Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Ok, here is what I have done for years in terms of lay off time.

Keep in mind, that I am referring to conditioned horses, not horses that are "getting ready to do a 50".

 

I will give at least a week after a 50, sometimes more if I don't "need" to ride for some particular reason.  But at the same time, I don't have any problem with doing back to back rides.  We go to a good many rides each year, so once we start, we will have at least one a month.  In that case, I don't ride them at ALL in between rides.  They need that time to rest.  After a 100, I will give them anywhere from 1 week to a month.  Again, it just depends.  For instance....after the OD 100, which was on June 10th.  I just now, last week started riding those horses again.  So, they have had about 2 months off...total rest, just standing around eating grass and swishing flies.  Those same horses will go to a ride in one month.  But, these are fit, seasoned horses.  So, they hold their conditioning well, and bounce back well.

I have done a 100 one weekend, and then a 50 the very next...same horse.  No, Rose was not a happy camper about it.  But she did it and it didn't hurt her.  But she was going fast at either ride.  I have done a 100 one weekend, and two weeks later another 100 same horse.  I have even done a 100 one day, rest one day, and then a 50....again same horse.  She won both rides and BC'ed both rides.  It really depends on the horse.  She was super horse.

 

You can wear a horse out by riding it too much at home.  Plus, you can wear out their legs by pounding them to pieces conditioning.  The best way to get a high mileage horse, is get him in shape, then take him to rides.....and let him rest in between.  Conditioning is not a huge time consuming task.  Not once you get that horse ready.....he will hold it, just go and enjoy the rides.

sherman <sherman@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Once again, I really think newcomers and those wanting to ?move up? to 50s or 100s should READ the Decade Teams and 100 Mile Riders interviews. There is a wealth of information on conditioning, lay-off, feeding, etc. Also, the mentor list on AERC.org indicates what type of mentoring the rider is willing to do (50s, 100s, juniors, etc).

  

 

 

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