HORSE GUARD FENCE Topic of the Month

EXERCISE CORRIDORS
The natural way to exercise horses
(from weanling onwards.)

This exercise system originated in Sweden where trotting is a major sport.
It may well be the reason for the Swedes' supremacy in this field as their horses are exercised from six months to maturity by a natural and simple method that causes no ligament or joint stress to their horses.
The exercise yard consists of a series of corridors side by side. Each one is fairly narrow - 6 to 10 yards wide and 100/200 yards long. The corridors are separated by 2 strands of tape and closed at the ends with 3 strands.
One horse is put into each corridor for 2 to 3 hours. It is important that the horses should be beside each other. They will tend to run up and down the full length of the corridor out of curiosity, competitiveness to their neighbor, or just out for playfulness. As each horse is confined to it's own corridor it is unable to injure itself or either of it's neighbors. When the horses stop running and playing it is either because they have become used to their companions or because they have exercised enough. At the next session it is then necessary to vary each horse's routine by either switching corridors or putting a strange or more fiery horse beside it.
After few month with this form of natural exercising horses, foals and even older horses will have developed good, hard muscles, improved wind and stronger hearts. It is not necessary to lunge or ride them by the hour and this will develop a natural competitive spirit.
With tape corridors their training starts, quite naturally, at weaning. By the age of two a horse reared this way has the build of a mature athlete and is raring to begin formal training.