50 mile wisdom needed

[Sue Brown <sbrown@wamedes.com>]

Could someone please tell me where to find the article written re: how to
know when you're ready for 50 miles?  Also...any and all advice in this
category will be greatly appreciated.

Cabby should be fine.  He has done 50s in the past, he's getting a fair
amount of conditioning now, and his new saddle should be here in a couple
of weeks.  *I*, on the other hand, have not done a 50 yet (personally) so
I'm trying to get in better shape so I don't die. <g>  I'm a HW and Cabby
carries me with lots of energy and excellent recoveries.  We've done 2 days
in a row of about 20 miles each day on moderate terrain with energy left
over -- still bouncing at the walk heading back to the trailer. 

Billy has been worked with and conditioned by Aarene now for nearly a
year...a couple of months at the start were spent specifically on "brain"
stuff, ground work, and arena dressage, and he's been going out 1-2 times a
week for a while now, working well in our hilly, muddy terrain.  He's got
lots of energy left when we return to the trailer after about 4 hours (15+
miles of lots of hills) and we will be increasing his time more over the
next month.  We would like to start him out on 50s for his brain, but don't
want to tax his body too much.  He has never been to a competition before,
so the camping part will be all new.  (He will have experienced horses with
him who are fairly calm and well-behaved.)  He's 10 (coming 11) but didn't
do much before I got him about a year and a half ago.  Aarene's a MW and
also has not done a 50 before.  His recoveries are excellent at this point
and we are planning to start him in April or May.  Would 50 be too much at
this point?

Blaze should be ready if he's got a LW rider...don't know about a HW...so
it will probably depend on who's riding him.  He has done LD for a full
season with me and has had nearly all A's for the season going a bit faster
than middle of the pack speed (towards the end) carrying a HW.  All 3 of
the boys are eating, drinking, and peeing well on the trails at this point.

Thanks for any words of wisdom helping us make the next leap.  (And *no*,
Howard, I'm not planning on going very fast on my first 50! ;-))

Sue