Poptart and I were cold and alone for 7.41 miles and 2 hr 18 min at a temperature of 17 degrees with nicely consistent wind today. This was his 3rd ride out by himself and he was great, I am so glad we suffered through negative with wind chill temperatures together! Last time he was on a bit of adrenaline as he was nervous about being without other horses and he clocked an average 3.7 mph walk for almost 3hrs. This time, however, he was quite content to mosey about 3 mph, eat some grass, and calmly make his way down the trail. He tackled a short steep climb, lots of deadfall and practiced 'grab-and-go' eating. The deadfall is a big deal because one of his trouble areas is limbs (or objects) around his legs, especially when he steps on a piece and it shakes in the woods off to the side. Today no big deal, last June it was an ER visit for me. We also started trotting on the trail a bit earlier than planned as I was trying for 48 hrs of total trail walking time, but it was ENTIRELY TOO COLD to only walk -- the trotting helped me regain circulation to my toes :) He was very obedient, but we certainly need to practice a slow, relaxed, rhythmic, ground covering trot using his back end and lifting his back. His current tendency is to raise his head/neck, hollow his back, and rush with fast short little steps, but even today after a few transitions and practice he offered a few moments of much more relaxed trot, yay! Also, after today, we are down to 3 out 4 easy boots, soon I will be posting my thoughts about renegade hoof boots... And coming up this weekend --playing in snow!
No comments:
Post a Comment