Make it or break it.

Ones ability to successfully manage a horse’s fitness for competition is an important aspect to being a knowledgable horseman. However, are there too many riders that aren’t knowledgeable enough in this field of expertise or do they just not pay it enough attention?

According to Michael Jung, fitness work is the most important aspect to a horse’s training. So why are so many riders concentrating on perfecting their dressage for an extra 2% instead of perfecting their fitness? When… if they put the same amount of energy into their fitness work, they may complete a cross country inside the time and still front up to show jump the following day. We just watched Jonelle Price move up from 19th to 3rd position after completing a clear cross country and being inside the time. Watching her mare gallop around the 4**** Burghley course was extremely impressive and shows what a fit horse looks and could go like. I know after watching her that my horse is definitely not fit enough and I will most certainly being doing some much needed fitness work before making my first appearance.

Are people underestimating the amount of ground work that goes into getting a horse fit? It doesn’t just happen over night. Eventing guidelines state that training horses 20-25% below the competition requirements is sufficient. However, it does boil down to personal judgment in what your horses’ need and good horsemanship. Fitness training can be viewed as a balance between applying the right amount of pressure to the heart and lungs, and exercising the right amount of strain on the forelegs. A horse expert used to ride under the motto of “what ever the surface just slowly and quietly keep riding over that terrain”. The road to the grass, to the soft sand, to the hard sand, back to the road and so forth. I think this could run true in getting a horse fit, as by exposing them to different surfaces you are ideally conditioning their legs and stretching their muscles to cope with what you could come across. However, this obviously should be undertaken with common sense. Trotting through deep sand for a kilometre isn’t exactly an effective way to ‘condition’ your horses legs. 

Pracitical Horseman magazine journalist, Jim Wofford, wrote that the risk in eventing does not necessarily increase as one moves up the levels. It does however, increase when training levels and knowledge fail to remain in par with the size and technicality of the obstacles, especially on cross country. Therefore, should it not be our responsibility as riders to manage our horse’s fitness to the best of our ability? A good horseman will acknowledge that different breeds of horse require different training regimes. Providing our partners we entrust with our lives every opportunity to prevail should be paramount, should it not?

Is there just not enough knowledge in the minds of riders regarding horses’ fitness or are they just not paying enough attention to their horses?