Fitness COUNTDOWN

Make sure your horse is fit and ready to ride for the summer.

- BY CONNIE JEHLIK, UNITED STATES PONY CLUBS INSTRUCTION SERVICES DIRECTOR IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE UNITED STATES PONY CLUBS

As the busy riding season approaches, you're probably looking forward to many fun activities with your horse and spending as much time in the saddle as possible. To make all your riding dreams come true, it's important to prepare first.

What level of fitness, or “condition,” is your horse? Is he ready for a hard workout? Is he ready for a show? These are important questions that you need to answer before you begin to prepare for spring and summer riding clinics, trail rides, shows, and multiple-day competitions.

“Condition” means the state of a horse's health and fitness. A fit horse is one whose muscles, heart, and lungs have been built up, or conditioned, for work. A horse could be healthy but unfit, and then he is not ready or able to be worked hard. It would be unkind to make your horse work hard before his muscles and body are ready, just like it would be for you to do something your body is not yet fit to do.

BODY CONDITION

Begin by thinking about whether your horse looks healthy. The most common method to use to evaluate body condition is called the Henneke Body Condition Scoring system (BCS), which was named after the creator of the system.