Questions from Debbie on Training

Glad to see that you were happy with your ride at Foxcatcher. The weather sure turned out to be better than forecasted. I noticed that you were took it easy with Legs on this ride. What is the reason that you don't always compete for a fast time? I pushed Oreo at Sand Hills and I pushed him again at Foxcatcher. The rides were a month apart so I thought that was OK. Am I wrong? People keep talking to me about over conditioning and now I am starting to worry. Plus I have a problem with this upcoming weekend. I signed up for a pleasure ride, a fund raisier, at Massies Mill. It's a beautiful ride in the mountains. I've done it twice before, but on a different horse. Oreo has never been there. There is a long ride, 25 miles, and a short ride, 15 miles on Saturday and a short ride, 15 miles on Sunday. I am taking Oreo and I had planned to do the 25 mile on Sat and the 15 mile on Sunday. It will be at a slow pace, no cantering and little trotting. I was going to use the ride as a relaxing ride to re-introduce him to mountains this season. Do you think 40 miles is too much this weekend? I am giving him the whole week off, from Foxcatcher to next Saturday. Then I have the OD training ride on May 8th and Turkey Creek trot on May 29th. Nothing much in between. Is it too much? Appreciate your thoughts...................... Thanks................

________________________________

Hey Debbie,

I took it easy this past weekend because I have Biltmore in 2 weeks which is a super-tight turnaround, and i plan on pushing him to top 10 there. The goal was just to get a completion towards the National Championships and finish with plenty of horse left so I don't wear him out. You were fine to push Oreo this weekend, a month apart is good space for that.

Other reasons you would take it easy is if you had a young horse or a horse who is just starting to get into the sport. This is just as hard on their bodies as it is ours (if not harder), so you definitely want to ease them into the whole thing. I've had rides where it took me 8.5 hours to complete (Foxcatcher being one of them)! Also, many riders who just want the completion miles or certifications for FEI will go extra extra slow to ensure they complete and don't get a pull on their record.

I definitely would take it easy this weekend. I know he did great last weekend, but Foxcatcher was a really tough ride between the rock, mud, and hills and you don't want to exhaust him. If I weren't doing Biltmore, I would probably only take Legs on an easy walk-trot trail ride, less than 10 miles. As is, this weekend we're just going to be playing with the trailer, maybe do a little riding in the arena so he's not a total nutjob when I get on at the ride. Oreo is conditioned, he doesn't need to be doing 40-50 miles every weekend. Remember, the more riding you do the more risk to your horse as far as injury or over-training goes. Plus, he may just get burnt out on the whole thing.

You're good for the OD training and Turkey Creek, those are spaced fine. For OD, make sure you have good shoes, and if he has sensitive feet you'll want pads too. It's all rock and gravel road. Since you're doing both of those rides, I would only do light training in-between (10 miles, easy). He won't need much more than that since he's already fit, and like I said earlier, you don't want to burn him out!

Hope that helps!

~Sarah

Foxcatcher 50, Elkton MD

Hey Everyone! Long time, no write. Got a lot of updates for you.....

Last week Legs spent the week with his surrogate Mommy, Judie Ricci at Meadowsprings Training Center in Sumerduck, VA. She was working with him on his trailer loading issues. To get him on to go up, we used the method of loading a buddy first, then it took about 10 minutes to convince him to get on. Worked nicely, and I got him up no problems. I only wish I could have stayed the whole weekend, but I had to go back for some work training and only got to crash overnight. If you are ever looking for some horse help or just need a mini-vacation and some riding tips, go see Mama Judie!

Judie worked with him all week and made some progress. He is still really stubborn, but we have some systems in place now to get around his tricks. The one that really works is to give him an opportunity to load, and if he refuses go lunge him for a few minutes, then try again. The idea is to tell him that trailer = food+rest, no trailer = work. He still has his stubborn moments, but at least we're getting somewhere.

Picked him up on Friday, 4/16 to drive to Foxcatcher. He loaded fine, Judie had an awesome little snack packed for us (strawberries and cheese for me, dog cookies for Jack) and away we went! About halfway up, I felt the truck shaking and noticed a calamity going on in the trailer. I immediately pulled over at the next rest area and found that I had left one of the lighter mats on the floor of the trailer, and he slipped on it. He was ok, but had banged his head and his leg and had a few scratches. But he was calm, not scared, so we continued on (me kicking myself and white-knuckling the whole way). We made it to base camp around 2PM, unloaded beautifully and started to set up camp. Lisa (Legs' owner) had come and brought enough corral for him to have his own pen next to the other two horses she brought (Nino and Amana), so we didn't have to worry about tying him or anything. We went for a little warm-up ride, vetted in, and went through the usual rigamarol that comes with the pre-ride stuff.

Weather that night was pretty crappy. We got rain, rain, rain, and wind. Thankfully, my little truck tent did great! I have a quality air mattress now, and it was definitely worth the investment! My only complaint was that the people next to me (also in a tent) would not SHUT UP and let me sleep. Hello people, tents are not sound proof. Jack was also very happy to have a soft warm bed to snuggle in.

Woke up at 5AM on race day, got dressed, and fed Legs at 5:30. I'm not sure if its me or what, but every ride I've been too thus far that has offered complimentary coffee has not been able to get it up and ready in time. Just FYI, those large percolators take AT LEAST 45 minutes to get the coffee ready. IN case you ever have to use one. Legs was very good thus far, a little excited but easy to manage. We met up with Theresa, who was riding Lisa's other horse Nino and who we were supposed to stick with all day. The race started, and we waited til almost everyone had left before calmly walking out onto the trail.

The plan for the day was to go fairly easy, since we are doing Biltmore in just a few weeks. I wanted to finish with plenty of horse left so that I can let him go fast at the next race. Theresa started picking up the pace and we were going a little faster than I wanted, but i stuck with her thinking we would slow down later. The first loop was 25 miles (yes, it sucked) with a 10 minute hold about halfway through. We got lost at a very poorly marked turn around mile 10, and did an extra mile or so getting back on trail. We also met up with Lisa, who was supposed to be running up front for the win (oh no!). So we all turned around, again taking off since we were frustrated, and kept on trucking until we reached the hold. Legs drank a little and once he realized we were resting for a minute, ate some nice green grass. We took an extra few minutes, posed for a picture with all three horses in the group, and off we went again. Lisa had decided to back off for the day, but it looked like Theresa had decided she was going to try and top ten. Since I wanted to keep Legs safe for Biltmore, I backed him off (telling Lisa my plan) and parked him behind a few other horses going the pace I wanted to go. He wasn't happy about it, but after a few miles he settled in stopped fighting me so hard. I ended up meeting up with Jennifer Smith (a friend of mine from Gloucester), a new rider she had picked up, and Becky Supinger who is up from Judie's area. Together we all went a much more reasonable pace of around 10-12mph with the "just finish today" attitude. MUCH more like it for me!

Legs behaved pretty fantastic from this point on. Just cruised along at his speed and rated very well. He was a little pushy on the ground at the vet checks, wanting me to rub all over him. This got annoying because his heart rates weren't great, but he still pulsed down very quickly and negative split ALL of his CRI's all day. This behavior also got a lot better as the day went on. Overall, his vet scores were very good. I had a couple of acrobatic moments, one when he jumped a gully I wasn't expecting and lost my stirrup while he charged up the next hill. I was very proud of myself for staying on fairly easily and rating him until I got my stirrup back! We also had an almost-down moment when another horse that was with us spooked and dumped his rider. Legs got a little iffy there, but I got him back immediately and we even helped try to catch the loose horse (the rider was fine, just a little shaken up).

We finished the day in 37th place (of around 85 starters) right behind Becky Supinger. Legs looked and felt great, and the whole plan worked out almost perfectly. I feel very confident I'll have a strong healthy horse for Biltmore and will probably try to top ten on the 50 there.


My only grumpy point was that we had to leave on Saturday night instead of staying til Sunday, because Lisa and crew were also leaving thus taking the corral and my additional trailer help. I hate to go home the same day as a ride (especially with a trailer that doesn't have a lot of cushy shock absorption) because I like to give the horse plenty of rest. But we packed up, and after a fight got him on (took Theresa lunging him to get the point across), and headed home. Yes, I remembered to take the bad mat out this time, and drove very slowly and cautiously. We stopped for gas once, and he seemed pretty relaxed, enjoying a rub of his head and butt and eating his hay and grain snack. Thinking back, I should have given him water at this point, but I didn't even think about it.

We got to the farm around 11PM and he unloaded very well, although was very excited. Joy had a stall prepared with water and a snack, and he immediately started an excited pattern of roll, eat, drink. He was rolling a lot, which kind of scared me, so Joy came up to look at him with me. I took his blanket off, and we ended up letting him out of his stall, and he seemed to settle down fine. Just so happy to be home and itchy from the blanket! I got an update on Sunday that he was just fine, eating his favorite clover and playing with his friends. Very little stiffness too!

I should mention, the ride was very muddy due to all the rain, with steep rolling hills and more rock than I remembered. Lots and lots of pulls, mostly lameness. Perfect training for the next ride, which is very similar. Legs only had front shoes, he was completely barefoot in the hind. He did great all day, no tenderness! Friggin feet of cement...he will get hind shoes for Biltmore, the farrier comes this week. My plan is to go up this weekend and give him his shots and bring some more weight supplements (I forgot them at Judie's), and maybe do a little walk to loosen him up and practice with the trailer. Also might give him a nice relaxing bath, he is due. No need to do any conditioning for Biltmore, he is ready to go!

I had my Garmin for this ride, but I forgot to start it in a couple places so it's way off. I might post them later so you can see the speed differences, but don't trust the mileage or trail marking! Also will work on getting pictures; the ride photographer got a few of us but I look pretty fat in most of them (still working on losing those extra 10lbs) and she's charging $25 a piece for them, so we'll see if I can't steal a digital image somehow.

On a happy note, my friend Debbie finished in 7th place with Oreo and also had a great day! Her friend Roberta finished her first 50 too, right in the same group with me and Becky. Jennifer Smith also finished with us. My friend Jennifer Supinger (Becky's daughter) unfortunately got lost on the first loop and decided to option out since she was out for a super-long time and did lots of extra miles. If you ever decide to do this ride, keep your head up for trail markings and bring the map! They are notorious for not marking the trail well....Also helps if you can bring crew. They run the vet check so that you have to return to the timers and get your "out time" after vetting through, which is a pain because unless you have crew it can cost you an extra 5 minutes you could have spent resting/feeding your horse. I hate it when they do it like that.

Tiring but very good weekend!

Another Trailer Update

Went up Wednesday to practice getting Legs on the trailer with Joy and Michael, and to move him back to the farm so that it will be quicker to load him today. It was definitely a battle, he fought us so hard he even put himself on the ground once. Eventually, we ended up putting another horse on the trailer first (Maverick, a pasture mate and my new favorite of the barn) and then Legs got back on with slightly less of a fight. Then we took Maverick off and got Legs out of there! It might be what we have to do tonight to get him to Judie's, but as long as he get on I seriously don't care.

Heading up to Judie's tonight after work and leaving him there with the trailer for the week for her to work on him. Then I'll be picking him up on Friday on my way up to Foxcatcher. Hopefully at this point she will have cured him of his craziness! Definitely owe her a few weekends of labor for this one, planning on putting in that time after Biltmore when things settle down and I have a long break between races.

Sheesh.

More Debbie Questions

Two more questions for you.....you are so kind to help me out.............. At Foxcatcher, at the 10 minute hold, should I have Curt meet me there with some beet pulp for Oreo or should I just let Oreo rest and graze on the grass? 10 minutes isn't much time. After Foxcatcher, I need to start training smarter. If my goal is one good conditioning ride a week, what mileage should I try to attain and how should I structure the ride? Meaning should I do equal parts loping and trotting or more of one than the other, or just go out and have fun? Mostly I've always gone out and just had fun. I do want to keep this sport fun, but I'm now starting to worry more about Oreo's condition now that we have lot's of 50 mile rides I'd like to attend this year. Thanks Sarah, Debbie

_________________________________

Hey Debbie, no problem.

I haven't looked at the ride map/loops yet. If Kurt can make it easily, I would definitely have him bring a few snacks for Oreo. Let Oreo decide what he wants, but having lots of options there will ensure that he has something to pick from. Another good option is to carry some small bags of treats in your saddle (grain, carrots, etc), then Kurt doesn't have to come out. Also will be important to have water if the ride isn't providing it there, and to electrolyte right before you go back out if that is on a long loop (I'm assuming it is).

Your mileage for your good conditioning ride will depend on both how fast you go and what the terrain is like. I try to do around 15 miles, but down here it's very flat and not very technical and the ground is soft. Our longest training ride is Beaverdam, which is about 18 miles and we have to go slow because it's windy and narrow trail, pretty technical. Since I'm usually by myself, I usually go pretty slow at a moderate trot and barely any canter for most of the time, so a longer distance fits us fine. It's also good because it helps maintain his fitness level without putting too much stress on his body (the whole Long Slow Distance technique). But if you're on hills, rocks, or at a higher speed, you don't need to do as much mileage (keep it 10-15 at most). I think the go-out-and-have-fun technique is probably best, just make sure to keep your speed (whatever it may be) consistent. Nothing drives me more bonkers than riders who gallop for five minutes and then walk for 20. It's usually good to let the horse set the pace, I let Legs do that all the time and just go with how he feels (unless he's over-excited. then i have to rein him in!). A good idea is to find an average speed for your horse, where they're not working too hard but aren't being lazy either, then keep the pace within 2mph of that speed. Legs' relaxed moderate trot speed for training is 8-9mph, so when we go out I try to keep it between 6-10mph.

If you have any friends who are long-distance runners, I would take them to dinner and pick their brain. The training is really, really similar as it would be for our horses! Or, ask your husband about how he trains his distance swimmers. Not quite as close as running but you can get a general idea there.

Also, don't forget that Oreo is already really fit and that the 50's will keep him that way, so you don't need to worry too much about getting him conditioned. It's more of a maintenance factor now, you don't want to over-condition him (yes, it really is possible to do so). So, don't stress if you can only get on him once a week. He's not going to lose that conditioning he already has, it takes months and months of just sitting in pasture for that to happen. The week leading up to the ride, I would only take him out once, and only for a light walk-trot ride that is less than 5 miles. That way, he has a "taper" and is well-rested.

Hope that helps!

~Sarah

Questions on Gate and Hold

Some more Q&A from my friend, Debbie....
______________________________________

Sarah, I'm not really sure I understand how this gate in hold works? Is that what we did at Sand Hills? Does it mean that your hold time starts when the pulse taker says your horse meets the pulse criteria? Example, you pass the in timer and she takes your card and gives you a time in. Then you mess around for 15 minutes before you go to vet check to get your pulse. So 15 minutes later you get your pulse. Does your 50 minute hold start at that point and you've actually wasted 15 minutes messing around? So far, I always go straight to the pulse taker as soon as I come in. It's been cool weather for my three rides, so I have been fortunate that Oreo has been able to pulse down by the time we walk over. I know that won't always be the case so I want to make sure I understand when my hold time starts. You know, in case I have to cool him off first before going to the pulse taker. Thanks, Debbie

_______________________________________

Correct. your 50 minutes doesn't start until your horse meets pulse criteria. so, here it is step-by-step:

1. give card to timer

2. get horse down, get p&r people to get pulse in. NOW your hold time starts. if you look at past vet cards, you should see this.

So, now you know why you see us all trying to panic and get our horse down as quick as possible! :-)

Tricks to this: races are definitely won by people who get through the pulse down. That's how Jeremy won Tevis twice, and I have passed lots of people too. Walk into vet checks, and get your horse in quick. You're out time might end up being a few minutes faster than the people close to you (especially with Oreo's heart rates) and you could end up having a few minutes lead time on the next loop.

The other reason they do this is so the vets can see how fast the horse recovers. If they take too long, they pull you. I believe you have 30min to get the horse down, or they pull you (it could be an hour, Mary would know

better than me). This applies in FEI too.

Weekend Updates

Had a pretty uneventful/successful weekend. Rode Legs Friday evening for about an hour, got in a very easy 5 miles. Didn't touch the trailer, and he seemed genuinely happy to see me (a nice change after the trauma of last weekend).

Came back up on Sunday, did a very light and easy 15 miles. Again around the summer training grounds, no trailering. He was extremely relaxed, I think we both started falling asleep about 2/3 through. Had two major spooks, both excusable. One when an animal jumped out of the woods at us (I jumped too), and another while we were alongside the road and a jeep pulling a flatbed trailer came up behind us without slowing down. Don't blame him for that one either.

Attempted some trailer loading on Sunday, he refused it. Thus, no reward.

Still not feeling myself, I've lost probably 80% of my confidence because of this trailer crap. Started leading him alongside the road when we go to and from the trail; helps us both relax and provides good bonding time.

Going to try and make it up after work one day this week to work on trailer with Joy and Michael, hopefully that will make this weekend less stressful. Still planning on taking him to Judie's for trailer training all week. Hopefully she gets him through it so we can get through Foxcatcher and Biltmore with no issues.

Sorry guys, no Garmin reports from the weekend.