This is the year: EXERCISE

[wingnut]

I've posted before about how I've managed my horses differently this winter. I've allowed them full access to our pasture and supplemented with hay. I'm really happy with their current condition. I think this has worked very well for everyone, but especially the horses. They are so much happier and relaxed.

With this in mind, I have been working on plans for how to continue this way of managing them into the growing season. I plan to divide our pasture, rotate them between sections and keep it mowed short as well. Depending on how things go, I will use muzzles as (if) necessary.

The last key piece I feel is exercise. None of my horses are currently broke to drive, though I hope to do that with at least one horse this year. So, I need to exercise them in other ways. My options are lunging and hand walking. I'd like to hear how others exercise their horses, especially with regards to frequency and duration.

My end goal is to be able to manage my horses like folks such as Rabbitsfizz do with their horses: 24/7 turnout while keeping my horses from developing issues like laminitis. I feel that I can do this if I balance their access to the pasture with exercise.

 

[FurstPlaceMiniatures]

My stud has a mare to chase (not so much anymore though, she's ready to pop any day!) and a gelding buddy to wrestle with. Weight hasn't been an issue since they were put togther! All 3 get along wonderfully, a boss mare is the best thing that ever happened to him! He has his own little band. Fufills so many physical and psychological needs.

My big guys lived in a 5 acre field with a pretty good slope to it. Water at the top, best grass at the bottom. Kept my big mare absolutely bulging with muscle. She found it fun to RUN up the hill, so i was spoiled with the lack of conditioning i ever had to do with her.

I find hand walking not strenuous enough, unless your horse is SUPER out of shape, or you're going on an epic hike. I personally prefer to lunge on a line. I don't have a roundpen, the pasture is too big to free lunge in, and i feel like i get more done on a line. More control and easier to reprimand when i need to. Best way to teach a solid WHOA in my opinion.

20ft or so of line works well for us, unless we are working on a new topic or something, then the circle is bigger or smaller depending on needs. He walks, trots, lopes, and whoa's from voice commands and hand signals. We practice turning around, coming when called, backing up, sidepassing, going over poles, over jumps, scary tarps, over plywood sheets, over plywood sheets covered in bubble wrap, etc etc. Pretty much combining bombproofing, confidence building, exercise, and training. Keeps his little mind a workin too! He gets bored too easily and craves structure (he had NONE for the first 6 yrs of his life), so keeping workouts fun is my main challenge. Free lunging would just be too boring for him!

I lunge him when i get to it, usually 3 to 4 times a week tops. I warm him up for about 10 minutes, then I go until he is starting to breathe heavier, then 5 to 10 more laps at a trot tops, then 15 minutes of walking on the lunge (yup, still in the circle, nothing more obnoxious than a horse who only RUNS on a lunge!) to cool down. More if its hot or he's sweaty.

 

[wingnut]

My big guys lived in a 5 acre field with a pretty good slope to it. Water at the top, best grass at the bottom.

We have a similar setup except it's only 1.5 acres. If they think they're getting fed some grain (or in the case of the 3 younger ones, just a ration balancer), they might trot up. And they'll occassionally do some running play together but not enough.

Thanks for laying out how you worked your boy. That's pretty much what I have in mind to do as well with the lunging aspect of my process.

 

[MountainWoman]

I hike with my horses. I take one at a time, put a pack on them and off we go with one or two dogs. Since we are on hills, we get a lot of exercise that way. Don't know if there is anywhere for you to take your horses swimming but that's great exercise too. I'm also ground driving with one of my mares and we go all over. Can't wait for better weather. We have quite a lot of acreage in our turn out and if I walk the perimeter of our pasture fence, everyone follows me and we all get quite a work out that way too especially when the snow is on the ground.

 

[Kim~Crayonboxminiatures]

I also need to get on a better "program" for exercising my fat ones regularly. Last summer I did free lunge in the pasture, or more like chased them around with whip with long lash and made my 'show off, get moving' noise. My mares seem to enjoy it, it gets them running and I enjoy watching them show off. I do have one mare that tries to "hide" from me, but all in all they do get moving more than they normally would.

I've heard that walking (hand walking) is good, I'm going to try to do more of that this summer also, especially for my Senior chubby mare, she has arthritis in her stifle, but can still walk well and easily, and walking is easier on her than running.

 

[Marty]

I rotate between several pastures actually and we do keep them all mowed down to the nubs. This certainly does help weight issues. I am probably the biggest muzzle hater in the world and if I ever had to resort to that, I would not have them . That being said, these mowed fields has helped a lot however, not during spring grass growth. Then all bets are off. They are managed just a couple hours per day on the grass, then back into dry lot. I can't take chances of grass founder and I hope everyone else here does the same and heeds the warning.

As far as exercise, the round pen is going back up this spring asap. I am not one to have horses going round and round endlessly so I will set up a jump, a few cones and diversify and always exercise to music.

 

[wingnut]

always exercise to music.

I like this idea!

 

[Helicopter]

My neighbour has standardbreds and he chases them around on a bike and they RUN and seem to enjoy it. I chase my herd with a quadbike when want to get them out of the pasture twice a day and they pretty much ignore me. I'm waving the lunge whip, blowing the horn, yeehaaing and yaahooing and carrying on like a demented banshee and they pretty much go.."hi, mum, whatcha doin'. "

Takes forever.

Rascals.

 

[wildoak]

Golf cart. I try to vary what I do with them - the driving guys obviously get driven, but they also get ponied off the golf cart and occasionally round penned. We try to alternate the others. I don't like excessive round penning, esp with younger horses.. I think it's hard on their legs (I know it's hard on my knees!). Ponying gives them a chance to get some straight line exercise and to get out and see things. No training per se involved, but it kind of freshens their minds to get out of the pen. We have a 4-5 acre hay field we can lap, a creek to cross.. I walk myself for exercise but I guess I don't have the patience to walk horses with me lol. Ground driving is another matter, good exercise for us both, but horses & I never seem to walk at the same pace side by side.

Jan