ridecamp@endurance.net: [endurance] No Hills

[endurance] No Hills

JBagford@aol.com
Wed, 3 Jan 1996 23:59:38 -0500

Can anyone give me advice on how to train without any hills? I have a 9 year
old mare who has been in training for 2 years doing long slow rides. I ride
3-5 days a week for 45 min to 1 hour. One of these is a longer ride of 15-25
miles and if I am real lucky I can trailer out to the mountains or to
Antelope Island, so we can work on some hills. But with winter here and 3-6
feet of snow in those mountains ( and the only truck without 4 wheel drive in
the state) I don't see hills in our future. We work on the flat out in the
desert, and some arena work to help collect and bend. I hope the collection
work helps with the hills, but it can't duplicate the work on her
heart/lungs. I have to push hard to get heart rate up in the 90s alternating
slow gallops with longer extended trotting. Longer workouts just won't work.
I juggle a full time job with a full time family, every minute I spend riding
is stolen from somewhere else.

We did 2 50 mile rides last year, and she looked good at the end of both (all
As and Bs). But I could tell she needed more hill work, even the small climbs
took a lot out of her. I walked up most hills, especially the tough ones. We
would have done more rides (We had planned on 4 or 5)but on the 24th of
July(Thats a Holiday here in Utah) some kids threw fireworks into Brenna's
pasture and she ran through a post fence. End of our season.

Another question having to do with that trip through the fence. Besides
having scrapes and bruises Brenna fractured what I would describe as a Short
Rib. It is one of her vertabae just behind the true ribs and in front of her
hip bone. The tip of this was broken off. The vet x-rayed it. It was a clean
break. Because of the many layers of muscle over the area, my vet didn't feel
that surgery would be worth the risks involved in cutting through them to pin
the fracture. I immediately laid her off for 2 months and then began bringing
her back slooowly. She seems to be doing fine no lameness, and her attitude
is wonderful. With this horse her attitude is the best way to tell how she
feels, its bad/shes bad. My question is: Has anyone had any experience with
this kind of an injury? What are my chances of really competing with this
horse? What about breeding her later? My vet feels that she will be fine, but
I don't know if he really understands endurance.

Thanks for letting me ramble, and thaks in advance for any advice.
Jane

JBagford@aol.com