Fitness Training 101 – Preparing your horse for a competition
|Even horses need to be physically fit. It can help them win a horse show, equestrian competition, or pleasure trail ride. The horse rider must know how to train their horse. Despite having someone to train them, you as a trainer should also knew how to properly train a horse because it can contribute to their chances on winning a race or competition.
Creating a physical fitness program for your horse should be straightforward. Your attention to the details of your horse will help them during their performance. Interconnecting fitness-building exercises with confidence-building natural horsemanship drills or skill-building horsemanship patterns should be done to raise the chances of winning. Let your creativity run wild on how you create fitness training program for your horse and do not forget about basic rules in fitness to improve your horse performance.
Before planning a training regime, you must know “where you are.” Evaluate the horse’s current condition. Better deal with the small problem right from the start than to deal with it as the conditioning program workload increases because it could to straighten anything that is wrong in the conditioning program.
Know your horsemanship goals. You should know what level of fitness your horse needs to be in order to win the race or competition. Competing in a horse fashion show is different from competing in a race. A fitness trainer must know what level of fitness training a does a horse needs to be to win the competition.
Here are some tips to keep your horse in tip-topped shape:
- You need a healthy horse to win a competition, so you need them to be up to date on vaccinations, deworming, and hoof trimming or shoeing.
- Tacks and equipment must fit the horse well. Think of the horse like he was you. Surely, you will never run in a race with poorly-fitting running shoes or high heels!
- Horse training should never be left out. You need to train your horse with the basics to familiarize them with the needed basics of the competition. Spend some time with the horse by leisurely riding with him every now and then to strengthen the bond between you and your horse.
- Up to date with specialized equestrian skills. This is the skill you need when riding your horse to win the competition. Like your horse, you need a skill to win the competition.