Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

At 12:01 AM 9/29/2003, Patti Kuvik wrote:
> I would estimate 40-50% of the [bike] riders came in for their "post-race" 
> IV of one or two litres of Lactated Ringers. It was obviously expected and 
> planned for.

It used to be with endurance that not only did you have to finish, but your 
horse had to be *capable of going on*.

I'm of the old fashioned school.  To me part of the art and science of 
endurance riding is understanding and abiding by the old bucket 
analogy:  Your horse has so much energy/capability in the bucket.  You ride 
your horse so that when you get to the finish line, there is still enough 
energy/capability left to go on.

How big the bucket is, and therefore how much energy/capability is 
available, is determined by genetics, conditioning and such before you even 
get there.  During the ride, you use up energy/capability and you can 
replace *some* then, but not all.

What endurance is is about using that bucket's contents... not about 
maintaining a balance between energy in and energy out.  You can't go 
faster or farther than a grazing horse would during a normal day and 
maintain that balance.  Endurance is about pushing the envelope, going 
farther and faster than normal, even if for a rider it's going at a 4 mph 
pace for 25 miles.  That's farther and faster than a bucket can handle and 
stay full.

So the art and science is riding so that you go as fast and far as you can 
while using the least amount of energy/capability in that bucket.  To me, 
you ride with the understanding of how big your bucket is and how fast it's 
contents get depleted, and it is imperative that you don't use too much of 
it's contents.  To me, if I have to use veterinary or other artificial aids 
to replenish the bucket, I've not understood about my bucket, and I've 
failed as an endurance rider - no matter what vets or completion records say.

Being capable of going on is a very simple way of saying that there is 
energy/capability left in a horse's bucket.

Capable of going on - I don't see how using a preventative IV is in 
alignment with that.  If there's a chance that the horse would be in 
trouble without the IV, would that horse be truly capable of going on?

________________________________
   Lif Strand www.fasterhorses.com
           Quemado NM USA


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