In This Chapter
- Working your way into exercise
- Exploring ways to exercise your horse
- Helping your horse during lay-up
One of the most crucial elements to your horse’s health is exercise. Nature designed horses to walk almost constantly as they graze, so your horse’s joints, tendons, and ligaments need movement to keep them in good working order. Exercise is also good for your horse’s digestive system, and for his metabolism. Even your horse’s mental health benefits from regular exercise.
In this chapter, we show you the
safest ways to exercise your horse. You discover how to begin and end your
horse’s exercise regimen, and how to make the most of your time spent getting
him to move. For horses recovering from injuries, we provide details on how to
help them recuperate with movement.
Starting Safely with Exercise
When it comes to exercise, horses
are a lot like people. If you exercise only occasionally, you wouldn’t start
jogging 5 miles a day without building up to
this distance first. Or at least you shouldn’t! The same goes for
horses. If your horse isn’t doing much right now, you need to slowly get him
into an exercise regimen. In addition, each time you exercise your horse, it’s
important to warm him up and cool him down, just as human athletes do. In the
following sections, we take a look at how to safely handle exercising your
horse.
Easing into a routine
Horses need to work up to their
full exercise potential. If your horse has been a stall potato for too long and
you’ve decided to get serious with his exercise, don’t go hog wild and start
working him for long periods at a time right off
Instead, condition your horse for
whatever his ultimate exercise goal will be. If you plan to ride on the trail
for hours at a time, work up to it. If you plan to ride him in jumping sessions
for 45 minutes a day, this is his exercise goal. Make sure that your horse is
sound and healthy first by having your veterinarian examine him (if it’s been a
while since he’s seen the doc), and then start to add 15 minutes more to each
of your ride times. If you currently ride your horse for 30 minutes twice a
week, increase your rides to 45 minutes twice a week. After a couple of weeks,
add another day of exercise so that you’re riding him for 45 minutes three
times a week. After two weeks, you can add another day of riding.
Remember
The goal is to add exercise slowly so that you don’t make your horse sore or lame. Increasing his exercise gradually rather than suddenly helps keep your horse in a positive frame of mind for work. Nothing sours a horse more than feeling sore and uncomfortable after being asked to do more than he’s physically capable of doing.
Warming up
Whether you plan to ride your
horse, longe him, or work him in the round pen (we discuss these options later
in this chapter), it’s vital that you warm him up before you start his workout.
A proper warm-up helps get his joints, tendons, and ligaments ready for the job
ahead. Horses who are properly warmed up are less likely to injure themselves
during exercise.
Start by asking your horse to
stretch before you get on him. You can do this by holding the reins and bending
down, holding a carrot between his front legs. This forces him to stretch his
neck and back. Then, hold a carrot at the left side of his abdomen and let him
stretch his head around to reach it. Do the same on the other side.
After you get on, you can begin
the next phase of warm-up. Before you start trotting your horse, have him walk
for five to ten minutes to warm him up. Ask him to do circles and figure-eights
to get his mind warmed up too. Then trot for a good five minutes or more before
you ask for a canter or gallop.
Cooling down
Warning!
Just as important as warming up is cooling down after a hard workout. Among horse people, the expression “ridden hard and put away wet” is used to describe someone who has received poor care. Giving a horse a hard workout and then sticking him back in his stall dripping with sweat and breathing hard is not a good thing. (Doing so can lead to muscle and respiratory disorders; see Chapter Tackling Common Ailments for more information.)
If you work your horse hard, take
at least 10 minutes to cool him down before putting him away. Remember these
tips when cooling down your horse:
- Relax the girth. When you get off your horse after riding him hard, loosen the girth a notch to give him some relief from the pressure of the saddle as he tries to catch his breath.
- Walk him. Whether you’re still in the saddle or on the ground, walk your horse for at least 10 minutes or until his breathing returns to normal.
- Avoid food and water. Don’t allow your horse to eat or drink until he stops breathing hard. If you aren’t sure whether he’s cooled down enough, check his respiration and compare it with his normal rate. (See Chapter Sizing Up a Healthy Horse for details on taking your horse’s respiration.)
- Let him dry. Your horse should stop sweating after he’s sufficiently cooled down. If the weather is cold and his coat is soaked with sweat, it may take quite a while for it to dry. Cover him with a cooler or sweat sheet while you walk him to keep him from catching a chill until he dries off.
- Rub him down. Horses enjoy a good rubdown after a hard workout. Use a rubber currycomb to give him a good grooming, followed by a brushing and maybe a short massage. (See Chapter Getting Up to Speed on Routine Care for details on grooming.)
- Let him roll. If your horse wants to roll after you ride him, go ahead an allow it. Rolling works as a self-administered chiropractic maneuver, and is good for your horse’s back.
Remember
Cooling your horse down properly helps keep his attitude about exercise positive. He’ll feel good after his workout instead of feeling fatigue and discomfort.
Surveying Workout Options for Your Horse
As you probably know, you have a
few options when you’re exercising your horse. What’s important is that you get
her feet moving and stimulate her mind at the same time. In the following
sections, we give you the lowdown on a few activities, ranging from gentle to
vigorous.
Tip
Mixing up your horse’s exercise routine is a good idea. Horses get bored with the same activities every day, just like people do. Although they appreciate having a regular routine, the actual activities can be varied from day to day to keep them from becoming dull.
Turning out
One way to get your stabled horse some
exercise is to turn her out, which means letting her run loose in a large
paddock or pasture. If your horse lives in a pasture, she already has all the
free room she needs to run, roll, buck, and just be a horse. But if she lives
in a stall or small paddock, she’ll appreciate some time in a larger enclosure
where she can let loose.
Horses who receive regular turnout
tend to have less pent-up energy. Even if your horse just stands around in the
turnout and stares at you, getting her out of her stall and providing a change
in scenery does her good.
Warning!
Turnout is great in theory, but you must handle it with caution. Horses who have been standing in a stall for hours on end can seriously hurt themselves if they’re suddenly let loose to go crazy. Bowed tendons and even irreparable fractures can occur during turnouts.
If you want to turn your horse out (as
in Figure 5-1), follow these precautions:
- Work out first. Consider turning your horse out after you ride or work her in a round pen or on the longe line. She’ll be less likely to go berserk and hurt herself.
- Warm up. If you can’t turn her out after riding or exercising (some horses feel so cooped up that they need a turnout before you can get on them), loosen up her muscles, ligaments, and tendons with a 10-minute walk first.
- Cover the legs. If your horse wears shoes, put protective leg wear on her. This protective wear helps to keep her from nicking herself with a shoe when running around.
- Turn out alone. Don’t turn your horse out with another horse if the horses don’t know each other, don’t get along, or are wearing shoes.
- Check for safety. Make sure that the turnout area has a fence at least 5 feet high so that your horse won’t jump it.
- Teach your horse. Don’t let your horse bolt away from you the minute you take off her halter, because this is a dangerous habit. Instead, put the lead rope around her neck before you undo the halter and make her stand for 20 to 30 seconds before you release her.
- Reduce space. Try to use an arena that’s on the smaller side. This prevents your horse from galloping wildly.
- Stay close. Keep a close watch on your horse while she’s in the turnout.
- Stay calm. Kissing to your horse to let her know that this is her time to cavort if she wants to is okay, but don’t get carried away and start chasing her with a whip or other object.
- Watch for riders. If you can only turn a horse out in a riding arena, make sure that the arena is clear of riders before you let your horse go.
- Turn out often. Turn your horse out frequently to minimize her urge to behave in a crazy manner that may get her hurt. Most horses need to be turned out at least once a week.
Figure
5-1: To avoid injury, horses who live in stalls should be warmed up properly
before being turned out.
Hand-walking
For days when you can’t ride — the weather is bad or your horse is recovering from an injury or illness (we discuss recuperation from injury later in this chapter) — hand-walking is a good alternative. You can hand-walk your horse for 10 minutes or an hour, depending on how much time you have. The longer you walk her the better, especially if your horse lives in a stall or small paddock.
Hand-walking your horse is easy if you have a well-behaved horse. Simply dress her in her halter and lead rope, and go for a stroll. Hand-walking loosens her joints, tendons, and ligaments; gets her circulation going; and provides her with mental stimulation.
Tip
You can also use your hand-walking times as training sessions. If you want to get your horse used to an unfamiliar trail before you climb on her back, hand-walking is a good way to get started. Horses are braver when being led as opposed to being ridden, and are more likely to get used to a strange place without incident if you’re on the ground and in the lead.
Hand-walking also gives you a
chance to bond with your horse and school her on her ground manners. She should
walk nicely alongside you, and stop and turn when you ask her to. Ask her to
back up on a loose lead rope, back up in a circle, and do anything else that
you can think of to challenge her mind. You can work on all these things while
you’re hand-walking your horse. You’ll discover that she’s better behaved in
the saddle after you spend time walking her from the ground. (To brush up on
the basics of leading your horse, see Horses For Dummies, 2nd Edition,
co-written by your coauthor Audrey with Janice Posnikoff, DVM, and published by
Wiley.)
Longeing
Yet another way to exercise your
horse is by longeing her. Longeing requires that you stand in the center
of an imaginary circle while your horse moves around you at the various gaits.
You can do this at the end of a longe line (a rope that attaches to the
horse’s halter or bridle), or in a round pen.
Longeing is a good way to
exercise your horse for several reasons, including the following:
- You can provide controlled exercise on days you can’t ride.
- You can use longeing to help your horse get rid of excess energy before you get on her.
- Longeing helps teach your horse to respect you and to respond to voice commands.
Remember
If you’ve never longed a horse, you should get an experienced person to help you. (You can also read about longeing in Horses For Dummies, 2nd Edition.) Horses have to be trained to longe, so if your horse has never done it, she needs to be taught. You’ll have to get help for that too.
Follow these guidelines for
longeing (and check out Figure 5-2 to see what it looks like):
- Longe smart. Be sure to warm up and cool down your horse before and after longeing (we discuss warming up and cooling down earlier in this chapter).
- Work both sides. Longe your horse in both directions so that you don’t build up muscles more on one side of the body than the other.
- Build up. Slowly work your horse up to longeing with a 15-minute session, gradually getting to your ultimate goal. A half an hour to 45 minutes is the maximum time that you should spend longeing your horse at a time.
- Don’t overdo it. Avoid longeing more than a couple of times a week because traveling in tight circles can cause stress on your horse’s legs.
- Protect the legs. If your horse wears shoes, put protective leg wear and bell boots on her to avoid possible injury.
- Cover your hands. Wear gloves when you longe to protect your hands.
Figure
5-2: When you longe your horse, warm her up and cool her down just as you
would when riding.
Riding
Of course
the most fun you’ll have exercising your horse is by riding her. Whether you
work hard in the arena or simply stroll down the trail, riding provides great
exercise for your horse while also stimulating her mind. Plus, the more you
ride your horse, the better she’ll become under saddle.
In order
for your horse to enjoy being ridden by you — and for riding to be good,
healthy exercise for her — pay attention to these guidelines:
- Fit tack. Make certain the saddle, bridle, and other tack you use on your horse is in good working order and fits properly. Poorly fitting tack can make your horse sore and uncomfortable. It can also make your horse appear lame when she’s really just trying to compensate for the pain of poorly fitting tack.
- Groom well. Be sure to groom your horse thoroughly before riding her. Dirt and debris can get caught between your horse’s coat and her tack, causing irritation and soreness.
- Warm up. Don’t jump on your horse and just take off. Always warm your horse up first for about 10 minutes with mostly walking and some trotting to get her muscles, ligaments, and tendons warmed up.
- Cool down. Don’t stick your horse back in her stall or pasture sweating and breathing hard. Cool her down with a 10- (or more-) minute walk so that her respiration goes back to normal before you put her away. (We discuss both warming up and cooling down earlier in this chapter.)
- Take lessons. Even the best rider still has more to learn. Continue your education as a rider by taking lessons now and then. The better you ride, the easier it is on your horse.
- Vary your riding. Don’t do the same activities over and over again with your horse because it’ll make her bored. Mix up your riding with arena work, trail rides, and group activities.
- Be considerate. Work your horse only at the level she’s comfortable with. If you ride only once a week, don’t expect her to go on a four-hour ride in one day. Be considerate of your horse and condition her for long rides, as we explain in the earlier section “Easing into a routine.”
For more
details on how to ride, see coauthor Audrey’s book Horseback Riding For
Dummies, co-written with Shannon Sand and published by Wiley.
Helping Your Horse Recover from Injuries or Illness
Horses are athletes and, like all athletes, run the risk of injury. When a human athlete gets hurt, he or she has to go on the disabled list. Same goes for horses. When a horse has to be “laid up” because of an injury or an illness, he has to stop his normal exercise routine and go into recuperation mode. In the following sections, we explain the importance of full recuperation and show you how to ease your horse back into exercise.
Knowing the importance of rest
Horses have amazing recuperative powers. Their bodies can do self-repair on some of the scariest of injuries, especially injuries to muscles and tendons. But in order for a horse’s body to work on repairing itself, the injured area needs to rest. Putting further strain on damaged muscles, ligaments, or bones only worsens the problem, possibly to the point of no return. For this reason, it’s vital that injured horses receive proper lay-up so that they can heal.
Lay-up can be extremely frustrating for horse owners. You spend a lot of money and time on your horse every month, and you want to enjoy him. If he’s laid up, you can’t do much of anything with him except pay the feed and vet bills. So, the tendency of many owners is to rush horses through lay-up. As soon as they see that the horse is feeling better, they want to get the horse back into work. The truth of the matter is that getting a horse back into work too soon can cause the injury to reoccur, and the lay-up to start all over again.
Remember
The amount of time and the type of recuperation depend on the injury; your veterinarian will tell you how long your horse needs to be laid up. In some cases, laid-up horses can be hand-walked or even ridden at a walk, depending on the injury. Other horses are given “stall rest,” which means that they aren’t even supposed to leave their enclosures. Whatever type of lay-up is required, it’s vital that you follow your vet’s instructions in order to give your horse the best chance at recovery. Your horse will thank you for it, and you’ll reap the rewards after your equine companion is back in fighting shape.
Keeping your horse sane during lay-up
Humans aren’t the only ones who get frustrated during lay-up. Horses — especially active, high-strung horses — can literally go crazy during a long lay-up. A horse who’s been working hard, particularly at a competitive activity, and has to suddenly stop all activity and become sedentary often has a difficult time adjusting. This is especially true of horses put on stall rest. These poor creatures aren’t even allowed to leave their immediate confines.
Tip
As a compassionate horse owner, you can do a few things to help your horse keep his sanity while being cooped up during lay-up. Here are some suggestions:
- Walk him. If your horse is allowed hand-walking but nothing else, take advantage of it and get him out every day. A 20-minute walk for a normally active horse isn’t much, but it’s better than nothing and can do wonders to keep a horse from feeling like he’s gone into no man’s land.
- Find companionship. If your horse is stuck in lay-up, get him a buddy. This can mean moving him to a stall or paddock with a horse next door to interact with. You may not want to put another horse in the same pasture with your horse because the two of them may decide to play and run around. But a next-door neighbor can relieve the boredom and loneliness of lay-up.
- Add stall toys. Some horses like to play with toys in their stall or paddock. You can find balls, hanging treats, and all kinds of other goodies designed for horseplay at a tack store or online. Having something like this in your horse’s stall can help him keep from going stir crazy.
- Groom him. Even if your horse is on stall rest, you can still shower him with attention by grooming him every day. Clean his feet to keep them healthy, and brush and massage him to keep him from feeling neglected. (See Chapter Getting Up to Speed on Routine Care for grooming information.)
- Cut his feed. If your horse has been on grain, alfalfa, or any kind of high-performance diet or supplement, you need to change his diet during layup. Giving him high-energy feed during his recuperation will make him put on weight and leave him feeling even more pent up. Your vet can recommend a feeding program for lay-up. (Part II has the full scoop on nutrition and feeding for your horse.)
- Alter his feed. Give your horse grass hay to munch on during the day and at night to give him something to do. If your horse puts on weight easily, give him smaller portions more frequently instead. Giving him something to chew on will help keep him mentally and physically stimulated.
Remember
Be patient with your laid-up horse. He may start to get cranky, mouthy, or spooky as time goes on — all signs of a bored horse with pent-up energy. Reassure him — and yourself — that the lay-up is just temporary and life will eventually get back to normal.
Returning your horse to his exercise routine
When it’s time to get your laid-up horse back into an exercise routine, things can get tricky. Your horse doesn’t know that he needs to take it easy so that he doesn’t reinjure himself. Instead, he’s going to be anxious to run, buck, and get out all that energy that’s he’s had pent up for so long.
Remember
Your veterinarian can be a huge help during this part of the process. He or she can give you instructions on exactly how to start your horse back on his journey to normal exercise. These instructions depend on your horse’s injury as well as his age and personality.
Keep these
pointers in mind when getting your horse back into the swing of things:
- Go slowly. Whatever you do, make his reintroduction to exercise slow and methodical.
- Short but frequent. Making a slow reintroduction to exercise is a challenge because your horse wants to go hog wild at first. You can help combat this tendency by making his exercise sessions short but regular. After getting a 10- or 20-minute workout daily for a few days, your horse should start to calm down and allow you to slowly get him back into shape.
- Keep control. Avoid any kind of exercise in the beginning that limits your control of your horse’s behavior. If he’s been living in a stall or small paddock, don’t turn him out for at least a couple of weeks after regular exercise. Otherwise, he’ll run, buck, and go crazy — and possibly reinjure himself. Instead, longe him (if your vet says it’s okay), or make him canter around loose inside a small round pen (50 feet in diameter or less).
- Stay safe. Remember that your horse has been cooped up for a long time and may not have the same attitude he does when he’s being exercised on a regular basis. Don’t get on your horse until you know that he’s over his initial burst of energy at being “free” again. This means that you may need to exercise him from the ground by longeing him or working him in a round pen for a couple of weeks before you get on.
After your
horse is back to his normal routine, and is sound and healthy again, you’ll
discover that the long lay-up was well worth the effort.
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