Looking at my calendar today I see we have a 26 day count-down to The Chicken Chase. We have three weeks to work out the issues, harden up to hill climbing, and fine tune the rating as best I can.
(The plan for this week)
Monday: we will be hill climbing for at least an hour of intensive work. Will probably do a pre-ride with some schooling up in the front lot. I shoot for 5 miles on the Garmin climbing & descending nothing but hills. If it rains, we'll move it to Tuesday.
Tuesday: Off
Wednesday: Another hour session of hill climbing. If it rains, move it to Friday.
Thursday: Off
Friday: Ground schooling and free longing in the pen, working on removing more of the hair with the curry. Pack up the trailer for the ride on Saturday.
Saturday: Meet Nicole at Versailles State Park by 9:45 AM. Saddle up and head out by 10:00 for the XYZ loop. I expect this to be a little sticky for both horses as neither are familiar with that trail. It is 12.5 miles and includes one really nice hill, but otherwise it is flat and fast. We will move slow the first mile as a warm up, and once we are under and through the tunnel the goal will be trot, trot, and trot! If we can average 6-7 mph it will get us back between 12:00 and 12:30. Sponge, feed the horses and break for lunch (one hour total). 1:30 back on the trail, this time the A loop which is 7.5 miles. We should be able to finish this loop in an hour. That will give us 20 mile in 3 hours + if all goes to plan. We will then check pulses, let the horses stuff some hay prior to going home. If this works out, I figure Phebes is ready enough to face 25 miles at Clark. We should be able to finish well within the 6 hour ride limit even with the hills if I can keep her from getting caught up in "RACE BRAIN."
After that we will have April 4th and 11th as potential away training dates. I will continue to work on the A & B loops at Versailles with an emphasis on maintaining gait and improving our rate at the trot. Weekdays will be a repeat of hills, hills, and more hills. The week of the 12th we will do hillwork on Sunday, off on Monday, pleasure ride on Tuesday, and then off until Chicken Chase.
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