Re: Re: Re: Re: Overconditioning

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

> I realize that all horses are different, but in general what is considered
> overconditioning the horse?

In an acute sense (as in ,"uh oh, I did way too much today") it signs like
lameness, exhausted horse syndrome, everything you might see at an endurance
ride in a horse that's been pushed too hard.

More common is overtraining in a chronic, long term sense, and that is
generally going to show up as decreasing appetite, poor attitude, getting
progressively thinner, just sort of stands around without alot of interest
or wanting to play much (no bucking and sprinting off when turnd out), alot
of low-grade soreness here and there.  The recovereis aren't going to be
quite what they should be and you're likely to start to find small areas of
inflammation and soreness in the legs and elsewhere.  It's not exact, just a
general sense of This Boy Done Been Worked Too Long.  You see them at most
ridecamps, the thin horses that are standing around tied to a trailer, not
eating very well, looking like they've already done 50 miles the day before
the ride.

Susan G