Re: mileage/conditioning

["Sullys Maze" <Sully@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU>]

REPLY TO 03/13/98 17:09 FROM ridecamp@endurance.net: mileage/conditioning


I have been a bit perplexed as I watched the mileage debate.  First, let me
say that I do not think that twenty-five mile rides are endurance rides.
The part that has perplexed me a bit is seeing statements to the effect that
"any horse could be taken out of the pasture and ridden twenty-five miles."
I have heard such statements for years, and although I did not quite take
them literally, I assumed they were not too far off from the truth.

I think my half-belief in these statements was part of the reason I was
surprised by the reconditioning program suggested in the Whole Horse
Journal.  The modified version of that program was suggested for a horse
that was "fit last season" and had as little as a "two month vacation from
work." According to the article, Benson, who obviously knows a lot about
endurance horses, suggested starting with extremely brief workouts and
taking at least six weeks to get to very moderate levels (hour of walking
and trotting).

Even if we say that these recommendations are too conservative, there is a
pretty big gulf between their general drift and the statements referred to
above.  I wonder if, in trying to downplay the exertion necessary for a
horse to go 25 miles, we might be encouraging people to do something
potentially damaging to the horse--i.e., take him out of pasture and ride
him 25 miles.

Suzanne

-
Suzanne, I have to agree with you.  When my friend and I did our
first 25 mile ride years ago, we almost came in last (no danger of
overriding our horses!)  We did a fair job educating ourselves, and
our horses were in good condition.

However, it was a quite hilly course, and you had to move along.  We
walked a lot on the downhills, and, including two vet checks, took
almost 6 hours to complete.

Now, I think of some of the local horses, friends and neighbors
have,
typically in our area, there are fat Quarter Horses that are seldom
ridden.  To take one of these horses and try to do this 25 mile
course in 6 hours, would have been foolish and abusive.

When my daughter did Camp Far West 25 on her 18 year old Welsh Pony,
which is an easy and relatively flat 25, we spend months on
conditioning, working up to a ride of about 20 miles.  On that ride,
we did mostly trotting and cantering, after a good warmup.  I was
confident that both my daughter, and the pony could finish in under
6 hours.  The pony finished in about 4 hours, with excellent vet
scores.  I would not have even considered just pulling her out of
the pasture and trottting that ride!

I believe that your average rider and average horse has to do their
homework on conditioning, nutrition and riding skills to finish even
a 25 with a horse in good condition.

Karen

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