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Re: [RC] Malik: (now distance requirements) - sharp pennyHummmmm Howard, I strongly disagree with this....sometimes it's not in the horses best interest to be *forced* into doing a year of a distance that is just not his cup of tea and in actuality stresses him out more than a higher distance does. I happen to own such a beast. Tried 1 LD and it was enough to convince me that this short of a distance was making him a basket case, wasn't teaching him anything except to fight me and really stress himself out in the process. Yes I'm one of those control freaks that insist on good manners and listening to me at all times. Stepping up to a fifty was the best thing I could have done for him..helped his mind, he learned to use himself and stayed relatively relaxed. The first 50 we tried, his brain didn't kick in 'til mile 45..the next 50 he started listening at mile 30..then next one happened at mile 25 and now halfway into the first loop he engages brain cells. I honestly don't think this would hav happened with a year of LD's under his girth as he would have never gotten a chance to experience what tired was. Same goes for eating and drinking along the trail each time he gets a little better at this and starts doing it sooner. Stepping up to a 100 after half a dozen 50's also did him a world of good. My personal goal is to do 100's and I needed to get somekind of feel if this was gonna be a horse I could do 100's on... I could really see a big improvement in his next 50 that we did afterward our very slow 100. I also think that horses get used to a certain milage and the sooner you can step up to the distance you want to do the better. As I said, I needed to know pretty soon in the game if Reno would enjoy 100's or if I needed to find him a home with someone who only wanted to do 50's and look for another horse for me. At mile 51 on our first 100 he was convinced he was done and really shuffled out of camp with alot of head turning and longingly looking back at camp. That whole loop was torture as we didn't have anyone to draft off of and in the end was what cost us to go over time. The next loop after that (mile 65) he was rarein' to go again and eagerly ran out of camp looking for horses to pass (his favorite activity!) The beauty of endurance is anyone can do any milage and can taylor their milage to their current goals and capabilities of the horse they are riding. Had I been forced to stay and ride LD's for x amount of time or x amount of miles I would have probably just stopped doing endurance altogether as it was no fun for either me or my horse. As many in endurance have expressed, I hate to see rules that hinder a majority of the members and in actuality only help that 2-5 % at best. JMHO Penny The point I'm trying to make is we need to do something here. Dane Frazier has suggested that a horse spend a year doing LD's before doing their first 50 miler. And, he adds that the horse should do a year of 50 milers before doing their first 100. I can hear the moans and groans over this idea but, if you stop and think about the best interests of the horse and the fact that things aren't really getting much better along the lines of horse deaths at endurance rides the way things are currently, you may decide it might be time for a change in this direction. We need to step up to the plate. cya, Howard (go Marlins) __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search http://shopping.yahoo.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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