conditioning

[Deanna German <dgerman@earthlink.net>]

>I am curious what everyone has as far as trails for daily conditioning
>rides. Can you ride from where your horse lives direct to trails? Do
you
>have to trailer to go trail riding? Do you have to ride along roads to
get
>to trails?

Hey John,

I board at a place that has direct access to around 40 or so miles (I
think more) of trails that meander through a wooded state park around a
reservoir. 6 months of the year, the trails have a layer of slick SNOT
(OK, it's mud) on them, 3 months they're hard-packed like concrete, 2
months they're in transition so they're OK, and one month they're
covered with 4 to 8 inches of snow and are PERFECT! (Guess who's riding
as much as I can right now?) I'm not a weather wuss (and neither is my
horse), so I bundle up, saddle up, throw the rump rug on Salina and
cruise! Salina's barefoot right now and much more sure footed than when
I had her shod with flat steel shoes, and since the gullies don't have
water in them, she doesn't freak out and get all buggy eyed. (Hey, she
hasn't even passed the year mark under saddle, so give her a break. And,
yes, we mostly walk right now.)

Lots of up and down, varied terrain. Not many rocks, but lots of tree
roots to trip over. I like it!

Yes, heaven is being on the trails in the snow!

Deanna (Ohio)