 |
Re: [RC] Re; Drinking Water - heidiTruman wrote "I've spent a lot of miles on it was LD's or CTR's if they don't drink I get off and wait around till they do. If the don't we wait. If I don't finish I dont' care because I'm there for training. They usually get the hint." That is interesting Truman as I use the exact opposite of your training methods :-) When in training I come to a water hole I give my horse about 1 minute to put his head down and drink , if they do not I will go on down the trail and they have to wait for the next water stop for another chance . For me this has really worked well . One of my pert peeves at a ride is someone standing their horse at a water tank begging it to drink when you have thirsty horses waiting in line to get at the water . Think about this guys , back up out of the way and let the horses that want to drink tank up and then come back to it when they are finished and try again . I agree, Drin! What I manage to "teach" my horse by hanging around is that they can dawdle at water and not have to go back to work. If you offer in training and they don't take you up on it, tough! They need to go find out what thirsty feels like. The big grey gelding that I am riding now was not at all a good drinker at first. He didn't get a clue until his first 50. He drank in camp but not at all out on the trail. He had done three LDs--not far enough to make an impression on him. On his first 50, he had an epiphany at about 35 miles, and started sucking up the water like a vacuum at every opportunity. (And there were lots of itty bitty streams and puddles--he didn't miss a one!) He now drinks much earlier--might still pass something at 5 or 6 miles on a cool morning, but not after that! My foundation stallion was always a reasonable drinker (but then I had ridden range enough for him to have a hint about it). Nonetheless, it wasn't until after we did a very dry first endurance ride at the Virginia City 100 that he got so he would drink EVERY time water was offered--even strange water in a bucket in the trailer when we stopped at service stations for gas! Thirst is a great educator--you just have to be riding at submaximal speeds so that you don't get in trouble gaining the education. Heidi ============================================================ I don't think you have to join a gym or buy frilly outfits to get some fitness. A decent set of shoes and a 15 minute dismount here and there will help. ~ Jon K. Linderman, Ph.D., FACSM, Assistant Professor of Health and Sport Science, University of Dayton ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
|