OK :) I'm happy to start a new thread. I would be interested in this, too. I haven't done a lot of competing - had the same horse for 25 years, but did mostly trail riding when he pulled his suspensories. I did restart him in LDs the last couple of years of his life. Now I have a new horse, and the management is totally different.
Shadow didn't buck at the start, but he was strong. Still - he was focused. I remember a ride where he was bounding over the sagebrush, pretty much out of control, and we came to an asphalt road. I thought we were going to go down, 'cause I couldn't stop him. He stopped, walked across the road, then charged on again... :) Shadow could come into a Vet Check 1 trailing flames, snorting and stomping, all cranked up and still not have trouble meeting criterion.
Now - I have Caisson. His cruising heart rate is 10 bpm above what Shadows was, so he doesn't have the metabolic leeway Shadow did. If he gets chilled, or is over-excited or upset, he won't make criterion. So far, I've figured out some things about him:
-- he likes lots of attention at a vet check. If he has a crew that surrounds him, strokes him, and tells him he is a good boy, he calms down quickly. Too bad I mostly never have a crew. The one time I did it worked really well.
-- he responds pretty well to calm, tall people petting him & talking to him to calm him down. So of course, I'm short, and tend to get keyed up myself, which doesn't help.
-- I think he calms down better if I take out the bit, and give him other cues that it is time to let down.
-- He does calm down better with a calm companion horse, but that is two-edged, as he gets competitive as soon as we hit the trail.
In a message dated 11/10/2008 11:40:42 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, bwalker2@xxxxxxx writes:
Just a totally unsubstantiated opinion here, but I think most folks have to balance the strengths and weaknesses of their particular horse. Not everyone has the resources to raise, train and/or buy many, many horses and pick out the stellar ones who have the ability to stay calm and focused, yet still have the fire, drive and heart to go 100 miles at a rapid pace, and the physical ability to do so and stay sound. Just my opinion, but I think that in the balance, top competitors are willing to put up with "temperament" if the horse can perform at the desired level in spite of it. "Temperament" can be managed. Lack of physical ability to perform at the needed level cannot.
Great post!! I agree 100%. I would love to see the discussion go more in the direction of management and coping with horses like this. If the US team performance at the WEC is too sensitive an issue to discuss, let's bring it down to a more general level. It is a great topic to discuss in general terms as I don't know too many people who own the perfect competitor regardless of how much training or conditioning is invested.
One of my all time favorite articles on endurance riding was written years ago by Julie Suhr and is still on the Tevis web site. It is called "You, Your Horse, and Lady Luck". Periodically, I reread this particular article because it covers what we do on so many different levels. If you haven't read this take the time to do so. It is a great perspective whether you consider yourself a beginner or have been in the sport for years.
