Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Julie Suhr told me one time that the best and most successful Tevis ride she ever did was after her horse did absolutely nothing for three weeks prior.

 

Barbara

----- Original Message -----

From: sherman

To: 'Jody Rogers-Buttram'

Cc: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sent: Wednesday, August 09, 2006 7:53 PM

Subject: RE: [RC] 100s discussion

So a horse that?s fit and doing 100s doesn?t lose that fitness over a 2 mo. period?  I?ve heard people worrying that their ?fit for 50s? horse has been off for 2 or 3 weeks, and they think they?ve lost their conditioning and won?t be ready in another 2 or 3 weeks. You give me hope that I actually do have the time to get 2 horses ready.

 

So, how about for a horse that you?re trying to bring around to being ready for a 50? If you do a 25 or 30 one week to test their fitness level, would you think they?d need a week off after that, or would it boost their level of fitness to only wait 2 or 3 days to go out again? I hope ;you don?t mind me picking your brain here, but I have an 8 yr old that I?m just starting to do 10 mile rides on and want to get him ready for 50s.

 

Kathy

 

Jody wrote:

 

Ok, here is what I have done for years in terms of lay off time.

Keep in mind, that I am referring to conditioned horses, not horses that are "getting ready to do a 50".

 

I will give at least a week after a 50, sometimes more if I don't "need" to ride for some particular reason.  But at the same time, I don't have any problem with doing back to back rides.  We go to a good many rides each year, so once we start, we will have at least one a month.  In that case, I don't ride them at ALL in between rides.  They need that time to rest.  After a 100, I will give them anywhere from 1 week to a month.  Again, it just depends.  For instance....after the OD 100, which was on June 10th.  I just now, last week started riding those horses again.  So, they have had about 2 months off...total rest, just standing around eating grass and swishing flies.  Those same horses will go to a ride in one month.  But, these are fit, seasoned horses.  So, they hold their conditioning well, and bounce back well.

I have done a 100 one weekend, and then a 50 the very next...same horse.  No, Rose was not a happy camper about it.  But she did it and it didn't hurt her.  But she was going fast at either ride.  I have done a 100 one weekend, and two weeks later another 100 same horse.  I have even done a 100 one day, rest one day, and then a 50....again same horse.  She won both rides and BC'ed both rides.  It really depends on the horse.  She was super horse.