J and I have been conditioning Thumper and Jessica for the endurance ride next month. So far we have only been able to ride around the farm and up and down the gravel road. Today we finally made it to the trails.
Thumper looked so fresh to start with. I thought I would try Otoelene's Toklat Cool Back pad for the ride instead of Hank's big heavy one that I had been using. The cool back pad is a good deal lighter and the 2 times I've used it on Thumper I haven't noticed the saddle pressure points that I did with the other pad. (If there is a spot not sweating surrounded by sweat under the pad then there is too much pressure there.)
This was my usual view, Jessica and J in the lead. Thumper didn't seem to mind how far ahead they got as long as they weren't out of sight.
This was one of my rare forays into the front. J had stopped because there was a 5 foot long black snake across the trail. The horses never even seemed to notice.
Then it was Jessica back in front turbo trotting for home. A little over 8 miles in about 1 1/2 hours. Thumper's pulse was right at 60 as soon as I got off but Jessica's was 80. On the ride you are not finished until the horse's pulse is at 60. J is afraid that he will be setting the pace and Thumper and I will just cruise in and beat him. We'll see.
1 comment:
Is that the snake in the road in the 3rd pic? UGH! Those cool back saddle pads are great. That's what we use on all our horses. I used to use a fancy thick one, but there was a little accident in the ratty old stock trailer and the horn and tree got ripped off my horse! So, I had to have the horn lowered! DOH! My horse still just misses the bars across the top. Thank goodness he didn't freak out.
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