I want to know if there's a way to "guestimate" what a horse's anaerobic
threshold might be. I want to adjust the target zone for the alarm on my HRM but
I'm not sure what to set it to.
I condition in 20 mile increments in the rolling hills of the high desert
in preparation for our first ride, a 50 miler, in August. Depending on the grade
of the ascent or descent, his heart rate at his working trot is anywhere from
the high 90's to the 180's. He pulses down to the low 60's in under five minutes
on average.
On today's conditioning ride, we did 20 miles in a little under three hours
with a 20 minute rest at the 10 mile point. He gets beet pulp and water at these
"checkpoints." We cantered the remaining 10 miles home, stopping once at
the 5 mile point for him to walk for a few. His heart rate at the canter is
anywhere from 118 to 200, again, depending on the terrain. At the 5 mile point,
he pulsed down to 64 bpm in 3 minutes. When we got home, he pulsed down from
about 187 to 51 again in three minutes. One minute later, he was at 47 bpm.
Based on this, can anyone give me a ballpark figure as to what his anaerobic
threshold might be? In other words, what kind of length of time would be a
better indicator that he might be near his limit?
