Re: Simple question, maybe not so simple answer.

["Susan Garlinghouse" <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>]

> I work full time 8am - 5pm.   I also have my own business I run.  In my
free
> time I am training and conditioning my 4 yr old for 25 mile CTR's.  Here
is
> my dilema.  Is it better for me to ride him 5 days a week 1 1/2 -2 hours
or
> to ride on weekends for up to maybe 6 hours at a time?
>
> Thanks for your help!
> Angie N


Well, keep in mind this opinion comes from an exercise physiology academic
background, not as anyone who had campaigned dozens of high mileage horses.
Between the two, I would definitely say 5-day routine is better, as
consistent work is going to gain you the increased density in bone, soft
tissue and muscle that you'll need for a long, sound career.  Riding on the
weekends is definitely do-able, lots of successful riders do it that way,
but that's usually a better option physiologically for a horse that already
has a good, solid base on him.

However, I'm leery about "conditioning" a four year old youngster (in my
book) too hard.  You can certainly *ride* the horse five days a week, but be
very careful about loading hard work onto those young legs day after day.
Work out a plan of having different things to do each day, so that maybe two
days a week, you work on bending and softening and working on moving off the
leg, either in an arena or out, etc;  two days a week, you work on
developing an easy, effortless, no-nonsense jog on down the road with
extremely little cantering; and the fifth day, you can maybe work on things
like mounting on the trail, going up and down hills in a balanced way,
practicing eating and drinking, getting tied to trailers away from home,
learning to behave in a group and either leaving or being left without
getting stupid, or just developing a really nice, relaxed, consistent walk
without getting worried about how far you went.  Whatever comes into your
head to do that doesn't put a lot of strain on either muscle, bone or
tendon.  And for now, when you come to poor footing like deep sand, very
hard surfaces, mud, etc, WALK.

You'll want to mix up your days so that the muscle group that was worked the
day before has a good day or so to recover, compensate and develop before
being asked to really work again.  If you keep doing the same thing day
after day, you won't develop nearly as quickly or consistently and won't
develop the "whole" horse as well.  I can't think of anything better for a
young horse at this point in his career than some good dressage lessons, and
that goes for you too, no matter how skilled a rider you are.

A key point for you to keep in mind is that a 25 mile CTR is just not that
difficult for a quality horse either aerobically or muscularly, assuming you
don't do anything stupid like gallop wildly through it and then have to wait
at the end for your minimum time to expire before you can walk in.  The best
thing you can do for your horse at this point in his career is to totally
forget about "conditioning" muscles or cardiovascular system.  Work on
manners and maintaining an easy pace; work on eating and drinking well on
the trail; responding to your cues and learning to tolerate whatever
shenanigans you may choose to do out there.  Just have a good time, spend
alot of your time just walking and relaxing and exercising the horse's mind
(and yours) and you'll both do just fine and have a much brighter future for
having taken your time this early in the game.

Good luck and HAVE FUN.

Susan G