My non-horse crew husband asked me last night "How
do riders who plan on competing in a 100-miler train? Do they do 50's? Or do
they just plain do 100's?"
He brings up a good point. I would venture to guess
that a good majority of people start in 50's who plan on doing hundreds. So for
some people it would seem logical to start in 25's to end up doing 50's. After
all, we and our horses are not all created equal. At least that's his logic.
It's why I started in 25's. I figured if I could know for certain that my horse
could do a 25, I would feel much more comfortable asking her to do a 50. That
was when I was conditioning my little Mustang mare. I discovered that 25 was
tough for her even after a whole summer of conditioning and two completed 25's.
If I'd tried a 50 on her, I think I would have been asking too much of her, at
any point in her lifetime. LD's helped me decide whether I had a horse who could
do endurance or not.
In the case of my current mount, doing a 25 is
definitely not for his benefit since I know he's a seasoned 50-mile horse. The
25 is currently for me. And I think in another two 25's, my body will be ready
for a 50. Exercise is a four-letter word in my vocabulary and the ONLY way I'm
going to get fit enough for a 50 is to get out there and compete at the LD level
since I can't seem to make myself get fit any other way.
I believe we all have our spot in this sport and
the LD definitely has a place. Do I think requiring a certain amount of them be
completed before one is allowed to do a 50? No. Because we are not all created
equal. What I have seen on some entry forms as of late, is a check box asking if
the entrant is a first-time rider. That, I think, is a great idea. It allows the
ride management and vets to help that newbie out and watch out for them. After
all, this is one great big family, right?
There is a lot of talk (opinions) as to
how people and horses should enter the sport of endurance. With
everything being thrown around it appears the ultimate outcome that is trying
to be achieved is the same. The objective is to educate..... The
more educated we become as riders and "owners/caretakers" of our horses the
better off everyone and every horse would be.
In support of the suggestion of LDs for a year it really is not such a bad
thing to educate not only ourselves but our horses as to "how it is done" and
what we expect. Riding 25 miles "training in familiar territory" and
traveling to a competition are totally different experiences for not only the
rider but also the horse. Put yourself in your horses position..... The
demands we place on them at a moments notice ex: change diet today, add more
oil, run run run, more electrolytes, run, run, run... no stop, drink ,no dont
eat so much at once, stand still let me pour this water on while I want you to
drink and heart rate to come down, come on come on drop your heart rate, your
dehydrated drink,drink,drink, more electrolytes let me shove them down your
throat.....and on and on and on..( I am not saying everyone does this I am
just generalizing and trying to make a point) Do you do this on your training
rides?
People we seem to be losing focus.. I read
the posts on ride camp in hopes to better educate myself..It seems the point
is being missed and people are becoming so critical of others .
However , we as competitors with a common interest (horses)
need to be willing to be open minded and listen to other people and
their horse experiences without becomming critical.
Listen and Learn and with all the wealth
of knowledge and hands on experience brought to light on ride camp it
seems to defeat the purpose of educating if all we do is
criticize.
