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Re: [RC] conditioning - Truman Prevattlarry Miller wrote:There is nothing more exciting than flying down trail either at an extended trot or canter on a narrow trail thru the woods. The more agile the horse, the faster you can go. Not too many folks can move out in the trees. It is an advantage to do so and the ability to do this just might mean that one will come into the vet check in front. It also means that one's horse will learn to respond to the slightest weight change, leg pressure, or whatever. Anytime some non distance rider makes the comment that it takes nothing to train a trail horse, I just kinda snicker to myself. Of course, moving out like this means that I have to keep fairly agile too. Jeanie Amen Jeanie! I remember on one War Eagle ride. Much of the first 15 miles was a quite a slalom course on a single track up and down ravens in tight woods. I was wearing contacts (hard) and got a piece of grit under one. Of course it hurt like the dickens to keep the eye open. The contacts were new and I didn't want to just pop it out. It was a cool morning and the Hell Bitch was being the horse that earned her the name. We are flying through these tight turns - me with one good eye and tears streaming out of the other closed one. We had about a five mile stretch through tight trees where one mistake could be a big mistake. I just got as light as I could in the saddle, got balanced ready for anything and stayed out of her way. She know what to do, she knew when to do it and she knew how to do it so off I go 'passenger in seat 1A" up and down ravens - down a tight winding trail through the woods. After we get to a road crossing I was able to pull her up pop out my contact and put it safely away. I still could not see out of one eye, but at least it wasn't in pain. However, the only reason I am still alive today is the skills of my horse ;-) . I do have to say the ride was a blast - especially since I had the confidence in my's horse's ability to do the job as long as I kept out of her way. Truman PS: I took the contacts out at the check and haven't ridden with contacts since. -- "A mathematician is a device for turning coffee into theorems." - Paul Erdos (1913-1996) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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