LD or End.

[Deanna German <finishis2win@columbus.rr.com>]

Angie,

Every situation is different, YMMV, but my advice is to err on the side of
caution.

My horse is only 6 so my situation is not a direct comparison to yours. But
she is very athletic. I did two novice CTRs when she was 4YO and last summer
started doing from 20 - 40 miles per week of LSD (mostly right around 30
miles per week). I took Grand Champion at a 25 mile CTR in late June. She
didn't look like she had even been on trail! I did that 25 in 4 1/2 hours.

I started thinking about doing a 50 in September or early October. I posted
to RC and got lots of encouragement. I got lots of encouragement from a
local endurance rider. I got told to quit whining and just do it in a not
nice way. I chose an early October ride to do a 50, but then decided to do
back-to-back 25's.

That 25 LD was THE LONGEST 25 miles of my life! I was training at 20 miles
occasionally, so you would think it would be no biggie, right? Based on my
normal pace, I thought I could do any 25 easily in the time allotted, no
matter what the terrain. WRONG! It took 3 hours to just do the first 10
miles! My mare was tired, but not whupped, and I was determined to do the
mileage even if we didn't get credit for it (it was a brain training thing).
I came in at 6 1/2 hours. To give you an idea of how tough that trail was, a
quarter of us were overtime and the first finisher of the LD took 4 hours.

People in camp told me my mare didn't look at all tired, but I knew better.
My shoulders did not ache from holding her back and my legs were tired from
legging her on. I could feel that she was "off" on her left diagonal, but
pulse was fine. She trotted out sound, but I knew she wasn't. Metabolics
weren't the greatest (C on gut sounds), but my mare likes to stress colic,
and if I get food, water and 'lytes into her, blanket her and walk her a
bit, she's fine. Gut sounds 4 feet away an hour after (not) finishing. I
hope it goes without saying that I did not do the next day's 25 miler.

It could be said that I picked too tough ride to do a first 50 and I would
agree. (Although some posters on RC were saying that picking a tough course
for a first 50 is good because it will make your horse "see God".) It was
the first time the ride was put on, so no one knew how tough the trails
were, especially since it had rained all through the night the night before.
Straight up, straight down lots of big muddy hills. I did most of those
muddy hills on foot.

My advice is to do some two-day 50's or 60's, whether CTR or back-to-back
LD's, and see how your horse does and THEN decide when you want to make the
move to a one-day 50. When you do decide to do a one-day 50, pick one
similar to the trails you train on or easier. Some rides later in the season
are held on the same trails as rides earlier in the season. Do a 25 early in
the season and get to know the trails, then you'll know what you're in for
on the 50-mile endurance ride. Ride to complete; don't compete until you
know what you have.

If you still have doubts, drop a note to Howard B. He's the one who made me
change my mind and I'm very glad he did. Saved me some $$ and it saved my
horse a few more miles of wear and tear.

Deanna