# Conditioning for LD riding



## blackminx18 (Aug 12, 2014)

So this year I thought I would maybe try to get into endurance. My goal is to do some LD events later in the summer - July/August. I have very limited experience with the sport but did intern with an endurance rider when I was in college (and I'm not going to say how long ago that was but it was long enough the I retain fond memories but not specifics).
Here's the issue and part of the reason I will likely stick with LD, I have really limited free time. I am one of those people who has to work to support my horse habit and since I also am part owner of the business, well free time is at a premium.
I was hoping to get some advice on conditioning options when I just don't have the time to ride for hours per week. I would say, on average, I can come home on a work day and have maybe 1-1 1/2 hrs for riding when the weather is nice and it's summer. I can spend 1-2 days per week on longer rides anywhere from 4-8 hrs. 
I'm mostly a trail rider but I dabble a little bit in everything from dressage to sorting. 
I have read several of the articles on conditioning from the AERC and NATRC. I'm going to an NATRC clinic in June so will hopefully get some good information as well. 
I will say currently, both my horse and I are pretty out of shape. It was a long cold winter with lots of snow so I really didn't get out much at all. Before the winter, we weren't in bad shape but certainly not the type of condition needed for endurance. 
Any advice is appreciated.


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

Just start increasing either the duration of your rides or the speed of them.. but not both at the same time. Learn how to take your horse's heart rate (assuming you don't already know), and start tracking how long it takes your horse to recover at the end of your rides.

For many, many years I could only ride twice a week.. and I was able to get conditioned for not only 50s, but 100s. So don't worry about that. Start with whatever fitness level you are now and start working your way up.


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## Eole (Apr 19, 2013)

Welcome to the forum and to endurance. Both can be addictive. You are on the right path with AERC articles and going to a clinic. Another great learning tool is volunteering for a ride and scribing for the vet at a ride. It is fun and I learned more volunteering than on rides I ride, as I had time to check everyone's camping set-up, equipment, feeding schedule, warm ups etc.

As Phantom said, you have enough time to train. Overtraining can be a problem too.

Let us know how your training goes!


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## blackminx18 (Aug 12, 2014)

Thank you for your replies! That is extremely helpful. I guess the thing I am most worried about is over conditioning or pushing my horse too soon. Most of the conditioning articles I have read recommend just walking for 4-6 wks. I will be honest, I have been doing more than that mostly because my mare gets a little goofy/bored plus she tends to really putz around at a walk. Some trotting and cantering tends to get her attention back and gets her moving out again. 


This is what I have been doing. There is a 5 mile trail near my house that's pretty easy - a few hills nothing major. On the flat portions, I trot (around 2 miles) and we cantered maybe a 1/4 mile. At the end of the ride, her heart rate was 80 bpm (that was immediately after I dismounted). There is another trail that is a 10 mile loop but significantly harder - lots of long steep hills with tight turns. Again, I trotted maybe 3-4 miles total and cantered maybe 100 yards (just to get her attention). All the hills we walked and I let her set her own pace. At the top of the worst hill (this is about 4 miles into the ride) HR was 100 bpm. At mile 7, I stopped and checked again (we had been walking) and HR was 60. At the end of the ride, after I untacked and groomed, HR was 50 bpm. 


My plan at this point is to continue to do similar rides 2-3 times/week and just increase the amount of trotting as long as she continues to stay in a good HR zone - does this sound reasonable? I plan on giving her at least one day a week off, more than likely it will be two depending on my schedule and there will be some days where I do arena work.


My biggest concern is making sure that I not pushing her too hard or too fast. She a little on the lazy side so I often have to push her some especially when you're first starting on a ride. I'm worried that I will mistake her being overly tired for her typical laziness. 
Don't get me wrong, once she gets going and decides that we really are working, she'll go all day with a very little push but that initial start is always a little trying.


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

It sounds like you are well on your way! 

I think if you were starting with either a chubby pasture potato (and I mean one who has been standing in a pasture for years) or a young horse, doing not much more than walking for 4-6 weeks would be reasonable. The idea behind LSD (long, slow distance) is to build up the soft tissue. So a horse who is totally lacking any condition needs to start from the beginning.

However, most riding horses are not starting from nothing. They may "only" ride in the arena or take "normal" trail rides.. but they are being used. Thus the advice to start where you are and start working up. If your horse is already doing 10 mile trail rides with hills, you are well past the only-walk stage!

Since you have a pretty good baseline on your mare and are working with set distance trails, start gradually increasing the speed that you ask. For example, trot 3 miles of the easy trail. See how your mare's recovery is. Take her heart rate when you first get off, then check it every minute or two until its 64 or under. How long did that take? Do that a few rides, watching the recovery time. When your mare is recovering within 5ish minutes, start trotting 4 miles. See how her recovery is. Alternate that with increasing speed on the longer, harder trail where you can ask her to trot up the shortest hill and walk the rest, then build up to trotting the second hill too, etc.

As long as you take it gradually, your mare will build up her soft tissues. The problem is people who don't know that cardio recovery is not the same as building the soft tissue base. Horses build up cardio fitness fairly easily, but it takes time to build up soft tissue. That is why you see suggested training plans that are so long, because they want the soft tissue to match the cardio fitness level.


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## gottatrot (Jan 9, 2011)

Agree with Phantom very much. Your horse will become cardio fit very quickly, but it's the bones, tendons, ligaments that take the longest to adapt. I've known people who put horses into work too quickly and ended up with a lame horse due to tendon or ligament injury. The first time you condition a particular horse you have to take it more slowly. After that, they've developed their bodies so even if you give them a period of time off, they become fit much more quickly and only need the cardio system to develop fitness again. 

If you've had a horse that galloped around in a herd on 40 acres for the first five years of his life, that horse already has developed strong bones, tendons and ligaments and can be put into work much faster than a horse that lived in a stall for ten years. 

Here's a chart with some guidelines:

Increase in VO2MAX	
1 - 2 weeks
Increase in plasma volume	
1 - 2 weeks
Improved sweating response	
1 - 2 weeks
Increase in red blood cells & haemoglobin	
2 - 4 months
Increase in muscle capillaries	
3 - 6 months
Increase in muscle mitochondria	
4 - 6 months
Increase in muscle aerobic enzymes	
4 - 6 months
Increase in bone density	
4 - 6 month
Strengthening of tendons and ligaments
4 - 6 months


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## blackminx18 (Aug 12, 2014)

Thanks for your replies. This has been extremely helpful. So far, things have been going really well. This last winter is the only one that she has really had "off" mostly because the weather was so incredibly bad that not only could I not ride outside but my trailer was drifted in as well so I couldn't even get to the arena. 

Just one more question..partly due to my schedule, I end up doing arena work a couple times a week. Does anyone have any particular exercises they recommend? I tend to work on a lot of lateral movements, collection, transitions those type of things. Lots of serpentines, circles, figure eights.

Thanks!


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## Eole (Apr 19, 2013)

I think arena work is very helpful and the exercises you do are great to strengthen the back and hinds. The more balanced and strong in his back/hinds your horse is, the more efficient he'll be on trail. Cavaletti and ground poles can help and are fun to change the routine as well.


I use arena time to work on training. Trying to achieve lightness in communication through intention, seat, legs, then reins. I find that when I do an arena session trying to refine my cues, my horse is more responsive on my next trail ride, we're more in tune. I also work on speed control within gaits: moving from extended to medium trot and striving for a balanced canter.


When I can't go on trail, I also work on trust. I walk around (ground work), looking for scary stuff to approach, walk over-under-through, squeeze in narrow spaces etc.


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## Ibriding (Jun 15, 2015)

So glad to find this thread. I'm doing the same thing blackminx. I didn't get my mare thinking I would do endirance, but after riding the mountain trails last summer and having tons of energy left after long rides plus having to slow her down most of the time I decided we should give it a go. She is a TWH with a ground-eating stride and the added bonus of living in a pasture herd until she was 5. We're looking at a 25 mile LD at the end of July. 

Did you get a heart rate monitor? I would love to track that along with miles, speed, and elevation but not sure I want to spend the money before I'm sure we both enjoy endurance.


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

Ibriding said:


> She is a TWH with a ground-eating stride


Are you on facebook? If so, drop me a PM and I will get you the name of a guy who has done super things with his gaited horses. He would be an excellent resource to be able to help you fine tune your program with a gaited horse in mind.


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## Eole (Apr 19, 2013)

A heart monitor is fun, but not a necessity. You can track miles, speed, elevation on many phone apps. You should learn to take your horses pulse before and after the ride and see how long it takes to get down to 60. I use my Garmin every ride, but the HM function only early in the season or with a new horse. 

I'm sure you'll be ready for the LD in July. Let us know how it goes.:wink:


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## greentree (Feb 27, 2013)

Heart rate monitors are the single most frustrating piece of equipment on the planet!!


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## Ibriding (Jun 15, 2015)

greentree said:


> Heart rate monitors are the single most frustrating piece of equipment on the planet!!


And yet I want one badly! lol


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## JulieG (Jun 25, 2013)

Glad I found this!

I'm thinking of doing my first LD ride in November. I'm gone traveling for work until August, so I thought that would give us time to condition.

I didn't buy my horse for endurance, but she was always raised in large pastures and came to me a ranch horse so she's used to the long, ground covering miles on all kinds of terrain. I bought her for trails but she's in such good shape and has so much energy left I thought she might like to try and LD! I was concerned about the soft tissue conditioning, but it sounds like she should be okay due to how she was raised. 

She's been in great shape from the start, even though she wasn't used for a year or two prior to me purchasing her. Now I just need to get myself in shape and catch up with her!


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## STT GUY (Apr 23, 2014)

phantomhorse13 said:


> Are you on facebook? If so, drop me a PM and I will get you the name of a guy who has done super things with his gaited horses. He would be an excellent resource to be able to help you fine tune your program with a gaited horse in mind.


Hi... I've been away from the forum for a bit. However, I have been conditioning my six year old Paso Fino gelding since January and would love this info. 

Thanks


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