How often do you hunt and how do you keep fit?

[Ajierene]

I was thinking about this the other day. I want my horse to be more fit before I tackle a Training Level Event at a particular venue that is very hilly. I would like myself to be more fit also.

I don’t have a lot of room for trot sets or canter sets or long gallops or short gallops where I board. I can trailer her out to a really nice public park, but right now I only really have time for that once a week, if that. I do have a large arena - but I can only do so much with that.

On another thread, someone was talking about fitness and running a four star three day event compared to foxhunting.

So…that coupled with the fact that if you are a working person, you would only really be able to hunt on the weekends, unless you took a day off work.

So, how many times during the week do you hunt and how do you keep yourself and your horse fit between hunts? Do you have room to do work at home? Do you have inventive ways to keep your horse fit or get your horse fit at the beginning of the season?

Is just hunting once a week (if that is all you do) and nothing else (fitness wise - putting aside working on flatwork, jumping and other skills) to keep your horse going?

She is pretty fit, so I am trying to get a gauge of how much of a fretful mother I am being (I do fret over her a bit to much sometimes…but she’s my baby!)

[Meredith_Clark]

A- I foxhunted Shorty this past winter and he was only BN fit. He was in first flight and did fine.

My butt on the other hand…

[Jaegermonster]

Honestly a lot depends on what hunt you hunt with. Every hunt is different, from the territory they hunt-as far as how demanding it is of both and horse and rider- to how hard/long they hunt. So you have to take into account both of those things. Plus it also depends on how hard YOU want to hunt. First flight, second flight, hilltop?

I hunt 2-4 days a week (I"m a whip) through the season. My horse is what I would call medium fit, but for her that is good. If she’s too fit she’s a pain in the butt. I think I"m medium fit but would like to be fitter so I"m working on it. I do lots of stuff around the farm, since it’s just me, which helps. Stacking hay, moving bag shavings, unloading feed, I have stairs in my house. If I need to go to the front gate to lock it or get a package I walk or job instead of taking the tractor, stuff like that. I sweep the aisle way with the push broom instead of using the blower. I have a job too, so between that and the farm and hunting and keeping 4 horses fit, no time to go to a gym, although I do situps and push ups and chair sits, and stretches, etc in the house while I"m watching TV in the evening.
For my horse I kept her at a pretty decent level of fitness during the summer, I don’t believe in a total letdown for either of us. She gets enough days off here and there due to my schedule she doesn’t really need it, plus it’s harder to get them (and yourself) back each year, IMHO. So I kept riding, doing trail rides, beach rides, lessons etc.

[Ajierene]

Thanks guys, you definitely made me feel better. So trailering out for a good trail ride once a week will get her fit enough. As far as I go…well, yeah, Meredith - my butt my hurt. More like my legs, though I didn’t have any problems at the last event, so I think my fitness is probably there. Her’s is probably there also, but you know…fretful mother and all. What am I going to do if I ever have human kids?!?