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[RC] Mentoring Thoughts - Val Nicoson

Am still a newbie myself and would like to relate my
experiences with a mentor and riding a few LD rides
this past year.
Have ridden my mentor's experienced horse in training/
conditioning rides while she rode her inexperienced
horse.  My own horse was on pasture rest throughout
2003 due to a ligament sprain/injury.  So this
experienced horse and I had come to a decent
understanding of each other.
My first two LDs were on this horse and it was quite a
blast.  My body was definitely wondering why I would
want to abuse it in such a manner.  I am certainly no
spring chicken either!  OK, so we completed these two
rides in fine shape and I survived.  The pacing was
8-10 MPH on average.
Then we swapped horses and I had an opportunity to go
out on the younger horse.  The first ride was a
25-mile CTR and a group of us went out together.  At
the VC it was noted the horse was tight in his
hamstrings and we were given instructions to massage
out the tightness.  Upon doing so, and noting the
horse's responses and consulting with my mentor, we
did a RO pull.  Granted...we could certainly have
continued on but the first RO pull for this rider was
hard but felt it had to be done.  It is not easy as a
newbie to do that first RO pull as you wonder if you
did or did not do the right thing.  For us we did the
right thing and it really felt good.  Newbies:  That
horse really must come above all else and in so doing
that pull will not feel like a failure but rather a
good learning experience along the way :-)
The next opportunity to ride the younger horse we met
another rider (who was experienced it turned out) who
wanted to go slow...and thus we teamed up.  It was a
great experience!  The pace ended up being about 7
MPH.  I could not believe the difference in the pacing
and did I say it was a great learning experience. 
Different people can help you understand different
aspects of this sport.

All I'm saying I guess is that the experience of
riding an experienced horse who enjoyed being up
front, and then slowing down and doing a good ride on
another but younger horse, really made me "see" the
difference in pacing.  This is not something I could
have ever learned without having experienced it first
hand.  Not only that but my body enjoyed the slower
pace and I found it just as enjoyable as going faster,
perhaps a little nicer even going a wee bit slower.  

I'll quit rattling on for now...am hoping someone will
find good information in all this.



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REAL endurance is sleeping in the tack compartment of your trailer w/the
door open, and your horse snorts/snots on your forehead every 30 min!
~ Heidi Sowards

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