Re: Re: Re: Simple question, maybe not so simple answer.

["Barbara McCrary" <bigcreekranch@cruzio.com>]

Our eldest daughter, Susan was the first one to enter an endurance ride,
back in 1970.  She had dutifully conditioned her horse by riding him 20
miles a day, at least 5 days a week, at as fast a trot as possible.
(Overconditioning.)  At that time, we knew nothing, and the people who
advised us didn't either. When ride day came, Susan rode into the first vet
check, 12 miles from the start, in 45 minutes, never having broken out of a
trot.  The poor horse's pulse did not recover from 84 within a reasonable
period of time.  (The pulse criteria was 72.)  And in those days, it was not
considered necessary to provide water at all vet checks (can you imagine?).
She was DQ'd and she simply turned around and rode home, almost 16 miles,
cared for her horse, and took a nap.  There was no rescue trailer, as the VC
was far removed from civilization and on a road that would not have allowed
a trailer.  Ah, the good old days, when none of us knew very much, not even
the vets.  I could tell another story about that, but another time.......

Barbara McCrary
West region director
Chair, Rules Committee



----- Original Message -----
From: "Susan Garlinghouse" <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>
To: "Stagg and Cheryl Newman" <staggandcheryl@earthlink.net>; "Angie Nathe"
<angie_nathe@hotmail.com>; <ridecamp@endurance.net>
Sent: Tuesday, June 19, 2001 9:37 PM
Subject: RC: Re: Re: Simple question, maybe not so simple answer.


>
> > Really agree with what Sue said about dressage work.  We do that
> regularly,
> > particularly
> > with our young horses.
> >
> > Note that it's useful to make a distinction between training, teaching a
> > horse skills,
> > and conditioning, building up a horses body and cardiovascular system.
> For
> > the latter,
> > I believe that many of riders do too much conditioning and do not give
our
>
>
> Not to turn this into a mutual admiration society <g>, but I agree
> wholeheartedly with Stagg.  The more data we're collecting from endurance
> horses is suggesting more and more that overconditoned horses that start a
> ride worn down and stressed are at much higher risk of biomechanical or
> metabolic breakdown of some sort.
>
> Susan G
>
>
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