Ride iQ Free Lesson of the Week

[PODCAST] ASK AN EXPERT: Conditioning Schedule Workshop (Starter - Novice Level)

Ride iQ Free Lesson of the Week

Show Notes

RIDE iQ FULL EPISODE | ASK AN EXPERT

Did you know that Ride iQ has tons of amazing content to listen to when you're off your horse, too? This track is an episode Ask An Expert (AAE), a live weekly podcast that covers all sorts of equestrian topics. Ride iQ members are invited to submit questions ahead of time or attend the live podcast recording to get the answers they're looking for directly from the week's featured expert.

This episode of AAE is a conditioning schedule workshop for pairs competing at Starter level - Novice level in eventing. If you're not an event rider, this conversation is still super insightful and can be applied to the discipline of your choice.

During the episode, Jon Holling will share 6-week conditioning schedule templates for each level and he'll go over how you can customize the schedule to your specific horse and circumstances.

Meet Your Coach: Jon Holling

Jon is a US 5* event rider. He coached the Area IV Young Rider team to multiple gold medals. He is Vice Chairman of the USEF Eventing Sport Committee and National Safety Officer for the US to the FEI. He is an ICP Level IV coach.

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Video of this episode

Printable conditioning schedule templates

Starter level

Beginner Novice

Novice

Podcast Preview

4:00: How do you approach conditioning schedules?

9:20: Covering the first 6-week program.

17:20: How much rest are you giving your horse between trot and canter sets?

21:50: On Thursdays for the first template, what are you doing outside of the trot set?

24:50: Covering the second 6-week program for beginner novice.

29:30: Covering the third 6-week program for novice.

33:30: On a hack day, do you expect your horse to have any type of frame? What do you expect the frame to be when you are doing interval training?

37:15: Is there a rough formula to follow to get the correct restart week if the horse has some time off?

42:00: How do you alter the fitness schedule in preparation for an event?

46:30: How would you alter the program for someone who can only ride four days a week?

48:30: If you have a horse that is naturally cardiovascularly fit at the starter to novice level, are the walk, trot, and canter days important for soft tissue conditioning?

50:20: Would you change the schedule at all for a horse who is doing beginner novice eventing and also showing 3rd/4th level dressage?

52:50: If a day is missed, should you make up that day, skip it and go onto the next day, or re-do the entire week?

55:00: Is it okay to shorten the hack if there are a lot of hills? Is it a good idea to take advantage of every hill you can find?

58:10: Is there a point where the mud gets too thick to walk in? What is your opinion about that?

✨Start your 14-day Ride iQ free trial and get full access to hundreds of lessons and podcast episodes at ⁠⁠⁠⁠Ride-iQ.com⁠⁠⁠⁠✨

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