December 31 2007

Well I had been hoping to ride on New Years Day since it is rumored to be good luck. Dale checked the weather and thought that today would be a better riding day out on the trail than tomorrow so I threw my plans out the window and headed out to the barn today. I wasn't sure how I would do riding two days in a row but I am so glad I went.

The weather was about 40 degrees and there was very little wind, which made for a pleasant ride. I did dress for the mountain, however, with an ear covering, 3 shirt layers and my "horse coat," and Kittee lent me some gloves.

The plan initially was to ride up Cache Hollow, which is my usual route during conditioning rides. However we could see/hear ATVs on that road today, and I had never been up Spofford Rd., so it was decided they would show me Bowlus Hill.

We trailered the horses down the road about a mile or so and then drove up Spofford Road, which is a curvy gravel one-lane farm road. We turned around and parked on a knoll in the field. Then we saddled up and rode out from there. It is so gorgeous up there. Dale rode Misty today and Kittee rode Nugget. We rode on a double track trail through the fields for some distance and then out across the field once the trail ended. Then ahead of us was Bowlus Hill. There is a big "S" carved into the side of it which I think is supposed to be a switchback trail for machinery but we did not follow that grade. We made our own trail, weaving back and forth up the giant hill. The horses took a few rest stops throughout as it was very steep and scattered with bunchgrass - which Sinwaan took full advantage of at every break.

There were numerous birds of prey floating nearby and at one point on the way back, one flew very close to us, probably within 100 feet and it was a sight to behold. Once we reached the top of Bowlus, the view was spectacular. You could see 360 degrees around the valley. You could see Milton-Freewater and College Place and Walla Walla, and yes even Bennington Lake. Looking to the other side were the Blue Mountains covered in snow. Dale took some photos - the first one is Kittee and I on a knoll out in a field off Spofford Rd. The other two are at the top of Bowlus Hill and some of the view from up there.

It was a slow ride, mostly walking with a little trotting, and Sinwaan seemed to really enjoy himself. When we got back to the barn I gave him his grain and a carrot and put his blanket back on because by then it was getting very cold.

What a fantastic way to finish off 2007. Sinwaan and I have clocked 76.7 hours in the saddle this year + one endurance ride of approx 5 hours, and hope for even more in 2008. Happy Trails and hope to see you out there! :)

December 30 2007

Today Dale and Kittee gave us a ride to the indoor arena at the fairgrounds to ride with the NWQHA. For the first 30 or 45 minutes we were the only three riding so we had it all to ourselves and that was nice. Then a gal showed up with a cute little young gelding and rode him around and then the last forty minutes or so a group of four or five other riders joined us.

Today I worked on Sinwaan's transitions again after warming him up and he is doing better when I ask for the canter. We took a break for about 10 minutes after an hour of riding and then we finished out the time slot. The chute was open today for the horses who go in for steer wrestling so I walked him in there and he didn't like it, he got out of there fast so I backed him in and made him stand there a minute and then told him "lets go!" and he picked up the canter pretty fast to barrel to the other end. We did that about three times, then the last time we did it I walked him out. He got more comfortable with it as time progressed but he still wasn't in love by the time we left. We also did some side-passing, first against the fence and then later in the center of the arena. He moves better one direction than the other so we will keep working at it.

Kittee and Dale brought Derby and Nugget today and Derby is doing much better loading up in the trailer and Kittee is enjoying riding him.

It was a nice day to be riding and it felt good to be back on a horse. After the first hour of riding, however, I could tell it had been two weeks because I got sore pretty quickly and my thighs felt like jelly.

December 16 2007

Today Dale and Kittee were kind enough to allow Sinwaan and I to catch a ride with them to the fairgrounds, for which I am grateful. It is so hard to ride otherwise in our inclement, cold, rainy or snowy weather as of late. We got there a little early and I had time to tack up before our arena time of 11 am. I didn't use the breastcollar today, and moved my usual girth up a hole on the right side, so when I cinched him up on the left he wouldn't have an area of rubbing/pinching. This seemed to work out well both last week and this week so I think I will continue to do this until he loses his winter coat.

We walked the arena for a good 10 minutes to allow for warm-up and then we did a fair amount of trotting before I asked him to canter, and we worked on transitions. The first couple of times I asked for a canter he acted up, swished his tail and threw up his shoulders but no bucking and I gave him a verbal warning and we continued to work on it. When he would give me a nice couple of strides at the canter I would let him back down to a trot and we did this many different times throughout the two hour time period and I believe we made a little progress. We did some sidepassing in the center of the arena but he goes along so much better one direction than the other so we also used the rail to practice. We did a little backing, and also some tighter circles at the trot, some figure-eights, different manuvers and turns to bend and keep him focused on me. His real challenge is to keep moving ahead when approched from the rear. He really seems to dislike the arena, and dislike being passed. He does not cause any problems for the other horses, he will simply stop where he is until they go by (which as you can imagine happens a lot in an arena!)

There were on average, five horses in the arena at a time today. It seemed to be stallion day as one man brought two stallions. The first stallion was a little antsy, at first I just thought it was a green horse and didn't realize until later he was a stallion. I don't know the breed, he looked like he could have been either a real pretty QH or a plain Arab. He had a nice head. The second stallion was brought in the second hour and he was a black and white paint horse and he was acting up bad on the way to the arena, rearing and spinning around and carrying on. I thought him to be trouble for sure. The owner brought him in and lounged him in the one end and he was bucking and causing all kinds of a ruckus. It seemed to make Sinwaan edgy so I let him stand in a corner and watch the goings-on. After a little while the stallion had his bugs worked out and the man got on and rode him and there was no more trouble. By the end the man had a cup of coffee and no hands on the reins and was guiding the stud around with his knees.

Dale and Kittee had taken their saddles inside to clean them and forgot to put the front cinch back on Dale's saddle so he had brought Misty and no way to ride. So he just hung out and watched and talked to the people. Kittee brought Derby today and a potential buyer was there to check him out, and he rode him and took him away about noon. After that Kittee used her saddle on Misty and rode her, and also rode bareback.

It was a nice day, beautiful outside and the sort of day you long to be on a trail but knowing the footing would likely be slippery. I enjoyed my ride today and felt accomplished. I hope Sinwaan feels the same way :)

It was interesting to note today that the air was calm in Walla Walla yet the wind was roaring at the barn in M-F. I would have thought about riding a trail today UNTIL I got out there and was chilled by the rush of air.

December 9 2007

Today was a wintery day to be certain. Snow on the ground and a high of 35 (which was lower than average). Heidi Larson came out to pick up Ollokot, she is his new owner now and a fellow endurance rider so it was nice to meet her and she was wonderful with Ollokot, he hopped right on that trailer for her.

Afterwards I picked up Lara's trailer and went back out to get Sinwaan for a ride at the arena. I attended the group ride time of 2-3 pm at the Fairgrounds indoor arena for the Blue Mountain Riders and there were 10 horses and 9 riders out today for this hour time slot. Mother KP came along with me for the company, although she decided not to ride today. I was very glad she was there as I needed her assistance on more than one occasion.

We had some complications from the start with the trailer. First it took us about 20 minutes to back up the Explorer in line with the hitch. We were laughing because it turned into such a riot that we just couldn't get it, it was silly. Then her area for the safety chains was too fat for the chain end clip so we had to get creative to hook up the chains. When we got out to the barn and tried to back up, the trailer brakes came on and I had to unplug the connector in order to reverse the trailer. Sinwaan gave me his usual trouble loading but mother shooed him in quickly. When we got to the fairgrounds we could not get the trailer door open. I know it sticks sometimes but this had me befuddled. Dee Dee was nearby so I asked her if she had any tips. She came over and opened it right up, for which I was relieved, but then it would not close. We finally came to the conclusion that because the trailer was at a slight angle on the pavement, the door was not lining up right due to gravity. When we were ready to leave I had mother pull the car forward to a level spot and then the door shut and opened with no trouble at all, proving our theory was correct.

Unloading, Sinwaan likes to turn around and walk out but this time he got his blanket caught for a half second on something. It didn't bother him, and didn't rip the blanket, so no harm done. I put Sinwaan in the building and tied him so he could have a little time to get used to the place again. He is ansty the first 10 minutes or so, calling out to the other horses and moving around. Matt stopped by with a taco for me from the taco wagon since the days events would leave me with no time to come home for lunch. I gulped it down and gave Sinwaan the last bite since he seemed interested. He started flapping his lips and spit out the bite and lifted his lip up into the air.

He wasn't too dirty since he has been blanketed but I did have a fair amount of grooming to do on his belly and legs. By the time I was done and tacked up, I entered the arena at 2:15. There were some loud noises today, later it was determined to be ice sliding down the roof of the arena building. At one point it slid and fell right in the doorway to the building, spooking many of the horses. Sinwaan jumped a little but was no trouble. What he really didn't like was man walking around the perimeter outside the arena with spurs a-clanking.

I walked him around about 10 minutes and then we did a fair amount of trotting and I worked him on transitioning again. When I asked for the canter he would throw his fore up and pin his ears and do about one stride before coming back to a trot so we worked on that too. This is something new he has started since the arena so I am guessing it has more to do with being arena sour than pain since today all his tack was back to the same he has been using all along.

We did some backing up and sidepassing (not as good as last time) and rode around in circles. When there was 15 minutes to go the BMR ladies decided to do a follow the leader drill. I paired up at the end next to Linda and we did a series of maneuvers like a drill team. It was ok, sort of fun except Sinwaan doesn't like to be that close to other horses. The things you discover riding in an arena. I had to keep my leg on him to stay up where he needed to be and then the last thing they tried was a pinwheel and he wanted none of that, but in all fairness the horse we were turning into was thrashing his tail and acting up a little so we called it a day and I took him out and untacked and got him ready for the trip home since the snow was already coming down again and I didn't want to get caught out in it.

I dropped mom off at my house and took Sinwaan back to the barn and returned the trailer (thank you so much to Lara for the loaner). The last bit of trouble I had was parking the trailer up on the curb and then having to back it up (unplug the connector) and straighten it out but I got it done and was proud of myself for getting a ride in today.

Upcoming Ride

Here is the first ride close to home that has been sanctioned and posted to the AERC page;
http://www.doublejoy.com/erol/Calendar/RideDetails.asp?rideID=4468
It is a 30 mile ride in Zillah, WA.
Hoping to make this one with Lara.

December 2 2007

Today is Sunday and although it looked nasty outside I wanted to go play with the horses. I grabbed some carrots and headed out to the barn while Levi was taking his morning nap. I could not believe the wind when I got out there. It was so incredible it would take your breath away (later on weather.com it was reported to be gust up to 54 mph).I grabbed the camera and walked up to the barn. The horses were mostly blanketed and huddled around the barn. Sinwaan was in the barn staring back at me. Ollokot was out in the pasture grazing. Any hopes of riding today quickly diminished as I stood, feeding carrots, trying to keep my balance in the crazy weather. I did manage to take some photos while wandering around the pasture, many of the horses followed me out and decided it wasn't so bad to graze.


Sinwaan was the last one out, and after saying some hellos to me and getting some pats, he went out and chased everyone away from the mineral block.