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That's probably the 64 dollar question. My mare would go bonkers if she 
got more than a week's rest. I would give her a week off after a 100, 
and would not ride her hard the first time out, but I did do a 50 two 
weeks after a 100 a couple of times. One of those times she won the 50 
in a full out stretch run and three weeks later she was second in a 50 
with a ride time of 3:41 and won BC.

I guess other than the obvious you stated below - loss of appetite, 
weight, attitude, smoothness of gait, etc., I would be very mindful of 
what the HRM might be telling me. Slower than normal recoveries - even 
by a little if it was consistent would be a red flag. Of course you need 
a log to know normal. Another thing I look out for is the ability to 
elevate the heart rate. A classic symptom of "over-training" is the 
bodies inability to elevate the heart rate sufficiently in response to 
stimuli. Again you need to have calibrated the horse - that is on a 
given hill at a given gate what do they normally run.

I guess the last thing is really knowing the animal. Sometimes I could 
look in her eye ( the sprakle was not quite as bright as I liked it ) 
and say - you're a little wrung our aren't you old girl, how about a 
vacation.

Truman

Mike Sofen wrote:

> So this then begs the question:
> What factors are being evaluated to determine whether a given horse is an A
> horse (needs riding between events) or a B horse (needs time off)?  
>
> In other words, is a B horse displaying signs of fatigue, overtraining,
> appetite and/or weight loss, reluctance or irritability while the A horse is
> perky to the point of exuberance?  
>
> These are the obvious signs...what about less obvious signs?  This is an
> especially important question for horse owners with stoic-type horses, where
> the horse tends to mask/suppress their actual condition.
>
> Mike
>
>
>  


--

“Many people consider the things government does for them to be social 
progress but they regard the things government does for others as 
socialism.” Earl Warren



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