All Blog Posts Tagged 'endurance' (32)

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Well, I feel I left a story untold. So, I will quickly tell you all that Belle and I happily completed our first endurance ride last May- we actually placed 13th in a field of 30 - so I was pretty happy. And maybe a bit over confident as we sent in entries to go all the way up to Mendocino to a ride in the redwoods. SEEMED like a wonderful idea - camping, company, and a ride. But the haul up was a basic nightmare - instead of an easy 9 hours, we were in the truck for 12, I was so tired…

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Added by Monica Whitmer on April 5, 2011 at 10:30pm — 2 Comments

Meg Sleeper Sept 24 WEG Update

Sept 24

The cliff notes for today would be: exhausting day was spent in Kentucky!!! We packed up the trucks early so that we wouldn’t need to go back to the hotel to check out. While we were packing, it was really rather a nice diversion to watch Amelia, the 6 week old donkey filly, harassing one of her sheep. This baby donkey, who is not much bigger than a sheep herself, lives with her mother and a flock of sheep in a paddock across from the building in which we have been staying. She is… Continue

Added by Patti at OMEGA ALPHA on September 25, 2010 at 5:16am — No Comments

Meg Sleeper WEG Update: Sept 22

Sept 22

Todd Holbrook, our asst team vet, arrived this evening. He may be one

of the funniest people I have ever met and he has a fantastic eye for

horses. It is now beginning to really feel like a championship event

is around the corner (in other words…it is getting busy!). More

practicing of dismounting and untacking today, for a few hours

actually. We showed everyone the quick release snaps for the breast

collars (thanks Val!!) and all the riders have the… Continue

Added by Patti at OMEGA ALPHA on September 23, 2010 at 11:31am — No Comments

Meg Sleeper WEG Update Sept 21

Sept 21

Today we went to the venue for credentials and uniforms and that took

most of the morning. The uniforms are really nice. We rode this

afternoon and practiced handing off bottles (there are a lot of new

crew members here now and Becky wants to make sure everybody can

handle giving and taking the water bottles). Ellyn and I rode… Continue

Added by Patti at OMEGA ALPHA on September 21, 2010 at 11:08pm — No Comments

Meg Sleepers USA Endruance Team: Sept 17 Update...

Sept 17

We got the horses out early today because a film crew was scheduled to

arrive at 5:30 to film our morning activities and we thought our

horses would do best away from the bright lights and out in their

paddock. The one thing I have learned over the years (or actually I

should say one of the things) is that you rarely make the wrong

decision if your primary concern is the horse. I am not sure about the

schedule for today, but we need to move out of the… Continue

Added by Patti at OMEGA ALPHA on September 17, 2010 at 8:30pm — No Comments

Dr. Meg Sleepers (USA Endurance Team) daily blog on her road to WEG

Meg has been emailing a group of friends and supporters daily on her road to WEG. She has kindly allowed me to share her experiences. This first post comes a bit into her her journey, but hopefully all will be able to catch up quickly. I have also added Meg's first posts, which should help everyone catch up,… Continue

Added by Patti at OMEGA ALPHA on September 17, 2010 at 11:00am — No Comments

FEI World Equestrian Games

My name is Samuel Price. I am an equestrian animal collage artist from San Francisco. I will be making my pilgrimage across the United States to bring my work to the largest horsing event in the World in just a few short weeks.

I would like to invite you to join me in what will be an event like no other. This show is hosted in Lexington, Kentucky and begins in late September. It is called the… Continue

Added by Samuel Price on August 26, 2010 at 11:00am — No Comments

Valerie Kanavy, 3-Time Winner of 100 Mile World Cup Endurance Races Excerpt from Women Riders Who Could..and Did: Life Stories of Top Level Equestriennes

by Karma Kitaj

Purchase autographed copy at www.HuckleHillPress.com

If you’re the 1^st to write in to BarnMice about the horsewoman who’s most inspired you…

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Added by Karma Kitaj on August 22, 2010 at 4:30pm — No Comments

And So on and So on and So on....

Thursday April 22

At some point, riding lots of miles starts to feel a little redundant. Today, Robin and I rode around the buttes – we mixed it up a little by going over the steep pass down to Ave Q, then across to…

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Added by Monica Whitmer on May 1, 2010 at 11:53pm — 2 Comments

Warm up ring gallops and riding the race route

So I really did kind of tear up my back fighting with those lug nuts. I didn’t ride Belle on Tuesday, and I gave her a 15 minute free lunging session on Wednesday. That was kind of interesting. She can now wear out TWO running mates. I run one horse with her, put them up, and put a different one in, and she is still flying circles around them! She used to be dripping wet after just 5 minutes of free lunging, now we are doing 3 times that and she is just damp. Thursday, I had another horrible… Continue

Added by Monica Whitmer on April 21, 2010 at 4:00pm — 2 Comments

Of teeth and speed

Talk about falling off the wagon! Last week, the train derailed! Robin and I skipped our very first ride together on Monday – it was cold, and windy and raining early in the day, so we opted to miss this one time. I was also sick on Easter – woke up with a headache and nausea – it may have been my first experience with a migraine – so I was very worn out on Monday. Well, Tuesday, I…

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Added by Monica Whitmer on April 12, 2010 at 11:25am — No Comments

More miles and testing dedication

Thursday, March 25

A good outing with Robin today. We were hoping to minimize our encounters with dirt bikes and ATV’s, so we went over the rocky pass of Lovejoy Butte – similar to the route we took back on March 8th – it was nice to feel how much better Belle is handling tough terrain. My saddle slipped forward on her going down the steep incline, and I am seriously thinking about putting a crouper on the saddle. It will be a bit of a challenge as my Wintec all purpose saddle doesn’t have… Continue

Added by Monica Whitmer on March 31, 2010 at 6:32pm — 2 Comments

Keeping the routine going

Wednesday Mar 17 – Happy St Patrick’s day!

This is a big teaching day, so not as much time to ride. I combined teaching a student with getting Belle worked. We just rode 40 minutes, doing about 2 walking miles on the trail and then some arena trot work. Happily, it is…

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Added by Monica Whitmer on March 22, 2010 at 10:30am — 4 Comments

Doing LSD (Long Slow Distance!)

Saturday – March 13Had to help at the 4H gymkhana, and in the afternoon, it was screaming…

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Added by Monica Whitmer on March 17, 2010 at 11:30am — No Comments

Gathering data and racking up miles

Tuesday and Wednesday were windy and not ridable.

Thursday – March 11

So…

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Added by Monica Whitmer on March 13, 2010 at 1:05am — No Comments

Not a trail ride for Sissy's

Saturday, March 7, 2010

Well, I settled for free lunging and wind sprints today. Not enough hours in the day. Still, for the week, Belle got ridden 3 times and free lunged twice, and I can’t recall when she has had that consistent of work schedule! Still, I need to…

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Added by Monica Whitmer on March 9, 2010 at 11:00am — No Comments

Adoptable Horse of the Week - Ginger from New England Equine Rescues!

Ginger is a five year old chestnut Arab/Welsh cross standing approximately 14.2. She

stands quietly on crossties, is excellent for the farrier, and will

allow you to do just about anything with her once you tell her what you

want.…

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Added by Special Horses, Inc. on March 7, 2010 at 8:41pm — 2 Comments

What a Busy Few Weeks

Well I have had a busy few weeks since Dijon the "hony" came to the indoor.

Heather did the first few weeks of backing and then I had to take over working all the ponies. Heather's done an excellent job on Contessa. Dijon and Mark are both steady enough at the walk and trot for this mid-40 rider to feel safe and comfortable on.

After a week off due to my allergies making me dizzy and queasy, I was back in the saddle today. Warming up with Contessa to get my…

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Added by Diana on March 6, 2010 at 2:54pm — No Comments

Beware the pissy prancing purple pony!

Thursday, March 4th - Well, the concept of getting ‘two-fer’ work sessions isn’t looking quite as bright as it did this morning. I had decided to use ‘Sundance’ a 3 yr old welsh cross pony for her partner for the first outing. He is the Only equine on the property who is smaller than Belle is, he has been ponied before and he is calm and not prone to nip or bite. Seemed like a…

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Added by Monica Whitmer on March 6, 2010 at 2:16pm — No Comments

making the commitment and keeping it to get fit

So the weather hasn’t been kind – but I am determined to keep up the work schedule. First of all, I found a GREAT on line article about conditioning for your first endurance ride. It is from the Southeast Endurance Riders Association. The link is below.…

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Added by Monica Whitmer on March 5, 2010 at 2:17pm — No Comments