HR: 36
HRR: 68
HR 10 Min: 48
Miles: 5.4
Moving Average: 5.6 mph
Time: 57 min
I was surprised this wasn't a faster average! It sure felt like we were going at a better clip than 5.6 mph. Still, what a cool ride.
We ended up not having a whole lot of time to squeeze in a ride. I had an appointment to keep at 2pm, and we didn't hit the trail until a little after noon. I wanted to get a good fast ride in anyway, but I usually feel vaguely disappointed after rides this short. This was not one of those times.
It was a very hot day. I think temperatures at the house were near 100. I was using the air conditioning at the house! This, I figured, was a real challenge for a horse in full winter coat – even with a trace clip, Hoss has a coat to keep a yak warm -- and three black dogs.
We hit the trail at a good clip, Hoss wanting to move out right away. I had to keep him checked to get that half mile warm up in. Once we were out on the trail, I let him pick up the trot.
Going through one of the rocky dips, Hoss got a foot hung up. He started going down, scrambling to keep his feet under him. I fell forward, caught myself on his neck with my hands, and tried to keep myself upright and out of his way so he could get back up. For several very scary seconds, he continued to scramble. Just about the moment I thought there was no recovering, and started looking for a place to land, he managed to get his feet under him. Once he was back on all four, he headed right back out at a trot. I had to haul him to a halt to check him over. Despite scrapes on the fronts of both front hooves, and some marks in the hair on his legs, he was unharmed.
After making him walk a little to make sure he wasn't hurt, I let Hoss pick up the trot again. During the rest of our ride, he never showed any sign of being lame. We wended our way along, turning down the switch backs rather than going on up to the long hill. When we hit the flat, I let Hoss take up the canter. We cantered along, only slowing for technical areas, all the way past the old cattle corrals. I even let him take the near 90 degree turn at a canter.
Once back at the trailer, Hoss was quite sweaty and breathing hard. I took his heart rate right away and wasn't overly surprised to find him at 68 between the heat and speed we'd done. I got him untacked and started filling a bucket to sponge him off with. Another rider, who had returned before me, asked if I had water to spare. Her 28 year old horse wasn't recovering well from the ride. I filled her bucket and gave her a sponge to cool her horse with. Once she sponged him, her horse's heart rate came right down.
Hoss, too, was having a hard time recovering. He was still breathing hard when I started sponging him. I got plenty of cool water on him before I checked his heart rate again at ten minutes. The cool water was the trick. He'd come down to a very nice 48 at ten minutes.
It was a bit of an adventure, but a nice ride nevertheless.
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