Maintain this during week eight, and ride another fifteen mile r in three hours at the end of the week, trotting about half of the distance at various intervals. By week nine, your horse should be able to trot the whole six mile loop with his heart rate returning to less than sixty beats per minute within ten minutes . Two weeks before the ride, I do a twenty miler in three hours and fifteen minutes to three hours and a half. Back your horse off during the last two weeks, riding three or four days a week with enough trotting to maintain condition. Like I've mentioned before, not all horses train the same, and you will need to adjust your horse's training schedule to suit him.
Some horses do quite well with a short, lighter ride one day a week.
After you have a couple of twenty-five mile competitive rides on him, remember to back off this schedule somewhat. Mixing it with applesauce and dosing with a 60cc syringe orally is a good method. A good rule of thumb is one ounce for every ten miles traveled, providing he is drinking. Be sure and get him used to drinki ng on the trail out of lakes, puddles and buckets during training. To use this card, you need to set your watch at twelve o'clock or use a stopwatch that counts down hours.