>>> K...if you ride your horse a few days during the week...long slow >>> rides, you could easily do a CTR ride on the weekend. Granted...not >>> endurance, but still a fun ride.
IF I wanted to do a CTR. But, I don't want to and I've said that many times, so I'm not sure why you're addressing that to me. But, now that I think about it, maybe that was an attempt to answer to my question about how you and others avoid Weekend Warrior Syndrome. Just bear in mind that avoiding Weekend Warrior Syndrome isn't always about competing. That's why I'm not sure what you're talking about - competing isn't on our radar screen, and it won't ever be. Many people have work/personal schedules (at least sometimes) that prevent them from taking "a few long rides" during the week. I have some freedom to ride during the week NOW, but most of my adult life, I have had practically no time during the week, especially during the short-daylight months. Cary has had no spare time to ride until the past three weekends, not since about Christmas, and even now, he's restricted to weekends. With daylight savings time coming up, he MIGHT have some weekday times, but probably not much for a while since his work is expanding again. (His work has been more normal tempo for the past two years, until the past couple of months when it became very hectic again.) I suspect there are a lot of Cary's out there... I know there are books out there on the topic of conditioning for distance rides, but I hoped a few of you (Raven, Susan...) would share their schedules and experiences. I seem to have picked up some flavor of how Nancy approaches her training/conditioning of Hunter, even though I don't remember her posting directly to that subject. It sounds like Nancy rides some all year, with no extended layoff? Raven, haven't you said that you and Huginn don't ride at all during the winter? Cary hasn't ridden much, but Skjoni hasn't had a complete layoff. How do you bring Huginn back to fitness after several months off? Karen Thomas, NC
