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Re: [RC] 5 mph average (long reply) - Becky Hackworth

I try to walk most major hills. That is up and down. If the footing is major rocky, i.e....the kind that if you step on and they roll you twist an ankle/fetlock.....you just learn to trot every 10' or more where it isn't 8% up or down or too rocky. You learn to pad or boot so you can trot gravel 'cause that's about all you have left. And if by chance you have soft fabulous footing, wow.....what a rush.

I try to not trot as fast as my horse wants to. So no "turbo trot" With GPS I have clocked the speed I like the best at between 6-8 MPH. I think the best thing is to TEACH YOUR HORSE TO WALK OUT so you aren't loosing too much off that 5mph goal. I can power walk in good footing at 4mph. I can jog some down a hill at least that fast.

The math.

4 mph = 15 minutes/mile or 12.5 hours for 50miles
5 mph = 12 minutes/mile or 10 hours for 50 miles
6 mph = 10 minutes/mile or 8.3 hours for 50 miles
8 mph = 7.5 minutes / mile or 6.25 hours for 50 miles

So you see, if you can trot 25 miles at 8 mph that is 3.1 hours and walk 25 miles at 4 mph that is 6.25 hours. That equals 9.3 hours. That leaves you plenty of time for vet checks at most rides.

Rules for riding at the back without going overtime:
DON'T WASTE TIME IN THE VET CHECKS

EATING (not talking about grazing, but grab a few bites and go) and DRINKING on trail are not a waste of time.

Try to do all tack adjustments at water stops and vet checks. In other words, multitask. 3 average "tack adjustment" stops wastes 30 minutes out of your day.

If you think that this won't work....go check out my record. Most of my finishes are between 8-10 hours. It works. Oh yeah, there is one ride we trotted FAST the WHOLE RIDE and had a sub 5 hour finish. We finished 17th anyway. It was still a rush.

Have fun, don't stress, just go do it!




----- Original Message ----- From: "Kathy Klenk" <kramspott@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Jessica Spoone-Raines" <jspoone@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, October 08, 2007 6:54 AM
Subject: [RC] 5 mph average



This thread has been very interesting since I'm still too chicken to try a 50 with my Arab. This weekend we did a 3 day camp trip and rode every day. He has more energy at the end of every day but we have only been going 6 - 10 miles a ride. The problem as I see it with going slow lets say 5 mph average is hills. I work him on hills but it still really gets his heart rate and respiration up and it can slow an entire ride down to an average of only 2 mph. I"m in Georgia so these are NOT any major hills either. It would seem to me you'd have to do a lot less walking to be able to bring the average back up to finish in time.

Kathy - SE

Jessica Spoone-Raines wrote:
I dont have many aerc miles but I too am a slow rider. I have no trouble at all completing in time and thats with plenty of stirrups kicked off meandering through pretty pieces of forest with a grin on my face slowness. And nope I dont ride an arab, he's a very stocky, short qh/arab cross. Oh and I'm a very hw rider to boot, we couldnt go fast if I wanted to lol. Happy trails!
Jess Spoone-Raines


    I've been doing long, slow recreational distance riding for many
    years. I want to give endurance riding a try. I'm just having a
    hard time wrapping my mind around the speed. maybe I will surprise
    myself.



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Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
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Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp

Ride Long and Ride Safe!!

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Replies
[RC] 5 mph average, Kathy Klenk