Jun 17 2011
Cowboy Jake
"Subscribe to Endurance Riding!"
My 9-year-old son, Jakob, has recently shown an interest in endurance riding… I haven’t been doing this sport long at all, but I’ve already accumulated enough stories from the two rides I’ve done to spark his interest.
When I found out that the Hat Creek Hustle endurance ride in Lassen National Forest was offering a 10-mile fun ride, I thought that would be the perfect way to introduce Jakob and his horse, Beauty, to the sport of endurance. I asked Jakob last week if he’d like to go and he jumped at the chance. So, we started training.
Last Friday included a two hour trail ride with lots of hill work. Sunday we did a moderate one-hour ride before our big ride on Monday. On Monday, we went to Stirling City. This was Jakob’s first time to Stirling City. I don’t know the exact mileage, but I believe it is around 12 miles (although a friend estimated it at 14, I don’t think it is quite that many miles). While a 12 mile ride is easy for Asali and me, Jakob and Beauty have never done this distance together before and both needed a break along the way:
Tuesday, we did an easy ride, followed by groundwork on Wednesday. Yesterday, all the horses got their hooves trimmed, and then Jakob and I did a practice run of horse camping, tying both Asali and Beauty to the horse trailer all night (since Beauty has never been horse camping with us, I wanted to make sure she’d be okay tying all night; turns out she did fine). This morning, we’re busy packing and getting ready to leave for Lassen; we’re hoping to be out of here before 2 pm.
In addition to riding, Jakob (and his brother Declan) have started jogging with me in the mornings. We jog about 1 mile with the dogs, doing a series of stretches before we start out. Not only do I need to build my own fitness if I plan to do a 50-miler before the summer is up, but Jakob and Declan need to get in shape for the upcoming football season.
My little cowboy, Jake, shows his love for his horse, Beauty, an Appendix mare we rescued last year.
Love your stories and photos! 🙂
Thanks, Carol. Jo took some amazing shots of Jakob and Beauty during our photo shoot back in May. I wish I could post them all!
Lovely blog. My son aged 11 has recently take up endurance riding in the UK and last month we did a 10 mile ride together. Great to see the fun you and your son are having!
Thanks, Emma. Good luck to your son! That is awesome!