My novice horse did her first 25 miler yesterday (Manzanita). The 50
mile riders were very nice, but it did get a little dicey when the
leaders of the 50 came up on us at high speed from behind. :-) Our goal
(2nd horse was novice at 16) was to finish with all As on vet card,
which they did. We learned a lot about our horses in the process, such
as they need more uphill work, had done the first 15 and passed a lot of
people, though we started 15 minutes after the pack. Was way backed up
in the vet check, and we made the mistake of not getting in line upon
arriving, since the horses came in at criteria. <sigh> Human error.
There's a lot of reasons why I would start young horses with a 25, as
pertains to this horse it was related to not knowing how she would
perform in company, since she's quite a looky horse sometimes, and she's
slow-growing (15.2 at 5) and not finished yet.
Good luck! We're hoping to do this ride's 50 next year.
Lynne
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