Is overworking the horse common OR what is wrong with me?

[morehorses]

I am genuinely curious about how hard you guys work your horses. How long do regular workouts last? How many days a week? How hard/long are your lessons? Do you take walk breaks? What are your goals (are you actively trying to build stamina)? What is your rule of thumb for young horses vs. mature horses? How/when do you determine when to vary ride length and difficulty? (If you answer these, then please include horse age and approximate level of training)

I ask because I have encountered some situations and I am wondering if it is me that is off base:
In one case there is someone I would love to work with – it is proven repeatedly that this person knows how to progress a horse AND rider. Yet, I can’t help but to feel that the horses are overworked. Frequently, lessons last well over an hour and almost always without walk breaks of any kind (working lower levels through GP). I have even seen people continue to ride and work the horse after such a lesson. Non-lesson rides are generally difficult and long – 100% arena work. The horses are worked until tired and sweaty 6 days a week. I have noticed that there are always several “layups” at this and similar facilities, and of course I can’t help but to wonder if there is a direct relationship (the quality of riding in these examples is excellent). It has made me too afraid to seek lessons/training there, despite it being the ‘best’ in my area. In a totally separate situation I encountered, it was expected that my 3yo be in hard work at least 6 days a week. I personally find this requirement to be excessive for a young growing horse but most of the people I ran this by thought I was the crazy one.

My question is: What is required to progress? Are the above situations normal? I understand that fitness, strength, and stamina are required in increasing amounts as one goes up the levels; and I also understand that there is a perception that young horses must be worked to maintain good behavior; there is additional pressure which seems to say that said horse must be doing X,Y, and Z by a certain age. Here is the thing: I am happy with slow progression – I don’t have exact goals other than to ‘get better’ and I certainly don’t have a time-frame. I am not going to the Olympics! Additionally, as this horse is my pet and I love horse (yet horse is also an athlete…), I want horse to be sound and happy for as long as possible. I am also aware that this is a very ‘American’ thing to write and I hate perpetuating stereotypes. BUT I don’t want to feel guilty that I care about my horses’ longevity and soundness. He is not a tool or simply a mean to an end. I feel embarrassed and silly even asking, but how do you guys deal with this? Surely they don’t have to be ridden until exhaustion in order to build muscle/stamina and to improve?

Currently, I work a just turned 5yo 4 to 5 times a week for about 30 min to one hour depending on my daily goals and the quality of work he gives me. We are working at 1st level. I warm-up/cool down at the walk and I give walk breaks as rewards throughout the ride. We occasionally go for strolls around the farm (hilly/just walking) and I occasionally longe instead of ride. Am I too easy on him? Can progress continue to be made keeping a similar schedule? At what point should I increase demands? How do you determine when to finish a workout or when to kick it up a notch? Does anyone think that my underlying assumptions are wrong and that heavy work does not factor into long-term soundness? Lastly, are there others out there that are concerned about this?! I am trying to get an idea of what is fair and normal. All opinions are welcomed.

[Underlying assumptions: work = wear and tear on joints, harder work = more wear and tear, younger horses in hard work = even more wear and tear, large young WB type horses worked hard at young age = :eek:?, etc.]

[twofatponies]

I don’t know many (any?) people who work their horses that hard every day. 30-40 minutes is much more typical at dressage, jumper and other barns I’ve spent time at.

I will sometimes “work” my horse for 3 hours - such as on a long trail ride - but that is always a mix of faster and slower paces, and even some occasional stops to admire the scenery and have a sip of water. If I’m schooling “flatwork” or “dressage” type practice in the arena I always take short stretch breaks every few minutes to reward improvement in the thing we are working on. Not because my horse doesn’t have the stamina to trot and canter for an hour solid, but boy would that make her sour to arena work!

Working horses (ranch horses, for example) might work six hour days, but there’s lunch, and other breaks, and the work is not solid collected movements or hard trotting the whole time, it’s a lot of walking, mixed with jogging, and occasional bursts of faster work.

If you were training for endurance you might need to work on time and distance for fitness, but it wouldn’t be dressage work for that length of time!!

I think you can follow your gut on this one. Sounds like you have a good head on your shoulders!

[slc2]

It really depends, and there is no one way, though it sounds like you’ve already made up your mind that the barn you’re at is working the horses excessively.

I know you mentioned layups. I wouldn’t be so quick to blame the program itself. All barns have some horses that have problems. They might step on a stone in the driveway or slip in turnout.

And unfortunately, a lot of horses wind up getting problems because they just aren’t suitable for the work. They just aren’t going to be able to stay sound. They have navicular, or tiny little legs and feet on a heavy body, or a crooked leg that just isn’t going to hold up for long.

Other horses are coping with an old injury or condition, and they just aren’t going to stay in the program forever. Eventually it will catch up to them.

I’ve been at barns where people worked horses for 15-20 min 4 times a week, and the philosophy was kind of ‘do a run thru of the stuff in the test you’re going to do at the next show, and if it goes ok, put the horse away’. The trainer actually rode as little as possible. The horses went out a lot, and the whole atmosphere was pretty laid back. Lessons usually were under an hour.

I’ve been at barns where horses worked six days a week, and worked HARD. HARD. Very little walk breaks, and lots and lots of cantering and trotting.
Walk work was purposeful and energetic, and not breaks. Riders and horses both worked hard. They move more energetically, a ‘lengthening’ is a serious deal, and when they do a medium gait, it really looks like a medium gait. One place I was at the horses went on a Eurociser for 30 min each day, and a good gallop at a park every other week, in addition to a very active ride 6 days a week.

After seeing both, I’m convinced that the first approach may be pleasant, but I don’t actually think it works that well. I don’t think it keeps horses any sounder, either.

I know that sounds crazy. I think there’s benefit to not doing senseless miles and just upping the odometer to no purpose, and to not overtraining. But there’s also a benefit to having horses fitter. They tend to not get injured, and strong muscles mean strong tendons and bones.

There is some middle ground there, that makes sense. One of the places where mileage can be reduced is by not longeing the horses a lot. Those are hard miles.

With a couple caveats, though, because if the horses are very limited, or if they have physical weaknesses, I don’t feel that they belong in a more intense program. If they aren’t ever going to move up the levels, due to these limitations, I think it’s better to work them more like the first description.

If the horses really are healthy, sound and have no leg issues, are well built, and aren’t going to be straining themselves if they’re worked harder, if they can be moved up to the next level (s), then there is more benefit to be gotten out of a more intense program.

The deciding factor is usually the rider. If he doesn’t like the intense program, if he doesn’t have the time or the energy for it, he isn’t going to stick to it.

[thatmoody]

My trainer’s normal schedule for progression of both horse and rider calls for at least 5 days a week of over an hour each day per horse. That hour is mostly spent trotting (and trotting FORWARD, not lazing around) with some canter work depending on level, with some walk breaks doing an active walk but on a loose rein. I could maintain a horse on less, but if I want them to progress I have to be willing to put in about that much time. I don’t see much progression at all on much less work - it tends to be just to maintain a level of fitness and training.

Two of the horses I’m working right now (3) are already on that schedule, and one I’m bringing gradually up there after surgery. Right now I ride him 3-4 days a week for 20-30 minutes at a time, not counting walk breaks, but he’s really out of shape! Hopefully I’ll have him back up to speed by fall, but I don’t expect him to work that hard right now - he was on stall rest for several months following hernia surgery. He gets turnout every day, too.

Edit: Oh, and we don’t have many trails, so most of that work is done in the arena. I hack around the property, which is pretty large, before and after the ride.

[Carol_O]

25-30 minutes, unless my trainer is here, then it is about 45-50. We take plenty of walk breaks, but work up a bit of a sweat each time; a little but of a sweat. I try to keep it fun for me and my horses, but we work out too.

[cutemudhorse]

MHO is moderation. I definately prefer to see stretching breaks in between hard sets. If you’re going to try to get the horse fit then of course you must increase the work but don’t increase the length of the workout and the intensity at the same time. I believe there are times when you are working on an issue that is difficult for the horse that you may want to get a ‘few’ (or maybe even one) corrrect movement that has been the issue and then stop on that good note, even if you have only ridden for twenty minutes. But normally I would say that 40 to 70 minutes is normal, but with walk breaks! And I feel that you can still move up if you plan your work, ride the horse that shows up which may mean changing the plan, and learn from the horse what he needs more of to get better. Frequent transitions, transitions within the gaits, changing direction, lateral movements, and even suppling exercises at the walk are good general training tools.

And I also like variety in what we do, like hacking out, jumping, etc. Do what you like with the horse’s well being and your safety in mind. I’m like you; my horses are special to me and I want to take good care of them but they (and I!) must learn to work correctly. I like to think that even if I was trying to get to Grand Prix that I would do not much more than what was neccesary to get there; like building up their fitness for those longer tests but not drilling!! I’d want to keep them fresh in their work.

Anyway, JMO in general. . .
Have fun!

[CosMonster]

I think it depends on what is going on, too. 30-40 minutes for a lower level horse is normal for me. I do like to work them until they are at least a little tired and sweaty–if they aren’t tired, they aren’t building muscle. I don’t work them until they are exhausted of course. A little tired is good (like yourself after a good lesson) but exhausted is generally bad IMO.

As their training progresses I also ride them longer but I don’t school them longer, a lot of it is conditioning. I like my horses fit. I also do endurance and I ride my endurance horse in a forward trot for hours, and she’s still ready to go. It makes me rethink what my dressage horses can do. :lol:

I have seen trainers who work their horses way too hard IMO. I think as far as working with this person you should look at their program, their results, and the attitude of their horses and decide if it is compatible with your goals or not.

[mvp]

What kind of injuries?

If you see lots of soft tissue problems, suspensory strains, horses NGR, take that seriously. It can be a combination of footing and an approach to fitness and training that isn’t working. People can also come to think these kinds of problems just come with the territory. It’s not true. Suspensory injuries slowly incurred are difficult to heal.

I tend to do lots of my conditioning outside. I also condition as competitive distance riders (and many event riders do): lots of slow work, walking and trotting, even some trail rides that are just long walks.

I’m not a fan of the physical or mental effects of having all work done in the ring. Horses should be allowed to “screw around” in their “usual place of business” so that they don’t come to hate it. They should also learn to do some dressage going down the trail or in a field so that they learn that the same set of rules apply everywhere.

I think you risk frying the mind and or body of a 5 year old if you put him into a “child prodigy” kind of program.

I’m so glad you want to put your horse first, including taking things as fast or as slow as he can handle. Can you haul in for lessons to this trainer? That’s what I usually like to do since i have my own “interdisciplinary” approach to training. My 16-year-old is sound, happy, fit and broke. It works.

[quietann]

My mare gets ridden 6 days a week, anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes, but usually around 40 to 45. 4 days a week it’s me riding her (3 lessons and one “free” ride), and 2 days a week the trainer’s assistant rides her. There are more walk breaks (2 or 3) when I am riding her, more for my sake than for hers, as she is more fit than I am. She enjoys stretching her back while we walk. (We do some “serious” walking too.) With the trainer’s assistant there is typically one short walk break. We both to some extent use cantering as a reward for good work at the trot, as the mare loves to canter.

This is about typical for a horse in training at the barn where my horse is boarded, though it varies by horse, some horses always get lunged before a ride and others (including mine) never do. Amongst the horses who are not regularly ridden by the trainer or her assistant, those not in training, rides per week varies more, from 2 or 3 to 6 days a week.

Most work takes place in one of the arenas, though some people take horses out for a trail ride (and I will do so when I have a trailer and another horse/rider pair to go with.) I do ride mine up and down the driveway and occasionally by the side of the road for short distances, as she is a bit herdbound and needs to learn that her friends will still be there when she gets back.

I am a firm believer in always ending a ride on a good note, when the horse is doing something well.

[Surviving_the_Dramas]

Sounds to me a bit like overcooking. Then again, depends on my individual horses.

One is a 30 minute max horse at the moment. He needs to develop a lot of topline, and hounding him around is only going to make him tired, stiff and hacked off - which is fine coz I’d feel the same! He will build up to an hour by the end of the next two months. He is a horse that appreciates a lot of work, but won’t go crazy if he doesn’t have it.

My other younger horse (4) is on 30 minutes, 5 times weekly, but 2 of those sessions are not schooling, rather fitness work around the track.

When I am schooling I always do breaks. My instructor is also pretty good on these young ones, we probably work for 45 minutes, with one 2 minute stretching break after hard stuff, discuss etc, and then that’s it.

With the older GP horse, we go for up to 1.5 hours, BUT 20 minutes of that is warmup, and we have 2 5 minute breaks, and a couple of walking breaks while explaining exercises, discussing issues etc. Again, we go by how the horse is going that day. If we are really singing along, then the lesson will most likely be a lot shorter - with him, there isn’t any more tricks to learn ;o)

[pintopiaffe]

I am going to post my reply first, without reading other answers so as to not colour my initial response:

There is a point where you MUST push beyond where you both are comfortable. To me, it is what has completely defined the Second Level Ceiling. My horse and I can both do ‘all the tricks’ for Third. What we do not have is the strength. Neither of us. Especially right now after a too-long winter break.

Once you reach a certain point as a rider, where you know how to show the horse what to do, it is ALL about strength and fitness.

Personally, I use an endurance method of conditioning which means not stressing the same muscle groups 2 days in a row. I will school one day, hill work the next, school the third etc. If I school two or three days in a row, it is progressive and different focus. I credit this methoid–including long slow distance on pavement on a consistent basis for basically saving my horse’s soundness when he incurred what should have been a career (and possibly life!) ending injury a couple of years ago.

That has brought me tremendous soundness and progression–BUT–in order to break the 2nd level ceiling, we HAVE to push through more and school MORE. Dressage school every-other day at least. MORE dressage. The hillwork and the cardiac and even the long slow distance are still important–but only DRESSAGE work, done correctly, will get us to the next level.

So in that respect, yes, often in lessons or clinics we push a bit beyond where we might at home. Traditionally, when I go for a lesson or clinic, we are pushed to the ‘next step’ whatever that may be. More collection, more throughness, MORE… whatever. Usually because we are ready–but on my own I am hesitant to ask too much, so I often ask too little.

But on a daily basis, we are only building incrementally on the work. Yes, we end up sweaty. Yes, we (both) end up tired… but to me, long term soundness is my goal. That’s one of the reasons I DO dressage–to keep my horse sound and supple.

As a working student a century ago I watched a clinician push a horse into heat exhaustion/borderline heat stroke. I blame both the BNT and the rider who allowed it. Yes, the horse was resistant… but the horse also almost died. It took him HOURS to stop panting. As the poor slob who had to walk and hose and basically hold my breath for those hours… I learned a valuable lesson. <shrugs>

You do have to push past your comfort zone. You do have to work damn freaking hard to get strong enough. But absolutely, there is a limit, and the HORSE must always come before the ego and the ambition.

[Petstorejunkie]

I didnt read the whole post but i think i got the gist.
I work my horse 45-60 minutes, 5 days a week and ride dressage but it’s not all this structured dressage work. mentally they can’t handle it. I have an awesome layout for riding where i have tiered hills and at the bottom is a 20x40m grass arena. no real structure, but i do have the corners marked. I may go spiral in and out a 20m circle then go canter up the hill, then work on rating and using his body correctly as we serpentine back down at varying gaites. Then maybe some lateral work down the long “wall” then a walk break.

I dont think i could keep a mentally happy productive horse in the letters for 60 minutes 5 days a week, but then again i havent really tried.

[slc2]

I think people would be shocked pintopiaffe, but it is the truth and there just isn’t any way around it.* There really is a point and it is a lot of work to get past it and keep going.

[CatOnLap]

I am genuinely curious about how hard you guys work your horses. How long do regular workouts last?

about an hour, nowadays
How many days a week?
right now about 3
How hard/long are your lessons? Do you take walk breaks?
right now I am rarely lessoning, but when I do, I go warmed up, ride a solid 45 minutes at intense levels with short ( half of arena) walk breaks about every 5-7 minutes and cool out after
What are your goals (are you actively trying to build stamina)?
right now I am fitting up horses from a winter layoff
What is your rule of thumb for young horses vs. mature horses? How/when do you determine when to vary ride length and difficulty?
I do not ride my youngsters under 3 except to get on and off for a few seconds. 3 yr- might be working short periods regularly, like 15-25 minutes. Might not be working at all depending on horse’s physical maturity. 4 yr- beginning regular work up to hour long sessions. 1st and 2nd level stuff. 5-7 yr-building fitness, muscle and stamina- work an hour daily if possible with some longer sessions each week 2nd and 3rd level stuff.
(If you answer these, then please include horse age and approximate level of training)
2 of the 3 horses I have trained to FEI levels were worked top hard fitness for several years of their lives, although not now. One is 25 and still a sound 3rd level schoolmaster, the other is 20 and working GP, showing PSG.

I have had horses hard fit like the OP describes. In a hard fit horse, one that is up to the task of eventing, endurance, serious dressage, sweating is a sign of good health and fitness and comes easily. In a fit athlete, the sweat mechanism turns on quicker and tends to sheen up over working muscles faster than on a relatively soft fit horse.

My horses now are soft fit- I can get on and ride an hour, if I warm up properly and cool down and stretch and takes walk breaks every 5-10 minutes. They can go 2-3 hours at a walk on the trail. They wouldn’t sweat up much in arena work at that pace and they would sweat up late in the session.

When I’ve had horses in real training- being worked 1-3 hours every day in the old german style, the horses sheen over early in the work, just after warm-up and can work for 10 minutes intensely without a break, although that is where I give short walks. They lather in between their hind legs, behind the girth, under the saddle and under their neck at times. They can keep it up for an hour easily, some days, some lesson they would go for 2, the odd day a 3 hour lesson, but in a group setting, not constantly working. After that we might go on a trail walk for an hour to keep the juices flowing as they gradually restore their muscles.

I agree if you see a high percentage of horses colicking, tying up, breaking down in various ways at a particular barn, you may wonder. But just because a large show barn has a few lay-ups or works its horses for more than an hour 6 days a week, or has sweaty horses, please don’t assume that is anything but a serious training program.

[Sabine]

[QUOTE=pintopiaffe;4087011]
I am going to post my reply first, without reading other answers so as to not colour my initial response:

There is a point where you MUST push beyond where you both are comfortable. To me, it is what has completely defined the Second Level Ceiling. My horse and I can both do ‘all the tricks’ for Third. What we do not have is the strength. Neither of us. Especially right now after a too-long winter break.

Once you reach a certain point as a rider, where you know how to show the horse what to do, it is ALL about strength and fitness.

Personally, I use an endurance method of conditioning which means not stressing the same muscle groups 2 days in a row. I will school one day, hill work the next, school the third etc. If I school two or three days in a row, it is progressive and different focus. I credit this methoid–including long slow distance on pavement on a consistent basis for basically saving my horse’s soundness when he incurred what should have been a career (and possibly life!) ending injury a couple of years ago.

That has brought me tremendous soundness and progression–BUT–in order to break the 2nd level ceiling, we HAVE to push through more and school MORE. Dressage school every-other day at least. MORE dressage. The hillwork and the cardiac and even the long slow distance are still important–but only DRESSAGE work, done correctly, will get us to the next level.

So in that respect, yes, often in lessons or clinics we push a bit beyond where we might at home. Traditionally, when I go for a lesson or clinic, we are pushed to the ‘next step’ whatever that may be. More collection, more throughness, MORE… whatever. Usually because we are ready–but on my own I am hesitant to ask too much, so I often ask too little.

But on a daily basis, we are only building incrementally on the work. Yes, we end up sweaty. Yes, we (both) end up tired… but to me, long term soundness is my goal. That’s one of the reasons I DO dressage–to keep my horse sound and supple.

As a working student a century ago I watched a clinician push a horse into heat exhaustion/borderline heat stroke. I blame both the BNT and the rider who allowed it. Yes, the horse was resistant… but the horse also almost died. It took him HOURS to stop panting. As the poor slob who had to walk and hose and basically hold my breath for those hours… I learned a valuable lesson. <shrugs>

You do have to push past your comfort zone. You do have to work damn freaking hard to get strong enough. But absolutely, there is a limit, and the HORSE must always come before the ego and the ambition.[/QUOTE]

I like your post a lot PP- I think the big question up front should be: do you want a nice, pleasurable horse that is happy and sound and does some dressage- or are you and do you want your horse to be an athlete?

That is the tough questions to answer honestly. Because surely you will only cause harm to the horse if you are not fit and you are trying to grind the horse into fitness…
Effective training does not take much time- it is just that - effective, to the point, patient, clear to the horse. The rest is repetition and strengthening of the horse to execute the exercise fluidly and as if they were simple and easy…because only then does it look flawless and not labored and easy.
So- I think working a 3 year old more than maybe 3-4 days and about 30 minutes is not a good idea- however - it largely depends on the breed and the individual horse.
A four year old- I’d work a little more- maybe 4-5 days- 45 minutes…keep it light and effective and vary the work a lot…like trail and dressage and longlining and ground work and a little free jumping or crossrails- just variety. By 5 I’d work a little harder- 5 days a week- 45-50 minutes and reasonable good walk breaks in between. Good cool outs and barn scouting (leasurely riding around afterwards to mentally relax) is very important…
Again- set your goals of what you want to be and what your horse ought to be and go from there…it’s not so hard if you follow a plan and see and feel the horse everyday- if it gives you signs of stress, pain or discomfort- back off- if the horse shows major attitude- that means he’s fed more than what you work off…:)!

[Kementari]

If my horse(s) is(are) competition-fit, then we are riding at least an hour a day at least five times a week. My competitions are events, though, not straight dressage - but lower level ones, so not horribly strenuous. Honestly, if I ride less than an hour (on a fit horse), that’s a break, not a workday.

Of course, I don’t just spend the time trotting around the arena: we have dressage days (when that hour is mostly trotting and cantering, with one or two walk breaks, not counting the warmup), conditioning days (which may be trot sets, or long trots, or gallops or…), jumping days (which have breaks in between courses or exercises), and just trail days (you can do a lot of work on the trail).

Two things, though: first, I insist on a long, thorough warm-up and cool-down (I cringe when I see horses taken out of their stalls and into the ring and immediately shoved into a frame [OK, I cringe to see horses shoved into a frame at all… ;)] without having time to loosen up their muscles first), which I think really contributes to keeping them sound and healthy, and second, these are FIT horses. We work up to that point. I wouldn’t take a horse that’s used to be worked 30 minutes 3 times a week and immediately start it into the above described program. It’s a slow process (again, I believe this contributes to long-term soundness), but at the end of it these workouts don’t tire the horse out, because s/he’s conditioned for it. Sort of like if I went to run a marathon today, I’d be dead by halfway, but if I worked up to it for a year, I’d be much happier, even all the way at the end.

My horses, for reference, are a 23 y/o TB (who was 21 the last time I had him in competition shape - someone else rides him now, and doesn’t need him as fit as I did) and a 6 y/o Arab (who I’m getting fitted up now - I actually put in an hour of dressage and a light jumping today, and she was still energetic at the end, but tomorrow I’ll just hack or lunge lightly, because she’s not ready to work hard two days in a row, yet).

[Coppers_mom]

@slc2;4086697

and strong muscles mean strong tendons and bones.

Just wanted to point out that strong muscles do NOT mean strong tendons and bones. Muscles strengthen much, much faster than any other part of the body. That’s why you see so many tendon/ligament issues. The horse looks like he can handle it because his muscles are huge, but the rest of him isn’t caught up yet. It’s important to keep in mind that, especially in young horses, the rest of the horse may not be as fit as he looks.

There is a point when you’re trying to break past 2nd level when you have to work harder. The horse needs to be stronger, fitter, and more through. However, it shouldn’t be some ghastly 4 hour ordeal every day. Even GP horses shouldn’t be doing GP work every day. Their bodies (muscles, tendons, ligaments) need time to recover. That’s what builds strength and fitness; the muscle (tendon, ligament, bone) being strained and then allowed to heal. Working a horse hard every single day at the same thing isn’t allowing for that healing period, and is just going to do damage, which may be why you see so many layups.

I would personally avoid any stable that required that much work for any horse, from the beginning stages of training to GP. It just sounds like a lot of miles, but not much consideration on how to really get the horse fit. Horses need to slowly build up to stuff like that, and will last longer in the end if brought along carefully than if they’re thrown into work that way.

[SaddleFitterVA]

For a horse in regular work, which for my horses is 4-5 rides a week, most work sessions are about 30-40 minutes of real work. With 1-2 minute walk breaks 4-5 times in that period. This is after the horse is fit and shows no distress at the level of work.

If a horse is huffing and puffing regularly, or sweating profusely in nice, cool weather, that would be a good indication that something is wrong with the program.

I have often needed to go out and do specific cardio-training rides to build up to this, and for me, that usually means a fast trail ride, or gallops around a big field.

ETA, the entire ride is usually about an hour with warmup/cooldown.

[joiedevie99]

I am genuinely curious about how hard you guys work your horses. How long do regular workouts last?
25-40 minutes of work, up to an hour of riding time

How many days a week?
ridden 6 days per week, but usually 4-5 are serious workouts and 1-2 are hacking in the fields, trail riding, or tendon/ligament work on the roads. 2 hours of turnout per day weather/mud permitting.

How hard/long are your lessons? Do you take walk breaks?
2-3 times per week for 30 minutes (usually with one short walk break), but I warm up for 15-20 minutes prior to my lesson, and cool out for 10-15 minutes after my lesson. Occasionally, we will work something in trot in my lesson and my trainer will suggest that I stay on and work the exercise in canter for a while, or vice versa, so we have the occasional ride with 45-50 minutes of hard work.

What are your goals (are you actively trying to build stamina)?
Horse is more than fit for his current mid-level job

(If you answer these, then please include horse age and approximate level of training)
Horse is later teens, competed to GP

[Janet]

Whn was young, I remember being taught that a horse wasn’t “in work” unless it was 3 hours a day or more. Anthing less than that was just “exercise”.

I normally ride for at least an hour, but that includes approx 10 minutes of walk at the beginning, and another 10 minutes of walk at the end.

Lessons are normally a full hour, plus the 10 minute walk over and the 10 min walk back, so 1 hr 20 minutes in the saddle. But the lesson may end up 15 min shorter - if we accomplish a key goal and/or the horse is tired, or 15 min longer - if we are working through a problem and the horse is not tired.

The age of the horse doesn’t seem to matter much. With a greenie, the first 5 - 10 rides will be shorter, but after that they will get a 1 hr ride too- though a lot more of it will be walking. What they DO in the ride may vary- my 23 yo (solid second level) gets more “warm up and stretch” time than my 12 yo (First Level).

The best way to build stronger ligaments, and tendons is LSD- Long Slow Distance - preferably on hard ground. These will generally be well over an hour.