Try and find a horse that matches your personality. Use the articles
regarding horse conformation, etc., to help you. Some of it is luck.
>How many miles a day do you ride and at what pace? Do you train your horses
>like an athlete trains for a marathon? How effective is Interval training?and
>how often? Mountain climbing?and how often?
I average training rides of 12 miles. I try to do that (in the winter) at
least two or three times a week. When the days are longer I can add more
days. At least once a week I try to get in a longer ride - 25 to 35 miles -
and we go slower - I try to spend as much time as I can in the saddle. I do
a lot of hill work - at this point I still have not done any super fast
running on this horse - we average a trot of about 12 mph, though he can go
faster for short periods. We are *slowly* building up his speed - that does
take time. Be patient, and if you've done a hard ride for a day or two in a
row, let the horse have more time off.
> How many hours a day do you ride and what type of round pen training will
>help?
I probably spend anywhere from 20 to 40 hours per week in the saddle.
Sometimes not that much if the weather is bad. We aren't always trotting
though - and I spend a lot of time doing arena work a couple times a week -
then the horses "reward" is going out on the trail. Dressage training is
really beneficial - it has made a big difference in my horses way of going.
It is good for their minds to give them variety. (at least for mine)
I love riding my horse - and we don't always go out on the trail to train -
just to have fun - all the camping trips, etc., that we have done have gone
a long way in keeping him calm and relaxed at an enduance ride.
Good luck! Hope you find a good horse!!
Karen