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Aug. 5th, 2008 07:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickMowed grass at work yesterday. I managed to knock the first joint (the one on the hand) of my index finger so that it is both swollen and unhappy about moving in assorted directions. Bugger.
After work I went over and rode Callie, which I have done every non-Thursday that it hasn't rained since the end of the fair. Just because I don't SAY that I went and rode the horse does not mean I didn't ride the horse.
As regular readers are aware, Callie clips at the trot. "Clipping" means that her back feet, at the trot, step on the heels of her front feet. She does it badly enough that has bloodied the heels of her front feet, without shoes on. This is, yo, not good. I suspect that the clipping is partly due to being out of shape, partly due to being a young horse with incomplete balance, and partly due to lack of practice trotting under saddle. My game plan forfixing managing the clipping issue is to do a bunch of work walking up and down steep hills.
I do not KNOW that this will work. I am hoping that it will work.
Basically, here are the reasons I picked this as a clipping management technique. First, walking is slow enough that she doesn't clip at the walk. So, we're not making things any worse at the walk. That's good. First, do no harm.
Second, the steep hills in question are steep enough that there's a significant aerobic stressor involved without having to go faster. This means that Callie will be getting fit walking up and down them even though it's just walking. I would get fitter going up and down the steep hills, too, if I were walking them. However, I am riding. The fitness for me, it is not so much. Callie, however, pants like a steam engine under load and sweats pretty well. Little known fact: it is easier for horses to trot up hills than it is for them to walk up hills. :)
Third, there's a lot of balance involved in the steep hill work. Particularly on the way back down, she has to balance and semi-shuffle down the hills. This is also a lot like work for the horse's loins and hindquarters, so will build butt and back muscles and hopefully improve her ability to carry herself and me.
The hill in question (there's only one hill but there are three trails up it) is about eighty feet of vertical climb over 614 feet (Google Maps has added "terrain" which is the contour map thing. Go Google Maps!), so it's a 13% grade. The trails go across the hill diagonally, so they're slightly less than that, but still, that's totally steep enough for a runaway truck ramp. There are three trails that go up the hill (for variety) and two of the trails cross like a big X. The third trail makes a greater-than sign out to the right of the big X. The trails with the X have a nice broad space between their starts so we can jog (slowly) along the flat part and then walk up/down and then jog the flat part and then walk up/down in a nice figure eight pattern. It isn't particularly thrilling but it's on soft woodland footing which preserves hooves. (Hard road, which is our other option, chews up feet so that you need shoes immediately.) It also has enough room for variety that I'm not totally bored yet.
Last night, not that anyone really cares, we did a trot set out and back the road on the top of the field, alongside the beans. (Soybeans, people.) Then we went into the hollow and did the hill twice with trot sets on the flat parts at the top and bottom. We also jogged out the hollow when we were done. Then we walked to cool down, alongside the beans again. Her feet came up clean but she had bell boots on and I wasn't really pushing for speed at the trot.
Regular readers will note that I am not doing as much work with this horse as I did with Nick last year. I adore Nick. I give a damn about doing well with her. Callie is just a horse. She's a nice horse. I've broken her to ride and now we're doing mileage together, which I think is good for her. However, I am not gunning for a win, here. I don't give a damn if we do anything more than complete. Last year I was gunning to win and I did.
After work I went over and rode Callie, which I have done every non-Thursday that it hasn't rained since the end of the fair. Just because I don't SAY that I went and rode the horse does not mean I didn't ride the horse.
As regular readers are aware, Callie clips at the trot. "Clipping" means that her back feet, at the trot, step on the heels of her front feet. She does it badly enough that has bloodied the heels of her front feet, without shoes on. This is, yo, not good. I suspect that the clipping is partly due to being out of shape, partly due to being a young horse with incomplete balance, and partly due to lack of practice trotting under saddle. My game plan for
I do not KNOW that this will work. I am hoping that it will work.
Basically, here are the reasons I picked this as a clipping management technique. First, walking is slow enough that she doesn't clip at the walk. So, we're not making things any worse at the walk. That's good. First, do no harm.
Second, the steep hills in question are steep enough that there's a significant aerobic stressor involved without having to go faster. This means that Callie will be getting fit walking up and down them even though it's just walking. I would get fitter going up and down the steep hills, too, if I were walking them. However, I am riding. The fitness for me, it is not so much. Callie, however, pants like a steam engine under load and sweats pretty well. Little known fact: it is easier for horses to trot up hills than it is for them to walk up hills. :)
Third, there's a lot of balance involved in the steep hill work. Particularly on the way back down, she has to balance and semi-shuffle down the hills. This is also a lot like work for the horse's loins and hindquarters, so will build butt and back muscles and hopefully improve her ability to carry herself and me.
The hill in question (there's only one hill but there are three trails up it) is about eighty feet of vertical climb over 614 feet (Google Maps has added "terrain" which is the contour map thing. Go Google Maps!), so it's a 13% grade. The trails go across the hill diagonally, so they're slightly less than that, but still, that's totally steep enough for a runaway truck ramp. There are three trails that go up the hill (for variety) and two of the trails cross like a big X. The third trail makes a greater-than sign out to the right of the big X. The trails with the X have a nice broad space between their starts so we can jog (slowly) along the flat part and then walk up/down and then jog the flat part and then walk up/down in a nice figure eight pattern. It isn't particularly thrilling but it's on soft woodland footing which preserves hooves. (Hard road, which is our other option, chews up feet so that you need shoes immediately.) It also has enough room for variety that I'm not totally bored yet.
Last night, not that anyone really cares, we did a trot set out and back the road on the top of the field, alongside the beans. (Soybeans, people.) Then we went into the hollow and did the hill twice with trot sets on the flat parts at the top and bottom. We also jogged out the hollow when we were done. Then we walked to cool down, alongside the beans again. Her feet came up clean but she had bell boots on and I wasn't really pushing for speed at the trot.
Regular readers will note that I am not doing as much work with this horse as I did with Nick last year. I adore Nick. I give a damn about doing well with her. Callie is just a horse. She's a nice horse. I've broken her to ride and now we're doing mileage together, which I think is good for her. However, I am not gunning for a win, here. I don't give a damn if we do anything more than complete. Last year I was gunning to win and I did.
