How do you exercise your horse/pony??

[Kecka~Rocka]

Just want to know :)


How often you exercise?
How long for each exercise?
And what exercise do you do??



I ride both mine atleast twice a week, but im doing ground work 6 days a week including lunge, loose schooling, possoa, join up and going to start walking inhand this week, just wanted to see what everyone else does for more tips.

[Rarah]

I'm mostly a happy hacker! Amount of work varies, but at the moment - this is typical......

Monday - ½ hour in the school - either ridden or lunged
Tuesday - 1 hour hacking
Wednesday - 45 mins in school - ridden or lunged
Thursday - 1 hour hacking or schooling
Friday 2 hours hacking
Saturday 2 hours hacking
Sunday 2 hours hacking

It's very hilly where we are so hacks are quite strenuous - we do lots of trotting and cantering for fitness when we're out! :)

I'm still working on getting Logic working correctly. In the school we concentrate on lots lateral work and transitions - very basic stuff to try to get her to soften.

If it's nice and quiet when were hacking, we often do a bit of schooling too.

[CurlyWurlyRach]

atm curly is on walk only work for another month due to busted back so for the next month we wre working 5 days a week :-
3x walk only riding in the school for 30 mins
2x walk only lungeing in the pessoa, building up time-wise.

Before the injury :-
1x heavy jumping lesson
1x fun day (small jumps, potter in the school, hack with a leader)
1x lunge
2x schooling

[Lucy J]

variety is the spice of life! Ciara (when sound! :rolleyes: ) does 4 to 5 days per week mixed between hacking (roadwork), hacking (fieldwork), schooling and jumping. (show jumping or cross country - more likely cross country as i don't have to build the course first!) as her fitness level is improving I will also be making use of the local all weather gallop for interval training to increase her level of aerobic fitness (and to have some fun :p ) probably once a week.

i did also used to include loose schooling and loose jumping once a week, but now we have a new school loose work is banned

[mayoguinness]

Whatever meand Mayo feel like doing..........sometimes I might ride in the indoor 4 days a week or just do ground games all week or hack out all week. Sometimes I'll just take him for a walk or play at liberty in the field and sometimes we wont do anything at all;)

[kirstie]

Well my horse is unwell at the moment but her fitness plan with go something like this

Week 1 - Around 20mins roadwork in walk each day

Week 2 - Increase roadwork to 30-40mins per day

Week 3 - Increase roadwork to 60 mins per day, including some hills

Week 4 - Extend hacking time to up to 90mins per day (can be in two separate rides) including some trot work on suitable ground (not tarmac)

Week 5 - Start introducing some gentle schooling in the menage (20-30mins max). Exercise can be increased to 2hrs daily including some trotting up hills (not on roads)

Week 6 - Gradually increase time spent schooling and introduce some cantering on suitable ground out hacking

Week 7 - Build up the period of time in canter, including some cantering up hills. Continue with schooling in the menage, start to introduce jumping

Week 8-9 - Continue with the current work and introduce some faster work (strong canter, controlled gallop) in either a continuous training or interval training format

From Horse and hound

[xxxkristinaxxx]

I ride Xena 3 times a week.
I hack out, but if i feel like it i will use the school

[chickflick1066]

I like to give Stumpy at least one day off (Tuesdays) but she sometimes gets Thursdays off too.

Monday - 30mins/1hrs schooling (working on bending/softening/basic prelim moves)
Tuesday - Day off
Wednesday - 40 min hack (walk, trot and canter usually)
Thursday - my pal has a 1hr group lesson on Stumpy every 2 weeks
Friday - 30 mins/1hr schooling or 40 min hack
Saturday - 30 min/2hr hack
Sunday - 2hr + hack (all paces and some natural obstacles)

Like Rarah, we're working on getting Stumpy softer/working correctly etc. So we're aiming to keep schooling to a minium and hacking is on the up to help increase her fitness and keeps her from going stuffy and throwing wobblies in the school.

[puzzles]

monday - day off or 1/2 hour T-Team / 1 hour hack/xc
tuesday - 1/2 hour groundwork / 1/2 hour jumping + 1/2 hour schooling
wednesday - 20-min lunge / 45-min schooling
thursday - 20-min loose schooling / 45-min jumping
friday - 20-min groundwork / 1 hour hack/xc
saturday - 1/2 hour lunge / 1 hour schooling
sunday - 2 hour hack/xc, with friends