Putting Together a Workout Schedule

[Little Wolf Ranch]

I have my easy entry cart and I am going to be ordering a brand new leather harness soon and I need to start thinking about getting my boy Ranger fit and ready to start his show career in 2012. I'm hoping to show him in halter and driving classes so I need to figure out a nice workout program and evaluate my feeding program for him.

Currently Ranger is not getting worked at all, so I know I will have to work him up slowly so I don't hurt him or burn him out but he is stalled during the day (because he is a cremello and he sunburns easily) and is let out in a very dry practically no grass (thanks to no rain for over a month) 5 acre pasture to run and play in during the night. He is a 33.5-34 inch tall semi-refined mini that gets fed twice per day - 1.5 cups Strategy GX + 1/2 cup alfalfa pellets + 1/2 cup Amplify Supplement twice per day and is fed one thick flake of coastal bermuda hay while stalled and has access to two wheelbarrows full of fescue hay (I semi-free fed at night) throughout his time in the pasture along with his best friend, another miniature stallion. The reason I am feeing him like I am was because although he is filled in nicely over his topline and hips, he needs a bit more over his ribs. He's practically where I want him now, and he looks really beautiful. FYI: I really love the Amplify supplement for any horse that needs extra weight/calories and it adds a really nice shine to their coat - even my picky eaters love it.

I have access to a round pen and can work him 3 days a week - Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and maybe some Saturdays as well. But he does know how to lunge on a line, but my friend in NC has it and it's not vitally important to go get it right now - plus I would prefer to round pen him anyways.....besides the basic walk/trot/canter workout and direction changes, what else can I do do get that belly nicely tucked and those hip and shoulder muscles nicely developed.....I was thinking of maybe adding small jumps and playing poles on the ground to trot over? As soon as my harness comes in I am going to begin ground-driving him as well - I just don't want to bore him to death with the same old things and I really want to get him fit properly so he's handsome for the ring. He's not pot pellied but he definately has a belly that the show horses don't have LOL.

He's very smart, learned how to set up properly in just a few sessions and is SUPER easy to work with - very laid back and complacent about everything so I am really excited about him being my main show partner. He's definately one of those that are your rare "heart horses" and I want to do him justice and have him handsome when we hit the shows. Any advice and tips would really help!!

ADDITIONAL QUESTION:

Ranger occassionally gets digestive upsets and has loose, watery diarrhea that makes his whole hind-end nasty - it's not sand, ulcers, worms, etc. (he's been checked AND treated) that I believe is primarily stress and food related. Stress because I have a VERY VERY dominant gelding and stallion that he is sometimes pastured with that chases him and food related because I've noticed hay of not-so-great quality as well as any kind of non-pelleted feed will cause him to have these little spells. He's no longer pastured with the same pasture mates and I keep his diet very strict and it's helped ALOT but every now and again he still gets it but a very minimal amount....is there a supplement that would be good for helping keep his digestive tract active, healthy and to help prevent these little spells? My vet has checked him and says that I'm doing the best I can do but he doesn't know about what supplements for digestive support would work best for miniatures. Any advice on good supplements?

 

[targetsmom]

I am certainly no expert on conditioning routines, but I did find that just driving our show mare kept her in pretty good condition for halter too. I try to drive at least 3 times a week (one is a lesson) and she will get round penned on other days, but I really think the driving is what helped. I also vary the routine - "ring" type work (we don't actually have a ring) plus trotting cones courses, which she really enjoys. OK, we BOTH enjoy. We also use ground poles and jumps in our round penning but not so much this year because we were usually working yearlings too.

One thing you might try for the digestive issues is Stomach Soother (Google it) which is just pureed papaya and good for all kinds of things. I use it for digestive upsets, times of stress such as weaning or shows, ulcers, giving medications, the list goes on. It is supposed to help diarrhea too. Pro-biotics might also help by replenishing his gut bacteria.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Hi! I don't know how to liven up the round pen work (I've tried and both my horses tell me they HATE it and would I please drive them?!

) but if you get him working well in the cart those long trots will really help tuck him up. Canter workouts do that very well too so don't skip those!

Kody and Turbo both drive me nuts with their delicate digestion and Kody's got a solid history of ulcers at the drop of a hat but I finally seem to have found a program that works. Kody is now on Probios powder once a day which helps keep him consistently eating his hay but didn't help with getting him to eat his grain. Both boys were on Ulcergard paste for 24 hours before and after any trailering and that helped but I always got the feeling from Kody that his tummy hurt the minute he started stressing and Turbo went completely off his feed the last time I had him out in spite of the Ulcergard. I was ready to rip my hair out! He seemed perfectly happy and hungry but wouldn't eat a thing I gave him. I went out and bought some U-Gard pellets to put them on at home and noticed an immediate increase in appetite but hadn't gotten to test it on an overnight trip until just a week ago. I am THRILLED! I took both horses to the ocean, gave them no Ulcergard paste at all, just the U-Gard pellets twice a day as at home, and both horses scarfed up all their feed the entire weekend and asked for more. No diarrhea, no going off their grain, no complaining that their hay wasn't good enough. They even ate strange hay when I ran out and did well on it! And now that we're home, Kody is actually banging the wall for his grain and eating it better than I've seen him do for years. I get the feeling from him that he's no longer expecting stomach pain when he eats so he's regained his eagerness for it.

Both are doing better on the U-Gard pellets and Probios than on the Probios and a handful of alfalfa hay (what I was giving them before as a natural antacid/calcium source) and it's a lot easier to pack than two types of hay. I'd try the Stomach Soother but it requires refrigeration and that's hard to provide on camping trips.

Leia

P.S.- My Arab used to have unexplained watery diarrhea like you describe when he got older and a holistic vet I know recommended a tablespoon of peppermint with each meal. It really helped!