ridecamp@endurance.net: Re: Hopples2

Re: Hopples2

lindavan.eqath@juno.com
Sat, 26 Apr 1997 14:34:19 PST

On Fri, 25 Apr 1997 22:36:02 -0400 (EDT) Tivers@aol.com writes:
>Before going on, I'd like you to have a clear picture of what it's
>like to be
>jogging a Standardbred. You're on a jog cart, a little tougher
>manufacture
>than a bicycle, with motorcycle wheels if you've really gone overboard
>(SFB's
>jog bike was the old iron one we had that we used on idiot cases
>because we
>could always rebend the shaft back to reasonably straight at the
>nearest tree
>and get back to work). Your legs are spread to either side of the
>horse's
>rear end, your feet in "stirrups" on the shafts of the bike. You've
>got a set
>of reins about 8 feet long and usually carry a 4 foot whip with a
>snapper at
>the end.
>
>That's it. With each step, the horse lifts about a quarter pound of
>sandy
>load and deposits it on the seat between your legs. Another 16th of a
>pound
>is distributed over your face and through your hair. This is on a dry
>day--wet days, multiply the weights by 3. Should a horse decide to
>misbehave,
>you lean back. That's because, with a kick, the hooves come within a
>quarter
>inch of your nose, or closer, if you're not leaned back. It's not as
>bad if
>the horse is simply overstriding and banging the bottom of the seat
>with each
>hind leg step--except at speed, when the ten lb sledgehammer turns
>into a 25
>pounder--you know it's time for a bigger bike.
>
Tom--

I thought RIDING green horses was bad. Why would anyone want to get
behind one while sitting on a bunch of scrap iron?

Linda VanCeylon & crew
Buhni, Sunny, Rabbit, & Fiddler
lindavan.eqath@juno.com

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