Re: RC: Show and Tell

[Jim Holland <lanconn@tds.net>]

> > Heidi, As I'm sure you know, physical condition is also impacted by a
> > lack of mental conditioning. A horse than has learned to control his
> > emotions, listen, and is always looking for your guidance burns far less
> > energy than an upset, apprehensive horse.  A calm horse is more likely
> > to eat and drink and take care of himself.
> 
> ABSOLUTELY, Jim!  And you likely won't have any difficulty believing me when I tell you that countless times I've seen the less fit but BETTER TRAINED individual compete and complete with flying colors, while his fitter-but-more-excited compatriot is left behind, pulled, or worse.  Furthermore, one gets into far less trouble if the training is always one step ahead of the conditioning in the early phases.  We spend hours WALKING our youngsters under saddle, and doing "fun" dressage exercises on the trail and in mountain meadows along the way.  In short, we try to make them pleasant, responsive, and reliable saddle horses before we'd even dream of entering them on endurance rides--even though that is the long-range purpose for us in most cases.

Heidi..

You know, that's exactly what I do.  My new little guy Magic is in that
program now. He's 4 1/2. We just stay out forever, graze here and there,
walk, walk, walk.....8-10-12 hours. Walking up and down hills is great
for building good musculature and learning balance with a rider aboard.
I'm fortunate to have a great training area up here in the North Georgia
Mountains. Find new things to see, white water, bikes, motorcycles,
hikers (those big back packs are scary!), logs to cross, trim tree
branches on him, play games. Trimming trails is a great opportunity to
practice sidepassing. Play leapfrog, leave-and-come back with another
horse, soft trot up a few gentle hills, never down...NO cantering for
this first year. Sunny, of course, is bored to death....but he and my
friend Joan just drag along behind. She kicks, he speeds up for two
steps, then slows back down! <grin> He knows the difference between me
and her. He has learned not to expend any unnecessary energy when you
don't have to. :)  Magic just loves it, tho....he just has the MOST
fun....great adventure...loves to be up front..just steps right out!
Lots of time to look at a walk. If he's NEVER an Endurance horse, he
will be bombproof on the trail long before I find out. As he gets older,
the trotting will increase and he will go out some by himself and with
small groups of horses.  By then, I will have "adjusted" his mental
attitude as well, so as he gets fitter, it doesn't impact my "control".
Three years from now, he will do a 50, assuming I'm happy with where he
is.....or he may NEVER do a ride....but I will know WAY in advance if he
can....cuz he will have already done it on the trail, and hopefully it
will be a ho-hum to him when it happens. I enjoy Endurance...but I want
it to be as stress free for my horses as possible.  We ask a lot of
them, both mentally and physically, and I believe it is our
responsibility to be sure we train for both to maximize their potential
for success and minimize the chances for injury.

Jim, Sun of Dimanche, and Mahada Magic (Gee, Dad....this is GREAT fun!)