Spinoff--Conditioning Programs

[subk]

After reading the Bruce Davidson discussion thread, I’m curious as to what y’all hear about preliminary and above conditioning programs these days. Admittedly I’ve not been paying close attention to the upper levels in the last couple years and have missed the last few Ky3Days (after going most every year for the previous 20+) but I just don’t see much discussion about conditioning and what type of quantity, pace and timing are being recommended by top riders and coaches. We used to obsess about it.

When I was competing UL I used Wofford’s iconic book, “Training the 3 Day Rider and Horse,” and it’s detailed conditioning examples in the appendix as guide to my own one and two star work. Of course, that was the long format, but after the first few years of the short format I know some of these oldsters were telling me that the expectation that the shorter format would mean less conditioning was not turning out to be accurate.

My personal long format experience was that a TB type needed to be doing 3 6min sets of trotting (all conditioning gallops preceded by 3X6 trot sets at every level) followed by 3 6min sets galloping (+/-450mpm) once every 5-7 days to be fit enough to go for time at Preliminary horse trials. If you were going to do a long format one star add a DAILY 30-45 min hack (walk) on top of your other schooling and bump up the gallops to 3 x 7s. The 3 x 7s were good for making time at intermediate horse trials. By the time you were doing 3/4 stars the hacking was 1 1/2 hours DAILY and your gallops were even longer and needed to be every 5 days not 7. You might add a speedier set or two in one of the lead up gallop days.

So what are you/they doing today? How does it compare? Does anybody hack 45 min to an hour daily in addition to the days schooling anymore?

[devvie_continued]

Well, here’s a recent article from Wofford on modern (off-season) conditioning and the power of the walk.

In my area there are many, esp. the young, who discount the walk and maybe walk 5 mins before they pick up a trot and begin schooling.

https://practicalhorsemanmag.com/tra…is-your-chance

[WNT]

I was just re-reading the Eventing Nation article about Kim Severson and Cooley Cross Border’s win at Blenheim. She credited an intensive conditioning program in Ireland to get him over the hump when he wore out at Kentucky.

[vineyridge]

William Micklem has a detailed conditioning schedule in his book, The Complete Horse Riding Manual. He did an article series for EN last year (IIRC) that focused on conditioning for eventing and laid out his schedule.

I’m personally a firm believer in trotting; up and hills if you have them, but otherwise, just trotting. I use trotting in much the same way subk uses walking. I’ve always thought that if my horse could do five miles of uninterrupted trot (and rising trot for me) that he and I were ready for real work. It takes quite a while to get to five miles, but once there, you’ve got a really good fitness foundation for anything.

[Blugal]

I just read a Jimmy Wofford article that emphasized walking as the base of fitness. He eschews trot sets.
https://practicalhorsemanmag.com/training/jim-wofford-now-is-your-chance

[weixiao]

WFP does a LOT of walking in his program- both on pavement and in fields with deep mud. He’s lucky to be located in a village where he has access to a lot of safe roads and farm land. He also has a track that they can do their trot and canter work on.

The place I’m at now doesn’t have the same luxury of location but all the horses, especially the 3* and 4*, do a lot of walking and long canters on the nearby beach.

Both programs give the horses a lot of turnout, especially by European standards, and they all spend a good bit of time on the walker.

[EventerAJ]

Getting my TB fit for the P3D in 2015:

Sunday - off
Monday - 1hr hack
Tuesday - 15min hack, 30min flat, 15min hack
Wednesday same
Thursday - 15min hack, jump
Friday - 25-30min trot (not sets, solid trotting)
Saturday - gallop

Our “maintenance” gallops for prelim were 3x4. I built up to 3x5, and 3x6 for the last four gallops (about 5 weeks out, with one 2min burst at 640). I backed off the final gallop, 3x4, including 2 minute bursts at steeplechase speed. This was all done in Florida, so there was significant heat and humidity even in the early morning. I didn’t have hills, but the humidity made it hard enough that it was a real relief to be in a cooler location for the three day.

I alternated between 3x6 and 4x5 when moving up to intermediate. 3x7, 5x5 when preparing for CCI2*. I added in an extra gallop on Tuesday during the final 4 weeks. Again, I didn’t have hills, but I put in the time and the mileage over years to develop a good base of fitness.

I used a GPS app on my phone to track my distance. I began each gallop day with half mile of walking, about 3 miles of trotting. The gallop sets averaged anywhere from 6-7 miles, depending on time and speed. In Florida, I’d also have about a 2 mile hike back to the trailer; I’d walk for 10 minutes to cool out, then trot the rest of the way back (great prep for phase C recovery). I had a specific trail for galloping; from the time I got on until I got off, we’d cover 10-12 miles.

My horse was sound and plenty fit enough for long-format P3D and short format CCI** (we won both, with no time penalties XC and no rails in SJ). I would have preferred to have hills for training, but I managed to make do on the flat ground. Some riders were horrified by “so much pounding!” but my horse handled it very well-- I had been trotting him religiously once a week since he was going novice as a 4 year old; by the time he was 7, he had a LOT of hacking and jogging miles built up, on varied terrain (typically hard-packed lime/sand roads). This was a horse who had raced, who had a month or so off each fall, but otherwise was always in consistent work. No injuries, he had great feet and clean joints.

IMO, many riders “protect” their horses too much in regards to footing and mileage…and as a result, the horses end up hurt more easily because they are underconditioned. My horses get out and move over everything-- soft sand, good turf, hard dirt roads, hard grass, yielding turf, deep mud. Of course I’m sensible on crappy footing, going slow and being cautious-- but I still ride them on it. I am very careful where footing changes suddenly-- from good turf to a deep sand pit, for example-- but where the footing is consistent, I hack or trot on and let them adapt over time.

[kcmel]

@Blugal

I just read a Jimmy Wofford article that emphasized walking as the base of fitness. He eschews trot sets.
https://practicalhorsemanmag.com/training/jim-wofford-now-is-your-chance

I think you would need a lot of working students to have time to walk your UL horses 2 hours 3 out of 4 days!

[anon55755751]

Anyone have thoughts on Hilary Clayton’s “Conditioning Sport Horses”? The eventing section is about long format (due to the publication date), but the bulk of the book is good general-purpose information. Has anyone here used it to help develop their own conditioning strategy?

[ACountingRider]

I’m a firm believer in walking too. When I worked for Allison every horse went on a 45 minute hack before their ride every day, especially the UL horses. (As a working student, this was the most monotonous chore. Imagine walking 4/5 horses at the walk every day! Luckily we had some trails, and usually went out in pairs.) The horses trotted every other ride. Canter sets were periodic depending on the horse. She incorporated the most fitness work than any other program I’ve ridden in, but I try to stick as close to this system.

Not only do I think my horses are more sound and properly warm before work, but trotting every other ride gives us both a chance to stop drilling every other ride and unwind. Simply trotting is hard, but I’m not fussing with my horse or asking for advanced movements. I think it’s so great for her brain and mine.

[Interstellar]

What do you guys think of mountain trail rides for hacking? (lots of rocky footing, lots of up and down mountains, varied footing)

[Mouse_amp_Bay]

So here is a question for you all… do we not rest our horses enough?

I’m thinking back to human physiology where a traditional human gym routine would probably be arms one day; legs the next; then back to arms. Intentionally spacing at least 48 hours in between to allow muscles fibers (torn by exercise) to mend before stressing them again.

Does more of this need to be incorporated into horse fitness work? Or is it simply sufficient to alternate the type of exercise (trot one day; walk the next or flat one day; jump the next) as a means to preventing the ongoing repetitive damage that might be occasioned by drilling??

[bornfreenowexpensive]

@kcmel

I think you would need a lot of working students to have time to walk your UL horses 2 hours 3 out of 4 days!

No. That is part of the problem. You do not want WS doing the majority of the conditioning. The Rider needs to do it. That is part of how you develop a partnership. To deal with time issues, you can Pony one or two more horses at the same time.

Several riders use walkers now but I don’t think that is as good as getting your horse out.

And Jimmy would further torture riders by making them do their walking without stirrups. Ouch.

[RAyers]

@Interstellar

What do you guys think of mountain trail rides for hacking? (lots of rocky footing, lots of up and down mountains, varied footing)

I walked my old Advanced horse into condition in the mountains. Barely needed to do any gallops. We did some “insane” slopes (20%+ grade) where I was honestly wondering if my horse was going to just fall. Taught me to sit quiet and let him take care of things, just like riding to a fence.

[subk]

@bornfreenowexpensive

Several riders use walkers now but I don’t think that is as good as getting your horse out.

I’ve always wondered if putting a horse on a walker on a relatively small continuous circle in the same direction might cause some physical issues down the road. Any thoughts on that?

[pologirl27]

@subk

I’ve always wondered if putting a horse on a walker on a relatively small continuous circle in the same direction might cause some physical issues down the road. Any thoughts on that?

I personally think walkers should be limited like lounging (20 min). That being said, they do change directions. The one’s I’ve encountered have numerous programs for walking and jogging, and a full cycle will send the horse both directions.

[CatchMeIfUCan]

@pologirl27

I personally think walkers should be limited like lounging (20 min). That being said, they do change directions. The one’s I’ve encountered have numerous programs for walking and jogging, and a full cycle will send the horse both directions.

This. I worked for a program that had a walker, and we did 15-20 min of walk only split between both directions a couple of times a week. Mostly at the beginning and end of the season. Was great for fitness and for maintaining with low impact. That program also did tons of road walking and canters up hills.

[redalter]

@bornfreenowexpensive

No. That is part of the problem. You do not want WS doing the majority of the conditioning. The Rider needs to do it. That is part of how you develop a partnership. To deal with time issues, you can Pony one or two more horses at the same time.

Several riders use walkers now but I don’t think that is as good as getting your horse out.

And Jimmy would further torture riders by making them do their walking without stirrups. Ouch.

YUP! Exactly!

[Texarkana]

What I remember from 20 years ago when I was working for some top notch riders was A LOT of saddle time for the horses. Probably close to 2 hours per day. Looong hacks in addition to that day’s “program,” whatever it may be. If the horses couldn’t be hacked for whatever reason, that time was made up somehow, either in the arena, on the lunge line, or even hand walking.

Which is why I was so aghast when, later in life, I met upper level riders who “conditioned” their horses on a schedule of daily rides averaging 30-45 minutes each. I don’t care how intense your ring work is, it’s just not the same.

[bornfreenowexpensive]

@Texarkana

Which is why I was so aghast when, later in life, I met upper level riders who “conditioned” their horses on a schedule of daily rides averaging 30-45 minutes each. I don’t care how intense your ring work is, it’s just not the same.

That is not typical. Most UL riders do very similar conditioning as they did 20 years ago although I do think many take advantage of swimming and hydro treadmills etc. But any who have been through or coached by any one Good knows about interval training and putting on a proper base. And know to adjust a program for a particular horse. Not all horses are the same.

It was interesting to hear some of the different programs of riders like Mark Todd and WFP. A lot depends on your location and type of horse.