Week 3

I am just now getting a chance to write down my thoughts from last week's training.  The weather here last week was rainy so it put a bit of a hinderance on my plans, but I did get in some good riding.  We focused on trotting for about 30 to 40 min with about 10 min of cantering and then 30 to 40 min of walking with some small uphill terrain.  We did this 3 days last week.  We had an in between day where we walked for about 30 to 40 min inside because of the rain. She had been shut in all day. 
I have been mointering her wieght and so far she seems to be maitaining.  She appears to be putting on muscle, but not losing weight.  I have also started feeding her Vitamin E so lactic acid won't build up in her muscles and a flake of timothy mixed hay at night.  On nights when I work her and she sweats, she gets electroylites and extra beet pulp and alfala cubes with her feed.  On nights she is not worked she gets her normal ration.
As for myself I have also started trying to build muscle up in my own body esp. my upper body, abs, and core, so that I can support myself better when I ride and have a better fitness level for the both of us.  I have dropped below 120 lbs. which is not good.  I am getting back my "runner's body" which is not enough muscle.  Since I would already be "underweight" for endurance runs and would have to pack weight I am going to begin to work on adding extra muscle and not just losing fat.
Until next time...

Endurance Training Week 2 Days 3, 4, and 5

This week the weather has been really weird, but that is horseback riding in Georgia for ya.  It has made riding a little more difficult.  I decided to try riding in my western saddle and see how my horse would do, previous to that I have been riding in my Isabella Dressage saddle.  Monday I rode for 2 and half hours mostly pretty slow.  Tuesday I went to get her and I noticed she was moving a little stiff so I let her pick the pace and a weather front was moving in, so we took a break and worked on a pole pattern and the clover leaf pattern.  She got a good hose down and cool off time.  I think she was stiff because I used my western saddle.  I had ridden her almost that long before with no previous problems. I have found a forum that has been really helpful and linked me up with some other endurance riders.  http://www.horsegroomingsupplies.com  You can ask questions and meet all kinds of people.  Not that you should take everyone's advice, but it is still nice to meet people who want to do the same things as you.

Endurance Training Week 2

Yesterday we did a shorter, faster workout about 3 miles of alternating trot and canter.  Khari was a little warm and breathing fairly hard but she recovered pretty quickly. Within about a quarter mile of walking her breathing and heart rate had visibly come back down.  I am trying to find a heart rate monitor and GPS specifically designed for endurance riding.Today we rode for 2 and half hours.  Started off at a walk.  Trying to get her to extend her walk.  Some luck today.  Khari was a little full of herself because she had been in her stall due to heavy rain, but calmed down into a fast trot after about 15 minutes.  Very little cantering today.  Maybe half a mile at most.  It is hard for me to keep track of the distance.  I think I really need the gps system that will keep track of my mileage, mph, and our heart rates.Khari seems to be handling the work load pretty well.  I switched to the western saddle the last two days to help her get used to the heavier weight.  I am going to have to pack weight though because I am below the feather weight division.  The western saddle caused a little soreness and I am going to go back to the english saddle for the extended corral training.  I just haven't made a decision on a good endurance saddle yet.  My husband is convinced that we need to build one because he is not happy with the weight distribution and the potential for sore spots on a 100 mile ride.  Technology has come a long way and he is surprised that there are not more exotic materials used in endurance saddles.  He has a couple of engineering buddies that might work on the problem. 
I have been washing her off when the weather permits and it is not to chilly and rubbing her down with Sore NoMore or some kind of linement.

Endurance Training Day 3

Yesterday I rode 3 1/2 miles.  A little bit of cantering, some trotting, and a fair amount of walking.  It took us about hour.  Which after reading several articles, is apparently really slow.  But as it was only our second day I was really happy with my horse.

Today we rode for 2 hours and 20 min.  The break down was something like this: 1 mile of cantering flat, 3 mile of trotting mostly flat with a few hills and a lot of walking the rest of the time.  She seemed a little winded after the first 3 miles because they were done kind of fast but then she settled and her breathing relaxed.  She is used to doing trot and canter work.  It is not abnormal for her to trot for 20 or 30 min and canter for 10 min.  So far she seems to really like this new training style.  She likes that we are going out of the arena to ride.  I also tried a short trail ride by ourselves today and she did great.  Her confidence seems to be improving by the day.

Endurance Riding - A New Chapter

My horse is now 10 and still full of herself. She is so much fun now! I am going to start training for an endurance ride and or a competitive trail competition. I am going to use this blog to keep my notes and other things that come up.

A few weeks ago I went on a weekend trail ride. While I had been riding my horse 4 to 5 days a week for probably an hour or so at a good trot I was pretty surprised that she got so sweaty and she seemed a little stiff and sore after we came home. So I gave her some light work for 2 days after we got back and then let her her have the next 5 days off. During that time I decided to measure my arenas and that is where the problem lay. While I had been riding, I had not been riding long enough or hard enough. Now that I know how many laps it takes to make a mile in my round pen, outdoor arena, and indoor arena. Where do I start?

I thought I would see how she would do with a 2 mile warm up in the round pen. My horse is used to warming up before I ride her, so I thought no problem. While she handled the 2 miles, mostly trotting. with some cantering she was more winded then I thought she would be. I then gave her a breather and went and got tacked up. We rode 2 more miles at a trot in the arena and then did a mile of slow hill work for a cool down. I really paid attention to her breathing and how she felt under me.

Today I am going to contact her vet and see if he can email me or tell me anything specific she should be eating and try and research some more about endurance riding.