Re: RC: Schooling, conditioning, etc...

[DreamWeaver <dreamweaver@gbis.com>]

At 07:55 AM 02/01/2001 -0600, you wrote:
>My question is if you feel the horse is ready at the cardio level for a
>slow, easy 50 early (by this I mean in his first year of endurance -
>not early as in necessarily 5 years old) in his career, are you doing
>him any favors by doing a 25 (or any lesser distance) instead for
>some early rides - again at a reasonable pace?

Hi Tina:  I can do 25 mile training rides from homes, with friends.  So 
actually, if I had it to do over again with my two horses I probably 
wouldn't do a 25 or 30 mile ride on them unless I had a specific purpose -- 
i.e., taking a junior on their first ride.

I took one of my horses to a few LD rides -- at the time I was riding my 
other horse in the 50's and would have a friend ride the (then) new guy in 
the LD.  That worked out, but in hindsight it probably wasn't the brightest 
thing to do, for him.  Of course, it all depends on the ride you are going 
to.  There are rides I wouldn't want to bring a horse to for their first 50.

Though, I do think that a shorter distance ride is probably excellent for a 
rider if they are out of shape or still learning.  No use jeopardizing a 
horse because of inexperience or inability.  I think a horse that is 
conditioned enough to do a 25 can generally do a 50 if ridden sensibly, and 
paced properly.  Pacing a horse is an art, some horses have cruise control 
(set at a certain speed), and others don't.......I think that it is 
probably the most difficult thing to learn.

I think one of the best things you can do with a horse is take it on a 
multiday ride -- or at least two days.  I did that with Rocky at the end of 
his 5 year old year and it made a huge difference in him.  Rode him 
slow---after that ride he's never had a problem eating everything in sight 
and has turned into a somewhat accomplished endurance horse :^))).  Still 
going strong at 3400 some miles...his next gig is the Duck's big camping 
trip this summer.

I've got a new horse (well, actually two but I don't get to keep one of 
them <g>)......I think both are more than athletic enough to start in on 
doing 50's without any problems.  One was a 5 year old stallion until a 
week ago (I really love geldings >eg<, so now he's a gelding).

Happy Trails,

Karen
& Rocky, Weaver
Dakota & Rubicon