Posted 2014-03-09 7:18 AM Subject: RE: barrel horse workout??
Veteran
Posts: 246 Location: Idaho
Im pretty fortunate to live in an area with lots of hills and fields. I love to do hills on my horses and long trot in the fields. I ride every day in the summer and when I can in the winter which is 1-3 times per week, weather permitting. Personally, i think outside riding (outside of arena) is the best way to keep your horse fit and free of tendon/ muscle injuries. I had an equine chiropractor tell me once that arena ridden horses were the hardest to keep sound. I grew up in the area i live in now and have always ridden out growing up. Mostly because there were no arenas close but also because i rode broke, seasoned horses just needed kept in shape. Over the years, i have rarely ( knock on wood:) had horse injuries. And if we did they were pasture injuries not ones done in the arena competing. Ok... hopping off that soapbox and getting back to the topic :) Hills and Fields ! :) Thats my conditoning program! :)
I agree that riding outside of the arena is a great way to keep a horse legged up. In my opinion, there is nothing better than going out for a good stretch of long trotting out in the field. I try to keep it really simple when I am conditioning a horse. I follow Marlene McRae's basic program that she outlines in her book. You start out with trotting a couple miles, loping a couple miles, trotting another couple miles and then cooling out. You do this for a week and then she increases it. It's nothing fancy but I really don't think it needs to be fancy. Every once in a while breezing them is important too, but only after they have been on a consistent program for a while.
I also agree with the above and am lucky enough to live in a place where we have varied terrain and maybe only 2 weeks of non-riding weather per year. My husband and I trailer our horses out to the mountains fairly often and ride for 4-5 hours or we ride in our local river bottom. I will walk it 3 days a week and then alternate 2 trotting days for about 2 miles and then on the last day (we work 6 days and rest 1 day) I will lope one mile and work short sprints in to the lope time. I also ride down to our open arena sometimes as a warm-up before we practice a run.
barrel horse workout??
