Leo Glass Memorial 25 CTR and Digging To China

["Snodgrass, Bonnie" <snodgrab@ncr.disa.mil>]

     I chose the first day of the Leo Glass ride to be the first ride for 
     my mare River. The ride is located just east of Huntingdon in central 
     Pa. There are two back to back ECTRA 25 mile CTR's. I drove up last 
     Friday and rode in the Saturday ride. Lucky me! The weather for Sat 
     was gorgeous but around 3:20 am on Sunday the rain began. The ride is 
     mostly over lovely forested trails with nice footing and a couple of 
     miles of minor gravel and paved back road. The Red Buds were 
     beautiful! Nice easy-moderate ride, really a good choice for my 
     flat-lander's first ride. All went well, River was determined to catch 
     up and stay with a group of horses in front of us on the first loop 
     and didn't drink till we came back to camp for our hold. The second 
     loop was a bit of a surprise  to her. She mellowed out and drank and 
     drank and ate. Very relaxed but still packed with energy. All this CTR 
     business was new to me but I muddled thru and River was awarded a 
     second place in the Novice division. I was really happy with pulse and 
     recovery. She trotted along with an average rate of 110-125 for the 
     most part and dropped fast at the walk and and PR points. This is a 
     good ride for a novice horse. The camp area is a huge hay field with a 
     couple of big water tanks, hose, new outhouses and good food. Very 
     enjoyable. 
     
     Anyone have any suggestions on how to deal with some annoying and 
     sometimes destructive pawing? River is a typical herd bound type mare. 
     And hates being seperated from other horses. Not a problem when riding 
     but she can do some nasty digging when tied or penned alone. I'm going 
     to school her to hobbles but have thought of buying some kind of 
     rubber mat to put down under her front feet when she has to be tied 
     for a while where an excavation isn't desired. It would have to be 
     large enough that she would be on top of it, heavy enough to not roll 
     up but light enough to handle. Any thoughs or suggestions?