I'm a new endurance rider, having just finished my first season astride my 6-year-old Arabian gelding, Aaruba. My other horses are Barbs, and I plan to start two of then in endurance in 2009. I blog about my journey at The Barb Wire. You're welcome to come along for the ride!
Thank you for the Fit to Ride posts on The Barb Wire! I had every intention of only scanning through the first post and ended up reading all of them. Excellent! I have been trying to dedicate myself to my fitness for my horse and your posts were exactly what I needed. As you said:
“I'm talking about pure, focused, physical and mental effort. Huffing and puffing, nauseating, self-disciplined, self-denying, self-fulfilling, barrier-breaking workouts that sculpt you into the kind of fit that makes strangers on the street turn around for another look.
You know -- the kind of effort your endurance horse makes for you.”
Thanks again and I hope you get the friend thing figured out!
At 12:43pm on February 5, 2009, Jonna Kelner said…
Tamara,
In one of your photos on your page here, the one of your older saddle, did you find this saddle pad or did you take a wool felt saddle pad and custom cut/stitch to better fit your McClellan? If you purchased it, where might someone else purchase a pad pre shaped so well to fit a McClellan?