Basic Exercise

Hi out there! Today I want to share some knowledge about exercising a horse with those of you who are interested. There are 5 basic ways to keep your horse happy, healthy and fit.

1. Turning your horse out

All you need to do to turn out your horse is take them out of their stall and put them in a arena so they can play, roll, or just run around and have some good old fun. (Obviously this doesn't work with pastured horses!)

2. Chasing/Working in a turnout

This is most common & simple way to exercise your horse. All you need to do some chasing or working in a turn out is a whip. You control your horse's gait while they are free in the arena.

3. Lunging

Working your horse in a surcingle requires a bridle, surcingle, side reins, lunge line and whip (if necessary). This exercise is similar to riding your horse in that the surcingle acts as a weight aid and the side reins that clip to the surcingle act as the rein aid. This will help work all your horse's muscles and in a correct frame.

4. Free lunging

Free lunging essentially requires no tack. All you will need is a lunge line and whip if your horse requires one. This is mainly used for people who don't like turning their horses out and want to exercise them a little.

5. Hotwalker

Now this is a really cool tool for the people who are lucky enough to have a hotwalker available for use. A hotwalker is a automatic machine that will walk your horse for however long you wish. It comes in handy when you horse doesn't want to use the turn out to their advantage.

There are so many ways to keep your horse fit! Hopefully you find this post useful! Happy exercising!