Our training hasn’t been ideal leading up to our first competition, with weather and work, but we have made the most of the time we have had and kept as consistent as we could.
Estrid has had 32 training sessions in the last 12 weeks leading up to Haywood Oaks.
- 5 hill walks
- 9 Polework (ridden and in-hand)
- 9 Hacks (including two on gallops)
- 3 Schooling
- 6 Water treadmill
I aim for 4 sessions a week. Mondays are usually poles, hill walks or schooling. Wednesday has been our water treadmill day. Friday and Sunday are our hacking days. Which meant more often than not she was only being ridden twice a week and worked from the ground on the other days.
She is actually starting to look pretty good so maybe this method really suits her, but as we prepare for our next 80km she will have more ridden work and less groundwork. I’m still going to keep to 4 sessions a week as life and work are pretty manic at the moment and 4 sessions seems doable to keep everything in balance.
Packing for our first ride of the season seems to have come around so quickly now we’re actually here, but in reality it’s been 3 months of preparation so let’s hope we make it and we have a good time!
Beth Endurance 