I always use a 16km training ride as a test before I enter a 40km. It’s more for my peace of mind than anything. I use it as a baseline throughout training to compare to and it gives me confidence seeing the improvements. Estrid did her first one of the year and breezed it. I focused on how she was feeling, how she coped with changes in terrain, the speed she could maintain, the percentages and ratios of walk, trot and canter. It’s nothing different from an ordinary training ride really, other than I really think about how it went and what that means, comparing it to past attempts.
Estrid is ready for a 40km physically. But I’m still not sure if she’s ready for vettings mentally. She’s still pretty hyped and shaky when we go to new venues, her eyes are out on stalks, her breathing is shallow and rapid. She does nothing wrong, she’ll stand still for a mock vetting. She’s easy to handle and as soon as you’re on board she’s good as gold and ready to go on an adventure. I’m just not sure we’d be able to keep her calm enough to get her heart rate within the required parameters.
We have a social ride lined up to put this to the test with a before and after ‘fake’ vetting, my personal parameters are that she completes between 9-12kph and has a heart rate below 60bpm within 5 minutes of untacking, and then hopefully we’ll be off to our first 40km before we know it.
Beth Endurance 