Swatch doesn’t feel like such a massive horse to ride, but rolling the tapes and trying to get his body to fit in one frame tells differently. . . Now that Swatch is back running preliminary (I count back* even though we skipped a jump two weeks ago. We got 90% through) I’ve upped his fitness. I really try to incorporate a long hack before every ride, which has become easier with the longer days. I’ve access to some long pulls and great footing to do our conditioning work. We’ve bumped to trotting 25 minutes, and I’m trying to time our gallops just right. Right now, I do three 4-minute canter/gallops. I would imagine only 25% of that is hitting Swatch’s quicker clip. The remaining is between a novice and training level tempo. . I treat a gallop day just like I would a jump day. I’ll ice his legs, give a liniment bath, then turn out! . . . . . #eventing #eventinghorse #eventinglife #eventingnation #eventinglive #eventingpony #eventinghorses #britisheventing #eventingrider #eventingirela...