Did you say you lived in the northwest and were conditioning 52 miles
a week? In my opinion, 52 miles a week is quite a bit in the cold
weather and bad footing. With the competition season more than 2
months down the road, you run the risk of "over conditioning" your
horse. The rule of thumb that I was taught was approximately 30 miles
a week (admittedly not all miles are equal) even during the
competition season. My suggestion would be to start with fewer miles
per week in the winter and work up to 30 or 40 when you want to start
competition.
Karen Steenhof
Boise, Idaho