Strength For the Journey II

The best conditioning for a rider is to ride and ride and ride. However, rider conditioning can be jump started by using this version of the Tabata Protocol on a treadmill.

Set the treadmill at its most severe slope. For five minutes walk up hill on that slope at the best speed you can do without stopping. At the conclusion of five minutes level the tread mill and for the next four minutes alternate between running fast for twenty seconds and slowing down for ten seconds. These intervals need only be done for four minutes.

Then walk at a brisk pace on the treadmill for five more minutes to cool down. The total workout is only fourteen minutes.

Of course, always check with your doctor to get his approval before beginning the Protocol.


Key point--All running and walking is to be done barefoot only. Doing so engages the quadriceps and calves more than running in shoes. You will likely see shocking improvment in your endurance after as little as ten days of this workout

Quick Tip #39--Assist your Vet

Should you know more about horses than your vet? Of course not. Should you know more about your horse than your vet?

Absolutely. If you do not you are letting your horse down. Solid equine health information is at your fingertips through the internet. Unfortunately, a lot of ignorance is out there too. The worse information comes from the acquaintance who has had horses for years and once even showed them in big shows. Such people generally can give state of the art advice for 1992. Often their advice is even worse.

Learn everything possible about natural horse care. Once you fully understand why such care is so vital to your horses health expand your knowledge to include current studies on equine health issues. It takes a lot of time an effort to do so but it might keep your horse alive.

I spend several hours a week staying current on equine health issues. I do not do so because I enjoy it. I do not enjoy it. I read and study because I owe it to the horses.

There is one point that I have never seen stressed in health articles that everyone should keep in mind. In evaluating symptoms of potential problems remember that the first thing that should catch your eye is if your horse is doing anything different than his normal routine. If so, go check him out. Horses are creatures of extreme routine. Different often equals dysfunction.

If Persa is standing alone that is no cause for concern. If Ta Sunka is standing alone I drop what I am doing and go check on him. I have an actual problem probably less than one time out of two hundred such checks, but it is worth it.

Hailey And Kiowa

She is a serious and very responsible little girl. She keeps a watch on so she can tell me when it is time to ride back to the tack shed. She memorizes where the rocks are on the trails so that when we ride in the dark she will know when we should come down to a walk. She gets out of her family's van and immediately casts her eye around the horse lot, making sure that everyone is ok.

Kiowa is her Virginia City Range mustang that she adopted from USERL. Kiowa is as alert and responsible as Hailey. She snorts keeps a constant eye out for dangers in the woods and cutover.

I have ridden with Hailey at night. I have ridden with her early in the morning. I have ridden with Hailey in the rain. I have ridden with Hailey in the blazing sun. I have ridden with her when it was too hot. I have ridden with her when it was too cold. I have ridden with her when I was exhausted. I have ridden with her when I was on fire with energy.

I have never ridden with her without being delighted to have her with me.

People make life too complicated. If the ham is sliced thin, the raw oysters are salty and the ice tea is with in reach--the party is a good one.

If I'm riding in front and Hailey is riding behind me and we are covering miles of woods and swamp and cutover---the life is a good one.

Looked To Me To Be The Eyes Of Age

This picture surprised me. I did not know that I had wrinkles in front of my ears. I do not mind. I just did not realize it.

I do not have the same views of aging and what it means to be old as do most people my age. Those in my family who do not smoke or drink tend to live to incredible ages. We also tend to be pretty healthy up until we die. My great uncle just passed away at the age of 102. When he was one hundred he was still planting and working his garden. Grandma died at 96. Papa, my great grand father, was around 100 when he died in 1970. Grandma Bird (she was also my great aunt Bird, my family is more genetically diverse than the Corollas but several of my ancestors seemed uncomfortable with the idea of marrying outside the family)was close to one hundred when she died. Daddy is about 77 and gets along quite well.

I do not share society's obsession with being young. I have been young. I was young for a long time. Being young was not worth the effort, on the whole a very negative experience. I would not want to repeat any of it.

With the exception of what is becoming a troublesome neck problem I am much healthier than I was when I was twenty five. I ride better than I did when I was forty. I play music better than I ever have. I sleep better than I did when I was thirty.

But best of all I am starting to understand what it is in life that really matters. And it turns out that there are very few things that do matter. Chief among these is to improve the lives of those around you. Acquisition creates a tinge of shame. Giving away overcomes that tinge. One cannot help being born rich. One had no choice in the matter, but one can avoid the disgrace of dieing rich. Making kids laugh is more important than laughing yourself. The only thing better than learning is teaching.

I once thought that the root of wisdom was to know and to understand. I now realize that the root of wisdom is to know that we can't understand.

And most importantly, to not be bothered a bit by that lack of understanding.

Mill Swamp Indian Horse Views: The Importance of Touch

If big name clincicians could figure out a way to bottle this and sell it everyone would benefit. Hit th link for this post from last year. Mill Swamp Indian Horse Views: The Importance of Touch: When training we should never cause the simple to become unnecessarily complicated. One of the most important ways to build trust with th...