Pre-season fitness planning for event horses

Jan 12
Preparing your horse for a new season isn’t just about getting in the saddle, it’s about ensuring your horse is physically and mentally ready for the demands of eventing. Even at lower levels, a horse needs cardiovascular fitness, strength, and endurance to cope with long warm-ups, dressage, showjumping, and cross-country efforts.

Pre-season is the ideal time to lay the foundations for a safe, effective campaign. The goal is a horse that is fit, balanced, and confident, ready to progress steadily once competition begins. 

Foundations of fitness
Eventing fitness has two linked components:
• Conditioning — building strength, endurance, and soundness
• Schooling — developing mental skills, balance, and athletic ability
Good schooling supports conditioning by improving suppleness, posture, and coordination. By combining both, you achieve a horse that is fit mentally, muscularly, and cardiovascularly, with a sound skeleton.

Three guidelines for developing fitness:
1. Build from the base up
Think of fitness as a pyramid: the higher the peak (eventing goals), the broader the base (foundation work). Introduce one variation at a time — duration, frequency, or intensity — and allow your horse to adapt before adding more. Gradual progression is key to avoiding injury.

2. Volume of work
Volume = distance/duration × frequency × intensity. Maintaining the same volume keeps a horse fit but won’t improve it. Increasing frequency builds strength and skills, while longer or faster work improves cardiovascular fitness. Chart each horse’s workload and progress toward key events.

3. Base fitness before competition
For a young horse or a horse returning after a break, aim for “long, slow, distance” work: walks, trots, and short canters over 45–60 minutes, five or six times a week. Once a base is established, add strength sessions such as gymnastics, hill work, or suppling/dressage exercises.

Eight effective winter workouts
1. Hill work — walking uphill builds strength and power; cantering uphill can be overused. Leg yielding up and down hills develops core muscles and balance.
2. Interval training — alternating canter and walk periods improves stamina; sprinting develops anaerobic capacity.
3. Lungeing — ideal for young or older horses, loosens the back and develops muscle without rider weight.
4. Beach riding — walking through shallow water strengthens joints and gives a low-impact cardiovascular workout.
5. Gallops — improve fitness and mental focus; give horses an opportunity to release energy and learn to move forward.
6. Arena work — long, slow trots, canters, and interval sessions maintain fitness when outdoor conditions are poor.
7. Swimming — gentle on joints, builds cardiovascular fitness, and adds variety. Straight-line pools with a wave function allow resistance training and rest periods.
8. Water treadmills — provide low-impact conditioning and increasingly include computerized analysis of workouts.

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Practical tips for returning to work
• Warm-up and cool-down are essential for every session.
• For the first events, replicate competition conditions: multiple short warm-ups in a day, including schooling, showjumping, and cross-country practice.
• Introduce fast work gradually for longer courses, building speed, distance, or repetitions over time.

Monitor recovery — how quickly your horse returns to a normal heart rate indicates fitness.

Quality over quantity
Horses need to be fit enough to handle repeated efforts without strain. Where gallops aren’t available, hills can substitute. Focus on quality over quantity: recovery and heart rate are better indicators of fitness than sheer speed.
Topography matters. Horses will take the easiest route — trotting uphill can stress the sacroiliac joint, while walking uphill with lateral work activates the core. Similarly, downhill work should teach the horse to sit on hindquarters without rushing.

Time off and adaptation
Planned breaks are beneficial. The principle of supercompensation means a short rest allows fitness gains to consolidate. Up to four weeks off may reduce strength but not cardiovascular fitness; follow with long, slow sessions before reintroducing strength work.
After injury, follow veterinary advice and don’t rush. Recovery and careful progression are far better for long-term performance than pushing too soon.

Mental wellbeing and variety
Fitness isn’t just physical. Event horses thrive on variety: combine hacks, hill work, dressage, and jumping sessions, and consider company or solo sessions depending on the horse’s preferences. The mix keeps horses engaged, reduces stress, and builds fitness safely.

Preparing for the new season
Pre-season fitness is about building a horse ready for the demands ahead — strong, supple, and confident. By combining structured conditioning, targeted schooling, and varied workouts, you give your horse the best start to the season.
Small, consistent sessions in winter will pay dividends in spring competitions, reducing injury risk and helping your horse perform at its peak. Fitness is a year-round process, and planning carefully now sets you and your horse up for a successful, enjoyable season.

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