January 17, 2009

No ride today....winds are really up.

The sun is out, and it is warmer than it has been. I had full intention of riding today. First lost my riding buddy for today as she couldn't get her horse trailer out, and the winds are really gusting. I don't really mind wind so much, but we had so much damage when the hurricane blew through Indiana (yes, really) that there are what I call widow-makers hanging all over the place in the woods and along the trail. I'll ride under that stuff when it is atmosphericly (bet that is spelled wrong at least five kinds of way) calm, but I'd just soon not have a limb or half a tree crash down on my and Phebes. So I'm just hanging in there hoping tomorrow is a possibility, for at least one loop to keep her mind understanding that this is what we do.

So I stripped out the stalls today, and put down fresh shavings for the week. Did some shopping for stuff I'm out of, and I reckon' I'll go read my 2009 AERC rule book. Still trying to figure out if a 5 year old can do multi-day LD's. Since my budget is so limited I thought I might get a few more first year rides on her that way and only have the gasoline outlay once. My work out starts again tomorrow. ~E.G.

3 comments:

  1. >Still trying to figure out if a 5 year old can do multi-day LD's.

    **You can according to the rules. I think doing LD multidays is okay if they are 5 as long as you are conservative and are doing shorter ones, like 25's versus 35's. I cringe at the though of people taking 4 year olds on multiday LD rides tho. Or racing them even as 5 year olds (on any distance) :*( I know they can do it, but really - horses are not mature until they are 5 1/2 or older according to Deb Bennett.

    Course I am fairly conservative, and moreso now than when I started. I did a lot of things years ago that I wouldn't do NOW (if that counts, lol).

    When I was starting out and didn't know yet if I wanted to pay the $$ to do rides (and in my region,LD rides were usually not sanctioned then), I would go and volunteer to drag ride the last 25 miles of a 100. Gave the horses great experience, cost me nothing but gas to get there and they fed me! Maybe you could volunteer to mark trail, unmark trail, or drag ride a loop and do something similar. Really - it's getting the experience and conditioning that counts PLUS the memories that you get from doing it. :)

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  2. Nicole,

    A drag rider is someone who goes out on the last loop of an endurance ride to make sure everyone got in safe. They ride the last segment of the trail looking for any riders who may be lost, or in trouble somehow.

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