Interval training part 2

So now we know some of the basics of interval training but how do we design a plan for our horses ? 

First answer these questions : 

1. What is my breed type ?
2. What is my discipline ?
3. How long do I have until peak fitness is needed ?
4. What is my horse's attitude towards exercise ?


You need to know what your goals are, what will you be asking of your horse and how capable is he at achieving those goals while maintaining a healthy body and spirit. 

We are using Glenn and Scooter for our example so you can listen in on the driving radio show episode 198 to hear the discussion. 

Scooter is a hackney pony. He is currently very sound but was rescued 1 year ago and was severely malnourished.
Glenn wants to train for a training level CDE at the Florida horse park in January 2016. 
Scooters attitude about work is good and he happily trots around the neighborhood. 

Currently Glenn trains to a lightweight 2 wheel cart with no passengers for a combined weight of about 500 lbs on flat ground, usually pavement. 

So What will we be asking Scooter to do at training level ? 

The max distance on marathon can be 12 km. Usually there is a 5 km sec A at 13 km/h, 1 km walk at 5km/hr, 10 minute rest and vet check and a 6 km B section at 13 km/hr with 4 hazards. Glenn's hazard times are not counted at training level but we know he is going to get in there and go for it so we need to plan on doing some training for sprints in the hazards so Scooter doesn't get too tired and/or sore after the show. Hazards are usually about 600 meters from start to finish flags. Some of the upper level singles can sprint as fast as 25 + km/hr in hazards. We will be challenging Scooter in his aerobic zone here and Scooter and Glenn rarely raise their heart rate high enough to train for this at home so we have to make a plan. This is the maximum that would be asked of him so if we set our training goals here, we can rest assured that he is prepared for the challenges we are asking of him. 


We need to monitor heart rates and recovery rates to make sure we are training in the right zone. 

Resting heart rate is 25-40 b/m
Aerobic range is 150 b/m and is currently where Scooter is when he is trotting down the road at about 10 km/h
Anaerobic range is 180 b/m - this is his orange zone and at this heart rate, he starts to build up those fast twitch fibers and produce lactic acid in his muscles so he doesn't need to be here long. This will be a strong road trot or canter. 
max heart rate for horses is 220 - 240 b/min. Too much for Scooter. Don't go here.

Time of recovery rates decrease as our fitness increases. A really fit horse's heart rate will quickly drop back to down when walking or slow trotting between hazards.

A good rule of thumb is that after 2 mins, the pony's b/min should drop from 150-180 during exercise to about 100 b/min and after 10 min should drop down to about 60 b/min. This is what they are looking for in the vet checks at CDEs. They want to see significant recovery rates. Make sure to note the temperature, humidity, footing and carriage weight as these factors can all affect your pony's work load.

To take the heart rate, feel the pulse at the base of the neck in the jugular groove, under the chin or listen with a stethoscope on the left side of the chest just behind the elbow. Count for 15 sec and multiply by 4. 

So now we need to develop our work out sets.

Glenn needs to start out slow. If you ever had tried started jogging yourself you know you can just go out and jog 5 K. You jog for a minute or so and then you are out of breath so you walk for a minute then resume. We will do this for Scooter. 

We will either mark out some Ks on our road to do distance sets or use our watch to do timed sets. If you are doing timed sets, remember 12 kph is 5 minutes for 1 k, 13 kph is 4:36, 14 kph is 4:17 and 15 kph is 4:00.

This is a basic example of a work out set for the endurance phase of training.

Start with a 10 min warm up of walk and slow trot to get the blood flowing and warm the muscles. 

Trot for 5 minutes, then walk for 2 minutes. 
or 
Trot for 1 k, then walk for 200 meters
Do 4 sets
Walk and measure recovery rate after 2 minutes 
Walk for 8 more minutes and measure recovery rate after 10 minutes. 
Do this 2-3 times per week and follow it with a day of rest or an easy drive down the road.


This will give you your baseline and you can increase or decrease the workload or number of sets to match your pony's current level of fitness. This is about a 45 min workout or about 5 km drive. Try to gradually increase either the number of sets or the trotting distance each week with the goal of working up to 12 k.

If you are starting from no exercise what so ever. Start with walking and slow trotting for 4-8 weeks to give your pony time to strengthen muscles, tendons and bones before attempting an interval training plan.


After 6-8 weeks or however long it takes our pony to be able to easily do 12 k with good recovery rates, we can add the anaerobic phase of our training. This will be short bursts of strength and speed training to build our fast twitch fibers. 


You can modify your current interval training routine to include the sprints

Warm up 10 min

Set 1 Trot for 10 min : walk for 1 min
Set 2 Trot for 10 min : walk for 1 min

Set 3 Trot for 3 min : strong trot or canter for 1 min : walk for 2 min
Set 4 Trot for 3 min : strong trot or canter for 1 min : walk for 2 min
Walk and measure recovery rate after 2 minutes 
Walk for 8 more minutes and measure recovery rate after 10 minutes. 
Do this no more than 2 times per week and follow it with a day of rest or an easy drive down the road.

If you have access to hills, you can substitute hill climbing at slower speeds for the strong trot or canter. You can also achieve the strength training by using different footing. If you always drive on hard ground, driving on long grass or in arena footing is much harder work. Make sure your pony is ready to pull in deeper footing if you attempt this as this can be very hard on tendons and hind limb and back muscles.

As your pony gets stronger, you can increase the number of sprints or work load. For our example we want Scooter to be able to comfortably work up to 5 or 6 sprints over a period of 6-8 weeks.

As we said earlier, the maximum asked of Scooter at the CDE will be a distance of 12 km with 4 hazards. We know he can easily make this distance walking and trotting and can easily do 6 sprints. At the show he will have a 10 min brake after the first 5 k. We are now totally in tune with his recovery rates so at the vet box we can assess if he is at the top of his game and ready to continue. A tired pony does not have any fun on marathon but a fit pony well trained to handle the challenges you ask of him will be happy and healthy for many show seasons to come.

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