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Re: [RC] trail riding help - A. PerezEven if a horse is being ridden for the same amount of time or distance in the ring and on the trail, the trail ride may be more strenuous for a variety of reasons: 1. speed: is he having to move fater to keep up with other horses on the trail? Are you spending more time trotting or cantering on the trail than at home? 2. Terrain: hills vs flat, muddy vs dry, sandy vs hard, all make for a tougher ride and can lead to strain. If the footing is substantially different, cut back! 3. Excitement: new places, riding with new horses, camping out - all add to the adrenaline rush, which can add to the strain. My advice is, whenever doing anything substantially 'new'(new tack, new terrain, new location) with a horse (especially a youngster), do it for SIGNIFICANLY less time/distance at first than your 'usual' rides. If you usually ride for a half hour in the ring, when you do a 'new' ride, do only half an hour the first few times. If you trot half of your ring rides, only trot a quarter when doing the 'new' ride. Build up slowly, as the 'new' ride becomes more familiar. I'd also ride every other day, with a day off in between, on a 3 year old. good luck! ________________________________________________ Get your own "800" number Voicemail, fax, email, and a lot more http://www.ureach.com/reg/tag =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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