Re: Conditioning

Truman Prevatt (truman.prevatt@netsrq.com)
Mon, 20 Jan 1997 10:06:19 -0400

Rule of thumb it takes aobut two to three years of consistent conditioning
from starting a "young" horse to properly condition the soft tissue and a
little long to condition the bones. If the horse is older when you start
then his conenctive tissue will be stonger so it won't take quite as long.
The heart and muscles do condition much faster than the soft tissue so care
needs to be taken.

Nany Loving had a very good article in TB sometime back on the time table
for various parts of the horse to reach top condition.

The way I use the HRM to bring on a new horse is as an upper alarm. I set a
heart rate range say 100 to 120 and condition within that range for a
period of time. There is little reason to have have a high octane engine
when the tires will blow out. One good way to conditon the heart while not
over stressing the legs and joints is up hill and sand. I know there are a
lot of horror stores concerning sand, but sand properly used can be a very
good and safe conditioning tool.

Truman

Truman Prevatt
Sarasota, FL