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[RC] Multidays - Karen.....I'm about to head off for the last 5 day multiday ride of the year. If Chief completes it, he will have completed all of the XP Series of multidays this year -- which is a total of three 5-day rides, and two 3-day rides, 1060 miles. He has also done additional multiday rides, and one 100. This was the first year that I have attempted something like this -- doing this many multidays on a single horse. I've done a lot of multidays on a single horse before as I've got a few Pioneer Awards, but I don't ever remember trying to do _this many_. Usually, I have alternated my other two horses and still feel that is really the best thing for them (and they love it!). I will probably go back next season to alternating my horses more, though the challenge of completing an entire multiday on a single horse is always hard to resist. Why I am doing it this year -- because I want to see if the horse can do it, what he's made out of. I think he's already sufficiently proven to me that he is going to be a solid horse with (hopefully) a long career ahead of him. This year has also been excellent for him mentally as he has come a long ways and we are a team. It's been a fun and exciting year for us.My horses are always turned out in a group situation so will self-exercise following rides. I also free-longe the horses as a group so that I can see how they look. I always want to do this after coming home from a ride (like the next day if we had a long travel day) so that I can see how they are moving, feeling, behaving. Time off after a ride depends on the horse, where he is in his conditioning and career, and how you rode him and how hard the ride was on the horse. The same ride one year can be a lot harder or easier on a horse just because of weather conditions, or even possibly the trailer trip and a lot of other factors. I feel that if a horse was ridden within it's capabilities, that it doesn't *need* to have any time off after any ride. I also don't feel that a horse *needs* to be ridden following a ride either. So I strike a balance and by having more than one horse (ha), it gives me a great reason to ride the other horses while letting the one that just did a ride get a break. When I am doing multidays like this year I try to let the horse have 4 weeks or more off between rides. During that time I will free longe, 24 hour turnout, and some hand walking on the trail with the dogs just for recreation -- but rarely actually go for any real rides until the week before the next ride. The week before the ride I will try to ride the horse one or two times, 5 miles maybe 7 just to make sure everything is a-okay. Keep in mind that the horse is at the point now where he does not need any conditioning, self-exercises very well, and we are not breaking any speed records on the actual rides either. I have done multidays fast on my other horses and have always managed them the same way. I look at things a little differently now, probably with a lot more patience than I used to have. Now, I realize that I want my horses to last a long, long time, and have fun doing it. So, I figure what is the hurry. Chief is just starting his career, at Grand Canyon this coming week he will hopefully go over 2000 miles. I think if I were trying to go fast on him now with the multidays and as many miles as he's done this year, that I would only shorten his career. If I am going to at some point try to go faster on him, then I will cut way back on the # of rides/miles he is doing. Personally, I am much happier to be out there riding more often and I'm quite happy to get to spend so much time on the trail---I'm not in any hurry to "get finished". The best way to figure out if your horse is ready for a multiday is to see how he handles one day rides, and they don't necessarily have to be in competition. I don't believe that a horse has to do a one day ride in any set time, rather you need a horse that can handle going at a conservative pace and will rate easily. You want one that takes care of himself, tho that is probably the biggest thing they learn by doing multidays. You want a horse that can do a one day ride and not look like it did anything the next day -- no filling, no soreness, good attitude, keeps shoes on, tack fits, holds weight, just all the basic stuff. Lots of people go too fast which creates a myriad of problems, both for the horse and the rider. I don't really think it is so much the ? when is the horse ready, but when is the rider educated enough to manage a horse thru a multiday in a sensible way. Karen in NV http://members.tripod.com/ridephotos/
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