Re: Conditioning

K S Swigart (katswig@deltanet.com)
Sun, 19 Jan 1997 21:27:50 -0800 (PST)

On Sat, 18 Jan 1997, Ron Olko wrote:

> condition resting pulse rate of 25. She also recovers very quickly when in condition. But I remenber reading the 15-15-15 rule. My mare can do that the 1st day of riding after 6 months off. If I step up my pace at this point, what harm
> can I do to possibly unready tendons and ligaments? Or are they ready?
> How do you tell when they are ready? Doesn't the cardiovascular system, condition faster? If we condition by heart rate, could we possibly be hurting muscles,ligaments and tendons?

Yes, if you are starting a horse from scratch and train it to the limits
of its cardiovascular system you will most likely be overtraining the
joints a ligaments (although the other muscles...not just the heart
should keep up quite nicely).

This is why I DISCOURAGE (believe it or not) the use of a heart rate
monitor in the early stages of athletic training...not because the
information provided isn't valuable, but rather because it has a tendency
to make the rider push the cardiovascular system to its limits (which is
probably beyond the limits of the tendons and joints).

Unfortunately, I don't know of any way to tell if you are overdoing it
with the joints and tendons. By the time you notice heat, swelling, or
lameness this is beyond "micro damage" (which can be beneficial) and true
damage is already done...much of it irreparable. And sometimes this
damage will not manifest itself until months or years down the road (even
if you never noticed heat, swelling, or lameness).

My motto is "err on the side of caution"

At the same time....REST is an essential part of the training program.
In the early stages of training, I will keep the number of workouts to 2
or 3 a week, so the body has time to recover from that beneficial "micro
damage" and consequently build. If the horse doesn't rest, the horse
doesn't recover. And by the time the horse is in fit condition, it only
takes 2 - 3 days a week to keep them that way. Additionally, my horses get
total rest for the week before and the week after a competition.

Other days of the week can be used for schooling your horse rather than
for conditioning (e.g. a great day to work on teaching your horse to
halt, stand tied, stand still for saddling and mounting, behave itself in
company.....)

Hope this helps.

kat
Orange County, Calif.