training/tranquilizers

["Lysane Cree" <cree_l@LSA.Lan.McGill.CA>]

Opinion poll:

1)I am in the process of getting my horse back into his pre-winter 
fitness for a 25 mile ride in June. It seems that I will not be able 
to ride more often than twice a week (Saturday and Sunday) because of 
my summer job. I may be able to squeeze a third "day" on Fridays for 
an hour ride approximately. What I am wondering is if this is enough 
conditioning? A suggestion has been that I do two "ride/training  sessions" 
per day on Saturday and Sunday - with one session being less intense than 
the other and one being in the early morning and the other in the 
late afternoon. I know that human athletes do this sometimes but is 
this o.k. for horses, or does it spell burnout? He will have Monday 
to Thursday to himself out in the pasture, and I don't plan on doing 25 
mile training sessions don't worry!  I always start off with at least 
15 minutes of walking and when I get to an open field which is just 
before the trails I usually take the time to do some large circles at 
walk/trot, shoulder in, etc.. as part of a warmup. And I always do 15 
minutes of walking at the end of a ride.

2) Since I have to tranquilize my horse before shoeing his hind feet 
I was wondering how long is a tranquilizer detectable in a horse's 
system? Is one week before a ride for his last trim/reset enough?

Thanks, 
Lysane and Buck