Last Sunday I added the new, lovely sheepskin leather covers to the Specialized. Yay! Original plan was to do the 18-mile out-and-back in the afternoon to do a fullblown tack check before our next LD. I re-adjusted the plan when I ran into two local endurance riders and ended up tagging along with them: total mileage around 12 miles, but with more trotting than I would've gotten otherwise. Plenty sufficient. Pony and I went back out on a short 3 mile ride when we returned to the barn, nothing major and very flat. I noted that my knee was sore after all that and wrote it off to my knee flaring up a bit.
And then I got home and didn't want to move. My knee is frequently sore, a low-level semi-chronic thing at this point. I don't normally find myself limping the day after rides, though, let alone the evening of. The next morning, going down stairs was absolutely miserable. I have never hurt that much after a ride: the LDs leave me maybe a bit stiff and sore, but not genuinely *hurting*.
My conclusion at this point is that the added bulk of the sheepskin under my thighs (since the 18" length does put them allll the way to the top of the leathers and under my entire leg) must have changed my position enough to add torque to my knee. I didn't notice anything major during the ride - I did note when I first got on that it felt odd with that much sheepskin, but again, I frequently take a mile or two to adjust into any tack changes and figured that's all it was, just different. In hindsight, I need to cut down the leather covers several inches so they don't start until after the fleece Specialized seat ends.
All that said, I'm still left with a fairly sore left knee. I rode a few miles Tuesday (definitely made it more sore), didn't ride due to schedule conflicts on Thursday, and it's still only at 70% or so. I made the decision to piece my western-endurance saddle back together in the hopes that will keep things from getting any worse. I do think I can resolve the leather cover issues and get the Specialized comfortable for me, but my knee needs to heal first. In a perfect world, I'd take time off riding and any kind of impact til it heals completely. It may be dumb, but I don't think I'm willing to wait the few months that would likely take.
Switching to the western endurance is a plus primarily because it has very stiff, very bulky fenders. The Eurolight has English leathers and allows my leg to move freely. The fenders will force my leg to stay in one place, hopefully minimizing the odd things I do with my legs and minimizing the damage I'm doing by continuing to ride on it. Seven slow and muddy miles today have me still sore, but not substantially worse than before the ride. I'm crossing my fingers that holds. It helps that I know I've ridden two LDs in this saddle already with no problems, so I know it won't cause either me or Fetti any problems for long rides. Whatever pain I get is specific to the knee and would come up no matter what saddle I'm in.
I *will* be spending the week prior to and half the week after the LD riding a gaited horse rather than Fetti, so trotting will be a non-issue and that should help with the healing as well.
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Things not to do during one's time off work
Generally, my work schedule lets me ride four days a week: Tuesday afternoons, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. This month, I'm putting in extra hours for a handful of reasons and my routines are all out of whack. It's not great, but it is what it is and I know it's only temporary.
Our next 25 is the first Saturday in October. I had hoped to get in one or two good, solid long rides this month - specifically one this week where I really do have time to ride. Eighteen miles should be a good trial run for the tack setup and let me know what I need to change, plus see how our speed has increased in the past few months - the last time we did that particular ride was in June.
Things not to do #1: While putting up lights in my new tack room, I was a bit of a klutz and the drill relocated from the screw (intended target) to my finger (not intended). Drill bits hurt, y'all. Finger is bandaged up, not seriously wounded, but definitely going to take some time to heal up properly.
Monday night we went out for a brisk few miles. Tuesday she got off. I figured I'd work her lightly today and do our long ride tomorrow.. and then plans changed and I rode with a friend for our usual 7-mile loop today instead. Right around mile #5, headed home and walking down a steep hill, Fetti took a funny step and asked me if we should stop; I told her she was silly and no, of course keep walking.
Unfortunate event #2: Maybe 20 feet later I reached back to check on the crupper and discovered that actually, the crupper and the saddle were no longer attached. The pony earned major sainthood points for that one; the crupper ring and the leather that held it to the saddle just came right off, but the crupper was still sitting on her hindquarters with the loop around her tail. This is the same hill where she bucked me off once before in a separate crupper incident (though then it was too loose and kicked in HARD and FAST, so not really her fault).
Our local shoe repair place will sew the piece back in, and barn friends and I will then go off and attach screws to help hold it in place some more. Unfortunately, I won't have the saddle back til Friday morning. I may be able to fit 12 miles in before work Friday.. but 18 is not going to happen.
Unless I manage to get off work earlier than usual in the next week or two, that 18 may not happen at all before the ride. I know Fetti is more fit than she was this time last year. I know our speed is doing better. I'm just not sure how she'll handle the distance. I'm looking forwards to finding out.
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Specialized: cautious success
Time constraints the past few weeks have essentially taken our theoretical training schedule and thrown it out the window. Instead of our 6-8 mile rides, we've been doing speed rides 2-3 miles long and on pretty flat terrain. I'm asking for that big power-trot the whole way out and back, minimal walk breaks and occasional canters thrown in for good measure.
The verdict? Right now.. on the flat terrain and by ourselves, we can sustain about a 6.4mph average over 2.5 miles with few-to-no walk breaks. Our mile-splits are faster than that on the way home when she's pushing herself rather than me pushing her. Even without trying hard and throwing in more walk breaks, we can hold a 5mph average over that 2-3 mile section.
The Eurolight is holding up nicely and I'm reasonably happy with it. I've made some modifications and I'm not 100% sure I like how it's fitting her, but it's 'good enough' for the moment. Later this year I'll see about getting a rep to come out and take a look, I think, since she's giving me headaches trying to figure out where 'good enough' should be. Acquired girth loop, have various girths to choose from, a pile of English pads.. switched to leathers rather than the fenders, and I have leather covers ordered that will hopefully show up soon.
Our next 25 is in four weeks. We're not quite where I had hoped we'd be, but we're not in a bad place. Our downhill walk is markedly improved about half the time. Our regular walk is still generally atrocious. Our downwards transitions are still equally atrocious - come to think of it, I imagine those are likely related, so that will take some work.
7.44 miles last Thursday in the heat. Just about a 4.5mph average - I didn't ask for much speed, we walked half the downhills, trotted where she was willing. Confetti was sweaty afterwards, but I never felt like I ran out of horse. I asked, she went. Occasionally I didn't ask and she went anyway.
The Eurolight puts me in a more forwards/upright seat, rather than sitting back. If I don't actively lean back going down hills, Fetti walks because I'm putting weight on her forehand. Soon as I lean back? She's willing to go again since we're balanced. Problem solved.
Slow 6.5 mile loop on Saturday, brisk 13 (just about a 4mph average!) with more downhill than up and a fair bit of gravel on Sunday, slow 6.5 again on Monday. Pony got Tuesday off with how overwhelmed work has me right now, and may just do pony rides for a friend on Thursday. Goal is to get at least one good ride in this weekend, and at least one next week, and whenever I have my week off we'll do our long out & back to Wilder (with boots!) to see how things are holding up solo.
The verdict? Right now.. on the flat terrain and by ourselves, we can sustain about a 6.4mph average over 2.5 miles with few-to-no walk breaks. Our mile-splits are faster than that on the way home when she's pushing herself rather than me pushing her. Even without trying hard and throwing in more walk breaks, we can hold a 5mph average over that 2-3 mile section.
The Eurolight is holding up nicely and I'm reasonably happy with it. I've made some modifications and I'm not 100% sure I like how it's fitting her, but it's 'good enough' for the moment. Later this year I'll see about getting a rep to come out and take a look, I think, since she's giving me headaches trying to figure out where 'good enough' should be. Acquired girth loop, have various girths to choose from, a pile of English pads.. switched to leathers rather than the fenders, and I have leather covers ordered that will hopefully show up soon.
Our next 25 is in four weeks. We're not quite where I had hoped we'd be, but we're not in a bad place. Our downhill walk is markedly improved about half the time. Our regular walk is still generally atrocious. Our downwards transitions are still equally atrocious - come to think of it, I imagine those are likely related, so that will take some work.
7.44 miles last Thursday in the heat. Just about a 4.5mph average - I didn't ask for much speed, we walked half the downhills, trotted where she was willing. Confetti was sweaty afterwards, but I never felt like I ran out of horse. I asked, she went. Occasionally I didn't ask and she went anyway.
The Eurolight puts me in a more forwards/upright seat, rather than sitting back. If I don't actively lean back going down hills, Fetti walks because I'm putting weight on her forehand. Soon as I lean back? She's willing to go again since we're balanced. Problem solved.
Slow 6.5 mile loop on Saturday, brisk 13 (just about a 4mph average!) with more downhill than up and a fair bit of gravel on Sunday, slow 6.5 again on Monday. Pony got Tuesday off with how overwhelmed work has me right now, and may just do pony rides for a friend on Thursday. Goal is to get at least one good ride in this weekend, and at least one next week, and whenever I have my week off we'll do our long out & back to Wilder (with boots!) to see how things are holding up solo.
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Arena work.. or not.
I am all for taking lessons with various people and keeping an open mind. I think there's something to be learned from lots of disciplines. A past jumping trainer of mine has an excellent sense of body awareness and getting me to put myself in the right place - actually, I'm way overdue for a lesson with her! - and there's a local dressage trainer who's been great about addressing whatever issues I've had, giving me something to work on, and sending me off for a few months. They know where my goals lie and they're happy to work within that to help me achieve them.
I went into the lesson/clinic/thing on Sunday with the hope that it would be a similar experience. I want to improve Fetti's walk. I have a zillion trots, two canters - though whether I can choose between a big forwards canter and a prim and proper little one is totally irrelevant here! - and generally a pitiful little walk with no impulsion whatsoever and no motivation to improve it regardless of what I may do to ask it of her. I've tried nagging with alternate heels. I've tried pushing with my seat. I've tried getting off and leading. I can accept that she may never do a big flying walk downhill, and that walk has improved somewhat since I started her on Cosequin ASU, but goodness! It wouldn't kill the pony to give me a better walk. I know she's capable, because she'll do it from time to time, but I absolutely cannot get it on request.
We walked around the arena to warm up. Fine. I asked for a little trot. Hissy fit and mild explosion - she wanted to bolt and buck and run and make it very clear that she did not want to do this. I was not asking for a frame. I was not asking for a bigger walk. I just wanted a trot. I yelled at her, held her, brought her back to a walk. Trainer stated that she's mad because I won't let her go forwards. Um.. okay? I know this horse. I'm not letting her go forwards because she wants to bolt and buck. She won't buck when she's cantering, you say? She's bucked me off when cantering before. In hindsight, that's the only time she's bucked me off.
Unfortunately, while I read the pony-tude as meaning "I don't want to work in the arena right now, and I certainly don't want to do it before I finish my breakfast!", the trainer took this as showing a bigger problem. Not only does Fetti not like arena work, but she's not moving off my leg. She's resisting the bit! There must be something in her past - maybe her most recent rides in the arena? - where she had bad arena experiences.
Here's the catch. When Confetti and I head on the trail, we have an initial discussion where she says she doesn't want to go; then she gets over it, and after that, a verbal cue is often sufficient to ask for a trot. Sometimes I'll ask with a light leg cue, and occasionally I'll get louder if I am convinced that I'm right in that she should be going faster/a gait up and I'm making a point to overrule her refusal.
Actually, as I'm typing this out, I'm realizing I probably over-cue in the arena.. but I'm not sure if that's out of necessity, habit, or what. Hm.
And her most recent real arena work? That was in dressage lessons with an experienced college student who's likely to do lessons with her again this fall. Pony was absolutely fine and has no problems with her. She and I don't do well together in the arena asking for Real Work. I won't deny that.
Trainer phrased it as me avoiding the problem, though. I take her on the trail because I don't want to work her in the arena, or at least that was the implication. We do trail because we LIKE trails. I don't feel obligated to make my horse want to enjoy arena work when it's not something I particularly enjoy at this point. Circles? Meh. Can we do it? Yes. We'll meander in the arena, I'll work in there when other folks are in there on occasion. I don't feel like I can never go in the arena. We're just happier out on the trail. It was simultaneously frustrating and entertaining to have her trying to talk me into doing more arena work. I know she's looking for more clients, but ugh! I thought I made my goals pretty clear here...
There is value in arena work. Evenings where it's too late to go on the trail, or winter days where it's too muddy or whatever, or some summer days.. we've done some arena work, we'll keep doing more, and Fetti will get herself weekly dressage rides this fall. Neither of us particularly desires to do a ton of it, and I'm OK with that. There's a vast difference in gait quality and responsiveness between our arena work and our trail rides. While our trails are still good and viable, I'd rather work her primarily on the trails and focus on those goals. This winter, when that's not an option, we'll work in the arena and we'll do more finesse and who knows, maybe throw some flying changes at her if we've fixed my canter issues enough by then.
Back to the goals, though. I wanted a better walk. The only improvement on my walk she was willing to make was to ask her to go on the bit and to improve the rhythm. Speed should come last, she said. I'm not sure if she understands that I have no impulsion as well, but frankly by that point it didn't matter. She thought Haflingers were gaited, so my confidence in her as a trainer was pretty well shattered. It's not like there are no Haflingers in dressage, or that she had no warning of the breed or whatever. I was just generally so unimpressed.
On a more positive note: I had a very limited ride time on Tuesday, so we headed out just for the initial flat section. The way our trails go, it's about a mile and a half of flat trails, then nearly all hill work but varying options from there on out. We rode about 2.5 miles in total. Average overall speed: 6.4mph. We did a Big Trot nearly the whole time, pony broke a bit of a sweat.. that's a ride we can aim to repeat once a week or so. I am very, very pleased.
I went into the lesson/clinic/thing on Sunday with the hope that it would be a similar experience. I want to improve Fetti's walk. I have a zillion trots, two canters - though whether I can choose between a big forwards canter and a prim and proper little one is totally irrelevant here! - and generally a pitiful little walk with no impulsion whatsoever and no motivation to improve it regardless of what I may do to ask it of her. I've tried nagging with alternate heels. I've tried pushing with my seat. I've tried getting off and leading. I can accept that she may never do a big flying walk downhill, and that walk has improved somewhat since I started her on Cosequin ASU, but goodness! It wouldn't kill the pony to give me a better walk. I know she's capable, because she'll do it from time to time, but I absolutely cannot get it on request.
We walked around the arena to warm up. Fine. I asked for a little trot. Hissy fit and mild explosion - she wanted to bolt and buck and run and make it very clear that she did not want to do this. I was not asking for a frame. I was not asking for a bigger walk. I just wanted a trot. I yelled at her, held her, brought her back to a walk. Trainer stated that she's mad because I won't let her go forwards. Um.. okay? I know this horse. I'm not letting her go forwards because she wants to bolt and buck. She won't buck when she's cantering, you say? She's bucked me off when cantering before. In hindsight, that's the only time she's bucked me off.
Unfortunately, while I read the pony-tude as meaning "I don't want to work in the arena right now, and I certainly don't want to do it before I finish my breakfast!", the trainer took this as showing a bigger problem. Not only does Fetti not like arena work, but she's not moving off my leg. She's resisting the bit! There must be something in her past - maybe her most recent rides in the arena? - where she had bad arena experiences.
Here's the catch. When Confetti and I head on the trail, we have an initial discussion where she says she doesn't want to go; then she gets over it, and after that, a verbal cue is often sufficient to ask for a trot. Sometimes I'll ask with a light leg cue, and occasionally I'll get louder if I am convinced that I'm right in that she should be going faster/a gait up and I'm making a point to overrule her refusal.
Actually, as I'm typing this out, I'm realizing I probably over-cue in the arena.. but I'm not sure if that's out of necessity, habit, or what. Hm.
And her most recent real arena work? That was in dressage lessons with an experienced college student who's likely to do lessons with her again this fall. Pony was absolutely fine and has no problems with her. She and I don't do well together in the arena asking for Real Work. I won't deny that.
Trainer phrased it as me avoiding the problem, though. I take her on the trail because I don't want to work her in the arena, or at least that was the implication. We do trail because we LIKE trails. I don't feel obligated to make my horse want to enjoy arena work when it's not something I particularly enjoy at this point. Circles? Meh. Can we do it? Yes. We'll meander in the arena, I'll work in there when other folks are in there on occasion. I don't feel like I can never go in the arena. We're just happier out on the trail. It was simultaneously frustrating and entertaining to have her trying to talk me into doing more arena work. I know she's looking for more clients, but ugh! I thought I made my goals pretty clear here...
There is value in arena work. Evenings where it's too late to go on the trail, or winter days where it's too muddy or whatever, or some summer days.. we've done some arena work, we'll keep doing more, and Fetti will get herself weekly dressage rides this fall. Neither of us particularly desires to do a ton of it, and I'm OK with that. There's a vast difference in gait quality and responsiveness between our arena work and our trail rides. While our trails are still good and viable, I'd rather work her primarily on the trails and focus on those goals. This winter, when that's not an option, we'll work in the arena and we'll do more finesse and who knows, maybe throw some flying changes at her if we've fixed my canter issues enough by then.
Back to the goals, though. I wanted a better walk. The only improvement on my walk she was willing to make was to ask her to go on the bit and to improve the rhythm. Speed should come last, she said. I'm not sure if she understands that I have no impulsion as well, but frankly by that point it didn't matter. She thought Haflingers were gaited, so my confidence in her as a trainer was pretty well shattered. It's not like there are no Haflingers in dressage, or that she had no warning of the breed or whatever. I was just generally so unimpressed.
On a more positive note: I had a very limited ride time on Tuesday, so we headed out just for the initial flat section. The way our trails go, it's about a mile and a half of flat trails, then nearly all hill work but varying options from there on out. We rode about 2.5 miles in total. Average overall speed: 6.4mph. We did a Big Trot nearly the whole time, pony broke a bit of a sweat.. that's a ride we can aim to repeat once a week or so. I am very, very pleased.
Friday, August 16, 2013
More and more tack
I just finished getting my western-y endurance saddle all set up. New woolback girth, sheepskin seat saver, breastplate that fits the saddle properly.. all sorts of fun stuff, the first two of which I'd been putting off for months.
Then I found a Specialized at a ridiculously reasonable price, I threw the budget out the window, and bought the saddle sight unseen.
I now have a brown Eurolight, fleece seat, with western fenders and dressage billets.
The sheepskin cover won't work - the seat isn't big enough to give me that kind of extra room. I have a sudden, major incentive to drop weight to make the saddle fit me a bit better. I pulled my English saddlepads out of my storage box - the lovely, wonderful Woolback pad makes the saddle too narrow. Two dressage girths came out of the same box, only to find that the 24" girth has buckles a bit too small to comfortably work, and the 22" (I think? It might be even smaller) girth needs a bit more length to comfortably go on. Neither has D-rings, so I found one on Ebay at a reasonable price that appeared sufficiently small, fuzzy, and equipped with a D-ring in the center. I bought a nylon D-attachment for the girths at Horse Expo, but that adds 3-4 inches to the length of the breastcollar, which makes it REALLY loose at the bottom strap.
Incidentally, dressage girths do not appear to ever come with D-rings at a moderate price. You start looking at $80-90+ for a 24" piece of material. Ridiculous.
I mostly like how the saddle fits the horse. Nice sweat patterns, moves out well enough. The one main difference? She's not offering to trot down every hill, only 50% of them. I'm baffled. She's not even trotting down some of that 50% when I ask. I have no idea if it's a saddle fit issue, or if she finally figured out that I didn't actually want her trotting down all the hills all the time, and now she thinks she's Not Supposed to Trot Down All Hills? Which absolutely sounds ridiculous, but is a very real possibility. I'd be a bit happier if she had stuck with the trotting down hills for another few weeks.
I'm hoping to have saddle fit addressed tomorrow, with a dressage trainer who supposedly does all sorts of saddle fitting stuff. I also have a set of 1/2" pads coming in the mail, and I'll probably order a set of shims to play around with. The crupper is still engaging on any steep hills, and it would be really nice if I could have the crupper at a normal horse kinda loose setting, and not a pony in hills must be snug setting.
But girths. Back to girths. The Ebay girth showed up, clearly brand new in bag but without tags, just as described. Attached breastplate snugly as per my usual and headed out for a spin. Everything went well heading out, my position at the canter is clearly not sufficient for her to offer one when I ask, but that's all me and not her. Our usual loop was blocked by a downed tree; we detoured over to a more hilly out-and-back. Decent speed heading up the hills, decent heart rate given the heat, and then she took 5 minutes to pulse down to 60 when we paused at our turn-around point. Granted, we did a Big Trot up the hill to that point, and it was hot - but that was only three miles in, and I'm not sure what to make of that. Turned around, Big Canter up a hill, walk down, Big Canter up - screech into a spook-at-something-trot - back to a Big Trot when I asked. Then things started jangling. Left breastplate attachment, check. Right attachment, check. Reach down and.. ARGH. D-ring was no longer attached to girth, only to breastplate.
I have hopes it can be fixed, and I handed it off to my friend with the nice sturdy sewing machine to see if she can work her magic on it, but it's really frustrating to have it break on the first ride out.
Work's been busy, and I haven't gotten in the rides that I was before Fireworks. I think I'm okay with that. The focus right now is more on getting that Big Trot more and having her hold it without ramping her HR up to the point where she wants to break to walk. Our last mile-split before we made it home had a 6mph average. For us - that is AWESOME to hold that for that long. Next goal: to get that several times in a ride, in a row would be really nice...
Then I found a Specialized at a ridiculously reasonable price, I threw the budget out the window, and bought the saddle sight unseen.
I now have a brown Eurolight, fleece seat, with western fenders and dressage billets.
The sheepskin cover won't work - the seat isn't big enough to give me that kind of extra room. I have a sudden, major incentive to drop weight to make the saddle fit me a bit better. I pulled my English saddlepads out of my storage box - the lovely, wonderful Woolback pad makes the saddle too narrow. Two dressage girths came out of the same box, only to find that the 24" girth has buckles a bit too small to comfortably work, and the 22" (I think? It might be even smaller) girth needs a bit more length to comfortably go on. Neither has D-rings, so I found one on Ebay at a reasonable price that appeared sufficiently small, fuzzy, and equipped with a D-ring in the center. I bought a nylon D-attachment for the girths at Horse Expo, but that adds 3-4 inches to the length of the breastcollar, which makes it REALLY loose at the bottom strap.
Incidentally, dressage girths do not appear to ever come with D-rings at a moderate price. You start looking at $80-90+ for a 24" piece of material. Ridiculous.
I mostly like how the saddle fits the horse. Nice sweat patterns, moves out well enough. The one main difference? She's not offering to trot down every hill, only 50% of them. I'm baffled. She's not even trotting down some of that 50% when I ask. I have no idea if it's a saddle fit issue, or if she finally figured out that I didn't actually want her trotting down all the hills all the time, and now she thinks she's Not Supposed to Trot Down All Hills? Which absolutely sounds ridiculous, but is a very real possibility. I'd be a bit happier if she had stuck with the trotting down hills for another few weeks.
I'm hoping to have saddle fit addressed tomorrow, with a dressage trainer who supposedly does all sorts of saddle fitting stuff. I also have a set of 1/2" pads coming in the mail, and I'll probably order a set of shims to play around with. The crupper is still engaging on any steep hills, and it would be really nice if I could have the crupper at a normal horse kinda loose setting, and not a pony in hills must be snug setting.
But girths. Back to girths. The Ebay girth showed up, clearly brand new in bag but without tags, just as described. Attached breastplate snugly as per my usual and headed out for a spin. Everything went well heading out, my position at the canter is clearly not sufficient for her to offer one when I ask, but that's all me and not her. Our usual loop was blocked by a downed tree; we detoured over to a more hilly out-and-back. Decent speed heading up the hills, decent heart rate given the heat, and then she took 5 minutes to pulse down to 60 when we paused at our turn-around point. Granted, we did a Big Trot up the hill to that point, and it was hot - but that was only three miles in, and I'm not sure what to make of that. Turned around, Big Canter up a hill, walk down, Big Canter up - screech into a spook-at-something-trot - back to a Big Trot when I asked. Then things started jangling. Left breastplate attachment, check. Right attachment, check. Reach down and.. ARGH. D-ring was no longer attached to girth, only to breastplate.
I have hopes it can be fixed, and I handed it off to my friend with the nice sturdy sewing machine to see if she can work her magic on it, but it's really frustrating to have it break on the first ride out.
Work's been busy, and I haven't gotten in the rides that I was before Fireworks. I think I'm okay with that. The focus right now is more on getting that Big Trot more and having her hold it without ramping her HR up to the point where she wants to break to walk. Our last mile-split before we made it home had a 6mph average. For us - that is AWESOME to hold that for that long. Next goal: to get that several times in a ride, in a row would be really nice...
Friday, August 2, 2013
"Any horse can do a 25".
It's something you hear a lot when you're just starting out in endurance - any horse can do a 25-mile ride. Theoretically, they can do it several months after being Pasture Puffs.
The conclusion I am coming to is that, in fact, not every horse can or should do a 25. Maybe every Arab could do a 25. But not every horse.
I'm working hard to keep my admittedly forwards Haflinger in sufficient shape to do a 25 and not quit on me partway through. Her walk? Terrible. Her trot? Decent, and on flat terrain we could probably comfortably sustain 7mph or so on conditioning rides when I'm asking for it. I know we got a more forwards trot at the actual ride, so I'm comfortable saying she probably COULD do a bit more. Get near 10mph, and I'm riding a very extended trot, and not one powered terribly well from behind. She just doesn't trot that fast.
We're not conditioning on flat ground much, though. We have a mile/mile and a half of flat trail, but it's also heavily populated by hikers, dogs, and bikes. Then we have some lovely sections of hills. Same with real rides out here - 25s aren't generally on flat terrain that I'm aware of. So the pony and I end up booking it on the flat sections, recovering on the downhills (though trotting some in our LDs out of necessity), and power-trotting up the hills as her recoveries allow.
The other thing generally not mentioned, and perhaps that doesn't occur to most folks with Arabs or riding distance already - 5mph isn't slow. It's a heck of a lot faster than your average trail rider goes. My rides with friends? 3.5mph or so. That's not a sustainable pace for a LD. My 6-7mph trot is Too Fast for them. Your average trail rider doesn't necessarily want a horse with that much go.
On the flip side, I do have a friend with a horse whose trot is closer to 8-9mph without her pushing him at all. I think he could probably complete a LD just fine in a few months. I know they're out there. But at my little barn, there just aren't that many of them with that much forwards momentum.
Related: I made some point on the AERC facebook earlier this week somewhat to that effect. I wouldn't buy a Haflinger for endurance. Would I buy a Haflinger as a lovely all-around horse and do endurance if it seemed suited? Sure. I love my pony and enjoy riding her, 'slow' finishes that we may have, and we'll do LDs as long as she's sound and happily completing them. But looking specifically for my next endurance prospect? Probably not a Haflinger.
The conclusion I am coming to is that, in fact, not every horse can or should do a 25. Maybe every Arab could do a 25. But not every horse.
I'm working hard to keep my admittedly forwards Haflinger in sufficient shape to do a 25 and not quit on me partway through. Her walk? Terrible. Her trot? Decent, and on flat terrain we could probably comfortably sustain 7mph or so on conditioning rides when I'm asking for it. I know we got a more forwards trot at the actual ride, so I'm comfortable saying she probably COULD do a bit more. Get near 10mph, and I'm riding a very extended trot, and not one powered terribly well from behind. She just doesn't trot that fast.
We're not conditioning on flat ground much, though. We have a mile/mile and a half of flat trail, but it's also heavily populated by hikers, dogs, and bikes. Then we have some lovely sections of hills. Same with real rides out here - 25s aren't generally on flat terrain that I'm aware of. So the pony and I end up booking it on the flat sections, recovering on the downhills (though trotting some in our LDs out of necessity), and power-trotting up the hills as her recoveries allow.
The other thing generally not mentioned, and perhaps that doesn't occur to most folks with Arabs or riding distance already - 5mph isn't slow. It's a heck of a lot faster than your average trail rider goes. My rides with friends? 3.5mph or so. That's not a sustainable pace for a LD. My 6-7mph trot is Too Fast for them. Your average trail rider doesn't necessarily want a horse with that much go.
On the flip side, I do have a friend with a horse whose trot is closer to 8-9mph without her pushing him at all. I think he could probably complete a LD just fine in a few months. I know they're out there. But at my little barn, there just aren't that many of them with that much forwards momentum.
Related: I made some point on the AERC facebook earlier this week somewhat to that effect. I wouldn't buy a Haflinger for endurance. Would I buy a Haflinger as a lovely all-around horse and do endurance if it seemed suited? Sure. I love my pony and enjoy riding her, 'slow' finishes that we may have, and we'll do LDs as long as she's sound and happily completing them. But looking specifically for my next endurance prospect? Probably not a Haflinger.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Fireworks 25
I am so, so happy with this horse.
Trailered over Thursday night, socialized (!), and hopped on bareback on Friday to evaluate how much horse I had. Answer: fire-breathing dragon. Once I tacked her up, we headed out with a few Arabs to do something along the lines of 4-6 miles. Fetti was a bit excessively forwards at the beginning. In hindsight, I think she would have been fine with a horse in front of her, but was ready to explode going in front. We did a FAST ride out to the river crossing, and then another gal and I headed home at a sedate walk.
More chatting, more socializing, attached all boots to all four feet, and finally off to vet in. Comments: 'windpuffs (hm, that's a new one), grade 2 lameness RH.' Er... what? "I'd like to bring her back later when things quiet down for you [vets] and have you take a look at her without the boots, just for good measure."
One mild panic later (what the hell happened to my horse?!), I pulled boots, wondered if I was totally nuts to ask a 17 year old horse to start doing LDs, and dutifully killed time for an hour or so. We finally headed back over, boot-less. Comments: 'she looks fine now! Must be something with those back boots.' "If you have another minute, can I zip back, put the front boots on, and have you take one more look?" I know these trails. I know she can do 80% of it barefoot, and I know she will not trot the remaining 20% without boots in front. Ran off, added front boots, still totally fine. I don't get it. Five days later, I still don't get it. (Luckily, they'd changed the rule requiring hoof protection on all four feet to apply only to the 50s.)
One entertaining ride meeting later, fed the pony dinner, told her to quit trying to beat up the mares in paddocks next to hers, and sleep.
..which, of course, meant that I woke up the next morning to Fetti kicking at the pipe corral and other horses. Mares! In hindsight, I should have fed significantly extra dinner, and I'm pretty sure she was in heat.
Tacked up Saturday morning and hopped on, despite the pony not inhaling as much of breakfast as I had hoped. I fully expected a fire-breathing dragon. Instead, I had a fairly polite fire-breathing dragon who appeared perfectly sane and felt like a firecracker. While standing around/walking in circles at the start, I heard someone tell their rider "She rides these trails all the time, ride with her." Mildly baffled that they were referring to me, I figured word had gotten around, who knows.. I told the rider I was aiming for slow and non-eventful.. luckily she was too.
The controlled start was more of a problem for K's mare, who was convinced she was Racing and Should Be In Front!, but Fetti amazingly had a brain and settled for trotting politely as long as we stayed in eyesight of the horses ahead of us. Eventually horses spread out. K and I stuck to the back of the pack to save her mare's sanity - I'm pretty sure Fetti didn't care. This was one of the few parts of the ride where I probably could have asked for more speed, but knowing the uphills that were coming, I intentionally chose to stick with Speed Slow. We actually tucked in behind Julie Suhr for a bit, walking the downhills and trotting up, and generally letting everyone pass. I discovered that the mare's owner (not K) was a local instructor who knows the Haflingers, so she really did know what she was doing putting her rider with me. K kept trying to apologize for slowing us down, and I kept explaining that we were fine with it. It wasn't really that much slower than I wanted to go - just slower than Fetti wanted, and this time, she didn't get to choose. The mares paced well together, anyway, and Fetti's happier with another horse nearby.
The oh-so-terrifying river crossing that people worry about? Total non-issue. Fetti and I have crossed that river numerous times. K's mare followed us in. Good photos, no drama, lots of smiles. It's uphill from there; we trotted most of it, walked either when Fetti asked or her heart rate looked particularly high, trotted again. My goal was to get to the trot-by around 9. I think we made it around 9:15, passed a handful of folks on and off in the process, and generally re-acquired sanity.
The loop in Wilder was very pretty and comparably nice and flat. We trotted a good chunk of that through about 15 miles - at that point, we hit some slightly more significant uphills, Fetti didn't know where we were, and her enthusiasm was waning. We'd walk a minute, I'd push for a trot, we'd trot a bit, repeat. I never had to push particularly hard, but I did have to push. It didn't help that we missed a turn and probably lost 15-20 minutes on this loop, backtracking to figure out where we'd gone wrong, and finally finding the turn.
Both mares ate and drank well at the vet check, 16 miles in. We probably could have cut a few minutes off here if we'd pulsed down right away, but we left promptly and I don't think we lost all that much time. We pulsed in precisely at 11, 15 minutes past what I was hoping.. so aside from our detour, we were pretty much right on target. (I'm guessing we were at the check around 10:50-10:55.)
I knew the final eight miles would be heading home, so Fetti had a bit of a second wind. I'm not sure she would have been quite as thrilled if we were headed in some unknown direction. We trotted the slight downhills, walked the technical stuff or when the pony wanted a break, trotted again. As planned, I hopped off and jogged the one major downhill, hopped back on at the bottom. Front boots had both stayed on so far, so I took K's advice and just left them on. Should be fine, right?
Wrong. One of the hills after the river crossing, I let her canter. I looked at her feet at the top of the hill and saw one hoof, one boot. Frankly, I would have left the boot there and gone back for it later in the week if the riders coming behind us hadn't pointed it out not far back from where we were. Jogged down the hill, attached boot to saddle, pulled other boot off and attached it to saddle. I knew we were a bit closer to time than I had hoped, but I also knew we both had horse left.. so we powered on and trotted all the uphills, walked the steep downhills, and decided it wasn't the end of the world if we came in over time.
We trotted our way in through the final section, coming into the finish at 1:19. I pulled tack, sponged her off, and stood her in the shade; she came down at 1:29. K's mare pulsed down promptly at 1:30.
Slower than I wanted? Sure, slightly. But Fireworks was a more challenging ride for the pony than I anticipated, with all the steep hills. Had I pushed a little more and had we not missed the turn, I think we could have been in at 1 - right on target for what I had hoped. Fetti kept her brain, took care of herself, never quit, and never put a foot wrong. She stayed manageable for the controlled start (a polite fire-breathing dragon indeed), tolerated horses passing, passed horses, and showed nearly no reaction to K's mare cantering sideways behind her for a fair bit of the ride.
Tack issues: my boots rubbed the back of both heels. Trotting a lot of downhills made my already-sore knee even more sore. Other than that, I was actually quite comfortable all the way through. I didn't send anything to the vet check, and that was fine. Carrots don't quite stay in the side of the pommel bag when Fetti shakes, so I need to remember to keep it zipped and/or keep my vet card in another pocket that stays zipped.
Fetti was good and tired afterwards. It actually had a few people concerned. She was happy to eat everyone else's food, but wasn't hugely interested in her own. She kept walking in circles in her stall, and finally dropped to nap. (Apparently she did it again later when I wasn't around, too.) I'm reasonably confident nothing was actually wrong with her, just TIRED and ready for a break.
I hopped on her bareback on Sunday and again yesterday (Tuesday) - she feels GOOD. She'd like to go out and work some more. Time off is not easy. We'll do a brisk loop of some sort on Thursday, just to get both of us out and moving again.
We came in a little closer to time than I would have liked, but she pulsed down in 10 minutes, so.. we'll work on speed. I can live with that.
Trailered over Thursday night, socialized (!), and hopped on bareback on Friday to evaluate how much horse I had. Answer: fire-breathing dragon. Once I tacked her up, we headed out with a few Arabs to do something along the lines of 4-6 miles. Fetti was a bit excessively forwards at the beginning. In hindsight, I think she would have been fine with a horse in front of her, but was ready to explode going in front. We did a FAST ride out to the river crossing, and then another gal and I headed home at a sedate walk.
More chatting, more socializing, attached all boots to all four feet, and finally off to vet in. Comments: 'windpuffs (hm, that's a new one), grade 2 lameness RH.' Er... what? "I'd like to bring her back later when things quiet down for you [vets] and have you take a look at her without the boots, just for good measure."
One mild panic later (what the hell happened to my horse?!), I pulled boots, wondered if I was totally nuts to ask a 17 year old horse to start doing LDs, and dutifully killed time for an hour or so. We finally headed back over, boot-less. Comments: 'she looks fine now! Must be something with those back boots.' "If you have another minute, can I zip back, put the front boots on, and have you take one more look?" I know these trails. I know she can do 80% of it barefoot, and I know she will not trot the remaining 20% without boots in front. Ran off, added front boots, still totally fine. I don't get it. Five days later, I still don't get it. (Luckily, they'd changed the rule requiring hoof protection on all four feet to apply only to the 50s.)
One entertaining ride meeting later, fed the pony dinner, told her to quit trying to beat up the mares in paddocks next to hers, and sleep.
..which, of course, meant that I woke up the next morning to Fetti kicking at the pipe corral and other horses. Mares! In hindsight, I should have fed significantly extra dinner, and I'm pretty sure she was in heat.
Tacked up Saturday morning and hopped on, despite the pony not inhaling as much of breakfast as I had hoped. I fully expected a fire-breathing dragon. Instead, I had a fairly polite fire-breathing dragon who appeared perfectly sane and felt like a firecracker. While standing around/walking in circles at the start, I heard someone tell their rider "She rides these trails all the time, ride with her." Mildly baffled that they were referring to me, I figured word had gotten around, who knows.. I told the rider I was aiming for slow and non-eventful.. luckily she was too.
The controlled start was more of a problem for K's mare, who was convinced she was Racing and Should Be In Front!, but Fetti amazingly had a brain and settled for trotting politely as long as we stayed in eyesight of the horses ahead of us. Eventually horses spread out. K and I stuck to the back of the pack to save her mare's sanity - I'm pretty sure Fetti didn't care. This was one of the few parts of the ride where I probably could have asked for more speed, but knowing the uphills that were coming, I intentionally chose to stick with Speed Slow. We actually tucked in behind Julie Suhr for a bit, walking the downhills and trotting up, and generally letting everyone pass. I discovered that the mare's owner (not K) was a local instructor who knows the Haflingers, so she really did know what she was doing putting her rider with me. K kept trying to apologize for slowing us down, and I kept explaining that we were fine with it. It wasn't really that much slower than I wanted to go - just slower than Fetti wanted, and this time, she didn't get to choose. The mares paced well together, anyway, and Fetti's happier with another horse nearby.
The oh-so-terrifying river crossing that people worry about? Total non-issue. Fetti and I have crossed that river numerous times. K's mare followed us in. Good photos, no drama, lots of smiles. It's uphill from there; we trotted most of it, walked either when Fetti asked or her heart rate looked particularly high, trotted again. My goal was to get to the trot-by around 9. I think we made it around 9:15, passed a handful of folks on and off in the process, and generally re-acquired sanity.
The loop in Wilder was very pretty and comparably nice and flat. We trotted a good chunk of that through about 15 miles - at that point, we hit some slightly more significant uphills, Fetti didn't know where we were, and her enthusiasm was waning. We'd walk a minute, I'd push for a trot, we'd trot a bit, repeat. I never had to push particularly hard, but I did have to push. It didn't help that we missed a turn and probably lost 15-20 minutes on this loop, backtracking to figure out where we'd gone wrong, and finally finding the turn.
Both mares ate and drank well at the vet check, 16 miles in. We probably could have cut a few minutes off here if we'd pulsed down right away, but we left promptly and I don't think we lost all that much time. We pulsed in precisely at 11, 15 minutes past what I was hoping.. so aside from our detour, we were pretty much right on target. (I'm guessing we were at the check around 10:50-10:55.)
I knew the final eight miles would be heading home, so Fetti had a bit of a second wind. I'm not sure she would have been quite as thrilled if we were headed in some unknown direction. We trotted the slight downhills, walked the technical stuff or when the pony wanted a break, trotted again. As planned, I hopped off and jogged the one major downhill, hopped back on at the bottom. Front boots had both stayed on so far, so I took K's advice and just left them on. Should be fine, right?
Wrong. One of the hills after the river crossing, I let her canter. I looked at her feet at the top of the hill and saw one hoof, one boot. Frankly, I would have left the boot there and gone back for it later in the week if the riders coming behind us hadn't pointed it out not far back from where we were. Jogged down the hill, attached boot to saddle, pulled other boot off and attached it to saddle. I knew we were a bit closer to time than I had hoped, but I also knew we both had horse left.. so we powered on and trotted all the uphills, walked the steep downhills, and decided it wasn't the end of the world if we came in over time.
We trotted our way in through the final section, coming into the finish at 1:19. I pulled tack, sponged her off, and stood her in the shade; she came down at 1:29. K's mare pulsed down promptly at 1:30.
Slower than I wanted? Sure, slightly. But Fireworks was a more challenging ride for the pony than I anticipated, with all the steep hills. Had I pushed a little more and had we not missed the turn, I think we could have been in at 1 - right on target for what I had hoped. Fetti kept her brain, took care of herself, never quit, and never put a foot wrong. She stayed manageable for the controlled start (a polite fire-breathing dragon indeed), tolerated horses passing, passed horses, and showed nearly no reaction to K's mare cantering sideways behind her for a fair bit of the ride.
Tack issues: my boots rubbed the back of both heels. Trotting a lot of downhills made my already-sore knee even more sore. Other than that, I was actually quite comfortable all the way through. I didn't send anything to the vet check, and that was fine. Carrots don't quite stay in the side of the pommel bag when Fetti shakes, so I need to remember to keep it zipped and/or keep my vet card in another pocket that stays zipped.
Fetti was good and tired afterwards. It actually had a few people concerned. She was happy to eat everyone else's food, but wasn't hugely interested in her own. She kept walking in circles in her stall, and finally dropped to nap. (Apparently she did it again later when I wasn't around, too.) I'm reasonably confident nothing was actually wrong with her, just TIRED and ready for a break.
I hopped on her bareback on Sunday and again yesterday (Tuesday) - she feels GOOD. She'd like to go out and work some more. Time off is not easy. We'll do a brisk loop of some sort on Thursday, just to get both of us out and moving again.
We came in a little closer to time than I would have liked, but she pulsed down in 10 minutes, so.. we'll work on speed. I can live with that.
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