# 20yr Arabian - is he too old for endurance?



## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

If you are riding 5 miles twice a week, then your horse should certainly be fit enough to cover the 5 miles.. the question is whether he can _race_ it and be ok. What sort of rules are there for the race you are interested in? Are there vet checks or other qualification processes?

While horses hold condition a lot better than people do, 5 years is a long time so I would not count on any previous conditioning to have held over.

My first suggestion to you would to see how he is recovering during your current rides. Do you own a stethoscope and do you know how to use it? Check your horse's pulse periodically during your rides and see how long it takes to drop after your rides. How hard a horse is breathing and how sweaty he is or isn't can sometimes be deceptive.


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## KBA6 (Aug 24, 2013)

This is a very informal, non-professional race ... it's a new barn that is getting the neighbors together to start a community and have fun. So I doubt there will be vet checks. Actually, the owner just got back to me and said they are making it 2 miles, not 5. 

I don't own a stethoscope, and honestly I wouldn't know how to use it anyway. I have farm visit with my vet next week, I plan on asking him how to check heart rate. I know the condition hasn't held, I just know he's done it in the past, and he really likes long rides, and he is always up for a good gallop.

My daughter has been taking lessons on him and does a walk/trot/canter for a hour. After these endless circles, he's usually breathing steady, but not puffing and not sweaty. 

After we go through a hard trail ride, he's puffing pretty hard. But we do a lot of galloping, especially up hills because I live in an area of TN that is nothing but ridges and hollows, so his muscle is pretty good.

I do notice a lot more snaps and pops in his joints when I'm checking hooves, but he never acts lame or sore after our trail rides.

But you're right, I don't know if it is wise to ask him to "race it." Does his age matter? 

Of course I want to win!! He's never won anything and I think it would be pretty awesome. But is a month enough time?


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## KBA6 (Aug 24, 2013)

btw - I'm reading your "going the distance" thread and it looks like sooooo much fun


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## Fimargue (Jun 19, 2015)

I used to quite regularly ride 15 miles with a 25 year old because she had the stamina and heart to do it. You already ride 5 miles all the time. To condition him, you need to ride more often and lengthen the distance over time.


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## KBA6 (Aug 24, 2013)

Oh that's great
Thanks for replying, we're going to start working out today. Happy trails, all


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

I think you can do it, but I wouldn't be aiming to win. Just consider this a test run, to see how he does. Be willing to come in last (though you probably won't). Don't expect to win. If things go well, then maybe you let him go his own pace, but don't push him beyond his abilities. Consider coming in at the middle of the pack a reasonable goal.

You can just do this one for fun, see how it goes, and then work your way up to a win next time. That way, if you do win, you'll be thrilled, but you'll be less tempted to push your horse because you're not aiming for the win.


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

Age isn't necessarily a limiting factor - I can show you a 25 yr old horse who did the 100s at Old Dominion, Tevis and the National Championship in the same year and top 10'd all three rides. But Merc is certainly not your average horse and while he wasn't going slowly, he wasn't being pushed to win either.

You can buy a simple stethoscope at any drug store or big box store. Place it just behind the elbow on the left side and listen. If you don't hear a heartbeat, slowly move the bell of the steth around until you do. If you buy one before your vet comes out next week, if you haven't been able to figure it out yourself then you can ask him to help you.

If you are looking to race, you need to start doing interval training and monitoring his recovery rates during your rides. Do you know what the 2 mile course will be like? If so, do your best to not only replicate it, but actually train over a harder course so that the actual competition will be less stressful on your horse.

Biggest thing is listen to your horse!


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## QueenofFrance08 (May 16, 2017)

While I don't have the experience that many of these people here giving you advice do, I plan on taking our 17 year old Arabian to a few Intro Endurance rides/Novice CTR rides and possibly an LD this year while we work with my 8 year old to get over his rearing problem. I have a heart rate monitor for him and if he is not up to it I will take a different horse. We frequently ride him 5-6 miles (he's a little out of shape from the winter but my husband is going to start taking him out next week and working him up back into shape) and his previous owner rode him 12+ miles at the park almost weekly. He lives for being out on the trail and hates to go back home. He's always the first at the gate and gets mad if you take another horse out to ride and he doesn't get to come so I'm pretty confident that he can do it. 

Another lady in my Green Bean group is moving up to 100's this year on her 17 year old. 

So give it a shot! See how he does, like Phantomhorse13 said get a stethoscope or a heart rate monitor and start slowly. Don't forget to have fun!


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## Dustbunny (Oct 22, 2012)

If your goal is to win, stay at the barn. If your goal is to get out and enjoy the ride, pace yourself, vary speed, I'm sure he can do that. It sounds like the trails you normally ride are perfect for conditioning, but he is 20. Just listen to your horse.
Get a stethoscope. They are very important to have on hand if you ever have a colic issue. Makes it easy to listen for gut sounds so you can pass that info to the vet before he gets to the barn.


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## k9kenai (Jul 1, 2017)

I wouldn't make winning your goal. The whole idea of Endurance is "To Finish Is To Win".  Enjoy the ride with your horse!


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## KBA6 (Aug 24, 2013)

I'm not in it to win it. That comment was more tongue in cheek. It would be awesome, but yeah, I'm not expecting it.

I did some research and figured out how to check his pulse under his cheek and behind the eye, so when we exercised this weekend I was able to check his heart rate ... and hopefully, I did it right. Count the beats for 15 seconds, multiply by 4. I find his pulse best under his cheek. At rest, his pulse is 40bpm

I have a .5 mile driveway, a couple large hills. This weekend we went down and back until my fit app had us at 2 miles. I let him set his pace - he kept a trot the majority of the time, but I let him gallop up hills. He wants to gallop on the way back (barn sour) but I held him at a controlled canter. We walked the last .25 of a mile and his pulse was 60. I read it should be upwards of 120. I might be doing this all wrong because that seems so low. I'm definitely going to get a stethoscope and get the vet to give me a lesson this week. This made me feel like he can handle it since he wasn't any worse than when we normally go out on the trail. 

I plan to do this exercise a couple of times a week, and the longer trails a couple of times. Does this sound like a fairly good method? I don't want to ask too much too quickly


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

Hopefully this will post as I am typing from my phone (which often hates HF). 

A good “working” heart rate is around 120, but you would have to be pretty athletic to take that using either method you describe while actually riding! Instead what you are tracking is his recovery rate. being back to 60 after 1/4 mile of walking is a good thing. Keep doing what you are doing because you are on the right track.


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## charrorider (Sep 23, 2012)

I have always practiced sports, even boxed and still do boxing workouts. Whoever told you that your horse not sweating means he's in good shape doesn't know what he/she/they is/are talking about. Quite the opposite. The body sweats to cool down. When I boxed if I saw my opponent dancing around and I didn't see that sheen of sweat on his skin right away, I knew he hadn't trained very hard. Considering the riding you do, I am worried about his breathing. I would have his heart checked. In sports is not only how fast does the pulse beat, but how soon does it return to normal. I ride Arabians, also, and I know they don't quit.


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## gottatrot (Jan 9, 2011)

My mare stopped sweating as much when she was around that age. It turned out she was in the early stages of Cushing's disease. Something to consider if you see other signs such as long hair coat, pot belly, loss of topline or excessive thirst/urination.


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## KBA6 (Aug 24, 2013)

Yes! I was checking after we got home, hahaha, definitely not while in the saddle (I can never use the mobile version either). Thank you!

I'll ask the vet about the other suggestions and to check his heart. But to be clear, he does sweat. 
After our little workout, he had a wet saddle pad, but in comparison to the others who get lathered after a hard ride, he's just not dripping like they are. He isn't experiencing any other signs of Cushing's.

Ya'll have given me a lot of good things to talk to my vet about this week


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

One of my best friends does Endurance and I used to hunt and worked on a hunt yard in the UK - both require a horse to be fit enough to go all day and at more than a slow trot.
I hunted a pony that was in his 20's and retired from show jumping when my sons had outgrown him - he had no problems doing that at all 
I don't see age as the factor as health and fitness matter more


What I don't agree with is riding a horse for 5 miles twice a week and expecting it to be fit enough to do Endurance riding if you aren't riding it at all the other 5 days a week.
Even if the horse is turned out 24/7 it isn't going to be putting itself through the sort of preparation work required to keep its tendons, ligaments, muscles, heart, lungs etc conditioned for long distance unless you're walking the whole way with a few trots.
I know that my friend - who trains with other endurance riders - will spend 3 or 4 weeks (when her horse comes back into work after his break) just walking her horse on trail type surfaces and then starts adding in some trot work for the next couple of weeks. She aims at riding her horse 5 days a week and builds up to a min of 2 hours each riding session with a few 3 to 4 hour rides at weekends. It takes her around 3 months of gradually increasing the distance and the speed to get him competing fit - and that isn't to win - that's just to finish and keep him sound.


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

@jaycee in one of the OP’s posts she mentions the race she is talking about is a fun event over about a 2 mile course, not a true endurance ride.


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## gottatrot (Jan 9, 2011)

Agree with @jaydee that if the OP were going to do actual endurance there would need to be a lot more conditioning.

Just want to mention that it is not necessary to work the horse so many days a week, there are other ways to condition. As with humans, a person can train for a marathon by doing daily shorter runs and a weekend long run, or a person can train by putting more mileage in on fewer days during the week. 

It has been demonstrated that horses and humans can go for several days between workouts without losing conditioning and still build conditioning. Some would argue that more progress can be made if full muscle recovery is allowed between workouts. This can lower the risk of injury due to overtraining.

I've known successful runners and endurance riders that trained only three or even two days a week. I personally have trained for half marathons with only a couple of long runs a week, while meanwhile keeping up my usual active lifestyle. Horses that exercise in the field daily can be successful with the same type of schedule.

Some people may think they can't condition their horse for endurance if they don't have more than three days a week to ride, but it definitely can be done.


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