Re: P&P's and related subjects.
Marinera@aol.com
Tue, 12 Nov 1996 23:26:43 -0500
The discussion initiated with Susan Evan's comments is fascinating and
stimulating. My personal experiences may or may not be relevant, but here
goes. Before the days of heart monitors we depended pretty much on "gut
instincts" to tell us when we were pushing too hard; we listened to our
horses and rode accordingly. Since the advent of H.M's it has opened up a
whole new field of knowledge and to me the H.M. Is one of the best tools
around for judging your horse. However, I can't urge people enough to be
sure to recognize that this is only one factor of many that have to be
considered. In order to get my horses' heart beats to 200 I would have to
push them HARD up a steep hill. There is no way I am going to get that high
a rate on the level or even in rolling hills. I feel that if I am
approaching 200 I had better back off fast or I'm going to pay for it in leg
damage...suspensory problems and all the rest of the headaches that cause us
such grief when tired muscles are pushed beyond the tolerance level. There
is sort of an alarm that goes on above about 180 and that just tells me to
take it easy. I have no scientific training or medical background
whatsoever, but I can sort of visualize the horse's heart and the different
chambers. 200 beats per minute leaves me incredulous and I have tried
opening and closing my fist that many times in a minute and it cannot be
done. And I am not trying to pump gallons of blood while being anaerobic. I
am told that young race horses are trained at short intervals at up to 240
which leaves me all the more incredulous. I know the pamphlet that came with
my heart monitor talks about training at rates of over 200, but I truly
believe you can train a horse who can win at 50 and100 miles without ever
exceeding that figure the day of the ride or during training. And I can't
help but feel cruel and inhumane if I force my horses up to 200 for more than
a minute. I am reallyinterested in other people's opinions on this subject.
Let's keep this discussion going. We have so much to learn.
Julie Suhr