Fit or Fat

So, since my last post I have been working hard on Carats fitness. I want to get him stronger and fitter and he really needs to lose a little weight!

We are incredibly lucky to have acres and acres of grazing which at the moment we only have three horses on. Its fantastic but it does mean that there is no lack of grass for Mr C to stuff his face with... and stuff he does.

He is overweight at the moment and as restricting him where we are is very difficult I just need to try to work him a little more to burn off the calories. He has been doing more and more but not pushing too fast too quickly as I don't want him to break again. He has been hacking a lot, hill work and introducing more and more trot over the last month and is now starting more canter work as he is finding the trot work much easier. He also has been doing lots of long reining and a small amount or lunge work but only when the footing is right and in very large circles.

He also has a routine to help keep his back soft as he is so much more free to ride, and I think there will be less strain on his suspensories if he is using his back more. He has the back massage pad on pretty much every time before he is worked. We always start with lots of active walking before anything else and end the same way. After work he gets a proper groom and rub down and doesn't seem to stiffen up with this. I loved this grooming routine that I was recommended by a friend.

Some days he has the grump about having to walk out and work and other days he loves it. I am really happy with his progression so far. Fingers crossed he stays sound!!!

Finally we recently had a professional photo shoot with Sean Cameron. Sean is fantastic and has done Dog Agility photos etc for me in the past, he is also affordable which makes a huge difference! I will be posting and updating some of the photos over the next few blog posts.