Re: RC: How to improve Ridecamp..........

[DebiG54@aol.com]

This is the way I've gone about accomplishing everything.  Hope this helps 
someone.  Debi Gordon

<< 1:  How do you start young horses with conditioning?  I'm raising my own 
replacements so have been able to control my current prospects from day one.  
My babies are raised on 40 acres that includes hills, rocks and woods.  It's 
a no frills lifestyle--they get stalls when they're little and only a shed 
and the elements when older.  Every one of my youngsters has good feet, good 
bone, and strong bodies and minds to start the process of being ridden.  From 
there it's just a gradual process of slow, short rides stretching out to 
longer, faster, more challenging rides.  

 2:  What is your conditioning program for 50 mile rides?  100 mile rides?  I 
condition pretty much the same for both, which means 3 to 4 days a week with 
distances between 15 and 30 miles the norm.  I like to do at least one 50 
early in the season before tackling a 100, but have gone straight to the 100 
mile distance (with a seasoned horse) and been able to succeed, in fact, win.

 3:  What is your general feeding program?  What do you feed before, during 
and after hard rides?  Currently, I feed moderate amounts of Nutrena's 
Legacy, a feed that is high in fat and includes beet pulp.  On a daily basis, 
I feed grass hay.  I often use soaked beet pulp as a treat after a training 
ride and also offer it at rides.  If I have alfalfa on hand, I also offer 
that during and just after races, as well as the normal grain and hay.  I 
find that my horses often want carrots as much as grain during races, so I 
have lots of carrots on hand, too.  All this is assuming I have a pit crew or 
am looping back through camp for the vet checks.  I've completed and won many 
races feeding just grass and whatever I could beg, borrow, or steal when 
racing on my own, which is the way most of my races have been run.  
 
4:  What supplements and electrolytes do you use on conditioning rides and 
competitions?  All my endurance horses are supplemented with ABC's Joint Jolt 
on a daily basis.  They also have free choice minerals.  That's it, other 
than electrolytes during races and after hard training rides during the hot, 
humid summer.  
 
5:  What strategies do you use for cooling?  How do you cool after hard 
rides?  Do you ice legs?  Do you poultice and wrap legs?  At home, I just 
hose them off and turn them loose.  At races, I usually put ice boots on (if 
I can get up the energy) during the hour wait for BC judging.  After that, I 
usually poultice with ABC's product or a homemade concoction that includes 
tofu, ginger, and buckwheat flour.  This combo just sucks retained heat right 
out of their muscles, joints, tendons, and ligaments.

 6:  How do you train with your HRM"s?  At what range do you consider 
anaerobic with your horses?  How long do you hold them there?  What ranges do 
you stay between?
I don't train with a heart rate monitor--too lazy.  During races, when the 
darn thing is working, I rarely watch the monitor go above 160, which is the 
top end of aerobic.  I have won 100 mile races on CBS Redman in record time 
and not seen the monitor go over 145.  I do more anaerobic work in training 
than I do while racing in most cases.  My horses are stressed anaerobically 
in training with speed and hills, then only asked for the same explosiveness 
if absolutely necessary in races.  The more anaerobically you challenge the 
horse during a competition, the higher risk you take for all that can go 
wrong metabolically and structurally. In other words, I often train harder 
and faster than I race.  But the races are at longer distances than the 
training, so the horse is ready for what is asked, although I ask for the 
minimum necessary to complete the day's goal.

 7:  Saddles, tack etc?  I have used the Skyrider saddle since 1989.  It used 
to be called the Skyhorse.  I have won several saddles and tried them all but 
always come back to the Skyhorse.  It works for me and every horse I have, 
since it includes four hinges in the tree and a Skito pad as well.  Just your 
basic biothane for the bridle and breastplate--bits vary with the horse.

 8.  What do you look for in an endurance prospect? Is size important?  Size 
isn't important, but I'm always attracted to size for some reason.  Other 
than that, all the best in ideal conformation is what you look for.  I also 
like a good-looking horse with a kind, intelligent face.  And I've never 
bought a horse without feeling that intangible "grab" that I need to buy this 
horse.  It's your basic gut feeling idea, and I haven't been wrong yet.

 9:  Do you lay off your horse after the season?  Definitely.  The holidays 
and that ever present "real life" are always beckoning.  It helps the horses 
and me to just relax for a few months. 
 
 10:  What is your preferred plan for day before the ride?.  Do you ride your 
horse out on the trails the Friday before the ride?  What if you arrive late 
and can't get the horse out the day before the ride?  How do you warm up the 
morning of the ride?  I have always been one of the last arrivals at races, 
which isn't ideal, but you do the best you can.  I don't ride on the Friday 
before a Saturday race if I arrived on Friday.  I do if I arrive on Thursday. 
 I like to rest the horse after the stress of the trip as much as possible.  
The morning of the race I start out with walking, then trot a bit to be sure 
the muscles are warm.  

 11:  How do you deal with tie-up, thumps, dehydration, other metabolic 
problems?  Never had a tie-up or thumps at a race, but have, of course, seen 
varying levels of dehydration.  If electrolytes and water aren't bringing the 
horse around, the only choice is to slow way down or drop out.  If my horse 
is happy and doing the big four--eating, drinking, peeing, and pooping, I'll 
continue the race even with signs of dehydration.  I would just go slower and 
hope for a turnaround.
  
 12: Favorite rides, positive changes in the sport?  I'm not naming favorite 
rides, since I don't want to offend anyone.  Positive changes include more 
participants and more worldwide attention for the sport.  Negative changes 
include the ever increasing loss of innocence in the sport.  There are too 
many participants who spend too much time bragging about the horse they just 
sold to "the Arabs."  And too many participants rush the training of their 
next super horse to attract the eye of the big money buyers or to try and 
make the next international team.  Greed and ambition--these are human 
foibles that used to be more rare in the sport of endurance--not anymore.

 13:  My favorite question:  How did so many of the early riders complete 
ride after ride without the HRM, custom electrolytes, improved tack and 
advanced endurance research?  How did so many of you ride 100 miles in tennis 
shoes and English stirrups??!!!  In my first ride, I wore a bike helmet and 
chaps and had never heard of electrolytes or a heart rate monitor.  Now, the 
comfort of the rider and horse is much improved, but the goals are the same.  
The horses have benefited from the research and development of all the new 
tools that enhance performance.  It's all good!

Debi Gordon