Off-Season Conditioning

[ScarletHareFarm]

My friend invited me to join her hunt this upcoming season, I plan on going out and trying.

They have two flights and hilltoppers. She’s described the difference in the two flights as well as hilltopping but I’m still not sure as ot how best to get my horse and I in shape. I know we need to work on our endurance, but I don’t exactly know know what our goals should be.

Should I aim for a mixed paces up to a definitive number of hours? Or should I be aiming for mixed paces for a certain range of miles?

Even if I plan on hilltopping my first time out, how long should I expect to be out?

I asked my friend and she says that it varies or that she doesn’t really know b/c she dedicates the whole day to it and never pays attention to what time they leave or they get back or can estimate the amount of ground covered, in miles. She basically says “I don’t know, We go out for a while.”

But I don’t know how to train or condition for such vagaries.

From experience riders who have hunted, if I am hilltoping this upcoming season. What should my training goals be?

What would my riding goals be for moving up to second flight or from there to first flight.

I realize the exact jump heights vary from club to club, but I like to know what to expect, and I’m really goal oriented. It helps ease my anxiety if I feel like I have some benchmarks that I can help to measure my progress and readiness.

I don’t want to go out and embarrass myself or her, and I really don’t want to go out with my horse sweating and wheezing a mile in. I feel if I had some numbers; time, distences, whatever, I could make plan to be in the best possible form to truly enjoy it.

Thank you in advance for all of your help!

[Kodiak]

I realize this puts you in a bit of a spot with your friend, but you need to develop other contacts in that hunt and ask your questions. I entered hunting much the same way (wishy-washy friend) and wasted a ton of time and money (and occasionally made a bit of a fool of myself) because ‘friend’ gave me terrible, inconsistent, or ridiculously vague advice. In hindsight, ‘friend’ was actually pretty clueless and refused to admit it.

There are always people associated with a hunt whose role is to provide information to prospective guests and new members. Please reach out to them for answers to your questions. You can do it tactfully and in such a way as to (hopefully) not cause any problems with your friend.

[arapaloosa_lady]

I definitely agree with reaching out to the club itself for some information. It’s great that you want to be so prepared :). But the specific club should be able to give you some better information as to terrain to prepare for, length of time, and jumps.

[Debbie]

I can only speak to my particular hunt, but we are usually out for 3-4 hours. Miles covered varies between days and fixtures - 6 or so at a minimum and we’ve done 20 plus on faster days. We hunt woods and farmland with fox and coyote. I condition with 6-8 mile rides with about 30% trot and canter. Lots of walking over hilly terrain interspersed with long trots. I have a TB who gets fit pretty easily, so your mileage may vary.

The Hunt secretary can likely give you a good idea for what to expect for your particular club. It’s completely appropriate to call and ask as many questions as you need to feel comfortable. I hope you have a great time.

[jawa]

I second, third, or is it up to fourths, calling the contact for the club you will be going out with (usually the secretary) and asking these questions. They may be able to answer them for you, or at the very least put you in contact with someone else who can.

So for my club, which may amount to a hill of beans because it might not be the club you are going out with, hill toppers pace will depend on who is out that day. If it’s a bunch of kidlets on lead line, then you will be walking most of the day. If it’s made up of folks who can ride, but don’t have fit horses then you can W,T,C and maybe even G a bit. I would say 90% of the time you would be W and T with an occasional stride of C. Many of the hill toppers will call the hill toppers field master the day before to let them know they will be coming and discuss any concerns and to find out what to expect from that fixture.

Moving up to 2nd flight, IMO, can be a huge step (depending on the day and club). Many times you are putting in a faster pace than 1st, because you can’t follow them over jumps.

Things to do to prepare for your first outing:

1. Go out on group trail rides.
2. Ride with loose dog/s on trails if possible.
3. Teach your horse to stand on a loose rein for 1-3 minutes or longer. Yes it will feel like an eternity!
4. Once you find out the amount of time you will be out, work up to riding for that long at whatever pace your horse is fit for. If possible, be sure to be riding over the terrain that your host hunt rides.
5. Get some green ribbon to put in your horses tail. It will let everyone know that they need to give it room.

I agree with others that you need to make other contacts within the hunt club to get prepared for your first day out hunting. If you post the name of the hunt, you may get some folks on here who can give you some REAL advice and maybe even a “nanny” for the first few times.

Happy Hunting!!

[2foals]

I think that doing some trail rides and gradually building up the time you are out and the speed that you go is a good general way to start. If you come from an eventing background, a horse that is fit to do an event would be in a good place to start the season. If you primarily do dressage or h/j riding, you need to make sure you get in more time outside of the ring going up and down hills and acclimating your horse to more varied terrain/footing. Even if you aren’t going fast, those hills require a lot more fitness than going around a ring can accomplish.

And I agree with others, don’t feel funny making other connections within the club so that you have a few different people to ask questions of. This shouldn’t hurt your friend’s feelings at all, in fact I think it helps take the pressure off of her to not have to be your sole advisor, and I also think that it will make your outings more enjoyable if you know more folks within the hunt.

FWIW, speeds and jump heights don’t just vary from club to club, they vary by fixture and by outing within the same club. Also, jump heights don’t necessarily mean much–it really can be a lot more about trappy conditions and obstacles on either side of the jump and your ability to maintain control in a group galloping/jumping situation.

[beowulf]

I agree with others, contact your hunt.

What discipline do you normally do? Generally, a Novice-fit horse should be able to do a hunt, at least IME.

I’d start designating some interval training 2-3 days a week… If your horse is already fit enough to do W/T/C for an hour, start at 5 minutes trot, 2 m walk - do three repetitions. Do this for a week, then up your trot time by 2 m each week and walk time by 1 m each week. Monitor his breathing - you want to see him catch wind quicker each week - the intervals should have him recovering quite quickly.

Once you’re up to the 10m trot week, you could also do canter or gallop sets.

IME though trotting interval training is very good for conditioning.

[Hunter_s_Rest]

Would it not be possible to hire or borrow an experienced horse for your first time/s hunting so you can check out the scene and then return to your own horse’s training with knowledge?
98% of horses either like or lovveee hunting, but there are some that just don’t like it.
You might prefer riding a horse that knows the ropes first.

[ISR]

It will vary by the hunt club, but here are some numbers for your to think about.

Our hunt in the season (Nov-march) will average about 15-18 miles over 3 hours. There are always exceptions, sometimes staying out only 2 hours, sometimes 4.

Our coops range in height from 2’6"-3’6", with logs aproximately 12"-2’, and several ditches, typically about 2’ in width.

We don’t offer a hilltopping field, but our second field will often move at the “lowest common denominator”, be it junior riders or a nervous rider or nervous horse.

Definitely contact the secretary who can let you know when the hunt trail rides are (likely happening now) and hound walking and roading opportunities which may be open to nonmembers.

[Ponyclubrocks]

My hunt has fixtures that range widely in size. The smallest give us a hunt between 1.5 to 2 hours and the largest we hunt for 3 to 3.5 hours. Contact the hunt secretary and get a more knowledgeable contact at your hunt.

I find that regular trail riding plus trot /canter sets in a hilly hay field are all I need to keep my horses in hunt shape. Hope you have a great time!

[Ponyclubrocks]

My hunt has fixtures that range widely in size. The smallest give us a hunt between 1.5 to 2 hours and the largest we hunt for 3 to 3.5 hours. Contact the hunt secretary and get a more knowledgeable contact at your hunt.

I find that regular trail riding plus trot /canter sets in a hilly hay field are all I need to keep my horses in hunt shape. Hope you have a great time!

[vineyridge]

Trotting, lots of trotting. Hard surfaces are good. I was always taught that when the horse and rider could trot for five miles (rising trot), they were good for anything.

[CindyCRNA]

OP, as you can see, hunts widely vary. Our hilltoppers sometimes come in before the hunt is done so if you are hilltopping with my hunt, it may be 1 1/2 - 2 hours with probably less than 10 miles. Some riders come in before their field is done. If you are hilltopping, expect 6-10 miles of some walk, more trotting and some galloping.

[Doctracy]

I’ve only hunted western hunts but they can be very long and fast or slow trail rides. Red Rock hounds is really,really long and fast.
2nd or 3rd flight is generally walk,trot and,if everyone feels comfortable,they will gallop.
Beagles are pretty stop and go but with the jackrabbits it can make for very quick little turns,too. I actually had my old horse tie up when whipping on a beagle hunt during wet weather which was much longer and faster than typical.
I’ve hunted with 5 or 6 hunts, plus some more with joint meets. I’d say the average hunt has been 2-3 hours. I’d highly recommend hill topping until you see how your horse acts. Too much speed to soon can make some horses become pretty crazy about hunting,although an ex-race horse could be better in a faster group where they can be more forward.
I’m going to be hunting here in NC this year but again,I only have western experience. The ground and usual hunt game ( or drag hunt) really is the deciding factor,along with the Hunt’sman’s style.
I would be ready to long trot with a bit of galloping for an hour,which should give you plenty of condit of condition with the usual TB. Checks are typically taken after good runs and remember,the draft horses and QH types typically don’t have the endurance of a TB,even less than hunt fit. My old TB could hunt four days in a row LLloyd style and be a little more laid back the 4th day but still with plenty of go left and no soreness.mon the other hand, I would only hunt some of my paints a day at a time and always plan a second horse for multiple days.

[FirstChance]

Just another thought for you… I recently did my horse and I’s first hunter pace with the local hunt club. It was 6 miles over 30 fences and lots of hills and creeks at their home farm. It was a cool way to introduce my horse to it a bit and see how he would react to the sights and sounds. It was also a good test of his (and my) stamina. I think you need to take yourself into account here too. I only did 10-15 of the jumps and by the end of the ride I couldn’t feel my knees. LOL! It is significantly more demanding to ride like that for a couple hours. I am working hard on conditioning myself as well as my horse before hunt season. I also discovered a few issues that we need to work on before we’re in a real hunt field. Best of luck to you and have fun!

[SouthernYankee]

You’ve gotten a lot of valuable advice.

I take my mare trail riding and camping throughout the summer to keep her somewhat fit. We don’t do much other than walk but it’s lots of hills and we are liable to be out 4+ hours each ride. This time of the year I try to do lots of trot sets around the farm, lots of road riding. Our hunt doesn’t have flights so everyone can go at their own pace, it’s nice because there isn’t a lot of pressure to get the horses overly fit at the start. But our hunt can also stay out for 4-5 hours and cover 20+ miles so a basic core is important.

I know I’m more worried about getting myself fit than I am about getting my mare fit. My mare doesn’t have a bottom to her gas tank, I on the other hand won’t be able to walk for days after hunt season starts…