rabbitsfizz said:
A little bit. I took him out to a couple of AMHR shows last year with no real work beforehand (bad Leia!
) and then took him to the ocean in July. On each occasion he did okay but very quickly got way more sore and tired than I think his lack of condition called for. He really wants to get back to work but I'm going to have to be super careful with him- I'm basically going to treat him like a complete green horse this spring except for the fact he's already safe to put in the Hyperbike.
Lots of vigorous walking, lots of lateral work in-hand to stretch those back muscles, and preferably some long trotting on flat straight trails if I can find any. My instincts say that's the only way I'm going to get him conditioned again but "lots of miles" are hard to find around here and he isn't going to be comfortable with ring work.
I hope to combine my two "green horses" in order to complete longer outings; I'll tie Kody to the back of the cart on the way out to let him warm up without pulling weight, and on the way back I'll switch the horses and let Turbo cool out while Kody hauls us home! Hopefully that way they can both get some cardio conditioning without overstraining their muscles and by the time they're both fit maybe Turbo will be far enough along in his training to allow us to begin pair and tandem work.
RhineStone said:
Sure would be fun to try a Hyperbike someday.....
I'd especially like to see the difference in how they handle in obstacles and whether you can really cut the time down. Is it like the difference between a two-wheeled cart and a four wheeler?
In a way, yes. I've only driven a couple of four-wheelers (to one Welsh, one Friesian pair, and a couple of mini pairs) so I'm not as familiar with how they handle yet, but I think basically a four-wheel vehicle allows your horse to almost "break the rig in half" through a turn and then yank it around in the new direction, right? Whereas a two-wheel vehicle you have to stay on a strong outside arch to allow for the fact the wheels must follow the path of the shafts? If that's the defining difference as far as handling in obstacles then yes, the Hyperbike is more like a four-wheeler.
Kody is NOT fast and never has been...agility and speed are just not his thing. But the Hyperbike allowed us to do things like button-hole where no one else could, double-back on our own path, go across slopes that would have flipped other carts and otherwise make up for his shortcomings enough to keep the lead we'd gotten in dressage and end up first in the standings at the end of the day. Despite some comments I've gotten over the years I don't think that was cheating as anyone could buy a Hyperbike, just as anyone could put their horse to a four-wheeler or get marathon shafts or otherwise give themselves an equipment advantage. Kody had quite enough of a handicap to begin with! The 'Bike was just evening out the field.
Believe it or not I may or may not use it with Turbo when the time comes. He's a big, strong boy who won't need that advantage the way Kody did and I'd like to prove at least once or twice that I can win in a normal cart as well.
Also, he's going to be my tandem wheeler so I need to condition him to heavier weights anyway, which means not much practicing in the 'Bike. We'll see! But for Kody with his back injury the 'Bike is going to be his regular cart from now on whenever we have a choice. He's never liked moving into shafts on tight turns and now that it physically hurts him to do so, he NEEDS the zero-gravity, hands-free-spin effect of the 'Bike.
Leia
