How do you work on your horse fitness for trail riding and endurance? My mare has been downgraded this season to “trail horse” but I’m finding a hard time riding her at home with other horses that like home work more than she does. We generally do 6 to 10 mile rides. She insists she’s fit enough to trot 6 miles but I doubt if she’s telling the truth. When my SO comes we just walk but I’d like to do some faster work solo. I went out and did 4 miles, then did 6 all at a walk and she was fine, didn’t seem sore, was still pulling to go but that is also her personality. We generally trail ride once every two weeks.
What is your goal with her aka how much work do you want her to be able to do? I have 2 horses currently competing in endurance both a 9 years old but are very different. My Arab gelding just did his first 25 a couple weeks ago. He was started at 6 and ridden fairly lightly and then about 2 months before the endurance ride we decided he needed a job and had to step in for my other mare who got hurt. Our basic plan to get him to the mountain-y 25 was a lot of walking hills and trot sets and some canter in the 2nd month. We rode him 3-4 times a week, 3 shorter rides of 5-7 miles and a longer ride of 10-12 and increased time on hills or speed (never both at once) throughout. He was great at the endurance ride- we took it slow but he finished well within the time, pulsed right down and had a perfect vet card.
My other mare is a Rocky Mountain Horse. I just got her earlier this year. When I got her, she was a semi-broke pasture puff who had only been ridden on flat sandy ground. Talk about culture shock for her lol when I bought her and she started hills, rocks and regular riding. So far this year, she’s done 1- 12.5 mile CDR, 1- 15 mile CDR, 1- 25 mile CTR, 2-25 mile endurance rides and 1- 55 mile endurance ride. We have a 25 mile CTR next weekend, followed by back to back 30 mile endurance rides two weeks later. With her, I did a LOT of walking in the beginning which served both to help training-wise and start building her up muscle-wise. Then we went to my basic plan of 3 rides a week- 1 short, faster ride, 1 medium speed ride with hills, and 1 longer slower ride, increasing either hills or speed or length as we went along.
I always check recoveries (pulse, respiration, etc), back and legs after every ride and if those are all good- then work level can increase. Also don’t forget the importance of rest days.
I’d like her fit enough to do a 6 - 10 mile trail ride at mostly a walk when I go with my SO on the weekends. It sounds like you start out with 6 miles at a walk?
A few years ago I took her to an extended clinic for jumping and I was worried about fitness so I was doing longer trot sets on the trails. She could trot 6 miles without breathing hard. I got her WAY too fit, she is an arab after all.
We did 4 miles a few weeks ago and she’d been off work for about 4 months, then we did 6 miles the next week and she was fine, not sore, not breathing hard, raring to go after but she tends to be hotter and more forward and I don’t want her to lie to me and be sore.
If you ride your horse in a 50 min. work session, mixing mostly walk and trot/gait with some canter work, after you do a 10 min. mounted/longe warm up and a 10 min. cool-down you will have covered 7+ miles. Go for short hack outside the the ring for 30 min and add 3-4 miles. That’s a pretty good workout for most horses.
G.
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Yes,as long as they’ve been in some sort of little bit of work, I start around 6 miles of walk. I think you’re mare would have no trouble with a 6-10 mile trail ride at mostly walk if you’re not doing significant climbs, etc. Horses can’t really lie-if you get back and she’s still looking bright and nothing checks out sore, no stocking up or windpuffs the next day, then she’s fine.
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