Conditioning Ride 9-15-2011

HRR: 64

HR10Min: 44

Distance: 11.2 miles

Avg Spd: 5 mph

Time: 2 hours, 20 min

I took Hoss down to the steel bridge for this ride. Having had Team Fluffy out running twice with the mountain bike and once with Hoss at home, I elected to leave them home. They were so wore down when I got up to get dressed early in the morning, only eyeballs moved. I think it was the first day I ever went to the bathroom without an entourage of dogs. Even when I changed into riding clothes, the dogs didn't reach their usual level of excitement.

We arrived at the bridge fairly late in the day, so I wasn't able to do my usual parking. I had to get a little creative. I backed down and pulled up alongside the highway. Hoss was clearly a little confused. It took a few minutes for him to come on out of the trailer, thinking I couldn't possibly be done parking.

I put Hoss's front boots on. His hind shoes are still on from Big Bear. I've decided to leave them until I get the right size hind boots to try. That way I can go ahead and ride at places like the steel bridge trails. I have ordered the boots, but of course I can't be sure when exactly they'll arrive.

Because he was so slow at Big Bear, I've decided I need to work on getting Hoss's speed up. I know he can trot fast, damn fast. He's kept up with other horses trotting at up to ten miles per hour. He can do this. So my goal is to get him trotting eight miles an hour by himself. In addition, we need to get faster on the hills. Hills are a fact of life, and he needs to get used to the idea that he'll have to do them at a faster pace than he really wants to.

We picked up the trot fairly early on and head on up to the steep trail to the power line access roads. Hoss trotted willingly enough, and I made sure to praise him when his speed was where I wanted it. Once we hit the steepest part of the uphill climb, I did let him slow to a walk. We got to the top of the ridge and started down the other side. Sticking with the speed him up protocol, I kept him trotting on the majority of the trail, even on the downhills. There were places I had to slow him down because I wasn't sure where the trail went.

When we hit the power line access road, Hoss was clearly feeling pretty good. I asked him for speed up the hill, and he launched into a canter. Once we topped the hill, we trotted as much as we could until the downhill side got too steep.

The next hill is a real booger. It's steep and rocky. I pushed Hoss into a trot, and really got quite a bit of fight about it. In the past we've walked this hill, so he thinks he should get to walk it every time. Halfway up, the hill gets less intense, and he cantered up the rest of way reasonably willingly.

When we turned on to the single track, Hoss was definitely feeling more willing. It took less "ask" to get him to take up the trot. Sometimes I didn't need to ask him at all. When we got to where we could turn toward the trailer or continue on, he tried to turn back toward the trailer. I told him no, and after a brief moment of irritation he headed the way I wanted to go. He had plenty of energy, and really did want to go, even if he thought he wanted to be done.

Every stretch of trottable trail we used. He went along willingly, and mostly kept to a good rate. When we got to the flat road, we picked up a good trot. He would slow down, but I would urge him faster. It didn't take much for him to recognize what I wanted. He really does respond to praise. The more I told him he was doing right, the more time he spent at a higher speed.

There really are coyotes on the road

After crossing the cowboy gate, the trails are more technical and harder to keep a good speed on. I did keep him trotting, but I did let him go a little slower. When he got up to speeds I really wanted, though, I praised him. At the bottom of the hill up to the gazebo, I saw a group of coyotes beyond the fence. I stopped Hoss so I could get a picture. He took the opportunity to pee, which made him more willing to move on. I know I don't like to work if I need to pee!

The reservoir with the sun from behind the clouds.  Purty

We walked up the hill to the gazebo, paused for a minute or so, and continued on our way. Hoss kept up a good trot, only slowing where necessary to negotiate rocks. He picked up the canter to head up the access road. I had to push him to the side so he didn't step on the rattlesnake sunning on the side of the road. I figured there was no reason to stop for a snake sprawled across the road. If we could get by without it ever realizing we were there, that's all to the good.

The gazebo and beyond

Once we topped the hill, we walked down the hill back toward the cowboy gate. We crossed the cowboy gate back and picked up the trot. I might sometimes have gotten up to a canter, but I wanted to work on keeping up the trot speed. So we trotted along, and I kept him up to between seven and eight miles per hour.

At the river crossing, I stopped to give Hoss a chance for a drink. He was in a full body sweat – humid and hot day – and I was planning to swim laps at the YMCA before we went home. He didn't really show much interest in a drink. I figured he'd be fine for the extra time in the trail with some hay, so I didn't stress about it.

Once across the river, we took a good canter. We cantered up the hills and trotted down most of the hills until we got to the bridge. We crossed the bridge and picked up the trot again, all the way to the last quarter mile or so. We walked in from there, and I felt we had a very good ride. At a 5mph average, it was definitely not something to complain about. The goal will be to get him to where he can do that ride averaging 6mph.