Newcomers and technical stuff

[Susan Evans Garlinghouse <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>]

Merryben@aol.com wrote:
  Why does a
> newcomer have to know how to ride with a heart monitor and know more than
> basic nutrition? 

Well, define "basic nutrition".  Like anything else, it's different for
different people---some people (including successful ones) think just
throwing a flake of any old hay over the fence twice a day is all you
need.  True enough, that's all SOME horses need to do well.  On the
other hand, I know of almost two dozen or more
not-very-or-only-moderately successful horses (and I'm talking
completion, not Top Ten) that had significant problems based on "basic"
nutrition and with just a minimal amount of technical understanding,
solved their problems and were on their way with a much better
completion, and even placing, rate.  Some of these folks had significant
AERC miles, most had relatively few and some had none at all because
they hadn't yet been able to complete because of this "basic" nutrition
problem.  I'm not talking about understanding the thermodynamics of the
glycolytic cycle here, I mean pretty simple concepts like the
differences between forage vs. energy feeds or calcium-phosphorus
ratios.  What some people would consider "basic", but alot of other
people would consider too complicated to be bothered with, or even
resent being posted.  This is just an example, since I'm a nutritionist,
but the same applies to discussions on shoeing, lameness, muscle
soreness, conditioning, etc.

I think (and this is just my OPINION) the level of education or
technical knowledge you are comfortable with to try endurance (or
anything else) varies with each individual.  I think we all agree the
most important skills are good general horsemanship and being aware of
and tuned into your horse.  Sometimes that's all you'll ever need, and
absolutely you don't need a Ph.D in exercise physiology to get down the
trail.  But I think it's unrealistic to assume that's all EVERYONE is
EVER going to need---and sometimes just having that little extra bit of
technical knowledge in whatever area is going to make a difference
between a completion or a pull, or in solving a problem quickly and
easily before it turns into a career-ending injury or even just
discouragement and disillusion.  In my opinion, that's the value of this
forum---if you want it, the technical details are there.  If you don't
need it, or want it...that's fine, too, just hit the delete button and
be on your merry way.  To each his own.

Just an opinion.

Susan Garlinghouse