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[RC] SLOWLY adding some speed - Aaron TurnageThis year I'd like to move from 8.5 - 10 hr ride times to 7 - 8 hr ride times. My horse will be 7 and starting his third season, we hit our 250 mileage mark last year on 50's. I do not want to RACE or go really fast, but it would be nice to be done while dinner is still warm for the most part. =) I ride in the West Region (Reno area) and attend a lot of technical rides, but most still have winning times in the 5 hour range or so.
Any advice on how to slowly increase our pace? His average (not working hard) trot is around 8-9 mph and I know we need to work on using his "fast walk" more consistently. He has a fast walk but I have a hard time getting him to use it when he doesn't want to.
I read posts about riding 10 miles in 1 hour and think "Wow, I don't think I've ever done that!" Yet we've managed to complete our rides thus far (okay, we did have ONE overtime pull). =) What kind of terrain is that in? I tend to walk the steeper/longer hills in competition, trot or canter them in training, walk the downhills for now (slowly starting to trot more of these). Maybe I'm just being too conservative at a ride...???
~ Crysta & Sinatra (if you can't be fast, you might as well look good)
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