Horse Fitness Calculator

Min Weeks Needed is calculated purely from the gap between the two levels -- 4 weeks base plus 4 weeks per level of difference -- so raising the Target Level by one step adds exactly as many weeks as lowering Current Fitness by one step, as long as Current Fitness is still below Target Level. The gap is floored at 0, so once Current Fitness reaches or exceeds Target Level, raising Current Fitness further no longer reduces Min Weeks Needed -- the equal-and-opposite relationship only holds on the side where a real fitness gap exists.

The plan weights walk and trot conditioning more heavily than canter work (roughly a 3:3:2 split of Min Weeks Needed) because building a solid low-intensity fitness base before adding faster gaits is standard conditioning practice -- it reduces the risk of soft-tissue and joint injury that comes from ramping up higher-impact work too quickly on an unconditioned horse. The three phases are proportioned directly from Min Weeks Needed, so Walk Phase plus Trot Phase plus Canter Phase always adds up to exactly Min Weeks Needed -- the phase breakdown and the headlined timeline always agree.

No -- Weeks Available is compared against Min Weeks Needed to produce the On Track flag, but it does not change how many weeks the plan itself calls for. Min Weeks Needed and the phase breakdown are set entirely by the fitness gap between Current Fitness and Target Level.

It's set at 20 beats per minute above the horse's Resting Heart Rate, used as a rough benchmark for how quickly the horse should recover about 10 minutes after exercise. It's an independent recovery-fitness indicator, not part of the conditioning timeline -- it doesn't move with Current Fitness, Target Level, or Weeks Available.

It does not factor in the horse's age, prior injury or lameness history, footing and terrain conditions, or individual variation in how quickly a specific horse actually conditions -- it produces a generic timeline from the fitness gap alone. Adjust the plan based on real recovery heart rates, soundness checks, and a veterinarian or trainer's assessment as conditioning progresses.