BOOTED ENDURANCE

GO GET EM JACK - 2009 - ARCHIVES

2009 Season

Unfortunately due to selling our home and moving house the first half of this year is a bit of a non-event for Jack and I endurance wise. 

The second half of the year had big plans but sadly did not get going and riding has also ground to a halt mostly due to selling my horse float and having a new float built - endurance and lack of transportation do not mix . 

Please stay tuned, check back again soon and look out for the 2010 Endurance Season! 

December 2009

This week was the inaugural Equine Expo and Auction organised by Melissa from Farm Yard Feeds and held at the amazing Del Rio Equestrian Centre.  Del Rio is located on the North West Coast of Tasmania and is for public hire on a daily or even an hourly basis.  Please make use of this wonderful facility as we are incredibly lucky to have it here and available for use!  It has a huge indoor arena under lights, lovely roomy stables, hot wash bays, an outdoor arena in addition to a large outdoor round yard - all just sitting there begging for us horsey folk to use it!

We had a stall at the expo under Bare it All Hoof Care where Jack came along for trimming and hoof boot fitting demos.  He was also ridden in a demonstration in the main arena for Cynthia Cooper's Light Rider Bitless Bridle.  He was on his best behavior all day waiting in his stable and was a wonderful boy in the ridden demonstration - although I could feel him wanting to get out for a hoon underneath me :).

The new float should be here in the next week or so and Jack and I are both looking forward to getting back out into training and attending endurance rides.  Kelley from Performance Horse Therapies is here this week and Jack will be BioScanned after his spell to make sure he is all ok ready to hit the training tracks again. 

Since Jack has not attended a ride this year Jack now falls under the Thirteen Month Rule, where he has to complete one 80km ride in novice time to regain his endurance status.  Just shows how life sometimes does unfortunately get in the way of our horsey activities and endurance I believe is not a sport you take a horse into semi-prepared or half fit.  You have to put in the hours and time to finish with a healthy sound partner! So now for Jack and I, it is onwards to 2010!

Below are some pics of Jack from a few weeks ago and also waiting patiently in his stall at the expo, pictures of the Del Rio the Expo venue, and also some pics of Jacks new wheels!!

September Update

 Well this year certainly has not gone to plan has really been a write-off in terms of getting to rides.  I have now sold my float so that has put a hold on endurance riding until my new float arrives.   If it arrives in time I am hoping to get to one ride at the end of this year but failing that Jack and I will be attending as many rides as we can do comfortably and fit in for the 2010 season   .... Stay tuned! 

August Update

Well a busy weekend ahead of us!  Just spent the day with Kelley from Performance Horse Therapies Bio Scanning and massaging horses including Jack.  It looks like Jack has during his HUGE hooning sessions taken a topple or two in this lovely wet mud we have, and pulled up a bit worse for wear in his rib area.  Kelley has treated him with the BioScan machine and hopefully this coming Sunday will head out and see how he feels. 

At this stage if all goes to plan we are aiming for a ride in October and then the State Championships at the end of November - keep your fingers crossed!

July Update

Hello all!  Well as you can probably tell by the lack of updates things still havent gone to plan - in some ways it isnt a bad thing as the weather has been so awful I was glad to not attend this weekends ride (11/7/09).  Rest assured though we will be back training again full time shortly.  I have two or three rides planned for later in the year depending on whether or not when my float sells and waiting on another one to be finished.  See the float for sale page if you are on the hunt for a nice large float that is great for endurance in perfect condition!! 

Will place new updates and pics as soon as I hit the trails again! 

June 10

I have been out for two more rides now in the Gloves this week and so far so good.  One rear boot did come off cantering up hill the on Sunday but the tape came with it so I dont think I had applied enough and it had not stuck to the hoof well enough as the hoof was wet when I applied it.  Todays ride I put more tape on and had no issues and boots had to be levered off with a screwdriver.  Tracks today were wet and covered in ice and the Gloves handled them well! 

Pics below of the ice still on the track at 11:30am this morning and less than 0 degrees!  But was a beautiful day for a training session!

Jack is also feelling great.  Undecided if he will be ready for 11 July but we are still aiming for it at this stage.  Pics below are of the icey track this morning and also below is a pic of the creek a friend told me was 3 metres wide to cross on a training ride - as you can see by the picture with the rain we have had it was no longer a creek and was now a river!

 June Update

I have slowly been find a few trails around the new area but I am relying alot on a friend to show me the longer ones at the moment but Jack is really enjoying being out and about - even in the rain and dark!

I used the new Easyboot Gloves on Jack's fronts this week and Bares on the backs.  I really love the Gloves!  The traction difference between the Gloves and the Bares is like 4wd and slick tyres in the mud.  The Edge boots also have the same sole as the Gloves so you will also have good traction in those to.  Keep in mind just because the traction is better doesnt mean you go hooning around slippery unsafe areas - slippery is slippery whether booted, barefoot or shod!

Here are the gloves on Jack and a friends horse who is also using them.

 May Update

Well finally the move is done and we are all settled. Have alot of work today around the house with fencing and horse stables and yards etc but am finding time to start training again.

Have done three short rides so far and the riding up here is FANTASTIC.

Another change on the home/business front is my husband after over 8 years of trimming and also rehabilitating foundered horses has decided to go full time with this so is now servicing the North West Coast and surrounding areas including the Smithton area on a regular basis. If you are looking for a hoofcare practitioner who genuinely cares about your horse, is on time and easy to contact and believes in educating the owner as well, then feel free to give him a call and have a chat. See the Hoof Care page for contact details.

This weekend Jack has been clipped and ready to go, hopefully we will get enough training in to attend a 119km ride in July.

Below - First attempt at clipping for my Husband.

January Update

Sorry for the delay in updates but the christmas period has been a busy busy time. We are renovating and selling our home so training was pushed to the background for awhile.

At this stage I am bringing Jack back into work to hopefully attend the Orford ride towards the end of February. Starting with some long rides and slow work with a few big hill climbs thrown in.

So far he has been going really well and in a few more weeks will test him out to see how he recovers and move forward from there. He is bored out of his mind missing his regular riding and is itching to get out and about again.

With a massage last week from Performance Horse Therapies he feels great and is ready to go.

On the hoofboot front the new range of boots from easycare are about to hit our shores in the early February. The Edge, Glove and Glue on are turning out to be fantastic additions to the range.

For more info on them see: http://www.easycaredownunder.com.au/page4.htm

For the first time in awhile I do not have any pics to share! Stay tuned I am sure I will take some soon enough!