Re: What IS Endurance?

[Lucy Chaplin Trumbull <elsie@calweb.com>]

Barbara Madill wrote:
>         I question why the 100 mile one day distance is so esteemed.  In the
> days of our mounted (on equines) cavalry, the preservation of the horse
> would have been paramount to the trooper.  A horse can go on and on and on
> at 50 - 60 mile per day distances at 6-8 MPH and have a lot of oomph left
> for a skirmish at day's end.  I question whether many horses could keep
> doing 100 miles a day for many days.

I was thinking about this last night - with regard to the Iditarod
1000+ mile sled-dog race in Alaska, and how it compares with horse
endurance riding. 

I s'pose one of the main differences is that you get to start with
20 dogs and can drop them off along the way, if they injure themselves -
it's not like you can leave your horse's lame leg at the vet check
and carry on...

But apart from the Pony Express (St Joseph to Sacramento), are there
any other loooooong endurance rides?

-- 
**************************************************************
Lucy Chaplin Trumbull - elsie@calweb.com
Displaced English person in Sacramento, CA 

http://www.calweb.com/~elsie
http://www.calweb.com/~trouble
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