Re: "bra burning broodmares"

["Dana B." <ddbpaso@yahoo.com>]

Oh Heidi, I can relate to this!   When my mare came off 'maternity leave' I tried to take it very easy on her figuring she was in as bad of shape as I had been when I came off mine (*wrong*).  She had lived in Idaho running up and down mountains, and even with the time off to be a mom was in way better shape than I had expected.

Being a newbie armed with all the wonderful advise from this list and others, I was determined not to overdo it so the first trail ride of any length we took was with 'plodders'.  I thought this slow pace would be good for her.  It actually made her crazy!  I finally let her move out away from the others and I have never seen such an exuberant, happy horse.  She definitely burned her bra that day! 

What I have been doing as a result of this ride is let her go at a good pace at times, and intersperse that with lots of opportunity to do other things (play in water, zig zag bushes, go over downed trees, etc.).  Sometimes we walk up hills, sometimes we charge up, but I always pull short if she seems to be straining at all.  She seems to be able to easily do 10-20 miles at a good pace (?5-7 mph) with no problem (quick recoveries, no soreness, etc) but I do worry about too much too fast.  She's only 8 and I plan on having her around forever so I would hate to hurt her in my ignorance.  With these horses that want to go too far too fast, how do you know when you go past the line?   She does get lots of recovery time between rides as between my schedule and the weather we've only been able to get out 1-2 times per week on a good ride.  We have not done over 20 miles at this point, but I hope to be doing 30 by May.  Is this reasonable with a very athletic horse?

By the way, she is well conformed and while I would hardly call myself a 'tiny hiny', probably with tack and all she carries 180 - 190# (my next dilemma - do I join AERC as lightweight or middleweight?) 

Dana

  ridecamp-d-request@endurance.net wrote:

From: "Heidi Smith"
To: , "Rides 2 Far"
Subject: RC: Re: Long Slow Distance

In thinking back, I can recall three older broodmares with which I've done
this--all in their teens, and all of which had been running in the Idaho
mountains most of their lives. One actually didn't do a 50-miler, come to
think of it--she went to a 20-mile novice CTR (and she actually had the
least time under saddle at the time, so the shorter distance was
appropriate) where she placed 4th in a field of about 25 horses, and
certainly met the concept of "fit to continue" at the end, as she was
dragging on the lead, wanting to go back out with the regular "open" horses
on the next loop. Not a one of these mares showed the slightest discomfort,
nor did any question what we were doing--unlike the horse that Angie
described, all three acted as if they'd been let out of a cage, and were
absolutely tickled to be out doing something. I used to call the older
broodmares starting endurance careers my "bra-burning women's libbers".

ddbpaso@yahoo.com
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