Felix...take a bow!

Despite (or maybe because of) his epic day last week, when he and I clocked up 40 miles out hunting (our biggest ever recorded total), Felix is looking and feeling fantastic.  

In fact, talking to others who were out that day, although the horses went a long way and covered some very steep ground, none of them came back really tired - they were very hungry but were all bright and bouncing  - especially in comparison with their riders(!). 

Maybe its because the weather wasn't too hot, maybe its because the ground is dry at the moment and so its not as tiring as in the winter when its deep and wet.  Also, I suppose, by this time in the season all the horses are extremely fit and have huge reserves of stamina. 

Felix deserves extra credit, though, because he has now done over 800 miles this season.  Add that to more than 700 miles last season (when I first had GPS to measure with) and all his previous 5 seasons, and, in total, he must have hunted thousands of miles barefoot.

Of course, I did much less with him in his first couple of years, as he was only a youngster, but even at the most conservative estimate (say, 200 miles his first season, then 300, then 400, then 500, then 600) he must have covered at least 3500 miles (5600 km) over 7 seasons.

Take a bow, mate - you deserve it :-)