This rule of thumb is just that. Not a hard and fast rule for every
horse in every situation. It is just an easy way to recognize that
you have over done your *training*. Most definately you do not want
this at an actual competition. I thought I had made that clear in
my post, apparently not.
I pick up this rule at a clinic for eventers. This is also where I
got the interval training schedule.
Here is a bit from my "Getting started from scratch post"
>Now go for a "normal" ride. You should be out at least half an hour.
>An hour is better. Don't try to do anything more than you have already
>been doing. As soon as you get home, jump off and take the pulse.
>The pulse should be around 15. Untack and take the pulse again.
>It should be around 12. Within 15 minutes of stopping, the heart
>rate should be back to "normal", or within one beat of resting rate.
As you can see, for those LSD rides, you want to be at 15 when you
stop, and within 15 minutes are back to your normal range.
When you are doing interval training, you are trying to stress the
heart rate much more so than on the LSD. So, for those folks that
do the fast up hills, or in the sand, if you were to go as fast as
you normally do for a work out, say you are at that really fast walking
horse gait, or a canter up the road on Horsetooth. As soon as you
quit (before your cool down), jump off the horse and take the pulse.
What is it? (If you have a heart rate monitor, still get off, and wait
the 15 second it takes to take a pulse.) If the pulse is already at 15,
you probably are not improving the cardio-vascular conditioning of the horse.
Now, cool off the horse. If your horse is in great shape, you'll be
below the 15 mark within 10 minutes. Some horses within 5 minutes.
But if you are working up from scratch, you'll find that most horses
will take at least 10 minutes to get back down to the 15 mark.
And if after 15 minutes you are still above 15, then you over did it.
I did mention the 15/15/15/ in the LSD post as well - just found it.
Too many posts. And confusing. For a LSD training, I'd go with the way
I expressed it the first time. When you come in from the LSD training
session, your horse should already be at 15, or within a couple of
minutes should be at 15.
Rules that I would stick by - Get to know your horse. Each horse is
an individual, and will change as you train, and on a day to day basis.
To get your horse into condition, stress the body a bit more than normal.
When you are in condition, ride the race at a more conservative pace
than training.
The "getting started" posts are just that. A place to start for the
person who doesn't have any idea what a LSD is, what a normal heart
rate is, how many miles and how fast to start. The same holds true
for the beginning nutrition post. It's just a place to start for
people who have been relying on a stable to feed their horses ("We
feed a couple of flakes of hay twice a day.") and don't have a clue
what all those supplements are for, let alone know how much a couple
of flakes of hay weighs. [Beginners - I am not putting you down. I
know a few folks who really have no idea what to feed because they
have never done it before. I was like that once, but Sarah put be
straight.]
You can't just tell folks who have no support system in endurance, "Your
horse is an individual. Figure it out for yourself." Similarly, if you
refer back to the posts on heart rate monitors and aerobic/anaerobic
conditioning, you'll find all sorts of advice that a beginner should
not use. Rather, an experience endurance rider, who has already been
through a conditioning program with their horse and knows their horse
already, can take the information and decide how to use it for their
benefit. We have discussed the percentages of protein and fat in
the diet. This won't do any good for the person who doesn't know
how much their horse is currently getting, or what a horse minimumly
needs. But the discussion are great for the folks who are looking
for that little extra, or who are having trouble getting the weight
on their horse.
-- Wendy\|/ /\ -O- /**\ /|\ /****\ /\ / \ /**\ Here there be dragons / /\ / \ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\/\/\ /\ / / \ / \ / \/\/ \/ \ /\/ \/\ /\ /\/ / / \/ \ / / \/ /\ \ / \ \ / \/ / / \/ \/ \ / \ \ / / \/ \/\ \ / \ / / \ __/__/_______/___/__\___\__________________________________________________
Wendy Milner HPDesk: wendy_milner@hp4000 Hewlett-Packard Company e-mail: wendy@fc.hp.com Mail Stop A2 Telnet: 229-2182 3404 E. Harmony Rd. AT&T: (970) 229-2182 Fort Collins, CO, 80525 FAX: (970) 229-2038