Getting into endurance

Here are my two cents about getting started with endurance:

1) Volunter for at least one ride - definitely work some of that time at the vet check. Ask questions. There's a lot you can learn sitting with the vet and other volunteers (usually riders themselves) during the course of a 12 hour ride during which your job is mostly to sit, talk, and wait for a rider to show up. Observe and take in as much as possible about what's going on at camp, the vet check, ride meetings, starting the race, holds, and what riders are saying about the ride. You can learn more from one ride than a year of riding yourself.

2) Get your horse into fit and regular riding shape (you look like you're already there).

3) Get GPS that will tell you how far you've gone and how fast you're going (I have a Garmin Venture HC, about $110). This has been useful in riding in general - I log my arena miles just like my trail miles, and it sure is helpful on a ride to know how far you've gone and how far you have left to go! You'll also need a stethoscope. Don't worry about a heart rate monitor unless you really start getting into endurance. I still don't have one and don't feel any need for one, unless I start competing at the higher distances. Finally, you'll need a watch that shows the seconds.

4) Practice taking your horse's pulse with the stethoscope right behind his front left leg. There's plenty of websites to help you with this. When you start, time how many beats there are in 15 seconds and multiply by 4.

5) Get a good feel for a "working trot" - not a slow job, but not extended either. For most horses, this is about 8-9 mph (yours might be different because if his shape - I'm not familiar with the breed).

6) Take your horse out on a 4-5 mile ride and try to maintain a working jog most of the time. Keep cantering to a minimum, and walk where you need to. Cantering takes a LOT more out of a horse - that's why a good trot is the "working" gait of a horse. Walk the last 10 minutes/last couple hundred yards (figure out how far it takes your horse to walk 10 minutes).

7) Taking the pulse. When you get back, take your horse's pulse immediately, but not while he's eating/drinking/whinnying/being excited. You want an accurate pulse. Your target is 60. If he's already there, you're golden. If he's below somewhere 61-69, keep checking his pulse. As long as he's down to 60 within a couple of minutes, you're good. If he doesn't come down OR he's still very high (70-75 would be "iffy" while above 76 I'd be worried), then you need to go lighter. I highly doubt that's likely, given the work you've put into him and that any fit and healthy horse shouldn't have a problem coming down after only 4-5 miles of a working trot.

8) Adjust your training. If he's coming in at "golden", add distance OR speed - not both. If you're already up to 8-9mph good working trot, I'd just add distance, not speed. Any more speed really isn't necessary and strains your horse's ligaments which take years to build, not weeks. If you're coming in at "good", keep the same training schedule for a few weeks, then start adding distance. You'll get to know your horse. My horse always comes in at about 64bpm or lower, no matter if I went 5 miles or 25 miles.

9) Ultimately, you want to be conditioning at least 20 miles per week, but NO MORE than 30 miles per week. That does more damage than good. At least one of those days, you want to do hill work. If you can get in a short ride with tough hill work, that's great - but make sure it's shorter distance. You can count arena riding as conditioning, too! We were working on discipline at a working trot one day, and I got in all 8 miles. My friend does drill team with her GPS on, and she did even more than that! All riding counts as conditioning - even walking.

As far as nutrients goes, I'd say you definitely need to start with beet pulp, then add grain mixture. Soak the beet pulp to get a mash (you don't want any hard pieces) and it will help keep your horses hydrated. When you're just conditioning, this doesn't matter as much because your horse will have plenty of access to water most of the time. However, you want to get them used to eating it because it'll be a lifesaver at a ride, especially if your horse forgets to drink but is plenty eager to eat your beet pulp, getting his hydration that way. There are already plenty of threads on here about how to feed beet pulp, though, so I won't get into that many details. Just be sure to soak it, since hydration is the whole point of feeding it.

I add a Triple Crown Senior to my beet pulp because it's low in molasses, I'm already feeding beet pulp so I don't need a grain mix with that, it's high in fat, and has lots of other good stuff. I used to mix my own stuff together, but this is way easier and ultimately better and cheaper. You'll also want to get a good mineral powder to put in there, and electrolytes are great, but make sure your horse is used to them. I don't do electrolytes, but I want to explore it in the future. Ultimately, talk to your vet about what your horse needs. Since he's a different breed and build, he may require different supplements, but I don't think you can go wrong with that combination.


Read more: http://www.horseforum.com/endurance-riding/new-endurance-148510/#ixzz2J3AngBs9

Winter Fitness

I'm going to do my best to keep up conditioning through the winter, but I'm in the northwest and will likely have to forego usual conditioning, especially when the ground freezes and the snow falls. What do you do to keep up fitness through the winter? Or, do you give them the winter off? When do you begin conditioning again and for how long before your first race of the season (since horses tend to hold their fitness pretty well)? Any change in supplements and feed?

Read more: http://www.horseforum.com/endurance-riding/winter-firtness-143762/#ixzz2J3Ona900

Snickers has come a long way!

Ok, so it's been a while since I've posted, and there's so much to write about!  I'm going to separate this into a few posts, since they're different subjects and whatnot over what has happened.

Snickers has come a really long way in the last month and is almost like a whole new horse.  He's excited to see me when I come to get him and willing to go to work, though, of course, he still whinnies but only on occasion.  I don't think that will ever go away haha.  We've been going out on the trails quite a bit (check the miles log!), but that doesn't even come close to reflecting the miles we're ALSO covering in the arena and round pen.  His entire attitude and obedience has changed, and he seems to enjoy our down time together when we're brushing rather than being preoccupied about getting back to the pasture.

On the trails, we've been really watching our speed and I started taking his pulse, then waiting for him to come down.  I've gotten decent with the stethoscope, at least on his body (sometimes other horses take a bit to figure out).  The only trouble is that he has a hard time standing still, though we've been working on that a lot and he's doing much better.  I've gotten a little aggressive with him :( but not bad, and it seems to have gotten my point across.  Plus, when he does stand still long enough for me to get a good read on his pulse, he gets a treat.  I've started carrying apples and carrots on me, which never fail to make him happy (as Trevor recently helped me discover, he actually drops for carrots lol).

It's been raining a lot, which is why we have a lot of miles we've covered in the arena and round pen, but it's helped us get a some good discipline work done.  I've been working on his head, neck, and topline (with many questions to and suggestions from the English riders at the barn! Horse people are - generally - so nice), and the other day I set up the poles, a cavaletti, and a low jump to go over.  He had to take a look at them first, but after that he worked over all of them quite willingly.  I did raise the jump up little by little and was working on jumping a tad at the end (Trevor wasn't too happy about that when I told him....) and Lou took a look and said we were looking good - I just need to sit a little more forward in the seat.  Overall, I was really proud of him and have been in general.

Last night the paths had dried up, so we finally got to go out for a trail ride.  The trails were good, but there were still a few muddy spots and puddles so we put those to good use.  We worked on just powering right on through them without having to stop and sniff every one.  He caught on pretty quick and is trusting me more and more, so by the end we were doing pretty good, though he still wanted to dodge around the ones he could of course.  On the bigger puddles, we're pretty successful as long as we slow down to a walk just before it, which is safer anyway so he doesn't slip.  On the biggest one, he did stop and sniff it, then took a few steps and sniffed it again, then proceeded to get a good drink!  I guess he's fine with the water then haha.  It'll be interesting to see how he does with actual running water now...

I finally got all of Snicker's papers back and my registration card for AHA.  They have the Frequent Rider Program (FRP) and Distance Riders programs, and so I signed us up for both!  I need to log my hours and I'm excited to get credit for our competition miles, though I'm tempted to also sign up for the other distance program that requires a competition membership.  For the first two, you get certain prizes when you reach the milestones, but this other one sends you a plaque and then little plates for every 500 miles you complete to add to your plaque.  That's pretty cool!  But it seems pretty expensive - I'll have to check it out later.

Snickers' stall hasn't had any covering on it, and it went from 90 degrees last week to lows in the 30's this week with rain and even some snow and hail, so it's been a tough week.  Yesterday, I noticed they've got the first tarp up over the stalls where he is at, so hopefully they'll finish that up soon.  It'll be nice for him to have some shade :)

I think that's about it!  I'll have to post more often, but we'll see.  Life is just so busy!

Poor Flash waiting patiently...

Still waiting....

All decked out in our endurance gear :)

A week's worth of riding

It's been raining and windy pretty much all week, so I couldn't give horse lessons except for Saturday.  However, that means there was plenty of time for me to ride!  I figure I can't decide what the weather will be like during my endurance rides, so I might as well get experience in all types of weather that's reasonable (though, here in Idaho, the endurance season months are generally dry and sunny, though they can occasionally get windy, like on the day of my outdoor wedding reception!)  I've got four trail rides to catch up on, plus one day's work in the arena....

Sunday was windy, but I went ahead and saddled up.  Snickers wasn't too keen on being caught, so I worked with Flash first and did some ground driving.  He did really well!  He's not fast by any means, but he gets that when I pull one direction, he turns that direction, and visa versa.  I did get it on video, too.  I don't think he's nearly as frustrated as he was during our first attempts at ground driving, with the bridle and bit and a makeshift surcingle.  The right tools make all the difference.  And a patient horse!  Good job Flash!

I did catch Snickers, and we went for a ride similar to our first one, to the mangled car.  He really fought going out on the trail and kept turning back toward the pasture - can you say herd-bound?? - but we eventually got going after a little antsy dance, particularly when he saw the dogs at the house.  It's not bad, especially once he gets going because he's a LOT better, but at first he was really fidgety and ornery (sp?).  It's amazing the difference it's made to get him out regularly and work him around things he tends to be afraid of.  He did stop to look at the car from a short distance and was a little shifty going past it, but all in all it really wasn't a big deal.  Now that I've seen it closer, I really have no idea if it's a car or not, but it's definitely a giant heap of rusty mangled metal!  We followed the trail to where it bends left at a fence, where we trotted a ways.  There were a couple of shiny, flappy silver board things on the ground that he shied at, but all in all he really works through things well.  Out that direction, we did see the train go past and I thought about riding all the way to it, but we came to a spot where the entire trail was covered by a mountain of tumbleweeds and decided it was probably a decent turning back point.  All in all, it came out to a little over 6 miles.

Monday or Tuesday I went out there but didn't ride at all.  Instead, I caught Snickers, who was being his little Prima Donna self and whinnying and dancing all over, and decided to leave him tied while I worked with Flash first.  Oh my goodness he was NOT happy!  Oh well - that's what a good knot is for!  With Flash, I groomed and groomed him, (as usual), and then set up a bunch of small jumps for him to work over.  I figured that would be good trail experience for both of them just in case we ever have to step over something.  Flash was so funny!  He willingly tried all the "jumps", though he knocked down every one that he could.  I love it though - even when the jump was falling down under his feet and the poles on the side were falling on top of him, he stood there like it was nothing.  Good boy!  I definitely need a horse like that to contrast Snickers, who, as expected, wasn't exactly calm when he worked over the same jumps lol.  I eventually put Flash away, and then Snickers was up, who had at least stopped whinnying constantly and was pawing instead.  I brushed him down, rearranged some of the jumps, and then off we went.  As we started walking up to the jumps, he suddenly realized there were all these scary monsters around him and went into "OMG" mode, dancing around wide-eyed and shaky-legged.  I was patient and led him up to each one and gave him time to figure out what it was, then coaxed him to step/jump over it, which resulted in much praising.  In the end, I got him to go over each one multiple times, and he didn't hesitate too much over the ones that were just low poles.  He just always needs to sniff things first, but that's ok.  I was so proud of him working so hard and being so "brave"!  Where Flash isn't phased by really anything, Snickers has such a big heart that he'll work to overcome what he is afraid of.  I'm so proud of him :)  It is pretty funny to see the contrast between the two on video, since it was the first time for each of them seeing these jumps.

Wednesday was another windy day, but we went ahead and braved the weather!  As I started out, there was an older gentleman starting out just ahead of us with his dog.  I recognized the saddle as the one that sits next to mine in the tack room because he has the same endurance stirrups as I do.  I struck up a conversation and it turns out he did do endurance, but not anymore.  His name is Lou and his horse is the one that Sandy's (the lady from SWIT&DR) daughter is riding for endurance.  Snickers was being a herd-bound turd again, but we got out there ok.  It was hard to talk to him because we kept getting ahead of him thanks to Snickers.  After a bit I said goodbye and trotted on ahead.  Snickers could not figure out what the heck the grain stuff was on the ground though and kept dancing around it as I tried to get him to look at it.  He seemed to do ok about the dog - he was just spooky all around though!  Once we got out there a little more on our own, he did fine.  I wish that was the Snickers people could see more often!  He can be such a scaredy-cat at the barn, dancing all over the place.  We ended up going under the power lines and following the trail left to Kuna Mora Road and then back, just over 8.5 miles round trip.  Overall, once he got over the stuff at the barn in the beginning, he did great.

That night was the SWIT&DR meeting, where I sat next to Sandy and her husband.  I am now an official member with dues paid and all, and I met and talked to a few more people, particularly about volunteering at the Tough Sucker in April.  The lady I talked to (I believe she's the treasurer...) suggested I get my own stethoscope and learn how to take a horse's pulse, especially because that's what I'll be doing most likely for my volunteering day.  Plus, then I'll get used to taking Snicker's heart rate.  I really enjoyed the meeting and learned a lot (though the speaker was talking about composting, something I can't really do since I board and, though I did mention it to my dad a little, I doubt he'll ever take the initiative to do it).  I'm glad I joined the club!  Also, Sandy said she'd trailer with me to rides she goes to that her daughter doesn't, so maybe that will work out!  I really want to get some award next year, and I think the Rookie Rider award should be easy enough to get (there wasn't even a rookie rider last year), but it would be really cool to get the rookie horse award for Snickers.  That means I'll have to make going to rides a priority and maximize the amount of riding we can do!  It's a cool goal to work toward!

Thursday we rode again, and it was a pretty sweet ride.  I worked him a little on the lunge line first, and I think that helped him use his brain a little more.  He was a lot better about striking out for the trail.  It was still windy, but we just struck out under the power lines and then back again in a straight line.  Past the trail intersection, the trail wasn't as good, but good enough and I could still see any holes.  The best part of the ride was that we totally had a Spirit, Stallion of the Cimarron moment - There was a bald eagle flying along with us!  I couldn't believe what I thought I saw, so we did some loping to catch up.  At one point it landed on one of the poles, and I'm fairly positive it had to be a bald eagle. It was pretty sweet :)  It was a really nice ride, and the loping was great!  I felt a little more secure in the saddle, something that still feels weird to me on Snickers and in this English saddle.  We didn't do a whole lot, but Sandy suggested doing a variation of speeds so we threw it in there.  Plus, it was pretty sweet to be loping along in the wide open with a bald eagle flying above us :D  We went just over 8 miles.

Shelley called and said my tack was in, so I went to pick it up before class Thursday.  I picked up the pad and breast collar, and grabbed an English hackamore while I was there.  The bridle came in, but it turns out the bridle/halter combination she ordered was one of the ones that clips on the bit and the halter has a brow band on it.  I wouldn't have been able to use the snap-on headstall with it, so I decided to wait until Shelley was in to figure out what I should do.  Then I decided (mostly out of impatience and the weak rationale that with Snickers's bridling problem the snaps would probably cause more issues anyway) to go back and get the combo.  Then, as I was pulling out, I realized that since it had a brow band, I would need to pull the halter over his head (and that's when he freaks out) in the pasture just to get the halter on, and that wouldn't go well.  So I brought it back.  Shelley called the next morning and is going to order the right halter for me.  Hopefully it gets here soon!

We took a break Friday since he got a really good workout Thursday, but Saturday we went ahead and did a "short" ride.  It wasn't raining while we were out there, but the ground was really wet and muddy.  We tried a new trail going right at the first fence, which leads west.  It went into the area where there was a fire - I think that may have been one of the fires last summer from this really strange electrical storm that started a bunch of fires around our house.  We came out toe Pleasant Valley Road, and there is a track along the road, probably for ATV's.  Either way, it was really nice and wide, as well as flat, so we went ahead and rode South along the road.  At one point, there was a giant puddle that covered almost the entire track, so I decided to take advantage of it and work with Snickers on water.  He was pretty funny, but so brave!  It was wide enough that he couldn't dance around it, and finally realized he was going to have to go through it.  He put his nose down and sniffed it a few times, blowing the water away in ripples.  Finally, he decided it was safe, and took a couple of steps, then sniffed it again to make sure it was still water.  He did the routine a few more times until he was all the way through the puddle, and I told him how good of a job he did :)  We went a little further, loping some of the way, until we reached the railroad tracks.  There was a cattle guard there that I got him decently close to, again just letting him get used to anything and everything, then turned back.  I let him lope a little bit and let him lengthen out pretty fast, but then practice slowing down in between trotting and loping.  I think we need some more collecting lope, which I plan on doing today in the arena.  We went through the big puddle and a few smaller puddles, and he did really well!  He still had to sniff the puddles every time, but didn't have to stop and sniff again once he was actually walking through them.  He felt a little funny coming back, but I think that was because of the mud and that he really wanted to get back!  Again, we'll need to work on some discipline today in the arena.  All in all, we did a little more than 6 miles, totaling about 41 miles for the last two weeks.  That's great!  I'd like to average about 20 miles/week in conditioning, and so far, so good!  I'm setting a goal to make it to the Owyhee Fandango at the end of May, but MAYBEEEEE we can make it to the second Tough Sucker.  That might be pushing it, though, so I'll really want someone to check him out for me to tell me if they think he's ready.  I should go ahead and get that stethoscope soon so I can start checking Snicker's heart rate myself and get a good idea of where he's at physically :)

Well, that's about it for my horse exploits for the week!  It was a good week.  I'm excited to get Snickers's bridle - I'll have to take a picture of him all decked out in pretty blue!!  IT looks really good so far, so I can't wait to complete the set!

8 mile loop

We went 8 miles Thursday!  Snickers was actually less sweaty than last time - maybe it's because I don't think I pushed him quite as much haha.  We took off down the main trail that goes under the power lines.  He did pretty well, and trotted out for me just fine.  He was a lot less spooky, but what he lacked in quantity he made up for in quality.  The biggest spook was when a flock of tiny black birds, those one that hang out in a giant black, morphing cloud, took off from the ground 50 feet or so ahead of us - far away enough to not be any cause of concern, but close enough that it surprised Snickers.  But, he worked right on through it!  The funny thing is he doesn't really even break his gait when he spooks or shies, he just trots slower and around the monster and takes a good look at it.  I saw a coyote as well, but I don't think Snicker saw it because he didn't spook.  I stopped him and let him take a quick break while the coyote (at least 100 ft away) ran away into the brush.  He did, however, smell it a moment or so after we started going again.  He'd take a couple steps, freeze, stick his nose in the air, look around, and go again after a little prodding.  It was only for a couple of minutes or so, though, and then he was back to normal.  I'm so impressed!

Snickers extended really well when I asked him too, and it's getting easier and easier.  I think it helped him a lot when I just let him extend last time as we headed back to the barn, but checking him when he broke into a lope.  I think he's got the idea of what I'm asking for, and is more than eager to give it to me.  Since I think he's more or less got it down, I'm going to tone down the speed and just ask him to trot nicely for a distance.  I did ask him to extend every now and then, especially where the trail was really good, so I could reinforce what I wanted.  I checked our speed, too, and it looks like he gives me a slower, collected trot at 7mph, and his big, extended trot is around 11-13mph.  That's pretty sweet - we were cruisin!

We took a right where the main trails intersect, headed North (there's a map of our ride at the bottom of this post).  One of the guys from the barn had mentioned that it loops back around and I was a little curious, but mostly I just wanted to continue exploring the trails.  I kept a close look at the time, though, and kept going "just a little further" - and eventually we ended up right on Kuna Mora road!  Instead of turning around, we went ahead and followed Kuna Mora back to South Vista, then walked South Vista all the way back to Dusty Acres for his cool down.  He really didn't have much trouble with the cars, who were mostly nice and moved over.  I'm not a huge fan of riding along the roads, but it was probably the quickest way back (and he'd already gone 4-5 miles), there was a nice, wide dirt(ish)shoulder, and it was good to know how he'd do around cars anyway.  I'm not sure if Snickers caught on that we were actually getting closer to the barn rather than farther away still, but it was nice not to have that "return trip" so I know he was still concentrated on what I was asking rather than just trying to get home.  It's a fine line between cruising home and barn sour lol.  He did really well with a couple of other scary monsters along the way, including a torn up mattress and some other garbage thrown out along the trail.

All in all, I was pretty proud of us and can't wait to get out there again.  Good boy Snickers! Backing up a little, I did lunge him with the lunge cavesson (which I got in the mail last week), which he freaked out about like the bridle when I tried to put it on.  It took one try with the clicker to get him to keep his head down, though.  I think I'll just have to include my clicker in my pack (probably buy a few extras as well), just in case I'm ever out on the trail and need to get him to behave with the bridle or anything else that might come up.  He calms right down and concentrates with it, but it'd sure be nice if he just got over this issue all together.  He also cross fired (of course) while lunging, and I got after him some, forcing him to get back on the right foot.  I did get him to do it a few times, but I'm not very satisfied with it.  They horse shoeing lady was there, and she said she sticks them in a round pen and works, works, works them.  I'll have to worry about that later.  On the bright side, I'm not so worried about lunging him before I ride anymore - it's more to get him to let his air out so I can get the saddle tight at this point. He also doesn't let me catch him without a treat.  It's kind of funny, though - he doesn't "avoid" being caught so much as has the attitude of "bring me a treat first."  Whereas when Smoke'Em was in his "don't catch me" phase, he would be very cautious and move away from the halter/lead rope even when I had a treat in my hand, Snickers just wants to munch away while I'm putting the lead rope around his neck and lets me put the halter on really nicely after that.  He is so alert and keeps me in front of him, so if I don't have a treat he just backs up so I can't get to his neck, then loses interest and walks away from me.  However, if I have a treat, I just offer it to him, move around to his neck, and put the lead rope around it while he's having his snack.  The little stinker lol.  Oh well.

Well, I think I've effectively described my whole ride with Snickers in reverse order, and I guess I'll continue to do so since I briefly worked with Flash before working with Snickers.  Flash was super sweet about being caught, of course, and walked right up to me and stood still.   He's shedding like crazy, so I spent a long time brushing him down.  There were quite a few giant ticks in him that I felt, so I pulled out my jar and tweezers and got all the big ones I came across plus a few little ones.  One of the ladies I see out there every now and then asked me what I was doing, and we talked for a while while I tracked down the nasty little suckers lol.  The lunge cavesson was a little big, but I tied it up just like I did the surcingle and it worked fine.  It's still twisting around his mouth, though, but he did fine for the most part.  He did pretty good with the long reigns, actually.  He's starting to get it and turn nicely when I ask.  Just a little work every now and then I guess and we'll get there :)  I'm not  in any hurry!  Though I sure am excited about riding him - he's such a sweet heart and everything I could ask for in a quarter horse!

I also went shopping this week - I got some good money from horse lessons and decided to go ahead and get the saddle pack and some stuff to keep my cinch clean along with the blue rope reins they'd already ordered and gotten in.  Still no saddle pad, but that should be in by the end of this week or maybe the beginning of next week, as well as my other tack that I ordered!!  I'm so excited - I decided to take the plunge and order my royal blue Zilco halter/bridle combo (which will be much nicer to work with getting the bridle on Snickers since the halter fits nicely under the bridle to hold his head down if need be) and matching breast collar.  I can't wait to be all decked out in my blue endurance stuff!  It looks so cool on everyone else's horses lol.  And I will still have my very pretty all-leather bridle, of course, when I want to look classic haha.  We're gonna be hot stuff!  I decided I really like the blue - it's pretty color that really pops, will match Snickers well and even Flash (though it's looking like they'll each have their own tack anyway), and it's Trevor's favorite color so I'm excited to be all decked out in it :)  I'll have to take a good picture once I get it all in! You know, I just thought of this - those nice blue rope reigns will double really well as a lead rope out on the trail, especially since all I have to do is unclip them from the bit and clip it onto the halter ring :)  Awesome!  One less thing I'll have to carry! (maybe lol) Ok, well I think that's about everything.  I'm planning on going riding after this.  I wasn't sure because, despite the semi-nice day we've had so far, it's supposed to rain - but I guess that's what endurance is all about!  I'm not going to get to pick the wether for the races, so I might as well work him either way!  Dang, this sport is addicting ;)

Trimming and Trail Riding

I officially get to log my first 4.5 miles! Yeterday was a big day for me and the boys. I got out there and tied them up for trimming, and the lady got right to it. I can't remember her name, but the cmopany is Little Lady Horseshoeing. She was really good with both of the boys, taking time to let Snickers, who I had go first so I could saddle him up while Flash got his feet done, calm down and get used to her being there and working on his feet and all her tools. He stood really well for her and she got him trimmed up really nice. She said he had good feet, though his outer walls are a lot thinner than his inner walls I guess. She helped me decide to keep him barfoot as long as I can, though,if we need to, shoes will prevent him from wearing down unevenly. Flash didn't want to stand still very well and she worked well with him. She had me come stand in front of him and calm him down and keep him from going forward, and he did great after that. I really wanted him to learn to stand for her without the clicker, so I was glad he did so well. She also said he had really good feet. When I mentioned about him being toed out, she said his toes were just long and he had a "flare" on the outside. She trimmed it off and he looked a lot better. I don't know about the toed out or not, but it was nice to hear her say he's really good. I put Flash back right after the trimming. He was already sweaty when I pulled him out of the pasture, so he must have been running (I'm guessing chased?) around a bit. I'm glad I hadn't planned on working him. Snickers, on the other hand, I planned on finally taking out onto the trail. I figured out the Garmin and set it up so I really wanted to try it out, plus it was really nice day. By the time I got out there it was cloudier and windier but not terrible. I almost decided to stay in the arena... I got the bridle on the first try. He took the bit fine and ALMOST raised his head, bringing it up a few inches but still with my arm over his poll, but I paused and just waited for him to put it back down before I finished putting it on. Then I rewarded him with plenty of grain :) He did NOT want to stand still at all. Thank goodness he freezes once you're actually getting on and off, but getting him to hold still otherwise was a pain. He fought dropping his head and collecting, but eventually started to give in. Ultimatlely, I decided to go ahead and just take him out and let him move. As soon as we were out, he turned his attention to what was going on rather than misbehaving. Of course, he had to look at everything and s really cautious, but once we got going on the trail he started moving really well and collecting when I asked him to. He shied away from a few things, but overall I was really proud of him and he behaved himself and listened. When it was coming bout time to turn back, there was a really good marker: a giant bundle of rusty and tangled up metal. It might have been a car at one point - either way, i wanted Snickers to at least take a good look at it and he decided he didn't want any part of it or the 30 feet of trail between it and us as it was right alongside it. I didn't ask him to go toward it, but I did want him to take a good look at it and calm down - and it definitely showed when he finally saw it lol. But, after a little bit of coxing not to just turn around and head the other way, as he REALLY wanted to do, he stopped and took a good look at it and held still, and then I told him it was time to go home. On the way home, it was REALLY easy to get him into an extended trot, so I rewarded him by letting him and I worked on getting comfortable in it. He did break into a lope now and then, but slowed right down when I asked him. When we started tog et closer to the barn, I slowed him down to a walk to cool down, but we did average 6.9 mph before we slowed down. At the end, we'd gone exactly 4.5 miles and averaged 6.3 mph. He was really sweaty but so excited to be back and started whinnying for Flash when we got back. I unsaddled him and did a quick brush, but he was ready to get to the pasture and I needed to go, so I got him back out to his buddies pretty quickly. Overall, it was a really good day :) All of my maintenence is done now and they won't need their feet done for another 2 months, and shots done until fall! And I'm finally logging my miles (which, btw, the GPS doesn't get a good signal inside the barn, but oh well). I think I'm going to get ahold of the endurance lady out there so I can make sure I go about this the right way, but I'm feeling pretty good about all this. I called Legacy and my reins are inbut my saddle pad is on back order, so we'll see when ose come in. I think I may pick up the reins tomorrow though. I guess we'll see!