"Charity" rode Hope, walk and trot, and he was okay. Going to try the Easy Care fit kit on him today.

"Charity" rode Hope, walk and trot, and he was okay. Going to try the Easy Care fit kit on him today.

Vacation Time!

I'm getting ready to go on a vacation with my nearest and dearest, leaving the little one, and not-so-little one, and the definitely big ones, behind this time. (Boy, it has been a loooong time!)

While on the 3,000 mile trip I'll have a lot of time to read in the car and am taking with me Tom Ivers' "The Fit Racehorse" (I couldn't afford "The Fit Racehorse II) and "Racehorse Owner's Survival Guide." These books are just filled with solid training and injury prevention and rehab information, and the writing style is very personable. I just get lost in the technicalities easily. I believe this is going to be one of those books that I will have to paraphrase, line by line, in order to take it in and understand it.

So, expect to hear from me August 24!

I Like It!

Julie Suhr: "How will you know how far you can go until you have gone too far?"

So far, so good . . .

I'm off to a good start, the 40-minute Pilates workout, and the gym yesterday. I'm doing 2 miles on the treadmill keeping my heartrate at the "fat burning" level for my weight/age. I get it done in about 40 minutes including warm-up and cool-down, usually at an elevation.

Some thoughts on cardio theaters at gyms: I think they get all those flat screen televisions free from the advertisers! Out of the 10 screens, at least half of them are showing a commercial at any one time. And, when I go to work out, one will be showing a food show, 2 will be showing a home improvement type of show, 2 will be showing news and 2 or 3 will be showing psuedo-news, 1 will be a card show or some other game show, finally, if there is a real show on, the sound won't work. It is novel for me, however, since I don't have any television reception where I live and so have not watched television at home for a dozen years.

On the other hand, right now I could ride as a Featherweight only if I did the Lady Godiva thing--naked and bareback! Well, it's a start . . . .

Well, thankfully Hope seems no worse for the "wear." He shows no obvious signs of being tender-footed in the pasture or signs he's been down. I took off the Old Macs and he just walked off. Hmmmm. Will have to discuss this with the farrier.

Uhh Oh----

Well, had my farrier out on Saturday to trim "Hope" and told him to do do a really good job, 'cause Hope was headed to the Tevis this year. Sunday, the horse couldn't stand up on some gravel! He does have very very flat feet, and I guess the trim just put too much pressure on his soles. He usually is a little tender-footed after a trim, but this! I gave him some Bute and strapped on some Old Mac boots on his fronts to give him a little protection. He's getting around fine in the pasture and not laying down, or keeping weight off of one foot, so I'll keep a careful eye on him and discuss it with my farrier. Perhaps he's one of those horses that really needs to be rasped every couple of weeks.

On the brighter side, my endurance "soul sister" visited and we got to go on and on about the Tevis and endurance without anyone else getting bored. I got my "fix" and it should last me awhile. My spouse will be grateful!