Today was gallop day at the Canadian Team training camp, and I can say with absolute conviction that I am glad we are in Florida!! The sandy ground has obviously had an easier summer than anywhere else I’ve been the last few months, and the well established grass on the farm here made for some pretty good ground in the back of the property.
We went in shifts of two or three, so that we could all be going at the same time, just the right distance between each of us that David and Dr. Ober could really pay attention to each horse’s workout. The way we did it was to do a bit of a figure eight where we went diagonally up a long hill, and then turned around the “peak”, if you will, and then sprinted up the backside on a much shorter and steeper incline.
I think the Thoroughbreds each did this loop three times, at varying speeds. My horse, who is half Selle Francais and definitely a bit of a bigger guy, did four loops (with a minute walk in between) the last three loops were used to really work the hills and go a little quicker. It was a super workout, and he felt great. He really power walked all the way back to the barn, which is a good judge for this horse for how he is feeling. If he is tired after his gallops, he really slugs it back to the barn, but this morning it was like he was waiting for another set!! Good boy J.
After the galloping and icing and the usual post-gallop routine, Ollie got to go out for a few hours. We are lucky enough to have two Niagara Equissage systems to use throughout our Training Camp and the WEGs, so Ollie enjoyed having the back pad on for twenty minutes later on in the afternoon.
Everyone was pretty happy with the day, and we are very much looking forward to going to a schooling show at the Florida Horse Park in the morning to practice our dressage tests (yet again!!)
Thanks for reading!! And look for tomorrow’s updates (and possibly some video) from the schooling show!!
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