Re: RC: Looking for advice...

[DVeritas@aol.com]

Kim,
     You are fortunate to have an eleven (sound, with no chronic problems, I 
presume) year old to "start".  Sometimes the hardest part of this sport is 
allowing the horse to mature.
     Without getting particular (you will get enough of that from this list), 
and hopefully without sounding condescending, do learn (as it relates to 
endurance racing) the difference between "RIDING", "CONDITIONING" and 
"TRAINING".
     Oftimes one hears someone say, "I ride four times a week".  Okay, that's 
good. 
     But, that is not enough.  Is it "riding" or "conditioning, with goals in 
mind"?   Is it "training" your horse to work alone and acquire a good mental 
work ethic.  
     Have something in mind EACH TIME YOU RIDE.  Have a goal for that ride 
and then slide it into your overall scheme of things for where you want your 
horse to go and how you want to take him there.  (If your horse needs a nice, 
easy mosey-kind'a ride to just relax and enjoy the scenery, THAT (mental 
rest) is needed some, too.)
     It is so much more than just riding.
     I was asked to take a fifteen year old gelding and give him a job.  He 
hadn't been ridden for three and a half years.  He had been running loose on 
a few thousand acres, year 'round.  
    Five weeks later he trailered thirteen hours to his first endurance ride. 
 He completed the Big Horn 100 in ninth place, out of 16 starters.That hard 
fellow did what he had to do and amazed me.  At the risk of sounding 
"cliche", the head vet stated that he was by far the least "affected" of all 
the other finishers. 
    He was hard from living in the badlands for so long and was legged up and 
knew how to use himself.
    Eleven years old is a great age for an endurance horse, even one just 
"starting", just remember he has been doing something for the last eleven 
years.  (He has, hasn't he?)
     As for being "out of shape", just get him in shape.  Feed him right, 
ride him right (and often enough that he views it as his job) and start 
hauling him.
     Good Luck, Kim,
          Frank.