This has been a most frusterating day from a technology stand point. At any point I'm expected horns to protrude from my forehead and my head to pop off my neck from the sheer lunacy of it all.
Is it too much to expect that the 99 cent bagal I bought at panera provide me decent internet for an hour? Apparently.
Obviously the saddle pics are not getting posted tonight, nor the new pics showing heather that the boot bag and my custom bag are the same size.
Nor am I feeling witty anymore. Which is unfortunate because I went for a run with farley this evening that I did not feel like doing-even as we walked out to the road together, I still was t feeling it....and then it turned into a wonderful run for no other reason that we were together, and even the fact it started to rain did not deminish the experience. So instead of a well thought out witty post you get a horrendous run on sentence.
I have some thoughts on rider fittness that are going to wait. I am no longer going to try and combine the various "addendum" posts into the main post, and lastly, if you want to here my take on endurance granny's question/comment, go to the broke horse post of yesterday(?). It was the one thing I DID manage to accomplish before the Internet and my computer had a melt down that ended with them not speaking to eachother.
Gosh I'm feeling grumpy. Off to self medicate with torchwood and my new favorite drink-unsweetened baking chocolate melted into milk with a dash of chili powder and cinnamon. Maybe a sprinkle of nutmeg if I'm feeling adventuous.
simma down girl! Hey I am sorry if I left you defensive... I wasn't meaning to criticize you, it's just that with hubby's profession I see WAY to many NICE horses and GOOD people in really bad situations due to overtraining and overriding. I am not implying that you do, but in my defense, your last statement in the "Broke Horse" post lead me to think you were hitting the trails this weekend for conditioning purposes. I agree that getting your mare out is a necessity. I personally wouldn't ride her but hey that's me and you know your girl best! Who cares what anyone else thinks, anyway! You really shouldn't have to justify it to anyone! Next time just tell people (me) to mind my own business ;-) I just hate to see someone fail when their intentions really were in the right place. I think hand-walking and hand-jogging would be GREAT for Farley. I do that with my baby horse and love the bonding! I sympathize with your boarding situation, it must be hard to manage an endurance horse in a small pen. Maybe someday you can find a more space-appropriate place for her, I know it's really tough in CA.
ReplyDeleteEndurance Granny- most people believe horses have a set number of "miles" in them. Most of us don't want to use those miles conditioning, and would rather use them at rides. Most people doing hundreds only do a few a year, and give off adequate time in between. When your horse is to the point that a 100 is feasible, they really shouldn't need much conditioning at all in the meantime. My horses don't get ridden much at all during ride season, the actual endurance rides are conditioning and then they just get a light leg-stretcher in between.
Glad you like the boots Mel. You might contact Kirt and find out about those pads. I thought they were pretty nifty ;-)
What I found most interesting about this entire thread is the idea that once a horse has peaked in condition, that they can "hold" that condition with less work.
ReplyDeleteI've operated on the mind set that every year I have a 12 week conditioning program prior to riding an LD. Even though I do ride intermittently as winter allows.
So I was blown away by the concept that these horses can hold that condition for that long. It frankly amazes me! Further it really made me wonder why anyone would want to have their horse on downtime for that long, even for the sake of having the satisfaction of completing an elite ride, I wouldn't want my horse out of commission that frequently...I like to ride!
It is funny how long I've been reading people's comments on distance riding over the course of several years and never really caught the learning curve on this holding condition topic. (I'm not meaning this in a snippy way, but rather a profound light bulb in the head moment sort of way).
If I cross post a question on my blog will someone share some info on holding condition?
*still tilting head left, then right with perplexity*
~E.G.
E.G. you're so sweet ;-) I don't think you could be snippy if you tried ;-)
ReplyDeleteMost horses with a base can be brought back to condition within four to six weeks. Horses hold their conditioning amazingly well, quite frankly it's just not fair!!!
The name of the game in endurance is balancing the necessary amount of miles necessary for competition, and allowing adequate rest afterwards. The most common thing you'll see is horses towards the end of the season suffering from frequent periods of NQR-ness and metabolic issues. They get tired. Over-training is a huge concern in endurance. They need rest after exertion, specifically after a ride. If you want to ride year round and compete, you really need more than more horse!! Luckily my hubby understands this and supports it, or I would be real crabby after a ride while my horse was resting lol!!!
~ A
Sorry about being so snippy. Work has been tough and I'm letting it affect my professionalism here. Nevermore!
ReplyDeleteIt's so tough to do endurance with my current boarding situation. I have to be so very careful because my horse is NOT in the same condition as other mounts that have access to pasture.
Eg-one of the problems with minx was she required more miles to maintain fittness than farley. As a result she was closer to the "overridden" line and ulimatley we didn't compete In any rides her last year because it was too risky to keep her in condition-I couldn't keep her sound and fit to do fifty miles. I think finding a horse that keeps condition with a limited number of miles is oneark of a good endurance horse.