Re: RC: 25's v 50s

["Dyane Smith" <sunibey@sisqtel.net>]

----- Original Message -----
From: <CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com>
Sent: Sunday, October 17, 1999 3:07 PM
Subject: Re: RC: 25's v 50s


Heidi,
Thanks for the info.  Well, it remains to be seen what a good prospect Fox
turns out to be.  Right now, he is a complete air head about his feet.  I
know Gesa was willing to (maybe willing is too strong a word) let Clovis
fall off a 200' foot cliff so he could learn, but I start with a healthy
fear of heights.  Anyway, little by little we will see what he can do on the
mountain trails around here.  If I could find a trail with no barbed wire
and no busy roads near by, I'd like to try riding Akela (who does have
sense) and letting Fox find his own way over cliffs and so forth.  However,
that being said:  Fox is an ex-race horse so I definitely want a strategy
that minimizes those connections.  I know a lot of people ride ex-race
horses and I wonder if there are other tips I should know about.  I'm sure
you're right that a lot of my problems on Suni had to do with rider
excitement, but Sun was a very laid back horse and no tough rocky mountain
trail slowed his passion for getting to the front.
Dyane and Fox (blissfully ignorant of what lies ahead or below his feet)
N. Ca
>
> Actually, with a horse that is a real good prospect, boredom becomes a
factor
> on a near-12-hour 50.  I also tend to start ours on 50's instead of 25's,
but
> we usually aim for about an 8-9 hour 50, which keeps them more interested
> than going TOO slow.  Also, we try to go to the rides with the toughest
> terrain with our newbies, for several reasons.  1)  The whole pack doesn't
> run off and leave them on the tough ones.  2)  There is much more
variation
> in how they use their muscles, so they actually seem to fatigue less than
on
> the flat rides where they use the same muscles over and over.  3)  They
are
> much easier to rate if you head them up a mountain instead of out across
the
> desert.  4)  They don't get bored as easily.  For those reasons, I save
the
> "easy" rides for my more experienced horses that are more focused and more
> fit.
>
> Heidi
>


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.    
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/RideCamp   
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=