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Re: [RC] Tevis trail accident - Chris PausI agree. There are lots of ways to simulate what our horses need to know. I'm working with a 4Yo mare now to prepare her for competition. Lots of people have asked me why I'm not competing on her yet. The answer is, she's not ready. She could do it physically, but mentally she needs some more experiences and more growing up. I've been doing things such as taking her to charity nose to tail trail rides, lots of solo work on trails, riding around the neighborhood with barky dogs, bridges, other scary stuff. She had a little bit of trouble with a big (150 riders) charity ride last weekend which showed me some of the things we need to work on. Yesterday I took her on a 4th of July parade. Now there's a way to get a horse used to noise, sights, being bumped, etc. It was a good starter for her because it was an "all horse" parade.. no marching bands, no fire trucks with sirens, etc. She had to go quietly behind other horses for more than an hour on city streets and even a highway. We had a police escort so it was pretty safe. I took her pasture mate along with my grandson aboard him. She saw wagons, mules, jingly harnesses, her reflection in store windows. There were firecrackers, motorcycles and bridges. She did quite well with it. I'm sure that experience can only help her deal with the things she'll see and hear at a CTR or endurance venue. We've practiced camping out twice now, once in a sturdy metal pen and once tied to the trailer overnight. She's ridden in rainy weather, heat, and snow. She stands still for the vet. I am trying to think of everything that will help her deal with it. I have another competition horse so I don't have to hurry her along. It's a nice luxury to be able to take the time to fully train a horse for this sport. Maybe it's not a luxury. Maybe it's a necessity. My competition gelding, Star, got thrown into the fray too soon. He was old enough, but had been a pasture potatoe and needed to relearn a lot. I competed on him too soon and paid the price in high heart rates, bad behavior, etc. Now, after 7 years, he's a real trooper and knows his job, but I think had I spent a good year preparing him, he would have been a good trail horse much sooner in the game. chris --- Ericka Nelson <love2ridenv@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: Amen, Heidi. ----- Original Message ----- From: <heidi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <lif@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Cc: <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Monday, July 05, 2004 5:30 PM Subject: Re: [RC] Tevis trail accident ===== "A good horse makes short miles," George Eliot Chris and Star BayRab Acres http://pages.prodigy.net/paus =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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