Conditioning Ride 12-22-2011

HR: 36

HRR: 81

HR 1 Min: 61

HR 5 Min: 50

HR 10 Min: 44

Distance: 6.62

Avg Spd: 5.4 mph

Time: 1 hr, 17 min

I took Hoss and the boys to the Steel Bridge in anticipation of a reasonably long ride. We got out there early afternoon.

I used the Easyboot Edges on Hoss's front feet, as he's really due for a bit of a trim and the Gloves probably wouldn't have gone on, at least not well. Once the boots were all placed, I started saddling up and working on getting the HRM working. I've run out of the EKG gel that came with the HRM, so I am now using aloe gel, which is suggested as being a good alternative. But when I got the electrodes placed with the aloe gel, the watch was not getting a signal. I suppose it's possible it's because he's shedding, so it's harder to get the gel in contact with his skin so the electrodes can pick up his heart rate.

I decided to just get riding and see if the watch would start picking up a signal once Hoss started sweating up. It worked. Within a few minutes, he had sweated enough for the electrodes to make good contact and I was getting a heart rate reading.

We kept up a good trot through the meadow and on much of the trail alongside the river. We crossed the dry seasonal streams, and trotted up the switchbacks. I had to push to keep him going. He's used to going pretty slow through here, but I feel we've reached that point at which he's going to have to work harder much more regularly. And, since he's in boots, his soles are better protected and it's safe to trot over some pretty rocky stuff. It's only the "rolly" rocks we have to be careful of.

We kept up an aggressive trot toward the cowboy gate, pausing to walk past the boggy water that collects 
on the road. Hoss kept wanting to walk through the middle of these areas, sometimes even wanting to step into the water. Which is how he ended up sinking up to his knees once. So I had to put plenty of pressure on him to keep him in the "safe" areas.

Several times I stopped Hoss and we worked on what we'd learned In our previous week's lesson. We didn't get it perfect, but we got it pretty good a couple of times.

Halfway along the road, I heard the sound of coyotes calling. A lot of coyotes calling. Having lost a dog in this area to coyotes once upon a time, I was not feeling good about taking the boys into that area. I also don't have bells on the dogs, and only have one remote control shock collar. I decided we'd call it and turn around.

We trotted on back to the river crossing. Once across, Hoss was pulling eagerly to get to the grey road and take off. Once I got him straightened out on the road, I moved him in to a canter and we had a nice long run.
Before we got to the bridge back over the river, we spent a little more time on our lesson. Once I got him to do the turn in either direction relatively softly, we continued on our way.

We crossed the bridge, and Hoss was still feeling pretty perky. I decided we go ahead and come in "hot" so I could see how he would recover. It was a short ride, so doesn't really give me an idea how he'd do if he came in hot to a vet check at most rides, but it was kinda fun to see.

His heart rate did come down quickly. Within a minute, after coming in at 81, he was at 61. At five minutes, he was at 50. I take this as a very good sign for our future rides in which we'll have three vet checks and criteria set at 56.