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[RC] Some Thoughts on Pacing (Part 1) - Jim Holland

Since “pacing” (rating) a horse in Endurance has been a frequent topic of discussion, I thought that the perhaps the information I tabulated on Magic in 2004 would be of interest.  He started 14 rides and completed all 14 of them. 

 

I started Magic within the goal of completing a one day 100 in 2005.  I did a lot of slow 50’s.  I didn’t condition him hard.  Lots of LSD, low intensity, long rides, working hard on holding a given speed, never letting him run.  The plan was to do a lot of his conditioning during the rides….do a lot of fifties, then move up to longer distances at the same pace. In addition, I wanted to do a wide variety of terrain…flat, mountainous, sandy, etc. My goal was a 6 ½ mph average.  Since our rides here in the SE have a lot of 15 mile loops, that’s about two hours per loop, which is how I figured out the speed of the trot I wanted. That’s about 8 hours of ride time and since our holds for fifties usually average about 40 minutes and 3 holds, that’s about 1.5 hours hold time, resulting in crossing the finish in 9-10 hours.

 

Here are my Magic’s ride times for 2004:

 

Goethe                          50         6:54

Gator Run                     50          7:28

Leatherwood                  50          9:56

Liberty Run I                  55          8:25

Liberty Run III                55          8:16 (Top Ten)

Old Dominion                 50          8:47

Sand Hills Moonlite        50          6:48 (Top Ten)

GERA                           50          7:40

Big South Fork              50          8:20

KY Stampede                50          8:41

Yellowhammer               50          7:04

Hallelujah                      75         11:29   (The target here would be 12 hours)

Skymont                       50           9:27   (I was mentoring another rider here, so time is not representative)

Biltmore                        55           7:06

 

Note that we were pretty consistent and you can tell how “technical” the ride was by the variation above or below the goal of 8 hours.  The heat and humidity are also a factor.

 

Our best effort was the 75 at Hallelujah. Eight hour 50’s is 4 hours for 25 miles, so 75 miles would be 3 x 4 or 12 hours….We did it in 11:29.   Note that the more technical the ride, the harder it is to pace consistently, since you have to go faster when it’s flat and slow down on the hills.

 

Jim, Sun of Dimanche+, and Mahada Magic