getting a driving mini in shape

[coyote feathers]

Hi I'm new to all this .I like most of you grew up riding big horses, I was badly injured, and now have minis. Now here's my question I have a 12 year old mare broke to drive she did get a little thin during the winter but have remedied the problem and now she's looking way better with a little hay belly lol. She was used as a brood mare for a while but has not had any foals for 2 years I have had her seince august2011 but have just started driving her,(I had confidence issues) I would like to get her in shape quickly without overdoing it.as there are a few shows in the next few months I'm interested in taking her too,what would you all suggest ,I don't have an arena only trails and roads,here's a picture please let me know what you think. Thanks

 

[brasstackminis]

Treat her like you would if you were conditoning a big horse...or yourself for that matter! Start out slow, and build up to your goal. Try to work different muscle groups if you are working everyday. It sort of depends on your final goal. For me, I am working my horses up to CDE competitions. So I have broken all of the aspects of the show down into parts. For example, I may drive my mare on a long drive one day, building up endurance. Then the next day I may drag passengers along and only go out for a short drive. The next day, I may focus on relaxation, or implusion, or standing quietly. It depends on what my goal is and where we need work. Just like you would get sore if you went to the gym and lifted weights so you would not lift weights the same way everyday, don't work on the same things everyday with your horse. I hope that helps.

 

[coyote feathers]

thank you I thought I might do some ground driving exercises today and then maybe drive her again tomorrow. .

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Um, yeah. What Brasstackminis said! LOL. She really covered it in very few words so there's not much I can add except to say let your mare tell you when she's had enough. I know lots of people who say they "don't want to strain them" so they stop the horse after 30 minutes even when he or she is raring to go and that's just about as silly IMO as saying "So-and-So's mini can go for an hour so you ought to be able to!" and ignoring that your out-of-shape horse is huffing desperately.

Start slow and easy and leg her up at a walk for a week or two then start introducing trot work for a few minutes at a time and let her build up. Starting slow will get you further, faster, than trying to rush at the beginning!

The biggest thing is to pay attention to what she's telling you and push her a little further each week without straining her until she's really fit. After the first week or two of brisk walking you want to get her heart rate up a little bit but not so much she can't get her breath back quickly. You may need to give her a trace clip if you haven't already so that she isn't steaming in her fur coat and you can get an accurate idea of her condition. It's amazing how much longer they can go just by having the winter parka removed! LOL. She'll probably tell you when she's ready for more by continuing to trot on her own instead of acting like she's tired and hot. At that point you can start doing longer trotting intervals, maybe intersperse some canter work if you're comfortable with that, and look for some long sloping hills to walk her up and down. That will build both muscle and wind. Once she's "working fit" you can start doing more cross-training and increasing the difficulty of her driven exercises.

Leia