Back in the Saddle

Conditioning Ride 9-11-2010


RHR: 36


HR on Return: 60


HR at 10 min: 48


Distance: 10.5 miles


Average Speed: 5mph


Time: 2 hours 20 minutes


After being unable to ride for more than a week, I finally made it out today! Between the Cowboy fire and a nasty skin infection on the top of my left foot, I've been pretty much sidelined for a week. For a couple of days, I couldn't even put on a shoe! It's still pretty sore, but it's tolerable. I was able to work yesterday (Friday), which was a good thing. During my ride today, I did notice that it hurt, but it would sort of come and go.


As has been mentioned previously, I was unhappy with how Hoss was going in the shoes I'd had him in. He was slow, unsure, and his strides were getting shorter as the shoeing cycle progressed. So I went ahead and re-shod him and my other two a week early. I had ordered a new set of Billy Crothers shoes with clips that are wider than the ones I'd been using. This is meant to be a best of both worlds sort of thing. All the traction, plus width to help keep Hoss's feet on top of the ground. Well, I didn't notice when I first got the shipment (my assistant opened it, so I wasn't checking), but the hinds I'd ordered for Hoss are apparently on back order! Of course, the website says closeout, so I don't know if I'll ever be able to get a pair. I ended up putting the wider fronts and the regular hinds on him.


After I saddled up and headed Hoss across the bridge, it dawned on me that he was striding out much more surely than he had been in previous weeks. Already this seemed like an improvement! His trot started to feel smoother and more regular as we went along. Going over rock faces, he didn't slip around. When he hit the first area where he'd been having difficulty, he slowed way down and took it very carefully. It will be very interesting to see how he feels about it the next time we ride there. It was pretty clear he figured out that his life was better!


I pushed pretty hard on this ride. I would have liked to get a higher average, but that didn't happen. Still, I got him cantering up a few short, steep hills to help with his conditioning. He hates it when I want him to canter uphill! That's probably the hardest thing he has to do. It's important because it helps build his cardiopulmonary quickly, and at rides he will get "pulled" by other horses up hills  that he would otherwise not take so fast. Being "pulled" means he's following another horse that is moving faster than he is, and he instinctively works harder to keep up. In an effort to prepare him for this happening in rides, I try to push him up hills that he would typically prefer to walk up.


This was another day that I didn't use a bit. Hoss had been in the pasture for over a week, a condition under which I would normally not take the chance of riding him bitless. Especially since my control is strictly his halter without the bit. But, he was so awesome coming out of the trailer, and was so calm, I decided it was worth it. And wow, was it ever a good ride! I think he really likes not having a bit, and is on his best behavior when I let him go without. I really am going to have to invest in a horse-sized S-hack and extra bit hangers. This is the horse I want to ride!


Once again, he was slow on this ride. And that's partially due to the terrain. Still, he *could* do this faster. He's a very slow walker, which is a little aggravating. That just means he's going to have to learn to trot over more varied terrain. So from now on, I will be encouraging/forcing the trot on every surface imaginable, only slowing him when it's clear that the risks of trotting are too high. This will be my new approach. I recall at one of my early rides, a horse/rider team that finished in third place. They left camp last, half an hour after the start of the ride. They trotted pretty much every step of the way. They weren't even trotting particularly fast. Now, that's the way to get it done!