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Re: [RC] Newbie needs help...again (long)! - rides2farI use a heart rate monitor. However, how do I know if she is the aerobic zone so that her heart and fitness is improving? For me it was *so* dependent on terrain that if being at low heart rates meant you weren't doing any good I wasn't doing any good most of the time (hard to get over 80 on long downhill walks). You'll be happy to know, that time in the saddle probably helps regardless....unless maybe you're getting passed by a 27 year old foundered navicular QH. >BG< I can tell you that over 150 is supposed to be anaerobic. My horses would usually hold a trot up a slope until they hit 150 and want to drop to a walk...but if I let them run we'd bust 200, get to the top and blow for awhile. You'd be amazed how well my horse can graze with a 180+ pulse. :-) Now, when she hits 120 I slow her down to a walk. I don't know why but > I have 120 in my head for being to fast???? I think 120 is a perfect traveling rate. If she stays around 120 just go for awhile. The mistake I made was pulling my horse up at a certain rate, every time. The horse finally learned to pull himself up at that rate...then I got it in my head that he was *tired* at that rate. Actually, he was just trained to quit at that point. It took me riding a bike over the same course and noticing that I didn't *need* to stop there any more to realize what I'd done to him. Also, how fast should she recover from exerting herself and what number > do I want her under? For example, we are strong trotting and her HR is > 120. I bring her to walk. Should she be under what number after how many minutes? Around here if you stood around long for recoveries the horseflies swarm your horse so bad he'll never come down. Forget the numbers. LOOK at you horse. Is it relaxed? Is he blowing? Is it interested in its surroundings? Wanting to eat? Eager to move on? You just don't sound like you're the type to blow the top off your horse so why don't you just *really* look at her? So much of the time with young horses the numbers are reflecting their state of mind more than the stress level. When Kaboot was doing his early 50's he was trotting at 145 in the front of a group of 3, and 121 at the back of the same group at the same speed. Is the long sponge rope just suppose to hang like it is off of my saddle? Won't it get caught on something? When "put away" I wrap the string round and round my sponge, then run the breast collar strap through the strings to attach it to my saddle. When I take it off the loop's on my wrist, the sponge is in my hand or stuffed in the fork of my saddle. I am planning ahead and was wondering how much grain do people feed at vet checks? If I put just enough grain in my beet pulp to get him to eat the beat pulp but he'll usually go for the alfalfa. My grain is just a bribe to get the beet pulp in. Mine usually eat mostly hay. I mostly just use grain as a top dressing on 50's but may make a point of getting a little more in him on a 100. What is a "slurpie" and can I make one with the grain I feed (vintage racer-beet pulp based). Just throwing a bunch of stuff in and soaking it down. The thing is, I don't know what my horses like because they're always grabbing someone else's. I do know mine is edible since everyone else's horses grab at it as they go by. It's weird because I was always > taught to never feed a horse after she has been worked for at least an > hour Think of it as what you used to do was like being in a basketball game...you're running like crazy and your coach calls time out...you mom hands you a plate of turkey and dressing and you're like "WHAT THE HECK?" But what you're doing now is like an all day hike. You walk and walk and are starving and have no problem pulling out a granola bar and eating as you go. What is road work? How often do you do it and at what pace? Just something with a little concussion. If you train on really soft surface (like an arena) the bone isn't stimulated to get stronger. Just a bit of walking or easy trotting on a road can stimulate the bone to get stronger. I just rotted about 100 yards on asphalt as I came back to my house. A really hard packed dirt road is just as good. . Will this be bad for her psychologically to always go alone? Don't worry about something that hasn't happened yet. If it does, then you figure out what to do about it. I had a horse that didn't like going out alone and all it took was letting the dog go with us to make him happy again. I have been letting her grab leaves and eat as we go. People yell at me and tell me that I shouldn't do that and it is bad behavior. You're right. They're wrong. Tell them you're one of those jets that refuels in midair. :-) Am I the only one that has to use a leatherman to get them on and off? Hoof pick works fine for me long as I pry them off right to left instead of back to front. I do take a set of wire cutters though after reading how Becky Hart had a situation where Rio stuck his foot through the cable and she had to cut it off. Personally, I like shoes and hope the easyboot stays in my pack. :-) Sounds like you're going to do a good job. Don't worry...Be happy! It's going to be a blast. Angie =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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