Trailride with Raven

 

Raven and I went to Occoneechee park this morning for a conditioning ride. We went out the main trail, which is an out-and-back ride, but I knew the footing was good since it has gravel and it’s been kind of wet here the past couple weeks. I was aiming to mostly walk, but Raven was so eager to be out that we did do some trotting and even a little galloping. 

I’m very pleased to have discovered that my Australian saddle fits her really well.  I’ve had it a very long time, because it’s my favorite. If someone gave me a block of clay and had me sit on it to make an impression of my derrière, then created a saddle that perfectly fit that impression- you would have this saddle. I can do super long rides in it, I can do fast rides in it, I feel extremely secure in it, I love this saddle!  Thankfully, Raven does too. She has many opinions and does not hesitate to tell me if something is even slightly amiss with her equipment, but she really does like this saddle. 

The only thing I need to change is the girthing system. I either need to change the rigging to be regular English style billets so I can use a girth with elastic, or have a girth made with elastic that can accommodate the thick billets and overgirth.  The current girthing setup doesn’t have even contact with her barrel.  Fortunately a new friend in the art guild I joined has a husband who loves to do these kinds of custom projects, so I have a lead in that direction!

I don’t love these pics with the wonky helmet cover that doesn’t fit the helmet super well, but I’m trying to be extremely visible on the trails because of hunters.

We went just about 8 1/2 miles in an hour and 45 min. We are both a little stiff this evening, getting back to riding fitness together is a process!

Occoneechee Park

 Our annual parks pass covered this new park as well as our regular, Staunton, so Owen, Pascal, and I did a short hike today to check it out.  I like to investigate on foot first before I head into the wild with a horse and trailer to see what potential we have for trail rides there. 

At the end of our hike as we were headed back to the truck through the parking lot, some park rangers stopped us to ask if we had seen a pair of women with dogs.  We had, so explained which trail they were on, and they thanked us and then continued on to find them.  Hopefully everything was ok!  Owen had heard them jokingly (or so we thought) talking about being lost, but they didn’t seem worried so we didn’t think much of it as we passed them going the opposite direction. 

Chonky Ponies

 

Everyone is looking a bit chunky in their winter bods, just how I like to see them this time of year! Here are Raven and Daisy, then Dewey and Miss Pea playing in the arena this week. Highboy and Note are doing well, though they are not in this particular video.

Sunset

These were taken just a few minutes apart, what a spectacular sunset!

Pascal Goes Hiking

I took Pascal to the Staunton River Battlefield state park today to check out the trails.  My phone says I went nearly 25,000 steps and did 10.5 miles over the course of the day between feeding and this hike with Pascal.  During the drive home he was one tired pup!

 

Holiday pics

 

Raven and Kim Start Training

Today Raven and I began a training program I’m putting together to aim us at a couple endurance rides this year. I’ll be logging my rides and keeping track of mileage as we go from couch potato/pasture potato to hopefully endurance ready over the next six months. 

Today we did a bunch of walking in the arena, which has relatively deep sand, and then did a lap around the arena pasture and cruised the whole driveway.  I did it this way for a few reasons.  Walking in sand is great for slowly strengthening tendons and ligaments as well as good cardio.  The lap around the pasture on the grass and then walking the gravel driveway adds in different ground and surfaces which is good for hooves and using muscles differently. Varied terrain and conditioning using long walks is a good way to develop a base of fitness. Total today we went 3.3 miles in an hour, which is about where I want to start, especially considering the sand at the beginning.

I’m treating us as starting from zero for fitness, because it never hurts to be cautious.  I expect Raven to do fairly well as we progress since she’s been extremely fit for eventing, just not in the very recent past.