Hi Lida,

First, WELCOME! It is always nice to "see" new faces, both here and on the
trail. We all hope you enjoy and have fun in our sport since we all love it so
much ourselves.

Following up on Sharon's, Elizabeth's and Maryben's comments about gear, you
ABSOLUTELY DO NOT NEED to go out and buy a bunch of new stuff. Condition in the
gear you have now. After you've done several 5-7 hr conditioning rides (mostly
at the walk - you are going for the time out, not miles or speed), you will have
a very good handle on what MUST be replaced and what works just fine.

As for heart monitors, I use just a stethoscope and prefer them. They don't
need batteries, are always right, and are inexpensive. I know only two reasons
to use a heart monitor. 1) If you are hard of hearing and 2) To keep track of
your horse's heart rate coming into a vet check so you know how far out to drop
to a walk. Those who use a monitor to "see" when the pulse gets "too high" are,
in my opinion, just getting in their own way. The high rates can scare them
into dropping back too soon (during conditioning) and they learn to depend on
them too much. As Sharon said, it is far more important to listen to and pay
attention to your horse... and once you acquire the skill, you don't need a
heart monitor to tell you when your horse needs to slow down. I was on a trail
ride with some friends when one of them started voicing concern about her heart
monitor's readings. They were erratic but she couldn't tell anything from them.
I got off and used my stethoscope on her horse and discovered that it's pulse
was very irregular and the heart was missing a lot of beats, far more useful
than a bunch of numbers all over the place.

So hold off on buying "stuff" till you've ridden enough conditioning miles to
KNOW that you need something other than what you already have. And especially
don't worry about clothing. Whatever you condition in is fine for the rides.
In fact, it is BETTER to ride in what you use at home to condition because you
know that it will work for you. If you are comfortable in some beat up old
sweats, don't get a fancy, schmancy new pair of riding tights and riding undies
for competition only to discover 15 miles out that they rub the crap out of the
back of your knee, or the crotch holds sweat and rubs your privates raw. If you
must buy new riding pants, be sure to test them on one of the aforementioned
LONG conditioning rides before you take them out on the road :)

And remember the old maxim. NEVER change any of your gear the day of a ride.
That one little mistake has cost hundreds of riders and horses untold misery.

--
Diane Trefethen
AERC #2691
West Region