Belle’s Blog

So, my friend Robin has a talented endurance horse. And a dream of going to Tevis. But she also bought a new business last year, and has Not been riding. So, my resolution for this year was to make her ride! Her shop is doing well enough that she can manage a little time away, and they are closed on Mondays, so that is the dedicated day for us to ride together.

There is a 25/50 mile endurance race fairly nearby that is scheduled for May15th. That gives us 12 weeks to get our horses fit. We will just do 25 miles this first time out. My first challenge is to select a horse to train. Seems like that would be an easy decision – I own 15 horses for cripes sake! But you can eliminate the two old school horses – 31 year old horses don’t need to rack up miles. And of course, I have 3 youngsters in the front field that aren’t even broke to ride yet (which is another goal for this spring) so now we are down to 10 to choose from. Oh, and the Welsh pony is just 3, and slated for driving training. The ideal choice would be Latifa – 8 yr old Arab/Selle Francais mare – but she was almost sold in December, and the vet check revealed a heart murmer. I have not had my vet investigate it, but endurance seems to be out for her. I also can’t use Allie – she had a turn out injury – BAD slip and fall, and is still not 100% sound –they would most likely pull her on the first vet check. Similarly, Jack’s older hunter has an annular ligament problem, doesn’t keep him from working, but he doesn’t need miles racked on him. The Saddlebred with the club foot could use the work, and loves trails, but I worry that the stress of endurance might be a bit much for that less than ideal leg. I originally thought I would do it with either Lego or Louie – but both are already in a good work program, and endurance training would take Away from their dressage, etc. So now it is down to 3. My 22 yr old upper level dressage horse, Spritz, has side bone issues. The brood mare in the front field was given to me because she had some slight soundness issue – I haven’t seen it, but she hasn’t been ridden in 4 years! And then there is Belle. An 8 yr old Connemara/Welsh cross mare. 13.3 H. But broke, and been on trails, and hauled to a few little shows. She is just a hot little number with a real tendency to jig. I broke her to drive and she has proved to be a real star in harness. She is perfect for our parade sleigh. But she doesn’t really have a job in summer – and she does need the work. So, Of the 3, she is the most logical, if somewhat Short, choice! I am feeding 15 horses, and I am going to endurance race a Pony!!!

Feb 22 – First ride out with Robin. I haul over to her place. Robin is lucky. Around her house are Lots of buttes and sand washes – pretty good endurance training area. I have flat land in every direction. But to get to the trails from Robin's back gate you have to ride about a mile up the street. With barking dogs charging the fences, and cars occasionally flying by. Both of our hroses have not been ridden in a month, and very spotty work for the past 2-3. So, neither of us feel ready to ‘run the gauntlet’. Instead, we load her boy, Aries, into my trailer and haul a short distance to some local hills.

What a beautiful day for a trail ride. It rained over night, but now the sun is out, the sky is blue, there isn’t a hint of wind. The desert is just starting to green up. I had almost forgotten how beautiful it was to get out on new trails and sight see from the back of a horse. Too much time spent in the arenas these days. This commitment to get Belle and Aries fit is going to be good for me as well. Robin’s horse is steady. Belle is jigging a little, but mostly being good. Especially considering that I grabbed the wrong bridle. It really has been So long since I rode her that I didn’t recall who’s headstall she shared. The headstall she Used to use got broken by a spooky pony I was green breaking. HER bit is on the driving bridle. Oh well, the noseband is Way too big, but the cheek pieces shorten up just enough. Given both horses level of unfitness, we opt for mostly walking, using the hills to build a few muscles. We ride just over an hour and get back to the trailer with two still mostly dry horses. A perfect fitness start.

Robin knows much more about conditioning than I do, and she says we start slow and build duration first, then we increase the speed and that adds distance. So, we want to get to where we are riding for 3 hours, but mostly at a walk. Then we start adding in trot and eventually canter. We will still ride just 3 hours, but with the faster gaits, we will increase distance. Both of us make a commitment to also do some home work – at least lunging, or free lunging to build some lungs.

Thursday, Feb 25^th – find time at the end of the day to at least Lunge Belle. We work for 15 minutes – it isn’t much, but it is better than nothing.

Sunday, Feb 28^th – A 20 minute ride in the dressage ring – Belle is Not happy with my bridle choice again! It is a French link, but with a flat center link, not the bead of her regular bit. Who knew it could matter so much! I decide to simply ignore her head, ignore any jigging and just ride forward. One of her biggest problems under saddle has been that we tended to get into fights. She gets a little hot, starts to jig, I start to pick at her, and she gets mad and jigs more and even will get bucky in canter. Now, I am not worried about how she carries her head, or even if she jigs – I know she will figure out what an energy waster that is when we start doing more miles! She is actually fun to ride when I let go of worrying about making her be a dressage horse! It is 11 weeks until the race. We have a long way to go – literally.

Monday, March 1 – The color purple – Robin and I are supposed to ride this morning. I go out to hitch up and discover that there is another trailer blocking mine. I Could hitch to the blocking trailer, move it and then access mine, but the person who owns that trailer is coming Tonight to pick her horses up, and so the problem is going to resolve itself. So, Robin hauls to me. Less interesting terraine, but we do need to leg the horses up for sand washes, and I do have one nearby. Meanwhile, I pulled Belle’s bit off the harness headstall, and put it on the only combination Halter Bridle I own. It is bright purple. A friend gave it to me for the pony. But it fits Belle to a T and it will be very convenient to use at the race. And since I am not doing any horse shows with her, might as well just use this. The bright purple looks good with her light gray color any way. And when I get my old water bottle holder and IT is bright purple as well –I have to accept that the fates have decided Belle’s color is purple! I will have to get some purple riding tights and maybe a purple pad for the saddle!

The ride is nice, the horses seem to get along, which is a good thing since they are going to be spending a fair bit of time traveling down the road together. Belle actually breaks a sweat today, and Hates it. She kicks and stomps her back feet. Aries thinks she is being a nasty mare, and doesn’t want to be anywhere near her! Again, I know that time will solve this behavior – she just needs to get used to the feeling and also to learn that being cranky about it is just a waste of energy. We up the trail time to 1 ½ hour, and even do a little trotting. Robin managed to work Aries this past week about the same as I did Belle. We will need to do more soon, but given that we both hadn’t ridden these horses at all, it is an improvement!

I have one more commitment – I hope to lose a pound a week until the race. I have gained a little weight over the holidays, and I would prefer to be under 130 so Belle doesn’t have to pack any extra weight. I will use this blog to keep myself motivated! Scale read 142 this morning.