ridecamp@endurance.net: Conditioning 4 y.o.

Conditioning 4 y.o.

Wendy Milner (wendy@wendy.cnd.hp.com)
Tue, 15 Jul 1997 11:30:54 MDT

Sarita asked:
>I could use some advice on conditoning my 4 yr. old. What is considered to
>be a safe ammount of riding? She is a 15 hand AraApp (her sire is half Arab,
>her dam is 1/4 Arab, 1/4 Thoro., the rest is App). I have been riding her
>about 2 times a week. One day is usually ring work, the other either more
>ring work and a short trail ride or a long slow ride. The farthest she has
>been is 22 miles in 5 hours and 15 min. Thats walk and slow trot. But
>typically, we do a 12 mile ride in about 3 hours. Thus far, she has not
>experienced any injuries, swellings, or heat in the legs. Emotionally, this
>is a very calm horse. I can ride her alone or in company. She relaxes
>easily. Her heart rates seem to be naturally quite low. It is not unusual
>to see the heart rate monitor drop to 48 as she walks down a hill on a hot
>day. My question is, am I doing too much? ECTRA and AERC say it is legal to
>compete 4 yr. olds in 25 mile rides, but I would like some other opinions. I
>would appreciate any feedback. Thanks! --Sarita and "Jazz"
>

I would keep the mileage short, the 12 miles is about the longest I'd do.
In fact, I might scale back to 8-10 miles.
But, I'd add in a couple more days of short mental work. Set up trail
class type of obsticals, figure out some tough patterns to do, play
"games" of the training kind.

4 years old is old enough to really start learning, but not quite
old enough to do hard work on.

At a maximum, I'd only do 1 slow AERC ride per month. Once every two months
would be better. You're really trying to teach the horse manners here,
rather than anything else. And you could just take the horse to the ride,
and tie it to the trailer while you help out with the vet checks. (Always
keeping an eye on the horse, of course.)

--
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

Home Events Groups Rider Directory Market RideCamp Stuff