ALL horse owners have different ideas on how to get their horse fit for the hunting season. However, regardless of what your personal preference is, a fitness plan should be tailored to each horses’ individual requirements.

Generally a fitness plan for a hunter will last between eight and 12 weeks. However, you will need to consider many factors, such as the horse’s age, how fit they were before their rest period, how long they were out of work for, their breed and if are they recovering from an injury. The facilities you have available to you will also influence how long you should spend on fitness work.

Before starting work, it is a good idea to get your horse’s general health checked. Make sure you are up to date with all worming, vaccinations, shoeing and teeth. If your horse is older or suffers with stiffness when coming back into work, it is a good idea to get an equine physiotherapist to work on them.

Check all of your tack is still in good order and still fits your horse as they may have put on or lost weight over their rest period.

All fitness programmes should be gradual, this will allow the horse to adjust to their new routine and will also reduce the risk of injury.

Once you are happy with your horses overall health, it is now time to start exercising your horse. Generally, you should work your horse on the ground and build up muscle and fitness first without the weight of a rider.

This can be done through a combination of hand-walking, lunging, long-reining or putting your horse on a walker. Each of these methods have different benefits, so you should choose a combination that works best for you and your horse. Start off slowly and build up over time.

Variety is important when working on your horses fitness. Don’t just lunge them in an arena every day. Change things up by hand-walking, lunging over poles, long-lining and driving to keep them interested in their work. If you have access to a field or safe quiet roads to walk them on this is an ideal change of scenery for them.

Getting back in the saddle

Once you are happy with your horse’s fitness on the ground, it is now time to get back in the saddle. Hopefully all the hand-walking and lunging has improved your fitness levels too.

If you have the foundations done on the ground your horse should take to riding with more ease than if you begin riding straight away. Just like in the ground work, the first few riding sessions should be light and include plenty of roadwork for your hunter.

When working your horse, look for varied landscape with hills and drops to work on your horses breathing and progressively ask for more intense work. This will help your horse when they get back out on the hunting field.

As your horse gets fitter, canter work can be introduced in an arena or field. When your horse is at a good level of fitness and has been cantering for a few weeks, you can begin jumping again, but this should be done gradually.

Interval training can be used throughout your fitness plan. Interval training challenges and conditions a horse’s cardiovascular system by requiring them to complete bouts of high-intensity exercise followed by a short recovery period in which their heart rate returns to just above resting pace. Interval training can be done in walk and trot, depending on what phase of your fitness plan you are at.

End each session with neck extension exercises and other loosening exercises in order to stretch their back and avoid any stiffness or soreness.

When out hunting your horse will cover a lot of different terrain, so it is important to vary the surfaces you work on when getting ready for the season.

Feeding

With added work, your horse will be burning more energy and may need more protein or a general bulk feed. It is important to monitor what your horse is fed as this is what gives your horse fuel to cope with exercise and recover faster after injury or a heavy work out. Base your feeding programme on the level of work your horse is currently taking part in.

Alternatively, if your horse is a “good doer” they may not need a big increase in the amount of feed you give them. The increase in exercise can help them shed any extra pounds they may be carrying over from their holiday.

Remember sudden changes to your horse’s diet can result in digestive upsets for your horse such as colic, so if you are making a change to their diet, make sure to do so gradually.