Courtesy of Eric Jones, the photographer for the day.
Endurance
Archived Posts from this Category
1 May 2008
Because I was curious I added up all the kilometers we’ve been doing in training so far this year and we’ve passed 600km in total (including one 26km TR and one 32km CR) which is quite astonishing in itself for being us!
So, to keep a record for myself of how we started out this year, here’s our training programme so far:
Week 1 and 2: 4km, 4 times each week – total 16km each week
Week 3: 4km + 4km + 7km + 8km, adding trot – total 23km
Week 4: 4km + 8km + 8km – total 20km
Week 5: 8km + 8km + 8km + 4km + 10km, adding canter – total 38km
Week 6: 8km + 8km + 8km + 4km + 10km – total 38km
Week 7: 10km (hills) + 8km + 8km + 4km + 8km – total 38km
Week 8: 8km + 8km + 8km + 10km + 15km (hills) – total 49km
Week 9: 4km + 8km + 8km + 26km (TR, hills) – total 46km
Week 10: 8km + 10km + 8km + 8km – total 34km
Week 11: 10km + 20km (hills) + 8km – total 38km
Week 12: 8km + 8km – total 16km
Week 13: 4km + 8km + 8km + 30km (hills) – total 50km
Week 14: 8km + 8km + 4km + 8km – total 28km
Week 15: 8km + 10km + 4km + 25km (hills) – total 47km
Week 16: 8km + 4km + 4km + 32km (CR, hills) – total 48km
Week 17: 13km + 8km + 3km + 12km – total 36km
Week 18: 4km + 4km + 15km (gallops, deep sand) – total 23km
Week 19: 4km + 4km + 65km (CR) – total 73km
Well, the last 65km ride is still to come this Saturday. We’re getting all prepared and ready for it and I’m so excited! Full report will come after the ride, it will give me a good indication about whether the above training programme was too little or just right.
Most of my 4km rides consists of a walk up and down our lane, so on tarmac only. Some of my 8km rides is also just on tarmac roads, while some of them are schooling in the sandschool as I’ve calculated that we do about 8km in an hour. All our hill work is over the South Downs, good gradients and good workouts. The rest is hacking out around where we are, a lot of tarmac work and some trotting/canter work across fields when the weather is good.
With the schooling work I started doing canter interval work about half way through the training programme, with short bursts of canter that I’ve gradually built up to now when we do 30-40min canter work, split into several sections with a little walk or trot in between.
I took him to the gallops a week ago to check them out, see if we could do some training on our own, and take a checkpoint on how his training is doing. He behaved, with only two naps, so we ended up doing 4,5 miles of canter work in deep sand, one of the gallop tracks is 1 mile uphill, before he tired and got bored. We came back with a good recovery heart rate so I was pleased and will definitely use the same gallops a few times over the summer for long distance slow canter work.
I also started pole work very early, gradully building up from one/two poles to 6 poles on the trot. We then did raised poles, and finally some trotting jumps. I’m still to start raising the jumps and do them in canter. As he’s an appaullingly bad jumper I had to start with easy stuff and build up very slowly. He also has a habit of bumping into the poles, he’s not very coordinated, so I also have not wanted to do any pole or jump work before a big ride, just to eliminate some potential risks!
If all goes well on Saturday we will then start our next phase of training and our goal of doing an 80km ride in July. But let’s focus on Saturday first…
14 April 2008
On Saturday we were all excitedly off to do our first open competitive ride for the season. We had entered to do 32km at the South Downs Festival, which was a 2-day ride held over the lovely South Down hills.
The weather turned out ok, sunny, windy but no rain. Unfortunately the wind caused us a few problems. It was very windy at the venue and Shah is not good with flappy things, or too much wind noise in trees. The vetting area had been set up right next to a woody area and the signs were flapping about, so by the time we got to the pre-ride vetting Shah was more in the air than on the ground! The farrier check was all fine, he even commented on Shah having nice big feet for being an Arab. We vetted in with heart rate 42 which wasn’t bad considering we’d just had a few minutes in the air. The trotting up was funny though. We trotted fine down to the cone, then there was a white flappy bag in the trees that caught Shah’s eyes and that was it – we piaffed/passaged back to the vet who was in stitches, laughing at us. Hey, at least we passed and he wasn’t showing any of his age!!
At this time I was getting rather concerned that I might not be able to get a saddle on him, or even get on him for that sake. But he decided to behave so on the tack went and we set off at a nice steady trot.
The route was lovely with some magnificient views from on top of the Downs and we had a great ride. Shah proved that he had learned the endurance rope from last year and kept a nice steady pace throughout. We trotted and cantered everywhere apart from two steep downhills that were a bit muddy and slippery. And one of those we jogged down as Shah really can’t understand why on earth we should walk anywhere when going fast is so much more fun.
I was very pleased with his going. He felt strong throughout the ride, he pulled for the first 20km as usual but then settled and we could trot more relaxed on a long rein. One of his good points is that although he pulls and is quite strong I never feel out of control. We had to stop our horses from breaking into a gallop at one point as the going was very good and they were quite excited by that time, but they both settled into a nice fast trot after half way and kept up the good speed without getting tired.
We finished the ride on an average speed of 10.91km/h, which is the fastest we’ve gone so far so I’m really pleased. The one thing that loses us time is the amount of gates we had to go through. There must have been in excess of 15 gates and it takes us probably 1-2 minutes per gate. My friend who I rode with is better at it, and we’re learning too, so I think we’ll improve this season. But it does take time away from your total, so something to work on.
Now for the vetting. And here I got it a bit wrong, but we’re still learning the ropes so I’ll put it down to inexpereince. In my eagerness to lower his heart rate after the ride (it was 50 after a tad of sloshing off his sweat) I sloshed a bit too much so he got chilled in the wind. I then didn’t put his rug on quick enough so by the time we got to the vet he was shaking because he was cold and the vet struggled to hear his heart rate as he was bracing himself against the wind. Also, I noticed that he needed to wee but as he was so cold he couldn’t go and he was holding it in. This all meant that we ended up on heart rate 54, a tad high, but I know it was because I got the cooling down/keeping warm routine all wrong. At least it was a completion as we passed the trot up after another bit of piaffe.
Once I had double rugged him and put him in the trailer, out of the wind, he relaxed and wee’d within a few minutes, lowering his heart rate himself. So, lesson learned: if it’s chilly he might not need as much cooling down as usual, and if it’s really windy he might be better inside the trailer before vetting, or vet early as the heart rate will not go down anyway.
Lots of good points to take home however. His speed was good, he didn’t tire at all during the ride, he could probably have gone faster if I asked him to but I was happy keeping him steady. And he feels ready for upping the mileage. We’re now entered for our first 65km in three weeks time so back to the training programme for this week, then slower work for the next two weeks to make sure he’s all ready. We will be riding with some very experienced riders and we feel ready so I’m looking forward to it!
The only snag is my own fitness… I’m aching much more today, two days after the ride, than yesterday. It’s not too bad, I can still go down the stairs but it takes some effort… But it’s worth it!!
3 January 2008
After a successful first novice endurance season I decided to let Shah rest for a little while before starting up our training for the next season.
It’s been a good decision. I’ve been able to get on with some work, and Shah has been pottering around in the field, getting more and more bored. He’s now full of beans and ready to work – just a small snag – I suspect he’s enjoying the quiet life a little too much!
We started up our training last week and after being used to go for a hack once or twice a week for the past couple of months Shah was surprised to say the least when I put his saddle on two days on the trot! His face was a picture when we got to the gate “you have to be kidding, going out for a ride today again, we only did it yesterday”, his large eyes begging to go in and have dinner instead of exercising. As the weather was dark and horrible I took him in the school for a walk/trot session and it was like riding glue! He tried every trick in the book to convince me he really can’t go any faster than a donkey walk – made me laugh out loud several times 
With some more days and walks under our belt we’ll be ready to start proper training soon and I’m sure he’ll get better once he starts to get fit again. I’ve designed a training schedule for the next few months which I’m hoping we can stick to and our first goal for 2008 is a training ride just down the road from us in February. It’s only 24km and, weather pending, I’m hoping it will kick us back into endurance gear.
There are a few looming clouds on the horizon that might stop our progress, his cough is one of them, but fingers crossed we can actually start at the beginning of the season this time.
If our training schedule works I will publish it here to keep a record of what we did to get fit for our first 65km ride.
13 September 2007
I’m so proud. After completing three novice endurance rides we have now upgraded to the next level in endurance, open. This means we’ll be able to go faster and do longer distances next season. I can compete open level this season but we’ve run out of rides that we can do down here in the south and I’ve decided to not do any more competitions this year. So I’m keeping him fit up until about end of October, then let him have a couple of lazy months where I’ll just ride him a couple of times a week. We then start fittening for next season around Christmas.
We completed two of our novice rides at Firle Park a week or so ago and I was absolutely over the moon with Shah’s performance – plus not doing too badly myself if I’m allowed to say. I had, in my infinite wisdom, decided to compete on both days because one of the other rides we were going to do had been cancelled and I needed three rides for my upgrade. So, we were down to do 40km on the Sat (25 miles) and 32km on Sun (20 miles). Both rides with company I’m glad to say – it helps a lot when energy levels decrease and it’s nice not to be alone in case something should happen.
So I arrived on the Sat with a horse bouncing full of energy wanting to run. This was a different ride to our previous one, lots more hills (this is the South Downs) and harder going but as we train occasionally on the downs we weren’t faced by the thought. And Shah did well. Vetted in with heart rate 44 and our usual show trot. After starting with a large spook at one of the cross country fences he pulled and pulled for miles, really wanting a gallop early on so after a while I gave in and he had a blast up a hill. He then regretted it himself, noticing how much energy that actually took out of him – smart cookie!
Shah tired earlier this time, probably due to the big hills, and we took it at a slower pace as both horses (Sidney, 18 year old TB/Irish cross who just loves to follow Shah’s grey bottom) were quite tired towards the end. Both of us quite happy to see the finish at the end of our 4-hour ride. After sloshing, drinking and relaxing we vetted in with heart rate 46 (brilliant!!), usual show trot, slight dehydration and slight girth chafing but still good enough to complete. We got our first grade!!! Only a grade 4, but still, I was delighted. Horse in tow, nearly falling asleep in the trailer, we went home for the booked massage (for Shah that is…) and enjoyed a quiet evening relaxing and preparing for the next day.
Getting up Sunday morning I felt much better than after the last competition, in fact my muscles hardly ached at all! I’d like to put that down to better preparation, drinking lots of green tea to boost the antioxidants in the muscles, and doing lots of stretching the week before plus stretching and massaging afterwards on the first day. Shah looked strangly at me when he saw the trailer was out – again, you must be joking! But he went straight in as usual and behaved absolutely impeccably the whole day. Having 40km in your legs does wonders to the usual fizzy, impatient, arab, brain. I could even tie him up outside the trailer with his haynet without him moving about – bliss when you’re trying to get organised.
This time Shah had learned his lesson. He knew not to gallop – didn’t even ask for it. He knew to pace himself, starting slow and just keeping going steady pace. And he knew to drink much more, at checkpoints and in troughs on the way. This resulted in a nice steady going, not fast at 9.7km/h average speed, but all I wanted was to complete and we did. Vetted in the morning with heart rate 43 and came back with 44, which was even better than on the Sat. No dehydration, no chafing (using another girth) and usual nice trot. So, came home with a grade 3 on the Sun, wow, I never expected that!
I was also delighted to have won (yes, won, first time we’ve ever won anything) the award for Best Shod Horse on the Sunday!!!! Many thanks to my excellent farrier, Liam, who was delighted when I told him.
Next season and new competitions now beckon. I have learned a lot this season and should hopefully now have the knowledge of how to extend our training programme to reach the fitness needed for the next level of distances. To progress to next level, advanced, we need to complete one 65km ride and one 80km ride. Not as easy as the novice level, and we will probably need the whole season to do it – but it’s a great goal for next year. Ultimately I’d love to do a proper race ride (or endurance rides as they’re called – the terminology within endurance is very complicated for some reason), where you’re judged on who’s over the finish line first rather than heart rates etc. but you have to be advanced to do that. These are only run as rides of between 80km and 160km. The 160km (100 miles) is the ultimate ride any endurance horse can do, and it is this distance they ride in international championships. The European Championships, by the way, in endurance riding was held last Sat, 8 Sept, and the UK team came 5th, which is excellent!
In between now and next season I will be picking up on natural horsemanship again, a good opportunity to go back to some of those ground exercises…
There are some great Parelli programs on Country and Horse TV (Sky and online) if you haven’t noticed yet. Loads of great tips and advise.
31 August 2007
Taken by Radfoto (these are the ones I bought as I like them):
Coming up the hill – Shah just noticing the photographer…
Me trying to smile for the camera while keeping it together…
All 4 hooves in the air – yipppiiiee!
With Windsor last week cancelled (due to the foot and mouth zones) we’re now on for Firle this weekend…
15 August 2007
I haven’t been writing a lot here lately – sorry! We’ve been training hard to be able to start our new endurance career and i’m delighted to say that we completed our very first endurance ride this Saturday. I’m very very pleased and those who know us and know what journey we’re on will agree that this is a HUGE step forwards for us.
It was a beautiful day for it too. The sun was shining, it was just nicely hot, and the ground conditions good. The ride was in the Ashdown Forest (Winnie the Pooh country – but I didn’t see him and we didn’t have time to stop and play Poosticks) and the scenery was great. Much more hilly than I had imagined, but the heather was in full bloom everywhere and the hills offered some spectacular views. This is definitely one of the reasons for why this sport is so pleasant. You get to see the countrywide at the same time as spending time with your horse – life can hardly get better!
Our goal was to finish the 32km (that’s 20 miles if you’re a Brit) in around 3 hours, averaging about 10 km/hr. I wasn’t interested in a grade (if you want to know more about the rules, gradings etc. visit www.endurancegb.co.uk) but I just wanted to complete the ride within the time and vetting parameters. And we did. 3.16 hours, 9.8 km/hr speed, starting with a heart rate of 42, finishing on 55, which was perfectly fine for us.
Shah loved every minute of it. He was very excited, especially to start with, and he was convinced that this was a race and that he had to go full speed everywhere. This meant that the first ten minutes were interesting, well, quite scary actually as he was jumping up and down wanting to gallop. But we hooked onto a mum and daughter with nicely behaved horses and rode after them for a little while until I could confidently let him go and we then settled into a fast trot. After not so long we caught up with a lovely lady on a nice bay TB cross who we ended up riding together with for the rest of the ride. The horses went well together, it was her first ride too, and we were both happy about each other’s company, so much so that we’ve decided to ride again together for the next two rides. Shah led nearly the whole time, apart from those occasions when something scary came along and he needed to hide behind Sidney’s bottom! And Sidney knew which grey bottom to follow, at one point another horse came in between and he got most upset!
All in all a very fun experience. I’ve been told that they will settle once they’ve done a few rides and know what’s going on. I also think we need the longer distances for Shah to settle better, which means I’m aiming to fast track through novice this year and then go into open competitions next year. He was loony for about 10km, pulled for about 20km and didn’t tire until 28km, which was nearly home.
With the first ride under our belt I also now know what we need to practice:
- Fitness – he needs to get fitter so that we can bring the heart rate down, and so that we can keep a higher speed going for a longer time.
- Standing still outside the trailer – he seems to have to eat grass all the time while not riding, I might have to experiment with the feeding, plus train him to stand still while tied up outside the trailer.
- No galloping to start with – we need to be able to warm up properly and trot slowly to start with, I don’t want any injuries. Doing more rides I think will be the only way here.
We’re now looking forward to another two competitive rides this year – at least – and the goal is still just to finish within the time parameters, nothing else.
I’ve bought some lovely pictures from the ride and will post them here once I receive the soft copies.
Roll on Windsor and Firle!
