Pre-course Knowledge Base
What this course involves…
* A five day program that is to be followed in order of how it is written.
* Recommendations on how to gradually scale the intensity of the daily training programs depending on the level of fitness your horse is at the start of the course.
* Before and after care on training days.
* Your horse's nutritional requirements for building muscle and increasing fitness.
A guide on how to determine your horses base fitness level. What to look for to avoid pushing your horse too hard too soon.
The What
What is an equine training program?
They come in many forms from the intentions in our thoughts through to high performance development and monitoring via high tech measuring devices and micro-managing every second of that horses life!
Well... lets be honest.. most of us are not high performance elite equestrian athletes who have high paid specialists at our disposal.
So what do the rest of us need to do?
We need to know what our horses fitness level is and what's required to increase their fitness to the level required for what we want them to do for us. It doesn't matter if you are a trail rider or compete in performance sports. If you are asking your horse to carry you in any way for any period of time they need to have a certain level of fitness to do this without becoming sore, cranky or injured.
What you need to ask yourself when planning your horses training program -
* What do you want to achieve with your training program? What discipline are you training?
* What are your own capabilities?
* Is your riding fitness at a level you can execute the program your horse needs?
* Will this training program be as much of a training program for you as it will be for your horse?
While there is a lot to consider when you're first brainstorming your horse's training program (and yes you need to brain storm it).. when you start at where you want to end up and work backwards you can efficiently and strategically plan what your training program will be!
The Why
WHY should we develop training programs for our horses?
What do we expect our horses to do when we ride them? Exercise!
Do we want our horses to be free of pain, easily do what we ask of them and live a long, sound life? Of course we do!
Are they going to do that if we randomly push them beyond their physical ability for the task at the time? Probably not!
So THAT is WHY we need to develop training programs for our horses!
The How
HOW do you plan your horses training program?
1) With some honest assessment of both your horse and yourself!
2) An achievable goal to work towards!
3) Some advice from a knowledgeable coach and trainer who has done it many times for many different horse and rider combinations! (Me!)
Firstly on a piece of paper write down where you and your horse are now with your training. Be detailed!
* How many days a week are you riding?
* How long are your training sessions?
* What sort of training are you doing each day?
* Are you in an arena, on the trails, jumping, galloping, swimming?
* What is your horses resting heart rate?
* What is your horses recovery rate?
* Do they have any pre-existing injuries you need to take into consideration?
* How much time do you have each week to train?
* How much time have you been using to train?
Then under a separate heading ask yourself these questions -
* What is your goal?
* Do you want to train for a competition?
* Or do you want to train for a long trail ride or do you simply want to be able to level up in your own training?
* How much time can you allocate to training each week?
Whatever your goal is, you need to set a realistic time frame for it. If you have no idea how to figure this out then talk to your coach or you can email me and I'll assess where you're at and write you a personalised program. For now.. if you're in here reading this.. you are wanting to improve your horses own muscle tone and fitness. This five day program gives you the framework for that!
