Running buddy

When it comes to endurance riding we all know that our horses need to be conditioned and fit. That much is pretty obvious! But what about the rider? If my horses have to be fit, should I be fit to make it easier on my horses as well? I am not just talking about weight, I know I have a much easier time riding when I'm fit than when I'm not. I don't get as sore after rides, I'm not as tired after long rides, I use my body better while riding, I can get off my horse and run with him up a steep hill instead of making him pack me up it. It seems like if I'm fitter and more functional on my horses it is easier for them too.

I'm not saying as a rider we have to be marathon runners or track stars. I'm not. But I think riders should be somewhat fit for long distance riding. I run to stay fit, and I'll admit I let myself "go" a bit over Christmas and the cold November/December/January months. I was still walking my dog 3 or so miles 4-5 days/week, but I stopped running and ate a lot of bad food over the holidays. Now with spring on the way, I'm kicking my butt back into shape and running again. For me, being about to run 3-5 miles does make me feel A LOT better in the saddle.

The other day I decided to take Little John with me on my run :) Why not? I ran 3 miles with him trotting beside me. I actually got the idea from another blog I read (http://inthenightfarm.wordpress.com/). It sounds silly, and my hubby thought I was a total goof, but it makes sense to me too. Gets my green horse out and active, even if a 3 mile trott without a rider isn't that much of a work out for him, it does get him out, seeing different things and getting used to going down the road. Works on his ground manners, trotting next to me at a nice distance and not lagging behind or going ahead. Plus if he's used to trotting out with me he'll be good for the vet in trott outs at endurance rides, I hope LOL! Plus it's just fun....I had more fun running with him and my dog (gets him used to crazy Lucy too! haha!) than I would alone.

Once Player is healed up (almost there!!) I'll take him on some runs too. I think I prefer having an equine running buddy to a human one :)

Pink Ponies

I've been working Little John quite a bit on his stops and turns on the lunge, and he's definitely doing pretty good. Here's a quick video from today...tried to pick a part where you can actually see something since I positioned the camera pretty cruddy LOL It's a 15 min video but I cut out most of it to just 2 minutes so as not to bore you...I know lunging is not the most exciting thing to watch.

Yes, I am wearing sweat pants and Uggs haha! Our high today was -15 C (5 F) and sweat pants are the best for layering over top of long johns. And Uggs are just warm!!
http://s1115.photobucket.com/albums/k558/hoofbeats1/Little%20John/?action=view&current=MVI_2519_FIX.mp4

He's definitely feeling his oats today, you can see in the video why my lunge whip just stays on the ground with him. He moves off kissing and my body language really well. He thinks he's pretty cute there at 1:20 in the video haha! Tomorrow I want to start working on figure 8's with him so I'll try to get a video of that too.

Both boys got their tails wrapped today. Pink is the only colour of vet wrap I had on hand so they get to be a bit girly for a while....I'm going to try and keep them wrapped and keep their tails nice this year. Once summer hits I may bag them instead though so they can still swat flies.

Such manly steeds ;) They are also standing on almost 2 ft of solid packed snow there, so that's why my hitching post looks so low to the ground. It's not I swear!

This is how I wrap my boys' tails....here is a tutorial with pictures. It usually stays in quite a while!
http://www.horsegroomingsupplies.com/horse-forums/tail-wrapping-tutorial-with-pictures-169520.html

I've also added their grain back into their diets. No Player is not in work quite yet, maybe in a week or 2 depending on his fetlock, but I don't think it'll hurt him. He actually isn't as fat this year as other years despite having free choice hay in front of them 24/7. Not that they are skinny either, just at nice weight actually for winter time.

The grain I feed is MasterFeed's Exactor Lite.
http://www.masterfeeds.com/view.php?public/Animal_Nutrition/Equine
It's a higher fat, low carb grain for performance horses. It's also good for horses with stomach problems. I used it with my barrel horse in the past and he looked and performed amazing with it so I figured I'd stick with it for the endurance ponies this year too.

My hubby is coming home on Thursday so I will try to get him to take some under saddle pics of LJ and I together. For now this will have to do!