I didn’t have enough brain power after a work and volunteer drama filled week to come up with a catchy title. So a perfectly descriptive one will have to do! It wouldn’t be a rookie’s Tevis goal without some healthy doubts, so I’ll cover that first before the gritty details of where we are at conditioning wise.

My first doubt slithered in and nibbled at the toes of my official ride record, when I glanced at the requirements for Tevis: The rider must have 300 miles of endurance completions, of which I have 250 (plus 175 LD miles). So Tarma and I still have to complete one more 50 before we can sign up for Tevis, or for the Tevis Educational ride, which has the same qualification requirements. With some AERC folks having thousands of miles under their belts and even they struggle to finish Tevis, who am I to dream of it with my paltry 250??? A good friend pointed out that Tevis is for dreamers who can plan, and I fit that boat so onwards we forge. I’ve also received three solid commitments to crew for us from trusted friends, which means the world to me to have the confidence of such great riders and friends. The next doubt is harder to quell, because it’s an ongoing check in; can I prepare Tarma for Tevis without damaging her or asking too much of her in the process? Conditioning for Tevis is a whole other ball game, and there’s not a lot of room for “good enough” or “that’ll do.” It requires such a minute attention to details of your mount, not always my strongest suite.

The good news is, Tarma’s an expressive lady and I think I have our feedback loop fairly well dialed in. After all, conditioning rides are her favorite thing: Boogying out on trail when all she has to focus on is what’s around the bend? Totally Tarma’s jam. Other things like watching how she accepts a heavier workload earlier in the season than we’ve started before can be tougher. I’ve had my barn owner switch her over to the full fat, full calorie hay (versus the low sugar stuff the easy keepers get) and I’ll start taking weekly photos to be able to compare and ensure she’s not loosing too much weight. I’ll need to clip her here soon and start blanketing her, as our first ride of the season will be down in Nevada in early April and we need to be prepared for the heat. I need to do a solid, 15-18 mile ride to check and see if her breathing evens out past the first few warm up miles, or if I’ll need to have the vet do some bloodwork when she goes in for her Coggins and health certificate in March for travel.

Looking at our mileage log, I have a goal to do double the miles and workouts I ask Tarma to do, as I have farther to go to condition myself than she does. In January, I did 98 miles and rode Tarma for 70 of them, and I also did 8 strength training sessions. So, not quite there yet. In the first 10 days of February, I’ve done 18 miles and Tarma 14, with 3 strength training workouts. I still need to ramp up a bit more, but I’m also doing the Sweaty Equestrian’s Leaner, Stronger Challenge. This is several weeks of structured education and workouts to not only keep up the consistency of working out, but also addressing the nutrition and supplements and overall challenges of keeping strong and healthy enough to ride distance horses. This challenge is a huge help, as it’s super structured but easy to follow, tailored for endurance riders, and comes with peer support. I’ve already lost several inches and can feel myself getting stronger, I can put on Tarma’s boots with ease now! I can also post with a better rhythm and for far longer than I’ve ever been capable of before, which makes my dressage instructor so happy.

Speaking of boots, I haven’t lost one for the last few rides, so I finally have the Renegades dialed in. I’ll fit in a few more rides with them, then after her next trim I’m popping on all four composite shoes and hopefully riding off into a well glued, no more rubs sunset. On the suggestion of a friend, I’m going to buy a second set of shoes. This will enable me to have one ready to go after each trim, and that will give me a month to get the other set cleaned up and ready to be reset. I think I’ve got my prep down well enough after giving up on the Super Glue that I can do this all myself, though I’ll still have our HCP trim her feet to ensure they stay in a good place and I don’t muck them up.

She’s had an easy week with everything going on at work, and tomorrow we’re taking Kade out to a fancy restaurant for his birthday, so the next time I’ll ride is probably Thursday or maybe Friday if the weather holds. We’re going back to my friend’s place so Kade can work on her farm on Saturday and I’ll try to fit in that long, solid ride that day on all the logging roads there. After how long this week has been (it’s only Tuesday) I’m so looking forward to pointing my spicy chocolate rocket down some new roads and letting her move her way out. Hopefully with a tad less damp but even so, we need the rain.