Basic Conditioning of the Equine Athlete

Basic conditioning of the equine athlete involves consideration of the event in which the horse will be competing, the level of competition that you expect the horse to achieve, the time you have in which to condition the horse, and the horse’s previous conditioning for the event. The goal of any basic conditioning program is to enhance the psychological and the physical respo
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Basic conditioning of the equine athlete involves consideration of the event in which the horse will be competing, the level of competition that you expect the horse to achieve, the time you have in which to condition the horse, and the horse's previous conditioning for the event.

The goal of any basic conditioning program is to enhance the psychological and the physical responses to exercise. Psychological responses with conditioning include greater confidence and desire to perform and minimized boredom and resentment. Physical responses include greater strength and endurance, enhanced skills (such as jumping and reining), and minimized soreness or injury due to exercise. Some of the most important physical adaptations achieved by conditioning involve:

  • Respiratory System–increased oxygen uptake, decreased ventilation during exercise

  • Cardiovascular System–lower heart rate during exercise, increased heart size/strength, increased vascularity (decreased resistance), increased total red cell volume (increased oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood)

  • Muscular Anatomy–increased aerobic capacity (increased fast twitch high oxidative fibers = more time before lactic acid accumulation and fatigue during endurance events), increase in muscle size/strength, change in fiber type

  • Tendons and Ligaments–strength and quality may be affected

  • Bone–decreased bone turnover, increased quantity, quality, and geometry of bone in response to training

  • Thermoregulation–involves cardiovascular system.

A conditioning program should be specific to the event in order to train appropriately for the type of exercise in the event. For example, Thoroughbred trainers would not want to strictly use an aerobic conditioning program for their 3-year-old Thoroughbreds because racing is mostly an anaerobic event. There are two general classes of conditioning programs: slow speed and high speed

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