Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

This question is as difficult to give a firm answer as the one about 
"average speed. There have been some phenomenal horses that could race 
for thousands of miles. However, just like every kid that touches a 
basketball is not going to be an NBA all star - not every horse in 
endurance is the next Rio. John Parke's pony just turned 10,000 miles 
over at least 10 years but he did it closer to the back of the pack than 
the front. Be it racing or riding - a long career on an endurance horse 
requires a good horse and good stewardship by the rider.

If a long term career is your goal focus on that. Train for that. If you 
find that you happen to have the next great horse, then you can turn up 
the speed at that point.

As far as average time - take a clue from the CTR folks. In most places 
a 6-7 mph rate is considered optimal. At least in the East the CTR's 
were originally based on the cavalry remount test and this number came 
from guidelines from the remount test. There is some information on the 
AERC website about how to condition. There is also a good article on the 
SERA website http://www.seraonline.org/Conditioning.pdf that has some 
targets for conditioning speeds.

The important thing is to get to know your horse and be able to read 
your horse. If you form a good bond with your horse you will be able to 
tell if you are going too fast, too slow or just right.

Truman

Mrs Christina Hykw wrote:
> All this chatting about fast times had me wondering, do the horses 
> that are being raced last a long time
> in their career. I'm a newbie & my main reason for
> trying this sport was an introduction to it by a friend
> and I thought my horse would enjoy himself in it and
> he does, so he is my main reason for trying distance
> riding, now we both enjoyed ourselves and have been conditioning & 
> saving dollars for riding in 2007.
> Farrier issues held us back in '04-'05 & $$$ held us back in '06 (new 
> house/car came first). SO, now we have a Distance riding savings 
> account, and are hoping things will all come together for a full season.
> My biggest concern is that he & I do this sport *together*, and a long 
> time. I have been trying to get a grasp of a good average time to aim 
> for....to keep in mind while training~ while all the LD/50 chat has 
> lended over some ideas on what is average & what is too speedy, I 
> would love to learn about what type of riding lends itself to longevity~
> While I have other horses coming up,
> I would love/hope/pray/train that this one
> is for sure a longevity horse.
> Thanks in advance & God Bless
> ~Christina~
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
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--

“Ethical axioms are found and tested not very differently from the 
axioms of science. Truth is what stands the test of experience.” Albert 
Einstein


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