Endurance Training Week 2 Days 3, 4, and 5

This week the weather has been really weird, but that is horseback riding in Georgia for ya.  It has made riding a little more difficult.  I decided to try riding in my western saddle and see how my horse would do, previous to that I have been riding in my Isabella Dressage saddle.  Monday I rode for 2 and half hours mostly pretty slow.  Tuesday I went to get her and I noticed she was moving a little stiff so I let her pick the pace and a weather front was moving in, so we took a break and worked on a pole pattern and the clover leaf pattern.  She got a good hose down and cool off time.  I think she was stiff because I used my western saddle.  I had ridden her almost that long before with no previous problems. I have found a forum that has been really helpful and linked me up with some other endurance riders.  http://www.horsegroomingsupplies.com  You can ask questions and meet all kinds of people.  Not that you should take everyone's advice, but it is still nice to meet people who want to do the same things as you.

Endurance Training Week 2

Yesterday we did a shorter, faster workout about 3 miles of alternating trot and canter.  Khari was a little warm and breathing fairly hard but she recovered pretty quickly. Within about a quarter mile of walking her breathing and heart rate had visibly come back down.  I am trying to find a heart rate monitor and GPS specifically designed for endurance riding.Today we rode for 2 and half hours.  Started off at a walk.  Trying to get her to extend her walk.  Some luck today.  Khari was a little full of herself because she had been in her stall due to heavy rain, but calmed down into a fast trot after about 15 minutes.  Very little cantering today.  Maybe half a mile at most.  It is hard for me to keep track of the distance.  I think I really need the gps system that will keep track of my mileage, mph, and our heart rates.Khari seems to be handling the work load pretty well.  I switched to the western saddle the last two days to help her get used to the heavier weight.  I am going to have to pack weight though because I am below the feather weight division.  The western saddle caused a little soreness and I am going to go back to the english saddle for the extended corral training.  I just haven't made a decision on a good endurance saddle yet.  My husband is convinced that we need to build one because he is not happy with the weight distribution and the potential for sore spots on a 100 mile ride.  Technology has come a long way and he is surprised that there are not more exotic materials used in endurance saddles.  He has a couple of engineering buddies that might work on the problem. 
I have been washing her off when the weather permits and it is not to chilly and rubbing her down with Sore NoMore or some kind of linement.

Endurance Training Day 3

Yesterday I rode 3 1/2 miles.  A little bit of cantering, some trotting, and a fair amount of walking.  It took us about hour.  Which after reading several articles, is apparently really slow.  But as it was only our second day I was really happy with my horse.

Today we rode for 2 hours and 20 min.  The break down was something like this: 1 mile of cantering flat, 3 mile of trotting mostly flat with a few hills and a lot of walking the rest of the time.  She seemed a little winded after the first 3 miles because they were done kind of fast but then she settled and her breathing relaxed.  She is used to doing trot and canter work.  It is not abnormal for her to trot for 20 or 30 min and canter for 10 min.  So far she seems to really like this new training style.  She likes that we are going out of the arena to ride.  I also tried a short trail ride by ourselves today and she did great.  Her confidence seems to be improving by the day.

Endurance Riding - A New Chapter

My horse is now 10 and still full of herself. She is so much fun now! I am going to start training for an endurance ride and or a competitive trail competition. I am going to use this blog to keep my notes and other things that come up.

A few weeks ago I went on a weekend trail ride. While I had been riding my horse 4 to 5 days a week for probably an hour or so at a good trot I was pretty surprised that she got so sweaty and she seemed a little stiff and sore after we came home. So I gave her some light work for 2 days after we got back and then let her her have the next 5 days off. During that time I decided to measure my arenas and that is where the problem lay. While I had been riding, I had not been riding long enough or hard enough. Now that I know how many laps it takes to make a mile in my round pen, outdoor arena, and indoor arena. Where do I start?

I thought I would see how she would do with a 2 mile warm up in the round pen. My horse is used to warming up before I ride her, so I thought no problem. While she handled the 2 miles, mostly trotting. with some cantering she was more winded then I thought she would be. I then gave her a breather and went and got tacked up. We rode 2 more miles at a trot in the arena and then did a mile of slow hill work for a cool down. I really paid attention to her breathing and how she felt under me.

Today I am going to contact her vet and see if he can email me or tell me anything specific she should be eating and try and research some more about endurance riding.

New Day

I ordered Parelli's Level I kit. It came yesterday. I have already played the friendly game, yo-yo game, and driving game. She did great! It actually worked. It also seems much more polite. My husband is not very supportive. I think it is because his attitude is not positive and he does not communicate well. Working with my horse is like seeing me in a whole new light. I keep thinking in the back of my head how are these techniques applicable to dealing with people and the girls. It is definitley getting me more in tune with my body language and facial expressions.

Last Few Days

I had her shoes pulled Thursday. She seemed a little sore, so I have not done much with her the last few days. I went to the Georgia Arabian Horse Association meeting today. It was informative and I meet a few people. I have decided to do the Parelli program. It should be here next week. Can't wait. Not much else is going on right now.

Still Cold

All this cold weather makes it hard to do much with Khari. So I am pretty sure I am going to take the plunge into barefoot trimming and let Khari go with no shoes. I worked with her today on more free lunging, brushed her down, and noticed that her coat looked a little dull. I will be keeping a close eye on her to make sure that she is feeling ok. With it being so cold I do not know if she is getting enough water. I took some more pictures of her today and will be posting them soon. I finally found someone to come and work with me and Khari. She has been working with horses for 40yrs. She follows natural horsemanship techniques so I am very excited. But it will not be until February. In the meantime I am going to re-read Pat Parelli's Natural Horsemanship book. Hopefully I am going to have her shoes pulled on Thursday.

On the home front my youngest daughter almost started the house on fire today, peed on the porch, and touched the fire poker right after it had been in the fire. Its hard being 3.