Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Quoting Mary Ann Spencer <maryann.spencer@xxxxxxxxxxx>:

> one rule used to be:
>
> When you can do 12 miles in 2 hrs you are ready to do a 25 but not a
> racing one.
>
> When you can do 25 miles in 3 hrs, you are ready to do a 50.  
>
> You really need to be able to do conditioning riding 3x a week, ie
> interval training.  
>
> Use common sense.  Know the signs of stress in the horse and how to
> count pulse and respirations.  Pulse needs to return quickly.  
>
> Get a good book so it can be your reference guide.  Good luck.
>              mas

Those are interesting guide lines.  I am wondering about the terrain issues.  I 
train on very steep ground, lots of climb, and lots of down hill.  We do 25 
miles in about 4hrs, but I would not want to take the down hill any faster than 
we do, (4-5 mph walk or 6-8 mph trot depending on the hill).  I guess that we 
could canter all of the up hill, but seems a little excessive, we trot most of 
it at 8-10 mph and canter or lope some of it around 12-15 mph.  

I have been afraid that I was going to fast, but recoveries have been great.  
The big problem that I have is when we get to a ride, they are so excited they 
want to run the whole time, and they do not relax into a moderate pace early on.

What are some things that others have done to help teach pacing?

Thanks.



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