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[RC] Pre-ride testing of a youth.. - SpottedracerWell, after a 'training LD' - of 3:45 ride time... both my daughter and her 13hh SSpony have shown they can easily keep up with ol' mom and her more experienced horses.. LOT'S of trail traffic at the park yesterday - dogs, runners, bicyclists and slow trail riders.. Katie handled it like a champ - even slowing to a walk on her own - EVERYTIME she saw us coming up on 'trail traffic' (I've trained all my horses to slow to a stop from a gallop swithin 3-4 strides of saying 'Whoa' - and to CALMLY walk by anything)We were actually cooking at a 3 hour speed, but the last lap my Bay mare (who was being ponied) started having 'boot malfunctions' for the very first time ever.. Seems that a RunWalk must wear out those cables in just 150 miles of use - time to get new ones..My daughter was the one who ordered me to stop immediately (she was behind us at the time) - when she spotted that boot flip off and drag by it's gaiter.. Sharp kid! Met a gentleman by the name of Ed (ned?) Kid... During one of our 'VC simulation breaks' between laps, I spoke with him at length... Very experienced horseman! Sorry to hear about his accident at Natchez Trace.. He noticed that my daughter was in a bareback pad... and I had no stirrups on my 'training Aussie'. started to recommend some brand of endurance saddles to us.. Took him a second to understand what 'twisted tarsals' meant (in my case) - and then he saw the smooth gait on the SSpony. He just grinned and exclaimed - 'that kid's an endurance rider through-and-through'.. Might make it to her 'birthday party' at Derby Dash.. - LP - proud mum of the 'pink rider'
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