Re: RC: Show and Tell

[CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com]

In a message dated Mon, 6 Aug 2001  6:03:52 AM Eastern Daylight Time, "Kristene Smuts" <Ksmuts@sarcc.co.za> writes:

> Howard, and everybody else, I want to pick up on this as well.  In every bit of research I've done into how to do endurance correctly, the 3 year plan is considered to be the accepted way of building an endurance horse.  Nowhere have I read anything that contradicts this plan.  For those of you who don't know the 3 year plan - year 1 you should be doing 30 - 40kms in competition; year 2 you should be doing about 60 kms and only in year 3 do you look at 80 kms.  Of course, the 100 milers take another year or two.  

I certainly agree that it takes a minimum of 3 years to bring a horse close to his endurance potential.  In some cases it may even take longer.  However, there is more than one way to get there, regarding competition!  I've personally FAR preferred having the first season be a maximum of 3 to 4 50-mile rides (as opposed to LD's), with at least 6 weeks between completions (sometimes 7 or 8 weeks), and I choose rides with REALLY tough terrain for these beginning youngsters for several reasons--1) they use different muscle groups going up and down and don't seem to get as fatigued as a result, 2) the tough terrain helps to slow the pace, and 3) not all the other horses run off and leave you when you are going a slower pace on a tough ride, so the youngster does not get either hyped up or demoralized by a pack of racers disappearing over the horizon.  The second year we make 50-mile completions a bit closer together and pick up the pace a bit.  If we have a hard time keeping to a !
somewhat-less-than-competitive p
ace, I'll up the mileage rather than up the speed--maybe do a 75-miler.  The third year we might start knocking on the door of being competitive, if everything has gone as planned.

It all depends on the horse and his potential, as well as on the rider.  A great many successful endurance horses were "built" on a three-year program long before we ever had LD rides.  A lot of that homework can be done at home, and at least some of us prefer to do it that way.  I'd be curious to find out how many of the current top contenders (multiday, Tevis/OD, FEI, etc.) did or didn't do LD rides...

Heidi