Good exercise tips for horses?

Question

Anyone know any good exercise tips that will help my horse lose weight?

Answer 1

A couple posts above me there's some great information on dietary changes. It's very true that any changes you want to make to diet have to be done gradually to avoid colic or other medical problems. But diet alone won't do enough, you'll need to focus on a healthy exercise program for you horse.

The first thing to look at is the way you're riding your horse. To you allow him to carry his head high in the air or become strung out, falling on the forehand? He's not going to develop the proper muscles or work off the weight unless he's balanced, collected, and on the bit. If you're unsure of how to put a horse on the bit, you can work with a trainer. Generally speaking, you want a horse that is rounded in the frame, has a head in line with the vertical, and is using his hindquarters as his engine. Carrying himself in a frame is hard, so it will build up his muscles faster.

If your horse has been out of work for a while, you'll want to take it slow. Ideally, the first week or so should be spent on progressively longer walks, working up to a period of two hours. If you have access to hills, use them. Hills require a horse to work harder to make it up and down the incline. In the second to third week, you can introduce periods of trotting interspersed in the walking. Again, hill work is very beneficial. Gradually increase the time spent trotting until totaled together it comes to at least an hour, broken up with periods of walking. After the third to fourth week, you can also start to canter. Taking things slow in this manner will allow you to build up your horse's muscles and stamina safely, so there's less risk of an injury. You don't want to throw an out of shape horse into heavy work without this sort of gradual period of strengthening. You should see a change in your horse's physique, especially if you're working him correctly and putting him on the bit. His muscles, especially in the hind end, will build up and become more defined. He'll lose that extra weight around his stomach, which is good, because an overweight horse puts undo strain on his legs, joints, and tendons and his more prone to arthritis. Good luck!

Answer 2

First I would look at how you're feeding him. Each breed has different dietary needs. A Quarter horse will need less fat and protein than a Thoroughbred or Arab for example. You can feed grass hay to a QH, but you'll need alfalfa or alfalfa mix for a TB.

Once you've established the diet, look at the current ecxercise your horse is recieving. Does he get daily turn out? How often do you ride him?

It's also that time of year when horses need a bit of reconditioning, plus they look plumper because of the winter woolies.

A good rule of thumb is to be able to feel the ribs, but you shouldn't be able to see them.

Your horse is definately over weight if there are fatty deposits on the neck, above the tail, and a huge belly.

If you're feeding a 12% sweet feed, I would drop it to a 10% variety. Taking care to slowly adjust the change in feed so as to prevent colic from a sudden change. The same if you decide to switch the sort of hay as well.

Answer 3

cut back on feed! when you take your horse out for the first half mile go at a walk, the next half mile trot, half mile or more gallop, when your done galloping half mile trot, half mile walk. horses that are overweight have many health problems that could be prevented if you just get some of the weight off. ex. colic, founder, tendon and lig. problems. help your horse by getting it to a healthy weight. one of my customers had a horse that was about 200 pounds overweight, they this exercise program 3-4 days every week and the horse dropped the weight after about 2 months. the most important thing is to stay consistent no matter what the program. good luck.

Answer 4

Have your horse on a healthier more complete diet. You can always exercise your horse on a lead line- this is especially good for horses that aren't saddle broke.

If your horse is already on a healthy diet and good amount of exercise you need to contact your vet to rule out any metabolic disorders such as cushings disease, founder, or laminitis. If that pans out here's how I get my horses into tip top shape.

I do lots of backing- backing up hills, down hills, and on flat. This burns energy fast and builds muscle tone.
Start doing transitions more- from walk, trot, lope, and canter. You can do different patterns so your horse doesn't start to expect what you are asking. Doing this makes his body work harder to build speed and then slow back down.
Start doing your transitions in different size circles. Do figure 8's and even barrel patterns. This conditions the muscles and circles make muscles contract more than if you were just riding in a line or back and forth in one area.
Make your horse collect himself more- this makes him work off his hind end and not pull with his forehand. This will make your horse healthier as he won't wear down his joints as fast.

Hope this helps and Happy Trails

Answer 5

Carrying too much weight can put a horse's health in jeopardy, causing a strain on his joints, heart and respiratory system. However, while we continue to place our own feeding ideals on our horses, they will continue to be overweight.

Horses evolved to roam for around 18 hours a day, grazing rough, scrubby vegetation. In domesticating the horse, humans have not only deprived him of his freedom, but feed him two or three square meals a day,as well as providing an endless supply of hay and grass. It is no wonder that the equine population is also becoming obese.

As with an overweight person, a rapid diet is not the best way to reduce the size of an overweight horse, and a rapid increase in exercise will only lead to injury. Weight reduction should always be a slow, steady process to prevent the horses from suffering stress or any metabolic problems. With weight loss patience is the key. Your exercise regime should take in to account that the horse will be unfit and will have extra strain put on it's joints while carrying the weight.

Make changes in both the type and amount of feed gradually. You should reduce rations by no more than 10% during a seven- to 10-day period, unless recommended otherwise by your vet.

Monitor your horse's progress using a weight tape, piece of string, or weight bridge. When your horse's weight plateaus, gradually cut back the rations again.

Increase the horse's workload gradually in both time and intensity as his fitness improves. Begin with walk only and increase the time gradually. When your horse can comfortably walk out for an hour or more, introduce trot work and hill work. Only as the weight decreases, with diet and gentle exercise, should you consider more intensive work schedules like schooling, jumping, galloping etc. Remember that work on the lunge is relatively hard, with 20 mins intense lunging being equivalent to an hour under saddle, and there will be extra strain on the joints when working in circles (not a good idea in an overweight horse).

With regard to tips on feeding the overweight horse;
Provide plenty of clean fresh water as this helps the horse's digestive system function efficiently. A change to a high fibre diet can lead to an impaction and colic if insufficient water is available.

Use forage feeds with high quality fibre which are low in total energy, eg: switch from alfalfa to grass hay. Hay that has been cut late has an increased fibre content and is less digestible so is likely to be less fattening.

Choose compound feeds which are high in fibre and low in fat and measure them by weight, not volume.

Maximise the time taken to eat a given amount by offering hay in double or triple haynets to reduce the amount available with each bite

Feed the overweight horse separately from others to prevent it from stealing other horses' feeds

Limiting access to grass is an important part of controlling obesity in a horse. Turn out on poor grazing where possible and also limit the area of grass available. Turnout in a sparse "starvation" paddock is beneficial.

Balance the horse's diet against its age and activity level. Never feed more than is needed for the level of work being done.

Make sure the horse's vitamin, mineral and protein requirements are being met.

Once your horse has slimmed down to an ideal weight, it is important to maintain it. This means carefully adjusting his ration to stabilise his condition. Exercise will continue to be important and never forget the fattening effects of grass...

Answer 6

More movement.
Ride or lunge the horse every day. Start slow and work up to about 1 hour of exercise.
Cut the gain out of his/her diet and be sure to feed only enough to get a good vitamin suppliment in to the horse.

Answer 7

Jumping , Cantering , Galloping , Having A Run Around The Field

Answer 8

lots of working trot with breaks. lunging is also great. a bit extream but if you have the money is the pool or horse walker. alternatively cut back on hard feed or use a grazing muzzle.

Answer 9

Jumping , Cantering , Galloping , Having A Run Around The Field,
Lunge go out on new trails and just have fun!!!!!!!!!!1

Answer 10

You should buy your horse a lunging rope, and do lunging with him for at least an hour a day, and put him on a diet ^_^