Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

heidi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

> > > > Conditioning and training go hand in hand.  I can't
> > > >        
> > see how a horse is going to be conditioned and not
> > trained at the same time.>>
> >    
>
> While it does require a minimal bit of training to go down the trail,
> one sees horses with no more than that minimal training competing at
> rides quite frequently.  If you can saddle and bridle the horse, get
> on, and have a little bit of gee, haw, and whoa, that horse can be
> conditioned.  But that is a darn far piece from being trained.  The
> high number of running martingales on endurance horses points out that
> their degree of training probably does not match their degree of
> conditioning.
>
> Training (at least to me) means a suppleness that comes from being
> attuned to the barest hint of leg aids or the least bit of flex from a
> finger on the reins.  Training minimizes spooking (not sure who wrote
> the above quote, as I am answering it second-hand, but I am reminded of
> Truman and his contention that Arabs are spooky--very common when they
> are conditioned but not trained, but not common at all in trained
> ones).
>  
This is a paraphrase of what I said in an earlier post.

There are certain skills a horse must have for me to be comfortable with 
it as an endurance horse. Such things as being able to round the back 
and carry the rider with a rounded back, turn on the fore hand, turn on 
the haunches, side pass easily from side to side, flying lead changes, 
etc. While those things are best taught in an arena or on the trail by 
oneself, the horse has to able to execute them flawlessly during the 
excitement at the start of an endurance ride.

As far as spooking. The tendency to spook is a function of a lot of 
things, personality, eyesight, the strength of the fight or flight 
response, etc. I've even seen a grand prix level dressage horse spook on 
the trail. While they might still spook  -  the spooks will be a lot 
more manageable and not be nearly as sever in a trained horse than in an 
untrained horse.

Truman

--

"A mathematician is a device for turning coffee into theorems."

- Paul Erdos (1913-1996)




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