The Would be Endurance Horse

["Lisa Lyttle (EPA)" <Lisa.Lyttle@ericsson.com.au>]

Title: The Would be Endurance Horse

Hi,

I'm hoping to get along to a couple of training rides later this year,
but at the moment am working on basic skills with my just broken 5 year
old mare.  In her first year under saddle what do you think would be a
realistic goal? - 2 x 40km rides? 1 x 80km ride?  less or more?  My aim
is to have a sound horse until her old age:-).

My background is more english/dressage riding (and yes, I'm going to
teach my horse basic dressage skills as from reading this digest I can
see the value in these lessons).

My question is - is there any value in teaching her to stop/turn/respond
in a rope halter/hackamore at this stage?  I understand that they're not
really necessary for shorter distance riding but I'd like to incorporate
as much as the basic stuff in her training now so that I have time to
refine things later on. 

Regards
Lisa