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RE: [RC] back to HRM discussion - Kathy Ramspott

Mike,

Thanks so much.  I am so glad I asked, I thought what I put was conservative, to find that I can be going at a slower rate and not only be doing some good but be doing better by my horse is actually a relief in a way.

 

Thanks again,

Kathy

 


From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Mike Sofen
Sent: Tuesday, January 11, 2005 10:50 AM
To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [RC] back to HRM discussion

 

Kathy,

 

You asked a really good and revealing question.  All of our HRM discussions were centered around older horses that already had a complete base of LSD over 2 or more years.  My personal recommendation for a young horse would be that an HRM would be completely unnecessary and in fact, counter-productive.

 

The reason is, the only thing you’d want to be doing with an unseasoned horse is building up the soft tissues, which is done at such low speeds that the HRM is meaningless, AND, as has been promoted vigorously by other contributors to this list , may encourage you to start riding faster than the infrastructure of the can handle.  If I were conditioning such a horse, I wouldn’t put on an HRM until sometime later in their second year of training at the earliest.

 

To answer the specific questions, if I had a horse that took 10 minutes to return to 60bpm or less, that would tell me I had worked them WAY too hard.  Example:  my horse returns to 50 or less after a hard workout (steep hillclimb trots and canters) within 2 minutes of ending our ride, and usually it is already at 60 or less when we finish.  In the context of recoveries, 10 minutes, in my opinion is way outside of a reasonable recovery period.

 

On the second question, 15 miles in 2 hours means 7.5 mph for the entire course – that’s pretty fast for a young horse.  Heck, that’s pretty fast for many horses, unless you’re on a flat course.  A better number would be an average of 5-6 mph max, which would consist of a lot of walking and some trotting.

 

Mike Sofen

 


 

In the endurance book I have it says, “… after a 10 minute rest…as a rule of thumb, if the heart rate reliabley returns to 60bpm or less it is safe to ask for slightly more intensity”

 

If using the above formula along with the “…..15 miles under 2 hours comfortably ready for a 50….” suggestion is that a good basic ligament/tendon safe conditioning way to go for a first season on a 4 year old?  

 

No racing, just working towards getting a 50 done by second or third season.

 

Kathy R - SE


Replies
RE: [RC] back to HRM discussion, Mike Sofen