all because they CAN do it....

[Kimberly Price <PLOUGH1@ix.netcom.com>]

I'm sure my horse could do 50, or even more if I asked or insisted.  Is
it really responsible of me to have him do this distance just because he
can, and not because he is ready?  If he was pulled for soreness or
slight lameness from his first previously attempted 50, how do I know he
is ready?  Do I know he isn't ready when we are in 2/3 into the 50 and
he breaks down but we now have no ride home?  Or 24 hours after the
ride, when he is sore and grouchy, or his feet have swollen?

I've been told it is unfair to ride him 20-30 miles on a weekend and not
at all during the week.  He only suffers after I've gone home getting
over sore muscles.  Therefore, he lives in pasture in the winter and I
work him during the week in the summer where he lives in a smaller
pasture. 

Isn't doing a 50 with a horse that may show plenty of "pep" but not
having the proper base the same thing?

It is the base and the conditioning that counts, not the fact the horse
"can do it".

Not causin' trouble here, just making a point.
Kimberly (&Mystery the Morab..."she said it, not me!")
Pt.Reyes, CA