When was the last time you were up close and personal with a piece of exercise equipment or

a pair of running shoes? Does the thought of going for a 5 mile run make you realize that you

have spent way too much time on the couch this past winter?

If your horse could talk it would probably share your sentiments in regard to jumping right into a long exercise outing when ithas spent the past several months lounging near the round bale, getting a hay belly, and becoming unfit. Some people think that conditioning a horse is a mystical process. Keeping in mind that a horse has much more in common with us human beings than with a motorcycle or four-wheeler, will help to remove a lot of the mystery from the conditioning process.

Why should we be concerned about our horses’ fitness levels as we beginning riding them

after their long winter off?

Horses, like humans, can experience many adverse effects of exercising too long and/or too hard without proper conditioning. Also similar to humans, horses have positive adaptations to exercise that will increase their performance over time. There are several exertional myopathies or muscle diseases caused by exertion that can occur in the horse. They are usually produced in one of two ways. They made be a result of exercise following a period of inactivity during which the horse is maintained on a grain diet. The other main cause of exertional myopathies is inadequate conditioning of an unfit horse prior to prolonged strenuous exercise. These exertion related muscle diseases are often classified into three diseases: azoturia, typing up, and endurance related myopathies. For more information on these muscle conditions, use this web link: http://www.livestocktrail.uiuc.edu/uploads/horsenet/papers/Condition_horse.pdf