Rehab Rides

Well, not all my rides the last couple of weeks have been rehab rides. Serts isn't really rehabbing, but he is coming back into shape after 3 years of being a complete pasture ornament.

Serts

Serts ready for a ride

So let's start with Serts. I've been able to ride him several times in the last 4 weeks. We started with about 3 working miles (walk/trot) and have worked up to 6.5 miles today with a 5.4 mph average! Yay, Serts!

He has always been rather hard to condition because he gets bored really easily. He loves trails and hates the road where I condition from the house. So it's kinda hard to gauge sometimes if he's old and creaky or just bored to tears. I've had him since he was 12 years old (he's 27 now) and his nickname, even back then, was "Old Man." He's been an old man since he was at least 12. If he could yell at kids to get off his lawn, he would.

So I started riding Serts in a saddle instead of bareback (oh, sad day) so I could use the heart rate monitor on him and keep an eye on his heart rate. Of course, that doesn't tell the entire story, so I try to keep an eye on his breathing also. Really, his breathing is probably the most telling thing right now if he's working very hard or not.

I'll continue to condition Serts. I'm not looking to get him into competition again. That ship sailed a long time ago, but it's nice that he looks more fit and when my other 2 were not rideable, that gave me something to do.

Tanna

Tanna ready to ride!

I've been riding Tanna for almost 3 weeks now. Right now, we're doing about 60% walking and 40% trotting over 2.75 miles. Slowly adding distance every week.  And I mean SLOWLY. Like 1/4 mile a week. I aim for an overall average of about 4.5 - 4.7 mph, but less is ok. I get a little concerned when it's over 5.

Tanna likes these rehab rides. We can mosey and eat grass!!

Tanna pulled a shoe on his Friday outing, so he's on the bench until my farrier comes out and puts it back on. I'm not terribly concerned. Right now, rest and babying is what Tanna needs. Although, when I rode Serts and then took Sasha out without taking him today, Tanna followed me around as if he was asking when it was his turn! Awwww.

Sasha

Me and my Sasha girl!

I started riding Sasha exactly 4 weeks after her pull at Black Sheep Boogie. I've ridden her 4 times so far, ranging from 4.4 miles to 6.8 miles in length and in average speed from 4.8 mph to 5.9 mph. She has remained sound under saddle and in the field with no evidence of heat, swelling or any issue on that right front.

Sasha enjoys the premium hay she gets during saddling and unsaddling.

Sasha is the hardest of my 3 to keep to a reasonable speed. She sees no reason to walk. It's beneath her and quite frankly boring. So she has to liven it up with spooks and leaps with double barrel kicks and feigned attempts to bolt when a car passes. And this is my JR horse, folks...I swear she knows the difference, though, and is much more of an angel with Lillie.

My 3 wondering which one I'm "after"

I'm so excited to be able to ride all 3 of my horses. I'm a bit tired and I have the weirdest tan lines from wearing various sleeve and tight lengths, but I'm very happy that right now, all 3 horses seem to be doing well.

Lame Update

This week I had a follow-up visit for Tanna and Sasha for a lameness evaluation.

At the vet

Tanna has had 9 1/2 weeks of downtime after his pull at Biltmore. Some of that was stall-bound or in a small paddock, but the last 30 days were out on pasture. He showed brilliantly for the vet. Very free and easy trot. Very fluid, not a hint of an issue. Cleared for light riding! Yay!!!

Riding Tanna for the first time in 9.5 weeks!!

So this week, I rode him 3 times. 3 miles (45-50 minutes) each time. Mostly walking. About 10-15 minutes of light trotting spread out through each workout. Today I rode him for the 3rd time and I decided to back off and only ride him once more this week. He is still sound and looked fine, but I felt like he did too much trotting today with too much animation, so I'm going to be safe and let him rest it out.

Tanna dozing before a ride this week.

I am so happy to be riding Tanna again. I've missed the rhythm of his steps!

Sasha is just now 3 weeks post pull at Black Sheep Boogie. We saw the vet earlier this week and she looked good. Nothing really to see, but we decided to give her 2 more weeks of pasture rest before starting her back to work. So that means another week of rest and back to work for her.

Serts waiting for a ride, decked out in Tanna's saddle.

Serts has been back to work for a bit. I'm slowly giving him more speed. We're still doing about 5 miles at each outing, but we're bumping up the speed and the number of times he gets ridden. He's on the calendar for 2-3 rides each week. I want him in shape for some general trail riding. And it's just good for him to have a job.

I'm cautiously optimistic. With my new training schedule for running a half marathon this fall and working Serts and Tanna and soon Sasha, I'll be a busy, active person.