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Re: [RC] Is this horse ready for an LD? - superpatGo for it. Promise yourself that no matter how fresh or how strong he seems, that you will ride a moderate paced ride. You also need to train his mind. Make ihis first few rides low key and steady and you will be building for the future. His body is ready. Now work on his mind. Have fun and good luck. Pat ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jennifer Thompson" <jlthompson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: "Ridecamp" <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2003 4:01 PM Subject: [RC] Is this horse ready for an LD? Okay, this may seem silly to some, since I'm only asking about a 25 miler, but I don't want to hurt my horse.... I bought a new gelding in November. He's 9 yrs old, was evented last summer, then turned out for a few months on 80 acres. His life prior to that was that of a pleasure trail horse, and also did some ranch duties up in Oregon. I bought him in late November , and discovered that while he could go quite a while on the flat no problem, he could not handle hill work at all. Acted like he wanted to die. :) The month of December consisted of a lot of walk/trot and slow hillwork, about 60-90 minutes, three times a week. By the end of the month, his wind had improved greatly, so I think what I experienced with him at first was just a temporary lack of fitness due to a few months off. He was in great shape prior to that, as he was 3-day eventing that summer, like I said. Jan, Feb, and first part of March, I upped the distance and intensity, doing 5-6 miles twice a week, with *lots* of hill work at both trot and canter. Then, one ride on the weekends of about 11-12 miles, walk/trot/canter, but on level ground. He handled all of this just fine and was recovering quickly even from our uphill sprints. Well, since about mid-March, due to travel, weather, chiropractic visits (no riding for several days after!) and you-name-it, I've only managed to get about two or three short rides in per week - I haven't been able to do any of our 12 mile rides at all, let alone 20-25 mile "practice" rides! Each ride is 5-6 miles, but still a lot of hills. We typically walk out for 1/2 mile, then begin a 2-mile ascent up a long, fairly steep fire road. We do the two-mile stretch at a fast trot, with some canter thrown in, if not an all-out gallop up to the top. He is panting quite a bit at the top, but recovers quickly and is ready to go again after walking just a few minutes. We then loop a different way around, to come back down, which consists of short very steep uphills, downhills, and some flat spots. We trot/canter the flat and uphills, walk the downhills. This loop we make is about 5.5 miles, maybe a little more if I take different side trails, etc. This routine has continued for the last six weeks, and I'm scheduled for our very first ride ever, on May 3rd - the Lakeside Classic in Bradley, CA. I have about two weeks left to condition. :( Does it sound like we've done enough to do a 25? Should I plan on just walking it, with just a little trotting here and there? Or does the fact that he can handle a lot of hills at a fast pace for 5-6 miles mean he can handle an easy 25 just fine? Thanks for any advice. Jennifer =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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