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> I found the
>leap from 50s to ANYTHING greater difficult. Where 50s had been a =
breeze,
>he found greater distances horrorific. It didn't take too long to get =
used
>to it, but the first longer distance ride was no fun for him.
I believe there is a qualitive difference between rides of fifty to
sixty miles, and those over seventy miles. That's not a hard and fast
rule, it depends on terrain and weather, too, but somewhere in that
seventy mile neighborhood you've got a different ball game.
That is one reason the longer rides put a greater premium on both
preparation (conditioning) and strategy, and why I have always felt that
few fifty mile rides are true tests of endurance -- and one of the
reasons I prefer the hundreds so much.
I say this with some trepidation -- but I believe it is a simple fact
that most healthy horses, with only minimal conditioning, can complete a
typical fifty mile ride. The same is not true of a 75.
One thing that's always puzzled me is why the 75 mile ride isn't more
popular. It's long enough to get into the "true endurance" range, and
to require more strategy and attention to detail -- but at 18 hours
instead of 24 is easier logistically for riders, crews, and management
than a 100. I've always thought it was an excellent distance, but very
few rides are run at it.
--=20
Joe Long
jlong@mti.net
Business Page http://www.mti.net
Personal Page http://www.rnbw.com
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