Perhaps you would like to show
your miniature horse in halter classes. Let's say your horse
already knows how to set up, perk his/her ears forward, and
stand still, but he/she is overweight, not very muscular, or
just needs some fitness.
Start the conditioning out easy.
I started by walking my horse up and down hills. She got
more confident, so we started trotting up and down those
hills. We did this for a little over a month, and her
physical and mental fitness peaked.
My mare was now ready to start
being round-penned. We were boarding at the time, and I
simply made her run around in the round pen. The round pen
caused her to go in circles, so her chest got stronger, and
her back legs strengthened right out.
Since she was round penning
nicely, I decided to train her to a lunge line. A couple
times a week, plus her walks and trots I would lunge her on
a lunge line; no faster than an extended trot. (I wanted her
to drive eventually; a driving horse shouldn't canter on a
lunge line.)
My mare was looking pretty good
by now. Her legs were straight and no longer flabby; her
chest and neck were nice and firm. Her stomach was lean and
fit as well. I decided to start jumping her in hand. She was
very fit by now too.
About 6 months later, I began
showing my mare. She brought home several ribbons in halter
classes (even though she gets nervous at shows, and finds it
hard to stand still longer than 3 minutes!), and even a few
blues! It just goes to show that with these simple exercises
you can turn a herd mare into a well conditioned show horse
in months.
There are other various
routines, like hooking your horse up to a golf cart and
making them run with it, or driving them. My mare is
currently training to drive and I have never tried the golf
cart, so I am not sure what they do.
