RC: Working heart rates and recoveries

["Cathy Pritchett" <danugna@transport.com>]

> > I'm confused by several things in your post.  First, these horses are
> > five year olds, so though the gelding was ridden some last year, you're
> > really just getting down to business...yet you're riding them 200 miles
> > every 2 weeks?  Assuming you give them 2 off days a week (which I would
> > consider the minimum desirable) that's still 20 miles a day!

 Your right Angie, I miss typed, I ride 100 miles in a two week period. I
had
 2's on my mind a guess.

> > Second, why would you have a 5 year old that you're just starting on in
> > the 200 bpm range?  The only way I've found to get any of my horses over
> > 200 is to sprint up long ridges.  I would think you'd be doing most of
> > your training right now under 150..remember train bones first, then
> > ligaments and tendons, *then* the muscles (heart).

 That's my point Angie, I don't want her at the 200bpm range.  But, even
 after months of long, slow training, she gets there easily even at a fairly
 easy work out pace.  The gelding doesn't get any where near the 200 range
at
 the same work level.  She recovers afterward, just fine, but she gets there
 too often and too quickly to make me comfortable.  Where he works at 120
 to130, she is at 150 to160.  Stick a hill in front of them, he goes up it
at
 160 to 170, she is at or above 200.  I understand that you train bones
first
 then the heart, that's why my question.  WHY does she go so high so quickly
 and how much should I worry about it.  So far the vets say not to worry,
but
 I do anyway.

 >We
> > occasionally hit 165 as he climbed a hill.   Never had a brush with 200
> > or even 180 without a strong effort on my part.  Lots of times when your
> > horse starts working hard he lifts his bottom line and you don't get a
> > good connection.

 I have no reason to think that the hrm is giving bad readings, I've used it
 long enough to know when the connection is bad.  I'm glad you have never
had
 a brush with 200 or even 180 without a strong effort on your part.  I have.
 That's the point.  It takes almost no effort to get her up there.  As I've
 said before, my own vet and the ride vets see no major cause for concern.
 They think I'm conditioning properly and it is just some weird aberation
 that deserves watching but no major concern.  However, your own reaction,
 assuming that I don't know how to use a hrm or condition a horse and
 chastising me for running a 5 year old at 200 bpm is the very reason I
asked
 the question.

 Might it be possible to do every thing right and still have an abberant
 result?  You assume that I am at fault.  I don't think so, but I want to
 know HOW concerned I should be for the mare.  Do I give up on her because
 she has a high heart rate?  Do I do as my vets have recommended, ride and
 not be concerned as long as her recoveries are good?

> >I find
> > that the longer I compete, the more I go by my instincts.  Some days I
> > just suddenly decide to cut a workout short, or go slower...I'm not sure
> > why, but it feels right.   I'd much rather loan my horse to a person who
> > has an excellent "feel" for reading a horse, than to someone with every
> > bell and whistle  known to man hooked up. I agree with the vet, unplug
> > the heart monitor.

 Understood and agreed to a point.  The mare FEELS right, recover well, has
 lots of energy before, during and after the ride, so do I throw out the hrm
 as the vet jokingly suggested and not worry.  Take away the hrm and the
mare
 can match the gelding stride for stride and recover just as quickly at the
 end.  Does that mean that there is no problem?  I don't know, that's why
I'm
 asking.  I too have cut rides short because my horse just didn't "feel"
 right.  That's not what I'm talking about.  My mare "feels" fine, but the
 technology says that there MIGHT be a problem.

 Cathy




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