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[RC] Conditioning for LD vs. 50 miler - moving up within season - Karen CasemierI wasn't quite sure how to phrase the subject line for my question. This season will be my first competing, as well as my mare's. She's an 11 YO Morgan mare, a trail monster - I bought her with the hopes of doing either CTR or endurance riding, and on pleasure trail rides she's shown a lot of promise.I'm hoping to do 50 mile endurance rides with her. I need to start out at 25 miles more for me than for my mare--I have some physical problems due to a spinal cord injury, and need to ensure I can hold up for the miles. I have read, many times, that you should start riding the ultimate distance you want to compete at (in my case, 50 miles) as soon as possible so the horse does not get mentally conditioned to the shorter distance. I think I have a pretty good idea of how to condition her for the 25 milers, but I'm not sure how to bring her up to the level where she'll be comfortable for a 50 miler. She's currently pretty out-of-shape, because she was off for seven months in the winter of 2002 through the spring of 2003 whhile I recovered from my injury, and then just ridden lightly with a couple of easy trail rides last fall. However, she's the type of horse that gets into shape quickly (of course, I understand that it will take a long time to condition the inner structures like tendons). I've done a lot of research and read the big three books (Lew Hollander, Nancy Loving, Donna Snyder Smith), but would just like to get some ideas from you guys so I can plan a safe and successful first season. I hope to be riding this mare for a loooonnnng time, and I want to do my best to take care of her. Thanks for any comments, Karen and Mazzie _________________________________________________________________ Stay informed on Election 2004 and the race to Super Tuesday. http://special.msn.com/msn/election2004.armx ============================================================ There is no better way to see the world than from the back of a horse. ~ Teddy Roosevelt ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
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