Is my horse ready for his first limited distance endurance ride.?

Question

Hi, Have been conditioning my 9 year old horse for 25 days. Each day I have been traveling 17 1\2 miles.Yesterday I timed my self. I whent 20 miles in 2 and 1\2 hours. his heart was 120 to 140 beats per minute. there was a long steep hill at the start of the ride. I think that is what elevated his heart rate. I am just concerned why his heart rate didn't come back down. After the hill I walked him for about 2 miles. I am trying my first limited distance endurance ride on the 28th or the 29th of this month. Do you think he could do the ride. And any tips on how to keep his heart rate down would be great.

Answer 1

I would slow down a bit

Getting his heart rate back down is very important ,,, Are you sure you went 20 m 's in 2 hours ?

Answer 2

i think you need some more practice in endurance. if you can't get his heart rate back down in i think 2 hours they can dq that is what i know from riding in some endurance races but good luck hope you do great

Answer 3

I can tell you how to keep his heart rate down. Slow your pace. When running full out his heart rate can easily reach 240 bpm and above and if he is healthy that rate should return to his resting rate of around 40 bpm in about 15 or 20 minutes. 120 bpm is on the high side for endurance but not too high to exhaust him if not maintained for long. You said your horse's heart rate was 120 to 140 beats per minute so you need to slow your speed until he is better conditioned and you should actual be using his heart rate to determine his best endurance speed, which I would say would be whatever speed does not exceed 105 bpm. As his conditioning improves so also will his speed while not exceeding the 105 bpm target. His resting heart rate should be around 40 bpm and you really should not exceed 3 times his resting rate during endurance, and that is 120 bpm on the high side but 105 bpm should be your goal to target the best endurance speed. I suppose you are wise enough to know that winning the endurance trial is not nearly as important as finishing the endurance with the horse unharmed and healthy. So I suggest you let your target speed be determined by whatever the maximum speed is that does not exceed 105 bpm and as his conditioning improves, like a cardio building program over time, you will notice the speed which does not exceed 105 bpm will also improve. I also suggest you use a heart rate monitor with a wireless transmitter and receiver during conditioning training and during the endurance trial and the "Polar Equine Easy" horse heart monitor is a good one. See it here:

http://www.heartmonitors.com/horse/polar...