an Example of a fitness planWelcome to part two of this blog mini series! I hope you've enjoyed it so far (please feel free to leave or message me any comments you have). This week I've written an example of a fitness plan similar to the ones that I create. This is a very generic plan - which actually made it a lot harder to write. Usually I have the goals of the partnership to help shape it. Phase 1 - Aimed at Building Basic Fitness Typically I spend Phase 1 (usually two – three weeks) mixing light hacking, lunging and short, sweet schooling sessions. It's advisable that your horse has regular physio and health check ups throughout any fitness plan, but it is most beneficial during Phase 1 as we want to lay the strongest foundation possible. It is also vital that you mix things up to to ensure a variety of muscle groups are targeted, whilst also increasing coordination and proprioceptive development This can be quite a dull time for you both and keeping things different will keep you both interested. Set a small goal every session and achieve it. This can be anything from getting on, going a specific hack route, practising a grooming technique (for all those fancy shows you’re going to when you’re fit). Something small and bitesize that you know you can achieve. Week 1 Getting Started Again Day 1 10- 20 min long rein or lead out session Walking is a hugely underrated stage of fitness, during this phase the majority of our work should be in walk. A good, purposeful walk, where the horse is working well from behind, walking with straightness, rhythm and balance is the foundation of the horses fitness. At this stage we want to primarily work on straight lines on level ground, to encourage even muscle development, and to ensure we load joints, tendons and hooves evenly. This is a very easy time for an injury to occur, so slow and steady is the best way! During this time you’re looking at promoting relaxation through pace and transitions. You’re looking at getting things moving again and building muscle in the right way. Day 2 Complete Rest Check for any stiffness, soreness or issues from the prior session and let them have a day to relax and chill out in the field. Day 3 Light Hack Again checking for any issues arising from day 1, and making sure they’re not sore from any mad time in the field. Light hack of around 20 minutes, walking on flat, level ground. Day 4 Complete Rest Check for any stiffness, soreness or issues from the prior session and let them have a day to relax and chill out in the field. Day 5 Light Long Rein Session Check for any stiffness, soreness or issues from previous sessions. Still promoting relaxation through pace and transitions. Try to incorporate more upward and downward transitions as necessary. Day 6 Complete Rest Check for any stiffness, soreness or issues from prior sessions and let them have a day to relax and chill out in the field. Day 7 Light Schooling 15-20 minutes light schooling in walk. Gently introducing large circles. Repeat this in different variations increasing the time for each activity in small increments of 5 – 10 minutes until you are both comfortable and happy. Increase the pace slowly, begin by introducing trot in small increments, e.g. 3 sets of trot for 2 minutes. Slowly change the gradient you are working on. Don’t rush to Phase 2 but move on when you feel ready. Some horses will progress through the phases quicker than others. Phase 2 – Increasing General and Schooling Fitness When you move to this phase both you and your horse should be happy and comfortable schooling and hacking for longer periods of time, so we’re going to up the intensity. This phase consists of variations of the following: 3 days schooling in all of the established gaits 2 days hacking of around an hour or more – walk and trot, canter where the ground is suitable 1 day lunging, working on any issues carried from schooling such as balance and strength. 1 day complete rest. Phase 3 – Focused Areas and Targeted Fitness The goals of the partnership really come into play here. Both you and your horse should have established a strong foundation of basic fitness. Well done! So now look at your aims and goals for the future. Do you want to compete? What discipline do you want to compete in? At what level? From here on out the rest of the plan becomes highly dependent on your goals and plans, which are of course highly individual to each partnership – jumping for example would start to make an appearance here as well as Fartlek (interval) training. Phase 4 – Advanced Fitness At this stage we’re looking at timed runs, introducing gallop and cross country training and increasing jumping difficulty. We’re also looking at using specific exercises for targeted issues, and ironing out any behavioural issues. Now is where (depending on the goals of the partnership) I would be really starting to work on ironing out any issues that are likely to come up in competition. Other horses, are a main one. So looking at going cross country training with multiple horses and making your horse work both away and towards them, keeping the horses focus entirely on you. Another great way of preparing for a warm up arena is to do some sessions with horses in the arena. It helps if you know each other and know what to expect from each others horses but this is really great way of preparing both you and your horse for the carnage of a warm up ring. It keeps the focus of both the horse and rider in the right place and is a good way of exposing the horse to multiple variable within a controlled and safe environment. This is particularly useful for nappy horses. Phase 5 – Perfecting Phase 5 is the final stage before competition preparation. Here the training is very targeted and specific. You’re looking to really perfect all aspects of your work and iron out any technical issues, as well as specific training to improve weaknesses. The aim of a fitness plan is to increase fitness over a lengthy period of time. You should be continually consulting with your professionals throughout this period to stay on track as well as constantly assessing all aspects of each phase. Most importantly however, remember to have fun! For specific and tailored plans to your partnership – over all disciplines please don’t hesitate to get in touch!
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Free downloadable training planner. If you only have one or two horses you can use the third column for your own fitness.
Part 1 - How to Write a fitness planWhen I build a fitness plan for a horse and rider I have to take into consideration a lot of variables. These range from goal setting (there will be another post on this) to ability and capabilities. Each plan that I write is specifically tailored to each individual partnership. For example a fitness plan aimed at a partnership wanting to compete over BE100 would be very different to that of someone looking at a 15k endurance ride.
Before starting this journey it's definitely worth getting a full working check up of you and your horse from your professionals (so vet, farrier, physio, dentist, saddle fitter etc.) This way you can at the very least begin your fitness journey with your eyes open and tailor work to the limitations of you and your horse and hopefully at the most have a clean bill of health to set your mind at rest. Fitness should be worked on very gradually. Think about it – you wouldn’t go and run a 10k with no training or at least starting off over smaller distances, so we can’t ask our horses to do the same. There are no shortcuts to fitness (thanks Coach T) and pushing too fast too soon is an easy way to pick up an injury. Remember “Shortcuts make for long delays.” The gradual aspect of improving fitness over time allows both the horse and the rider to adjust to new work loads whilst incurring minimal strain. With this in mind my plans tend to roughly follow a Six Phase (five phases plus competition preparation) format. They take into consideration the following:
These areas let us know where any limitations might be, and also how easy it’s going to be for a horse and rider to get to the level of fitness they wish to achieve. A horse and rider that have competed or been at a high fitness level will regain that much quicker than a partnership trying to gain that fitness for the first time. Next week will be an example of what fitness plan from me may look like - stay tuned for more! In the meantime feel free to contact us for a friendly chat if you have any behavioural issues or want me to build you your very own personalised plan. |