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[RC] 50 miler - Ready or Not? - Ibiteraaarr

I'd like some advice/feedback about whether or not we'd be ready for a 50 mile ride given my current conditioning regimen . Any comments, questions or criticism is welcomed.

I started conditioning a year ago and at the time hoped to get some LD's done in the fall of '03. Between getting pregnant and being sans a horse trailer and towing vehicle at the time, it didn't happen. While they were setbacks, in the long run I've been able to do substantially more conditioning and training, and given this factor of more time to prepare, I shifted my aspirations from an LD to a 50 miler as my first attempt at this sport.

Over the last year I have kept meticulous conditioning logs which included everything from pseudo-vet checks to average speed per mile to pulse rates before, during and after conditiong and even pulse down times. I've tried to expose my horse and desensetize him to everything I could including traffic along a busy highway, different types of footing, weather, noise, night-time riding, etc. His working trot at which we do our conditioning is right over 7 MPH, which is a comfortable gait that he is easily able to maintain over the miles. His working heart rate at this speed stays at 88 bpm for the first couple miles, then levels off at about 100-101 bpm and he pulses down to 60 in roughly 3 minutes.  He is EXCELLENT at drinking and taking care of himself (Before we even start a ride he'll drink two of the full 25 lb Strongid buckets), and is great about pooping and peeing.

Based off his performance data from the conditioning logs, I've put together a game plan of sorts for a 50 mile ride that compliments his current abilities with plenty of time to spare. At this point, I have not pushed him to see just how fast or how far he could go, but I'm very satisfied with what we're doing. I'm not looking to race.

I'm eyeballing mid October for the Armadillo ride in Texas. Am I on track to preparing him for a 50 miler or are my aspirations too far fetched at this point given his conditioning?