Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

It applies both to the several weeks right before the ride (need to give the horse time to rest and build up reserves for the upcoming ride), as well as during the months of conditioning leading up to the ride.  If you ride the horse in hard or fairly hard conditioning rides 5 or 6 days a week, you don't allow his body to recover from one conditioning ride before you throw another one at him.  Over time, little aches and pains can become brewing injuries.  He may show that the conditioning schedule is too much by losing weight/having trouble maintaining weight, looking dull and "unhappy" with life, etc. 

 

Dawn Carrie, Texas

 

On 9/18/07, Robert R <boxrnr@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Thanks for all of those replies--makes perfect sense.  I was looking at it in terms of the months leading up rather than the closer to ride time frame, if I am understanding you all correctly and am planning on 10 days to 2 weeks off before the ride.  At least the way I am doing things now is shorter rides 2 or 3 a week (5 to 10 miles pacing at 8 miles an hour--trotting and cantering) and a longer, slower ride once a week (trotting and walking) that unfortunately isn't on a measured out distance but say 2.5 to 3 hours and I plan on upping that as soon as I settle on a saddle.  Am I on the right track for a 50 in the end of Nov.  On the long rides, he comes home with a pulse less than 60 and on the short ones, he is closer to 70 but under 60 in the time it takes me to get the saddle off.  Should I be pushing harder, backing off or staying the course?

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