Ridecamp: [RC] Zen and the Art of Endurance - My take on HRM use

    I had some time to think while driving this week, and what started out
in my mind's Word Program (MindoSoft Word?) as a rebuttal to Howard's
recommendation that all newbies have a heart monitor, turned into "What
could I possibly teach a newbie".  I am not a very entertaining writer, but
for some reason I am feeling compelled to write, so here it is.

   The disclaimer is that I will never tell you how to load your horse, fit
your saddle, or what bit to use, heck, I won't even tell you how to shoe
your horse, without sufficient begging, and that is what I did for a living
for 20 years. I just think there are many people here on Ridecamp who can do
all that better than I can, or at least a bunch who *think* they can, and
are pretty verbal about it.

    What I *can* tell you is how I feel about some of the skills it takes to
be successful in endurance - what I have learned in the last half of my life
going down the trail in AERC rides. I have had modest success, and I feel
good about my record, so take it all with a grain of salt, print it and put
it under your pillow, or hit delete about now - it won't hurt my feelings
any way.

    My first thought is that I do not agree with Howard regarding his
statement that every new endurance rider *has* to have a heart monitor - I
rode endurance for over 15 years and 3000 miles without every putting a HRM
on a horse.  When HRM came out I found them infinitely fascinating.  It was
really cool to see the changes in my horse's HR during different levels of
activity - it was amazing to see what I had not seen with my eyes before.
Too cool.  I relied on it to let me know when my horse was 'ready', when he
could go faster or should go slower, when I needed to get off and run, when
I could ask for more.  Very cool.

    All of a sudden the instincts that I had honed were not needed anymore,
what I had spent thousands of hours *feeling*, I could see right there in
front of me.  Not cool.  I found I was relying on my little machine to tell
me what I should have *heard* from my horse.  Instead of looking in his eyes
and seeing the level of his ability, his enthusiasm, or his feelings about
going down the trail today, I was watching his heart rate go up and down on
a little LCD screen. You can disagree with me all you want, but my feeling
is that his heart rate is not HIM, not the part I need to be in touch with.
I'll try to explain what I do to reach that part of him that is not
displayed in LCD.

    In the months it takes to prepare a horse for a 50 mile ride, I spend
countless hours alone with him.  I speak to him, I think through him, and I
*feel* him.  Sometimes I close my eyes going down a familiar trail and I
feel every muscle in his body - the flick of his ears, the footfall and its
associated push off and subsequent flight - I become him.  I have learned in
the hours we have spent, if he needs a nudge of my heel, a thump of my leg,
or just a little smooch to go forward at a faster speed.  Some times, I only
have to *think* faster, and he goes.

    I am not saying you don't have to understand your horse's heart rate - I
recommend using a stethoscope at times to check the rate at which his heart
slows at the top of a big hill, or after a measured distance of a big trot.
Take his heart rate and listen to it come down to parameters - then compare
it to next week and the next.  When it comes down to 60 after a few minutes,
you are getting there.  Now put the 'scope away.

    NOW, look in his eye.  Is he looking back at you? Is he looking ahead?
Or is he looking 'inside' himself.  Is he still going forward at a smooch,
or is he stumbling a little?  Close your eyes.  Is the footfall heavier?
The push off slower?  The flight of his feet lower than it was when he was
fresh?  You may need to assess your speed, or the ability to go on.  Where
is his head- lower?  His tail, his ears.  His ears speak volumes.  Are they
off to the sides a little more than normal, do they appear *tired* Think
about how he feels - how he is moving.

    I have more of this in my mind, but my best advice tonight to a new
endurance rider is to ride alone.  Don't follow the rest, relying on you
horse's herd instincts to keep him going.  FEEL him, and know when he is
tired and when he is distracted.  KNOW when he needs a break, or can go
ahead.  Do not rely on the LCD screen to tell you what you need to know.  It
can lie, and it can distort your ability to speak to each other.

Laura Hayes  AERC #2741



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