Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

I love your positive attitude!  You found lots of enjoy in spite of your 
frustrations and that's as it should be!
	I'm putting two and two together and they may not add up to four but 
here's what I've thinking.  You mention that only one leg got rubbed and 
sore from the stirrup leather and that your horse is sore on his right 
front.  I know that I ride crooked due to a twist in my pelvis which 
puts my left hip behind my right.  It means that my right shin takes a 
beating from narrow stirrup leathers.  Fortunately, fenders disperse the 
pressure enough.  If you are also kind of crooked you may also be 
putting more weight in one stirrup than the other.  I put more weight in 
my right stirrup.  This may be contributing to your horse's sore right 
front.  If you are crooked, it is something you can work to correct and 
I can tell you than when you are straighter, your horse will be too. 
The two of you may get a few more enjoyable endurance miles as a result!
	Good luck!
Laney

Nina Vasiliev wrote:
> I had a blast!
>
> This is a 3 day, endurance & limited distance ride managed by Melissa 
> and Robert Ribley, and it is a first class ride.
>
> The weather was perfect!  Not too cold for the riders, not too hot for 
> the horses.  Ramere, my 13 year old arab really enjoyed the trail.   I 
> didn't start at the back as I used to do.  Ramere is pretty reasonable 
> now, so I started on time.  The multiday crowd started slowly with lots 
> of walking, so the start wasn't crazy.
>
> The trail was glorious, well marked, and pretty challenging.  The views 
> were tremendous.  When we were high enough, we could see the next ridge 
> line, then the one behind that, and on and on to the snow capped 
> Sierras.  When we had no view, we were surrounded by pines, cedars, lush 
> mountain vegetation, and wonderful mountain fragrance.  There was a lot 
> natural water on the trail as well as the troughs that Ride Management 
> placed out in just the right places.  The trails were moist loam, no 
> dust, and some rock thrown in for variety.
>
> Ramere was forward, but listened to me.  We walked down most of the down 
> hills, and walked up a lot of steep uphills.  In fact, there was a lot 
> of hill work.  But that slowed us down enough to enjoy the view and to 
> be able to chat with others.  I made new friends and will hope to see 
> them at Gold Country in July.
>
> The down side was that I used my new saddle on the first day and became 
> really sore.  The right stirrup leather rubbed my calf even though I 
> used a full length wool fleece cover.  I have a large bruise on my inner 
> calf.  Then also, my right knee just couldn't take the concussion.  
> Trotting was really painful.  And there were miles of trotting to do.  
> As long as we were trotting on truly level ground, I could post without 
> pain, but even any slight rise or fall, and my knee really hurt.  
> Curiously, walking on the ground didn't hurt my knee.  I think that the 
> wide endurance stirrups with the thick cushion had too much bounce for 
> me. I think I need the kind that I have on my old saddle, wide but a 
> firm thin pad.  For the 2nd day, I used my old saddle and half chaps 
> that I borrowed from Robin Everett.  (Thanks)  But my knee was really 
> shot and after the first 5 miles on day 2, I knew I couldn't ride a 
> third day.
>
> The real down side was that I think that Ramere is close to the end of 
> his endurance days.  We did 2 days of LD, a 30 and a 35.  Granted, we 
> were not in shape.  But he had girth trouble again.  I think I need to 
> call the chiropractor out, since he pops a rib out of alignment.  I also 
> think Ramere may not be able to tolerate the neoprene girth.  I ride 
> with a loose girth, but he was girthy.  One of the vets suggested using 
> a wool cover.  I was hesitant to use wool since it picks up burrs and 
> stickers, but once the vet mentioned that Ramere was girth sore, I 
> thought about the fact that Ramere is a chestnut and they sometimes have 
> more sensitive skin.  Maybe the wool will work out for him.  (I just 
> bought a 30 inch neoprene dressage girth with elastic on both sides. 
> Used it once…rats.)
>
> The other thing is that he is a bit sore on his right fore, which is the 
> one with the tiniest bit of arthritis in his fetlock.  Ramere was put in 
> pads and egg bars on the front last year when the arthritis was found.  
> And he is on injectable glucosamine.  He moved out really well and I did 
> a 30 miler on him a month later, and he was in fine shape.  Yet, this 
> year at WW on day 2, I could tell he wasn't completely himself...We got 
> a completion, but the vet was glad that I had decided not to ride the 
> third day.  She didn't think he could go another 25.  (BTW, the vets 
> were fabulous.  I really enjoyed how personable they were, as well as 
> their insight.  This is such a great ride!)
>
> So, I'll get him wool, call the chiropractor, rest him up for a bit, 
> then train again.  We'll try the Gold Country 30 in 5 weeks.  If he 
> looks good after that ride, then we'll continue with a few LDs.  
> Otherwise, he may just become my great trail and riding horse.
>
> Sigh...
>
> Nina Vasiliev  (Thinking of going down stairs backwards for a while)
>
> PS  And as usual, Endurance riders are the best… When I needed help with 
> my sore leg, Robin loaned me half chaps.  Peggy Eaton walked all over 
> camp after the first day, looking for me to give me a handful of 
> Tylenol, since I had forgotten to bring my own, (and I can’t tolerate 
> Advil.)  My truck wouldn’t start, so Bob Eaton hiked over and figured 
> out that it was my battery, then Robin loaned me cables, and the 
> photographer, (I don’t know his name,) drove over saplings and rocks to 
> get his truck close enough to mine for he and Bob to jump start my 
> battery…Not  bad for a non-mechanically inclined woman with a car that 
> won’t start and no cell coverage to call AAA or her husband.
>
> Yeah, not a bad weekend at all...
>
>
>
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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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