Re: Fun with Fitness!!

[Tivers@aol.com]

In a message dated 12/29/98 2:21:34 AM Pacific Standard Time, fmechelh@c-s-
k.de writes:

<< Hi Tom,
 I read this in your book two years ago and did some tests with my Ligeira, on
a
 reasonable flat part (1000m) of one of my training courses. Ligeira did
9.1-9.9
 ft/bt around HR 140 (canter), that means 59% of her HRmax. In her best days
she
 could go that speed "all the day". (She is only 14.2 hands high and was
carrying
 remarkable weight, ~175 pds)>

Good, we're getting some numbers! Thanks, Frank.

That 175 lbs would make a difference. This is at a gallop?
 
 >What I found out is that a slight gradient (maybe 10m uphill at 1000m)
invisible
 to the eye affects the results significantly. So I tried to make the test
course
 back and forth. Also footing (hard grass is best). And, at least for this
horse,
 agitation and fighting to be regulated. For a very fit horse, therefore it
would
 be best to take the test at HR160.>

Maybe. What we do is get in about 2 1/2 miles of gallop and wait for the HR to
settle down before we clock the horse and HR. At 160 you're on the ragged edge
of getting some significant "help" from anaerobic metabolism, and this doesn't
show up in heartrate response. You get a falsely elevated efficiency.
 
 >One time I took 11 ft/bt, not so accurate, but probably at peak-performance.
(she
 believes to be the fastest horse in the world, the problem was her legs are
not so
 strong as her heart... )
 
 I did not make any exact tests with Nataja, but she should perform more
efficient,
 around 12 ft/bt. but at a higher individual rate of HRmax.,  ~225 (she's
bigger).
 I will check that out next Summer.>

225?
 
 
 Thanks, Frank. This is good information.

ti