[Fwd: RC: re Howards Post]

[wsabg@t-online.de (Wolfgang Schwingenheuer)]

Teresa Van Hove wrote:

> I think it takes a minimum of 40 miles a week and
> regular rides (ie weekly) of 20-25 miles to prepare
> for a 50.  -No flames Tom, I'm talking minumum, not
> optimal. I also believe that the 20-25 mile rides are
> very important - riding 10 miles 5 times a week is not
> preparing for a 50 mile ride.
>
> Teresa

Hi Teresa,

10 miles 5 times a week CAN cripple your horse if these are the wrong miles.
Doing IT with some repetitions for me is sometimes less then 5 miles a day. I
need one mile to get to the hill, have a 1/8-mile-long hill for let's say 5 reps
and go back to the stable, walk the horse there for warming down (or do I have
to say cooling down?). These are 4 miles, maximium of 3 times a week. So I have
12 miles a week as a real preparation plus longer, slower work on the
active-rest days. In my case, Ninja got real rest days with no riding and I have
had good results in the past (Ninja is outside on big pastures 24/7). This year
I'll try to cut those days and to ride him (or have him ridden by someone)
daily. As Tom says you have to "empty the bucket and have it refilled" to
prevent tying-up etc. So between some bigger events this can mean - and you are
right here - to have a minimum of 40 miles. If this is optimal for a given horse
in a given terrain can be right or wrong. In the pre-competition time you need
some more miles.
Interesting here is a statement of a french vet and endurance rider, Jean-Luc
Chambost. He said a few years ago: If you are riding a 100-mile-race today and
your horse is not in trouble for this (this means he was prepared for that
100-miler), then put the horse out on his pasture, leave him there and after
four weeks you can take him, ride him a bit and five weeks after the first
100-miler you do the second one with a horse which is way better than the first
time. I will not comment on this statement, but the Chambosts (Jean-Luc and
Lise) are doing quite well at that time - Lise was fourth individual and first
with the french team at the 1992 WEC in Barcelone/Spain as well as constantly
among the Top 3.

Wolfgang + Ninja 11
Germany