From: THE HOLLANDS
Hi Jessica, Great idea you have here! Well, I have searched thru your archives before sending in my question(s). I am in my second year of owning a 19 year old grade Ms Foxtrotter mare. This summer I am hoping to be ready to participate in my local horse clubs trail rides. The ones I will be interested in are the 10, 15, & 25 mile ones on relativley even ground, (I am statying out of the mountains!). Anyway, with the some of the winter off, but full time pasture on a little over an acre of pasture with run in and stabled on the really nast days/nites. Anyway, with back ground out of the way, I have no idea what sort of working up I need to be doing to get her in condition for any rides. So far all we have worked up to is 4 miles at a steady walk and she just seems to be ok with this. The only thing I sometimes notice a little stiffness with her in the am. I wonder to contribute this with either arthritis or soreness? Per my vet's advice I have some FlexFree on order. Yes, teeth, shoes, everything else checks out fine. My other problem is being a mother who works full time and lack of daylite hours in the evening, my only time to ride is on the weekends :( Do you have any suggestion on a workout schedule so to speak? Or is it pretty impossible to have her worked up to being able to sustain a fast walk and some foxtrott for 10 to 20 miles? Overall this mare is in great shape body wise for her age, she is an extremley easy keeper, very hardy, a little barn sour but, I would like to not be left behind at the rides or worst of all hurt her in any way.
I appreciate any advise, , Vicki Holland
If your vet doesn't find the morning stiffness any cause for alarm, I wouldn't worry about it. If your mare spends the night in her shelter and does less walking around (not surprising, especially if the grass hasn't come in yet!), that will be enough to cause a little morning stiffness -- and you probably notice the stiffness more in the really bad weather, when she spends her nights in a stall.
Most of us (equine and human), past a certain age, are a little bit stiff in the morning -- as long as you ride her gently for the first mile or two, and give her a good chance to stretch slowly and work out of the stiffness, this shouldn't be a problem. Since your mare is in good shape, it's almost certain that this is simply an age and management issue rather than a soundness issue.
Preparation for trailrides: If she can maintain a fast walk and some foxtrotting at home for AT LEAST the distance that the trail ride will be, then she should have no trouble on the ride itself, assuming that the footing is similar.
This isn't as simple as it sounds, though. If your mare works in an arena or on a flat path at home, and the trail ride is rocky, muddy, very uneven, or all three, then she won't be adequately prepared. Similarly, if all your riding at home is on a flat plain, and the trail rides are up and down hills, you'll be asking your mare to use herself differently, and she'll be putting unaccustomed strain on her muscles and tendons and ligaments -- again, she won't be adequately prepared.
You're planning your trail rides on terrain similar to your own at home, which is an EXCELLENT idea. Good for you! But how far away is the trailhead? Will you have to trailer your mare there, and how long will she have to spend in the trailer?
Trailering is another factor you have to figure in -- time in a trailer is just as stressful for a horse, physically, as time under saddle. Sometimes it's MORE stressful; the horse uses all its muscles and structures to make millions of tiny balancing adjustments, and has no way to anticipate what is coming next. So a four-mile ride from your stable and back again is NOT the equivalent of a two-hour (say) trailer ride followed by the same four-mile ride, followed by another trailer ride. If you can haul her alone in a stock trailer, or in a two-horse trailer without a partition, and let her find her own position so that she can stand at a slant, feet spread, and head low, the trailering part of the day will be less stressful for her.
My advice is that you do what you are obviously already doing: be sensible, be conservative, go slowly, and take good care of your mare. Keep talking to your vet, and don't be afraid to drop back in your conditioning schedule at any point, if your mare becomes sore or cranky (cranky usually means sore, but not yet to the point of limping).
Start small -- and you probably don't have to work alone. You can't be the only person in your area with a horse that isn't yet in condition for long trail rides! When you're at home, lengthen your own rides, gradually, to ten miles or so, and once or twice a month, if you can manage it, call a friend with similar concerns and arrange to ride together. Pack up your horses, go to the trailhead and do a four or five mile ride, say, then stop and have lunch and let the horses graze (or plan your rides so that you ride out two or three miles, then return to the trailhead for lunch, then go out again!), then do another ride, trailer home, and see what she feels like the next day, and the day after. That will tell you how much more you need to do at home.
Never try to increase speed and distance at the same time! Always increase distance first, before you even think about increasing speed. When she can comfortably go ten miles at a walk, stop increasing distance and instead start asking for her to alternate her ordinary walk with periods of faster walk. When she's entirely comfortable working those distances at a faster walk, start asking for some periods of fox-trot alternating with the walk. Remember, it's the long slow distance work that builds her up -- fast work, too soon, will just tear her down.
When you get to that first ten-mile ride, be very aware of your horse's condition as you ride, and plan ahead in case you need to pull out or fall behind the others. There's no shame in either option -- hurting your horse would be the real shame. Have a "buddy" -- there's bound to be someone else who's dealing with the same issues -- and agree that both of you will slow down or pull out or turn back if either one NEEDS to; that way, you may be two miles behind the others, or going the other direction, but you won't be ALONE. This is important for your safety. For the same reason, tell the ride organizer your plans, and which route you will take (backtracking along the same one, or another one?) if you DO turn back.
Use all the usual precautions: tell someone where you are going and when you expect to be back, carry your first-aid kit in a beltpack, along with a whistle, just in case... but that's good advice for any trail ride, anytime, anywhere. ;-)
Have a lot of fun, and if you have time, let me know how it works out!
Jessica
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