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Re: [RC] Was John C/Heraldic-Now readiness for 100s - Truman PrevattKimFue@xxxxxxx wrote:to longer distances. One of the other obstacles I have seen is the idea or theory that it takes horses three years or seasons of conditioning and moving through the shorter competition distances to enter a 100. I probably agree that most horses should have three seasons or conditioning seasons behind them before *racing* 100s competitively but I think this is over kill to ride a 100 conservatively.I think you are absolutely correct. When I started I set a threshold as to when my horse was ready for a 100. This was before I ever had done a 50. I based it on talking to some of the ride vets and veteran riders. Interesting enough I found out later that what I came to is pretty much what Lou Hollander recommended in his book - which I didn't know at the time. The threshold was when the horse could do a 7 1/2 to 8 mph 50 and be ready to go back out - she was ready. I did 3 50's in the spring of '92 and couldn't ride any in the fall because of work. I did 410 miles in '93 (7 50's and a 60). The first ride in '94 she rolled in at a nice 5:30 50 in Jan and was running circles around her pin afterwards. The next ride in Feb was her first 100. The point is - it doesn't take a bunch of seasons (she had two). It doesn't take a 100's miles. It doesn't take doing two day 100's or multidays to get ready. In fact I'm not sure how good preparation a multiday is for a 100. The 6:30 +/- ride time for a 50 may not be exactly right everywhere but in the SE where most of our 100's are run during the fall, winter and spring with limited daylight you need to be able to more on a little faster when it is light because you really slow down in the dark. It a different game when you have 9 hours of daylight vs. 15 hours of daylight. I think people can over prepare for their first 100. On the other hand I'd rather the horse be a little over prepared than a little under prepared for the first one. A good year and a half to two year base seems about right. I think that is a very good observation. I also would add that most of those who are primarily interested in 100's will end up pursing FEI since that's now the only real goal for those that are goal oriented and are interested in 100's. The USEF will pretty much dictate how people approach the sport at that level. They are moving toward younger horses with fewer miles for their selection. That's fine if you want to groom a horse for one big race at a time, without any concern for the long term career of the horse. It's a "what have you done for me lately" attitude, but that's the way you win championships and that is the USEF's main concern. For those who want an equine partner for the long term to do a 100 every once in a while - having a horse ready to go do the OD, Tevis or AERC NC, etc. there is nothing wrong with having a good solid base with 2 to 3 good years before you step up to a 100. Truman -- “With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.” Steven Weinberg – Nobel Laureate, Physics =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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