pi$$y when you get them fit. I had one horse that wouldn't work a lick fit, so I just had to haul him fat and out of shape and pray he didn't get hurt and he didn't. Listen to your horse, know what they enjoy, make the program fun for them and get them as fit and prepared to run a barrel pattern as you can while being creating and making it fun!
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Expert
Posts: 1561
| Herbie, if you could get me the model number off the one you have that would be great!
Here is a link for others...http://www.equinemonitors.com/home |
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Whack and Roll
Posts: 6342
Location: NE Texas | Itsme - 2014-02-13 2:54 PM Herbie, if you could get me the model number off the one you have that would be great! Here is a link for others...http://www.equinemonitors.com/home
http://www.heartratemonitorsusa.com/polar-equiners800cx.html
I have an older version of the RS800. My watch doesn't look like this, but it does the same things. I think I gave like $380 for mine, but i've had it quite a while too. |
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Expert
Posts: 1561
| Herbie - 2014-02-13 3:24 PM
Itsme - 2014-02-13 2:54 PM Herbie, if you could get me the model number off the one you have that would be great! Here is a link for others...http://www.equinemonitors.com/home
http://www.heartratemonitorsusa.com/polar-equiners800cx.htmlI have an older version of the RS800. My watch doesn't look like this, but it does the same things. I think I gave like $380 for mine, but i've had it quite a while too.
Thank you! This will be like Rocky training by punching a steer in the meat locker versus the Russian with all the electronic monitoring devices. |
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Whack and Roll
Posts: 6342
Location: NE Texas | Itsme - 2014-02-13 3:38 PM Herbie - 2014-02-13 3:24 PM Itsme - 2014-02-13 2:54 PM Herbie, if you could get me the model number off the one you have that would be great! Here is a link for others...http://www.equinemonitors.com/home http://www.heartratemonitorsusa.com/polar-equiners800cx.html
I have an older version of the RS800. My watch doesn't look like this, but it does the same things. I think I gave like $380 for mine, but i've had it quite a while too. Thank you! This will be like Rocky training by punching a steer in the meat locker versus the Russian with all the electronic monitoring devices.
I can hear "The Eye of the Tiger" in the background. If you have a hill, it's great for your horses to lope up a hill too. Really works the hip and gaskins and takes all of the strain off of the front legs. You can do intervals on the hill too based on what your HR monitor tells you about your level of fitness through HR recovery. I unfortunately dont have a hill so have to be creative. I haven't had to really condition one in several years due to having colts and spending all of my time putting a handle on my horses. Looking forward to getting to implement all of this again here in the next couple of years! |
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Race horse work outs