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I use the word training as pretty much a umbrella. That always causes 
confusion. There are really two parts of the equation (for me at least). 
They are conditioning and training. Conditioning is what it says. When I 
condition it is alone. I have a plan (fairly detailed)  in place before 
I ever put the saddle on. E.g., today we gallop up sandy hills to get 
the heart rate up, today we ride 15 miles in 1.5 hours, today we do 
"trail dressage exercises," etc. I also normally do that with a HRM and 
keep a log - mostly mental but I used to keep a written log and and do 
now sometimes. This is I perfer to do along, in fact I always do this 
alone. If I'm with other people I mostly concnetrate on skills training. 

Training is for skills. In any sport there is a mixture  two pieces, 
condition and skills. The mix is different for different sports, e.g., 
tennis is high on the skills side where is running is high on the 
conditioning. However, there are such things an endurance horse needs to 
be able to do like pass, be passed, eat drink, not fall off the side of 
a mountain, etc., vet checks, etc. Those are the things where riding 
with other horses can pay off. Some things need rides for the training. 
In my case it is not a conditioning ride, it is a skills training ride. 
I seldom mix the two. At rides I will every once in awhile ride with 
someone (if the horses are compatible), but I normally ride alone.

I think one of the results of riding alone  is the horse learns to be on 
his own and focused on what he is doing. Neither of my horses have ever 
had a problem leaving a group either by dropping back, going on in front 
or turning off. Being out there alone is second nature to them That can 
be a real blessing in a ride.

Truman

sharp penny wrote:

>  As far as the training alone vs training in groups I feel
> both are equally important in your *program*. Yes training
> alone helps develope that horse/ rider bond, as Truman
> mentioned, where your horse learns to depend on you.....
> but I sure wouldn't want to do an endurance ride without
> having some group training rides under my horses girth,
> where I've had the opportunity work on passing, being
> passed and letting the group leave me and my horse
> behind.... things you will encounter on an endurance ride,
> even if you plan and try to ride alone.
>  
>
>  



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