I have found a few things lately on Interval Training in my quest for ways to condition Kat for the marathon course. Pretty much all of them state that once your horse is fit, they are really, really FIT!
Article on IT in relation to race horses
A TB racing blog post discussing IT and different aspects including weight
For the most part, it is a strong workout, followed by a quick break, another quick strong workout, a break then push for another stronger workout, before bringing the horse down to relax for the day.
It is definitely something to consider as I prepare Kat for the marathon course for the CDE's, but also the one day ADT's. For the moment, I am focused on keeping him working at a strong trot and not getting lazy on me because he is bored. He is really coming along and every drive, proves to be a bit longer and encouraging.
It is also something for me to consider as well. We bought a new scale over the weekend. I am not impressed with the numbers. :(
3 comments:
Interval training works well on barrel horses as well.
BEC's- I was wondering if you had heard of this and what your thoughts on it are?
I guess I don't have any great intellectual insights into it. I just know that it works pretty good to help condition the horses. One of the biggest reasons is that it helps with the lactic acid build-up in the muscles, which can cause a barrel horse to lose his power.
Everyone talks about sprinting the barrel horse to build his wind and the appropriate muscles...and that is necessary...but using the interval training is, in my humble opinion, more effective.
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