Good tips for getting a horse fit?

trotting. trotting is EXCELLENT for building muscle. working in deep sand arenas is a great way too, or trotting in deep sand! other than that, just keep working him; you can start making the riding sessions a little bit longer each week, too. Good luck!

Hill work is really the only way and you cannot expect a horse to gain stamina so young. Perhaps you are doing too much too soon. You do not say how LONG you are riding, but half an hour for a youngster is more than enough. Remember he is still growing and will continue to do so until the age of about 6 or 7, when you can step up the stamina training. Horses do not stop growing until then and you could also not be feeding him enough or the right kind of feed. Speak to your feed merchant taking with you some pictures of your horse from both sides, front (to show shoulders and chest) and behind - rump and hips. Measure the girth area all around and if you can get a weight tape measure again around the girth and note down the weight. This is approximate, but a good enough guess for feeding purposes. For example he might have a very thin rib cage, or he might be particularly deep, depending on his breeding. They will advise you as to what to feed and how much.

Long trotting through sand or a wash works wonders. But there are many different excersises to build different muscles. Rollbacks, going from a stop to a lope, loping and trotting different size circles etc. I do all of these with all of my horses. The best I have found is long trotting. Start off with hour rides and increase them each day. With a combination of those different excersises you will definitely see some improvement!

Find a place that declines gradually and back him down it a few times. I know it sounds weird but i would do this with my mare a couple times a week. Makes them concentrate and builds muscle :) Just be careful.

Hill work is really the only way and you cannot expect a horse to gain stamina so young. Perhaps you are doing too much too soon. You do not say how LONG you are riding, but half an hour for a youngster is more than enough. Remember he is still growing and will continue to do so until the age of about 6 or 7, when you can step up the stamina training. Horses do not stop growing until then and you could also not be feeding him enough or the right kind of feed. Speak to your feed merchant taking with you some pictures of your horse from both sides, front (to show shoulders and chest) and behind - rump and hips. Measure the girth area all around and if you can get a weight tape measure again around the girth and note down the weight. This is approximate, but a good enough guess for feeding purposes. For example he might have a very thin rib cage, or he might be particularly deep, depending on his breeding. They will advise you as to what to feed and how much.

Long trotting through sand or a wash works wonders. But there are many different excersises to build different muscles. Rollbacks, going from a stop to a lope, loping and trotting different size circles etc. I do all of these with all of my horses. The best I have found is long trotting. Start off with hour rides and increase them each day. With a combination of those different excersises you will definitely see some improvement!

Find a place that declines gradually and back him down it a few times. I know it sounds weird but i would do this with my mare a couple times a week. Makes them concentrate and builds muscle :) Just be careful.