O and I GOT TO IT today in our workout. We headed out at around 10am, and made for the big cow pasture. She wanted to GO, and I let her. We did 5 miles in 30 minutes, which included our walk warmup and several breaks to walk down hills and to check out the cows. The GPS clocked her max speed at almost 27mph! I really thought we were just canterimg, but apparently we were Hauling Ass. She really, really needed to get the zooms out of her system, so I let her pick a speed and just cruised along for the ride. S was tacking up and getting ready to get on her mare, so I headed back to the barn after zooming for 6 miles, and let her have a drink and a snack before we headed back out again down the road. We rode for another 9 miles just at a walk... the sun was out, the sky was blue, and everything was warm and drying out. It was SUCH a nice change after our horrible ice storm!
Much to my dismay, back at the barn I discovered that my soft fleecy girth - the one I have been using on her for SIX MONTHS - had for some reason caused her entire girth area to swell up. The ENTIRE area where the girth made contact was HOT and SWOLLEN and PAINFUL to the touch. Wtf!? What is up with this mare and her sensitivities!? I have NO idea what caused it... same girth, clean horse, not really a longer or harder ride than usual. And since it is O, you know it's going to be swollen for weeks... her knees and back knob are finally down, but the leg where she got chewed on by the neighbor's dog is still big. Ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff.
I guess I'll be looking for a new girth... suggestions?
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As for Miss Tre, this is what we did today!:
She pretty much does anything and goes anywhere. I also confirmed her changes today.... they're there and they're easy to get!
I logged 4 hours on O and 2.5 on Tre.... pretty sure I'm going to sleep well tonight.
Fun! That's a lot of riding.
ReplyDeleteWas your girth washed recently? Simon is sensitive to some detergents. I use the cheapy SmartPak fleece one for schooling.
ReplyDeleteQ goes in a Toklat Woolbak girth.
ReplyDeleteSO happy you're out of the house and rackin' up the hours with the horses. That's GOTTA feel good.
Wow that sucks about the girth... sorry I have no suggestions because I've never had that happen. Poor O. I wish she weren't so sensitive to skin stuff. It sounds like you had a fantastic ride though!! I miss rides like that! Also the video of Tre playing in the water is so cute!
ReplyDeleteDid anything change with the girth? Was it washed recently with a new detergent, or does it need to be washed? Odd that she's done so well in it for so long and suddenly it irritated her that much.
ReplyDeleteI've heard great things about Toklat's Woolbak girths; a lot of endurance riders use them. They are made of natural wool. I have a cheapy Smartpak fleece girth that had been fine until I recently started ramping up the miles for our own endurance training. It will randomly chafe her now that we're spending so much more time in the saddle. I have a Woolbak on my wish list...
Nope, hasn't been washed recently... it SHOULD be washed, maybe it was too dirty? But, it's no dirtier than usual, and she was no sweatier than usual.... I am at a loss!
ReplyDeleteYay fabulous mares! The girth could have picked up some sort of pollen that she's alergic to, perhaps? I'd wash and re-try before buying a new one. Although I do love my squishy synthetic girths that you can just rinse with a hose.
ReplyDelete