>STARTING GUIDELINES!!!
>
>THERE IS NO ONE SOLUTION!!!
>
>Have at me now
>
Gee, I think this is right on. One of the prime benefits of LSD is to
learn your horse. Each horse is very different. A personal example.
Misty is a walking horse with a resting heart rate of 28. She has an easy
6 mph walk and a 8 to 9 mph "head the yankees off at Shiloh" walk. She has
a very good gallop but a lously trot. Her strengths are the gallop and the
fast walk. Here I am using the term gallop very looely to cover the lope,
canter and hand gallop. Do I train her by trotting long distances - heck
no I train her by galloping the hills and developing the fast walk. LSD
with her tranlated to fast walking and slow galloping. Do I train her with
other people - again no since the pace I set is different than that others
set. Dan is a big Arab with a resting heart rate of 30. He has a big trot
a nice fast walk (for an Arab) and an okay gallop (I am not sure any Arab
has a good gallop). I have to train him differently - lots of trotting and
developing the gallop.
One other thing about each horse being an individual is training partners.
I train alone. I develop a traing plan and schedule. When I go out to
train I have a plan. I know what I want to accomplish and I have planned a
workout to accomplish it. When I go on a social ride, I go on a social
ride. When I train, I train.
Bob also made a very good point about where you live dictating how you
train. I would love to have a 3000 foot mountain to go up and down, but
since the highest point in FL is 300 feet above sea level it somewhat
difficult to find mountains. But we do have rolling sandy hills and areas
of deep sand. So we have to use sand to strengthen our horses. I train
weekly in sand. Trotting and galloping up sandy hills is the only way we
can get the heart rate up without running the legs off the horse. I am
careful when starting a horse to walk down sandy hills. But as the horse's
legs get more fit I will trot (and maybe even gallop a little) down the
sandy hills. This is what we train in and the horses acclimate over time
to the conditions.
The important thing when you start a new horse is to learn your horse. The
LSD process is a very good way to learn your horse. Once you learn your
horse then you can start defining your own training program for each horse
you ride.
>Many persons that I observe on line here want to have the utmost in feed,
>conditioning and training. Then they ride mid-way or less and wonder why El
>Horso gives them a hard time. Remember when you were a teenager? Young, fit,
>hormones raging, ready to go? Got frustrated didn't you?? Well your horse is
>young, fit and racing to go and you say no. THINK!!!
This is a good point. I recall when I was racing fit in my track days. I
did not walk anywhere. I jogged and ran everywhere. I was so full of
energy that I literally couldn't walk. A racing fit horse has to feel the
same way.
Truman
Truman Prevatt
Sarasota, FL