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[RC] A tired stallion is a good stallion! - Chris PausI think I have a new trail pony. I took my 23 YO boy Szybki out on a real honest to goodness trail ride today and really asked him to do a lot. More than I've ever asked of him before riding-wise. We only went about 3 miles, but that's 3 x longer than I've ever asked him to go before.
We did some meadow trail in horribly mud slop conditions, did a lot of twisty turny trails with knee knocker trees, rocks, mud, logs to cross. After the first mile or so, he was a veteran and didn't hesitate! Just did what I asked.
We got to one big log that he wanted to think about before crossing. When he was ready, he just stepped over it instead of trying to leap it. Yeah! That's incredible for a rookie trail horse.
He never tried to leap the water crossings, just went through them.
We faced a lot of deer. I think the same four doe several times. He was fine with that.
Had the HRM on him. He was working in the 9-100 bpm range, a little higher than I would like. But I think most of that was nerves. If we stopped for a rest, his HR would drop to 60 bpm within a minute, which is excellent recovery time. And considering he was carrying a heavyweight rider and he's only 14.1H and about 800 pounds!
He seemed extremely interested and enthusiastic about his job. I think he enjoyed it, mud and all! It felt like he had been doing this all his life by the time we got back to camp!
We got back to the trailer and two girls were riding two mares past him. I was wondering how he'd do. Other than making a little noise, he listened to me well and didn't act studdy.
He just had a well deserved roll in the mud in his paddock.
Just a little cloud nine brag. I'm playing with the idea of putting him in some LD CTRs or even LD AERC rides... he'll be 24 this spring!
"The world is what you make of it, friend. If it doesn't fit, you make alterations." Stella, Silverado
Chris __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
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