Feb 26, 2025

Fitness and February

By Valerie Pride - Sidelines Magazine
Valerie, returning to the barn, shares her plan for bringing horses back to work after the winter. Photo courtesy of Valerie Pride.

This article originally appeared in the February 2025 edition of Sidelines magazine.

The holidays are over, and the height of eventing season will be here before you know it! To help expedite your return from winter, I thought I would share a few of my thoughts surrounding bringing horses back into work as well as a few conditioning tips that you can tweak to meet your own needs. Let this help motivate you to get out there and get started!

Walk work is very important, especially if your horse has received less turnout time than usual. You should incorporate at least 10 minutes of what I call “round and down” walk work at the beginning of your ride. The horse should be on contact, capable of bending and focusing. Imagine an extended walk. You’re trying to build muscles, and this exercise is also important at the end of your ride, especially if it’s cold. You should expect more stretch over his back at the end, proof that you were productive, and that it feels good to your horse to stretch his muscle groups.

This does not need to take place solely inside of the arena. In fact, walking a hill is one of the best ways to strengthen stifles. If you only have access to a small incline, you can walk it several times each ride. I have a hill between our stable and indoor that most of the horses walk three to five times a day to start their daily training session. Try to maintain an active and straight walk. Keep the horse round and stretching over his withers so that the incline and decline can both work their magic.

Lungeing is another big part of my program. It must be done carefully, as it’s intense work! I don’t believe in just letting a horse run around at the end of the line. All my horses lunge in some sort of device: neck stretcher, side reins, the “gadget” as we call it, or the Pessoa Rig. They should be respectful and on your aids, just as though you were riding. I would make sure to keep your sessions to 20 minutes or less.

As you first bring your horse back to work, walk and trot work on the lunge is fine. Focus on transitions. Remember to alternate which way you start so that you are building him up symmetrically. Cold nights and wind can be very hard on kissing spine horses. We think about the Pessoa Rig as a kind of prescription for them to move and warm up their backs without the burden of bearing a rider's weight. We try to do this two to three times a week, even if it’s used as a quick warm-up before your real ride.

That leads me to what I call the “lunge-ride combo,” which is quite popular on windy days or those first few sessions back! I might only lunge the horse one direction even based on behavior and fitness; but waiting for that feeling that I know the horse is rideable and listening, not overreacting to the same aids that I’m going to use as soon as I hop on. And don’t be a hero. If you’re not making progress on the lunge, listen to your gut and just make it a lunge session. Make sure you always come out victorious; it’s wise at times to pick your battles!

It’s important that you bring your horse back to a variety of footing conditions so that he’s strengthening his tendons and ligaments to ward off future tendinitis. We have what we call the “back road” that runs throughout our farm. Even when the fields are too wet, we can do plenty of conditioning work on this lane with gentle hills at either end. We practice trot on the spot, leg yields, shoulder in and haunches in—anything you could be doing down the long side of your arena, you can do down a one-lane farm road. I like to increase my trot rides by five minutes per week until they can do a 20-minute continuous trot. Make sure that you are changing bend and your diagonal, and bonus for challenging yourself with staying in two-point for the entire duration. #feeltheburn

Once I think my horses have enough stamina and rideability at the trot, I incorporate more canter work and cavaletti exercises simultaneously. Working on the canter will greatly improve your trot; but sadly, working on your gallop will not improve your canter. Be ready to chip away at the canter, focusing on quality transitions in and out of it to create strength. Cantering over poles on the ground, not even raised, can help with timing and coordination of your position as well as getting the horse to remember how to rock back to react. You don’t have to feel bad about repetition because there is very little impact. It also starts to take some of the excitement out of jumping, which comes next!

Then I spend a lot of time trotting fences, keeping it simple with rails for timing and straightness. Adding in the cavaletti and small fences will make your horse huff and puff more, which is ultimately good for the lungs and entire cardiovascular system.

Again, sometimes less is more and in a strange way you go faster when you go slower. Enjoy the journey and kick on until next time!

Apr 25, 2025 Competitions

2025 K3DE Rider Talk: What Are They Saying About Cross-Country?

Riders in both the Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S and the Defender Kentucky CCI5*-L are sharing similar sentiments about this year's cross-country courses: course designer Derek di Grazia didn't play around this year. Here is what some of the riders across both divisions had to say about the tracks they will aim to conquer on Saturday.

Apr 25, 2025 Competitions

Off the Record Breaks Records in Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S at Defender Kentucky

Off The Record decided not to let Michael Jung be the only record-breaking entry at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event this week and delivered a career-best score in the Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S on Friday morning. He and Will Coleman delivered a test that received a score of 21.8, not only marking a personal best for the horse but also securing their position at the top of the leaderboard going into cross-country tomorrow.

Apr 25, 2025 Competitions

Soaked, but Not Shaken: Boyd Martin Flies the Flag for the U.S. at Defender Kentucky in Second

Boyd Martin and the 12-year-old Holsteiner gelding Commando 3 were the last pair to go in the Defender Kentucky CCI5*-L field on Friday afternoon and were warmly greeted to the bluegrass with an impressive downpour that outshined anything the other horse and rider pairs had to combat throughout the day. But that didn’t stop this pair from putting their best foot forward and impressing the judges enough to earn them a score of 26.0, just 0.2 points ahead of second-place pair Tom McEwen (GBR) and Brookfield Quality.

Apr 25, 2025 Association News

Beware of Phishing Attempts and Other Types of Fraud

Please always remain vigilant when it comes to sending any personal communications via email or text. Every year we receive reports of members and leaders of our sport receiving phishing attempts both online and by phone. These are often communications disguised as being sent from USEA staff or other leaders. As the years go on, the phishing attempts appear to be more directed and tailored.

Official Corporate Sponsors of the USEA

Official Joint Therapy Treatment of the USEA

Official Feed of the USEA

Official Saddle of the USEA

Official Forage of the USEA

Official Competition & Training Apparel of the USEA

Official Horse Boot of the USEA

Official Shock Wave of the USEA

Official Horse Wear of the USEA