Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Well, it all depends.....mostly that is a decision the rider has to make 
for themselves and if you aren't sure, then err on the side of the horse 
(caution) and don't do it.  I don't know what your ride times were, or if 
it was a small ride but coming in top ten in a shorter distance ride two 
days in a row may not be the best way to set up a horse for doing a 
50.  But then, that also depends on the horses level of conditioning, rider 
experience and then the course difficulty and how the horse is ridden at 
the 50 two weeks later.  Just be careful that if you are adding distance 
that you don't add speed, or even ride at the same speed you rode the 
shorter distance rides at.  I know that with my own horses that if I let 
them go faster, that it will take a ride or two after that to get them back 
to not wanting to continue at that same kind of speed (esp. Rocky).  If a 
horse is built up gradually they don't need time off, but doing too much 
too soon can cause accumulative damage that doesn't always show up right 
away (regardless of good BC scores or vet card scores).  Whenever I allowed 
anybody to ride one of my horses in a LD ride (most of which were 
unsanctioned back then) I threatened them considerably with bad things if 
they even dared top ten.  I didn't care if there were only 12 horses in the 
ride <G>.  I think shorter distance rides can cause a lot more problems 
long term for really athletically inclined horses.  That is just my own 
personal experience.  I don't think the board should even be sanctioning 
multiple day limited distance rides without there being some restrictions, 
as 4 year old horses don't need to be doing that sort of thing.

Karen
in NV


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