Jun 28, 2016 | Athleticism, Competition Horses, Events, Exercise
Continuing on my athlete theme from last week….Let’s talk fitness! I will admit to having to research this Tuesday’s edition. This cat is not in to fitness, working out, sweating, or any activity which threatens to burn more calories than I consume. You people seem to want to do stuff with horses and that means a certain level of fitness.
Got a new horse or starting one over? The most important thing to remember is slow, slow, and more slow. This is a concept I can really get behind. I do slow very well. Step one: check your horse’s vital signs before you even get on. Especially in the heat of summer, add work in very small increments. Use those smart phones for something smart and set up timers for yourself. Begin with lots of walking. I’m talking 20-30 minutes of walking. Walking builds a base level of fitness while not stressing joints and tendons. It also lets everyone get used to the ridiculously hot weather we have during summer. At the end of your 30 minute walk, check your horse’s vital signs. Heart rate and respiratory rate should return to normal in 5-7 minutes. Since you are only walking this may happen faster and that’s ok. It means you are ready to add more! Add 3-5 minutes of trot or canter work every 7-10 days until you are doing the work you want to do. If in doubt, check those vital signs!
Shiny thing distraction: These two companies are coming out with FitBits for horses!
http://www.equisense.com/en/
http://seehorse.ca/
You can also check this app out to help guide your horse’s fitness routines.
http://www.kerclockit.com/
On the horse that is already in work, it is important to remember that high temps can change how much work they are capable of safely doing. Vital signs are, again, key to how much is enough. Work your horse at their normal level, then stop and evaluate respiration. You may notice that in this ridiculously hot weather, your normally really fit horse will take longer to come back to normal respirations. That is because horses don’t just exchange oxygen, they also blow off a lot of heat with each breath. I always say horses are full of hot air and I see this as proof.
From a fitness standpoint your goal for most arena sports (dressage, hunter/jumper, barrel racing, western pleasure, etc.) your horse should be fit enough to twice what you need for the event. So if you are a barrel racer 30-40 seconds of very intense work with very rapid return to normal vitals will tell you your horse is fit enough to do the job. A dressage horse will need to be able to hold that canter for 5-6 minutes at a time to do all that is necessary in one stretch of training level. Really sit down and look at the athletic endeavor you want to do and then determine what is necessary in terms of fitness. Need help? Call our Docs. They both love this stuff.
Meanwhile, I’m off to train. I’m working up to 4 straight hours of napping. It’s hard work but someone has to do it.
May 10, 2016 | Competition Horses, Events, Exercise, Leg issues
This past weekend was my opportunity to thank a select group of my fans: Our Wellness Plan Participants. Every year, on the first Saturday in May, we gather around a shrine called a TV to watch some horses run around in a large circle to the left. There is much fanfare, wearing of some very strange hats, good food, good times, and adoration of Tony. After all the partying died down, I hit the computer on our new faster internet connection and researched this crazy thing called Thoroughbred racing.
As someone who is not very fond of exercise, I found this running thing a bit much. When I found out these horses are only three years old, I thought that seemed like a bad plan. Then a rare thing happened: I was wrong. It doesn’t happen often in the cat world, but if you felt a shudder of the earth, or a sudden chill on Saturday evening around 10pm, that was a cat being wrong. I found numerous well-designed research papers on the influence of early exercise in thoroughbred racehorses. Training as a two year old was directly correlated with a longer career as a racehorse. The horses didn’t necessarily have to race, just being in race training was enough to cause a positive effect. Based on my research, this effect is due to remodeling of lots of structures in the leg due to exercise. The cannon bone, tendons, and ligaments were all found to be stronger when exercise was started at 2 years as opposed to 3 years. In fact, there are studies which show that exercise started as early as 21 days of age didn’t cause developmental issues. I will say that these horses were exercised under very exacting schedules designed to allow the tendons, ligaments, and bone to adapt. Another aspect I found interesting was that the comparison group of foals were allowed free range pasture access. This wasn’t standing in a stall compared to exercising. This was turnout compared to exercising. Made this cat think….
While researching the young horse exercise thing, I found a lot of discussions about racehorses breaking those ridiculously-designed legs they run on. I mean, who designed the “run fast on four sticks” system? Just by its very nature it is bound to break sometimes. I did find out that there are some very interesting reasons racehorses break their legs the way they do and learned about research by veterinarians to try to prevent these fractures. One of the biggest issues trainers, riders, and veterinarians face is the horse’s love of the job. Unlike cats, especially black ones named Tony, horses love to run and do a very bad job recognizing pain when running around a racetrack with eight to ten friends. This means that if the leg starts to fail while the horse is running they are unlikely to demonstrate a lameness or give the jockey any indication of a problem until the leg actually fails. So, veterinarians are working to use standing MRI, CT scans, bone density scanning, x-rays to assess joint geometry, and ultrasound to try to identify early changes in bone and tendon that indicate a problem is coming. There are also programs in many States that perform in-depth post mortem exams on any horse who suffers from one of these serious injuries. As a difficult-to-impress cat, I was impressed by the level of dedication the racing industry has to keeping the horses safe!
Coolest fact I learned while playing on the internet: During each stride a racehorse takes the heart beats once and they take one breath. Here’s how it goes down: front leg of the lead they are on hits the ground, intestines push forward on the diaphragm, this pressure collapses the lungs causing a breath out, and compresses the heart. As the weight is transferred back to the hind end, the intestines slide back, opening the lungs, and allowing the heart to expand and fill with blood. How amazing is that?!?!!?
It may be difficult to admit but I have a little more respect for the athleticism of horses. I have lost a bit of respect for my staff around here after all those funny hats, but since they provide food I will keep them around. Until next week, may your litter box be clean and your food bowl overflowing.
Nov 24, 2014 | Athleticism, Competition Horses, Exercise, Hoof Care
Managing your horse for a long athletic career I listened intently Tuesday evening to Dr. Lacher and Dr. Bourke discussing athletic horses and their needs. I like to think of myself as an athlete and I want to be around a long time so here are notes from the cat.
A long career starts at the beginning. A solid education as a youngster gives our horses the right skills to fall back on in a pinch. By spending time putting good footwork and consistent response we set our horses up to succeed later in life. Footwork allows a horse to properly use each of its four legs to balance when we ask them to suddenly change direction to cut a cow, or spin, or jump, or pirouette. Just like football players have to practice footwork so its second nature during a crucial play, our horses have to be very good at the basics. Ask any high level rider what they practice most of the time and the answer will be the basics. Ask any high level rider what they don’t practice and it will be the big tricks whether that be spins and slides, big jumps, extreme collection or extension.
Apparently not only should our horses be educated but the riders should be too. You humans can really affect what happens with your horse. Getting the best quality lessons, using all that technology has to offer, and always learning help you influence your horse in a positive way.
Fitness is not a subject I’m particularly fond of. I like to hold down the counter at the office and be sure everyone in the office offers me a bit of their lunch. But I digress. Different types of horses require different levels of fitness. A rail horse, for example, will need stamina to keep consistent gaits both directions of the rings and potentially come back for a final but is unlikely to need extreme cardiovascular fitness. An event horse or a reiner, on the other hand, will need to be cardiovascularly fit to perform at even modest levels. Designing an appropriate fitness program for your horse’s career will keep tendons, ligaments, muscles, and lungs ready to handle anything we throw at them. Spoiler alert: there will be a bit about injury later on. Mental fitness should also be taken in to account. Horses, just like people, like to cross train. Oh and they like a vacation every now and then too. Personally, I like summer to vacation. As a black cat summer gets a bit hot so I stay inside, listen to the latest tunes, and catch up on Facebook.
Fitness is again important for the humans. You are more likely to make all the right moves if you aren’t too tired to make the right decision at the right moment. Assess your own strengths and weaknesses. Most of us favor one side or the other. Do you find all the horses you have ever ridden on a consistent basis are similarly one sided? Do you have a go to move when you get in trouble? A few sessions with a personal trainer every now will help you manage those weaknesses. Oh and don’t forget mental fitness for humans. Ten Minute Toughness by Jason Selk and other similar books are great introductions to sports psychology.
Well that’s a wrap for this blog since I need to go supervise the office. Stay tuned for my next installment about the equine athlete. Until then may your litter box be clean and your food bowl full.
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