What does your hunt horse do for summer?

[Rt66Kix]

Since Buddy wasn’t sound last spring/summer, I didn’t do anything but continue his rehab. Now that he is sound, I have NO idea how I’ll keep him in shape, plus everyone else.

Tulsa gets too hyper hunting, so he had the winter off. Now he’s ready to go, and I have to get him in shape. Atikus, the Danish WB, hasn’t been ridden or worked for about a year; between Mac’s illness and eventual death, I just didn’t have time.

Oh, and now I have a greenbroke 16 y/o Shire, with no steering or brakes under saddle, and this summer he’s finally healthy enough to start his training :eek:

So I have 4 horses to either get into shape, or keep in shape, and I have no idea how to do it! I could probably find people to ride them, but I only have one treeless saddle, so one of us would have to ride bareback. I do pony one of them frequently, but their stride lengths are so different that it’s really hard to canter for long stretches. Buddy is doing his nice little canter, and Atikus has barely gone into a working trot! LOL!

And we won’t even talk about Winston’s stride - yowsa! He overreaches about 8" and has a power walk. Ground driving him at a trot means I sprint to keep up :lol:

I don’t have an arena, indoor or out, and once the farmers plant around here, it’s impossible to ride in the fields. Trailering to a park is always an option, but diesel is now $4.00/gallon. Guess we’ll be doing a lot of riding on the roads; good thing we live in a rural area! I guess if gas keeps going up, I’ll start running errands via horseback. It would take at least an hour to get into town, and I’d be on a busy road, but it would save $$ on gas and keep them fit!

[equest]

[QUOTE=Rt66Kix;3125715]
Guess we’ll be doing a lot of riding on the roads; good thing we live in a rural area! I guess if gas keeps going up, I’ll start running errands via horseback. It would take at least an hour to get into town, and I’d be on a busy road, but it would save $$ on gas and keep them fit![/QUOTE]

lol - i picture your horses, one saddled, and the other equipped with panniers akin to that we used on a mule pack trip through the Sierra Nevadas. Does the local Wal-Mart or Tractor Supply have a hitching post?!

If gas prices keep rising, I think it would get a lot of use

[Painted_Wings]

I want to try some weekend trail rides this year

My husband used to work on Saturdays so we could never go anywhere on weekends. Now he doesn’t work at all and I have every other Friday off. On top of that I have good friends that moved to Southern Missouri where there are huge National Forests with trails. I’m hoping to take at least one weekend this summer and head down there. There are a few places where you can get a cabin and a place to keep your horse.

[lesson_junkie]

Painted Wings, that sounds like so much fun! I’ve been wanting to do that too-there are lots of places in the Carolinas. Some of then have picket lines for the horses overnight. I think my guy has enough of a sense of humor to tolerate that…but would I get a wink of sleep??

[system]

wht do my hunters do in summer?

Old guy (12, OTTB) dressage and trail riding, not a whole lot of either.

Young guy (6, 3/4 TB, 1/4 Friesian) dressage, dressage, jumping, plus let’s work some more on WHOA DAMMIT, plus lots of the skills you need but don’t really think about explicitly: getting gates, standing still while mounting, any bugs with trailering get worked out, etc, etc! I once spent an afternoon (couple hours, anyway) bridling and unbridling till he would drop his head and quietly accept it (I’m little, he’s big).

Someone once admired my horse’s skill at helping me get gates (get next to it and stand, sidepass it open, turn on forehand, step thru, sidepass the other way, backup and stand while I close it) and asked me how I taught him. Well, first, not in the hunt field. At home. And one piece at a time - stand - sidepass - turn on forehand, etc.

Also ride one and pony the other as the season approaches. Then I pretty much just ride them fit thru cubbing.