Week 2!

 This week I have been working on similar things as last week, continuing to study and ride as much as I can. This week I finished researching diseases for the veterinary care section, and I also nailed down the rider safety and land conservation elements. This project has been a little overwhelming for me, just because the test is so complex and daunting, but as I have put more work into it my confidence has grown a bit. I have also been riding Bren a lot, and since our first Eventing competition of the season is next weekend I have been doing a lot of conditioning work! My trainer has a heart rate monitor that she has been letting me use on Bren while I ride, and I can look on the app that it connects to in order to see different stats like her heart rate, speed, altitude, etc. It is super useful for getting her fit, and I am also learning a lot about exercise physiology. I have also been riding her with an Equiband, which are two resistance bands around her barrel and hindquarters that stabilize her spine and pelvis and encourage her to use her abdominal muscles correctly. With the use of these two tools, I have seen a lot of progress in her this season! 



I also started riding a new horse for a client this week. Her name is Epona (16h 10 yo TB) and she is super sweet! She doesn't need much training work, besides maybe a little education about contact and lateral work, so I am mostly riding her to get her in shape. 

This is another client's horse, her name is Toria (14.2h Welsh cross). I have been riding her for several months, and she has really improved in that time! She is a lower-level dressage horse, but I have been getting her fit and also teaching her how to use her muscles more correctly and carry herself in a better frame. Right now I am working on teaching her leg yields and improving her balance over canter poles. 



Comments

  1. Wow, I didn't know about all of these techniques to teach horses to use their muscles more efficiently. That is super interesting! Also, is all of this riding designed to condition the rider, or just the horses? How much are you riding? I was also curious to know more about the land conservation section of the test. What does that cover? Hope you are enjoying this time with the horses. Wendy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Wendy!
      Most of the riding that I am doing is for the benefit of the horses, because I already know what I am doing and the goal is to teach them new things and keep them fit. All of the riding I do with my own horse is for both of us though because she is more advanced so our skill levels match. The land conservation section basically just asks about what land is endangered in your area and ways to conserve equestrian land.

      Delete
  2. Wow! So cool Mikayla! Its cool to learn about each of the horses different personalities and needs.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Horse heart rate monitor, this is so awesome! What's their average resting/max rate like in comparison to a human's? Can you schedule your test for whenever you're ready for it or is this something that is on a predetermined timeline and you have to take it on a certain day?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Veronica!

      A horses resting HR is 30-45 bpm, and a human's is 60-100 bpm. When I am riding, there are specific HR zones that I want to target for a certain amount of time to get the horses cardiovascular system fit. Horses can have heart rates of up to 260 bpm! And the test is scheduled for September 17-19th, and they happen once every 1 or 2 years.

      Delete
  4. These are great portraits of each horse, Mikayla. I would say that you nicely capture their personalities, but perhaps temperament is a better word!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment