Endurance/CTR Newbie -- Conditioning Advice Please!!

[ArabDiva]

My heart horse, a 10-year-old half-Arabian, has made it clear that she’s not super interested in dressage (we have competed thru 1st level). However, one thing she loves (and I enjoy too) is to get out and go for miles. So I’m really interested in doing endurance and/or ctr with her next year.

Living in Michigan, I am wondering what, if anything, I can do yet this fall to give us a head start for next year. Will we be able to build any significant fitness, or will it just dissipate if we have to take months off in Jan/Feb? I’m not so much worried about if we get good snowfall, because that can be fun for conditioning, but ice and slush and mud can mean weeks off for us until the terrain firms up, not to mention when the temps drop below freezing it just isn’t fair to ask them to work too hard.

From where I live (and keep this horse) we can ride out for several miles of dirt road. Also have access to lots of good hills and varied terrain. Can trailer out to the county trails too, but the limiting factor with that is the time commitment (difficult to regularly commit 1/2 day to hitch up, drive over, train, cool out horse and drive back, when I work 50 hrs/week and also have another horse in dressage training.)

What are some good resources to get started? For (human) runners I’ve seen “couch to 5k” programs that lay out basic training programs with intervals, distances, etc. all outlined. I am wondering if there is a similar guide for working up to your first endurance ride?

[5chestnuts]

The Endurance Rider’s Handbook - Everything You Wanted To Know About Distance Riding, Conditioning, And Competition.

Here you go. Click on this link above. It will answer all your questions. Written by an AERC Decade Team member, and USEF award winning writer for the Endurance News.

[ehwaz]

The above link is really good.
aerc.org has some good links on almost everything endurance related under the education page
Generally, most endurance riders recommend LSD ( long slow distance) to get a horse in shape. Slowly increase distance OR speed- never both at the same time.

[csaper58]

Also www.seraonline.org/Conditioning.pdf

[ArabDiva]

[QUOTE=csaper58;7203461]
Also www.seraonline.org/Conditioning.pdf[/QUOTE]

that was really helpful. Thank you! exactly the kind of thing I was looking for.

[irish_horse]

The seraonline document is great, but I know when I started it make me very nervous! I don’t have the type of trails where I can average 8 MPH, since I am usually dealing with rocky cliffs with difficult footing, maybe I can trot for a 5 minute stretch, rarely canter. I did trailer out to places where I could do sustained trot. I totally thought I was unprepared when I got to my first 25, but my horse was more than ready. So take all the advice, and accommodate your horse, their strengths and your terrain. And have fun!

[GotMyPony]

One thing I would do is go to the aerc website (and North American Trail Ride Conference -NATRC- for CTRs), find your region, and look at the ride calendar(s) to see what specific rides will be coming up in the timeframe you’re thinking of. Then find out about their terrain so you will have a more specific idea of exactly what kind of conditioning you’d need to do for your “target” first ride. Here in the SE, for example, we’ve got everything from mountainous rides to deep sand rides and rolling hill rides with nearly perfect sandy-loam footing. The more strenuous rides demand more strenuous conditioning so, if you just want to check out the sport and see if you’ll really like it, you could opt for one of the less demanding rides and base your conditioning for that level as opposed to trying to tackle a mini-Tevis your first time out. That approach would better accommodate your possible winter weather interruptions, too.

Also, the aerc site lists experienced people who are willing to be mentors which would be a great way to meet people and be able to pick the brain of an expert. Have a great time learning and getting into the sport. I hope you’ll let us know what you find out and what you decide to do. Have fun!

[SuzanneD]

When we start conditioning unfit horses we start with 40 hours brisk walking and after that walking and some trotting then on to trotting only and then on to trotting with some cantering and only then just cantering. This is over a two year period. We trot only (maybe with a little cantering in between but not much) for about a year before starting cantering. I’m a novice so I don’t really know why we trot so long but we do…

[rmh_rider]

You need to do interval training with your horse. Here is an example. I use this exact format on conditioning a horse. It works! Endurance is technical. Some may think it isn’t. But it is. It all depends on where a horse is on his/her fitness. Err on the side of caution. Start at 3 minutes, then then increase the next week to 4 minutes, then 5 the next week, etc. Be consistent. Early work will build a solid horse. Rush it, then the horse may have soundness or other issues. Your goal is to build an athlete, not race. But even race horses have started small to build to bigger things. Take the time to start low and slow and be consistent.

Take the resting Pulse and Respiration. Record it.
Begin with a 10 minute walk.
Do three three-minute trot sets. That is, 3-minutes trot, 3-minute walk, (set one), 3-minute trot, 3-minute walk, (set two), 3-minute trot, 3-minute walk, (set three).
Do two three-minute canter sets. 3-minute canter, 3-minute walk, 3-minute canter, 3-minute walk.
Do three three-minute trot sets.
Take the Pulse and Respiration. Record it. (120/80 = go to next phase)
Do a 10 minute walk.
Take the Pulse and Respiration. Record it. (100/60 = OK. More = go back a phase)
Cool down the horse, remove the saddle, brush the horse, etc. Take the Pulse and Respiration after 10 minutes. (80/40 = good condition)

Expect 2 to 3 weeks at each phase, depending on the horse.

Developed for conditioning endurance horses. Trotting between canters instead of walking.

1. 10 walk, 10 trot, 2-3 canters, 10 trot, 10 walk
2. 10 walk, 10 trot, 3-3 canters, 10 trot, 2-3 canters, 10 trot, 10 walk
3. 10 walk, 10 trot, 3-4 canters, 10 trot, 2-3 runs, 10 trot, 10 walk
4. 10 walk, 10 trot, 3-5 canters, 10 trot, 2-4 runs, 10 trot, 10 walk
5. 10 walk, 10 trot, 3-6 canters, 10 trot, 2-5 runs, 10 trot, 10 walk
6. 10 walk, 10 trot, 3-10 canters, 10 trot, 2-6 runs, 10 trot, 10 walk

[Hampton_Bay]

I never made my first ride due to an unexpected but very wanted pregnancy, but my horse was fit to do it when I had to stop riding. We started with walking 5 miles that had a couple good hills. Added some trotting, then cantering, then went a bit farther. I made sure to never bring him home tired. He always came back with enough left to head out a bit longer or a bit faster. I didn’t want to sour him. We got to the point of being able to fast canter for 8 miles with minimal walk/trot breaks. It took me maybe 3 months to get him there and he enjoyed our outings. Once the munchkin is a bit older maybe I’ll get back into it.

[sbwinde]

There is another one on www.sahorsesupply.com a section on endurance training. It is short, sweet and to the point, just like a marathoner training.

[patti]

Here is a blog post that might be topical:

http://enduranceintrospection.com/you-are-ready-for-your-first-ride-trust-me/

The information above is great, but some of the conditioning schedules are pretty, um, vigorous. If your goal is to do your first Limited Distance Ride and finish at roughly the maximum time, you can probably follow a conditioning schedule that is somewhat less daunting than what some prescribe.

Many recreational trail riders or event riders come to a LD ride with their legged up horse and have a fabulous, successful ride without having followed a prescribed routine.

Good luck to all. Come join us – you’ll do just fine!

–Patti