Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

When I am galloping uphill which I do often in training, I make sure
that I start to back off before the crest of the hill so we are ready to
drop to a walk at the top of the hill. On particularly cold (by FL
standards) Feb morning we were out for a conditioning ride. The horse
was wired as only horses that are in 100 mile shape on a cold morning
can get. We start up one long hill of deep sand - I affectionately call
cardiac hill - and she felt so good, the sun was so bright, the air so
cool and refreshing and the humidity so low I forgot to start to back
her off. She topped the hill at a full gallop, gave out a buck of joy,
dropped her butt and accelerated - taking use the last 3 miles home as
pretty much a runaway.

At that moment I was sure glad I do a lot of downhill training at all
gaits. Your post is absolutely correct, train how you are going to ride
and ride how you train.



Joe Long wrote:

> Walking, trotting and cantering downhill are all part of my conditioning
> regimen.  Which pace I use on a given downhill depends on many factors,
> including the steepness of the hill, the quality of the footing, if the horse is
> fresh or tired, and (in competition) our position relative to our competitors.
>
> I don't run full-out downhill, but one time I had no choice.  About a mile from
> the finish of a one-day 100-mile ride, we went up a hill and down the other
> side.  I raced up as fast as we could run trying to break away from the other
> senior rider, but she stayed right with me, so I tried to slow to a trot at the
> top.  No way -- Kahlil was a runaway and ran DOWN the other side wide-open.  I
> sure was glad I'd trained him downhill that time.
>
>  


--

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

- Paul Erdos (1913-1996)





=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

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!!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=