Geez, where does the time go? It's already Tuesday night, for cryin out loud! Saturday Char and i met at 830 AM in the Emmett hills for another training ride. Discovered a new trail up to the ridgeline, and decided it would be a good one for Pat, Lyn, and other less experienced riders. A very gradual incline all the way up, opening into a lovely meadow/bowl near the crest. Our plan Saturday was to allow our horses to select their own starting pace rather than dictating, and Tia was remarkably quiet and relaxed all the way up the draw, on a completely loose rein and in her Parelli bitless rope bridle. I liked that. I'll start trying to match her energy level from now on instead of making a unilateral decision, my goal being heading out 'together' instead of fussing at each other. I believe she'll settle herself much quicker this way. Besides, I love that she is always so enthusiastic about a new day and adventure and don't want to dampen that!
We did somewhere between nine and ten miles altogether. After reaching the ridge we continued in an easterly direction, generally towards Horseshoe Bend. Decided to explore a second new (to us) trail down the back side, in search of the road to Pearl. I thought I'd seen in on my last map search. We discovered a two-track all the way down, which gave us a chance to ride side by side for a change. Our mares have both demonstrated a willingness to lead or follow, which is a good thing. Ya never know what might happen out on the trail. And it turns out that what startles Delight doesn't phase Tia, and vice versa. I think both mares are growing in confidence as they learn to accept and respect each other's position at any given moment. Speaking about the trail again, we agreed that this one would be good for the greenies too.
Our reward for taking the trail less traveled was a hidden valley surrounded by rolling, still green hills, a few scattered homes, and a gravel road which led us straight away to the Pearl Rd! Once upon a time there was a little town of Pearl in the hills between Emmett and Horseshoe Bend. Although it doesn't really exist any more, the 'road to Pearl' does, and theoretically one could ride all the way to HB. Only seven more miles from where we were, according to a friendly neighbor. As much as I love to explore, and as many times as I've passed the sign pointing to "Pearl, 9 miles", I'd never tried that road. Would make for a pleasant little day trip. To my surprise the 'neighbor' we met turned out to be none other that Sheila Harmon of Destiny Arabians. Char and I had a very pleasant chat with her about what we were up to, our mares, her horses. Turns out between the three of us we had several friends in common! I've known about Sheila and her breeding program for years but had never met her. I'm going to send her our blog address so she can follow our adventure if she'd like. I think she was pleased to see us, because she said we were the first folks she'd encountered on horses since moving to her place there.
We're getting better at finding and measuring our horses' pulse, after some fumbling around with scopes and position. By next month we should have that down. Tia measured 10, 10, and 10 Saturday, which translates into 40, 40, and 40 bpm. So that represents before, immediately after, and 15-30 minutes later. Cardiac recovery index is an important indicator of how a horse is holding up on a distance ride and one measurement used by the vets to help determine whether to allow the horse to continue or not. I believe we need to recover to below 64 bpm within a certain timeframe. If Tia keeps going like she is we won't have any problems there. She's so fit and becoming moreso each week. I hope I can keep up our training pace...Char has been more consistent than me. I plan on some arena work tomorrow morning before the heat sets in. It's been in the 90s and up to 100 lately.
My highline equipment arrived today! Time to plan that overnight in the arena out at the barn teaching our horses to highline. I've been told they catch on pretty quickly, but we can't have any surprises at the PF.
I love my horse!
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