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[RC] Not stupid questions - EdFirst of all, none of your questions were stupid. Second, relax! This sport is for fun for most of us(few of us are monetarily profiting from this!). Getting your horse ready is important and how we go about that varies from person to person. The heart rate monitor is a great tool to help us but it does not substitute for your awareness of your horses condition at any given moment. Be careful to keep your eye on the horse more than on the monitor. I didn't start out with a monitor but do use one time to time now. I like to train alone. It has really helped us to get to know each other and work together as a team. I have found it a rare time when I could ride with another person and get the most out of my horse whether it be training or during a ride. You want your horse to work sufficiently hard most rides that there is a progression in his conditioning. LSD is great but some shorter, faster training helps also. Sometimes I will just ride about a mile away to climb a 1/2 mile hill repeatedly to muscle him up. We run up and slow trot back down and repeat until he seems good and tired or I have run out of time. At the top is a beautiful view of our river and the surrounding mountains and sometimes as a reward we will take a break up there. The grass is deep and lush so he gets to graze around while I sit on the ground relaxing and enjoying the view. My training loop is a 10 mile loop which is along country roads. Some of the time we are on the shoulder (grassy) and sometimes on the asphalt. He is barefoot(4 years now) and this helps condition his feet. It also helps guide me in trimming him as it shows me where he is wearing unevenly. We occasionally take other routes or add detours to maintain variety. We check out anything out of the ordinary(goats, llamas, buffalo or odd looking farm equipment) to help him get used to "scary things". I can't tell you much about the boots. Don't use them often. They seem to fit my guy well and when I use them they don't come off easily. I have used a putty knife and a screwdriver to remove them on occasion. Stick the putty knife into the boot sliding along the hoof wall. Place the screwdriver between the putty knife and the boot and pry the boot off. The putty knife protects the hoof from the screwdriver. Do get the sponge thing right. One ride long ago I had mine tied to the back of my saddle. Didn't notice when it fell dangling on Sawyer's back legs. All I knew was he was heading up this steep hill at 800 MPH! When I got him stopped had to untangle the string from around a hind leg. Narrow miss of a major disaster. Bottom line, have fun! Ed Roley & Sawyer =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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