Any advice on a good training programme for an ex broodmare?

I am actually in the process of re-schooling a broodmare who had 4 foals so I think I can help you out. Most mares who have had a few babies tend to retain the distended appearance of their bellies even after they have delivered. This is like a woman who has a bunch of kids, she has to work to get her body back. I started off with my mare lunging because no one had sat on her in 4 years. I didn't use any tack in the beginning, just a halter and a lunge line. When a horse is that unfit, you can't expect to make them come on a frame or work from behind right away because they have no muscle. You have to do some cardio first and get her a bit fitter before applying tack. Lunge for 15 minutes each direction trotting only with a 5 minute break in between. Do this until your horse isn't totally sweated up and blowing after the workout. This could take a week or two. Your next step is to start riding, if you are comfortable doing so. The same principle applies as with the lunging, you are doing cardio work. Go into the ring and trot on a loose rein for 20 minutes each direction. Again, this may take a week or two to build the mare up to where she isn't exhausted after. Now you can start some muscle building. Using side reins, lunge your mare 20 minutes each way trot only with a break when changing directions. You can continue this lunging work 3/4 times a week and ride the rest of the time, walking, trotting and cantering. Don't jump this mare until she has muscle behind, otherwise you are asking for injury. On the days you lunge, you are building muscle. On the days you ride you are doing cardio. keep each workout under an hour and work her 5/6 days a week. Depending on the fitness of your horse, you are looking at between 2/3 months before she should jump anything, if that is your goal.

If your mare is bloated and blown out as you describe ; first of all she needs to go onto a lean , controlable diet .

She will need to be stabled , or in an enclosure that has no grass . My guess is that rich grass is what is giving her the gassy blown out look .

When horses are out of working condition and overweight ; it is better not to ride them for quite a while , until they shape up and develop some muscle .

I recommend lunging starting with about 10 minutes a day , building to 20 minutes , keep changing direction about every 4/5 circuits , bring her into the middle for a "good girl lovedovey" before changing direction . Do this for about a month , at a certain point get her re-shod , then take out on long reins . ( If you have some quiet country lanes near your home , or stables .)

Lunging is a much more vigorous exercise than it appears , hence not for too long and frequent changes of direction . After about a month six weeks when she is slimmed down , muscled up a bit , looking more like a riding horse ; she may be mounted and taken out for daily walking exercise , preferably on the road , which helps to harden bones and tendons and is less likely to cause injury to the legs before she is really fit . The best preparation for race horses , eventers , show jumpers , dressage horses and hunters is just simple walking , No trotting , cantering and galloping . You can do a lot of basic training at the walk , half passes , shoulder in etc. as well as varying the stride , getting them to work from behind , so they are balanced , neck arched and muscled throughout the body . I'm sorry if I say too much , hope this helps .

I put my broodmare back into work at age 9 after 4 foals. At age 12 she completed a 25 mile endurance ride looking 9 months pregnant. At age 29 she finally died, looking 9 months pregnant. You can't get rid of the belly, you just have to put up with the shape - look at the other parts to assess condition. Apart from that, just start work as you would with any horse that is unfit.

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just treat her as if you were getting yourself back into shape after having a couple of kids.walking and decent food is the key,forget all the c.r.a.p. talked about lunging and long reining,just get on and ride her,presuming she is broke to saddle!just start slow and build up.it takes 3 months to get an unfit horse fit,so with your fatty allow 4,thats with no holdups and being ridden every day.for every day off(not ridden) add 3 more days to the fitness program.

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start with trust building, if a horse trust you they will lay down their life for you. a horse is only as good as it's trainer if its your first horse get a trainer maybe from a boarding place to spend a few hours with her and get their option on her. but if your experenced i would start with trust then some ground work first