Another lovely PR

[dalesnfellfan]

Today we did our 2nd PR of the season, appropriately named The Winter Chilly ride at Euston Park, which was the venue for the 2011 Endurance World Championships, it's a lovely venue on mostly sandy soil so very little mud. 

The forecast had not been good with high winds and rain, so I went armed with plenty of warm and waterproof clothing, when I arrived it was dry and bright but bitterly cold so I wore a fleece and a thick jacket plus full fleece lined chaps, after a couple of miles the sun got stronger and I absolutely cooked in all my layers, so I got the clothing wrong again, last time I didn't put my waterproofs on and got soaked!!!

It was a lovely ride and Connie flew round 10 miles in an hour, last time was 20 miles in 2 hours so I'm thinking 10 miles or 16 km per hour is about her speed now she's fit, she feels amazing, she loves it and just seems to be able keep a good ground covering trot or canter up for miles, she gets quite strong now but drops back to a slower pace when the going gets rough or too muddy.  

She was better today with horses up ahead, she was very forward but was happy to bounce along in a fast walk or steady trot to catch them up instead of trying to gallop after them and having a little tantrum if I wouldn't let her. We went out on our own but caught up early on with a man on a little chestnut mare and we did the rest of the ride together. We only had one pair of horses pass us and she did manage to walk for a little while but then we put them into trot and I was just about holding her when the little chestnut shot forward past her, well that was it, she was off and we were galloping off to catch the other 2 up,  Once past them she settled again and we alternated between trotting along on a loose rein and racing with the other pony.  They weren't really very well matched, Connie is much better with a companion who is not terribly competitive. 

She also managed to trot calmly past lots of sheep and some very big cattle, she did have her head turned all the past keeping her eye on them though, but a big improvement so I was very pleased with her. Looking forward to the next one in 2 weeks.

[Fi]

Sounds great. My old boy is competitive like that!!

[colmworthdales]

Very well done, Andrea. I am so glad you have bonded so well with Connie - she sounds a real find. You are obviously very fit as well!

Mollie and I had a nice long hack today round local tracks with very little roadwork which is always a bonus. 13km in about 1.75 hours but not hurrying. She is not that fit, and as not clipped I do not like to bring her home too sweaty so always walk the last mile or so home.

Hope to get her going on various pleasure rides before a few shows later on. Maybe dressage as well if I can get enthused this year!!

[harveydales]

Well done, that sounds a fabulous ride. Lovely to read how you and Connie are bonding and confidence growing. I'm very impressed with your time. We are no where near as swift as you. I can't remember, is Connie barefoot? I ask because Harvey is and I find it hard to decide whether to use hoof boots or not for longer, faster rides.

We had a pleasure ride yesterday too, up in the coldest part of the wolds but it was lovely. We set off early and were the first to ride the 20Km which turned into a 23Km because the organizers had marked the arrows on the ground wrong. I was convinced I knew the route but when the arrows insisted we go a different way I assumed it was a diversion. We went back and forth 4 times til we decided the organizers had marked the ride wrong!

Poor Harvey was very tired towards the end and I was worrying I was pushing him too much. He did perk up for the last mile and insisted he was in the lead back to the venue. I will give him a few days off now but he always looks so miserable when he's not being ridden. I think I will stick to shorter rides with him in future. So hard to know what to do but I do know he doesn't want to be retired yet.

[dalesnfellfan]

Yes Connie is bare foot Pam, I don't boot her, on the couple of occasions I've tried her in boots they've come off in canter so I don't bother now, just let her pick her way across uneven or stony ground. She is very careful on stones at home but on a ride she just doesn't seem to notice them, I was worried about doing longer rides barefoot especially as some of our forest rides incorporate some long sections of flinty tracks such as the Icknield way, but so far she's been fine, I just let her decide the pace which sometimes is walk but often she wants to trot and doesn't seem to notice her feet. I do look her feet over carefully afterwards but they seem to be coping just fine.

I have never done PR's this fast before, I've always preferred to go at a more relaxed pace, but now Connie is fit that's the pace she seems most comfortable with and she gets quite cross if I try to slow her down too much, we don't belt everywhere, it's just that she likes to keep up a rhythmical, ground covering trot or canter which doesn't appear to be that tiring for her or me. She is very sensible and slows herself down for corners and rough or boggy bits, then is off again when the ground improves.

I had thought I would just stick to PR's but I am wondering if I should try some graded rides with her as she just loves it and certainly has the right attitude, we might struggle with the metabolics though as she just won't drink away from home.

Pam I'm sure you won't go far wrong with Harvey if you continue to listen to him, I'm sure he'll let you know when he needs to slow down, pleased you had a good ride.

[harveydales]

I think you should try some graded rides as it sounds like Connie's forte. The shorter ones shouldn't be a problem for her even if she isn't keen to drink. Harvey never used to drink away from home but now he seems to have got the idea and takes fluid on board whenever he needs to, even sometimes from puddles! On Sunday we were saying that one problem the 3 of us have on these rides is that we don't have any one to crew for us and our ponies really could do with drink stops. I can't see Andy volunteering . Do you have any one to crew?

Harvey seemed fine yesterday and was keen to go in the trailer to Tanya's to see the saddle fitter. I had thought he wouldn't want to go in the trailer Monday. I was really pleased when the saddle fitter told me she had never seen a 22 year old horse with such a good back and in such good condition. Mind you, she is more used to WBs and TBs. So, based on all that I've now entered a PR in a fortnight.

Thanks for you comments on boots. I hadn't used boots for over a year but thought I'd try then on Sunday. They stay on fine in all paces but seem very clumpy and it must be harder work for Harvey than being barefoot. However I did think he coped better on stoney ground. With living out in the wet it must soften the feet although my farrier says they are fine. He does wear his hinds down a lot but it doesn't appear to bother him. Does Connie wear her hinds more than her fronts?

[dalesnfellfan]

I don't have anyone to crew either, Mike is disabled so he is not an option.

Connie doesn't seem to wear her back feet down any more than the front, but she does wear them quite short, my farrier doesn't have to take hardly anything off just tidy them round really, he says it's not a problem though and the more she's ridden especially on the road the more it stimulates the horn to grow.

Emeralds grow faster than she wears them at the moment, but when she was in full work she was the same. I am hoping to take her on the Presidents ride in April but we'll see how she is going at the time, it may be more enjoyable for me on Connie.

What a lovely comment to hear about Harvey from the saddle fitter, I'm sure he'll be able to continue for a while yet. The 2 horses I rode with 2 weeks ago were 26 and 27, a big hunter type and an Arab and were flying along and both looked half their age, their riders let them decide the pace which was quite fast but just let them slow when they wanted to.

[harveydales]

Thanks, it's encouraging to hear about older horses still out competing at endurance. I do the same, and when Harvey wants to go a bit slower I let him and then he usually perks up again. I do worry about giving enough rest time between rides for tissue repair but not too much so he stiffens up and also gets depressed. It seems to be a fine line.

My farrier isn't worried about Harvey's feet although the hinds are particularly short. It's not the toe length I worry aobut but the fact that he has no heel at all behind. It doesn't appear to worry him though. Like with Connie, he never needs any trimming as such, just tidying up and a bit of rebalancing.