Beginners Conditioning Questions

["Snodgrass, Bonnie" <snodgrab@ncr.disa.mil>]

     Here where I live in southern MD the terrain is pretty much flat. 
     We do have a few trails that have short and steep bits on them 
     but the majority of the local trails are pretty flat. There's 
     also lots of dirt/gravel farm and forest roads. (Of course the 
     vast majority of rides in this mid-atlantic area are in the 
     mountains.) My riding options right now are very slippery forest 
     trails, roads with good footing but definitely harder surfaces 
     and a large indoor arena. My week day rides are limited by 
     daylight to pretty brief (1hr) hacks either road trotting or 
     sliding on slippery trails or doing arena work in the indoor. On 
     weekends I can trailer to local forests for longer and harder 
     rides on better footing but still not really hilly. I am now 
     conditioning my 8 yr old Anglo-Arab mare for her first LD ride, 
     the OD No Frills 25 in April. Most Mid-Atlantic area rides are in 
     the mountains of course.
     
     1- Can I get my horse fit enough doing only one long training 
     ride a week?
     
     2- Starting around March I'll trailer once a week up to the 
     mountains for real hill work. I could probably get in about 4 of 
     these training rides (18-20 miles) before the No Frills. Will 
     this plan be fair to my horse physically?
     
     This mare was not just a pasture ornament before I bought her. 
     She evidently had lots of trail miles with previous owner but did 
     have a slack year just before I traded for her. She came from a 
     hilly region and seems competent and comfortable on steep hills.
     
     3- I can ride 6 days a week if I want, typically ride 5 times. I 
     am right now doing a fairly moderate ride on Sat and a long ride 
     on Sun with Mon and possibly Tues off. Is this a good weekend 
     plan (my feelings) or can I put in two long rides on the weekend? 
     
     Any advise appreciated. Please post to entire list if possible as 
     I know there are lots of beginners out there with the same type 
     of questions.
     
     Bonnie Snodgrass