TTR: What qualities do you most value in your horses?
Hart: A good mind; excellent conformation; the heart and desire to win; and good pulse-and-respiration recovery times - which may be genetic, but can improve with conditioning. All of these qualities are important in a pleasure horse, too. Whatever you want to do, your horse should do it with enthusiasm and vigor. We all should ride horses that we enjoy.
TTR: Describe a typical trail ride when your goal is to condition your horse.
Hart: To warm up, I always start with a 15 to 20 minute walk, combined with leg yields and half-halts to get my horse supple. Three times a week, I ride five to eight miles, depending on my horse's level of fitness, his age, and the terrain. I walk and trot, rarely cantering. Downhill, I walk or, if it's really steep, I get off and lead.
As my horse becomes fit, I'll ride 8 to 14 miles, with one 20-mile ride per week, keeping in mind that horses aren't ready, physically or mentally, for an intense training program until they're 8 years old.
TTR: What's your favorite ride?
Hart: The Swanton Trail in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California. We ride amongst giant redwoods and along the coast. It's fantastic!
TTR: What was your most challenging endurance ride?
Hart: It was in 1992, at the World Endurance Championships in Spain. It wasn't so much the physical challenge of the 100-mile course, but that so many things went wrong! Rio and I were third into the first vet check, and he was the first horse to recover. But when we trotted out, we could see a rider ahead: Someone had mistakenly let a French rider go too soon. Friends radioed me that she would be penalized at the next vet check, but that never happened.
Meanwhile, Rio lost a shoe. I put on an Easy Boot, which worked until it somehow came off and wrapped itself around his ankle. Fortunately, I had a Leatherman's tool to cut it off and another Easy Boot to replace it. That took five valuable minutes, and the French rider was even farther ahead. At the next stop, a farrier put on new shoes, and Rio left at a gallop - his sense of humor again!
He worked so hard: over lava fields, through small villages, and past pig farms. We made up lots of time and finally reached the finish line, which was on a big polo field. We entered the field in first place, but because there were groves of shade trees and Rio was bay, people didn't see us. No one clapped, so I knew my crew hadn't seen us either. Then, the French rider entered - on a gray horse, which the crowd spotted - and people clapped. It wasn't until Rio and I were halfway around the field that my crew finally saw us and roared. At last, they knew that we'd won! It felt great.
TTR: What can pleasure riders learn from endurance riders?
Hart: How to pace yourself and your horse from point A to point B, all the while being aware of his healthy pulse, respiration, warm up/cool down, and nutritional needs.
TTR: What can endurance riders learn from pleasure riders?
Hart: How to take the time to enjoy the beauty of where we ride, and to have fun.
TTR: What's the greatest lesson horses have taught you?
Hart: To always keep my sense of humor. And not to be surprised if, as soon as you think things are going well - they don't.
TTR: How can Centered Riding enhance a rider's experience?
Hart: The better balanced you are, the better ride you'll have. Centered Riding improves balance and helps you move with your horse in a more fluid manner. It's about feel and developing a oneness with your horse.
TTR: What three qualities do you value in a friend?
Hart: Honesty, humor, and an appreciation of horses for what they do.
TTR: What's the best book you've read recently?
Hart: The Time of Our Singing by Richard Powers. His story about a mixed-race family in the 1950s pulled me right in. His writing style is amazing.
TTR: What's your most valued possession?
Hart: My photos, and my videos of Rio at the two world championship rides.
TTR: Complete this sentence: People would be surprised to know that I...
Hart: ....used to go slow, and show horses on the rail - all disciplines.
TTR: If you could invite anyone - from any era - to talk around a campfire, who would you chose?
Hart: I love to read, so I'd invite author Dick Francis. He has so many engaging stories from his racing days, there wouldn't be a dull moment.
TTR: What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Hart: Perfect happiness is a fleeting state, like balanced riding: treasured for a moment, then gone.But it would have to include work that I love, a partner who is my soulmate, and - of course - horses.
