I’ve had a few messages about how Tissy is getting on recently. I think mainly as she hasn’t been in the YouTube videos very much but let me assure you that she is doing just fine.
Yes she’s definitely had to take a step down in terms of ridden work this year. Her jaw arthritis means that if she does too much exercise she loses too much weight, so she’s been ridden once to twice a week just for fun little hacks or as a training buddy for Roo to help him up his speed.
Tissy is a speed demon and actually quite naughty these days when it comes to not getting her way. For her, life is about how fast you can go and if you don’t let her strut her stuff she gets very cross about it……and she kinda gets away with it because she’s a little legend and she’s old!
However, this need for speed has been quite handy at getting Roo to put a little more effort into his canter intervals. Roo is great at sitting in one speed and going all day, excellent for an endurance horse, what he’s not so good at is really opening up his pace and getting that extra gear going.
With the help of Tissy, Roo has increased his canter intervals from 17kph to above 20kph, he even clocked a max speed of 25kph the other day, which is pretty impressive for him. He much prefers to be in company. It’s great that he couldn’t care less about horses bombing off without him and it’s a good thing that he conserves energy and uses a minimal effort strategy but if he wants to grow up to be a racing endurance pony he needs that little extra in the tank.
Beth Endurance 