> Well about 3 months into it the mare begins filling in her
> front legs after a good workout. Never any real noticable heat, nothing on
> ultrasound.
> Here is the question, it is time to step up the pace on this mare. James
> wants to go out and "See what she can do".
Forgive me if this sounds like a lecture, it's not, but don't know if you already know this, alot of
people don't (which is why we're all asking questions). Muscle and cardiovascular responds to training faster
than anything else and can be conditioned to fitness in about six months or so. Soft tissue, ie tendons and
ligaments, can take two years or more to fully respond and reach maximum fitness and bone can take up to three
years. This is part of why young Thoroughbreds, having developed their muscles and wind, can run like the
wind as two year olds, but often blow tendons or have fractures while still very young. The muscle and wind
were there, but the bone and tendons hadn't caught up yet.
It sounds like your friends horse has a good start but needs awhile longer for her soft tissue and bone to
respond to conditioning, hence the filling after a workout. Filling is a response to overwork, though may not
always imply true injury. If you step up her conditioning way up now, she may be able to rise to new levels
with her muscular and cardiovascular system, but the tendons and ligaments may not be able to cash the check
the muscles just wrote! You may be at risk, especially if she is aggressive, of going the new distance, but
then finding blown tendons, splints or other problems the next day. I would suggest adding distance and work
load gradually. I know it's not as exciting as "seeing what she can do" but it is alot safer, and it sounds
like you're interested in doing this the right way, not the easy way. If after doing several conditioning
rides at a certain speed and distance, she still has tight, cool legs WITH NO FILLING, then increase the
distance or speed slightly (like maybe another two miles or so if increasing distance, or take just a few
minutes less to go each mile) but NOT both. Personally, I'd increase distance first but that's just me. I'm
also assuming the weight carried remains the same, as that counts as workload too. If she still has no
filling, then increase it a bit more, or next time step up the speed a bit while keeping the distance the
same. I know there's been other stuff posted on watching heart rate and respitation recoveries as well,and of
course those apply as well. Just remember, the heart and respiration won't tell you what the tendons and bone
is doing except as a response to pain, when it will all be too late.
You said the footing was good at your place. One of the nice things about bone is that while it needs some
concussion to respond, it doesn't take alot of it. Riding at a WALK ONLY on hard surface for just a few
hundred yards will signal the bone to respond. Don't overdo it, more is not better and will not get response
any faster! And again, too much and you're taking a chance on overloading the system and injuring your horse.
All of this came out of either my equine exercise physiology lecture notes and/or William Jones' book Equine
Sports Medicine, but I remember alot of it was also in a video on endurance conditioning that came out a few
years back. Darolyn Butler, Dane Frazier and I think Kerry Ridgeway were all in it and it was a good basic
video. I highly recommend it if you havent already seen it.
Good luck, if I can answer any physiology questions for you, I'd be happy to help.
Susan Evans
Equine Research Center
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona