We’re in the last couple of months of the summer competition season, and we know lots of our followers and customers might be thinking about when to give their horse a holiday. In this blog, we’re looking at the reasons why rest is so important for all horses, not just sports horses, and how to build rest into both the competition season and your annual calendar with them.
Why is resting your horse important?
Rest can be broken down into two categories, long-term rest, and short-term recovery. Short term recovery, giving your horse a day or two off each week during training and competition, helps them get fitter and prevent injury. Those rest days help your horse’s muscles strengthen, enable their bones to adapt to the stresses placed on them and provide opportunity for energy stores in their muscles to be replenished. These rest days are vital for any rider or owner who wants to ensure their horse stays healthy and happy for the duration of their ridden career. While they can’t prevent injuries caused by falls or knocks, they can keep the horse’s body in the best possible shape to manage the stresses we place on them when we’re training and competing.
Long-term recovery, where horses are turned away for several weeks or months, is equally important. Not only does it give their body the opportunity to heal and rest, but it can be a wonderful way to boost their enthusiasm for their job and release any tension that’s built up during training. If it’s possible to turn your horse out with other horses, they can adopt herd behaviours which allow bonding with other animals and lots of rest and relaxation.
How often should you rest your horse?
For short-term recovery, the general advice is to give your horse a total day off once a week, though please note that they must still be turned out on that day! Then, try to ensure that there’s a day of active rest (for example going for a gentle hack or doing some in-hand work) in between very intense training sessions, like gallops sessions or gymnastic jumping. It’s also good practice to give your horse two to three days off after a competition, especially if they worked very hard! Here’s an article with more information about helping your horse make the best possible recovery after competing.
When it comes to turning your horse away for a holiday, this can vary greatly depending on their stage of training, age, temperament and physical condition. Lots of people may start a younger horse under saddle, then turn it away to grow and develop. Horses at their peak can have a holiday in the field every 6 months, or once a year. Experienced horse trainers will always be able to tell you about a horse they’ve had who just doesn’t like to be out of work and turned away, whereas other horses may need to decompress every couple of months. There’s also an argument for keeping horses who have kissing spines that are being managed with physio and a strong topline to be kept in work of some kind virtually all the time. So, as you can see, how often you rest your horse can be very much down to the individual!
How do you bring your horse back into work after a break?
Just as with a human athlete, it’s so important to build a horse’s strength and condition back up gradually after they’ve been on holiday. That way they’ll have the muscle strength and flexibility to stay sound and healthy as they get fitter. You’ll be delighted to hear that we’ve shared our six-week plan to help you take your horse from a field holiday to fitness, which you can read here.