Stats:
Trail Ride #2
Location: Cougar, WA
Distance: 6.8 miles
Elevation: 332 feet
Ride Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes
Horses: Rode Zorro, ponied Vinnie
Write-Up
Today’s ride was 6.8 miles with 332 ft of elevation. That may not sound like much, especially if I told you that it took us an hour and forty-five minutes to do it. However, it’s small rides like this that add up to 25’s, 50’s, and longer distances over time. I’ve learned that when it comes to endurance, consistency has been much more rewarding than quantity.
When I first started doing endurance, I lived in Southwest Idaho and was told that in order to condition my horse, I needed to be doing 20-30 miles of riding each week. In addition, at least one of those rides needed to include elevation. That advice got me a good solid start in endurance and my horse at the time successfully completed a few LD’s and a 50’s our first year.
Now I live in western Washington – and the idea of riding that many miles per week is, in a word, impossible. For starters, where I once struggled to find elevation to condition, it’s hard to find anything without elevation. Unless I’m riding in an arena, my flattest rides usually have around 500 feet of climbing. Our longer rides on logging roads will easily measure 1,500-2,500 feet of elevation. And of course, what goes up must come down – and we don’t trot downhill. All this elevation significantly slows down the majority of our rides.
However, somehow my horses have managed to be endurance-fit despite only being ridden 8-15 miles per week. The key is that they are getting ridden, and ridden in a calculated way. I cannot overstate the huge benefits of walking, especially on this kind of elevation. For every mile we do on the trails in this area, our horses are getting double the workout that my first endurance horse would get on our flat, fast rides in Idaho.
Realizing this has also been important to my own mental health and enjoying the journey rather than just the goal. In the past, I’ve chased miles for the sake of making sure my horse is in shape for the endurance ride. However, “getting in” the miles often became a chore – riding was more about checking off a distance goal than it was about actually enjoying my time with my horse. Taking a step back and just enjoying the ride, no matter how far or how fast (or slow) it might be has renewed my love of just taking time with my horse.
Of course, this is endurance after all, and horses need a change to condition as well. I’ve found that as long as I’m riding consistently and strategically choosing rides that will challenge my horse and I, it does seem to work out and my horses feel good and finish strong at competitions. It’s important to note that I’m not riding for top 10 and I’m strategically choosing rides, distances, and a speed that I feel is fair to my horse.
So, today’s ride was relatively short and relatively slow. We did a lot of walking, and a lot of slow jogging, and a lot of transitions in between because that’s what their brains needed. I asked Zorro to lower his head as I’m encouraging him to develop correct movement. And I enjoyed some rare blue skies in January with a good friend. My soul was filled, and I look forward to many more miles, both on casual rides like these and knowing I’ll be able to confidently ride for completions when the competition season starts.