Things Take Time

Are you an overachiever with serious goals in mind? Learn why working harder and longer isn’t always better for your horse.

- BARB CRABBE, DVM

The biggest competition of the year is just around the corner, and you’ve been training … hard. Your horse is the most talented one you’ve ever owned and making it to this competition is on top of your bucket list. You can hardly wait, and when you get there your horse will be so fit and ready you know he’ll be unbeatable. That’s why you’ve scheduled some extra sessions with your trainer, and a couple of hard conditioning rides before you go.

Wait just a minute! It might be time to pump the brakes. In reality, overtraining at a time like this might do more harm than good. Not only are you setting your horse up for failure at the competition if you wear him down, you may be asking for an injury that could threaten his future—or even his life!

In this article, I’m going to explain how your horse’s bones and soft tissues get stronger over time, and why carefully scheduled periods of rest are essential for making him strong and protecting him from injury. You’ll learn how the important structures of his musculoskeletal system adapt to exercise over time, what conditions are most likely to set your horse up for an injury, and, perhaps most important, what steps you should take to keep him sound, strong, and injury free.

Stress, Rest, Remodel

Your horse’s bones, joints, and soft tissue structures (tendons and ligaments) are at the core of what he needs to perform. And if he gets injured you’re out of luck. Understanding how these tissues adapt to stress is the key to formulating a training program that will get him strong and keep him sound.