In a message dated 07/03/2007 8:49:28 AM Pacific Standard Time, hmpl@xxxxxxx writes:
Paso are bred to have brio. What that translates to in endurance is that they have a lot of go. In particular it is difficult to know when they are getting tired. They won't tell you. As such, if you ride them like other horses, even WITH a heart rate monitor, they will tend to go overboard and wear themselves out, messing up their... HEART RATES and CRI.
What do you think?
-Paul
Well, I don't think I agree with your statement about messing up heartrates. Regardless of why a horse is going overboard or wearing himself out, you as the rider need to come up with a strategy that will work in the sport for your horse. Pasos that may not give outward signs of getting tired. This is not unique to Pasos, I have ridden many Arabs that never give an outward sign of being tired. If I had just listened to them they probably would have run themselves into the ground.
When you think about it, if brio is what you describe, it is really no different then a horse that won't recover because it has race brain, or a horse that is nervous at vet checks when buddies leave and has a high HR, or a variety of other reasons.
When you talk about using a HR monitor in training, are you using it as a means to know how long it takes your horse to recover? For me, the real indicator of fitness is not how high or low a horse runs at but how long it takes to recover. In essence, that is the same information you get from a CRI.
I stopped comparing my horses' HR to other horses I ride with a long time ago. All horses are different. Again, it is how long it takes a horse to recover that gives the most information in my opinion.
