25 mile ride - not an endurance rider

[pandorasboxx]

@Shadow14;3195047

25 miles was never an endurance race. It was an introduction and they limited the time to prevent fools from burning up a horse. You could NOT cross the finish line in under 4 hours or you were disqualified. Mileage counted and they still gave out best condition.

I agree. That is why I stated “endurance ride” rather than race.

Perhaps where you live the rules are different. In, 06 I did a 25 mile AERC sanctioned LD in 3:18 min. and that was coming in 8th. No disqualifications.

So, that is why I asked whether you were riding in a competitive trail event rather than an endurance event. I understand that CTR’s dictate your pace vs. endurance rides in which you have a maximum ride time but no minimum that I’m aware of.

Edited to Add: Thanks Bonnie. I thought he was speaking of a CTR. I’m not up on CTR rules so wasn’t sure. And yes, there are 25’s and there are 25’s. Some will take longer than 4 hrs and some less.

[chicamuxen1]

AERC limited distance is 25-35 miles. I looked it up to be sure.

Bonnie

[Shadow14]

[QUOTE=saratoga;3195056]
This is off the original topic but I also disagree that doing a 25 in 4 hours is a slow slow jog. To me, that is a fairly brisk trot pace with not a whole lot of walking or dilly-dallying.
Doing a 25 in 3 hours is pretty darn fast, maybe Top Ten. A little too fast IMO for a first timer.[/QUOTE]

Get a GPS. It has an accurate MPH setting. A easy trot is about 8 mph, a slow lazy lope is about 9 mph.
Even a slow jog trot is 6 mph. So do the math. Even at 6 mph, a slow jog the horse can cover the distance in 4 hours. Horses are usually hyper at the race and new ground means they travel much quicker.
A good horse can maintain a good working jog/trot indefinitely so 4 hours was not a problem and you always Always had a vet hold for 30 minute so more at the 1/2 way point so the horse had plenty of time to recuperate.

Looking at my records I see 4:45 for 30 at maple valley, 4:45 for 50 at Dufferin Forest, 4:10 for 25 at Crosshill, 4:00 flat for 30 at Maple valley, 4:05 for Coates creek 28 etc etc.
NO way 6 hours was the minimum time allowed. 4 flat running time plus vet hold.

[saratoga]

I have a GPS and have done about 1100 endurance miles, 400 LD miles, and a bunch of CTR. Yes, 6 mph is a slow trot but you have to factor in the time you stop to walk, go to the bathroom, stop or slow down for various things (rough terrain, get a drink, adjust tack, etc), so finishing a 25 in 4 hours is not that slow by any means.

[Shadow14]

[QUOTE=saratoga;3195099]
I have a GPS and have done about 1100 endurance miles, 400 LD miles, and a bunch of CTR. Yes, 6 mph is a slow trot but you have to factor in the time you stop to walk, go to the bathroom, stop or slow down for various things (rough terrain, get a drink, adjust tack, etc), so finishing a 25 in 4 hours is not that slow by any means.[/QUOTE]

Go to the bathroom??? Drink?? Adjust tack??? It is only 90 minutes or so to the first vet hold so go to the bathroom there and on trail there are no bathrooms. Drink. You have a water bottle on the front of the saddle, drink while moving. Adjust tack… Everything should be worked out before the ride so adjust anything should not be needed.
I walk very little day to day and a working jog is far easier on the butt then walking. Walking is about 3-4 miles per hours, just tooo pokey for me. I will settle for a slow jog of 6 but prefer the 9 mph working trot.

There are water troughs at the 6 mile range so yes you stop there for a quick drink and a quick spung of the horse. I carry a cut off plastic water container and small spong for cooling. Do NOT did a spong in the water trough ever.

[Shadow14]

I’m going to drop out of this post before no one is talking to me anymore.

Back to the original poster. It is not a difficult ride. Have fun and honestly you will hurt more the next day then your horse.
Enjoy
Norval

[pandorasboxx]

Back to the original poster. It is not a difficult ride. Have fun and honestly you will hurt more the next day then your horse.
Enjoy!

Yep. LOL

[Jess1]

You will be fine, 25 miles is not that far, really. And if it’s not really an AERC sanctioned event, you won’t have to worry about going too fast usually.

AERC rides, Limited Distance, 25 miles you have six hours. That is the cut off for how long you can take.

I do 25’s in about 2 hours, 15 minutes. [Descanso endurance ride time for 2007, PS region, last year in June. Moderate to difficult terrian]

CTR’s are the ones with time limits restraining a min time for coming in [IE - can’t come in under 3 hours, or something like that]

Have fun!

[Auventera_Two]

Norval - ah-ha, well now it makes sense. All this mileage you’ve done was competitive trail riding - not endurance. Two totally different things. But what I don’t get is that if you rode all those years and miles in competitive that you never knew you were riding competitive and not LD or endurance?

Norval - I think you need to have a little more tolerance and understanding. Not everyone does things the way you do. And honestly - that’s the major appeal of this sport to me…the ability to do what works for me and my horse and not worry about anybody else. If I want to take 5 hrs to do my horse’s first LD, then more power to me. If you want to burn it up in 3 1/2 hours, then more power to you. :winkgrin: Please don’t turn this forum into one big fight over Norval versus everyone else.

Also - my plan is to use the 25 LDs to work out the bugs in prep for 50s. I guess it just feels like a good plan for me. My training rides are rarely more than 15 miles, so I will use the 25s this season to figure out what works for the long haul. Hopefully in Sept. I can do a 50.

[saratoga]

[QUOTE=Jess!;3195167]

I do 25’s in about 2 hours, 15 minutes. [Descanso endurance ride time for 2007, PS region, last year in June. Moderate to difficult terrian]

Have fun! :)[/QUOTE]

I did the Descanso 50 2 years ago! I think in about 9 hours. That is a great ride.

Yes, OP, you will do fine I’m sure, have fun!

[Auventera_Two]

@Jess!;3195167

I do 25’s in about 2 hours, 15 minutes. [Descanso endurance ride time for 2007, PS region, last year in June. Moderate to difficult terrian]

Have fun!

Did you mean 2:58? :lol: I’m sorry, I’m just obsessed with that darned results database.

I’ve talked to so many endurance riders who say they finished a certain ride in a certain time and when I look up the official results, it actually took them 30 minutes to an hour longer than they said. Either AERC records results really poorly, or people don’t really know how long it took them???

[Wigwag]

I suppose I need to find out if this is a “sanctioned” ride or just a ride being put on by her. I will report back when I get more info, but not sure how much has really been decided yet. I’m not even sure if a LOCATION has been chosen.

I’m glad to hear that my horse and I should be ok (I’m in reasonably good shape, but I expect that I will for sure be sore using muscles in the saddle that long!).

[Auventera_Two]

You’ll be okay, and you’ll have fun!

I bet it’s not a sanctioned ride because I “think” that most ride managers try to get their plans sealed up and published by the beginning of the year. When people are planning their ride schedule, they need to know all the available rides in advance so they know how to train, take vacation days, etc. Also, I can’t believe that an inexperienced (in endurance) person would or could take on the task of organizing a sanctioned ride. It seems to me that there is SO MUCH involved, including ride vets, ride farrier, trail marking, reporting to the AERC and other sanctioning bodies, etc. It seems to me that most Ride Managers are long-time experienced endurance people. I don’t know of course, but I’m only speculating. :o

[questisthebest]

25 miles isn’t too difficult, you should get your horse as fit as you can though just to be fair, and yourself too! It would be a good idea to be able to work your horse atleast up to 15 miles on the trail before heading out. Also, the more fit you are, the more comfortable your horse will be, I know when I get real tired I get kind of sloppy in the saddle and not quite as balanced (which can cause soreness in the horse if you are constantly on the back or on one side).

Make sure your tack fits well, even at a 25 (I learned this the hard way). Something that is slightly off that works for the arena won’t work so well when your going a distance, it will rub or cause soreness.

Don’t stress about the camping. There are few people who actually tie their horse to a trailer at the rides here, if your horse respects electric fences you can purchase a portable set relatively cheap and set that up (they aren’t hard), or you can go more and get actual portable corrals or the “tie right”
(?) system.

[Jess1]

Wow, it was 2:58! Sorry about that, for some reason 2:15 stuck out in my mind and I swore that was it.

Still, it was a nice fast ride I enjoyed it. LOL

[Auventera_Two]

That IS fast Jess! :yes: