Re: [RC] ...anyone can take any horse and do 25 miles in 6 hours..... - Barbara McCrary
I did it, on a running QH who had absolutely
no conditioning at all, a horse that had been out to pasture and had never done
anything over 10 miles in his life. I'm not saying it's the sensible thing
to do, but in 1971 I hadn't a clue, and certainly no mentor to teach me. I
realize now that my horse was close to exhaustion, but even the vets at that
time didn't recognize that. "Yeah, his anal sphincter is flaccid, but he
looks alert; I'm going to let you go on." No water on the trail.
Horse hot to touch but not sweating. Bad news. I'm lucky he
survived. I stand by my statement, that anyone can ride any horse 25 miles
in 6 hours, but I'm also saying it's nuts to try it, unless the horse is
conditioned and/or the rider is very skilled.
Subject: [RC] ...anyone can take any
horse and do 25 miles in 6 hours.....
well, maybe a better way to say it would be, most anyone could take most
any horse that is in basically good physical and mental condition and complete
25 miles in 6 hours.
i have done it with several horses that were just used for pleasure trail
riding, but were in pretty good shape. i dont think that anyone is
implying that someone should take a horse out of the pasture that hasnt
been ridden in a year, and go out there and ride that horse 25 miles. i
guess the closest i came to doing that was riding a 15 year old paso fino
stallion in a 2 day 40 mile ctr. he was my third string
quarterback. the ride was scheduled, the horse i was supposed to ride
got kicked in the hip and was limping. my backup horse was running and
playing after a rainstorm, slipped in the mud and went spread eagle, pulling a
muscle. my wife said, well what now? i told her, no problem, i
will just ride the "old man". he runs the fence lines enough to stay in
pretty good shape.
so, we did. he finished the ride with no problems at
all. so, one thing that is very important in all of this is, you
have to know your horse and have a reasonable idea of what that horse can
do. ed
