Day 1 of Interval Training

This week I read an interesting article on equikinetic. Equi what? Equikinetic is a combination of interval training on the lunge line and dual activation which was invented by Michael Geitner from Germany - read more here: Dual Activitation. In a nutshell, for lunging he uses blue and yellow beams. Together with interval training based on a 12 week training plan he invented the so called Equikinetic.

I do not have the blue and yellow beams but as I am lunging already the classical way (moving instead of standing still, no "triangle" - lunge/whip/horse, using a cavesson only), it is easy to at least implement the interval training idea. So I started today with step 1 in a 12 weeks training plan. 2-3 times a week you should work your horse according to the training plan, trot is the key to success, no canter. Alternately, you have work and pause phases. This weeks plan looks like this:


As it is rather unhandy to use a stop watch, I downloaded following app for my Android (have not yet found a free pendant for iOS): A HIIT Interval Timer. There you can send up a schedule like I did in the table above. It is easy to use and works pretty well!So I set the 4 steps as shown in the table above, set a time of roundabout 25 seconds for changing reins (and giving some treats!) and have 4 rounds (that you can set in a separate field).

What the app looks like...

It is necessary for this training that the horse trots in correct position meaning that the neck is properly bent to the inside! The circle is rather small (8 meter diameter approximately). It is further important that you strictly stick to the times scheduled!

And one more thing that I hopefully do not have to mention at all: make sure that you warm up your horse for at least 10 minutes!

I will keep you posted on our progress. Though I thought it might not be exhausting for him, I could see after the first session that he was tired but happy and not over-strained.


Watch a video here:



I guess it is worth a try as you can hardly do anything wrong - and it is a good alternative to simply lunging in circles ;)


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