If you let your horse down in the winter, by February you’re probably thinking about if not already starting the process of legging your horse back up. In her latest vlog for the FEI, Australian eventer Han of @Han Equestrian outlines the process of bringing your horse back into work after an extended period of time off.
She starts off by going over a checklist of physical things to think about: nutrition, saddle fit, hooves, teeth, etc. Then she outlines some basic principles underlying the reconditioning process: “Slow and steady wins the race. I always like to think of it like when you go back to the gym after having time off. You don’t immediately go back to lifting the same weights or running the same distance — you build up to it and it is exactly the same with your horse obviously if you rush them too much at the beginning and they get a lot of muscle soreness they might get sour to the work and worst case scenario you might end up with an injury.”
Watch and get cracking on that fitness!