Alex has not yet gotten to do an endurance ride and Vicki wants to try a 50 this year.  We have told them both, it requires lots of time on the trails for the horse and rider.  Yesterday, it was in the 60s and gorgeous.  Unfortunately, I spent the day trimming hooves (for others) and didn’t get home until after dark.  This morning, it was in the 30s and windy, but we saddled up anyways.  I rode Mojo, Alex rode Teddy (their first trail ride together) and Vicki rode Devil.  It was very windy so we expected the horses to be spooky and flighty.  We were pleasantly surprised to find they were not  much different from a regular ride.  We did a nice loop into some field that we hadn’t ridden on for a couple of years and then headed up into the main part of the forest.  It was wicked cold on top of the hills and we decided to cut the ride a little short.  We ended up only riding 7 miles in 1.5 hours, but Teddy did great with Alex.

After we got back, Teddy and Devil had both worked up a good sweat, so they got coolers and some stall time with hay and water to warm up and dry off.  An hour later, Devil was lame from what we believe was Tying Up.  For those not familiar, it’s basically muscle cramps.  Hand walking helped some.  We dosed him with electrolytes and did call the vet a little to discuss things with her.  If it hasn’t resolved by morning, we will have her out to see if we are missing something.  In the summer, it’s easy to think about adding salt and keeping horses hydrated, but in the winter, we don’t think about it as much.  I suspect Devil was just a little low on fluids before we started the ride and with his thick winter coat, he sweated enough out to cause a minor problem.

Anna also got to take King out for a short 4 mile ride later in the afternoon, but Amanda elected to spend most of the day inside because she doesn’t have enough (read any) body fat to maintain temperatures when it’s blustery out.