Coolie does endurnace

Having seemingly fallen out of love with show jumping and not having the time or money or mental energy for eventing, I have been on a quest to find things that I do enjoy with the horses. Namely, things that don't keep me awake at night, or make me feel sick in the lead up because that is just no fun and lets face it, this is meant to be fun. 

Previously Coolie and I have done eventing, dressage and show jumping but at 21 I thought he needed to stop jumping. However he is fit and sound and in need of a job (I work better with a goal!) so thought we should give endurance a go.

We have been training all year, from home we have a lot of hill work, but not much opportunity for faster work but my plans to float out to do some never came through so I was just hoping the hills would suffice. He is quite fit and has been pulling up from our rides very fresh so I thought he should be right.

All smiles before we go

The ride was about an hour away and didn’t start until 11 so we had quite an easy morning, getting there for 9 so I could meet my friend, get the lay of the land, check in and vet without feeling too stressed given I’d not done it before. Everyone was so friendly and helped me along the way.

The first vetting was a bit nerve wracking actually, but we sailed though, coolie got As across the board and his heart rate was 33bpm. Then we slowly got organised before the ride briefing. The ride briefing was really clear and I felt like I wouldn’t get lost at all, plus a few things were explained to me (as I was the only rider who put their hand up as not having done a ride before!). I was feeling confident.

Back to the float, we got tacked up slowly and were ready to ride in no time. Coolie and I were riding with a friend I have known for years and her friend, they have both been endurance riding for a few years now so they were going to show me the ropes. We planned to go out last and rode quite slow. I was happy with that as I wanted to see how Coolie handled the ride, he was my priority!

Rocking my eventing colours 

11 rolled around and we were waiting, ready to go. Coolie had no idea what was happening, but there was no start box and no jumps so he had a snooze while the other horses started. Then off we went, calling our numbers to the starter and heading onto the trail.

What followed was a very pleasant 10km, of walking and trotting. Coolie had a little canter as he was quite excited but he kept it to a dull roar. He has a huge trot on the trails and feels like he could go all day, and that trot made an appearance on and off all day, whenever we trotted.

We got to the check point and let the horses drink and eat. I was impressed when coolie had a drink, he’s not the best drinker in the world, but of course he scoffed the hay. Then we headed back to do the next 10km.

Important snax

About a km from the CP, there was a lovely hill, perfect for a canter so up we went, having the time of our lives. Then we went down a long hill and were over taken by a very keen Arab. Coolie thought he’d like to keep up with her so was quite keen, though very reasonable about his keenness. At 15km I still had a very fresh horse!

The bottom of the hill we cantered up

Coolie knew we were heading for home so he was forward and happy and offering trot and canter very politely when he felt we needed to go a bit faster. The last few km felt quite slow, we knew we were close but my gps said we were closer than we were! We made it though. 

Sir would like to trot down here please!

Our ride time was 3.22, so very slow. However Coolie felt great coming in and that he could have kept going which is all I was worried about. He sailed through the second vetting, getting all As again and a heart rate of 34, after a big drink and a huge pee then he tucked into his hay.

Coming into ride camp

All in all we had such a nice time, I actually don’t remember the last time I had that much stress free fun with my horse! This year show jumping has been seeming like a mountain I don’t want to climb so just enjoying something is a huge relief. I’m looking forward to our next ride now!

A fun day wIth friends!