Re: Coming in down

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>If you are racing to win,and come in already down, aren't you wasteing
>time? I could be wrong, as I am sometimes, but I was told to trot in,
>in good enough condition, to come down in less than 5 minutes. If I
>couldn't come down in 5 minutes, I was over riding. If I came in at =
criteria,
>I was under riding. I'm not advocating racing into a check. Just asking =
about
>coming in and coming down at the check; not on the trail in. Which do=20
>people, out for the win, do?

If you're going for minimum time, you should not (IMO) ever walk into a
check (unless it is a steep uphill into the check). I normally
dismounted a little way out and ran in next to Kahlil, with him
trotting. If he arrived down, we weren't going as fast as we could
have. If he arrived up but recovered within two minutes, I figured we
were running "right on the rail" (optimum speed). If he recovered in
two to five minutes, we were a bit above optimum but still within his
capabilities. If he took five to ten minutes, we were overdoing it and
I'd try to slow down. If he took longer than ten minutes, that was a
danger sign (that rarely happened).

Of course, strategy gets involved too. I would often deliberately push
the pace into a late check, hoping to force the horses staying with me
into longer recoveries and give me a minute or two edge out of the
check. It didn't always work, but it worked often enough to make it a
viable strategy, especially on a 100 mile ride.

--=20

Joe Long
jlong@mti.net
Business Page http://www.mti.net
Personal Page http://www.rnbw.com

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