Karen's Musings & Endurance Ride Stuff » useful tips

Some more useful phone apps

Karen Chaton — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 02:57:07 +0000

Most of these are available for both Android and iPhone. I always try these apps out before blogging about them. I often end up uninstalling more apps than I keep. The more I use my phone, the more I am in awe over all of the things that it can do. I may as well use it for as many things as I can, since it is sort of pointless to have a “smart

Continue reading Some more useful phone apps

Clipped my endurance horses

Karen Chaton — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 05:51:11 +0000

Chief after a full body clip. Feb 2012.

To clip or no to clip. I finally gave in, and did it. I did full body clips on both horses over the weekend. When I clip, I like to do it a couple of weeks prior to a ride.

I had been putting clipping off because I just knew that winter was going to appear. Didn’t happen. Neither horse had started to shed either.

Continue reading Clipped my endurance horses

Endurance Horses & Joint Products

Karen Chaton — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:17:02 +0000

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I have found it quite interesting that those turning in their Decade Team interviews recently have nearly all answered this question: Do you give any kind of joint products? with a yes, and then followed by a description. Many are using a feed through product with a large number using Adequan IM. I also answered yes and covered what I use on Chief in our

Continue reading Endurance Horses & Joint Products

Endurance Horse Basic Training: Hoof Boots

Karen Chaton — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 20:36:11 +0000

If you choose to use ride in any type of hoof boots then you need to prepare your horse for the eventuality that one or more may come off during an endurance ride. Many horses will react adversely the first time that happens to them. Even more-so if it happens during an actual competition; your horse is excited, and there are other horses going by! It’s not fun to be stuck on the side

Continue reading Endurance Horse Basic Training: Hoof Boots

Endurance Rider Basics: What to do when….

Karen Chaton — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:33:11 +0000

I was thinking about all of the times I have avoided being run over or knocked down by another out of control horse at an endurance ride. I guess when you ride more than 30,000 miles including a few point to point or long cross country rides you gain that kind of experience. It’s NOT the kind of experience I want to have, but since I do….I thought I might share a few of

Continue reading Endurance Rider Basics: What to do when….

Endurance Horse Training Basics: Saddle Slipping

Karen Chaton — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 22:06:08 +0000

One of the scariest things to have happen at an endurance ride, is to have a panicky horse galloping towards you with it’s saddle underneath it’s belly.

This has happened to me. More than once. Not to my own horses, mind you; I’ve been in the path of other horses as they run in fear usually back towards camp.

It’s not a fun thing to experience for anyone, least of all the horse or

Continue reading Endurance Horse Training Basics: Saddle Slipping

Endurance Horse Training Basics: More on Tying

Karen Chaton — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:11:01 +0000

For the start of this lesson, I have tied Chief to a hitching post with a cotton lead rope in a quick release knot. The snap cannot touch the ground.

I want to start to get into more advanced ‘basic training’, but before I do I want to go over the basics of tying and emphasis again how important it is to have a horse that is trained to tie well. This is

Continue reading Endurance Horse Training Basics: More on Tying

More phone apps

Karen Chaton — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 18:40:11 +0000

These are not necessarily useful only for endurance riders, but for anybody using a Droid phone. I found that some apps were battery hogs and have done away with those. I have also learned that if I am at a ride and there is no cell service that I can put the phone in airplane mode, which turns off the phone’s ability to try and access a signal. This will keep the battery working

Continue reading More phone apps

Useful Android Phone Apps for Trail and Endurance Riders

Karen Chaton — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:44:42 +0000

It seems like a lot of riders these days have smart phones. I resisted for a long time, but then when my phone started to die on the XP this summer I ended up getting a new Android phone while we were in Wyoming. By that point I had already seen how useful they could be from other riders. I’ve added a lot of apps to the phone that are fun, but there are

Continue reading Useful Android Phone Apps for Trail and Endurance Riders

Endurance Basics: Training your horse to deal with a vet check

Karen Chaton — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 00:26:09 +0000

They say that practice makes perfect, and in this case it certainly can’t hurt! The more you can do to prepare your horse ahead of time for what they are going to experience at an endurance ride, the better.

There are a lot of great books and websites that cover the basics for endurance riders. There aren’t a lot of things (that I could find) that deal specifically with the finer points of exposing

Continue reading Endurance Basics: Training your horse to deal with a vet check