Burning fat...

[Zayna]

It's going to be a couple of months till we can ride the boys, they're turned out daily and exercise each other playing 'tig' round the fields... :D... but one of the boys is susceptible to weight gain.

He doesn't mind being lunged, will 15 minutes a day be beneficial to him or am I wasting my time? I know a human has to do more than that to have any benefit, but this boy is a bit overweight to start with so I don't want to push him.

What would you suggest please?

thanks

Zayna x

[Yummymummy]

Lunging, long lining, walking out in hand....and dont rug him! they burn it off differently to us humans, he will use that fat to keep warm.

[Zayna]

Lunging, long lining, walking out in hand....and dont rug him! they burn it off differently to us humans, he will use that fat to keep warm.

Thanks... how long would you lunge him for? He's a Highland by the way, naturally porky.. :D

[Joyscarer]

How long you do any exercise for should be based on the individual. Go an have a play and enjoy watching him work.

Look at his breathing and the way he changes in how he works. Get a feel for his general fitness levels but remember how stressfull lungeing is on the joints.

[HJ]

Lunging should really be done for around 20 mins and so doing this daily will be hugely beneficial, do lots of transitions to assess his breating and this will tell you when you need to stop, i personally wouoldnt do it for longer than 20mins with my 16.2 Hann gelding and his fitness is quite good, as its really strenuous :)

[Zayna]

Thanks. I gave him 15 minutes last night then walked him round for 5 minutes to cool down. He won't walk on the lunge, he just stops and eats. :p

He wasn't puffing and panting, but he was warmed up and had clearly worked. I don't think it was too much, but I wondered if it was enough to be beneficial.