I just started leasing a horse, the only downfall is that all my riding will be outdoors.: (They do have an arena but they also have 80 acres for free riding. I am planning on doing some bareback riding, cantering without hands etc. But what are some fun things to in the arena? The horse is extremely out of shape and can't do much for too long. Shes young so she just needs to be eased back into work after most of winter off. So what can I do? I had a lesson on her last week and after a few minutes of trotting she was breathing super hard! So I gave her a long walk break then cantered. This horse would do anything for me, even though she was tired she kept up to the other horses and ran her heart out. I'm so excited to start jumping her when the snow clears up and she's in better shape. So. What should I do to ease her back into work, but is still fun for me?
Thanks!
Ride her on level ground at the walk/trot (interval training is good).
Once she's good with that, add cantering (only if the ground isn't frozen and there is no snow).
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Then you can work her on hills (trotting uphill is really good exercise, but you should never trot a horse downhill, it puts too much stress on their front end)
Around once a week you could give her (and yourself) a break and go for a trail ride through the woods (if there are woods. If not, just go for a leisurely ride around the field).
Edit: You should probably ride her about 3 times a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday would be the easiest to remember), and just spend time bonding with her the other days:)
Edit: Payton. The horse got winded from trotting. There is no way anyone in their right mind would take that horse for a gallop and have it jump (to 'ease' it back into exercise). If it really would do anything for the asker (like the asker said it would), a gallop could possibly kill it.
try doing some fun barrels and even just walking over a 1 ft jump gets her legs up and other muscles used
go for a gallope, jump enything:)
