A few numbers (Did anyone guess that I'm a bit of an analytical?)
It takes approximately 5 years to build up the bone strength.
It takes approximately 2 years to build up the medium to soft tissues.
It takes approximately 4 months to build up the heart/aerobic condition.
It takes approximately 4 weeks to build up the sweat production.
(If you are moving from a high dry climate, to a low wet climate this
last is important.)
What this means to the beginning horse and beginning riders is
TAKE IT SLOW.
Now, some of that 5 year build up for the bones will be done by the
foal running around in a pasture from the time they are born. By
the time you start riding, the bone density is already started.
But, to make further changes will still takes years. If you are
starting an aged horse (older horse to me is after 20, so aged is
still young), that is maybe 10 or young teens, you still need
to put the time and slow miles on the horse to improve the bones,
tendons, ligaments, muscles, as well as the heart rate.
Long - start with a few miles and increase in small increments (1-2 miles)
every other week. Work your way up to 12 to 15 miles.
Slow - A walk is about 4-5 mph. A trot is about 10 mph. A canter is
from 15 - 20 mph. These are averages. At a ride, you will be traveling
from 5 (walk) to 15 (canter) mph. (Valerie Kanavy once ran the last part of a
100 at closer to 20 mph. Because she could, because her horse was in
great condition.) Your overall average might be only 4-5 mph because
the vet checks are wait time.
In training, start out at a walk. Slowly increase the speed of your ride.
Add in a few minutes of trot, fall back to a walk, then add in a few minutes
of trot. Over the weeks, do more trotting than walking. Then add in a few
minutes of canter. Other than the warm up and cool down, your average
might be 10 mph.
Always start out with a warm up. 10 minutes of walking is very good
for the horse. Always end up with a cool down. Another 10 minutes of
walking is very good.
In the article I wrote earlier, I set up a schedule. This is not meant
to be followed exactly to the letter. It will all depend on your horse,
your work schedule, your terrain, your goals. There are three parts
to the training.
One day of ring work. This would be an easy day for the heart, and
depending on the terrain, a work out for the bones and hard tissues
if your ground is hard, or a work out for the soft tissues, ligaments
and tendons, if the ground is soft sand.
One day of long slow work. This is your mountain work out. You want
to do as much distance as your horse is up to. You want to increase
the speed only up to the trot of 10 mph. You'll be doing some walking,
some trotting and maybe some cantering. Over all your speed is 10 mph.
This works on all aspects of the horse's condition. You are stressing
the heart a little. (This is where that 15/15/15 comes in.) You are
stressing all the muscles, bones, ligaments, etc. as well.
One or two days of speed work. This is progressive work on the heart.
Your speed will vary between 5 mph for the warm up, to 20 mph fast
canter (many weeks into the work), back to 10 mph, then up to 15, ect.
It stresses the bones through concussion (as does all the work),
and you must be careful not to over due this work. Ride on the soft
side of a road, or better, pick a non-vehicle traveled trail.
An added feature of interval training is that it "naturally" increases
the body's ability to store glycogens (the energy food). There were
articles over the last few months about carbo-loading, and how it
affects the ability of the horse to go longer, faster, and with less
fatigue. By doing interval training, you get a similar result.
You still must watch the nutrition, but the horse adapts more quickly.
Let's look at a couple of examples -
1> You are starting a 10 year old horse that has only been lightly
ridden, some trails, mostly rings. You have unlimited time (I'm
dreaming but you get the idea). You also have lots of trails
available in your area and a good sand arena. For a couple of weeks, you
do trails twice a week, increasing the distance a few miles per week.
You also do a day or two of ring work. For this horse, you skip
the speed work for the first two months. Instead, you get the
horse used to the long distances at slow speeds (5-10 mph). After
a couple of months, the horse is really liking to trot out and
almost resents being slowed down to the walk. Now you find that
perfect soft road, and start interval training. Two months
after that, you enter your first limited distance ride and reach
all your goals. Your horse flies through all vet checks with A's,
is perfectly sound and willing to go on.
2> You are starting out a six year old horse. He's a bit flightly,
hasn't been worked other than a few months under saddle a year
ago, but has potential. You work five days a week, you have a family,
and a life outside of horses (don't worry, you'll lose that soon
enough:-) On the weekend, do the longest ride you can fit in.
This will start slow and short and over the weeks increase in conjuction
with the fitness of the horse. You will also schedule a weekly
lesson with a dressage trainer who understands and is willing to work
with endurance horses. Then in the middle of the week, you do a
bit of road work. Starting out slow and gradually increasing the
speed. For the young unworked horse, very gradual increases in the
interval training. At the first ride, you take your horse, but leave
him at the trailer. Instead, you help out the vets at base camp.
After the ride is over, you go for a short ride up the trail.
You notice all the points that need work on your horse. A month
later you enter a ride, start out after all horses have left base
camp, and ride conservatively. You win in the most important catagory,
you finish on a sound, happy, healthy horse.
3> You have a past endurance horse that has been in pasture for six
months due to the owner having a baby. Your job is to recondition the
horse. First day out, you notice that this horse seems to be in
the same condition as when going out to pasture. Sure enough, horses
do not loose conditioning at the same rate as people. As a comparision,
a person looses aerobic conditioning at 10% per week and can only
get it back at 3-4 % per week. A horse can sit in pasture for several
months doing mostly nothing, and loose only 10-20%. After a few
years, you will definately notice a difference. So, to recondition
this horse, do a few tests on your mountain ride. How far is the
horse willing to go? What does a heart check tell you? And how does
the horse feel the next day. You'll want to accellerate the training
schedule for this horse. Do four months work, in only two months.
4> You are Valerie Kanavy. You have a horse that you've been bringing
along for six years. You are ready to move on to bigger things.
You evaluate the up coming ride conditions. You plan what the horse
needs. And you go and do it. Valerie rides her horses three to four
times a week, averaging six miles. She does lots of rides. The rides
provide the long distances. All she needs to do is keep her horses
ready to go.
5> You are you with your horse. What conditions do you have?
What condition is the horse in? What condition are you in?
-- Wendy\|/ /\ -O- /**\ /|\ /****\ /\ / \ /**\ Here there be dragons / /\ / \ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\/\/\ /\ / / \ / \ / \/\/ \/ \ /\/ \/\ /\ /\/ / / \/ \ / / \/ /\ \ / \ \ / \/ / / \/ \/ \ / \ \ / / \/ \/\ \ / \ / / \ __/__/_______/___/__\___\__________________________________________________
Wendy Milner HPDesk: wendy_milner@hp4000 Hewlett-Packard Company e-mail: wendy@fc.hp.com Mail Stop A2 Telnet: 229-2182 3404 E. Harmony Rd. AT&T: (970) 229-2182 Fort Collins, CO, 80525 FAX: (970) 229-2038