Solo Conditioning Miles

Saturday morning Q and I headed out on a conditioning ride. I had no idea how the ride would go and told Q from the beginning, "Today's ride will be considered a success if we can find the trailhead access point." This would be the first true solo conditioning ride I had on Q since bringing her back into full work and I didn't want success to be marked by speed, time, miles, or her behavior. Making our definition of success a destination and allowing ample time to reach it seemed a much fairer goal which would leave lots of room for other successes along the way!

To achieve the goal, we had to navigate out of the farm neighborhood, traverse low-travel paved roads, cross a river, and find our way through a maze of gravel roads in a housing development before ending at a trail head within the development. Why go through all of this trouble to find the trailhead? Because once I reach this trailhead I can create loops of 20 and 30 miles or more! Not to mention these trails are some of the least traveled, have easy footing (barefoot friendly), and afford some freaking gorgeous views of Canaan Valley.

It took a bit of exploration to find our way to known areas from the bridle paths around the farm and adjacent farms, but we did it with minimal fuss and only two spooks from Q. Once we were underway and AWAY from "home", she settled a lot. She was still looky, as she is prone to being, but her motor was definitely powering us forward. Which was great.

The section of paved road we traveled was no issue, and I managed to find my way to the trail head after only a handful of wrong turns/dead ends on the gravel roads. Fortunately, one of the dead ends resulted in a big shortcut back to the river crossing I didn't know about! Travel time straight back to the farm from the trail head using the newly discovered shortcut was 45 minutes. It's a long time to merely gain access to trails, but it didn't feel that long at all! It's a gorgeous trek and adds some mileage to our workouts - always a good thing for endurance conditioning because short loops are easy to find/create while long ones really take some creative thought.

Overall, Q was a very good girl for her first ride back. We ended up being out for 2 hours and 5 minutes and covered 12 miles. That doesn't suck. Not one bit. I was so thrilled with her forward motor, even if she was a looky-loo. She's currently barefoot, and tackled the gravel roads like a champ. She was definitely not a big fan of them toward the end, but she still powered forward with a big trot when I asked with no fuss. Additionally, I could tell she was thinking through things and didn't spook at nearly as many things as she once did. When she did spook, the vast majority of these spooks were honest and easy to ride.

One particular spook in the beginning before we were truly "away" from home really pissed me off, but I quickly (literally in seconds) got over it. Hard truth: This horse just ISN'T good near home unless we're in a closed in space with walls - like an arena. This is not new news to me - she's been this way since I brought her home in 2012, but it's still something I have a hard time swallowing because Griffin and Stan are so GOOD at home (which greatly facilitates home workouts where we don't have access to an arena). But hey, I'm anal-retentive and love a neat, tidy space and some people are very opposite. Everyone is different and horses have differences, too.

In an effort to make the most of accepting Q's differences, I resolved that I would work harder to set her up for success. This means no home workouts under saddle unless we have an arena and being patient with her when I knowingly present her with situations I know aren't her forte. She's a much different ride from Stan and Griffin and I owe it to her to treat her as such and adjust my expectations, as well. She has so much potential and the gains we've made in the past 9 months outshine our past troubles with ease. I want to make sure the good continues to overwhelm our time together.

Since the weekend ride, I've gotten Q out for one more solo conditioning ride. My new mindset firmly in place, we headed out to tackle 5 miles and one hella-steep climb. Q had been on the trail before, but it's been two years! She was a huge looky-loo heading out, snorting and blowing a lot, but beyond these theatrics, she was very good. I pushed her forward and kept her feet moving and was very impressed without cautious and foot-perfect she was through some very tricky areas. I praised her endlessly throughout the ride.

The climb was hard on her which pleased me as she has seemed unaffected by things I've thrown at her during other rides. The terrain (and incessant deer flies) kept her mind and body busy and definitely eliminated any spooking she may have considered for a large majority of the ride. She only spooked hard once after the climb as her heart rate returned to a lower point and allowed her mind and body the ability to fuss more. I couldn't help but laugh at her and say, "Well, you're recovered from the climb, I see!" See, unlike her past spooking, her recent spooks are so much easier to ride - she's taking me with her instead of ducking out from underneath me! This is huge.

Our mutual trust in one another is really growing. I'd told Q during the OD 100 that if she made it clear to me after the ride that endurance wasn't the job she wanted, I'd find a new discipline for her. I don't know that I could call Q "eager" to go out and work, but I do get the sense that she is enjoying the work and having a job again. She's thinking about the task at hand, fretting less about other things along the way, and tuning in to me to make sure things are okay. As a result, I find myself looking forward to riding her and truly having FUN when I do. It's a very welcome change and one I intend to hold onto and improve upon.