endurance folks - when and for how long do you dismount and walk/jog?

[BigHorseLittleHorse]

In light of my recent conditioning ride in which I learned that LittleHorse’s back isn’t quite as strong yet as I thought it was… I want to be able to continue our long rides and build up his back muscles without stressing them out.

We’re aiming for our first LD in April, and it got me thinking - I know in endurance you’re allowed to dismount and run next to your horse.

So when do you choose to do it and for how long? In which types of footing/terrain? Anything different you do with your tack or gear while you’re on the ground?

[Shadow14]

I always rode in running shoes and half chaps. I dismounted every chance I got and ran beside my horse until I could run no more. I tailed up every big hill. The two girls I was with stayed on all the time.
So it depends on you , your conditioning and how much releif you want to give to your horse.

[gothedistance]

@BigHorseLittleHorse;3860665

So when do you choose to do it and for how long? In which types of footing/terrain? Anything different you do with your tack or gear while you’re on the ground?

The old saying is “if your horse is walking, you should be off and walking, too”. I get off on hills that have to be walked up, and going down mountains that are steep enough that I can make better time off his back and running while leading him than sitting in the saddle. Whenever the terrain allows for trotting and cantering, I remain in the saddle.

Tack - pack water bottles on the near (left) side so that when you are walking you can grab them easier from the ground. Store your maps and food on that side as well. Anything on the off side is going to be difficult for you to get while walking your horse. Have your reins on snap ends so you can instantly snap them off for a lead rope, and snap them on to become reins again. Use a bridle/halter combo so you can snap the one end of your reins to the halter ring under the chin rather than leave it on a bit. Some people like grab straps at the pommel so they can mount easier from the ground.

Gear - I wear running shoes…always. Also dress in light layers so that you can strip down as you walk to release body heat. Half chaps are good and keep your legs from getting banged up by brush and trail debris.

Getting off your horse’s back from time to time is as good as adding extra miles back into his tank. Helps to refresh your body as well. :winkgrin:

[CanterQueen]

I don’t do any real endurance rides, but have been known to put 4-6 hours in the saddle during a trail ride over varied terrain. I usually watch my horse – fat QH right now and not in his tip-top shape. I don’t push him beyond what I feel is good for him. I watch respirations and sweat (especially in the colder weather). I dismount and walk/run for a while. I find this un-saddled time to be a great time for some ground work. Stops and starts, side passes, small circles where I can. I also practice mounting from various objects and from the off-side as well. It really turns out to be a lot of fun!!

[saratoga]

I always walk down the mountains. Usually during a 50, I will probably walk a total of 3-4 miles. I just do it at random times, its nice to get a break from being in the saddle-I think it makes me less sore, its good exercise for me, and I’m sure my horse likes it too. i dont do anything with my tack, just unclip one of the reins from the bit so I have a longer “lead rope”.

[rainechyldes]

I’ve been ‘told’ to dismount on hills up and down, however it depends on your horse. If I’m riding my charger (he likes to lunge up hills, even at a slow pace, I 've never been able to break him of the habit - I find it easier to stay on him, however my other horses I can travel beside just fine on uphills. So I do if it’s really steep usually only.

Downhill I will usually only dismount if I need the break and it’s super steep, otherwise I just stay on. We have so much up/down here I’d be getting on and off my horses every 15 minutes, so most of the horses out this way are used to running mountainous country with their riders on. Since really, thats all we have here.

As an example my main training loop is 12 miles - it’s basically 4 1/2 miles of up one side of the mountain on switchbacks, and 4 1/2 miles down the other side, abut a 2 1/2 miles of flat to get back around the bottom then another 1/2 mile up/down combo to hit the back of our property again. If I got off for all that, I might as well leave the horse at home and go hiking!

I tend to get off on a nice flat spot, to give myself a breather as well. Getting out of the saddle on longer rides I think makes me happier then my horses - I need the break! (I like being able to walk the day after a ride:))

[Shadow14]

Dismounting going down hill does nothing for the horse. Heavy weights downhill is the place to make your move. Studies have shown that horses carrry no weight or weight have the same heart rate on downhill runs.
So if you really want to save your horse get off uphill or on the straights. I also run, not walk and I travel at a nice working trot for him.
There is no time to actually walk 20 minute miles

[rainechyldes]

[QUOTE=Shadow14;3861294]
Dismounting going down hill does nothing for the horse. Heavy weights downhill is the place to make your move. Studies have shown that horses carrry no weight or weight have the same heart rate on downhill runs.
So if you really want to save your horse get off uphill or on the straights. I also run, not walk and I travel at a nice working trot for him.
There is no time to actually walk 20 minute miles[/QUOTE]

I think the argument made most if weight bearing,-- ie speed at downhill is too hard on the joints. Course most endurance riders would have to move at speed down most downhill if they are going for any type of placing other then a completion- so yeah, getting off on every downhill is an issue when you are working against time on a ride.

I think… I’ve gotten off maybe 2ce last year that I can recall on a downhill - one was so slick and ick, it’d been raining all weekend on clay I decided to get off and walk slightly off trail in the trees to save my rear.

[saratoga]

My horse is an awesome uphill horse and we have some big mountains around here- anytime I have gotten off to walk uphill, it usually just turns into him literally dragging me up because I just cant go that fast! He is very strong on hills and can walk very fast or trot without much effort and me on foot slows the whole process down.

On the downhills, I find its faster and easier if I jog or walk on foot. Very easy for me and I thnk its more pleasant for the horse.

I do walk about a 15 minutes mile during 50 milers, like I said often about 3 mile or so. I’m definitely not racing but there is plenty of time to finish an AERC ride with some walking.

[Shadow14]

Regardless of what I said in the above post I too get off on most of the big downhill runs. But I run really fast, one that requires my horse to canter to keep up with. I want the best possible speed and wouldn’t canter him down a good hill carrying me just because of his joints but I don’t worry about it when I am on the ground. I run until I can’t anymore then I get on and regain my strength to go thorough it again. I wouldn’t waste the time walking beside the horse other then the last 100 yards before a gate/hold.

I also cheat on the uphills and tail the horse in front of me but then again someone often tails my horse from behind.
The best 50 miles I know are also great runners and spend alot of time on the ground.

[rainechyldes]

Turtles could pass me at a run so… being fleet of foot isn’t an option for me:)
I can jog forever, but speed… uh,… fail.

[chicamuxen1]

I don’t get off much at all! I’ve had both knees operated on due to torn cartilage so I’ve quit getting off for the steep, long uphills. But that is where I would suggest you do your walking, in competition, is on the uphills.

My horse Mighty Mouse is a high heart rate horse. He heats up easily in warm weather and takes longer to cool off (until he does his HR is up) at a vet check. So coming into a vet check I will get off a ways out, loosen the girth and walk in while other riders pass me. He comes in with a lower HR that way. It’s what works for him. I’ll pass most of those horses further down the trail while going down hill. We go up long hills slowly, while others pass us at a gallop, and I pass them on the flats or downhills. Mouse can fly down hills. Yes it’s hard on the legs, so we train just the opposite. He’s been on a joint supplement since he was 7 as a preventative. I’ve also learned to protect his soles with a pour-in product for any rides that are even moderately rocky as the impact onto those rocks when going downhill fast is greater.

Bonnie

[JackSprats_Mom]

We get off on all significant downhills.

Dismounting going down hill does nothing for the horse. Heavy weights downhill is the place to make your move. Studies have shown that horses carrry no weight or weight have the same heart rate on downhill runs.

As someone above said, nothing to do with heart rate, its all about the joints!

[Dalriada]

I rarely dismount and walk or jog.

1. I’m not 100% sound myself - buggered hip, both knees and can turn over an ankle unloading a foal from the trailer (another story)

2. my horses can move much faster with me mounted than with me on the ground - they often pass me at the walk

I do get off and walk into a vet check or a water stop to help lower heart rates (my mare will keep herself up as long as I am on board) and to undo equipment.

I have only a couple of times gotten off to jog - once to ease my aching joints from a stressful ride - too many hills and moguls - and once because my horse (a different one) got caught up in the adrenaline rush at the beginning of a ride and wouldn’t settle down for the first 25 miles, thus having almost no reserves for the last 13 mile loop. I got off and dragged her determined to get across the finish line no matter what. We came across in 9th place but didn’t have enough horse left to stand for BC. What had happened was some of the other riders had been drinking the night before and challenged each other saying they would win, the adrenaline stuck in the tree line trail upsetting every horse. The drinkers - not a one completed as their horses got burned out or pulled for metabilics more than lameness. Their silliness just about cost the rest of us our rides and we let our displeasure known to them and ride management. It’s never been repeated as they learned from their mistakes.

[Romantic_Rider]

[QUOTE=Shadow14;3861620]

The best 50 miles I know are also great runners and spend alot of time on the ground.[/QUOTE]

This is funny. Around here, (Midwest region, mostly Wisconsin and Minnesota), the best 50 mile riders are tiny women on monster horses who NEVER get off. Believe me, I know. I have ridden with some of them, and even if I hadn’t, there is no way they could keep up with their horses at any kind of speed. Now we don’t have alot of hills either. But I never get off unless I come to a monster hill. For one thing I ride a very big, powerful mare, and usually try to place. And for another thing, she’s a hard worker and incredibly athletic, but also inclined to be nervous and not take care of herself, so she makes me work very hard to keep her fed and going, and I figure she can just carry up the silly hills. My Mom on the other hand rides a pony, literally, (mostly Arab), and gets off at any hill of decent size. So I guess it totally depends on you and your horse.

[2enduraceriders]

Well…Short, over weight, arthritic… NEVER! :lol:

[patti]

I’m with Saratoga

My big horse is a great climber, less thrilled with long, steep downhills, so while I don’t get off a lot, on rides with long downhills, or if he seems tired, I get off and lead him down. Gives me a break too, and yeah, definitely for his joints, not speed!

Every time I get off to take a potty break, I also get to stroll, unless I pick the spot strategically, because Ned is well over 16h, and I need a stump or a rock or a ditch to get back on with any grace.

I remember at our first 50 (Elk Valley, PA, a VERY hilly ride) getting off and hiking up Big Charlie because it seemed Ned was going SOOOO slow. After about 1/2 mile of that, huffing and puffing, I hauled my chunky ass back up on him, patted him and told him he was doing just fine. Whatever pace he liked was fine with me.

My younger horse is a great up hill horse AND a great downhill horse. I don’t foresee getting off him much at all, tho like Bonnie said, I do try to be careful about downhill trotting, condition with it a LITTLE bit but not overdo it as I worry about the concussion on his joints.

Unlike my big horse, the young one just sits and boogies. I think he’s much easier on his own body going down hill than the big guy even with me on him. And moving along.

Your mileage may vary.

[Dalriada]

Hey Patti

It’s Diana from Ontario. Glad to see you here. I remember attending Elk Valley too as my first out of country ride. However I was just pit crewing for the Murray’s that weekend. It was HOT and HUMID. 90 degrees in sun, not much cooler in the shade, intensely hot at the top of the hill AND to top it off the river was almost as hot as the surrounding air. Dave was pulled at the first check, Marg voluntarily pulled at the half-way point and then while I was “cooling” Chloe out in the river, she started to crash. The vets were amazing and in 2 hours and many jugs of saline, you couldn’t tell which horse had almost gone down. Taught me a lot that weekend plus I more firmly got bitten by the distance bug and my mom and I started competing again the next season.

[chicamuxen1]

Patti, Elk Valley was my very first 50 mile ride. I did it on River, my first endurance horse. River was a QTR/Arab cross, not the best horse for endurance but I ended up rescueing her so rode and competed her for 4 years.

I used a HRM and was amazed at how high her HR went up on 4 big hills. Yes, we walked past a couple of Canadian riders who led their horses up the hills. But I learned that even once her HR dropped down at the top of the hill it would shoot right back up if I tried to immediately pick a trot up. She finished fine by the way.

The next year I tailed up three of the four big climbs. I was hilarious, short and chubby, er, sturdy me, hanging on her tail as she drug me up the tails. I could tell her Whoa! and she would give me a rest. As soon as my wheezing subsided she would look back at me, as if to check my condition then start back up the hill. Bless her heart, she was a good steady horse. He HRs were always much much lower when I was out of the saddle. AND, she was just 14.3 hands.

Mouse is also 14.3, I’m older and creakier. You can’t lead Mouse uphill as he turns into a ton of bricks and hangs on you. But you can tail him, if you’re feeling energetic. Mouse like to jog up hills! Unless you have a horse walking directly in front of him holding him back you are in for an exciting trip up the mountain. The last time I tried it was two years ago at this WV ride with one really long, steep climb. A nice rider who had ridden up the hill out of sight, ahead of me came back to check on me. Seems my cursing and screaming at my horse as he repeatedly took off at a trot caused her concern. Oh, a friend shamed me into tailing up Hebron Gap in Fort Valley. I was near death and I remember asking Joyce as she lead the way around a curve in the trail, “Can you see the top?”. Joyce replied “No, but don’t look up, just don’t”. Of course I did. We had just reached the TRULY steep part of the trail. Anyone who has ridden up Hebron Gap trail then along the itsy, bitsy little trail along the top of the ridge top will know what I’m talking about.

Now I have a taller, younger horse and another knee surgery. He can carry my butt up those hills.

Bonnie S.

[Icecapade]

DEPENDS!

on me… I dance now, not so much with the run, so my running is a joke. I remember one endurance race in the triple crown area, we used to get off and run down hill al lthe time, but my dad and I have always had down hill horses… they just friggin fly…

we tail up sometimes, nice easy flats we will run.

nice easy down grades are canter territory.

it really depends on how fit you are really if you are competing. If you are just having fun… then whenever you feel like it is when you get to get off and walk/run =D