How fit is my horse? Do the fitness test

"My horse can't do that, he's not in shape." "My horse is not a good athlete." - Then it's high time to improve that! To know how you should proceed with fitness training, it is good to first determine your current fitness level.

Author: Marie-Theres Conen, Sportsfreund Studios

Advantages of a fit horse

Having a fit horse has many advantages. First of all, it is good for his health. The cardiovascular system, ligaments and tendons benefit greatly from allowing your horse to do regular cardio workouts from a young age.

It's not about rushing your horse over a long distance at the highest possible speed, but about teaching your horse how to manage its energy reserves well so that it can run a long distance as relaxed as possible. This is something that every leisure horse needs. The tasks you set your horse should be easy and enjoyable for him.

Joint-friendly training

As preparation for sporty rides on the oval track, this is very good low-impact training that is easy on the joints. Let's assume you want to train for a tölt test. In this case, your horse needs the strength to walk easily, with a clear beat and with wide movements over its back when it is excited, whatever the weather. In order to build up the strength required for this, it is unhealthy in the long term to always ride out the wide movements, as muscles and tendons are very heavily strained in such a gait pattern.

It is therefore a good idea to start with long-slow distance training that is gentle on the body and to encourage this throughout your riding career. Think about it this way: A weightlifter doesn't just train with his maximum weight either, but makes his muscles fit with everything below it.

How to determine how fit your horse is

Determining fitness when riding can be very subjective. Maybe you as a rider get tired quickly and then transfer this to your horse and underestimate his strength enormously. Or you may know your typical riding route and think that you can ride it quite quickly, even though it's not that long.

But it could also be that you live in very mountainous terrain and are always annoyed that your horse is already exhausted after 5 kilometers, without taking into account that you have already done quite a bit of elevation gain. A horse like that would probably totally surprise you on the flat with the strength and stamina it has.

We have compiled a few parameters for you here, which you can use to estimate how fit your horse is, even if you are not riding.

1. Weight

Experts have been dealing with the issue of objectively assessing a horse's nutritional status for almost half a century. The Body Condition Score is a suitable tool for objectively assessing the nutritional status of horses. For this purpose, precisely defined areas of the body are both visually observed and felt and assessed using an evaluation scheme. Body condition score according to Schramme and Kienzle (2004)..

In summary, the body condition score means

• BCS 1 to 3: too thin
• BCS 4 to 6: normal
• BCS 7 to 9: too

The average optimum weight for Icelandic horses is between 330-380 kilos.

But how does weight relate to fitness

What is fitness in horses?

A horse needs energy to be able to move. Energy is obtained from nutrients and oxygen. Horses obtain the most important nutrient from grass, hay and grain: carbohydrates. These carbohydrates are converted into glucose or dextrose in the small intestine. Some of the glucose is used immediately for brain and nerve cells. The rest is converted into glycogen by liver and muscle cells and stored. If there is still glucose left, it is stored as fat.

In the muscle cells, ATP (adenosine triphosphate) is produced from the stored nutrients. When ATP breaks down, energy is released. This is the metabolism. The task of metabolism is to produce energy as economically and effectively as possible. A distinction is made between two different energy metabolisms: aerobic and anaerobic.

Aerobic Metabolism

The horse can work most gently and economically under aerobic conditions. Here the body burns fats first, then carbohydrates. When working in the aerobic range, a constant supply of ATP can be produced.

Anaerobic metabolism

Anaerobic metabolism takes place under high levels of stress when there is a lack of oxygen. ATP is now produced from glycogen without oxygen. The by-product of this is harmful lactate. The consequences are fatigue, loss of performance and pain.

Training goal: raising the anaerobic threshold

Both systems are trained, whereby the time at which the horse switches from the aerobic to the anaerobic energy system and the lactate values increase is shifted backwards.

Optimal body condition score for fitness

• These systems work best for a horse with an optimal figure, i.e. anything between a score of 4-6.

• Horses that are too thin: horses that are too thin and have too few body reserves naturally find it more difficult to run in the anaerobic system as the energy depots are used up more quickly. This makes it harder for them to perform athletically.

They either take in too little energy through their feed or they consume too much energy.

If the horse is at a 3-4 on the body condition score, there is no long-term damage.

However, if it falls below a 2 or 1, this is life-threatening. To produce energy, horses start to break down their muscle mass. The strongest muscle in horses is the heart. Once the heart has been attacked, it is impossible to feed the horse back to health (refeeding syndrome).

• Horses that are too fat: Horses with a body score of 7 or more are considered too fat. The cause of obesity is that more energy has been taken in through the feed than the horse has consumed. This results in a lower basal metabolic rate of energy. In addition, these horses do not like to move and tend to be lazy, as the weight puts more strain on their musculoskeletal system than necessary.

Fat horses are not stronger than thinner ones. You have to imagine that they have to carry an extra 50 or 100 kilos on top of their normal weight. This also increases the risk of metabolic diseases such as EMS, laminitis or insulin resistance.

What is more harmful for the horse: being too thin or too fat?

If we assume the optimum score of 5, then neither a 4 nor a 6 is harmful to the horse's health. Anything above or below that is unhealthy for the horse.

It is more normal for us to see overweight horses, so we are less concerned about this. This visual habit makes us quickly judge perfectly slim horses as too thin.

Even though it has to be said that the reasons for being overweight are usually more harmless than being underweight (too little exercise, too much food). If a horse that is getting enough food suddenly loses a lot of weight or is much too thin, this is often a symptom of other health problems.

2. Musculature

It is not so easy for a layman to assess the muscle condition of his horse. Of course, many factors play a role here: a thinner horse always appears to be less muscled than a thicker one, and conformation also makes a difference to the appearance of the muscles. Each breed of horse has its own genetic predisposition to muscle mass.

However, there are some visual indicators that you can use to recognize how well muscled your horse is.

A good back - the topline

In a study on the strength of Icelandic horses by Guðrún Stefánsdóttir, it was shown that the body size of Icelandic horses is not a meaningful criterion for how strong a horse is and how much it can carry. Rather, it was shown that a broad and muscular back is important for carrying weight. More on this in the study..

Healthy muscling looks round and not angular.

Characteristics by which you can recognize good back muscles are:

• You can recognize good back muscles by the fact that the spine is embedded between the two muscle strands. There are no protruding spinous processes.
• The line of the back should ideally be slightly curved, without interruptions or hills, and end in a round, even croup.
• There should be no visible muscle indentations at the shoulders or at the back where the saddle panels are located.

You can find out more about this in the Onlinekurs „Rückenfitte Pferde“ von 360 Grad Pferd

A suitable saddle

The back muscles can only develop well if the horse is ridden with a suitable saddle.

A suitable saddle does not slip with any saddle pad and does not leave dents in the muscles or tangles in the coat after unsaddling. You should not be able to tell where the saddle is when a horse is standing dry in the paddock.

Different back shapes

A horse's back can look different depending on how its muscles are developed. Some horses have an oval rump, which means that the back is quite narrow at the top and the abdominal girth increases slightly towards the bottom. There are also horses that have their fat deposits right next to the spine and therefore have a fairly broad back at the top and therefore always appear to be highly muscled.

Abdominal muscles

The most important counterpart to the back muscles is the abdominal muscles. A back is only as strong as the abdominal muscles that support it. If your horse has a pendulous belly - which can occur with any weight - then it will also lack back muscles. Exercises for good muscles.

You can recognize a pot belly by the fact that the rump has a "pear shape". This is characterized by the fact that the most voluminous part of the abdomen appears behind the saddle at the bottom. You can recognize a healthy abdominal musculature by a suitably round, firm and well-formed belly.

In some horses you can also recognize an abdominal muscle line when walking. However, this can also be misleading, as horses that have difficulty breathing will have a mark in the abdomen at the same point, the so-called "steam groove".

The neck

Ideally, the neck should be curved upwards. When touched, the lower neck muscles should be soft and loose and the upper muscles firm. If your horse is overweight and has a ridge of fat on the top of the neck, this is a sign of metabolic problems, even if it doesn't look bad.

3. Vitals

The vital signs are the only condition indicator that we can reliably measure and that provides an accurate indication of a horse's state of fitne

You may remember this from the purchase examination of your horse and the endurance test, in which heart rate and respiration are measured before and after. Your horse is particularly fit if it has as little difference as possible to the initial value after runn

For endurance rides, the vital signs are also measured before, during and after a ride. The pulse rate must not exceed 64 beats per minute after the ride. If a horse does not reach this pulse value 30 minutes after the finish, it will be disqualified.

Normal values:

• Pulse: 28-44 beats/minute
• Breathing: 8-16 breaths/minute
• Temperature: 37 to 38.3 °C

Improving performance

The horse's performance potential depends on its energy reserves and available oxygen. This is why lower vital values are desirable after running.

With good training, for example, you can train the heart muscle. This then contracts more strongly and can pump more blood into the tissue with each beat, which lowers the heart rate.

We can also improve the supply of oxygen to the tissue and thus increase the capacity for transporting oxygen and nutrients to the muscles as well as the faster removal of superfluous substances and products from the muscles. Additional capillaries are formed.

The spleen creates a larger reserve so that more oxygen can be transported to the working muscle.

Supporting tissue, bones, hooves and the psyche are also trained.

You could grab a stethoscope and learn to listen to your horse's heartbeat. This is the only reliable way to measure fatigue.

Sweating ≠ Tiring

Sweating, for example, is not a 1:1 indicator of exertion. Sweating is healthy and can be a sign of good fitness. As training progresses, more sweat glands are developed, which enables higher thermoregulation capacities. A very sweaty horse can have better vital values than a dry horse whose pulse is actually at 180.

This is actually quite logical: muscle performance generates heat. If the horse overheats, it can no longer run, so it must have many different ways of cooling down. This is why endurance performance is so closely linked to the ability to regulate heat.

In endurance sport, Icelandic horses can easily cover the same distances as Arabian horses, but at a much slower pace. This is not because they cannot run as fast, but because they cannot cool down as quickly. Sweat only has the task of cooling the horse: More sweat - more cooling.

4. Individual reasons for or against fitness

Age

Young horses that are just learning to carry a rider do not yet have enough strength to run long distances. Horses are at their physical peak between the ages of 7 and 14. But that doesn't mean that horses can't run fit until they are over 20. With the right training, you can keep your horse fit for life. For example, good training can prevent osteoarthritis.

Temperament

Horses can be lazy or very spirited. A lively horse will always prefer to suggest that you go for a quick run in the field, while a lazier horse will prefer to head for home at every crossroads.

The important thing to remember is that both types of horse can achieve the same level of fitness. A more leisurely horse prefers to run its course a little slower than a spirited one. But in the end, the vital values of your horses should be the same

With very spirited horses, the rider must also take responsibility from time to time and ensure that the horse does not overexert itself. A calm pace and breaks in stride are also important with wild horses. If, for example, your horse has difficulty walking at a relaxed pace under the rider, you could repeatedly lead the horse until it learns that it can relax while being ridden.

If your horse is on one side of the extreme, you should definitely clarify whether it is really your horse's nature or whether there are other triggers. Stress and pain, for example, can both cause symptoms.

Stabling conditions

A horse has a certain basic condition even without being ridden. Of course, it depends on how much your horse moves around when you are not there. Horses that are kept in a box will have almost no basic condition, in contrast to horses with lots of paddock exercise or access to a paddock trail.

Horses can walk up to 30 kilometers a day in the wild when they are foraging.

Feeding

Of course, the general condition of your horse also has something to say. So make sure that your horse has no nutritional deficiencies or other deficits.

Training standards

A horse can only do what it is trained to do. Let's assume that your horse is standing in a normal paddock with a little grazing and not on a mountain pasture with differences in altitude and long distances to be covered - then it would be extremely fit even without training. If it is untrained, it won't be able to carry you for many kilometers at high speed without getting tired or suffering from sore muscles.

If you only ride infrequently, it won't be used to having to carry your weight for long periods of time. You only get muscles and exercise for riding by riding.

If your normal ride is 5 kilometers long and you whizz through it in no time, he might find the 15 kilometers more difficult, even if it is slower.

What I'm trying to say is that you can't expect a miracle from your horse all of a sudden. It will only be as fit as you train it. Long rides mixed with gymnastic arena work will make your horse fitter than 20 minutes of oval track a week mixed with three shuffling lunges.

The 10/10 method

The best way to train fitness is the 10/10 method: 10 minutes walk, 10 minutes trot and so on.

What should every horse be able to do?

A small guideline is 30 minutes walk, 20 minutes trot, 3 minutes canter or about 10 kilometers. Any healthy horse can manage this.

It is important that you let your horse run calmly and take regular breaks. This way you can break up the training with lots of breaks. Instead of doing everything at once, it could look like this: 10 minutes walk - 10 minutes trot - 5 minutes walk - 3 minutes canter - 5 minutes walk - 10 minutes trot - 10 minutes walk.

If your horse is really out of condition, you can also train the whole thing from the ground by lunging or cycling.

Conclusion

Remember that every horse is unique and it takes time and patience to develop its full fitness and performance. With the right approach, you can significantly improve your horse's quality of life and help him live a long, healthy and fulfilling life. Stay alert, listen to your horse's signals and adapt your training and management accordingly. Your horse will thank you with health, performance and a strong bond.

Stay tuned and put the knowledge from these texts into practice - for a happy and healthy life for your horse.