Fitness work considerations and team work

By BGA Ambassador Laura White

It's that time of year again when the scruffy fat hunters get pulled in from their three month holidays in the field to start getting fit for hunting.

We do our horses in stages to ensure that they all get the time they need. My first group of six horses came in on Monday 2nd July, so their fitness programme is well underway.

There is a list of things that get done in the first week:
- Farrier - a new set of shoes and a good hoof check
- Vet - yearly flu and tetanus jabs
- Dentist - getting their teeth checked and rasped to make sure the horse is happy in his mouth
- Tidy up - start pulling manes and tails, trimming up and a good bath.

It is a real team effort and we all work together to ensure that the horses are in the best health possible. I start walking them at 20 minutes and slowly increase it. This gives their backs a chance to get used to having a saddle and rider on again and for the muscles to start getting stronger again.

I walk them for five weeks, six days a week, building up to two hours all on the roads.

It's important to check the horse’s legs daily keeping an eye out for any changes, signs of any old injuries from last season and also being mindful of sores from the tack. If you do find a sore it probably means something isn't fitting quite right, or if it's a girth sore then put a fluffy girth guard on and put salt water on the sore daily to help harden the skin.

At about the three week stage, once they've started to develop muscle, I get the equine physio out to give them all a treatment and loosen any tight muscles that may cause problems later on.

I'm now on week six and after all that time sat in the saddle walking it is great to start a bit of trot work, the only down side is the next group of horses are on their first week of walking, so it starts all over again!

Find out how Laura is getting on when we catch up with her in a few weeks time.

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