Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

As always, Karen's answer is right on.  I think one of the most 
important things she said was
>  It took him more time to 
> > unlearn the wrong things, than it would have to pick it up right from 
> > the start.

Horses learn really quickly and they learn the "wrong" just as fast as 
they learn the "right."  Karen didn't mention how she introduced her 
horse, Granite Chief +/ (or maybe it's /+!)to endurance.  The two of 
them mostly walked for an entire year!  Yes, it is possible to finish a 
50 in time doing (almost) nothing but walking.  A horse is born knowing 
how to go fast, it is our responsibility to encourage them to go the 
pace that is right for their stage of development.  I agree with Karen 
that speeding through shorter rides is not necessarily the best thing 
for many horses.  Going slow for a longer distance isn't necessarily 
always fun but your horse is much more likely to be a Decade Horse and a 
pleasure to ride for many of those years if it was started long and slow.
JMHO,
Laney

Dreamweaver wrote:
> > In the current discussion about 100 mile participation, as well in 
> > past discussions, I've heard multiple people mention that the LD rides 
> > are not the best thing *for certain types of horses*.
> >
> > As someone who was planning on staying at the LD level for a while 
> > because I thought it was the "right" thing to do, and who is now 
> > thinking my horse would be more comfortable mentally with the longer 
> > distances (she just seems to settle better the longer I ride), I would 
> > like to hear more from people whose horse just weren't LD horses. 
> > Really, the only thing right now preventing me from entering a 50 is 
> > my inexperience - despite reading multiple discussions about the 
> > different conditioning approaches for 50 mile rides, I still don't 
> > know how to gauge if my mare is ready (perhaps that is the problem - 
> > one person insists you need to be riding 50 miles a week, another says 
> > they get in one good conditioning ride on the weekend - no wonder I'm 
> > confused!).
> >
> > Comments?
>
>
> I'm one of the riders that feels that way.  Ideally, it would be nice to 
> have a horse that can do any distance the rider wants, and will do 
> everything right from the get go.  Some horses are more mentally 
> challenged, than they are physically---and that's why I think for some 
> horses starting out in a longer distance, or not doing very many shorter 
> rides, is in the horses best interest.  I think that you also have to 
> consider the rider as well, since they have to be ready to ride longer 
> and be able to take care of their horse.
>
> I think that sometimes the more talented horses may have a tendency to 
> be more of the mentally challenged type.  Those are the ones that can go 
> do a 25 and breeze thru it, and learn that it wasn't really that much of 
> a challenge for them.  They can even sometimes go do a 50 and not be the 
> least bit phased.  The frustrating part I have found is that with a 
> talented horse, you can get out there and those horses can literally 
> breeze thru the ride, often or always receiving all A's on their vet 
> cards.  Even tho the horse is really not taking care of itself.  I had 
> one of those, and that was the last horse I'll ever start out in a 
> shorter distance ride.  Lots of riders think that if everything is okay 
> when they go thru the vetcheck (i.e., all A's on their vetcard) that 
> everything IS allright.  That simply is not always the case.  Most of 
> the horses that I have seen crash the hardest or die had all A's on 
> their vet cards.  I saw a horse go down at a ride this year, that had 
> better vet scores than my horse had.  That is why I finally came to 
> realize with my own horse, that I did not do him any favors by having 
> him do a few LD rides.  This was a decade ago in Rocky's case, so *most* 
> of the LD rides then were not sanctioned (so they aren't on his 
> record).  The only thing he learned from doing those rides is that he 
> didn't have to take care of himself because he would be done and was 
> never phased.  Then when he did move up to the longer distance rides, it 
> took him longer to "get it".  Again, he'd breeze thru with all A's, even 
> on gut sounds which I knew was wrong as he would go 42 miles without 
> eating.  I finally got him hungry enough by riding him 100 miles in two 
> days and that gave him the attitude adjustment he needed.  I think I 
> should have waited longer to get him started in the sport, and then 
> started right out on a longer distance ride. 

> The amount of conditioning each horse needs can be different.  Some 
> horses require a lot more, and some hardly anything at all.  That is 
> where it is difficult to tell anybody over the internet what they should 
> or shouldn't do -- nobody knows our own horses as well as each of us do 
> and we have to be able to figure that out.  Even if there were simple 
> answers for how to condition a horse for a 50, that all goes out the 
> window when you throw in the rider as one of the variables ;).  How 
> somebody chooses to ride or control or not control their horse during 
> the ride can cause failure in even the best conditioned horses.   I feel 
> that it takes me a good 35 miles to really get into the groove as far as 
> pacing goes, and that will apply if I'm riding a 100 in one day or a 
> multiday -- once I get thru that first 'hump', then it's easier for me, 
> and the horse, either for the rest of the ride that day, or for the rest 
> of the week.  That is partly why I never felt that doing LD rides really 
> benefited my horses.  Then again, if a horse is doing the shorter 
> distance rides and is taking good care of itself and finishing in good 
> shape and looks great the next day -- why keep doing them, the horse is 
> probably ready to move up (unless of course, the rider isn't).  Lots of 
> times the horses are ready before their riders are :P
>
> Karen
> in NV
>
>
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