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Re: [RC] physiology & conditioning - rides2far@xxxxxxxxTHE QUESTION: Why the extended rest? So what is it about horses that needs more time? Is it tendon or leg related? Following the "conventional wisdom" of giving least two weeks off for each 50 miler, my horse blew a tendon in his 178'th endurance mile. He is fine now, although Before I cut loose let me preface this with the statement that I damaged *my* first endurance horse's tendon before he even did one endurance mile so I am a reformed overtrainer. Now let me critique your post. You have done less than four competitions with your horse and have already done irreparable damage and you don't understand why your horse might need rest and want someone to encourage you in your misconception. If your horse "blew a tendon" he is *not* fine now. He may be as healed as he'll ever get, but he's not as perfect as he was before you overdid it, which is how a tendon gets damaged (been there, guilty of) Now, why the HECK do you want to train the week after a competition. What better training ride is there in the world than a competition? When is your horse getting stronger? Do you think you're making him stronger WHEN you're conditioning? You're not. That's when we do damage. Doing small amounts of damage on conditioning rides is how we convince the horse's body that it needs to lay down reinforcements, strengthening bones, ligaments and building muscle. It does NOT do this DURING training. It does it on off days. If you continue to do damage the day *after* you did a competition, when is your horse going to get stronger? He's not, he's just gradually being weakened like a rope fraying one strand at a time till is snaps (or blows). A horse does not lose conditioning for about 3 weeks. I usually give one day per 10 miles. A 50 would give 5 days minimum, probably 7. A slow 25 would just count as a regular training ride, but if you are a LD "racer" you should probably allow about 5 days too. I'll ride a horse a week after a 100, but I won't compete for at least 3 and 4 makes far more sense to me. Haste makes waste. Maybe we all have to suffer through those years off to find our we can live through a week off without it hurting us. Patience is something that is not fun to earn. You can learn it now, or learn it later. Angie ________________________________________________________________ Get your name as your email address. Includes spam protection, 1GB storage, no ads and more Only $1.99/ month - visit http://www.mysite.com/name today! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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