Re: Training Days

[Wendy Milner <wendy@wendy.cnd.hp.com>]

A horse at liberty will walk for many miles each day.  It is not
going to hurt a horse to walk every day in training.  What you have to 
watch out for is that the horse has plenty of rest time as well.

The schedule of starting at 20 minutes of walking seems a bit conservative
to me.  I generally start with an hour of walking when bringing a horse
back from rest.  We might do a few days of walking up and down my
mountain with a day of dressage per week.  The dressage will be at
the horse's level, mostly walking (correctly) with some trotting.
After a couple of weeks, I'll add some more trotting in the ring and on 
the trails.  

If you are training for an endurance ride, 3 to 5 days of work is all
you must have.  A long day (2 to 4 hours) and two short days (an hour or so)
on the trails. If you want to ride more, mix in some dressage, or other 
ring work, take a friend out hacking about, or something light.  As long 
as the horse has liberty, 3 days is enough.  What you don't want is to work
the horse hard and continually 7 days a week.

The schedule most of us use is what time we have between work, families,
chores, and weather.  That is where the 3 days generally comes from.
3 days per week is enough if you use your training time wisely.  5 days 
per week is the most I'd work a horse in any discipline.

Johnna wrote:
>my training goes like:  day off......Dressage Work.......Trail
>training......trail training........day off.....etc.  I was wondering if this
>seems like over work?  My arab was a third level dressage horse and even
>though he is out of condition has a resting heart rate at 31.  I live at a
>high elevation (8000) and have alot of hills around.  I am by no means going
>out on the so called "trail days" and just trotting my horse until he is beat
>dead, I have been doing ALOT of walking (which my horse is finding EXTREAMLY
>boring) and a little trotting.  Basicaly, I am just wondering if all of you
>endurace riders think this is too much, too little or am I just plain
>clueless?

This does not sound like over work.  Since your horse is bored, you
might try varying the work out.  When you have some nice flat and wide
trail (as if I had any of that to work with) throw in some dressage
moves.  Do shoulder in at the trot down the trail, side pass from side
to side on the trail, or what ever.  

Check the heart rate immediately after a 10 minute trot and see where
it is, and how long it takes to come down.  This is a good indication of
a horse's condition.  Since the horse was in dressage, I'll assume
he was in good condition for that work.  Walking is a good start,
but as soon as the horse can walk up those hills, I like to start them
in a good round frame at the trot up those hills.  The important
thing when you start out is to listen to the horse.  You might only
get a minute of trot before the horse starts laboring.  Rest at the
walk a minute or so, then trot for a minute.  It is easier with a
heart rate monitor, but a HRM is not necessariy if you know your horse.
Mixing in intervals of trotting with walking will bring up their condition
pretty fast.  And start extended the lenght of time you are out riding.
A 25 mile ride will take between 3 and 6 hours.  

And keep having the rest days.  
--
Wendy

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  Wendy Milner                     HPDesk:   wendy_milner@hp4000
  Hewlett-Packard Company          e-mail:   wendy@fc.hp.com
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