Endurance Rides Again!

July 31st was the date for our second endurance ride of this season.  This ride was less than half an hour from our house so we took the horses up the night before to have them vetted and then we took them home and turned them out.  We loaded up early on Sunday a.m. and went to the ride.  I think this was a very good decision on our part as our horses were calm and relaxed - obviously had had a good rest at home before the ride.

I was especially pleased with Tessa - she has had some issues this year for sure and yet at this ride she was wonderfully calm and had a great attitude.  As soon as I got on her I could tell we were going to have a great ride - and we did!  She paced herself very well and reached 60 bpm easily when we returned to camp for our mid ride vet check.  She also pulsed down at the end of the ride pretty much right away - this is a big improvement from the last ride and I was very pleased!

Tessa and I placed 11th, WSL placed 12th and Anastasia and Bijou placed 13th - this was out of 48 horse/rider teams so that was a great placing IMO!

Here are a few pictures that someone took of us at the ride - there are more somewhere, I will find them eventually!  This first one is WSL, me and Anastasia heading out on our first loop.

 This second one is Tessa at her first vet check - hmmm a bath might be in order here LOL!

 And this is Anastasia and Bijou - what a great team!

Shelly
www.curlystandardplace.com