After attending the FITS ride in the Ocala Florida area in early March it made me long for our ride season. I was lucky enough to score a horse for the 50 mile ride and another one for the 25 mile ride but let me tell you was I stiff after riding 2 days in a row! On Sunday morning I basically crawled from my bed to the bathroom. Those posting muscles obviously went further south for a holiday! It is amazing, despite riding all winter, how quickly one gets out of shape. Thank goodness my horses hold their conditioning better than I do!
As ride season isn’t that far off (basically 60 days give or take) I have started conditioning my horses. I can’t wait for the snow to melt so we can have our trails back. Those pesky skiers need to go away so we have more trails to use for the mileage. Or maybe I could attach a rope to one and gallop Tia down the trail with one in hot pursuit lol. Ok maybe not. But it would be funny.
Conditioning plans will depend on your horse but, to me, some of the best riding is this time of the year. The sun is warm, the footing is decent and there are NO bugs to contend with.
We have a new board this year and with a new board there are lots of different and new ideas. We are trying to make the experience of riding with us memorable. Preferably for the right reasons. We are always looking for new riders for our club. This is an amazing sport and it is definitely challenging for horse and rider. Feel free to come out and spectate at one of the events if you want to learn more before you give it a go. There are always people willing to get you started.