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RE: [RC] Time between 100 mile rides - Joe Long - heidi

Kim, although I agree with Joe, you do bring up some good points.

I realize that I do not have the 100 mile experience that Joe Long has, but  
I would never agree that many horses can do 100s two weeks apart.  There may 
be that "one in a million" special endurance horse (like Joe's horse) that 
can 
do 100's every two weeks or even do two 100s back to back.  

What was "one in a million" about Joe's horse (and some of the other real 
"greats" in the sport) was the ability to do repeated 100s AT SPEED and with a 
high quality of competitiveness.  THAT is rare!  But just completing?  Well, 
"many" horses HAVE done close and frequent 100s at less-than-maximal pace, and 
have done just fine, so they can't be all THAT rare.  Perhaps they are not in 
the majority (given the overall decline in riding quality seen due to modern 
breeding practices, not just in the Arabian but in virtually all breeds), but 
they are far from "rare."  But I'll grant you, not ALL horses can do that, and 
the horse MUST be well-prepared, and be wisely and well ridden, as well as 
having some innate capability.

 I really don't feel that 
giving a horse a month between 100s is overly conservative.  In fact, in most 
cases, I feel it is the minimum time a horse should have between 100 mile 
events. 
Sometimes, the cumulative effect of conditioning and competition (stress) 
doesn't show up immediately after a competition. 

For one thing, when horses are competing that frequently, the stress of 
"conditioning" is not a part of the equation--they are already in condition, 
and riding between events consists primarily of what I call "warm-up-cool-down" 
rides that do not involve any degree of "conditioning."  The two horses that I 
cited in my post with their "busy season" records had vastly different 
management needs between rides--one was a stallion and was quite active on his 
own.  He got NO riding between rides when competing that frequently.  He just 
needed the rest time, and kept himself moving sufficiently to ward off 
problems.  The mare, on the other hand, was prone to tying up if not exercised 
regularly, even though she was turned out.  She had to be faithfully ridden 
very 2-3 days, but when on that schedule, those rides were never more than five 
miles (and often less), and consisted of a mile or so warm-up at a walk, a 
couple of miles of just jogging along at a pleasant medium trot, and then a 
mile or so of walking to cool back down.   Hardly "con
ditioning"--and pretty low-impact...  She, too, needed the rest, so we weren't 
out doing any more riding than necessary to "keep things moving."  Again, that 
is part of knowing your horse--and knowing when to back off.

Just because a horse doesn't look 
stressed doesn't mean that the body doesn't need time to rest and recover.  
Sometimes this stress will show up in the next competition very subtly such 
as 
the horse being dull or sometimes it may show up more dramatically as a 
metabolic or physical distress. 

There are a lot of things to look for--subtle changes in appetite, lack of 
enthusiam on arriving home from a ride, etc.  And yes, at each ride on that 
kind of a schedule, you are always tuned in to pick up any hints of cumulative 
problems.  But when the horse comes home from a 100-miler on Sunday and goes 
bucking and twisting up the hill to go tell his/her buddies all about it, and 
then, after racing a few times around the pasture to show off, heads straight 
for the feed bunk, your odds are pretty good that things are fine.  Doesn't 
mean you quit observing--but those are the sorts of things that I monitor 
pretty closely.

Sometimes ill effects from choices early in a ride 
season are cumlative and begin showing towards the end of the year. I feel 
that 
rest and recovery is a necessary part of successful competition.  

Sure, to both statements.  Whether you ride 2 rides in a season or 20, you 
should be constantly alert to cumulative damage.  And yes, rest is key to any 
program--see my above comments.

I think most endurance riders would agree and the 100 mile completion 
statistics definitely support that 100 mile rides, even when ridden 
conservatively, 
are  not something that the average endurance horse can do without proper 
preparation.  In my opinion, part of that preparation is adequate rest and 
recovery 
between competitions. 

Certainly.  No one is suggesting this kind of schedule on an unprepared horse.  
And once again, see above regarding rest.  But "how much" rest is necessary (or 
even ideal!) varies considerably from horse to horse.

Just because a horse "can" do back to back 100s 
doesn't mean it is in his best interest for competition he is doing now or 
for his 
future as a competition horse.

Sometimes not.  But for horses that thrive on "trail, trail and more trail," 
and who come back time and time again, where's the harm?  Again, back to 
knowing your horse, and being realistic about when enough is enough, instead of 
trying to apply some generalization across the board to horses of varying 
capability, ridden by riders with varying capability, and with varying degrees 
of preparation.

Heidi

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