Baby Steps

Lately I'm doing even shorter distance.  I'd been trying to get at least 10 miles each time out, but we weren't making any progress.  She would be pretty well over it by nine or so.  Pulse recovery even with slow work has been sluggish.  What I've been doing isn't working for her (the way Phebes would have responded anyway).  She is still willing to pick up a trot when we finish, but since she isn't getting a fast pulse down, I figure the work load is still too much.  I'm going to have to rethink how I'm going about things.  My thoughts are running along the lines of shorter distances right now with more sustained trotting.  Right now she needs to alternate her trotting with walking, and flags out on the uphills.  Journey is smaller than Phebes in everyway so with my weight and the saddle she is probably carrying maximum load.  We fall into lightweight, but just barely....too many tater chips one weekend and we can tip right on over to middle weight. 

So! For the next two-four weeks I'm going to work on trotting intervals, probably on my favorite gradual hill, trying to add on one or two repetitions each time out.  Right now she can handle three of them, so first time out I guess we will do four laps, then walk home, tweaking up a lap or so each time we are out. I don't think she is ready for much work at the canter yet.  We utilize it now and then on the uphill grade grassy road, just to make sure she keeps tuned up and doesn't resort to bucking. 

Today I pulled the wool skito open and robbed the foam panels and inserted those into my old SKITO which has a synthetic poly/wool backing.  I thought her back looked good today post ride, not pink and rumpled like with the wool.  I'll check her again tonight for soreness.  At this point she has an inch of the foam in her pad, and things seemed to fit better, so the tree is a little wide.  Journey  lacks the muscling in her shoulder and topline that a working horse has which contributes to her issues I'm sure.

Journey is doing well.  Fairly steady under saddle for the most part.  She does not like moving surprises (deer, turkey, humans) out on the trail, but otherwise she's pretty easy to deal with.  It's just one step at a time...one step at a time.  (rinse, repeat).  ~ E.G.