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[RC] Howard's first place and conditioning at rides - Cindy Collins

At a ride I volunteered for, a junior asked a rider "how do you condition
your horse?" The rider said , "I don't , I condition at the rides".I
wondered what the junior made of that comment,a n whatever that rider
meant or did , or how her horse did or how long she did this, or was she
ignorant,or is this really ok ?I had no idea who the rider was, how many
rides she did or anything else. . . But in light of what I have read and
seen it sure made me wonder. . .
That it maybe more of an ART, than a Science. . .

I don't have any idea who said this in front of you or whether or not they
were someone worth listening to, but I think what you might need to know
is that those of us that have occasionally said that have had horses that
were experienced endurance horses with lots of miles, had a few months off
during the winter, then we took them very slowly at our first spring
rides.  Sometimes Wyoming weather, as an example, makes conditioning for
those May rides an "iffy" thing.  So, often I consider my first couple of
fifties of the season "conditioning" rides...it is really a deceptive
statement made off the cuff meaning that weather or something else
prevented me from conditioning as much as I'd like, so I slow my pace. 
And, if I'm attending a couple of rides each month during the season or
mulitday rides or 100s, I truly do condition very little.  The catch is
having the experience to know your horse and rate them for their level of
conditioning.  It IS an art.

Just curious, Howard, do they give first place awards for LD in your part
of the country?  I thought we only listed BC and completion awards for LD.
I guess there is little uniformity.  What was your speed?  Is this a new
horse?  Cindy


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