Planning the horse’s training

Training is a capacity booster that aims to get the best performance from the horse-rider partnership by the improvement of their physical, physiological, tactical and mental qualities. It allows both to tolerate the intense demands of competitions and to increase training loads through  a more sustainable recovery. Notwithstanding a widespread idea in horse riding, well thought out, it contributes to the preservation of the athlete’s health.
In progamming and planning training sessions, the coach must ensure :

• Progression of the preparation according to periods (macrocycles) and cycles
• Work balance in each microcycle and consistency in the succession of sessions
• Good management of recovery

In time spent in the preparation imposed by the competition season, it is essential to plan training and to set up for each period, cycle and microcycle, a consistent programme in tune with the defined objectives. This is how you can :

• Train in a constructive way
• Check on your work
• Evaluate your level of preparation
• Regularly and efficiently adjust your amount of work
• Assess the results at the end of the season comparing results with those of the past years, noting what has been a success and what’s been a hindrance or a failure
• Prepare new objective(s) on better bases

Programming your preparation or training

It’s evaluating the means that need to be set up in order to organize and contemplate the future after having defined achievable objectives for the horse/rider partnership. « Knowing where we come from, where we are going and what we want to achieve »

Planning the training

This means making the programme operational. In order to organize regular supervised and progressive training work, it is essential to adapt it according to the training period, by setting out different parameters such as frequency, regularity, intensity and volume of the training you wish to implement.

• Frequency and regularity : progress can quickly appear when training twice weekly at least… but they can also dissappear very quickly after a break in training sesions of one or two weeks.
• Intensity : this notion refers to the percentage of energy or to the level of effort required. It’s directly related to demands on the energy channels-. The greater the effort, the less time  should be spent on the exercise and vice versa.
• Volume (quantity) : one of the most important points of training is it’s dosage. Generally, we gradually increase by multiplying the number of series, of exercises therefore repetitions or number of sessions.

As soon as you adjust these parameters, you start planning and programming, which is essential if you have clear objectives.

No matter what the sport, and regarding equestrian sports, in order to be consistent training must be organized over time according to objectives. Thus a sports season can be prepared on 1, 2, 3 or even 4 sequences (hardly more), each one of them being divided in the same manner : there are 4 major periods, called :

• Development : Generally  it’s the longest (about 50% of the overall training or the sequence). The distance from the objectives is greatest,  it relies on a significant amount of work. The horse and it’s rider acquire the essential  basic stamina for a succesful season. Sessions are rather long (more volume than quantity) but not intense (less quality and intensity) / work on technique and general physical preparation (GPP).
• Pre-competition : It’s a transition period between  « development » and the « competition » period (about 30% of the training or the sequence). This part is more explosive, needs more power. Sessions are shorter (less volume/quantity) but more intense and technical (more quality/intensity) / working on techniques and more specific preparation (SP).
• Competition : « Fine tuning » period (about 10 to 15% of  training time or sequence), it’s the result of all your efforts and the expression of the achievments. If training has been correctly conducted, it should allow your « fitness peaks » to coincide with the « objectives ». Sessions are shorter (less volume/quantity) with an intensity close to the intensity of a competition (lots of quality / intensity)/ very specific work. This period always ends with a « goal competition. »
• Transition or recovering : Period at the end of the sequence or of the season, during which the body recovers from the efforts made after an important objective or after the principal obectives of the season (about 5 to 10% of the training or sequence). First  physical and psychological recovery can be a full rest period (activity with no particular physical constraint) that will last from 3 days to 3 weeks maximum. Then the transition progressivley becomes active in order to launch a new sequence, geared towards new goals or the next season.

This simple training plan is essential to protect yourself from under-training or, on the contrary, from overtraining, or even from certain injuries.

When the overall training plan is defined, organising each component each then needs to be done by increasing the work loads for each of them, in the successive microcycles and cycles while ensuring that the work / rest rotation is always repected.

Progression

Progamming training starts from the return to work at the end of the tranistion or recovery period and ends with the recovery and/or resting period that follows the main objectives or at the end of the season.
In the pattern suggested here, which as previously mentioned can be modified to suit requirements, each of the periods is related to the duration and to the particular work that is required, it is built and progresses around three major axes : volume, intensity and recovery. It is sequenced in cycles (of a month for example) and microcycles (of a week for example) (see graphic 1 and 2). This enables to progressively increase volume and intensity of work, level of physical condition and therefore performance and to reach the fitness peak(s) in time to coincide with the ojective(s) by alternating work and relative rest.

Cycles and microcycles

Each cycle is the sum of the work scheduled within the period. Each microcycle in the cycle is the marker of volume progression and of planned intensity. The work loads have to be consistent with one another (see fact sheet «Assessing the amount of training »).
In the example below we have chosen cycles that include 3 microcycles for progression to one of relative rest (RR). The latter is a regeneration microcyle involving a work load equivalant to the load of the first microcycle ----- (red discontinuous line – see graph 3)
The following cycle will begin with the same amount of work as that of the second microcylce in cycle 1 ----((blue discontinuous ligne – see graph 3)
If it’s a long period (over more than 3 months), it can be cut in two. For example, during the winter season, we can choose to set up a « first development » period (essentially based on the long distance technical work, development of the fundamental capacities, the GPP) and a « second development » period (based on more specific work by increasing intensity over the  volume). These two periods can be interspersed by one or two indoor competitions or an intensive schooling clinic… (see graph 3).

Two examples of organization for « pre competition » period and « competition » period are presented on graphs 4 and 5.

Work and judicous rotation of the sequences and the increase of the amount and/or the intensity in each microcycle will progressively increase the capacities by reducing the effects of tiredness (see graph 6). However, an « overcompensation » phenomenon can not work indefinetly. We consider that after 3 microcycles of increasing amount and/or the intensity, it’s essential to respect a period of relative rest that will allow recovery of the metabolism but will also enrich the effects of the past trainings in order to have a better start on the next cycle.

Practising, means taking care of :

• Individualization of the training parameters
• Defining initial objectives for each session
• Ensuring the quality of work and eliminating useless or damaging situations
• Encouraging technical and physical work based on the objectives
• Constantly diversifying situations with regard to the schedule
• Any gesture used should be as close as possible to the gesture used in competitions
• Alternating effort phases with rest phases and ensuring the quality of the rest
• Also developing mental and motivation capacities.