If a horse is capable of doing a fast 25 and he has the conditioning to do
it there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing a fast 25, and BTW
depending on the trail I am not sure I would call 2.5 hours a fast 25.
Anyway where I see a potential problem is that LD rides are training rides
where you will have new riders, inexperienced horses and young horses.
There is the danger that these people will get caught up in the heat of the
moment which could be very determential to their horses.
As far me I would perfer to bring along a new horese (which I will be
starting to do next year) in 50's. Just because you enter 50 miles doesn't
mean you have to do 50 miles. In general the pace of a 50 is much more
relaxed (unless you are running up front) than a 25 and there are fewer
horses and less crowded vet checks - which means a young excitable horse
will have less distractions to get his jucies up over. If the horse is
tired at 25 then that is the end of his ride. If he is doing well then he
can go to the next vet check, etc.
One mistake I made with Misty was to do too many LD's before I did a 50.
On the first few 50's at 25 miles she though that she was finished and was
none too happy about going back out. I don't want to make that mistake
again. As far as not gettin a completition, I have enouth tee shirts to
last three lifetimes.
____ Original Post ______
>
>The difference is that the 25 mile ride is intended as a training
>ride, for young or green horses, or horses coming back after a
>layoff. It is expected that horses in the 50 mile ride have more
>maturity and conditioning.
>
>There is, if anything, *greater* danger of over-riding horses in the
>short rides, because with less distance and fewer vet checks some
>riders are more tempted to just run the horse as hard as they can.
>No thought of pacing or strategy.
>
>It can be funny to watch the egos involved, though. I once rode a
>75 mile ride where the last 25 miles of the 75 was the same trail
>used for the 25 mile ride. At the 50 mile vet check I overheard the
>first-to-finish 25 mile riders bragging about how fast they'd
>ridden. I proceeded to ride the last 25 miles of the 75 about two
>minutes faster than they rode that same trail, and I rode it in the
>heat of the afternoon! Kind of put a damper on their "braggin
>rights." Of course, Ol' Kahlil had over 5,000 miles under his belt
>by that time.
>
>Long's Law of Endurance Riding: If you're ahead of me, you're riding
>too fast!
>
>--
>
>Joe Long Rainbow Connection Arabians
>PC/LAN Manager home of Kahlil Khai
>Calhoun Comm. College AERC Hall of Fame horse
>jlong@hiwaay.net 11,450 miles completed
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The race is not always to the swift, but to those that keep running.
Truman and Mystic "The Horse from HELL" Storm
prevatt@lds.loral.com - Sarasota, Florida
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