Horse care tips

To burn fat, a brisk walk or steady trot beats faster work. Walking up hills, in hand or ridden, is especially effective.

Walking over ground poles is a low-intensity way to engage your horse's core and improve joint range of motion. Start simple and build up gradually.

Bringing a horse back into work? Resist the 'blow the cobwebs away' canter. Fitness is lost quickly, and joints, tendons and muscles need time to build back up.

Recovering from flu takes weeks. Keep dust to a minimum, and get your vet's go-ahead before returning to work to avoid complications.

Fast or prolonged work on hard ground is a known cause of mechanical laminitis. Ease off on baked summer ground.

In a heatwave, ride at the coolest time of day and keep work light. Afterwards, hose or sponge your horse down to remove sweat and help it cool.

Humidity matters as much as heat: in muggy weather sweat evaporates less, so horses struggle more to shed heat. Ease off on hot, humid days.

Horses acclimatise to working in heat gradually. When a hot spell arrives suddenly, avoid long or intense work until your horse has adjusted.

Finish every hot-weather ride with a spell of walking, then untack quickly so you can start cooling your horse down.