# Is our training good? need advice



## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

Your mare sounds like she is quite fit. Giving her some time off would do little to impact her fitness and likely a lot to refresh her mind. Horses maintain their fitness much better than we humans do.

What is your goal for endurance riding? Assuming all the other parts are in place (traveling, camping, able to ride with other horses, can trot in hand, etc), your mare sounds more than ready for a moderate-paced 50 miler (80km?) next season.


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## Finezja (Nov 8, 2015)

Thanks for your reply.
I didn't expect that she is ready for 80km, I was thinking about 40-50km  But that makes me more comfident on what to do next.
Next year I would like to start 2 times in P class (40-70km) and once in N class (80-90 km). 
Do you think that going on N class twice would be too much?


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

I think doing 2 P class rides and an N class one in a season is more than reasonable.. assuming your mare does well and has some rest between them, you could likely do more.

I hope to get my new horse started competing next year. I too plan on a couple P class rides (here we call them 'limited distance') to get him used to the procedure, then if all goes well will move up in distance. If that first longer ride (your N class, our 50 miler), I hope to get him to a couple more.. doing a competition every 6-8 weeks or so with lost of rest in between.


Just curious, but what country are you in? Your posts are better than a lot of native english speakers.


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## Finezja (Nov 8, 2015)

Thanks a lot for informations 

I'm from Poland but I have spent some time in UK with "horsy" people . 

P.S. Is your profile picture from Tevis competition?


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

Yes, I had the chance to go out and ride Tevis this year. I am from the other side of the country, so it was a once-in-a-lifetime deal.

How does endurance work in Poland? Are all rides run under FEI rules? Do you have a Polish organization that oversees things? Do you have to start with the shorter distances and qualify to move up?


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## Finezja (Nov 8, 2015)

I have realised this year that there is somethink like Tevis competition. For sure I won't be able to compete inspite they organize somethink similar nearby  I'm lucky couse we have some rocks in my area so sometimes I enjoy myself climbing them .
I'm not sure but yes I think they run under FEI rules. I haven't read all of them - meybe there is a difference somewhere  Yes we need to finish f.ex 2 times class P to move on to class N. 

It's still not very famous here. Endurance is treated like somethink "worst" in eqastrian sports. There is still not a lot of people who take part in endurance competitions. Hope it will change. How is it in your country?

How do you prepare your horses for longer distance -1* and higher ? What was the longer one you took part in? 

Do you use any horse boots or do you shoe?


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

My background is that I had a year around lesson program with the same horses that I used for American Civil War reenacting, where we rode some 4 hours/day on Saturday and Sunday (4-10x/year,) and the horses were worked on Saturdays from October to April, and 2 hrs each, 5 days/week April to October. There were VERY fit. I could have participated in endurance, if I had had the time.
Is there any way to work them the other half of the year? I think, if pushed, you might have some injuries if you participate in long endurance and continue to train like this. Your training program sounds very good, otherwise. Perhaps somebody you know has an indoor arena to work in during the winter?


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

Finezja said:


> It's still not very famous here. Endurance is treated like somethink "worst" in eqastrian sports. There is still not a lot of people who take part in endurance competitions. Hope it will change. How is it in your country?
> 
> How do you prepare your horses for longer distance -1* and higher ? What was the longer one you took part in?
> 
> Do you use any horse boots or do you shoe?



Distance riding in the United States is also a small sport. While some people look down on it, a lot of 'normal' horse people have simply never heard of it at all!

The longest rides I have done are 100 milers (160km). I actually prepare the horses for the longer distances the same way I do the shorter ones.. get a good base of long, slow distance to build up bone and soft tissue the first year. Then start increasing either speed or distance (but not both at once) during training. See how they do in a limited distance ride (your P class). If things are going well there, increase to 50s (your N class). Once my horse was finishing 50s (80km) in the middle of the pack comfortably, I moved up in distance.


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