Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Laurie A. Underwood jimmy@xxxxxxxxxxx
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"anyone, on any horse, without any training at all, can do a LD ride"

I strongly disagree with this statement, for a number of reasons:

1.  Not "any" horse can do 25 miles.  If that were a true statement, 
barring bad luck (a rock with your horse's name on it, etc.) there would 
never be a pull at an LD ride.  There are horses who have completed 25 
miles without conditioning, to be sure, but I've also known horses with 
little or no conditioning who have been able to manage 50.  I've also seen 
plenty of horses without proper conditioning unable to go one loop, let 
alone 25 miles.  The bottom line is that no horse should be asked to go 25 
or more miles without being adquately prepared for the task.

2.  With all due respect, I feel that this is a reckless statement.  It 
encourages any newbie, and some not-so-newbies, reading this forum to think 
they can pull their horses out of the pasture and do 25.

3.  I could not have gone 2 miles in the beginning.  I didn't start riding 
until about 5 years ago, and even then probably started my first ride too 
early -- a mere 8 months after my first lesson.

If our motto is "To Finish Is To Win" then the name of the game is 
condition your horse properly and ride him within his parameters.

Laurie Underwood


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