Some conditioning theory from the folks down-under.
I found this blog/instructional on conditioning the beginner
endurance horse today at Perserverance Arabians
IMO it is one of the best, clear, concise beginner
instructional guides on the topic that I have found. So often, a book, or a blog, or even a
mentor/contact can only give you a starting place. The author of this particular piece is very
clear on what to do, when to do it, and how long to do it. Probably the only area of disagreement for me
was the use of quite a bit of lunging at some points, I’m just not a fan of it,
though I do use it when I can’t do anything else, and I’m working with the
horse’s mind, more than extrapolating some type of physical benefit
necessarily. I worry a little about the
stress on the legs doing too many tight circles. It’s just a “me” thing. Their use of it may be correct… The cantering
phase may be a little ambitious and early, but then I’m too conservative
sometimes and can barely make a cutoff time. I do believe a typo says a 50 mile (80KM) in 5 to 6 hours actually was meant a 30 mile. Keep that in mind.
That said! It’s a
good starter point for a newbie. Especially Phase one and two. The
program breaks down into four phases, walking, trotting, cantering, building
reserves/tapering.
Phase One program begins with 4-5 sessions
per week of walking, building up gradually to 2-3 hours per session, in all
terrains. Rocky, roads, dirt, sand,
hills, whatever you can throw at it. It
is low-intensity work, builds muscle, bone, tendon, and adapts the horse to
being “out there.” The bonus is it
teaches the rider some patience and persistence. For the time pressured rider, just plan on
48 hours of walking doing 4 / 2 hour workouts a week/for six weeks to total up
the 48 hours. Towards the end of phase
one you can add some trotting short distances to prepare for phase two.
Phase Two of the
program is 4-6 weeks of trotting with 3-4 workouts per week, always warming up 15 minutes by walking,
then moving to the trot. You build
gradually until the horse can trot up to 2 hours without a break. Rider works on getting from the horse a
relaxed, rhythmic, but forward moving trot, with the expectation that the horse
will develop a stronger trot over time, not immediately.
Phase Three of
the program involves cantering. The goal
is to bring the horse up in cardio/respiratory fitness, and to canter
rhythmically, and rate its speed. The
horse has 5 sessions of canter/every 14 days.
Always a warm up and cool down period and trotting between canters to
clear lactic acid from the muscles.
Build the cantering up slowly over the 4 week period until the horse can
alternate trot/canter for a total of 2 hours.
This IS NOT SPRINTING, but a relaxed, loose rein canter. The horse gets 2-4 recovery days between each
phase three work session depending on how the horse feels and energy level.
Phase Four lasts
for one week and is for tapering training down in preparation for the first
endurance ride. Reduce feed
concentrates during this period significantly, for the week prior to a
competition light work only (short pleasure ride, short schooling session, no
speed work).
***This was only a short synopsis of the article. Please follow the link and read the article
in its entirety. Kudos and
credits: Francois & Laura Seegers,
Perseverane, October 2012.
I enjoy reading the Perseverance blog, but I don't think that's a typo - I think they DO mean that 5-6 hours is a slow time for a 50 mile ride. Their fit horses do 80km in 4 hours so I'm sure they expect 5-6 hours from their greenies. They're FEI racers, after all!
ReplyDeleteStill, it looks like a good conditioning schedule. Words of wisdom!
Belated thank you for this -- really interesting!
ReplyDelete