GRAHAM TRAINING CENTER Olympia, Washington

SH Beautymark SH Constellation SH Constellation El Zaman Sshadow Daba Dudes Bandito Julie Graham P.O. Box 11173 Olympia, Washington 98508 (360)866-4596 This site and all contents © 2003 Graham Training Center

Conditioning - Laying down a good foundation “Do you not know that in a race all runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training...” 1 Corinthians 9:24-25 New International Version - The Bible No matter what your beliefs concerning the bible are I have found that it carries much wisdom and truth, even in the field of training horses. Whenever one aspires to compete in a breed circuit they become an athlete in training. If you are starting a colt or bringing a horse in from the pasture after a seasonal rest, prepare yourself for a month of conditioning. The foundation to any good training program is conditioning. Why conditioning? First, it dramatically reduces the occurrence of soreness and injury due to over exertion. When athletes are prepared physically and mentally for technical training the process is quicker and more rewarding with less injury. This brings about a much more compliant and happy equine athlete. If you don’t believe this I challenge you to go run, without your horse, an average course of a pleasure class (remember keep your head tucked and shoulders back). Repeat 8 times. How do you feel? Any soreness, strain? fatigue?. Do you want to do it again? Secondly, it builds muscle and reduces fat. This seems to be basic knowledge but it amazes me that some people would rather try to change a horses diet than give them the exercise they need. This is important for both pleasure and halter conditioning alike. You can sculpt a horses body for it’s intended use. Finally, it gives a horse a job. This reduces mental anxiety due to boredom ( which will help in getting weight on hard to keep, high energy horses) and builds a working relationship with your horse. The more you work together the better the finished team will perform. A basic conditioning regime A training week is 5-6 sessions. It is best to complete a training week within a 7 day period. However, I know how busy life can get. So complete 5-6 sessions before moving to the next training week. The more dilligent you are to get your horse in shape the faster you will achieve your goal. Before starting make sure to check your horses resting heart and respiration rate. This you will use as a reference to gage your horses' progress. It would also be wise to have your veterinarian give a clean bill of health prior to starting any training program. Week 1 - Free lunge in a 60’ circle (if you don’t have an enclosed area use a lunge line but big circle). Work 10 minutes each way. During this time I assess gait irregularities, current condition, breathing abnormalities, habits, conformation deficits, mental aptitude and attitude. Be sure to protect lower leg with splint boots or polo wraps. Week 2 - Assuming that if any problems were spotted, they were explored, diagnosed and corrected we can move on. It is during this week I start bitting the horse up. Start relaxed. Encourage the horse to drop its head and move forward. I use a halter and two lead ropes going from the side buckles of the halter between the front legs and tied together just behind the withers. Place a loose keeper around the neck and lead ropes to prevent the horse from stepping on the lead ropes when it drops it’s head real low. Tie ends of each lead rope together so there is just enough pressure to keep poll level with withers. Nose should not be behind the vertical. Work an average of 10 minutes each way pushing forward in a working trot. (working trot means that the stride of the hind foot will be landing directly under or just ahead of the midpoint of the horses’ barrel) A 40’ circle is sufficient. This exercise focuses on the muscle layer just behind the withers and encourages the horse to suck up its stomach and push forward with its hind end. This is important for any horse that either has been having back problems or will have high demands on its back. Continue to next page (2)