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[RC] Conditioning Ride Learning Experience - Val Nicoson

Learned this past weekend that I had been conditioning
my mare at a harder pace than is proper for her.  Have
been riding with some other endurance people and the
pace has usually been some decently fast riding...but
I thought this was normal and didn't think much about
it.  
Past conditioning rides resulted in my horse not
really eating too well once we were done...and she
didn't eat too well along the trail either when an
oppotunity was presented.  She'd eat her BP mash  but
not always finish it, nibbling at her hay and of
course eating grass was never an issue.  Drinking is
still something she needs to get better at though.
This past weekend we had other riders with us that
wanted to go more slowly.  So we split up and I opted
to go with the slower group since my horse was a bit
tenderfooted from her latest trim.  We stopped
occasionally along the trail and my horse ate and even
pee'd.  Later she willingly stopped along the trail on
her own and ate grasses...I certainly wasn't going to
stop her right away.  She did eventually drink about
the 10 mile point but refused prior to that.  
Back at the trailer she really surprised me...she ate
all her BP, worked well on her hay...not just
nibbling, and of course ate grass.  Hooray!
So if you're a newbie like I am...or not...I am hoping
this will help others out there in RideCamp land. 
Slow down and see if your horse improves in the way it
takes care of itself...and use that as your basic
guideline initially to determine how fast you ought to
be going on your horse.
I am guessing that as I get more of a base on my horse
that eventually we will be able to pick up the base. 
But I'm not too worried about that at this point. 
Val + Sania
(Looking at doing our first LD ride at Ft Campbell KY
if nothing happens between now and then)



               
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