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RE: [RC] Conditioning Miles - What Counts? - Christina Schiro I got some good responses back from people. Thanks from a newbie. I
wanted
to clarify a few things though. When I do lunge, such as in the round pen,
it is only around 10-20 minutes. But with such limited time (and daylight)
that I have, I want to put that towards my mileage, even if it comes out to
a 1/2 mile! Someone mentioned riding three times a week, and towards the end
of my program I should be around 8 miles, 8 miles, and 15 miles for the
three days. However, this is my program that I have worked out based on my
schedule: ride four times a week (Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, Saturday,
and Sunday). Saturday is my long day and right now I am up to 7 miles and
will slowly work up to 15. Tues, Wed, and Thursday I ride 3-4 miles each of
those days and will eventually work that up to 4 or 5 miles on Tues and Wed
and 8 miles on Saturday. Right now I am up to 18 miles a week and eventually
will work up to about 30 a week. Tues and Wednesday I ride after work, so I
can't put in more than 3-5 miles. I should mention that I am riding an
appaloosa, not an arabian, so does that matter? From what I have read, I
believe it does...it takes longer to condition. The last thing I wanted to
mention is that even though I board him at a "boarding stable", my horse has
an awesome living situation. He lives out in the country on a 40 acre horse
farm, has a stall in the 8 stall barn, but attached to each stall is a
private 1-5 acre grass pasture that he has 24/7 access to!! The horses get
rotated to a different stall/pasture every month or so they get to eat
different grasses and learn to live next to different horses. This is why
board my horse here and drive 45-50 minutes 4 times a week instead of
boarding him closer. I wish I could count the miles he spends motoring
around his pasture! He is 6 years old and he has always had this type of
arrangement. He has never been forced to be in his stall if he didn't want
to be.
The only negative thing about his great "home life" is that he hates
being
confined and he hates being tied for long periods of times. The first and
last time I took him overnight (2 nights) camping he had to spend hours at a
time and overnight in a 10x10 space (since the park has 10x10 paddocks and
stalls, you can't put up your own large pens). I was volunteering at a
distance competition and brought him along for the camping experience. I
also brought my husband along as the horse-sitter to take him for walks
since I was busy most of the weekend, but my horse was still so fed up by
the end of the weekend that when I tried to load him in the trailer he gave
me the "in like hell will you get me in that small space" look. I was tired
and just wanted to go home. So I brought out the lunge whip and with another
person's help we got him in. We secured the trailer and got in the truck.
That's when all hell broke loose. Eye witnesses said my horse just went
ballistic. He ended up sticking his front legs through the slats of the
stock trailer, then flipping upside down with all four legs sticking
straight up. The panic snap didn't unsnap so he head was still attached up
high! To make the long story short, he had no major injuries, he is fine
now, has been back in the trailer for day trips to the same park with no
problems, and yes, we are going camping again next month, again in October
and November each, so hopefully he will get used to the camping things
before our first ride in January. I figure if people can tame the wild
horses of the west, tame them, and stick 'em in stalls, my darn horse will
just have to get used to spending a few horses in 10x10 space for a few
hours.
Christina
-----Original Message-----
From: GarnerT [mailto:GarnerT@xxxxxxx]
Sent: Saturday, August 21, 2004 12:36 PM
To: cschiro@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [RC] Conditioning Miles - What Counts?
Christina:
I saw that someone had already talked about lunging, so let me add that our
first LD should be done slowly! When I did my first LD on my horse, I was
last! I told my husband I would go nice & slow & I did. We have now
completed our 1 year of LDs, & 2 years of 50s with no pulls. He is totally
sound & we will be doing our first 100 next year! If you start out nice &
slow, your horse should do just fine with your schedule. Try to get out on
your day off & do a nice long training ride. Believe it or not, I only ride
my horse on Saturdays. We go for about 15 - 25 miles. (you would want to
do less). He is on 1 acre of pasture, not boarded, so he can move around
more than your horse. Believe it or not, I think most people overtrain
rather than undertrain.
You definitely need to get out on the trail one day a week so your horse
gets used to it, but you don't need to train every day. Go slowly on your
first year of LDs & work up to speeding down the trail. Have fun & good
luck on your first ride!
Kathy Garner & Dyecrest Tazan
----- Original Message -----
From: <cschiro@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, August 20, 2004 6:28 AM
Subject: [RC] Conditioning Miles - What Counts?
I hope to do my (and my horses) first LD this January. I have worked out my weekly mileage goals from now until then. My question is do my miles have to be RIDDEN miles or can extended hand-walking and hand-trotting (a few miles), lunge-line lunging or free lunging in the arena count?? I do the lunging and hand-work for variety and to practice ground-work. I ask because I board my horse 45-50 minutes away, go out there 4 times a week, and work full-time, so I want every "step" to count towards my weekly mileage goal. Also since I am taking it very slow with my fairly green horse, I don't want to go over my mileage for that week. Thanks, Christina =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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