Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Some of the email about Super and Drubin
recently has contained more myths than facts.

To set the record straight I I would
NOT take a 5 year old in a AERC 1-day 100!

Super did NOT win the Old Dominion when
he was 5 nor did he do any 100s as a 5 year old.
In fact he was almost 6 when he did
his first AERC 50, a very slow 50.  About 6 months later,
Super did his first 100, a slow 100.
 He was literally at the back of the pack at the 50 mile point.
At that ride, the Carolina Classic in
the Fall of 98, he then kept a steady pace and moved up
from about 50th to finsh about 13th.
 

He then did a second steady 100 at the
Biltmore Classic in the Spring of 99, 
about the time he turned 7.  Super
later did and won his first Old Dominon as a 7 year old 
but the pace was not that fast.

Drubin also did no AERC 100s as a 5
year old, only a 3-day Competitive Trail Ride 100
(a great way to train a young horse).
Drubin did his first AERC 100 as a 6
year old, again at a steady pace and that was the Vermont 100.
He won his first 100, the Carolina Classic
in the Fall of that year as a 6 year old.
Again he did not front run and won mainly
because the early leaders dropped out or fell off the pace.

BTW Drubin has never won the Old Dominion.
 We moved to CA when Drubin was 7.
So he did not do his first Old Dominion
until he was 10 when he was 3rd. 

In general I believe an athletic mature
horse can do a steady 100 as a 6 year old.
A late maturing or less athletic horse
should probably not do a 100 until they are 7.
As the horse matures and strengthens,
the horse can do a faster pace.  The rider
should determine the pace appropriate
for the horse and the course.  That may
result in a turtle award, a middle of
the pack fininsh or evn possibly a win.

Note that I personnally prefer not to
do fast 50s on young horses but rather to ride
50s as training rides for 100s at the
pace that one would ride a steady 100.  I would rather
move a horse up to a slow 100s as a
6 year old than take them in fast 50s as I believe
speed can be far more damaging to a
young horse than steady distance.

I belive but have not seen the analysis
that far more young horses careers are limited
because they are racing 25s and 50s
than because they are doing steady 100s.

Most importantly there are no hard and
fast rules.  Every horse is different.  I believe
what AERC needs to do is educate riders
on how to do what is right for their horese
rather than set more rigid rules.
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