Kate and Rurie
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Registered: 16-11-2004
Location: Perthshire
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Fit enough to trot??
Now that I have the summer holidays I have time to finally get Rurie back into work after a prolonged time off work. He is 23 and has not been
properly fit for two years. I have been hacking out in walk for two weeks (with a week off in between when we were in Mull). He only has one speed
of walk which is slow (even slower down hill). I would like to get him trotting but don't want to push him too soon. We are now up to 50 minutes in
walk.
What else can I do to help him get fit when
- he doesn't do schooling - it's torture!!
-he is a happy hacker who prefers a very loose contact
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susie
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My Clova is a slow walker and hates schooling  whereas Jenny is always on a
mission marching along!
But with another pony Clova will really speed up -do you and Rurie have the chance to hack out in company as this could mean he could follow and
gradually trot for longer distances as he gets fitter?
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Moonysmum
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This is all very familiar. I started getting my two fit this year after 2 years of doing little because of problems at home. Jester is now 27 and
has arthritis in his hocks. We hacked out a couple of times a week, just walking for many weeks. He started to muscle up and step out really well so
we started to include little trots, some short canters etc. However I must have done too much because his back started to go - I am still not sure
the cause of his pain but I gave him 10 days rest, some danilon for a couple of days and held back from getting the Vet. He went out again for the
first time in hand on Wednesday and seemed fine. I did scramble aboard half way round the loop and rode him home bareback and he was fine. I suppose
what I am saying is best to take it really carefully because it is so easy to set all the hard work back again with one reckless canter (which he
rather enjoyed at the time!) The general concensus seems to be that it is beneficial for him to keep hacking out gently but both he and I have to
remember he is a pensioner!! He is very good usually at looking after himself and will stop for a breather on the hills and refuse to trot if he
doesn't feel up to it and he has been such a willing horse all his life I can only respect what he tells me now!
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Caro
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Hi Kate - when I was getting my Ruari back into work when he was 19 I worked up to 45 minutes walk. I then added a couple of minutes trot (on flatish
grass to begin with to minimise risk of tripping or concussion) and then worked it up to a few bursts of a couple of minutes - gradually building to 2
or 3 trots of up to 5 mins in the hack and finally added canter in the same way.
Hope it works out well for you!
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L-J
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When Doug damaged his check ligament 2 years ago we did lots of in hand walking on the road to get impact training, starting at 5 mins & building
upto 50 mins in hand, then we did trotting in hand on the road, 5 mins trot, walk/trot etc etc. he stayed sound so I got on. Perhaps you can lead him
for the trot bits at first & ride the walk sections, not necessarily alternating every 5 mins just doing short bits of trot
interspersed with decent lengths of walk. Just build it up really slowly & have fun, big bad Doug,now 20yo, is doing a 25km ER this w/e & has
passed all the rides with vettings though the vets do laugh at his minimal effort in hand. Hope Rurie & you have a lovely summer doing what you
both enjoy
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Rebecca
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I have recently had 2 periods of bringing back into work after long lay offs and echo LJ and Caro's advice of slowly building the work up. I was
advised to do 2 minutes per day for a week, then 5 minutes per day for a week of trot and then to increase to 10, 20, 40 by doing 2 chunks of trot
work in between walk. It does seem very slow and cautious to begin with but it worked for us and does seem to lay a good foundation for their
recovery. Important to consider where they work as they need good flat ground to work on. Once this is established, start to bring in hill work which
is what really builds the stamina and fitness back. Don't think about canter until the trot is really well established. It can be very frustrating
but slow and steady does win this race.
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Kate and Rurie
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Thank you everyone for your advice, all useful!! Rebecca - I have no choice but to do hill work as we are on top of a hill and there is only one
flat field which we go round two sides of, otherwise it's the arena. However, there are flat places to start trotting. I think I'll leave trot for
another week and then see how he responds to being asked to trot - and yes, there'll be no cantering until he is really fit!!! L-J - I like the idea
of leading him in trot to start with. He trotted happily across the paddock yesterday when I opened up the section of longer grass 
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mulletsmum
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Mood: What shall I do this year ?
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Kate - I will bring Violet over to walk round with you - a young lady to follow might cheer him up!
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