Conditioning Question

["guest@endurance.net" <guest@endurance.net>]

Colleen McGraw pfarber-cmcgraw@ic.net
I'm looking for opinions, rules of thumb, basic advice. What
do I need to do to get a 9 year old gelding (who is not a total
pasture potato, but close) ready to do a 250 mile/14 day recre-
ational trail ride?  The ride is in Sept., the terrain is not
very difficult.  Three of the 14 days are "rest days." Most
conditioning programs I have read are pointing to a one day
peak effort--a competition, say. You'd think after all the
trail riding I have done, I would have a better feel for what
I need to do to have a horse prepared, but I find this very
confusing.  What are some basic "receipes"?
Thanks, Colleen