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RE: [RC] HRM's and Increasing Intensity - Mike SofenKat, The context of my post was for a rider who was moving from basic or casual eventing to a more serious level, where the intensity of workouts forms the basis for the next leg up in performance. We use a speedometer in a car to tell us how fast we're going and an odometer to tell us how far we're going. But unless we have a tachometer (or have trained our ears to recognize the different sounds the engine makes), we can't tell how fast the engine is spinning. So in a car with an engine that redlines at 5,000 rpm, if you forget to shift into 4th gear on the freeway and you have your radio cranked up and no tachometer, you're driving along until your engine explodes from running at 9,000 rpm in 3rd gear. Granted, that's a car, AND the analogy is valid. First, Kat, you're a professional horse person (at least I think you are, I could be wrong) with a long history with horses. You're not going to forget to "shift into 4th" and you're not going to have the radio cranked. You also know what 5000 rpm in a horse sounds/feels like. Newer and more casual riders in this sport won't have that knowledge base. However, to complete the analogy, there's not a single racecar driver that drives a car without a complete set of gauges. But it goes beyond that. Heart rate - based on every source I've discussed this with - is the primary and fundamental yardstick for assessing condition and performance in mammals. Respiration is a secondary and often contradictory indicator. Intensity training requires pushing the heart rate up into specific zones for specific periods of time and then watching the recovery times. Can you do this without an HRM? Perhaps. But it would be like making a cake without a measuring cup, very hit or miss. I don't know what brand of HRM you've used, but mine rarely (once or twice a month) double counts the HR. There is no entertainment value, the numbers are always consistent with both the experiential history (same horse, same numbers on the same trail with the same intensity) and with numbers obtained using a stethoscope. I personally use an HRM that requires a "coded" transmitter, reducing false readings and interference from other wireless devices. I don't have any issue with girth electrode contact being erratic. I'm not waiting around for results, worst case is 5 seconds. I use the same receiver when I'm running, with the same results. Inexpensive receivers and non-coded transmitters suffer from data reliability issues. I use the Polar S720i coded receiver (that I got for cycling/running training) with the waterproof coded transmitter/electrode assembly for horses from Steve at Equine Performance Products. I can tell you from personal experience that once a horse has a significant conditioning base, increasing the intensity of their workout is far harder to do than might be imagined by riders less experienced than yourself. It is because of these reasons that I make the statement that an HRM is essential. How do you personally tell when a horse has shifted from aerobic to anaerobic mode, heck, how do you even find that point? How do you tell when your horse has dropped from a max heart rate (like 200) to a recovery heart rate (like 105)? My horse may or may not be still breathing hard but may be at recovery heart rate and ready for the next set or work out. If someone goes strictly by respiration, they can be WAY off. The other reason for the HRM has nothing to do with performance. On one training ride with another experienced rider with a horse in very good condition, we got back to the trailer and I did a final HR check of my horse, he was at 48, and I had been watching him decline as we concluded our ride and walked to the trailer. The other rider, without an HRM, was curious what her horse's HR was. I grabbed a stethoscope and was surprised to measure 150. Measured 3 times to be sure. Horse otherwise looked fine...initially, but then was starting to show signs of distress. We started handwalking him, trying to get him to eat. He ended up having a mild tie up episode, and it might have been a serious and unknown one inside the trailer had we not checked his HR. While that's an unusual event, it's all part of the "gauges". And I personally believe, if I'm going to attempt to push the cardiovascular envelope with a horse, that I should do everything in my power to do it safely and correctly. Mike Sofen =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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