# Conditioning for endurance? New to the sport!



## Chevylover96 (Dec 9, 2012)

Hey guys! 
While I still intend on showing my mare in jumping and dressage, she absolutely loves trails! She gets arena sour from time to time and I thought a few judged pleasure endurance rides or some short distance ones would be perfect to keep her from getting sour during show season! The only problem? She's unfit and green! I don't intend on doing any rides until next year so I have some time to condition her, but how? I have trails with lot of hills, but they're mostly grass and not all that long. A lot of my conditioning will probably have to happen in the arena (especially with the snow coming!). As of now I've been riding 3 times a week in our arena, and lunging twice weekly and getting on the trail once or twice a week after our rides. She's still unfit as our rides tend to be pretty short. 
Anyway I'm extremely new to this and would like some help conditioning my mare! 
She's a 5 year old standardbred mare that was backed by me as a 3 year old but has had a lot of breaks so is still considered green. She's 17hh and currently the perfect weight, she has good muscle tone and you can't see her ribs but she's not fleshy either. Feed recommendations to keep her at this perfect weight during training would be great, she's a moderately hard keeper. 
Her friend will be doing endurance with us, and he's about the same level training wise and the same age. So he's a 5 year old QH/haflinger gelding. He's 13.3 hh and overweight, he's an extremely easy keeper. 
Any help would be appreciated!
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## Houston (Apr 15, 2012)

Woohoo! Welcome to endurance! I'm still a newbie myself- have only done one ride and am about to get back into conditioning on the trails- so someone more experienced could probably give better advice. I can lead you to some resources though!

Two books I found critically helpful are: 
http://www.amazon.com/Endurance-101...d=1409716576&sr=8-2&keywords=endurance+riding and
America's Long Distance Challenge II: New Century, New Trails, and More Miles: Karen Bumgarner: 9781483601250: Amazon.com: Books

Fantastic advice in each. These are my go-to books when I have a question.

Also the AERC group on Facebook is fantastic. Very helpful group of people.

http://www.thedistancedepot.com is a great place for endurance tack and AWESOME customer service!

Good luck!


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## 2scicrazed (Apr 7, 2014)

Start with some one hour slow trail rides. Add in a lot of 1/2 mile trotting and cantering as the weeks go by. By the third month you should be up to two hour trail rides at mostly trot.

Generally you can get a horse in condition for LDs in 3-4 months.
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## 2scicrazed (Apr 7, 2014)

BTW what is the fb page? Been trying to find them for months. Nothing comes up when I search except an Irish FEI club
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## Houston (Apr 15, 2012)

2scicrazed said:


> BTW what is the fb page? Been trying to find them for months. Nothing comes up when I search except an Irish FEI club
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


PM me, I'll send it to you!https://www.facebook.com/groups/60765322138/


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## Eole (Apr 19, 2013)

There is also a "Green Bean" FB page where endurance wannabees can ask any question and get good advice from experienced mentors. PM me if you need a link.

As for advice in conditioning: LSD! (a legal drug called Long Slow Distance) You gradually add more trotting in your rides. With time, you add either distance OR speed in your rides, never both. It's a good idea to learn taking your horse's pulse and see how fast the pulse drops under 60 after the ride. If it doesn't drop within a few minutes, you might have pushed too much. Your horse is young, condition slowly to let tendons and bones adapt to the demand.

I don't know you're from what region, but if you can find a CTR ride (competitive trail ride) it's a great way to learn pacing and conditioning.

Good luck and warning: it's addictive!!!


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## kewpalace (Jul 17, 2013)

endurance.net is also a wealth of information. Their "Ride Camp" message board has great info as does their "Learn" page. 

If you join the AERC, their Endurance News has great articles on conditioning and general horse health for endurance. 

Agree with ther others - you'll have a blast!


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## Atomicodyssey (Apr 13, 2014)

I'm also a green endurance rider; welcome! As far as judged pleasure rides go... Well if you count the vet checks as a judge (which they are more so as they calculate your horses condition and well being) and to me pleasure paints a picture of a relaxing hack... Expect the average pace to be 6+ mph for the total 25-30 miles for an LD. The only ride I've been on it was all trotting and cantering except for the quarter mile leading back to the check at a walk. For conditioning start slow, as mentioned long slow distance. While a horse may condition quickly muscle wise their bones and tendons take far longer to strengthen. A general rule is to give a day off every ten miles of conditioning. Look up endurance 101, invaluable in everything from training to nutrition to preparation and everything in between!


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## CrossCountry (May 18, 2013)

Subbing, I also would love to get into endurance.


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## RegularJoe (Aug 26, 2014)

2scicrazed said:


> BTW what is the fb page? Been trying to find them for months. Nothing comes up when I search except an Irish FEI club
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


I found it right away by search there for AERC.


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