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Re: [RC] re: Truman's comments on 100s - Truman PrevattAn interesting sidelight here - not all 100's are slow. In fact I just looked at something I did a couple years ago when I looked at 2002 and ordered rides by average ride speed. Some of the fastest rides based on average speed were 100's. No the Big Horn was up there. I just relooked at the pull rates. The total pull rate for 100's from 1996 through 2002 slowly increased from about 38% to a little over 40% in that seven year period. For the 50 milers it has was flat at about 14. But more interesting is how the pulls are distributed. In the 50 there has been a trend toward an increasing percentage of the pulls coming from lameness and in the 100 an increasing percentage of the pulls coming from metabolic.If you assume the model of the stress on the horse is only dependent on the incremental distance and independent of the total distance (i.e. it is a constant stress per mile independent of if it's a 50 mile ride or 100 mile ride) the pull rate on the 100's would be a little over twice that of the 50 (there are formulas from accelerated life testing that apply for this model) or about 30%. the pulls in the 100 are significantly higher than would be predicted by this model hence the hypothesis is not a good one. Normally I suspect the issues start to show up at 80 miles and Mike Maul did some analysis a couple years back that showed that to be the case in pulls. As I said we should not make people afraid of doing 100's, however, we should not sugar coat the effort and dedication required to get a horse ready for a 100. We should not also perpetuate the myth that "every horse can do a 100" - they can't. From my experience most horses can do a 25. Many can do a 50 - but certaintly not every horse out there that shows up with a first time rider. It takes a special horse to do a 100. I have two horses in my pasture. One is a mare and retired. She retired after the '96 ROC with abtween 1700 and 1800 miles to breed. Of her miles over 1/3 were 100 mile rides. The horse I am not riding since '97 is a gelding. He's being doing endurance for 10 years (I've been riding him 9). He can do 50's all day long. He rolled over 2000 miles this spring (would have more if I had more time) and shows no indication of slowing down so I suspect he'll hit three thousand in a couple of years. If the hadn't come down with West Nile in 2002 and lost most of the season - he'd be a lot closer to 3000. He doesn't have a 100 in him. Two different horses. Both very good horses. I love em both and enjoy riding the old boy - but he's not a 100 mile horse. A horse I am starting now may be a good 100 mile prospect, I'll know in about 4 years. It takes a special horse to do a 100. But if you have that horse and you have prepared you should not fear a 100. You should respect it - but not fear it. I think we are doing new riders a disservice by implying it's as easy a "rolling out of bed in the morning." It isn't but it is certaintly doable if you have the right horse and do your homework. The greatest service the AERC could do for those that feel that want to someday try a 100 is to provide educational material on how to prepare a horse (and yourself) for the event. Truman Cindy Collins wrote: "The pull rates don't bare that out. The pull rates - particularly for metabolics is much higher for the 100's than one would expect if the 100's were no harder on the horse than 25's." -- "The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. The opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth." Niels Bohr -- Nobel Laureate, Physics =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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