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 Balance Beam and more...
Posts: 11511
  
Location: 31 lengths farms | I've always been anal about the amount of conditioning my horse has before I will make a run and now more so I guess because the two I have, have had significant injuries in their careers. I may take it a bit far in the type of conditioning I want to see on them before I am willing to make a run on them, guess I still approach things like I did as an elite gymnast. Even when mine are in good enough shape to run heading up to the 4th of July Pendleton race I step it up in the amount of breeze time and what I want to see in them as far as recovery time. I think they haul better as well as run.
I see so many posts it seems that say something about how their horse ran "middle of the XD, not bad for not having ridden her since XXXX" which can be as long as several months out. Just wondering if I am being completely paranoid about my horses conditioning and maybe actually over doing it? |
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 Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
 
| I am right there with you and I don't even ride at the level to run mine hard. One of mine had what should have been a career ending injury but he came back 100%. If mine get hurt again it certainly is not going to be because I did not do all I could to keep them healthy and that brings me peace of mind.
Hopefully that will save me some vet bills too. |
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 Chasin my Dream
Posts: 13651
Location: Alberta | I think we get out of a horse what we are willing to put into them, whether it's training time, conditioning, feed program....every horse is different and we must recognize this...sometimes even with stars aligned right a horse won't be a 1D We don't know everyone's situation as to why a horse hasn't been ridden or whatever.... Honestly I worry about what I do and if I think something needs to be improved I research or ask around...I know where I want to be in competition!
ETA: above all horses are so forgiving, but I could NEVER pull my horse out of a pasture (having not being ridden or in shape) and except them to perform for me....
Edited by dream_chaser 2013-12-30 2:08 PM
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 Always Off Topic
Posts: 6382
Location: ND | some of this kinda makes me laugh.......if you warm them up, making a run or two or whatever is no big deal......heck, many times they take off racing around and bucking and what not in way more dangerous environment and ground conditions than an arena for longer than 20 seconds.....are they at there peak performance doing that..??? no way.......but they may not necessarily be far off..... as far as healthy horses go....which are most.... |
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 Famous for Not Complaining
Posts: 8848
Location: Broxton, Ga | dhdqhllc - 2013-12-29 3:07 PM some of this kinda makes me laugh.......if you warm them up, making a run or two or whatever is no big deal......heck, many times they take off racing around and bucking and what not in way more dangerous environment and ground conditions than an arena for longer than 20 seconds.....are they at there peak performance doing that..??? no way.......but they may not necessarily be far off..... as far as healthy horses go....which are most.... It also makes me chuckle too...........I am with you on this one......mine do way more on their own in the pasture than with me on them........which I think keeps them in shape....ps.......and guess what they never warm up!! They bolt and RUN WIDE OPEN.......no warm up!!
I actually think sometimes we over exercise.............jmo
another ps..........if you think about it..........God made them more them to bolt and run.....no warm up required when bear lions tigers are wanting to have them for supper!
Edited by CJE 2013-12-30 2:18 PM
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 Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | Mine had 4 weeks off and then 2 rides since. Yesterday, he bucked the phone out of my pocket and stomped on it because he didn't want to WALK down the road. Just fresh and playing, but not sure I want to haul Mr I'm Too Fresh For My Warmup 3 hours to a barrel race. |
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Famous for Not Complaining
Posts: 8848
Location: Broxton, Ga | Three 4 Luck - 2013-12-29 3:18 PM Mine had 4 weeks off and then 2 rides since. Yesterday, he bucked the phone out of my pocket and stomped on it because he didn't want to WALK down the road. Just fresh and playing, but not sure I want to haul Mr I'm Too Fresh For My Warmup 3 hours to a barrel race.
I hauled my 2 fresh mares Saturday..........we did a lot of lunging to get that bolt and run out of them!! |
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 Experienced Mouse Trapper
Posts: 3106
Location: North Dakota | CJE - 2013-12-30 2:16 PM dhdqhllc - 2013-12-29 3:07 PM some of this kinda makes me laugh.......if you warm them up, making a run or two or whatever is no big deal......heck, many times they take off racing around and bucking and what not in way more dangerous environment and ground conditions than an arena for longer than 20 seconds.....are they at there peak performance doing that..??? no way.......but they may not necessarily be far off..... as far as healthy horses go....which are most.... It also makes me chuckle too...........I am with you on this one......mine do way more on their own in the pasture than with me on them........which I think keeps them in shape....ps.......and guess what they never warm up!! They bolt and RUN WIDE OPEN.......no warm up!!
I actually think sometimes we over exercise.............jmo
another ps..........if you think about it..........God made them more them to bolt and run.....no warm up required when bear lions tigers are wanting to have them for supper!
I agree to a point, except I don't think we "over excercise" we might over tune???
In my neck of the woods, if I really want to go to a jackpot to save my sanity, I have been known to warm them up really good, run and then cool out really well. Do I expect to win........well maybe.
To the OP, I would love to have my horses in the condition you have yours in, if I put the standards on my horse and myself that you have, I would never go anywhere. But this is fun for me and knock on wood I have not had any serious injuries. |
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 Reaching for the stars....
Posts: 12708
| My guys are out 24/7/365. I worry much more about them when I haul to big shows where they are stalled for a few days than I do if I pull them from their pasture to go to a day show without riding 3-5 times in the previous weeks.
Out in their pastures they don't stand still much. Move here, there, buck and twist and snort and fart around a lot, chase each other, play with their toys or sticks. At feed time it sometimes looks like I turned out a bucking string! They aren't 'conditioned' per se, but they stay stretched and flexible out there.
When they stand in a stall for 3 days they do feel different. They may be better conditioned going in to those big shows, but Xena's runs get rougher and rougher the more days she spends in a stall, and Zan's attitude noticeably changes to the negative. |
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  The Original Cyber Bartender
Location: Washington | I have and will never pull one out and go make a run on them.
Don't care what the discipline is, but as BHW teaches us, different strokes for different folks.  |
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 Expert
Posts: 1218
Location: Great NW | In my mind the answer comes from: How competitive do I want to be? If you do not care - and breezing thru is fine with you then by all means - if they won't buck you off go right ahead. However, If I am on my good 1D horse I certainly will NOT even cruz thru a competition run without at least a month of workouts to get them in condition - both inside and out. I have way to much time and $ invested to just go out and burn their lungs out or sore them up cause they have been on vacation. What they do on their own time is nothing compared to what I ask of them in the arena. JMO. |
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 Money Eating Baggage Owner
Posts: 9586
Location: Phoenix | I guess it depends. Just this week we rented the indoor arena and I roped about 10 calves on my horse. I rode him 2 days in a row prior to that, and before that, he was rode 3 weeks prior for a few days. I wouldn't hesitate to do that.....I might think again if we were headed to a jackpot and I didn't know how fast the calves were. Hell while we were in the indoor, I sent the new horse at a high lope around the barrel pattern and he was ridden less than my main horse. But again, that's practice and not a competition run. |
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 Damn Yankee
Posts: 12390
Location: Somewhere between raising hell and Amazing Grace | If I haven't put the ride time in then I won't run. I don't fear as much hurting a horse as I feel it's not worth the investment of hauling down the road if I don't put the work into it first. I'm a firm believer that every horse has only so many good runs in them so I always want to make sure I have them as ready as possible. |
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 The best bad guy on the internet
Posts: 3519
Location: Arizona | I usually try to get my mare in top running condition before I enter a race. This means at least 6 days a week of exercising, lots of breezing etc....she has to be in top shape in order to make the kind of run I know she can make. Sure, I can pull her out of her pen when she hasn't been rode that much and go make a run, but we are not going to clock where I want to. It just depends on how competitive I want to be!! |
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 A Lady with Fight
Posts: 2701
Location: NC | I'm a weekend warrior. I try to get a least 2 rides in a week if I'm hauling. More if I have the time. But between hubby's schedule & my schedule, we don't always have the time to ride as much as we want.
I make sure he's warmed up good and cooled down right & knock on wood, we've been good so far.
To each their own. Some have the time to ride 5-6 times a week. Some just don't. And some horses NEED constant work. Others just need legged up. All depends on what your situation is. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 602
| I think it depends on your situation and how often you run. I use to ride 5 days a week but now having a 2 year old daughter. I ride every other day to keep a balance with riding and being a mom...... That being said, I only compete once a month now instead of every weekend. |
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| What we ask them to do in the arena is more stressful, IMO, on their body than what they do in the pasture--not counting carrying the weight of a rider. I won't compete unless there has been some recent conditioning for them and myself. |
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 Born not Made
Posts: 2937
Location: North Dakota | I personally will not enter in a barrel race if I haven't been keeping my horse in shape. I pay enough money in vet bills the way it is; I don't want to put them at higher risk for an injury because they are not in good condition. Plus, I want to win back my entry fees (and maybe pay for gas) at a race, so I want to put my best foot forward.
Both my horses are chunky monkeys when they are not ridden regularly (like in the icy winter) and I just couldn't expect them to do that.
Although I do see and hear of people running unconditioned horses all the time. I won't do it. |
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 Dr. Ruth
Posts: 9891
Location: Blissfully happy Giants fan!!! | I won't pull a horse out of the pasture and just go make a run. I don't believe that is fair to them but I can appreciate the idea of them running hard core in the pasture with no warm up and being fine.
I have a horse in that we are trying to sell. He had a good 6 weeks of legging up before we put him through the pattern. Took him to a race on a short pen and let him go at his own pace (it was a disaster by the way and he really didn't have to work in the turns because of a horrid rider who thankfully was not me-lol). This last weekend I took him back out and again just let him pick his pace but he fired harder. We take extra care of him warming up and coming back down but he came down quick.
For the horses that have time off, we will leg up for about 4 weeks before we run again. One will get more time than that. Just because she was off for 2 months instead of one.
When they are in shape, the rule is they have to be worked at least 2 times that week or we don't go. Preferably 3-4 times that week. With my job sometimes that just doesn't happen. Last night I didn't come home until past 7 and I had started at 7 that morning. Those days happen and sometimes multiples in the week so two days of ride time may be all that is feasible. But if I know we are going to haul somewhere, I make it a point to get on them at least 2 times but more often than not 3 times that week. On 4 head of horses it is taking us almost 4 hours to get through the bunch. |
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 The Worst Seller Ever
Posts: 4138
Location: Oklahoma | I think it all depends on the horse, conditions they are in, and what they work best in.
My horses are all turned out, yet each has a different routine to get them working thier best. My mare run like dog poop if she is in stellar shape, but if she is in decent shape with a little pudge she run 10x better. I have figured out if I leave her up for 4 days prior to a big run she fires even harder.
Old man I keep a little pudgy so he doesn't run as hard with my daughter, but if i am running him he gets double the exercise to help those old joints and muscles stretch.
The calf horse fires harder if he is TUBBY and just in shape. If he is in stellar shape he looks around too much and won't settle down. Barrels are even a challenge on him when he feels good all he wants to do is go fast in every different way.
I have better luck with a horse in using shape than one is running shape. I feel those are 2 totally different categories. |
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