Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Well, I am glad that I didn't try to go to the Caja del Rio 50 last week -
not cuz I didn't really want to go, but because our horses wouldn't have
been ready.  Next year!

So the following weekend we did 2 days at the Turkey Creek ride in CO.  25
each day, but we swapped out horses since my husband and I are each
conditioning 2 - also why we're not ready for a 50!  All 4 horses completed
their 25's and they were tired enough that I think a 50 would have blown any
of their minds.

The first day, Stace rode our stallion, Max.  He'd been off for a couple
months after getting a ding along a tendon during a fire evacuation.  He is
a very forward horse and Stace just loves riding him.  He was a little nuts
at the beginning, but overall very calm and well behaved.  I rode my half
arab gelding that I took to Ft. Meade where he ended up lame after 11 miles
on his first ride.  He loves to follow Max because of his pacing (and he's
not quite ready for lots of leading yet).  They did get tired toward the end
of the ride.  They'd trot if we asked, but we got off and led a bit if we
were walking and that helped.  

Max still has to learn to relax at the holds and end of the ride.  He has a
low rate out on the trail and recovers well after strenuous activity.  But
getting below 70 just takes him a while since the world is just there in
front of him!  Stace is trying various things - it's a tough one, because
it's not like he's hyper, he'll even stand still and eat, but his heart rate
just takes a while to drop.  Hopefully this will just work out with time
because the horse is a joy to ride and he really enjoys endurance as a
second job.  My guy drops like a rock - he's half arab and I've never seen
any horse come down faster - just wait til he's in shape!

The second day I brought a 5yo half Morgan half Tennessee Walker that I got
a couple weeks ago.  He had 25 days of training (and ridden fewer days than
that!) but his owner decided that he would be too much horse for her and we
did a trade.  I've put about 70 miles on him since and most of his initial
training was on the trail.  Very forward horse - I knew enough to know that
he would buck if any horse was in front of him.  He seemed to have decent
recoveries, especially considering his conditioning (or lack of).  But he
really seemed to jump into the concept of endurance with eagerness.

Stace rode a horse that we have been trying to "repair" for 2 years now.
He's been abandoned and had a couple endurance riders give him a shot, but
he is very sensitive and just bucks when anything is wrong.  I tried him out
and he wouldn't stop bucking - but I longed him and saw him move and just
had to bring him home.  We had a trainer work with him, but she was a moron
and jumped off him every time he humped up (it wasn't much of a buck).  We
finally got him going really well last winter and at his first ride he
started bucking again.  Found an abscess so gave him the summer off.  Now
he's ready to go again and Stace has been riding him the last month or so.  

And this was the ride!  This horse has finally completed his first 25 with
absolutely no bad behavior at all.  Both horses did get tired and we slowed
down for them because it rained the night before so a long section was
really soft.  My young guy (who only bucked 3 times before learning that he
could follow, and then became extremely easy to rate) was definitely not
legged up for something like that, so we got off and led through that, and
then any other time that we were walking.  

The ride was a blast, excellent weather and really nice trails, especially
considering that Turkey Creek isn't a huge area.  Ride management did a
great job finding the trails and avoiding roads - and the roads that we did
use were perfect.  Good food, good camping areas, fun trails through the
woods, what more can you ask for?!  Oh yeah, 4 horses that all learned a lot
and are on their way toward the next ride.  35 milers, oh my!
Marlene

Marlene Moss
www.LosPinos-CO.com - boarding, training, sales
www.KineticEquineAnalysis.com - saddlefit for the horse in motion



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