Ridecamp: Re: [RC] The Aging Equine Athlete!

On Sun, 23 Jun 2002 10:58:37 EDT, FASTGraphic@xxxxxx wrote:

>In a message dated 6/21/2002 3:05:39 PM Pacific Daylight Time, jlong@xxxxxxxx 
>writes:
>
><<  His last 100-mile First Place
> and BC came at age 18.  I made the comment that day that the
> "over-the-hill horse could still get over the hills in style." >>
>
>LOL  At what age did he begin conditioning and competing?  Do you know?

He was trained to ride at three, conditioning began at four, we
completed our first 25 as a late four-year-old and our first 50 as
soon as he was five.  We got his first BC at five and a half, his
first first-to-finish at six.  All rather young, but I didn't know any
better at the time.  A lot of horses wouldn't have held up to that
early a start.

What saved him for a long career was our getting pulled on our second
50.  We did that 25 much too fast, but did our first 50 nice and slow.
Then, on the second 50, I went with the front bunch for the first 25
miles -- we were having such a good time.  I slowed down then, but the
damage was done and Kahlil cramped at the third vet check.  He was
pulled and treated.  That scared me enough so that I slowed down and
didn't run for first place for a year, and by that time he had 500
miles completed.

That's when we really started racing hard.  He won his first 100
(1st/BC) and was National Reserve Champion at age seven.  He ran over
30 100-mile rides in his career, and only finished out of the Top Ten
in one of them (a 12th place at a Race of Champions).

I think a lesson that can be gained from this, is that foundation is
important, even more than starting age.  A tough horse can run fast
and far, for many years, if you let the bones and joints get strong
before you start going at speed.  Of course, an older horse often
already has some foundation and may not take as long to condition.

-- 

Joe Long
jlong@xxxxxxxx
http://www.rnbw.com


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