Conditioning Ride 12-8-2011

HR 30

HRR 65

HR1Min 49

HR5Min 54 (he shook, so it's not really a creditable reading)

HR10Min 43

Distance: 7.9 miles

Avg Spd: 5.5 mph

Total Time: 1 hour, 38 minutes

I took Hoss and the boys down to the Steel Bridge for this ride. Earlier in the week, I took Mac to a different vet as he was still just as lame he'd been a week earlier. He was diagnosed with a nail bed infection and put on antibiotics. He was sound in three days. Hoss and I would be leaving for the Coso Junction Warmup ride that weekend, so I decided I needed to get the boys well exercised before we left.

DC was not happy when we pulled out with the only other horse she had for company. Hoss hasn't been very nice to her, but I suppose he's better than nobody. She trotted around and paced a bit, but it wasn't frantic. It was a good sign she'd be okay when we left for the weekend.

It was an overcast but not overly cold day. The boys were excited to be getting out – it had been a while – and I had a hard time keeping them from greeting every other person using the area that afternoon.
We needed to make the ride pretty quick, as we got a late start and I didn't want to be on the trail in the dark. Once again it was hoof boots only, still hadn't found the hind interference boots. We were days away from the ride, so I had called Griffin's Tack to order a pair. It turned out he would be at the ride, so I decided I'd just pick them up there.

We got a good clip going shortly after hitting the trail. As yet, most of the seasonal stream areas are still dry. It will take a little more rain than we've gotten to get them flowing again.

Once we hit the long road, I urged Hoss into a swift trot, trying to keep him at 7mph. It's hard to keep an eye on the "odometer," as the GPS hangs off the side of saddle and is very difficult to see. I had to go more by feel than by the numbers, but the few times I managed to sneak a peak, he was doing pretty well at keeping his speed up.

After crossing the cowboy gate we continued at a trot. I elected not to ride to the gazebo, fearing it would cause us to be back too close to or after dark. So we took a short cut trail up the hillside. I kept Hoss trotting for the conditioning effect. He really would rather have walked, but I was able to keep him moving out. Some of the turns on this trail are tough to negotiate, but Hoss needs to learn to deal with this kind of thing without having to slow down first!

At the top we made the left turn back down. Hoss knew we were headed for home and picked up the pace just a little bit. One of the things I like about this horse is he doesn't change pace particularly. He doesn't tend to lag on the way out and rush on the way back. He's pretty consistent. It's what makes him a long-mileage endurance horse. The slow-but-consistent thing will allow him to have a long career with a lot of miles. He may always finish toward the back of the pack, but he'll finish in good shape.

We crossed the cowboy gate back onto the long road and picked up a good trot. The large puddles could be a problem. Once, while crossing a puddle, Hoss had sunk all the way to his knees. So now he's a little more wary. At least that wariness seems to only apply to this particular riding area. He does just fine in other places, although there is a spot at Hollenbeck he's not fond of but has figured out how to negotiate okay. With this area, at the Steel Bridge, the wet areas are inconsistent. In the summer it'll be dry and no problem at all. Come winter, it's a problem. The spot at Hollenbeck is year 'round, so he's not as bothered by it. But when we're trotting or cantering on the long road at Steel Bridge, he gets nervous coming up to the areas where water as accumulated. I try to slow him to a walk before he thinks to do it himself, and direct him through the best part. Of course, I've put him in a bad spot in the past, so he's not entirely sure he can trust me on that one!

Back at the river crossing, Hoss stepped right in – carefully, of course; he knows there are rocks and other debris that cannot be predicted from ride to ride – and crossed without hesitation. His eagerness was quickly explained. Once we got on the gray road, he was a coiled spring. The horse wanted to run!
I glanced back to make sure the boys were with us, then let Hoss take off at a flying gallop (17mph; not exactly a racehorse here). We had a fabulous run most of the way to the turn back to the bridge, only slowing for the downhills.

We crossed the bridge and trotted back to and most of the way through the meadow. Once back at the trailer and collecting my data, I was very pleased to find we'd averaged 5.5mph. I do believe that is the fastest we have ever average at the Steel Bridge!