Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Hello Juli,
I don't know if this will work for you but this is what I did with Indy
(now retired at 22), my version of your Alpine. Indy was (still is) an
adrenalin junkie. Once he got going and sweating and breathing hard he
was no longer a group horse (brain explodes like you said). If I was
taking other riders from my stable out with me I would tell them that at
some point Indy might turn into a monster and they would have to finish
the ride without me because he and I were going to get some exercise.
After a year or so of leaving the group and working the hills for 2-4
hours then coming home Indy learned that a leisurely walk could be okay.
Every now and then he would lose it but many times I heard "Is that
Indy? Did you trank that boy or what?" I think for Indy that going
hard and fast was actually a treat. Often times after a slow group ride
and a few beers for me back at the stable (electrolytes ya know) I would
take him back out and he would just blast along with sheer exuberance and
living up to his name....Indy....like a sports car. Indy and I were not a
good team at endurance because he was just too hot, I was too old to keep
up with him and fighting him to moderate his speed just beat both of us
up. I still ride him every 3-4 months and he is still a complete
gentleman until I lean forward and whisper his favorite words "let's
go" then it's "adrenalin time" which he and I can still
manage for about 60 minutes. It requires careful advance mental trail
planing to arrive back home in one piece but what a thrill or is it
fright? I certainly failed to get Indy to use his incredible energy well
but he is barefoot, sound and happy playing with his buddies. I hope you
and Alpine can work it out but my little story is just a reminder that
not all horse and rider teams are good at endurance. Some teams are just
because you love them.
Don Huston

At 12:24 PM 6/3/2007 Sunday, you wrote:
> I spend 99% of my
> time riding by myself.  Alpine knows the ropes.  You walk when
> mom says walk, trot when she says trot, and try not to kill her if you
> decide to spook when going at high speeds.  Above all, make sure if
> you do dump mom, you don?t do it on the snake you are spooking at. 
> Or the stray Emu that lives in my forest. 
>  
> Anyway, my neighbor wanted to go riding with me today.  I jumped on
> it?I miss having company.  She has a 4 year old Arab cross that is
> really very cute, and has a nice sensible attitude.  So, due to the
> neighbors horses age, we figured it would be a slow ride.  We did
> about 12 miles, mostly walking, a little bit of trotting, and had a nice
> ride.  Right up until the last mile home, when Alpine decided he
> hadn?t been exercised enough, and he wanted to jig all the way
> home.  Now, jigging is absolutely not allowed?.even if he does paso
> jig and it is really quite comfortable.  We walk home. 
> Always.  No exceptions.  So, it took us 30 minutes to walk less
> than a mile, because every time Alpine went faster than a walk, he was
> asked to flex and stop.  He was bratty, obnoxious, and not fun to
> ride for that last mile.  I am proud of myself for NOT getting mad,
> and staying patient.  I had to work at it.  
>  
> So, when we got home, walking, with a heart rate of 125, he got a halter
> thrown on over his bridle and cross tied where he couldn?t rub, eat, or
> dig holes.  I went and cleaned the four dirty stalls and left him
> there, fully saddled and bridled.  The neighbor told me I was being
> cruel to my horse, but I decided if he had to get home that bad, he
> wasn?t going to have any fun.  After about 20 minutes of this, he
> finally quit being a brat, and stood quietly.  So I untied him, and
> climbed back on him and made him do ring work for 20 minutes or so. 
> Then we came in, untacked, didn?t get to eat any grass, and got turned
> out with the others.
>  
> Obviously, I need to get someone out here to ride with me more
> often.  Apparently having a friend makes Alpine?s brain explode. Can
> you think of any other way to stop that kind of bratty behavior?  We
> already do ring work at least once a week, working on dressage type
> stuff.  He?s pretty good about it.  He doesn?t do that if we
> are out by ourselves. However, if I?m going to take him to an endurance
> ride, this behavior needs to be nipped in the bud.  First of all,
> it?s no fun for either of us, and second, it?s not safe.  Thanks for
> any help with this!
>  
> Juli and the herd
> Alpine (who needs to go faster on his 12 mile ride so that he is too
> tired to jig)
> Merlin (who thankfully didn?t see that last mile, and therefore didn?t
> learn any bad habits today)

Don Huston at cox dot net
SanDiego, Calif