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[ManyDogs]

Just a long term goal for now…
However, I have access to a treadmill at work and have Pilates stuff at home.
I’m on the treadmill about 3x a week walking pretty fast and having a relatively steep incline. I also bend over into “two point”, holding the “reins” for some of the time. Fortunately, the treadmill is in a room where my weird antics are not viewed :lol:.
I keep busy at home-- I esp. enjoy tossing hay into headwinds and hauling buckets full of soaked BP out to the mares when temps are in the single digits :eek:. My Peke puppy helps with the feeding by carrying a wisp of hay in his mouth while he supervises.

I would appreciate any thoughts/ideas/suggestions about increasing my strength and stamina. I’ll check the flask thread to see what I should keep nearby for sustenance.

PS-I believe the falling off into the mud exercise will be covered later in the Spring when I back my Perch X.

[SteeleRdr]

Bicycling!! I’ve found that the treadmill doesn’t so a whole lot for riding stamina. Also just being riding fit.

I did a lot of cycling and that helped a lot when I wasn’t able to ride very often; and also did it while I was riding.

[cranky]

Can you throw in some running intervals into your treadmill walking? Start with running intervals of 30 secs and don’t worry about speed for now. Alternate 30 secs of running for every (say) 2 minutes of walking. Do that for a week, (ideally 4x a week). The following week, shorten the walking interval to 1 minute, 30 seconds. Every week try to either increase your running interval or decrease your walking interval until you’re able to run without walking for 30 minutes. Any week where it feels a too hard to progress to the next step, just repeat what you were doing from the previous week.

Running is the best way that I know of for improving endurance/wind.

Somewhere I have beginner’s running program from the New York Road Runner’s Club. If you’re interested, PM and I’ll try to dig it up, it’s really pretty easy to follow.

[Beverley]

For those of us who got sick of running after four years of college basketball and tennis…I use a stationary bike, actually a Schwinn Airdyne which gives more of a workout to the upper body too. Typically I do 5 to 5.5 miles in about 20 minutes. And, walk the dogs, and for a real workout, hike on the mountain behind my house. I agree, building up the wind is important.

And then of course there is the riding associated with getting your horse fit for hunting. Doing trot sets and gallops gets both horse and rider hunting fit.

[Elghund2]

I like rowing. I have a Concept II Ergometer. I usually do 35-45 minute workouts on it five to six days a week.

[ManyDogs]

Thanks to everyone for the replies. I do like to run so I’ll add that into my routine. I wish I had space for a rowing machine because I’m sure that is a workout! We are on a country road so bicycling would work, too.

We need more land and a bigger house!

[wateryglen]

How about foot hunting!?

Find a Basset or Beagle pack and go rabbit hunting on foot! Lots of hiking in beautiful country is good for you! Since your mind is on the hounds, you don’t realize how much ground you’re covering. You can choose your pace! All the fun of foxhunting but without a horse!

I don’t know where you’re at in Va. otherwise I’d suggest someone!
Find some hills and walk up/down. Steep climbs will put some condition on ya!! Yesirreee!!

[ManyDogs]

Thanks, Wateryglen! We are about 20 miles from the TN/VA line off of I-81. I’ll check out hunts in the TN area. I’ve gone on the MFHA site but some of the hunts don’t have a website (?).
I’ve thought about contacting hunts to see if I could join with the group that follows in cars, too, just for the visual experience and to increase my learning curve.
I have two mares, one is green and the other one hasn’t been backed yet, so no field hunters in the making quite yet.
Our driveway is very steep so that will be good exercise once it warms up. I joke that we need a tank of oxygen stored at the halfway point. :eek:

[altjaeger]

1. Stretching your leg so that you can get back in the saddle without a mounting block. I built up the height gradually. Now I can place my foot on top of my desk without having to lift it up there.

2. Lose extra weight (this is really hard to do with the great food and drink served after each hunt!)

3. Exercise the upper thighs. When I’m in the arena, I try to spend a lot of time in 2-point or half-seat. But really, it was hunting itself that got me in shape for more hunting.

[JSwan]

[QUOTE=3dogfarm;3860966]

PS-I believe the falling off into the mud exercise will be covered later in the Spring when I back my Perch X.[/QUOTE]

You have a Perch X too? Does he have a gigantic head like my youngster? :winkgrin: And what’s up with the appetite? He’s eaten a hole in a round bale and from a distance looks like he’s stuck in the darn thing.

Anyhoo…

How do I get fit for hunting with my draft cross (my main horse is a Belgian/TB)

Pilates for my back (very bad back)

Regular riding - no substitute for getting in shape than just plain riding.

Part of my program for legging up my current hunter (Belgian/TB) is jogging alongside him. I kinda follow a program I was taught when I did teeny weeny eventing. Lots of hillwork, intervals, and walking/jogging alongside.

That way when I fall off out hunting I can run to try and catch the little bugger without having a heart attack. :lol:

Don’t forget to walk the hounds. In the spring and summer I get up at the crack of dawn, do my farm chores, and head out to the kennel to walk the hounds.

Walk walk walk walk ride ride ride ride, jog jog jog and make sure your core is very strong. Strong core will help keep you from being loose in the tack.

Have fun with your Percheron cross!

[ManyDogs]

Yup, JSwan, I have a PerchX. She is seal brown and looks like a Friesian from far away. Her latest trick is unzipping my coat. She also likes to lick the (frozen) round pen bars so I’m waiting for her tongue to get stuck. No giant head so far but she is a big girl! Not tall-big.
Oh, and they got through the fence last week-very good girls who walked calmly through it, then PerchX kicked up her big heels and caught DH on his love handle. Knocked him down but he was OK, other than totally p*ssed off. I did console him when the hoof print bruise appeared (complete with frog!)-she is not shod, BTW. Told him he now can compare injuries with all the other horse people. :lol::lol::lol: He now accuses her of trying to kick him when he is inside and she is behind the fence.
What an excellent idea to jog beside horse 1 or 2. They will think I’m crazy but still a very good idea.
I’ve emailed TVH to see if I could do start off with some non-riding activities with them. I think they are the closest hunt to Bristol but still a couple hours away.

[Ponyclubrocks]

I like to ride trot sets and gallop exercises. While I do work outs for myself (jogging and yoga primarily) I get more out of time in the saddle, plus, I keep my hunt horse fit at the same time. I use a large hay field with rolling hills and some steeper slopes. My first lap is at the walk to establish a track that I can be confident is free of ground hog holes. Then I do about six laps at the trot (takes about 30 minutes). Then I do one or two more walk laps, followed by alternating gallop and walk laps. Total ride time is usually between 1 and 1.5 hours. I try to stay in two point for all the galloping, really good for my quads. Obviously I don’t two point for the steep downhill runs. I finish with a walk around the farm (3.5 miles). If my horse is fit and I am hunting twice a week, I will only do this once a week. In the summer when I am getting ready for cubbing I may do this 3 times a week. Out of season I try to do a lot of trail riding as well.

[altjaeger]

That sounds like an excellent routine, Ponyclubrocks. I like the idea of doing a walkaround first to look for any new holes.

[wateryglen]

FEEL the pain!!

OR…you could just forget the whole conditioning thing and hunt along with the rest of us!!!..:winkgrin: …gasping for air, sweating up a storm, grimacing from pain & cramping, pulling & tugging to control our steeds, leaning on their necks to balance (or their mouths! :eek:) our upper bodies, flopping up & down on our butts, wheezing & coughing from deep breathing the cold air, observing each others blue lips…well you get the picture! (ooooo ain’t it purty!? :lol:)
Just keep smiling, have fun, never let’em see you sweat. I’m of the “hunting alot gets you fit” group so there’s a lotta pain early in the season!!! :yes::lol: I never want my horse to be fitter than me! :no:
Ah conditioning/schmitioning! Fohgetaboutit!!! :uhoh:

[ManyDogs]

Well, Wateryglen, as I sit here drinking a cup of tea, your plan sounds so convincing! Much better than trotting around in jockey stirrups for 15 mins. like we used to do in college, :eek: or running up and down our driveway that I considered in a weak moment.
I emailed TVH to see if I could go sometime to walk the hounds. I think that is the correct terminology.
I believe I’m of the age to be in the huffing and puffing group.
I know after my first hunt I’ll have a grin plastered on my face for at least a week.

[petesperson]

I hate to exercise, so I thought I’d go with something that got the heart rate up quickly… jumping rope! The good news is that I’m getting fitter and stronger… the BAD news is I just tried on my field boots, which fit fine a few months ago, and the calves are too snug (as in tourniquet snug… barely got them off with lots of groans, and curses, and help from DH)… But if you have room to spare in your boots, it might be worth a try!

[Painted_Wings]

I’m with Wateryglen

I just suffer through and live through the pain the next couple of days.

I do hunt with two footpacks too, that just compounds the pain after a weekend.

I have to go to work and sit at my desk all week just to recover from my hunting weekends…

[SLW]

Dang, ya’ll are hard core and now I feel like a complete bum, c’mon, we’re not trying to win a medal here, just have some fun. I just ride and watch what I eat. Make sure my horses are kept legged up and off we go.

Our hunts average about 2 1/2 hours so its not like a 50 mile endurance ride with a 10/12mph pace.

I think your best bet is Wild Turkey Honey Liqueur. Had some today from a friends flask, veeery nice! No jogging, no jump roping, no sit ups, no walking needed and I felt like I won a medal.

[JSwan]

[QUOTE=SLW;3868660]
Dang, ya’ll are hard core and now I feel like a complete bum, c’mon, we’re not trying to win a medal here, just have some fun. [/QUOTE]

I didn’t say how long I jogged before collapsing! :lol:

Staggering around in the woods slack jawed with insects stuck in my teeth isn’t the image I want to cultivate. So I call it my “fitness regimen”. :winkgrin:

Mostly I need to do a lot of exercising because of my back. I can barely bend at the waist these days.

We’re out as long as 4 hours of hard riding at the peak of the season so that does factor into my fitness routine as well as my liquor budget.

Cherry brandy is my choice this time of year. I’ll have to try the honey stuff you suggested. That sounds decadent.

[Bogie]

I know I’m woefully out of shape right now so I dragged my sorry butt to the pool for swim team practice. Swimming is (IMHO) the best way to get fit for riding as it really helps build both endurance and core strength.

I lack the discipline to swim hard enough on my own, so I joined a masters swim team. Life has gotten in the way and this was my first time back in several months, but I know I need to swim 3x/week to get myself back in shape. My horse will thank me for it!