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What is Fittening? Fittening is the correct preparation of a horse for an event Definition of ‘FIT’: ‘Well adapted or suitable for a declared purpose’, e.g. riding or driving, and being‘competent to do so’. Physiologically and structurally: ‘in good athletic condition and healthy, able and willing.’ ‘FITTENING’ is a progressive method of conditioning a horse from rest to a state of fitness where it is able to perform the work expected of it without detriment to its health and well being. By fittening you are preparing your horse, physically and psychologically for the work you are asking it to perform. The fitter the horse needs to become, the longer the process of getting your horse fit will take. Whatever level of fitness you are aiming for as the trainer you are responsible to prepare your programme for the benefit of the horse. Remembering that each horse is an individual and response to training is going to different in each case. In order to achieve this you should take into consideration the following at the beginning and throughout the programme: ź Age of the horse, condition prior to fittening. ź Breed of Horse - Is it realistically going to be able to perform the work you are planning for it to do? Looking at the conformation, breeding of a horse can be key in assessing suitability to perform at certain levels, in certain disciplines. ź Recognising the health of the horse, its willingness to work, its attitude to work and external issues such as time of year, available training facilities, time frame before event, etc. ź Being able to correctly devise/implement a suitable programme. ź Being aware when you may need to stop and re-assess the programme rather than keep on going regardless - being flexible. ź Being able to monitor the progress and adapt the programme accordingly as and when required. ź Being aware of the capability of the rider and the horse, are the expectations realistic within the time frame. ź Identifying the additional professionals you need to include in your team in order to achieve your end goal. For the purpose of my project I am considering that the horses to which I am referring are already “broken” and have undertaken the necessary initial training to be able to perform the basics of the ridden work of their discipline. A fittening programme for a young horse at the beginning of their education is a different undertaking to that of “fittening” a horse that already has the fundamentals of their specific discipline under their belt. An element of education and learning new skills is always going to be a key element to your programme both for the horse and rider. (A separate programme should be devised for the rider.) A fittening programme can be divided into 4 stages: STAGE 1 - Preparation STAGE 2 – Conditioning – (Long,slow,distance work) STAGE 3 - Fittening - skill or ability refining – (Strength Work) STAGE 4 - The ‘doing’ or competing – (Fast Work) For disciplines such as cross country, show jumping, dressage, endurance, gymkhana, polo - the specific skills required will be introduced at stage 3 and furthered at stage 4. The Elite horse will require more intense discipline specific training as will their rider. STAGE 1 - PREPARATION At the start of every fittening programme regardless of level there is always going to be key preparation and planning involved. This will begin with some basic housekeeping, progressing to ridden work: ź Stables need to be cleaned as will any equipment to be used. ź Tack needs checking; cleaned, repaired, and fitted to the horse. It may no longer fit as the shape of the horse will have changed. On a professional yard with an established routine of bringing horses back into work you may find that they have sets of tack for the various stages of a programme. ź Appropriate health check need to be carried out - Vaccinations, teeth, shoes, worming, general condition will need to be assessed. ź Introducing the stable - bringing the horse into to the stable for a few hours a day - ensuring it is well ventilated so that they become used to being confined again. ź Re establish handling, basic grooming, this also helps you in assessing the condition of the horse. It is at this stage that massage can be introduced to prepare the muscle for work - it also helps to relax the horse and prepare them psychologically for the work ahead of them. They may become stressed at spending periods of time in the stable and a massage will help relax them. ź At this stage it would be relevant to take a base line heart and respiratory rates. ź Fitting the bridle and leaving it on for periods of time when the horse is in, (for example when grooming) conditions the mouth - lips and gums helping to prevent sores from occurring when riding is introduced. ź Also with the saddle, to prevent sores/rubbing secure the girth sufficiently so that it is kept in place, tightening progressively over the next couple of days. Any areas where either you suspect there may be rubbing or historically you know rubbing can occur can be hardened with surgical spirit. (Never over already broken skin.) Leaving the horse tacked up for a period of time before exercising acclimatises them to the feel of the tack - preparing the skin. ź Hay/haylage can be introduced to relieve boredom whilst being stabled and it may be necessary to soak the hay to reduce dust content. The amount will depend on the type of horse and condition.
ź Begin ridden work to ‘harden’ the connective tissues, stimulate all the systems and, importantly, to reduce unnecessary body fat. Conditioning of the Body Essentially: 1. Hardens the Connective Tissues (tendons, ligaments, hoof horn, bone, skin.) in order to minimise the risk of overstress trauma in the coming faster work. 2. Improves Suppleness in the tendons, ligaments, muscles, as the horse works through the gaits gradually the range of joint movement increases, stretching ligaments, and through the tendons, the muscles. 3. Stimulating the Controls of Movement and Metabolism, the neuro-muscular system, the hormonal system, the enzymes. Progressive regulated increases in levels of stress are affected, and to these the horse responds by improving in early fitness. The work introduced to the horse at this stage of the programme also begins to tone-up muscle, especially the abdominals, activates more powerful and faster heart action. Improves the general circulation by stimulating greater capillary bed involvement of the muscles, improving gaseous exchange, burning off fat. Massage is an extremely useful tool at all stages of the programme, it is an additional stimulus to the work that the horse is being asked to do. It also has the advantage of relaxing and providing the horse with a sense of well being. Throughout the programme observing and monitoring the progress of the horse is vital and hands on massage is essential to providing an accurate look and feel of the horse, making comparisons from one day to the next, any problems can be quickly identified and improvements noticed. STAGE 3 - FITTENING This is the progression onto the next level of fitness, maintaining achieved fitness level and improving upon it. It is discipline and breed specific, you need to be aware of what your horse is able to produce for you and your programme should be designed in order to maximise their natural potential making use of the genetic make up. A racehorse - The thoroughbred will have a greater proportion of Type IIB fibres which function anaerobically, producing speed and strength for short periods. The endurance horse, typically of Arabian breeding have a greater proportion of Type I, Type IIA muscle fibres which Type I only function aerobically. Type IIA require less oxygen and can function aerobically/anaerobically. They are able to work for long periods at a regular pace. Knowing and understanding how different breeds have different training requirements is what goes towards making a successful training programme. You are then able to progress to STAGE 4 - The Competing In designing your programme you need to ensure that you are able to be CONSISTENT no good starting if you are going on holiday for a fortnight in the middle. You also need to build in a contingency plan for any unforeseen circumstances - rider illness, injury so that you have a couple of weeks grace before the event you are training for. I have suggested a programme as a base guide and irrespective of discipline and final target fitness this would be a starting point for all levels for the initial 8 weeks. See attached Appendix 1. To achieve elite levels of discipline specific fitness a total period of 12 - 18 weeks may be required. Again I must reiterate this would be specific to the horse being trained and the discipline- constant monitoring and flexibility is key. Each horse is an individual and will respond differently to the work being asked of them. THE KEY TO FITNESS IS PROGRESSIVE WORK. When a certain distance in a certain time has been done without undue tiredness and certainly without exhaustion (fatigue), it can be said that the horse has responded to the stress and is now ready to be stressed further - moving on to the next stage of the programme only when you are confident that the horse is ready to do so. It is better to increase the length of time taken than risk injury. When training to a higher level it is also important to consider the boredom levels, competing at lower levels can be a useful tool to employ during the programme. Interval training is also a useful tool, taking your base line pulse respiratory rates before work starts and then during work and immediately after, in order to monitor the rate of recovery. The quicker the rate of recovery the fitter the horse. Fitness in itself is subjective and a true measure is difficult to define, establishing and improving the rate of recovery to increased levels of exercise is in my opinion as accurate a method of measuring/establishing fitness levels. A Horses Base Pulse Rate = 36-42 Beats per Minute A Horses Base Respiratory Rate = 8-12 Breathes per Minute The key to a successful programme is progressive loading, gradually and systematically exposing the horse to increased levels of work. Training the skeletal, muscular, and cardiovascular systems to cope with the increased demands without pushing any to the point of fatigue. Being organized, flexible, allowing enough time to preprare is essential to achieving positive end results. SUGGESTED TIMETABLE EVENT SPECIFIC
THE IMPORTANCE AND ROLE OF MASSAGE IN YOUR PROGRAMME When bringing a horse back into work whether it is for leisure use or elite competition, there are a number of professionals that you should include in your team. Your Vet, Dentist, Farrier, Physiotherapist, Trainer, Equine Sports Massage Therapist, Saddler. The skills of these professionals should be employed to ensure the health and well being of your horse at all stages of their training. Whilst the skills and relevance of the 6 other professionals is more established The Equine Sports Massage is a profession in its relative infancy and the benefits may not be as well known. The human athlete makes use of the benefits of sports massage readily but all too often we do not recognise the athletic ability of the horses we ride. The demands made of them by their riders are immense and as they progress up the levels these demands are even greater and we would be failing them if we did not address them. Massage is a tool to mobilize muscle tissue, stimulate the systems of the body - cardiovascular, lymphatic, nervous. The massage therapist through their hands is able to palpate the horse and almost on a daily basis identify changes as a result of the training. They will be able to feel heat, swelling and through their observations of the horse and their reactions to the therapy notice areas of soreness. The therapist’s knowledge of conformational limitations and muscle condition can assist in the development of specific exercises in order to build the relevant areas of weakness throughout the training. As the training levels increase so does the stress on the horse, this stress on the body is required in order to improve fitness but it also increase the chance of injury anything that can be done to reduce this is invaluable. Massage can be said to be one of the tools used in order to achieve this. There should be different aspects of your therapy that you utilize at different times. Specific disciplines trigger the development of particular stress areas, the style of the rider will also affect the areas of stress on the body as will the conformation of the horse especially if they are not conformationally suited to the work being done. The Pleasure Horse (Riding School) – Good Natured, calm, reliable, multi disciplined, mature. Problem Areas – Neck and back in response to continuous repetitive work, the rider may be relatively inexperienced and unbalanced. Lack of muscle preparation for activity, adds strain to the body. Often arthritic requiring gentle massage around the affected joint. The Dressage Horse is required to be elegant, accurate, flexible, sensitive to the aids, good responsive attitude to work. Good conformation is key to minimize the levels of stress that dressage demands. To perform at Grand Prix level takes years to train the muscles correctly. Problem Areas – All over body depending on level of competition, and attitude, response of the horse to work, competition.
Problems Areas – All over body tension, foot bruises, concussive injury, fatigue due to dehydration.
The Eventer is required to perform multiple disciplines, be brave, powerful and obedient. Achieve a high level of fitness especially if performing at high levels. Proper conditioning and preparation for competition is essential. Problem Areas – All over body - weather/ground conditions can affect performance and resulting injury due to compensatory stress on the body. If studs are worn(2 or 4). Knocks from XC or showjumps. The ShowJumper is required to be agile, balanced, be brave, powerful, high levels of energy, be able to control power of muscle strength. Problem Areas – All Over Body - whether the competition is indoor or outdoor will affect the stresses on the body. The style of the rider will also have an effect on the strains the body comes under. Knocks from hitting fences, whether studs are worn. The Polo, Gymkhana Pony is required to be agile, achieve quick acceleration, deceleration, fast turns and to be extremely balanced. Responsive and obedient with good stamina. Problem Areas – All over body tension, check body for knocks, bruises. Ground conditions are also relevant as slips on wet ground can cause strains, sprains. The techniques that you employ will need to be specific to the individual horse, recognizing which muscles, and muscle groups, tendons and ligaments are under the most stress is the first step in your approach as a therapists. How you treat them is totally dependant on the individual horse, how they are responding to the work, training, how they respond to competition situation will also affect there performance which is why a warm up routine prior to competing can be crucial. Warm Up Routine A warm up routine is designed to stimulate circulation, enhancing levels of oxygen and nutrients in the blood to muscle fibres. It is not a replacement for warm up exercise but it will prepare the horse for exercise. To achieve this you would employ stimulation techniques; effleurage followed by compressions, tapotment. Maintenance of a good rhythm and pressure is imperative. However if the horse is particularly highly strung it would be advisable to keep to relaxing techniques rather than further stimulation. Cool Down Routine Equally important is the Cool Down Routine and once the horse has been adequately walked down massage can be employed to loosen muscle, encourage the circulatory system (assisting in the removal of toxins – lactic acid from the muscles,) aiding in the prevention of stiffening and loss of flexibility. Emphasis on lymphatic drainage and the relaxation of the worked muscle groups. Massage also allows the early identification of any areas of stress or injury. Techniques would be generous effleurage and compressions to relax tendon attachments. |
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