We attended another Leicestershire & Rutland ride, this time the Lion’s tail, they didn’t disappoint with another great venue and route. Estrid’s prep for 80km was less conventional than my usual schedule but I was confident that she was fit enough and the comfort of knowing we had two vet gates for a re-fuel and to decide to elevate if need be was an extra confidence boost that we had every opportunity to make good decisions.

We travelled the day before, despite being just over an hour away, but Estrid needs the stay away practice and she was certainly more confident this time. I was even surprised that when I took her for a walk around the venue to scope out the vetting area that she didn’t mind being taken away from all the other horses.

Initial vetting went really well and I was pleased to see 9 other horses vetting for the 80km, it was not only good to see a nice size class but it meant that hopefully Estrid would always have company at the venue to make out vettings that bit easier.

Estrid seemed really excited to be going out and I set out hoping to go between 14-16kph depending on what the terrain threw at us. The going was perfect, the set aside around the estate rode beautifully and Estrid was having a blast, she could see a horse in the distance and she loves to chase them down so we had a bit of negotiating to do for the first 10km. We caught up with Kate & Luna but then Estrid’s trot is so big the gap widened between us and we were back on our own, averaging 14.7kph for the loop.

The vet gate was deserted when we came in and I wondered what she’d be like, we had our fastest presentation yet, no shakes and she vetted beautifully all by herself. I could have gone home happy on that vet gate alone. She then proceeded to stomp Dan around the venue (which is very reminiscent of Tissy) for the whole 30minute hold time.

Back out on loop two of 23km and we didn’t see a single horse until 19km in, Estrid wasn’t lacking in enthusiasm, she was still super forward and setting an excellent pace and averaging the exact same as our first loop, which I was super pleased at our consistency. But I did feel that she was a bit bored by herself, or maybe I was too.

The second vet gate went even better and I think we’re starting to understand what works for her, no sponging down or going anywhere near her back legs but just buckets poured over her shoulders. I’d like to get all the mud and sweat off but it just winds her up so we’ll keep working on it and hopefully one day she’ll just settle into it. This hold was 40mins and she ate and drank like a pro, favouring the electrolyte and sugar beet water and of course her favourite fibre cubes.

Our last loop was 17km, I wanted to really make sure we completed our first 80km so I had decided to purposefully back off the pace, not something I’m that comfortable with doing as I hate to see speed creeping down as the distance goes up. It usually signals to me that it wasn’t a well managed horse or ride plan by the rider but also this ride meant so much to me that I didn’t want to blow it. On the plus side dropping down to 12.7kph meant that Kate and Luna caught us up and we got to ride the last 10km with them. Estrid was still full of running and on the sections we let them canter she covered the ground effortlessly.

Estrid settled for the final vetting really quickly but I wanted to be extra sure so waited for a sub 55 heart rate before presenting. She wasn’t even fussed when Luna left her to go vet which I was super impressed with. When we went to vet Kate very kindly delayed her trot up while our heart rate was taken and I was delighted to get another heart rate in the 40’s. I could not be prouder of Estrid, she has learnt so much and made so much progress this year. It meant the world to me that she is now an advanced endurance horse and even more importantly that we had fun doing it.

Thank you to everyone who helped run Lion’s tail, a shout out to the man on D who even moved his car to make sure none of us went wrong on the third loop, everyone was lovely and we had an absolute blast.

https://youtu.be/xueyzlKPXCk

Tissy has had a little impromptu holiday over summer due to a crack in her hoof, but now that’s all sorted it’s time to get her back in her routine before she escaped the confines of the field and goes on an adventure of her own accord.

Every time I bring a headcollar to the field Tissy thinks it’s her turn and she’s got increasingly miffed with not going out, even trying to sneak through the gate when I’m taking Estrid out, so she was quite enthusiastic when we went out on our first hack in 10 weeks.

Why she thinks that jogging sideways and stopping and rearing is appropriate at her age I’ll never know but this pony just loves to go and I’m excited to give her some adventures this autumn.

Fingers crossed we’re going to finish our season with an attempt at 80km. Estrid had 2 weeks off after her 64km and that gave us 4 weeks of training before needing to taper for the next competition. Unfortunately of those 4 weeks I have been away every single weekend, either working or seeing family so our usual training schedule has been a little disrupted.

However, Estrid didn’t seem to struggle at her 64km and we had a very decent riding speed so I figured she only needed to maintain her current fitness level. We could potentially reduce our speed if need be to allow for more miles in the tank but if Avon Valley was anything to go by, she had plenty left anyway.

Maintenance training is actually pretty different to trying to improve. You don’t need as high a frequency and you can take slightly longer rest periods between sessions. Estrid has been on a 6 week block of 2 days on 1 day off most the season with a switch of training focus every 6 weeks and one week off between blocks. So we switched it up so that she had 2 days on, one day off, 2 days on, 2 days off over August, there have been a couple of occasions where she’s had to have 3 days off or just one day of training. This has also meant that the training sessions have had a slightly higher intensity to make up for the reduction in frequency. Overall it’s been ok and I’m confident she’s more than fit enough for an 80km and it just shows that there are so many ways of achieving the same outcome.

An unexpected perk of doing 64km, that in my mind I had previously seen as a pointless distance as it didn’t get you your FEI qualifiers, is that I felt no pressure. This was purely a stepping stone for Esrtid’s education and experience. It sounds silly, as surely this is the mindset I should have had all along right? Get experience and have fun? But I have been so goal orientated, so performance and results focused that I had forgotten to just do it for the sake of it, for enjoyment and experience and the memories.

So there I was enjoying camping with my pony, ready to see what the day would bring but with no expectations, actually just enjoying myself. Yet Estrid gave me the feeling as if I had just won a race or qualified for a Championship, she was incredible all day and I couldn’t be more proud of her.

We started off very well, first she was still in her corral when I woke up. Second she had eaten and drunk. Third, we got our lowest starting heart rate ever of 40bpm. We rode the majority of the ride by ourselves, both loops around the 16kph mark. A little faster than I had planned but I was going off how Estrid felt and the speed she was happy at.

Our presentation into the vet gate was around the 8minute mark but I was pretty happy with that as it was the first time she’d ever been in a vet gate hold area and there was a lot going on. She hasn’t quite got used to lots of water being poured on so it is a bit of a waiting game rather than rapid cooling game at the moment, but we’re working on it.

In the vet gate she ate and drank, stayed pretty relaxed and was generally oblivious of the horses being crewed around her. She seems to be much better in a busier environment than back at the trailer by herself.

She went out on the next loop ears pricked, after getting past the banners she didn’t like the look of, and off she went like she was fresh as a daisy another loop at 16kph. We did our first trotting sloshes, she started drinking on course. We even passed lots of ponies and she did it without hesitation and without stopping dead in front of them (her past favourite party trick). She just kept on giving and she didn’t even seem tired.

We came back to the venue for our final vetting between two big groups of horses and I wasn’t sure if this would overstimulate her and we’d struggle to get her heart rate down but she seemed happier than ever. We even got our lowest finishing heart rate of 48bpm.

She was exceptionally behaved, a joy to ride, lovely to crew and she made us all so proud of her. She even won her class! Thanks must go to Dan, Mum & Dad for crewing. A big thank you to the Avon Valley team for putting on a great event and to the Sponsors Zilco for my lovely goody bag. I think I will cherish the memory of that 64km ride forever as I don’t think it gets more feel good than that.

Of course we have things to work on, we have learnt new things about Estrid and we’ll have new challenges ahead, but for now I will bask in the glow of a sweet success.

The Avon Valley ride is just over an hour from me so there wasn’t really any logistical need for me to travel the night before, however, Estrid hasn’t done any stay away competitions yet and I’m aware that as we up the distance we’ll also have to stay at venues. So I wanted her to start getting some practice in.

She is an anxious horse that loves the company of others, whenever we’ve been away she’s had Tissy as her comfort blanket. I wanted her to be corralled so that she could see lots of other horses but I also didn’t want her to get attached to any one in particular. So I positioned us so that half the corral was obscured by vehicles and the other she could see about 6 other horses.

I fully expected her to pace all night, be too on edge to eat or drink and generally be quite stressy. Well, she made me eat my words. She had moments of pacing and much to my embarrassment at 5am whinnied at anything that moved. But she ate, she drank and she stayed in her corral.

I love staying away with my horses, I think it really builds your bond and I’d forgotten how lovely it is to go to sleep and wake up with them nearby. I think it really improved Estrid’s trust and dependence on us too, she wanted to be in our company and she wanted our attention. Furthermore, our attention actually comforted her and she would relax without other horses around, which is a huge step for her.

Now I fell off the flatwork bandwagon in March when Estrid and I roly-poly’d our way to injury whilst schooling. I had been working hard over winter and even enjoying it, but sub-consciously I think I was associating schooling with increased injury risk so I wasn’t doing it. In my head straight lines were safer and I was justifying not doing it by saying I needed to do fittening work and focus on ‘endurance training’.

We all know I was wrong, being balanced and responsive, able to maintain a rhythm, maintain impulsion from behind in a nice self-carriage is essential to an endurance horse. You can do those things without going in a school, but for me, being in an arena focuses my mind on the task at hand. So I scheduled our weekly flatwork session back into the planner.

Our main focus at the moment is getting length through the back and neck and being able to maintain a relaxed and lengthened posture through the transitions. We’re getting there, it’s not perfect but it’s definitely improved. We’re a bit on the forehand, we sometimes lack impulsion, we lose a bit of direction every now and again (it’s like I can only focus on maintaining one thing at a time, the stretch or the steering) but overall I am starting to get a relaxed horse and rider. Dare I say, I’m even looking forward to putting the focus back on flatwork this winter!

As we edge closer to Estrid’s first 64km I thought I’d share her last training sessions. The two weeks before a competition is all about tapering for me. Sessions are purely educational and/or time in the saddle as the fitness and strength should already be there and it’s essential that there’s time for recovery before competition.

I’m really looking forward to upping her distance as she’s not physically been tired yet. I still feel a little daunted about managing her anxiety in the vet gate but our last one went surprisingly well and I should take comfort in that.

I’m not taking getting to the start line for granted either. Every morning as she trots to me for breakfast I breath a sigh of relief that all her limbs are intact! I appreciate my transport getting from A to B and that my body hasn’t fallen apart yet!

Estrid enjoyed our nice quiet, slow last 16km training ride. As usual she’s wonderful to ride if you ignore the random spooks at irrelevant objects, which you can forgive as she’s so good with actual scary things.

It’s that time of year when the Swallows are starting to spend less time in their nests so less time pooping over everything and I can finally give my stable a bit of a spruce up! They are still popping in and out so there will be further poop clean ups to do but I thought it best to take advantage of the warm weather while we have it and pressure wash the winter/spring dust away before it’s too late!

To add to my sort out excitement the yard has also re-instated the feed room, which has been a pony stable for the last couple of years but said pony now has a big grown up stable and we can move the feed bins from the barn back into the feed room. I’m extra lucky here as I now have my stable in between the feed room and tack room for super easy access to everything!

It has made me unbelievably happy to find this gem of a place! It’s got long grassy canters, gentle uphills, tiwsts and turns, tracks through wood and little log jumps to give a go (or avoid if you want). The whole course is about 8km long and it only costs £12 to park and ride for 3 hours. To me it is the perfect endurance training loop.

You can book through this link: Tong Parm Farm – Park & Ride

I made the hour journey from our yard with Estrid and she loved it! We did 3 laps, mostly walk but 11.7km of trot and 6.3km of canter thrown in too. I would love to get a group of endurance riders together to train there as Estrid definitely needs the practice of riding in a group and it’s the perfect set up for vet gate practice.

Estrid’s canter is starting to settle down now it’s not so much of a novelty and we’re now at a 20kph average speed which is much more acceptable than the 26kph from our gallops trip. Eventually I’d like to have a few gears in every gait that I can ask for and she’ll stick to but for now we’re just working on relaxing.

I can honestly say I’ve never been more wet before even starting a ride. The Wirral has been on my wishlist of rides to try for a while so when it opened for entries I had alarms set and was poised ready to click enter as it fills up so quick. Luckily Tissy and I bagged a space and so did Izzy and Fluffy!

It’s a bit further than I’d usually travel for a pleasure ride but I’m trying to make the most of my time with Tissy and she’s worth the extra miles. I’ve been thinking more than ever about her future and when would be the right time to implement an end of life plan, there have been a few factors playing on my mind so it makes me appreciate our little outings all the more.

The ride looks like it would ordinarily have fabulous going along the purpose made horse path to the beach, unfortunately the weather gods made the ground very wet and boggy, not a problem for us as we could take our time until heading onto the beach for a nice canter. Tissy was keen as ever and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride despite the rain. Thank you to all the ride officials and helpers who braved the weather to give us a good day out!