Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

HI :-) all this talk about 100's has
got me thinking about  my first 100 I want to do next June, however
I have  question/concern that has been bugging me for a few months.
Last August I did 75 miles with my awesome Morgan mare, :-)  Miss
T, :-) ;-) we had done  3 yrs of  25's.CTR"s and a year
and  a half of 50's before the 75. Anyway my rule for the day was
to keep under 130 HR ( I think Angie gave me that advice) which we did,
,my mare was awesome and strong all day  but on the last loop she
was TIRED!! That last 10 miles was just a slooow trot/walk , although she
was tired on that last loop, she vetted out fine and the next morning was
pulling me around the field. :-) I have read a few times that sometimes
horses just can't go more than 75 miles, that is their personal limit,
however I wonder if this happens to people/riders in general, I hope that
had we kept on riding ( i.e doing a 100 so we would have had another 25
miles to go) she would have found her "second" wind. Does that
happen? Or are 100 mile horses  fine the whole 100 miles?  I
thought that pacing going under a 130 was slow enough but I am thinking
for  a 100 I will try to go slower ,.( we did the 75 miles in just
under 10 hours, not many hills but hot and humid and then a couple of thunderstorms
during the day to keep things interesting. :-) So my question is are 100
mile horses consistent for the whole 100 miles or do they wax and wane?
Also does having a "riding " buddy help in the last loop (s)?We
tend to ride alone but I was wondering if she would have been perkier that
last loop if another horse had been around. :-)