When I shared my last blog post “On winning an endurance ride” on the AERC Facebook page, asking for feedback, the overwhelming response was that I’d gone too fast. (See the post and responsessss here.) Of course, I worried about that myself much of the time I was in front. That’s why I wanted feedback… I do really want to know how fast is too fast, generally. What I was a bit disappointed in were the responses that assumed that I was in it only to win, and that my purpose was to chalk up a while bunch of wins as fast as possible. (Haha, I guess we can say THAT is too fast!)
So the purpose of this very brief post is to inspire more discussion on the topic How fast is too fast?
Things that need to be taken into account:
- Age of horse
- Condition of horse
- Terrain (Is it steep? Sandy? Slippery?)
- Weather (Humid? Hot? Riding in the desert in winter is luxury, but that’s not all year!)
But first, the winner:
And I’d like to thank Alanna Lee right away for giving me the BEST piece of advice: Use a heart rate monitor. Yep, I know I should. That way I would KNOW if he’s going to fast when he wants to follow someone. I’m pretty sure he is (I held him back at Sesenta Años much of the time), at least for his current level of fitness. But I still should see his heart rate. And when I think he’s being lazy, well, maybe he really is all that tired.
(See my post on the Benefits of using a heart rate monitor from 2021.)
I used a HR monitor yesterday. I had planned for 8-10 miles with a significant amount of steady trot. But then I found a new place to explore and we didn’t do much actual conditioning! But we did go 11 miles and had fun. And I realized I need new batteries for my sensors.
Above: Jazz interacting with a calf on our not-much-of-a-conditioning ride.
Background
I had set an average moving speed of 6.5-7.0 mph as a target with Jazz. I was fairly close to the target. At first, I thought I was around 6.6 mph. It finally occurred to me to look at the Ride with GPS app that I had used per ride management suggestion. It looks like we were closer to 6.4 mph average moving speed. Since the trail was muddy and slick in some places, I am happy with that.
But was 6.5-7.0 mph average moving speed too fast a target?
Even if I use a heart rate monitor with Jazz next time, and he’s good the entire way, we could still be going too fast. Because he’s got a monster metabolic system. The first time I went up a steep hill with him last summer I knew that I would have to be careful not to go as fast as his heart and lungs would allow. Heart and lungs always condition faster than bones, ligaments, tendons, etc. With a good horse, it’s even faster, and there is a greater chance of lower leg injury.
Almost all of Jazz’s first few months of conditioning was done at the walk in very steep terrain. I thought that was safest. We did trot–in the arena–for up to ten minutes at a time. We cantered/loped too, in the arena. But on the trail it was all walking up hills. Only after three months of hill work did we trot for more than half a mile at a time. In Jazz’s fifth month of serious conidtioning, I started trotting more frequently and for up to around a mile. The mile was not because I thought we should stop then. It was just the nature of the terrain.
Above: Jazz and I had an easy fun ride yesterday. On the right, you can see he barely broke a sweat. (He looks thinner in this picture than he really is!) But he doesn’t need much to be ready for Laurel Mountain this weekend!
How fast does Jazz trot naturally?
Fast, for me. Slow by gaited standards, I know!
From riding in the arena, I knew that Jazz’s easy cruising trot speed is around 8-8.5 mph. By this I mean that he goes along at this speed without really trying. He can do it forever. When he’s really lazy and/or it’s hot and/or I try to make him jog, Jazz goes at 7 mph. Any slower than that is collection and harder for him. I know his easy cruising speed will probably increase, and his slow speed will be slower as he gets stronger.
Note that he’s deceptive. When he’s going at 8mph, it feels slow. So I make sure to check my speed on my watch.
Jazz power trots at around 10-11 mph. Or 8 mph if I hold him back.. the energy just goes up instead of out. Which is why I am not a great believer in holding them back to the trot too much. I’d rather just walk. I got in lots of fights with Fantazia forcing her to keep at less than 8mph. I believe I did more harm than good.
I try to canter every 3-4 miles for short distances, then slow down to a walk for a while.
I don’t like to trot for long distances without a break… so I focus on average speed
Yes, if I was working with a harness horse, or an older horse that had trotted a lot, I would be fine with trotting nonstop for miles. But this is not Jazz, so we don’t trot for more than 1.5 miles at a time. I worry about average speed, and don’t mind walking, or even just stopping.
(*** Long periods of trot are hard on me physically too. I’d rather take breaks.)
I thought keeping it under 7 mph average would be fine. But after that last AERC Facebook page post… I’m not so sure. Should I have slowed down more for the weather? I don’t actually think so. I did all the truly sloppy bits with Lori Oleson, anf we walked eberywhere that was slippery. Despite the freezing wind and rain, the trail was not bad at all most of the way. For the first half of the ride, it was excellent.
Still, we could have gone too fast at the beginning. I wanted to put some distance between us and ride camp before Jazz got naughty. (The Naughty was coming because he didn’t want to leave Fantazia.) I tried to let someone else go in front, but I didn’t want to cause a kerfuffle… and Jazz needed to trot out. I planned to walk –and I did– but the first walk break was disturbed because we had to pass the BLM mustang facility. Not a good time to walk! So I did worry for a while.. not so much about going to fast, but about sustained trotting.
What about steadiness or consistency of pace?
I have often thought about the merits of a steady, slower trot held over many miles vs. alternating periods of faster trotting with walking. And here’s the thing. I worry about damage from repetitiveness of motion if we don’t switch things up. Also, horses are much more likely to injure themselves when they are tired. So I prefer to let them move out more when they are fresh, and then slow down when they are tired or at least have completed more miles.
Fantazia’s role in my attitude towards this
In other words, I have (somewhat reluctantly) come to the conclusion that it’s okay to slow down over the course of a ride. I came to this conculsion after many fights with Fantazia to force her to go slower than she wanted at first. A lot slower. I believe I did more harm than good. Oh, I would never just let her go as fast as she wants. That would be stupid. But I now negotiate with her. I let her start off in front, and in exchange she allows me to keep the pace below 8.5 mph most of the time. Then we slow down in the afternoon. She doesn’t get to race into camp at the end of the ride. And she doesn’t get to go 10 mph at the beginning. But I don’t make her go 7.5 mph, even though that’s her easy cruising speed at home.
What about Jazz?
Jazz will probably be much easier to rate as he gains experience, and he’s already easier than Fantazia. He’s not interested in winning or getting back to ride camp ASAP. He just doesn’t want to be alone. So it’s pretty easy to keep him at his easy cruising speed (8mph) as long as no one leaves us in the dust. Then we have some arguments. At Sesenta Anos he did a lot of sideways cantering because I wouldn’t let him pursue Eli. But I still make him canter and walk sometimes.
Am I wrong about this?
Should I be training to trot five miles or more nonstop at a steady pace? If so, should it be their easy cruising trot? (7.5-8 mph for Fantazia, 8-8.5 mph for Jazz.) Or a bit slower? My Morgan Beroni was a driving horse and could go forever at 9-10mph. But he’d been in harness since he was two. I don’t feel good about miles of nonstop trotting for Jazz, but I am open to being convinced otherwise.
Age, condition, terrain, weather
Jazz will be 8 in April. He’s been under saddle since he was three, but hadn’t done that much until I got him last April. I only ride on weekends now, but he’s still done a lot of good hill work and is in excellent condition for ten months of training. It helps that he always eats and drinks.
Jazz had a full lameness workup in August (plus bloodwork and xrays) and will have another in two weeks. Apparently with a new state of the art computerized gait analysis program 😉
As for terrain, the desrt is amazing, especially after rains. Weather is perfect, nice and cold and dry,
But please tell me if I need to be thinking about weather and terrain things I might be missing!
So tell me, How fast is too fast, and when?
After the feedback from the last post, I can take anything! And I do sincerely want as many opinions as I can get!
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