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[RC] A year of LD - long - GarnerTI think a lot has to do with your horse's personality, but what is even more important, is the age of the horse. I did a full year of LD on my gelding, but he was only 4. I purchased several books on endurance riding & training, plus I had done a couple of years of LD on 2 other horses while looking for "the" horse, so I had an idea of what to do for my horse. It takes more than just a few months training to get those tendons & ligaments strong, especially on a young horse, so I took a lot of time. I've also gone slowly with 50s, not doing too many for the first year and riding slowly. So far, so good - no pulls, lameness, or metabolic. I have to agree that sometimes it CAN scramble their little brains, however. The horror & shock on Taz's face when we left AFTER lunch to do our first 50 was priceless. It was a death march for the first 20 minutes, with yearning glances back toward base camp. After 4 50s, he knows what's going on, and just goes on out (still not thrilled), but he's a trooper! I think you have to judge your horse's mental & physical capabilities before deciding on a year of LD, or just doing 2 or 3 before moving up. Also, if you train hard & train a lot, I don't think you need to do a lot of LDs. I have a friend who's mare would be a basket case if she had done a lot of LD on her. She was older when purchased, so she could move faster with her. It just depends. Kathy & Taz (who would love to go back to LDs) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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