# Keeping horse hunting fit in the winter when working full time?



## Cat&Mouse (6 August 2010)

Hello, 

I haven't posted in here before. I am reasonably new to hunting, I hunted a couple of time last year on a friends horse & have now finally got a horse sane enough to hunt. 

As titled really, just wondered how other people keep their horses in hunting fitness whilst working full time, it is dark when you get up & dark when you leave work?

He is fit now & has been competing all summer but he is being riden 6 days a week before or after work, I can obviously work him during the weekends but this won't be enough to keep him at full fitness to be able to do a full days hunting a couple of days a month? 

Any tips?  

Thank you


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## Baggybreeches (6 August 2010)

I feel your pain. I have 2 that I want to hunt this year. I try to ride one before work and one after. As dull as it is unfortunately working them in the school (if you have one) is the only answer. I am hoping to get a horsewalker which will be a huge benefit, but I also can be a bit flexible with my hours. Is there anyone around who could lunge or ride for you one day a week, I know it costs money but trying to do everything yourself often seems an insurmountable task. I get my mum to lunge my boys once a week, and just ride both days at the weekend including one day hunting.


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## JenHunt (6 August 2010)

er...I don't! Ron hunts twice a week and hacks out twice a week and is turned out for at least 12 hours on 5/7 days. This seems to be enough to keep him fit, but then our hunting country isn't condusive to miles of galloping and hedge hopping, so we don't need to be quite as fit as some of those hunts! We just have to ensure the horse is fit enough and his legs are in good fettle.


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## Ditchjumper2 (6 August 2010)

I don't either. I have no arena and just a field of clay which in winter is very wet so no lunging for me!! Just get them as fit as you can in the summer. Hunt on the Sat, hack on the Sunday and leave turned out as much as possible.  Until last year all ours were out fully clipped (shock horror) 24/7 and hunted once a week.  As long as we didn't miss a Saturday we were fine.  If you can lunge once or twice a week even better. However as with jenhunt we are not a foxhound pack so don't have the extended gallops but we are on the go most of the time.  Just make sure you do plenty of walking on roads to harden legs and go for it.  You will know when he has had enough....enjoy...life is short.


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## Starbucks (6 August 2010)

I'm a bit worried about this also!!  My mum has always looked after him before so this is my first season with him.  we have a walker and a school so I guess that should help a lot.  I'm hoping work will let me get in about 9.30 one day a week and that should allow me to go for a short hack before work.  Then i was going to ride on a sunday after hunting and ride in the school a couple of times in the week... that's the plan anyway.

TBH though I think if they are hunting once/twice a week then that keeps them fit in itself so you don't need to do too much overkill inbetween.  Can't wait for the season to start!


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## Cat&Mouse (6 August 2010)

No School, No Walker & No one to ride during the week, 

He is 20 so I don't want to hunt him more than twice in a month but because of his age I need to keep his fitness up, think its going to be a case of lunging in headlights or schooling in the field with a light on my head. 

God I definately need them closer to home, he is out 24/7 which will help.


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## Aniseed (6 August 2010)

I was in exactly the same situation last year but managed to get through. Thankfully we have an arena which helps so I tried to school or lunge in the week then do a couple of long fast hacks at the weekend to keep her stamina and fitness levels up. We also have a point to point course which was great for taking her for long canters, I'm sure you could find some field margins to do similar.

Could you look into getting someone to ride a couple of times during the week? If you have any local colleges or unis then students can be quite useful as thay are able to ride in the middle of the day!

I wouldn't worry too much the more you hunt the fitter he will get and you can start by just going out for an hour. I only managed to hunt 9 times last year, which is the most I have done in a season and my horse has never been fitter.


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## Daddy_Long_Legs (6 August 2010)

I was the same position about 2 years ago(last time I had a job). I used to box the horse up and go and use a friends arena with lights, twice a week and try and get out for a 20 minute hack in the mornings!

Now I am one of those people who keeps your horse fit during the week whilst you are at work!!! It's about the only work I can find at the moment.


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## spacefaer (6 August 2010)

A friend of mine was in the same position for several years - she hunted on Saturday and gave her horse the day off on Sunday - a friend of hers hacked her Tuesday and Thursday for a couple of hours - they lived on a hill so lots of work even on a slow hack and the horse was quite a busy hack   On her non-ridden days, she was in the field 7am to 6pm ish - depending on work commitments

She started hunting her when she was 4 and the mare is now late teens and field mastering for the first time this season - while not textbook, it worked for them!


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## LizzyandToddy (8 August 2010)

I have similar issues! Fortunatly we have set up a flood light into one of the paddocks this year which wont have horses in, as we are arenaless! Seems to do the job though, I try to ride either before, or after 6th form - or sometimes both!


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## star (8 August 2010)

i dont think they need to do that much during the weeke if they're hunting every weekend.  i normally give mine 2 days off after a hunt, hack once if i can fit it in in daylight, otherwise short schooling session followed by another the day after, another day off, a hack on the Sat and hunt on sun.


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