Re: RC: Sludge vs Rocket Fuel

["Frank Mechelhoff" <fmechelh@c-s-k.de>]

Hi Beth, Heidi, Tom & all:

nice to have these great discussions again.

> .. Human athletes usually compete in ultramarathons while
> working at an intensity corresponding to about 50-60% of their
> aerobic maximum.  At these intensities fats provide a large amount of
> the energy needs.  To your knowledge, is there research out there in
> horses that looks at substrate use at various relative intensities,
> and do we know what % of maximum horses are able to maintain over
> races lasting 10-24 hours?

would be interesting to have some hard numbers here. If that human 50-60%
of aerobic max. means percentage of speed, then the question is: which
speed is the aerobic maximum for trained endurance horses ? Shuold be
alot. With one of my horses, I estimate she could go 25 mph with a HR of
210 on perfectly flat terrain (perhaps more - I've done this only on
hills, no racecourse available). 60% of this means performing 15 mph with
HR 160. No clue how "we" could perform that for hours length. What was
the winning time at the last couple of championships? Must be something
around that (depending on terrain and wheather). No wonder some peak
competitors will try improvements in this area.

I remember an article of Engelhard or something (German) down the
eighties saying that doing harder work than 60% of HR aerob.max with
horses results in blood glucose depletion within 3-4 hours. He
recommended to hang around 60%.

That means travelling at 7 mph on flat terrain only means less than 30%
of speed aerob.max with HR 110 (assuming the horse is equally fit as the
above). Regarding to my Polar HRM brochure, in human terms 50% of HR max.
is not enough for "weight control" (let alone fitness) for an ~ 35j.
office woker like me!, or challenging a fit 80 year old person.

It doesn't mean that it's no fun to ride 7 mph, or even more slowly. I do
it too. If we do it all the time, there is probably no real need for
improvement, neither in training nor nutrition. But if we 're OK saying
that Endurance Riding Is Competition, and is measured in minutes and
miles, then every step undertaken to perform faster, better and in a
safer form, within the rules, is a step in the right direction. That's
where I highly agree with Tom Ivers. Stop thinking, or thinking for other
people (like beginners) is allways a bad approach.

The main problem of performing that 60% workout will arise on a 2-3-hour
training ride: heat buildup (even here in cold Europe). Maybe this is
something where nutrition can make some differences. Not only carbo
loading but soft diet modifications. I appreciate these stimulations,
will make some minor experiments and tell you about the results.


Frank Mechelhoff
Schmitten, Germany
- & the Taunus mountain ponies (Ligeira and Nataja) -



=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.    
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/RideCamp   
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=