Fast, forwards ride Tuesday - unexpectedly by ourselves rather than the mellow, relaxing out-with-friends ride I had thought we'd be doing.
But. She zipped along, even kept a Big Walk most of the ride without too much nagging, and so we trotted out and up the big hill and then back home. It was reassuring that her all-day trot (with some impulsion, versus her all-day pathetic trot with no impulsion) seems to have moved up to 7mph or so. Confetti is quite capable of a 8-10mph trot, but generally cannot be bothered.
This was the same loop mentioned almost exactly a month ago, when we did canter sets and pulled a 5.8mph average. We stuck to trotting on Tuesday and managed a 5.7mph average. I am actually quite thrilled with that. The goal was to trot as much as possible at our all-day pace. We paused once to briefly greet friends headed home, and once again when some lady recognized Fetti from a previous introduction in the park and commented on how lovely her third eye is (I don't quite have words for the crazy-like vibes I got, although harmless, very bizarre). Else? Forwards.
My hope is to get out for a longer (12-20 miles) ride sometime in the next two weeks, and apply similar concept: it doesn't matter how fast you trot, just keep moving along nicely at some sort of trot speed, or a brisk big walk if you don't want to trot.
Pony is very well recovered. I am pleased.
YES our lazy unmotivated mares will do much better with company! We shall ride 12-20 miles this weekend. It will be awesome.
ReplyDeleteThird eye. Okay. I love California. :)