For the past week I have had the luxury of seeing Sinwaan every day, twice a day. The prospect of this was very exciting to me. I should have known better. Barns are WORK :) - not to mention even more so in the winter. I am there from about 6:30-8 am and again about 7 pm for feeding. I also work full time so this means I have barely been home. And because there is so much to do out there I hardly see Sinwaan at all. Sure, one day I was able to pick the ice balls out of his feet and put on his blanket. I am sure he appreciated that. But not much more in the way of attention, grooming, etc.
Now that I am about ready to try riding again, however, it is much too cold - and the snow! 12 1/2" yesterday! More to come! Low tonight of 0 to -17. Yeah, riding is pretty much out right now.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Saturday, December 6, 2008
A nice December day
This morning we (the family) decided to go out and visit Sinwaan. I took him some apples and thought maybe if I got lucky I could hop on and ride him bareback around the arena. So I put my helmet on in preparation. Sinwaan was easy to halter and enjoyed the first apple thoroughly. I led him out of his paddock and tried to get him up alongside a fence so I would have some height to get on him. (I have never been able to spring up onto a horse with no stirrup or mounting block). He would swing his butt away from me every time I tried. So Matt came out and tried to help me by standing on the other side of him. Sinwaan was wary of the Matt/Levi combination as Levi was up on Matt's shoulders. 
After two attempts I was able to get on board but only for a second, Sinwaan jumped and I slid off the back. Oh well. I thought it better to give up for today. He has had too much vacation to behave without some round pen work and the proper tack. So I took off the leadrope and encouraged him to get some exercise. He took off and ran around the enclosure with his tail up over his back in a long springy extended trot. He even cleared a jump someone had set up out there. He snorted and blew and did some sliding stops and showed off.
I felt bad about his condition, he needs a extensive grooming as his mane is now all tangled in a couple places and he had a bramble in his tail. His hooves look ok for now. I was worried about needing to pull his shoes fairly soon but I think they'll be fine another couple weeks. It is supposed to be as bright, and maybe warmer tomorrow so I hope to get out there to at least give him a thorough grooming and try and reconnect.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Contest!
In The Night Farm - a great informative blog about a fellow endurance rider here in the PNW - is having a contest. Be sure to stop in and check it out!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
For Lease (temporarily)
Due to my knee injury, I would like to offer Sinwaan up for a care-lease short term. (6 mo to a year). I love this horse and have no interest in selling him but finances are tight and I can not ride now anyway.
14.3 hh, 11 yr old, AHA registered
AERC record - MSF Sinwaan - three consecutive LD completions this year for a total of 75 miles for 2008
Super trail horse, easy going, trained english.
Email me for more info; starfroggie@gmail.com
14.3 hh, 11 yr old, AHA registered
AERC record - MSF Sinwaan - three consecutive LD completions this year for a total of 75 miles for 2008
Super trail horse, easy going, trained english.
Email me for more info; starfroggie@gmail.com
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Trail ride with Ruth and Heather
Today Ruth and Heather and I had planned a ride out from Darold's place about 1:30. I was running slightly behind schedule as I rushed about the house at 1 pm getting dressed, taking dogs out, filling water bottles. I got on the bike and decided to take College Ave. to the highway today instead of going past Wal-Mart on the slower roads. Matt followed me in the Camaro since he wanted to check out something that direction anyway. I saw a glimpse of Ruth's horse trailer ahead of me and was glad they were not too far ahead of me. However they got two lights green that I did not, so that put them at the barn at least five minutes ahead of me.
They took a look in the barn as I pulled up and then we tacked up the horses. We were all ready within minutes of each other. Unfortunately today while I was grooming Sinwaan I noticed he was oozing a little from his belly where the flies have been gathering. I will need to get something for that asap. Heather, and later Lara, suggested Corona ointment.
Well we headed out today to Elliot and rode the 8 mile loop. We saw about seven harvesters in one field. The horses did great and didn't seem too bothered by them. Once the horses were warmed up at the walk we set out in a trot and trotted until we got to the harvesters. I asked Ruth if she had told Heather of her plan to do this ride all at the trot (jokingly) and she said no, but she could. We did a lot of trotting on Elliot and some on the dirt road but the dust was pretty bad and Topper started acting up a little so we walked some more. There were sprinklers going over the road at the end so we opted to ride in the field instead. It used to be wheat and now it is just stubble so we figured no one would mind.
Out onto Telephone Pole road and we did a lot more trotting. I was impressed that the other two horses were doing so well barefoot on the gravel roads. We got to the intersection at the end of that road and went right into the field edge back to Elliot. We did more walking and the dust was bad again. Back on Elliot, Sinwaan knew he was headed for home and set off in the lead in his power trot until I pulled him down to a more friendly speed for everyone. Lots more trotting heading home, and back past the harvesters with little trouble.
I really enjoyed riding with Ruth and Heather today, they are great company and Heather on Quincy led the way most of the time and kept us to a nice steady trot. Good conversations and nice weather, although a bit warm, high 80s (I know, I can't complain, really!) It was nice to have the additional motivation to get in those extra miles that I don't normally do alone.
They took a look in the barn as I pulled up and then we tacked up the horses. We were all ready within minutes of each other. Unfortunately today while I was grooming Sinwaan I noticed he was oozing a little from his belly where the flies have been gathering. I will need to get something for that asap. Heather, and later Lara, suggested Corona ointment.
Well we headed out today to Elliot and rode the 8 mile loop. We saw about seven harvesters in one field. The horses did great and didn't seem too bothered by them. Once the horses were warmed up at the walk we set out in a trot and trotted until we got to the harvesters. I asked Ruth if she had told Heather of her plan to do this ride all at the trot (jokingly) and she said no, but she could. We did a lot of trotting on Elliot and some on the dirt road but the dust was pretty bad and Topper started acting up a little so we walked some more. There were sprinklers going over the road at the end so we opted to ride in the field instead. It used to be wheat and now it is just stubble so we figured no one would mind.
Out onto Telephone Pole road and we did a lot more trotting. I was impressed that the other two horses were doing so well barefoot on the gravel roads. We got to the intersection at the end of that road and went right into the field edge back to Elliot. We did more walking and the dust was bad again. Back on Elliot, Sinwaan knew he was headed for home and set off in the lead in his power trot until I pulled him down to a more friendly speed for everyone. Lots more trotting heading home, and back past the harvesters with little trouble.
I really enjoyed riding with Ruth and Heather today, they are great company and Heather on Quincy led the way most of the time and kept us to a nice steady trot. Good conversations and nice weather, although a bit warm, high 80s (I know, I can't complain, really!) It was nice to have the additional motivation to get in those extra miles that I don't normally do alone.
Friday, September 12, 2008
September 11 2008
Well I was planning on riding yesterday after work, I even put on my riding clothes and got on the motorcycle and made it about a mile from home before turning around and going back. I just wasn't feeling 100%. I was disappointed in myself but hey I played it safe.
Tonight I knew I had to get out there and at least do SOMETHING with Sinwaan so I headed out right after work, with my backpack full of carrots. I put his normal halter on him and took him in the round pen. I lounged him at the trot in both directions for about 5 min each to give him a little exercise. Then we got to work on halter practice for the MacMurdo show. Sinwaan did quite well, setting himself up a couple of times automatically. He is getting a little better about moving those front feet around too. He got his share of carrots for reward and then I brushed him and put fly spray on him and let him graze on some weeds before putting him away.
It's not much, but it's something, and with our show coming up in a week I am glad I was able to get some practice in. Maybe I can ride this weekend.
Tonight I knew I had to get out there and at least do SOMETHING with Sinwaan so I headed out right after work, with my backpack full of carrots. I put his normal halter on him and took him in the round pen. I lounged him at the trot in both directions for about 5 min each to give him a little exercise. Then we got to work on halter practice for the MacMurdo show. Sinwaan did quite well, setting himself up a couple of times automatically. He is getting a little better about moving those front feet around too. He got his share of carrots for reward and then I brushed him and put fly spray on him and let him graze on some weeds before putting him away.
It's not much, but it's something, and with our show coming up in a week I am glad I was able to get some practice in. Maybe I can ride this weekend.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Fun day with the BMR
Today the Blue Mountain Riders, ladies riding group that I am a member of, organized a Trail Challenge ride at Neal's place. I had never been there before. Her husband writes books about Walla Walla under the pen name of Sam McCleod. Here is a link to their website.
Detour Farm is really an amazing place. 160 acres with the homestead set far back from the road. A large iron sign over the driveway greeted us as Ruth and I pulled in for the adventure. We were a little bit late so a woman came down the drive and encouraged us to just unload the horses, tie them up and then come down to the 'registration desk' for a meeting. Fair enough.
At the meeting everyone was given an index card with three colored dots. These dots were in the order we were to ride the three trail challenges. Ruth and I were given cards by Linda, with the yellow dot first. She felt that would be the easiest one to join late since we still had to tack up. We all had to sign a release form too. Unfortunately our host Neal was in the hospital for pain in her abdomen! The rules were explained to us - each group is given 40 minutes for each trail challenge. Walking and trotting only, for insurance reasons. Dee Dee, Linda and Jennifer were the leaders, one for each group.
Linda led us down and talked us through the Arena challenge since there were a lot of obstacles there and some people had questions. It looked like fun and I couldn't wait to get started.
Time to tack up! Kittee and a boarder pulled up and parked next to us, but the boarder was not yet a member so therefore could not participate today. They decided to go ride Bennington Lake together instead.
Ruth and I were last heading into the Trail Maze Challenge. It worked like this: someone had mowed a trail/path in their HUMUNGOUS front yard and it was kind of like a corn maze, except being on horseback and in tall grass, you could see where you were however there were spirals and dead ends and all kinds of little trails to take. There were hidden objects out on the trails so you had to take your index card and a mechanical pencil and write down these objects as you see them. I found 9 objects with Ruth's assistance - a flip flop, a purse or makeup bag, a dog bone, a red bucket, a white Strongid bucket (empty), a block of wood (2x6), a doll with one arm and no hair, a rubber ducky, and one other thing but I don't remember what. It was really fun and the 40 min went by too fast.
Next we went to the Arena Trail Challenge. This started with a gate, which was opened for us so we took advantage of that and went on through. There were huge tires on their sides with only a horse width distance between them. There were corn stalks and other misc. stuff in the one tire to make it more of a challenge. I encouraged Sinwaan in-between and after a good look at the tires he walked through. Next was a big dirt mount to climb over. He did that with no problem. Next were two more huge tires on their sides and full of dirt in the center. The object was to see if you could get your horse to climb up on the tire. After much encouragement Sinwaan did step up onto the tire but quickly leapt down sideways. The dirt wasn't packed real tight so I think it gave a little under him and scared him. I lost one stirrup on that one but came out proud of him for trying.
That was the first section. The arena was not a typical riding arena with dirt footing, this was a large area fenced in with grass/weed footing which helped to keep the dust down.
IN the center was an old bathtub full of water and apples for the horse to bob for. How fun! Sinwaan got a drink and tried for an apple but couldn't seem to grab onto one. Ruth decided to go on her own so we went the opposite direction. You could do the obstacles in any order you wanted. The first one we tried was two bars to step over. Probably about 2' high. Sinwaan did fine. Then in the corner there were poles on the ground for a perimeter, two barrels on either side of the entry, a barrel in the center with a bucket on top full of people candy. The object was to walk in between the barrrels, get your horse in next to the candy bucket and reach down to take a piece. We went around the bucket a couple times before he was finally close enough for me to lean down and reach a candy. I took a Root Beer Barrel. Yum! I think Sinwaan may have stuck his head in that bucket once or twice too.
Then there was a piece of plywood on the ground with railroad ties stacked three high on either side to simulate a bridge sound as the horse crossed it. No problem for Sinwaan. Then we went over some cavelettis and the last one was twice as long so we could practice side-passing. Sinwaan doesn't do great at this but with a little work we got this one going both directions too! Yay!
They had more knee-high poles up to step over, this time with a tarp over one and ribbons on another, which danced lightly in the breeze. Sinwaan walked up to it, put his neck down over the other side and started nibbling. What?? Step over silly horse! That completed that side of the arena.
Then there was an L on the ground with poles, the object was to back your horse all the way through it. Sinwaan did awesome, never stepping out of bounds once. Wow!
Looking ahead I saw people taking turns at carrying a flag. I was eager to try this one, knowing it could be trouble. I waited with Sinwaan and he watched as two horses took turns with the flag, carrying it around two cones before putting it back against the fence. Sinwaan walked up to the flag but would not sidepass into it so I had to turn him around and take another try. This time we got lined up right and I grabbed the flag and raised it. I then realized I could not rest the flag on my shoe because of my endurance cages. Whoops. So I just held it, a little lower than most people. Sinwaan did not know about this flag. He started sidepassing like crazy right over to the cone. He had his eye on the flag the whole time. He does not neck rein so I had my hands full for sure! Getting around the cone he did ok and finally I got him to stop for a minute before heading back to the fence. The flag was rolled up so it was not flapping, but he was really watching the base of the flagpole and I was trying to keep it away from his leg. We got back over to the fence with more sidepassing and I could hear a couple people cheering for us. They had joked earlier that anyone who could carry the flag would have to join the Parade Group. We got back to the set down point and I put the base on the ground and was just about to lean it against the fence when Sinwaan started backing up. Back back back and my hand was going farther up the flag as it quickly leaned in towards us. I didn't want to drop it when it could hit him so once we got to the end I finally let go and he spun around and trotted off so fast that I lost both my stirrups. I turned him around and made him walk a couple steps towards it before I dismounted to lead him over. I had to pick it up off the ground for the next person. He was not crazy about that flag! He did follow me fairly willingly as we put it back but he was also glad to get away from it once I was mounted back up.
Our next obstacle was a simple one. Another walk into a keyhole and take a horse treat from the bucket. Sinwaan went right in and stuck his head in the bucket. Well all the horse treats were in plastic bags so he still had to sidle up closer so I could reach one for him. We took a break after that obstacle while I opened the bag and fed him the treats from horseback.
After that was a large tall arch with strips of shower curtains hanging down to walk through. I told Sinwaan to think about the time we rode through the agriculture crop sprinklers, only this time we wouldn't get wet. He walked up and sniffed them, took a step or two back and then finally went on through with no leaping. Good boy!
We then went through the bending/gaming poles at a trot. It felt good to be moving out again. We had trotted a little during the first maze but just a walk since then. The first time through he did awesome, bending close to the poles. Coming back he got a little sloppy and took wider turns around them. Oh well, its all fun.
Last was a ditch that looked hand-dug with a tarp in the bottom and some water in it. It was only a couple inches deep but there were poles around the edges and earlier horses had tried and slid dirt into it so to the horses I am sure it looked like the worst horse-eating hole they had ever seen. Only one horse all day went through it - and I heard he kind of leapt across one of the corners (it was square). I was really wanting Sinwaan to do it. He would get close and then back up or sidepass and was very uncooperative. I finally got off and tried to lead him through but he would have none of that either. Oh well, our time in the arena was up.
The last Trail Challenge was an actual trail right around the back of the property. We followed the blue ribbons through grass and up and down gullies and into a mini forest which led to a low riverbed at the very back. It was just like a mini-endurance ride in slow motion. :) Sinwaan went right into the river and started guzzling it down. He was thirsty! We then rode in the river back downstream until we got back to the arena. I had a little snake swim across right in front of us and then as we were about to exit the river up a steep bank I saw a little frog hop into the water. Awesome!
When the ride was all over we tied the horses to the trailer, untacked and went back to the house for the potluck. Great food and fun company, what an enjoyable day! We even saw a deer in the field from the large breezy open porch. It was obvious that many people along the way put a lot of work into making this day run smoothly. It was so well planned, organized and executed - THANK YOU SO MUCH for everyone involved!
After the potluck we signed a special thank you for Neal and also went in and signed a column in her house that is used as a guestbook - it was pretty cool! We also all lined up for a group photo. A couple people there had cameras, if I see any links to them I will post it here.
Detour Farm is really an amazing place. 160 acres with the homestead set far back from the road. A large iron sign over the driveway greeted us as Ruth and I pulled in for the adventure. We were a little bit late so a woman came down the drive and encouraged us to just unload the horses, tie them up and then come down to the 'registration desk' for a meeting. Fair enough.
At the meeting everyone was given an index card with three colored dots. These dots were in the order we were to ride the three trail challenges. Ruth and I were given cards by Linda, with the yellow dot first. She felt that would be the easiest one to join late since we still had to tack up. We all had to sign a release form too. Unfortunately our host Neal was in the hospital for pain in her abdomen! The rules were explained to us - each group is given 40 minutes for each trail challenge. Walking and trotting only, for insurance reasons. Dee Dee, Linda and Jennifer were the leaders, one for each group.
Linda led us down and talked us through the Arena challenge since there were a lot of obstacles there and some people had questions. It looked like fun and I couldn't wait to get started.
Time to tack up! Kittee and a boarder pulled up and parked next to us, but the boarder was not yet a member so therefore could not participate today. They decided to go ride Bennington Lake together instead.
Ruth and I were last heading into the Trail Maze Challenge. It worked like this: someone had mowed a trail/path in their HUMUNGOUS front yard and it was kind of like a corn maze, except being on horseback and in tall grass, you could see where you were however there were spirals and dead ends and all kinds of little trails to take. There were hidden objects out on the trails so you had to take your index card and a mechanical pencil and write down these objects as you see them. I found 9 objects with Ruth's assistance - a flip flop, a purse or makeup bag, a dog bone, a red bucket, a white Strongid bucket (empty), a block of wood (2x6), a doll with one arm and no hair, a rubber ducky, and one other thing but I don't remember what. It was really fun and the 40 min went by too fast.
Next we went to the Arena Trail Challenge. This started with a gate, which was opened for us so we took advantage of that and went on through. There were huge tires on their sides with only a horse width distance between them. There were corn stalks and other misc. stuff in the one tire to make it more of a challenge. I encouraged Sinwaan in-between and after a good look at the tires he walked through. Next was a big dirt mount to climb over. He did that with no problem. Next were two more huge tires on their sides and full of dirt in the center. The object was to see if you could get your horse to climb up on the tire. After much encouragement Sinwaan did step up onto the tire but quickly leapt down sideways. The dirt wasn't packed real tight so I think it gave a little under him and scared him. I lost one stirrup on that one but came out proud of him for trying.
That was the first section. The arena was not a typical riding arena with dirt footing, this was a large area fenced in with grass/weed footing which helped to keep the dust down.
IN the center was an old bathtub full of water and apples for the horse to bob for. How fun! Sinwaan got a drink and tried for an apple but couldn't seem to grab onto one. Ruth decided to go on her own so we went the opposite direction. You could do the obstacles in any order you wanted. The first one we tried was two bars to step over. Probably about 2' high. Sinwaan did fine. Then in the corner there were poles on the ground for a perimeter, two barrels on either side of the entry, a barrel in the center with a bucket on top full of people candy. The object was to walk in between the barrrels, get your horse in next to the candy bucket and reach down to take a piece. We went around the bucket a couple times before he was finally close enough for me to lean down and reach a candy. I took a Root Beer Barrel. Yum! I think Sinwaan may have stuck his head in that bucket once or twice too.
Then there was a piece of plywood on the ground with railroad ties stacked three high on either side to simulate a bridge sound as the horse crossed it. No problem for Sinwaan. Then we went over some cavelettis and the last one was twice as long so we could practice side-passing. Sinwaan doesn't do great at this but with a little work we got this one going both directions too! Yay!
They had more knee-high poles up to step over, this time with a tarp over one and ribbons on another, which danced lightly in the breeze. Sinwaan walked up to it, put his neck down over the other side and started nibbling. What?? Step over silly horse! That completed that side of the arena.
Then there was an L on the ground with poles, the object was to back your horse all the way through it. Sinwaan did awesome, never stepping out of bounds once. Wow!
Looking ahead I saw people taking turns at carrying a flag. I was eager to try this one, knowing it could be trouble. I waited with Sinwaan and he watched as two horses took turns with the flag, carrying it around two cones before putting it back against the fence. Sinwaan walked up to the flag but would not sidepass into it so I had to turn him around and take another try. This time we got lined up right and I grabbed the flag and raised it. I then realized I could not rest the flag on my shoe because of my endurance cages. Whoops. So I just held it, a little lower than most people. Sinwaan did not know about this flag. He started sidepassing like crazy right over to the cone. He had his eye on the flag the whole time. He does not neck rein so I had my hands full for sure! Getting around the cone he did ok and finally I got him to stop for a minute before heading back to the fence. The flag was rolled up so it was not flapping, but he was really watching the base of the flagpole and I was trying to keep it away from his leg. We got back over to the fence with more sidepassing and I could hear a couple people cheering for us. They had joked earlier that anyone who could carry the flag would have to join the Parade Group. We got back to the set down point and I put the base on the ground and was just about to lean it against the fence when Sinwaan started backing up. Back back back and my hand was going farther up the flag as it quickly leaned in towards us. I didn't want to drop it when it could hit him so once we got to the end I finally let go and he spun around and trotted off so fast that I lost both my stirrups. I turned him around and made him walk a couple steps towards it before I dismounted to lead him over. I had to pick it up off the ground for the next person. He was not crazy about that flag! He did follow me fairly willingly as we put it back but he was also glad to get away from it once I was mounted back up.
Our next obstacle was a simple one. Another walk into a keyhole and take a horse treat from the bucket. Sinwaan went right in and stuck his head in the bucket. Well all the horse treats were in plastic bags so he still had to sidle up closer so I could reach one for him. We took a break after that obstacle while I opened the bag and fed him the treats from horseback.
After that was a large tall arch with strips of shower curtains hanging down to walk through. I told Sinwaan to think about the time we rode through the agriculture crop sprinklers, only this time we wouldn't get wet. He walked up and sniffed them, took a step or two back and then finally went on through with no leaping. Good boy!
We then went through the bending/gaming poles at a trot. It felt good to be moving out again. We had trotted a little during the first maze but just a walk since then. The first time through he did awesome, bending close to the poles. Coming back he got a little sloppy and took wider turns around them. Oh well, its all fun.
Last was a ditch that looked hand-dug with a tarp in the bottom and some water in it. It was only a couple inches deep but there were poles around the edges and earlier horses had tried and slid dirt into it so to the horses I am sure it looked like the worst horse-eating hole they had ever seen. Only one horse all day went through it - and I heard he kind of leapt across one of the corners (it was square). I was really wanting Sinwaan to do it. He would get close and then back up or sidepass and was very uncooperative. I finally got off and tried to lead him through but he would have none of that either. Oh well, our time in the arena was up.
The last Trail Challenge was an actual trail right around the back of the property. We followed the blue ribbons through grass and up and down gullies and into a mini forest which led to a low riverbed at the very back. It was just like a mini-endurance ride in slow motion. :) Sinwaan went right into the river and started guzzling it down. He was thirsty! We then rode in the river back downstream until we got back to the arena. I had a little snake swim across right in front of us and then as we were about to exit the river up a steep bank I saw a little frog hop into the water. Awesome!
When the ride was all over we tied the horses to the trailer, untacked and went back to the house for the potluck. Great food and fun company, what an enjoyable day! We even saw a deer in the field from the large breezy open porch. It was obvious that many people along the way put a lot of work into making this day run smoothly. It was so well planned, organized and executed - THANK YOU SO MUCH for everyone involved!
After the potluck we signed a special thank you for Neal and also went in and signed a column in her house that is used as a guestbook - it was pretty cool! We also all lined up for a group photo. A couple people there had cameras, if I see any links to them I will post it here.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Labor Day Ride
What a gorgeous day! I couldn't let it slip by without getting a ride in, so I headed out to the barn about 3:30 pm. Sinwaan was still quite clean from yesterday so it didn't take much grooming to have him ready to go. I did notice he is starting to grow past his shoes and made a mental note to call the farrier. I must not have made an appointment last time he was out. Sorry boy!
We had a great ride today, going down Elliot and taking the dirt road out almost to Telephone Pole road before turning around and heading back. We had a couple really nice canters/gallops today in addition to a fair amount of trotting. Heading back it felt a little warm but overall I really can't complain about the weather at all!
Heading home in front of the homestead Sinwaan tried to give a little buck but a verbal warning ceased that. Man, what is causing that? Barn sour? Tack not fitting right? What!? When I untacked him after our ride I noticed he is losing a little more hair on the girth behind his elbows and maybe he is getting a gall there which makes him uncomfortable? I really never had any trouble with him (that I can remember) before I switched girths. I got this new one because it was on sale and works with my saddle. Maybe I need to look around for another one.
I scrubbed out his water tank and gave him a nibble of grain before heading home about 5:30. It was a good day.
Now that he has done so well at the Fair, I sent in my pre-entry for the MacMurdo show. Only a few weeks away, but I am hoping to find some time to practice with him a little more on setting up.
We had a great ride today, going down Elliot and taking the dirt road out almost to Telephone Pole road before turning around and heading back. We had a couple really nice canters/gallops today in addition to a fair amount of trotting. Heading back it felt a little warm but overall I really can't complain about the weather at all!
Heading home in front of the homestead Sinwaan tried to give a little buck but a verbal warning ceased that. Man, what is causing that? Barn sour? Tack not fitting right? What!? When I untacked him after our ride I noticed he is losing a little more hair on the girth behind his elbows and maybe he is getting a gall there which makes him uncomfortable? I really never had any trouble with him (that I can remember) before I switched girths. I got this new one because it was on sale and works with my saddle. Maybe I need to look around for another one.
I scrubbed out his water tank and gave him a nibble of grain before heading home about 5:30. It was a good day.
Now that he has done so well at the Fair, I sent in my pre-entry for the MacMurdo show. Only a few weeks away, but I am hoping to find some time to practice with him a little more on setting up.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Walla Walla Fair & Frontier Days Open Horse Show
I had pre-entered Sinwaan into the Fair's open halter show in the "Other Breeds, 5 & Over" class.
I aimed to be at the barn by 5 am to feed Sinwaan and give him enough time to eat. Well as it turns out I didn't get to the barn until about 6 am. I fed him and sanded his hooves while he ate. He got through about 3/4 of his breakfast and then I decided I needed to move him to get working on the grooming for the show. I put him in the shower stall and started with clipping his whiskers. He was fairly co-operative. I also clipped the underside of his jaw and his bridlepath. Once I was satisfied that he was tidy I hosed him down. Well he hated me for that because it was only about 50 degrees outside. I thoroughly washed out his tail with Quicksilver to try and make it white again and washed the rest of him with a rag since I had forgotten my bucket to dilute the shampoo. I scraped the water off of him as fast as I could and once I was done he was shivering. I then spritzed him with Show Sheen all over.
I tied him at the end of the barn so he could be in the little bit of sun that was just coming up and I put a fleece blanket over his back and rump to help prevent cramping. Well about then Ruth showed up (7 am) and she got to work on detangling his tail while I worked on his mane. Then Ruth braided and wrapped his tail. We added hoof oil to his hooves and baby oil to his muzzle and around his eyes. I added a little vasoline to his forelock. I thought about adding gel to his mane but it was laying fairly flat so it didn't look like he would need it.
I was worried about the time but as it turns out we got pretty much everything done by 8:15 am and loaded up and hit the road.
As we pulled into the fairgrounds I could not believe the crowd of trailers. Where on earth would we park? I was glad Ruth had a little trailer, easy to navigate. Some fair workers motioned for us to turn in the first gate and then stamped our hands and told us where to park. Another man pointed at a spot once we pulled around back. We had to pull straight in with no outlet to the front. We unloaded Sinwaan and pulled off his blanket, and I swapped halters. Well wouldn't you know the moment I touched the clasp for the show halter it just fell apart. Half of it dropped into the gravel, lost forever. I freaked out for a second, wondering why this was happening to me NOW? Then I tried putting the chain around the concho and it looked like that would work. (Relief!) Ruth unbraided his tail and he looked just fabulous.
We walked over to the big indoor arena where I thought the show would be. Nope, it was full of cows. Shoot! That is where I told my brother to meet me. I looked over to the outdoor covered arena, full of sheep. Where the heck is the horse show?! I asked one guy and he had no idea. So we wandered over to the outdoor arena and I saw some horse ears and figured that had to be the place. Ruth held Sinwaan while I went to the registration table and got checked in. I was number 507. I took it back with me and Ruth pinned it on my jacket. Sinwaan was edgy but not unmanageable. Would he set up for me? It's been 10 days since I have even seen him, quite a vacation he's had.
The halter show was set to begin at 8 am on Sunday morning, and was divided into Paint, QH, Pony, Mini and Other. They ended up combining some classes (ages) so even though we got there about 8:25 am we didn't have long to stand around and wait for our class.
Yet I took him over to a corner where we would have a little room to work. The first couple times I tried to set him up he would step sideways or jump around, trying to see all the sights and sounds. After a quick correction he got down to business and stood nicely for me a couple times. After that I led him back to ringside to wait for our class. He relaxed after a couple minutes and rested, enjoying the breeze.
I saw Kasey and she asked about Kittee. I told her I hadn't seen her, so she must have gone looking. They showed up just in time, as the Other Breeds class was combined for all ages. Cripes, I would be showing against them after all!
We had a sizeable entry for our class, but I did not learn until later that there were 11 entries. We were next to last going in the ring. The judge was about 30' feet in from the gate and we walked up to him, and then trotted to a cone and then went to our place in line. I was going to let Sinwaan relax at that point until I looked over and saw the judge looking over all the horses so I set him up quickly. He did great for me. Although the darn cologne on my hand didn't seem to work for him very well :-) Sure did stink! The judge seemed to start from the last horse in the ring, looking at them from the rear, side and front, and asking the age. He did not take too long in judging, although I was able to move Sinwaan around a bit and set him up about three times.My mom showed up to watch the class, and Jenee and Maddaly were there too. Ruth and Jenee' both took some super photos for me. (Thanks!!)
As they called the results, they started out by saying "First place... 500...." I was waiting for her to say "and seven" but she didn't. Darn! Second place... ?? Third place is "number 507, Shana Bobbitt' WAHOO!! I trotted Sinwaan down to the exit gate. I didn't see anyone handing out ribbons though. Oh well. I talked with Jenee' and Ruth and my mom for a while. My brother couldn't get in without paying so he gave up. Matt was going to video tape for me but I had our gate passes and he didn't have any money.
Rosey, the McKuster's Arab filly placed 4th.
I came back later and asked about ribbons, they gave me a sticker and told me to trade it in for a ribbon at the exhibitors office. The woman in the office had no idea where the ribbons are. Back to see Heidi...she gave me a ribbon. It is a nice small rosette. Heidi also signed my Open Show form for AHA. We'll see if I get a point for this placement or not...worth a shot!
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Virginia Highlands Endurance Challenge
Sleeping in the back of the truck wasn't all that bad. I had a pillow and a sleeping bag and the seat was fine. I was a little tall for the width of the truck however and found that I could stretch out one leg by curving it around and the other leg was bent. I woke up off and on throughout the night and felt... damp. Just clammy. Yuk. Well what are you going to do? At about 5:30 am I woke up and although it was dark I could see my camp neighbors were packing up their SUV. They were being pretty quiet but if they were up that must mean that it was about time for me to get up (never-mind that they were 55s with a start time an hour earlier than me). So I got up and put on my boots and tromped on down to the porta-potty.
Coming back I wasn't sure what to do because if Kim was sleeping I didn't want to wake her up. So I walked down to the water trough and hauled back two buckets for the boys. Red drank a little which I was glad to see. I took off my boots and crawled back into the truck to see if I couldn't get another 30 minutes of rest. Well not 10 minutes went by and Kim was up. So I got back out of the truck and Kim asked me if I knew the horses mysteriously had water. I said yes, I hauled it up for them. So she went off to the porta-potty (so much for her fancy personal toilet I guess) and I fed the horses, brushed my teeth and put up my hair.
Kim came back and we had cereal (the good kind with strawberries and blueberries) which we topped off with a fresh banana for a breakfast of champions. After that there was enough light to see by so I did some final packing of my saddle bags and we got the horses tied to the trailer and started tacking up. Kim was ready to go in no time flat, I couldn't believe it! I had to get a little help from her on Red's girth, it was a leather western style one.
Well Kim had everything color-coordinated, from our helmet covers to the plates we ate off of, I have never seen such a thing, it was really fun.
We were ready to go right on schedule so we mounted up (I had to use a bucket, Red is taller than I am used to, and I had adjusted the stirrups pretty short). Red doesn't wait around so it was a bit of a jump to get on him as he walked off. We walked the horses down to the start and asked if anyone was taking numbers. They weren't ready so we walked some more circles back towards our trailer and Kim put Falcon to work since he was acting fairly co-dependent on Red. Red didn't seem to have a problem with leaving Falcon so I told Kim for the trot-out she should go first. We went back to the start, it is 7:50 or so and they are still not taking any numbers. So I told Kim we should walk the horses towards the registration table at the other end, she wanted to get out of the crowd of horses that had gathered.
Red's walk was no-nonsense, we are going some place which was nice to ride, a ground-covering rocking stride. We warmed up and stopped at the big water trough. I was glad to see Falcon drinking but Red wasn't interested. By the time we got back to the start everyone had left and they told Kim to trot out. I waited for her to get ahead of me a little because at the ride meeting they had specified ONE AT A TIME. Not two seconds later and the out timer said "The trail is open, you may go" so I don't know if there was anyone there even checking the gait of the horses. We caught up with Kim quickly and the horses were eager to go. We had a short canter and coming back down to a trot I was able to get Red gaiting for about a minute before he broke back into a trot. It was awesome. Kim said I was lucky to get a minute from him.
We followed the trail as it went up on the jeep road and then went to single track. In the start, Red did a fair amount of leading, but we had horses not to far away from us and he was chasing them. We got on the trail that started up the mountain and we were MOVING, I remember a very fast trot and sometimes a canter as we wound around some sharp corners. It was incredible. The trails were beautiful and great footing. We came to a dry river bed and it had some big rocks but Kim commented that this was nothing, the trail was much better than she expected. Well, famous last words, right?
We reach highway 94 (6 mi) at just about an hour into the ride. We were at the tail end, although there was a lady on a leopard appaloosa not far ahead of us, and a gal on a really pretty chestnut Arab behind us (I can't let you get behind me because I am competing for the turtle award, she told us) After crossing with the aid of the fire department we reach a nice water stop. Kim dismounted and sponged both the horses (bless her!) Red still would not drink.
Onward we went, climbing the hills and walking our way through the rocky sections (which were becoming more frequent). Every so often I would pull out the camera and try to get a photo of the trail or the view. We were both having such a good time, it was a blast to finally ride with Kim as an adult. She has been my inspiration for endurance riding and now finally we have the chance to do it together. Her first competition ride and my fourth this year. She was great company!
We passed a group of people going the opposite direction and the man said to us "You better step it up or you aren't going to make it in time." I grumbled at him in my thoughts, it made me mad that he said that. We are out here doing this and we are doing fine on time, how dare he tell us how to ride. (As he says this we are walking through one of the worst rock sections)
The vet check was right about half way and I had heard that if we didn't make it in by noon we would not complete the ride on time. We pulled in about 11:20 I think. Crews were allowed on the left side of the road only. Our crew bags had been delivered and were on the right side of the road. We had dismounted to walk them in and were trying to figure out what the next step was. I think we lost a couple minutes just trying to think at that point in time. Finally I told Kim to grab the crew bag and set it on the left somewhere so we could dump the tack and go down to vet through. It was hard to find a spot, it looked like some places were reserved for... who? 55s coming later? Well we squeeze in a place and it looked like it would work. Ok! This ride said tack off for all vets. We then took the horses down to the water tanks. Falcon drank, Red did not. Geez! 13+ miles and still not thirsty? I was starting to worry about him a little bit. I asked for a pulse and a friendly man came over and took it. I think he was down to 60 and the criteria for this hold was 64. The man asked me how he was doing. I said he seemed a little tired but I thought he was ok. We chatted a couple minutes while I waited in line for the vet. In the meantime I let Red graze.
The vet checked him out and scored him high on everything but a B on gut sounds. We did our trot out and no problem there either. I noticed Kim was going through with Falcon at the same time at the other vet so I let Red graze nearby since no one else was waiting at the time. Well Falcon did not like his vet, he would not stand still for her to listen to his HR or gut sounds and worked himself up trying to get away from her. It took a significant amount of time to get him vetted through. Finally he passed but scored a C on gut sounds so the vet told Kim to come back and get rechecked before we headed out. They told her to feed him everything he would eat in the meantime so we headed back to our crew area for our 40 min hold.
Kim had their grain/e-lyte mix all ready to go in their tubs and told me just to pour some water on it so I used what was left in the bottles in my pack. Sure enough he slurped it right down. I ate my PB&J sandwich, it was so good. I also downed a whole bottle of fruit punch gatorade and it was still partially frozen. Yum! I swapped out the water bottles in my pack and that was about all I had to do. We weren't sure if the vet wanted to see Falcon before or after we tacked up, so we decided to go back down there before. We stopped again at the water tanks and this time, FINALLY Red decided to drink...and drink...and drink. Wow, he was not messing around. So I let him drink as much as he wanted and in the meantime Kim had made her way over back to the vet. This time they gave Falcon a B on gut sounds so back we went to our crew area to tack up. I held Falcon while Kim got her saddle on and then she held Red while I hoisted up his saddle. I had her girth him up for me again because she is faster and better at it and he blows out and she does real well with him on that. Kim put our crew bag back in the pile for pick-up and then we walked the horses down back to the vet before re-checking the girths and mounting up. Well I had to lead Red over to the side of the mountain to get a leg-up on him. Off we went. On the ride out Kim mused that we never got our ice cream, never even saw any of the ice cream. Oh well, it would have been just another thing to fuss with and we had our hands full as it was.
The trail out was good footing for awhile and then it turned to rocks. Rocks, rocks, rocks. Slow going for quite a while. I was keeping an eye on the time and figured we were ok. Kim was watching her GPS but the milage was shorter than it should have been. Oh well. We passed that group of people, again going the opposite direction, and again the man telling us to "step it up if we were going to make it in time." This time Kim told him we were just taking it easy with first-time horses. We had someone catch up with us and pass us and about then we caught up to the gal on the pretty chestnut who wanted the turtle. So we passed her and rode along, trying to "never hurry, never tally" like Stagg had told us.
After awhile we got onto a private gravel road and saw a lost boot. About a minute later I saw a man on foot leading his horse. I asked if he lost a boot, he said Yes and we pointed back to where he could find it. Then the road turned and went up the mountain. The plate sign on a tree said "1 mile climb" so onward we went. At the base was a woman walking her horse, she said they were ok but waiting for a trailer to come and give them a ride back to camp. I think the gal following us knew her because she stopped and talked with her a while. At the top of the climb was a water tank. The horses drank and Kim went off in the woods to pee. I ate a fig newton. Falcon acted like he wanted some so I gave him one and he spit it out. Kim came back and mounted up and off we went again. Just then the other gal appeared, on foot, leading her horse on up. Said they were doing good. We rode the ridgeline for awhile and trotted as much as we could, knowing we were getting short on time now. According to the map, we had a 'lollipop course' today meaning we would ride out and back in on the same trail, and the outer trail was a loop around with the vet check in the center. We made it back to the stick part of the trail and eventually made it to highway 94 again. I knew we were 6 miles from camp and we had made it up in an hour, so giving ourselves an hour and a half to get back down should be no problem.
We get a move on and trot trot trot. Sometimes Red canters short bursts on the uphill but I was unable to get him to gait anymore since that one nice moment on the way out. I forgot to mention I had seen someone at the vet check with a New Promise Farms Crew t-shirt on on a gaited horse and I talked to her a little bit and she gave me some pointers- sit deep in the saddle, ask the horse to collect and squeeze with your legs and he should go right into it. Well I tried and tried but never was able to get it from him. Part of the problem was his trot was so big and so fast that it threw me right up out of the saddle and "sitting deep" at the trot was just about impossible.
Well we are crusing around and up and down and not remembering all these uphills. We are looking for the switchbacks, knowing they were fairly early in the ride. On and on and on we went and Kim is convinced I have my time wrong and we are not going to make it. Maybe she is right. Well we finally get to the switchbacks and I made the mistake of looking down on a sharp turn. I immediately felt sick to my stomach and lightheaded. I just focused on breathing and looking ahead (and not down!) oh wow, I have never felt so sick on a horse before and this is all my own fault. I am a bit scared of heights. Well we made it past the knee-knocker trees and down the mountain and still have a ways to go. When we made it back to the jeep trail, some 55s came cantering past us. Red suddenly realized he was close to home and now he had someone to follow! So he took the lead and just ran his heart out. It was glorious. He had tried bucking with me a couple times this ride but now that was the furthest thing from his mind has he happily ran towards 'home.' I heard Kim wait "Wait for us!" and I pulled him down to a trot until she caught up and then off we went again. We ran and ran and ran. The 55s lost us and then we slowed the horses down to a trot. We got back on the gravel road and saw the finish line. I started tearing up. We had made it. I looked back and smiled. I tried to say "now is when I get all emotional" and Kim said "I can't even talk right now!"
We dismounted and walked the horses back to the trailer. We dumped our saddles and walked them to the vet check. I glanced at the time and we had about 10 minutes to go until cut-off time (3:15 pm) Red walked over and pulsed in at 48. (WOW!) Kim asked for a courtesy check on Falcon and he was still up there, about 86. Michael told her to get the hay out of his mouth and not let him eat since the very act could be keeping his HR up. I had never heard that but within 5 minutes he called for time on number CO. (Forgot to mention, Red was number CN) I think he pulsed in with only a minute to spare. Vetting through, Red did excellent, mostly A's from what I can remember, maybe a B on gut sounds and muscle tone. They let me keep my vet card so I will try to scan it in when I get back home.
This was a fabulous ride and one I shall never forget. I know I have left out a lot of little details so will try and put them in later as I remember them.
After we vetted through we put the horses up with water and hay and sat down with some food for ourselves. We had boiled eggs from Kim's chickens, potato salad Kim had made, more frozen gatorade (Kim said "I think this is the best thing I have ever had") chips with salsa Kim had made. I am sure there was more but I am forgetting what. We rested and reminisced and once we had the energy we got up and took the horses for another walk. We hand-grazed them probably about an hour and then I got tired of Red dragging me all around so we put them up and I don't remember what after that, I think by then it was about time for dinner. So we took our chairs this time and walked back down to the meeting area.
They were just opening up the tables for dinner, and MY what a spread! They had a table for meat eaters and a seperate table for vegetarians - bless them! There was chili beans and chips and lettuce and tomatoes and onions for a make-it-yourself taco salad. They encouraged me to take two plates so I could fit all the food that they were about to give me. A woman told me "honey, you ain't lived until you've had this cornbread salad" so I tried that too. There were fresh canned green beans and fantastic off-the-cob-corn; potato salad, pasta salad and rolls. Seems like there was even more of that, I just could not believe ALL THAT FOOD! The ladies really outdid themselves and I have to say a huge thank you to them for that wonderful meal.
I sat down and started in on my first plate. I got through it and then looked up to see my dad and Matt and Levi walking up. Yay! Levi was hungry so he ate a fair amount of my taco salad and green beans and corn. Later I also shared my cake with him too. There was about 12 kinds of cake and one was even in the shape of a horse! The chocolate kind I selected was so moist and good. There were a number of igloos for juice and tea and I saw one labeled sweet tea so I had to take some of that. I was a little disappointed though, it was warm and not sweet at all. Oh well, can't really complain, everything else was soooo awesome. Kim said "this is the south, and they FEED you in the south!"
We really enjoyed listening to the mountain music provided by a lively band, the Pilot Mountain Bobcats, who I hear
won a first place at the local fiddler’s convention the weekend before. Levi even danced to it.
Awards seemed to start a little late and my dad pulled his car up close and sat in it at the back since we only had the two chairs. They started out by calling out the last people completed - Kim and I, and mispronounced both our names. I expect that with my name - Shana - most people get it wrong, but Kim Patton - they said Payton I think, but no bother. Don said he had put out the award for rider most traveled and I won that since I came from WA but he also said he expected it to go to the person who brought their horse the farthest, and if anyone was there who thought it could be them to let him know and there may be a free ride entry in it for them. The award shirts were cute - a cartoon sketch of a horse and rider with their thought balloons overhead.
As for the turtle award - there was none! But Kim would have won it being the last person in. The other gal ended up pulling at the finish, she said her horse was a little stiff and and off at the end.
We left shortly after and Kim stayed the night with the horses and got home safe on Sunday. Be sure to read the Falcon blog in my links section for her version of the story (and maybe additional photos)
Coming back I wasn't sure what to do because if Kim was sleeping I didn't want to wake her up. So I walked down to the water trough and hauled back two buckets for the boys. Red drank a little which I was glad to see. I took off my boots and crawled back into the truck to see if I couldn't get another 30 minutes of rest. Well not 10 minutes went by and Kim was up. So I got back out of the truck and Kim asked me if I knew the horses mysteriously had water. I said yes, I hauled it up for them. So she went off to the porta-potty (so much for her fancy personal toilet I guess) and I fed the horses, brushed my teeth and put up my hair.
Kim came back and we had cereal (the good kind with strawberries and blueberries) which we topped off with a fresh banana for a breakfast of champions. After that there was enough light to see by so I did some final packing of my saddle bags and we got the horses tied to the trailer and started tacking up. Kim was ready to go in no time flat, I couldn't believe it! I had to get a little help from her on Red's girth, it was a leather western style one.
Well Kim had everything color-coordinated, from our helmet covers to the plates we ate off of, I have never seen such a thing, it was really fun.
We were ready to go right on schedule so we mounted up (I had to use a bucket, Red is taller than I am used to, and I had adjusted the stirrups pretty short). Red doesn't wait around so it was a bit of a jump to get on him as he walked off. We walked the horses down to the start and asked if anyone was taking numbers. They weren't ready so we walked some more circles back towards our trailer and Kim put Falcon to work since he was acting fairly co-dependent on Red. Red didn't seem to have a problem with leaving Falcon so I told Kim for the trot-out she should go first. We went back to the start, it is 7:50 or so and they are still not taking any numbers. So I told Kim we should walk the horses towards the registration table at the other end, she wanted to get out of the crowd of horses that had gathered.
Red's walk was no-nonsense, we are going some place which was nice to ride, a ground-covering rocking stride. We warmed up and stopped at the big water trough. I was glad to see Falcon drinking but Red wasn't interested. By the time we got back to the start everyone had left and they told Kim to trot out. I waited for her to get ahead of me a little because at the ride meeting they had specified ONE AT A TIME. Not two seconds later and the out timer said "The trail is open, you may go" so I don't know if there was anyone there even checking the gait of the horses. We caught up with Kim quickly and the horses were eager to go. We had a short canter and coming back down to a trot I was able to get Red gaiting for about a minute before he broke back into a trot. It was awesome. Kim said I was lucky to get a minute from him.
We followed the trail as it went up on the jeep road and then went to single track. In the start, Red did a fair amount of leading, but we had horses not to far away from us and he was chasing them. We got on the trail that started up the mountain and we were MOVING, I remember a very fast trot and sometimes a canter as we wound around some sharp corners. It was incredible. The trails were beautiful and great footing. We came to a dry river bed and it had some big rocks but Kim commented that this was nothing, the trail was much better than she expected. Well, famous last words, right?
We reach highway 94 (6 mi) at just about an hour into the ride. We were at the tail end, although there was a lady on a leopard appaloosa not far ahead of us, and a gal on a really pretty chestnut Arab behind us (I can't let you get behind me because I am competing for the turtle award, she told us) After crossing with the aid of the fire department we reach a nice water stop. Kim dismounted and sponged both the horses (bless her!) Red still would not drink.
Onward we went, climbing the hills and walking our way through the rocky sections (which were becoming more frequent). Every so often I would pull out the camera and try to get a photo of the trail or the view. We were both having such a good time, it was a blast to finally ride with Kim as an adult. She has been my inspiration for endurance riding and now finally we have the chance to do it together. Her first competition ride and my fourth this year. She was great company!We passed a group of people going the opposite direction and the man said to us "You better step it up or you aren't going to make it in time." I grumbled at him in my thoughts, it made me mad that he said that. We are out here doing this and we are doing fine on time, how dare he tell us how to ride. (As he says this we are walking through one of the worst rock sections)
The vet check was right about half way and I had heard that if we didn't make it in by noon we would not complete the ride on time. We pulled in about 11:20 I think. Crews were allowed on the left side of the road only. Our crew bags had been delivered and were on the right side of the road. We had dismounted to walk them in and were trying to figure out what the next step was. I think we lost a couple minutes just trying to think at that point in time. Finally I told Kim to grab the crew bag and set it on the left somewhere so we could dump the tack and go down to vet through. It was hard to find a spot, it looked like some places were reserved for... who? 55s coming later? Well we squeeze in a place and it looked like it would work. Ok! This ride said tack off for all vets. We then took the horses down to the water tanks. Falcon drank, Red did not. Geez! 13+ miles and still not thirsty? I was starting to worry about him a little bit. I asked for a pulse and a friendly man came over and took it. I think he was down to 60 and the criteria for this hold was 64. The man asked me how he was doing. I said he seemed a little tired but I thought he was ok. We chatted a couple minutes while I waited in line for the vet. In the meantime I let Red graze.
The vet checked him out and scored him high on everything but a B on gut sounds. We did our trot out and no problem there either. I noticed Kim was going through with Falcon at the same time at the other vet so I let Red graze nearby since no one else was waiting at the time. Well Falcon did not like his vet, he would not stand still for her to listen to his HR or gut sounds and worked himself up trying to get away from her. It took a significant amount of time to get him vetted through. Finally he passed but scored a C on gut sounds so the vet told Kim to come back and get rechecked before we headed out. They told her to feed him everything he would eat in the meantime so we headed back to our crew area for our 40 min hold.
Kim had their grain/e-lyte mix all ready to go in their tubs and told me just to pour some water on it so I used what was left in the bottles in my pack. Sure enough he slurped it right down. I ate my PB&J sandwich, it was so good. I also downed a whole bottle of fruit punch gatorade and it was still partially frozen. Yum! I swapped out the water bottles in my pack and that was about all I had to do. We weren't sure if the vet wanted to see Falcon before or after we tacked up, so we decided to go back down there before. We stopped again at the water tanks and this time, FINALLY Red decided to drink...and drink...and drink. Wow, he was not messing around. So I let him drink as much as he wanted and in the meantime Kim had made her way over back to the vet. This time they gave Falcon a B on gut sounds so back we went to our crew area to tack up. I held Falcon while Kim got her saddle on and then she held Red while I hoisted up his saddle. I had her girth him up for me again because she is faster and better at it and he blows out and she does real well with him on that. Kim put our crew bag back in the pile for pick-up and then we walked the horses down back to the vet before re-checking the girths and mounting up. Well I had to lead Red over to the side of the mountain to get a leg-up on him. Off we went. On the ride out Kim mused that we never got our ice cream, never even saw any of the ice cream. Oh well, it would have been just another thing to fuss with and we had our hands full as it was.
The trail out was good footing for awhile and then it turned to rocks. Rocks, rocks, rocks. Slow going for quite a while. I was keeping an eye on the time and figured we were ok. Kim was watching her GPS but the milage was shorter than it should have been. Oh well. We passed that group of people, again going the opposite direction, and again the man telling us to "step it up if we were going to make it in time." This time Kim told him we were just taking it easy with first-time horses. We had someone catch up with us and pass us and about then we caught up to the gal on the pretty chestnut who wanted the turtle. So we passed her and rode along, trying to "never hurry, never tally" like Stagg had told us.
After awhile we got onto a private gravel road and saw a lost boot. About a minute later I saw a man on foot leading his horse. I asked if he lost a boot, he said Yes and we pointed back to where he could find it. Then the road turned and went up the mountain. The plate sign on a tree said "1 mile climb" so onward we went. At the base was a woman walking her horse, she said they were ok but waiting for a trailer to come and give them a ride back to camp. I think the gal following us knew her because she stopped and talked with her a while. At the top of the climb was a water tank. The horses drank and Kim went off in the woods to pee. I ate a fig newton. Falcon acted like he wanted some so I gave him one and he spit it out. Kim came back and mounted up and off we went again. Just then the other gal appeared, on foot, leading her horse on up. Said they were doing good. We rode the ridgeline for awhile and trotted as much as we could, knowing we were getting short on time now. According to the map, we had a 'lollipop course' today meaning we would ride out and back in on the same trail, and the outer trail was a loop around with the vet check in the center. We made it back to the stick part of the trail and eventually made it to highway 94 again. I knew we were 6 miles from camp and we had made it up in an hour, so giving ourselves an hour and a half to get back down should be no problem.
We get a move on and trot trot trot. Sometimes Red canters short bursts on the uphill but I was unable to get him to gait anymore since that one nice moment on the way out. I forgot to mention I had seen someone at the vet check with a New Promise Farms Crew t-shirt on on a gaited horse and I talked to her a little bit and she gave me some pointers- sit deep in the saddle, ask the horse to collect and squeeze with your legs and he should go right into it. Well I tried and tried but never was able to get it from him. Part of the problem was his trot was so big and so fast that it threw me right up out of the saddle and "sitting deep" at the trot was just about impossible.
Well we are crusing around and up and down and not remembering all these uphills. We are looking for the switchbacks, knowing they were fairly early in the ride. On and on and on we went and Kim is convinced I have my time wrong and we are not going to make it. Maybe she is right. Well we finally get to the switchbacks and I made the mistake of looking down on a sharp turn. I immediately felt sick to my stomach and lightheaded. I just focused on breathing and looking ahead (and not down!) oh wow, I have never felt so sick on a horse before and this is all my own fault. I am a bit scared of heights. Well we made it past the knee-knocker trees and down the mountain and still have a ways to go. When we made it back to the jeep trail, some 55s came cantering past us. Red suddenly realized he was close to home and now he had someone to follow! So he took the lead and just ran his heart out. It was glorious. He had tried bucking with me a couple times this ride but now that was the furthest thing from his mind has he happily ran towards 'home.' I heard Kim wait "Wait for us!" and I pulled him down to a trot until she caught up and then off we went again. We ran and ran and ran. The 55s lost us and then we slowed the horses down to a trot. We got back on the gravel road and saw the finish line. I started tearing up. We had made it. I looked back and smiled. I tried to say "now is when I get all emotional" and Kim said "I can't even talk right now!"
We dismounted and walked the horses back to the trailer. We dumped our saddles and walked them to the vet check. I glanced at the time and we had about 10 minutes to go until cut-off time (3:15 pm) Red walked over and pulsed in at 48. (WOW!) Kim asked for a courtesy check on Falcon and he was still up there, about 86. Michael told her to get the hay out of his mouth and not let him eat since the very act could be keeping his HR up. I had never heard that but within 5 minutes he called for time on number CO. (Forgot to mention, Red was number CN) I think he pulsed in with only a minute to spare. Vetting through, Red did excellent, mostly A's from what I can remember, maybe a B on gut sounds and muscle tone. They let me keep my vet card so I will try to scan it in when I get back home.
This was a fabulous ride and one I shall never forget. I know I have left out a lot of little details so will try and put them in later as I remember them.
After we vetted through we put the horses up with water and hay and sat down with some food for ourselves. We had boiled eggs from Kim's chickens, potato salad Kim had made, more frozen gatorade (Kim said "I think this is the best thing I have ever had") chips with salsa Kim had made. I am sure there was more but I am forgetting what. We rested and reminisced and once we had the energy we got up and took the horses for another walk. We hand-grazed them probably about an hour and then I got tired of Red dragging me all around so we put them up and I don't remember what after that, I think by then it was about time for dinner. So we took our chairs this time and walked back down to the meeting area.
They were just opening up the tables for dinner, and MY what a spread! They had a table for meat eaters and a seperate table for vegetarians - bless them! There was chili beans and chips and lettuce and tomatoes and onions for a make-it-yourself taco salad. They encouraged me to take two plates so I could fit all the food that they were about to give me. A woman told me "honey, you ain't lived until you've had this cornbread salad" so I tried that too. There were fresh canned green beans and fantastic off-the-cob-corn; potato salad, pasta salad and rolls. Seems like there was even more of that, I just could not believe ALL THAT FOOD! The ladies really outdid themselves and I have to say a huge thank you to them for that wonderful meal.
I sat down and started in on my first plate. I got through it and then looked up to see my dad and Matt and Levi walking up. Yay! Levi was hungry so he ate a fair amount of my taco salad and green beans and corn. Later I also shared my cake with him too. There was about 12 kinds of cake and one was even in the shape of a horse! The chocolate kind I selected was so moist and good. There were a number of igloos for juice and tea and I saw one labeled sweet tea so I had to take some of that. I was a little disappointed though, it was warm and not sweet at all. Oh well, can't really complain, everything else was soooo awesome. Kim said "this is the south, and they FEED you in the south!"
We really enjoyed listening to the mountain music provided by a lively band, the Pilot Mountain Bobcats, who I hear
won a first place at the local fiddler’s convention the weekend before. Levi even danced to it.
Awards seemed to start a little late and my dad pulled his car up close and sat in it at the back since we only had the two chairs. They started out by calling out the last people completed - Kim and I, and mispronounced both our names. I expect that with my name - Shana - most people get it wrong, but Kim Patton - they said Payton I think, but no bother. Don said he had put out the award for rider most traveled and I won that since I came from WA but he also said he expected it to go to the person who brought their horse the farthest, and if anyone was there who thought it could be them to let him know and there may be a free ride entry in it for them. The award shirts were cute - a cartoon sketch of a horse and rider with their thought balloons overhead.
As for the turtle award - there was none! But Kim would have won it being the last person in. The other gal ended up pulling at the finish, she said her horse was a little stiff and and off at the end.
We left shortly after and Kim stayed the night with the horses and got home safe on Sunday. Be sure to read the Falcon blog in my links section for her version of the story (and maybe additional photos)
Friday, August 22, 2008
Things are different in the East!
Well, I must preface this blog today by stating that this particular story has nothing whatsoever to do with Sinwaan, but I wasn't sure where else to put it, and since it is an endurance ride story, I thought it only fitting it belong here.
The ride: Virginia Highlands Endurance Challenge on August 23rd held in Ivanhoe, VA. Managed by Don and Nicki Meuten.
My dad dropped me off at my auntie Kim's in Luray, VA on Friday afternoon. She wanted to leave by 11 pm. Well we got there about 11:05. I went down to the barn and met my mount, Red Dog Dan. I had seen photos of him but this was my first chance to meet him in person (horse?) He and Falcon both looked fat but since Kim has been riding them both up her mountain I figured they'd do fine. We each haltered our horses and led them up to the trailer. Posed for a couple of photos and then got them loaded up with no problems. I threw my overnight bag and purse into Kim's truck, hugged my dad, husband and toddler goodbye and off we went.
Kim wanted to stay off I-81 as long as possible so we took some smaller parallel highways, which also got us around a mountain instead of hauling over it. This worked out well until we realized how long we would be on the road at this rate. So eventually we did get onto I-81 and it was pretty packed, Friday evening traffic. Some of the semi-trucks were driving crazy, waiting until the last minute to jerk over to pass and riding people's tails. Kim and I had some good conversation on the road.
When we got close to ride camp I read out the directions and they were very clear but we found the milage increments to be a bit off. It didn't really matter, we made it with no trouble. It said to look for Tom Sites and he would park us. Well we never did find Tom. Ride camp looked packed. I got out and walked clear down to one end and there was room so I had Kim pull back there and she got turned around, we unloaded horses, and then she backed into the shade. We got the horses tied to the trailer and walked down to registration to figure out where everything was without the horses. We also wanted to give them time to eat their hay and rest before vetting in.
Well turns out we were parked as far as possible from registration and the vetting area. Go figure! We hiked down there and got our ride packets. Mine was incomplete, so I filled in the info for Red. Then the lady wanted to see our AERC cards to verify that they were current. I have never heard of this before. (Kim says "well Shana, things are different here in the east!" - this was to become a familiar phrase over the weekend) So we hiked clear back to our camp and got our cards and hiked back again. It felt like a mile but Kim had her GPS this time and it was about .36 of a mile one-way.
I asked about the ride dinner, if it was for the night before, or the night of the ride. They told me I could choose, and if I wanted to know what they were serving to go and ask. So we hiked over to the building housing the kitchen and discovered Friday night was spaghetti night with both meat and veggie options. Saturday night was taco salad night with meat and veggie options...but also vegetables and pasta salad and cake and ... WOW! I am eating after our ride!
So after we got that squared away we went back for the horses. We led them to water and they weren't interested, but they did nibble along the way. The ride camp was in a really nice grassy area. Red vetted through with all A's and a heart rate of 46 I think. Great! Kim said Falcon got a B on muscle tone and she meant to ask about that but didn't. She couldn't believe Red started out better than Falcon already.
So the horses were taken care of but it is now about 6:30 pm and the dinner starts at 7 with ride meeting to follow. We still had to unpack the rig and set up camp and tend to horses. We decided a pre-ride was out. Oh well. So we tied the horses and set up Kim's portable corral (that thing is neat, but heavy!) Once they were squared away and fed with water in front of them we got to working on our camp. Kim had brought everything a person could want, even her own personal toilet. HaHa! Well I helped her lug everything out of the front tack room so she could inflate a mattress in there for bed tonight. She didn't feel like setting up her truck-bed tent and it was already getting dark, so we decided one person in the trailer and one person in the truck. She has a four-door truck with a nice back seat so I volunteered to sleep back there. I am quite a bit shorter than Kim and I figured she may not sleep too well all cramped like a sardine. Plus, her trailer smells like cat pee. She said she has shampooed it numerous times and the smell will just NOT come out.
I kept looking around camp since I didn't have a watch on at the moment, and noticed people started grabbing chairs and leaving so I told Kim we should get on down to the meeting area. I was paranoid we would miss something, and had fresh memories of my last ride where I never did hear the horn for the meeting and missed it entirely. I made up our PB&J sandwiches for tomorrow's vet check hold and said let's go! So Kim gets some last things done and feels rushed and unorganized but oh well, off we go. We hike the .36 miles for the fourth time in a couple of hours and realize after we get there that we should have brought the chairs!! Well Kim is tired and achy and I still feel ok so I tell her I will go back for them. As I ran off I overheard a lady say to Kim "she's a lot younger than you are. Well, I don't mean you are old!" And Kim says "yes, she is about 20 years younger than me!" (although if you stop and do the math that isn't right, Kim has a ways to go before she gets to 50)
Not long after I had picked up the chairs and was struggling back to the meeting with them I met a lady named Mary who was walking two horses. She said if I could make it to her truck, she would give me a ride. Fantastic! When we got in the truck she mentioned that it had been through hurricane Isabella and because of that the gears didn't work right and she couldn't put it in reverse. Well I am not complaining, a free ride is just that!
I got back with the chairs and we reclined together and ate pasta salad she had made and drank our ice cold water and waited for the ride meeting to start. I must say, I have never sat through a more enjoyable ride meeting. I believe it was Don and one other guy doing most of the talking and they were both such a RIOT they had me rolling in my chair laughing. They were talking to an audience of A) people who already rode the ride today, B) people who would do the ride tomorrow for the first time and C) people who would attempt both days. So when asked about the trail they would say "ask your neighbor because the rocks will be bigger and the trails will be steeper when they tell the story" They explained for the 30s that the trail would start out with a trot out one at a time at the start, and then follow the road we came in on for a little ways, then take a right and go up on a jeep road up the hill which would turn into a single track trail which would become switchbacks up the mountain and then after some more climbs we would reach highway 94 and there would be volunteers there to help us across. At the vet check there would be home made ice cream and the hold time is 40 min. It was noted there were climbs on both sections and a fair amount of rock but it should be fine and everyone should have a good time. Plenty of water on the trail, provided for us by the Ivanhoe Fire Department. So that was that, they talked a little about the 50s/55s? and then said that the beginners meeting would be given during the awards meeting off to the side by Stagg Newman. I told Kim we should go to that too since she was a new rider and secretly I just wanted to meet Stagg and hear what he had to say since I see his photo and read his editorials all the time in Endurance News.
So Kim agreed, even though by now it was pitch black. Stagg went over the usual new people things and allowed plenty of time for questions and I thought did a real nice job. He even handed out back issues of Endurance News and I got a classic from 2006 that I may not already have :) They also handed out some reading material and a stethoscope to everyone there. Impressive! Don or someone had mentioned during the ride meeting that "tomorrow when you start out in the rain..." so I asked about the weather prediction for tomorrow and was told it should be a real nice day. Good weather. Super!
Back at the trailer we did more last minute preparations and called it a night.
The ride: Virginia Highlands Endurance Challenge on August 23rd held in Ivanhoe, VA. Managed by Don and Nicki Meuten.
My dad dropped me off at my auntie Kim's in Luray, VA on Friday afternoon. She wanted to leave by 11 pm. Well we got there about 11:05. I went down to the barn and met my mount, Red Dog Dan. I had seen photos of him but this was my first chance to meet him in person (horse?) He and Falcon both looked fat but since Kim has been riding them both up her mountain I figured they'd do fine. We each haltered our horses and led them up to the trailer. Posed for a couple of photos and then got them loaded up with no problems. I threw my overnight bag and purse into Kim's truck, hugged my dad, husband and toddler goodbye and off we went.
Kim wanted to stay off I-81 as long as possible so we took some smaller parallel highways, which also got us around a mountain instead of hauling over it. This worked out well until we realized how long we would be on the road at this rate. So eventually we did get onto I-81 and it was pretty packed, Friday evening traffic. Some of the semi-trucks were driving crazy, waiting until the last minute to jerk over to pass and riding people's tails. Kim and I had some good conversation on the road.
When we got close to ride camp I read out the directions and they were very clear but we found the milage increments to be a bit off. It didn't really matter, we made it with no trouble. It said to look for Tom Sites and he would park us. Well we never did find Tom. Ride camp looked packed. I got out and walked clear down to one end and there was room so I had Kim pull back there and she got turned around, we unloaded horses, and then she backed into the shade. We got the horses tied to the trailer and walked down to registration to figure out where everything was without the horses. We also wanted to give them time to eat their hay and rest before vetting in.
Well turns out we were parked as far as possible from registration and the vetting area. Go figure! We hiked down there and got our ride packets. Mine was incomplete, so I filled in the info for Red. Then the lady wanted to see our AERC cards to verify that they were current. I have never heard of this before. (Kim says "well Shana, things are different here in the east!" - this was to become a familiar phrase over the weekend) So we hiked clear back to our camp and got our cards and hiked back again. It felt like a mile but Kim had her GPS this time and it was about .36 of a mile one-way.
I asked about the ride dinner, if it was for the night before, or the night of the ride. They told me I could choose, and if I wanted to know what they were serving to go and ask. So we hiked over to the building housing the kitchen and discovered Friday night was spaghetti night with both meat and veggie options. Saturday night was taco salad night with meat and veggie options...but also vegetables and pasta salad and cake and ... WOW! I am eating after our ride!
So after we got that squared away we went back for the horses. We led them to water and they weren't interested, but they did nibble along the way. The ride camp was in a really nice grassy area. Red vetted through with all A's and a heart rate of 46 I think. Great! Kim said Falcon got a B on muscle tone and she meant to ask about that but didn't. She couldn't believe Red started out better than Falcon already.
So the horses were taken care of but it is now about 6:30 pm and the dinner starts at 7 with ride meeting to follow. We still had to unpack the rig and set up camp and tend to horses. We decided a pre-ride was out. Oh well. So we tied the horses and set up Kim's portable corral (that thing is neat, but heavy!) Once they were squared away and fed with water in front of them we got to working on our camp. Kim had brought everything a person could want, even her own personal toilet. HaHa! Well I helped her lug everything out of the front tack room so she could inflate a mattress in there for bed tonight. She didn't feel like setting up her truck-bed tent and it was already getting dark, so we decided one person in the trailer and one person in the truck. She has a four-door truck with a nice back seat so I volunteered to sleep back there. I am quite a bit shorter than Kim and I figured she may not sleep too well all cramped like a sardine. Plus, her trailer smells like cat pee. She said she has shampooed it numerous times and the smell will just NOT come out.
I kept looking around camp since I didn't have a watch on at the moment, and noticed people started grabbing chairs and leaving so I told Kim we should get on down to the meeting area. I was paranoid we would miss something, and had fresh memories of my last ride where I never did hear the horn for the meeting and missed it entirely. I made up our PB&J sandwiches for tomorrow's vet check hold and said let's go! So Kim gets some last things done and feels rushed and unorganized but oh well, off we go. We hike the .36 miles for the fourth time in a couple of hours and realize after we get there that we should have brought the chairs!! Well Kim is tired and achy and I still feel ok so I tell her I will go back for them. As I ran off I overheard a lady say to Kim "she's a lot younger than you are. Well, I don't mean you are old!" And Kim says "yes, she is about 20 years younger than me!" (although if you stop and do the math that isn't right, Kim has a ways to go before she gets to 50)
Not long after I had picked up the chairs and was struggling back to the meeting with them I met a lady named Mary who was walking two horses. She said if I could make it to her truck, she would give me a ride. Fantastic! When we got in the truck she mentioned that it had been through hurricane Isabella and because of that the gears didn't work right and she couldn't put it in reverse. Well I am not complaining, a free ride is just that!
I got back with the chairs and we reclined together and ate pasta salad she had made and drank our ice cold water and waited for the ride meeting to start. I must say, I have never sat through a more enjoyable ride meeting. I believe it was Don and one other guy doing most of the talking and they were both such a RIOT they had me rolling in my chair laughing. They were talking to an audience of A) people who already rode the ride today, B) people who would do the ride tomorrow for the first time and C) people who would attempt both days. So when asked about the trail they would say "ask your neighbor because the rocks will be bigger and the trails will be steeper when they tell the story" They explained for the 30s that the trail would start out with a trot out one at a time at the start, and then follow the road we came in on for a little ways, then take a right and go up on a jeep road up the hill which would turn into a single track trail which would become switchbacks up the mountain and then after some more climbs we would reach highway 94 and there would be volunteers there to help us across. At the vet check there would be home made ice cream and the hold time is 40 min. It was noted there were climbs on both sections and a fair amount of rock but it should be fine and everyone should have a good time. Plenty of water on the trail, provided for us by the Ivanhoe Fire Department. So that was that, they talked a little about the 50s/55s? and then said that the beginners meeting would be given during the awards meeting off to the side by Stagg Newman. I told Kim we should go to that too since she was a new rider and secretly I just wanted to meet Stagg and hear what he had to say since I see his photo and read his editorials all the time in Endurance News.
So Kim agreed, even though by now it was pitch black. Stagg went over the usual new people things and allowed plenty of time for questions and I thought did a real nice job. He even handed out back issues of Endurance News and I got a classic from 2006 that I may not already have :) They also handed out some reading material and a stethoscope to everyone there. Impressive! Don or someone had mentioned during the ride meeting that "tomorrow when you start out in the rain..." so I asked about the weather prediction for tomorrow and was told it should be a real nice day. Good weather. Super!
Back at the trailer we did more last minute preparations and called it a night.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Clipping Sinwaan
Tonight Shane came out and met me at the barn to help me with clipping Sinwaan. He trimmed up his ears and whiskers for me and showed me how to do the feet. He noted I would likely have to redo the whiskers before the show. He also showed me a trick for clipping the bridlepath to make the neck look slimmer. He said if he had a professional set of clippers with a size 40 surgical blade he also would have clipped a diamond pattern on Sinwaan's head. He brought the bridlepath up to the poll and trimmed the jawline.
Now for the list of things to do when I get home to get him ready for this show;
I need to bathe him and wash out his tail really well since it is currently kind of dingy. Put the shampoo in a bucket and apply it with a sponge. Use a whitening/blueing shampoo if I can. After he is washed I will apply show sheen all over him liberally while he is still wet.
Brillo pad and then sandpaper, rough and then smooth, on his hooves to clean them up. Then a clear coat. (Blacking is illegal) He said I could use a clear shoe polish and buff it out but I won't go to all that for the Fair show, maybe MacMurdo.
Baby oil (lightly) his ears and around his eyes and his muzzle to bring out the black in those places. He also said I should add a little oil or a dab of Vaseline to his forelock to smooth it down.
I also need to get a hair gel for his mane to help the frizzies lay down with the rest of it.
Surely I am forgetting some things. I soaked everything Shane said up like a sponge but on the drive home was kicking myself for not taking a pad of paper and taking notes!
After he was all clipped up Shane took him out in the driveway and had him stand up square and he did really well. It is just amazing to me how fast this horse has come along. I asked him about some tips to get him to get his ears up and lean into the whip. Shane said I need to crack it to get his attention so I need to practice that. (no time!) He also told me a trick to get him really interested - right before ring time, dump some cologne on my hand. Hold out my hand and he should bring his nose right to it. Well I'll be!!
He said I had done really well with him but I give most of the credit to Shane, I have only really been able to work him a couple of times since our first session a couple of weeks ago. Of course having Lesley teach him a lot of this as a foal has been instrumental as he has drawn on this memory in his sessions. Horses do remember, even 10 years later!
This will be my last blog until Aug 31, after our halter class at the Fair. Wish us luck!
Now for the list of things to do when I get home to get him ready for this show;
I need to bathe him and wash out his tail really well since it is currently kind of dingy. Put the shampoo in a bucket and apply it with a sponge. Use a whitening/blueing shampoo if I can. After he is washed I will apply show sheen all over him liberally while he is still wet.
Brillo pad and then sandpaper, rough and then smooth, on his hooves to clean them up. Then a clear coat. (Blacking is illegal) He said I could use a clear shoe polish and buff it out but I won't go to all that for the Fair show, maybe MacMurdo.
Baby oil (lightly) his ears and around his eyes and his muzzle to bring out the black in those places. He also said I should add a little oil or a dab of Vaseline to his forelock to smooth it down.
I also need to get a hair gel for his mane to help the frizzies lay down with the rest of it.
Surely I am forgetting some things. I soaked everything Shane said up like a sponge but on the drive home was kicking myself for not taking a pad of paper and taking notes!
After he was all clipped up Shane took him out in the driveway and had him stand up square and he did really well. It is just amazing to me how fast this horse has come along. I asked him about some tips to get him to get his ears up and lean into the whip. Shane said I need to crack it to get his attention so I need to practice that. (no time!) He also told me a trick to get him really interested - right before ring time, dump some cologne on my hand. Hold out my hand and he should bring his nose right to it. Well I'll be!!
He said I had done really well with him but I give most of the credit to Shane, I have only really been able to work him a couple of times since our first session a couple of weeks ago. Of course having Lesley teach him a lot of this as a foal has been instrumental as he has drawn on this memory in his sessions. Horses do remember, even 10 years later!
This will be my last blog until Aug 31, after our halter class at the Fair. Wish us luck!
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Last August ride on Sinwaan
Weather today is predicted to be 107 degrees, HOT HOT HOT. I set my alarm for 6:07 am and hit snooze twice before I finally drug myself out of bed. I haven't been feeling 100% lately, battling a mild cold or something, so I wasn't real eager to go out and exercise but I knew Sinwaan needed it, and so did I - to stay somewhat in shape for my toughie ride next weekend in the hills of Virginia.
I had hoped to ride with Ernie but he was doing a 50 mi training ride in the mountains today with Dean. Nope, not ready for that distance yet. :-)
I was able to get the dogs pottied, chickens fed, and filled up a water bottle, got dressed and grabbed some carrots, all without waking up Levi. Gave Matt a kiss goodbye and quietly snuck out of the house. The weather was perfect for a motorcycle ride out to the barn, and I even wished for a jacket when I hit the 40 mph straightaway.
Sinwaan eagerly came over to greet me, thinking I had some breakfast for him I reckon. I pulled him out and had just gotten done grooming him when Darold came out to say hello. I asked him if he would join me today and he said he wished he could but he was watching his grandchildren at 8 am. Maybe next time. He did say he would wait to feed the horses until I was gone, which was very nice of him.
We headed out at a brisk walk and then had a little startle when Sinwaan saw a lady walking up the road. He was acting up a little on the short stretch to Elliot but once there we could trot and get some of his bugs out. He actually did better for me today than I expected, considering he hasn't been ridden for an entire week, and he was going out without his breakfast. I was relieved, as I was feeling a bit faint already. Power through....
It was getting warm already. We saw a man out working on his grapevines at the first homestead, I said good morning and he responded. When we hit the dirt road I asked for a trot again and he was moving sloppy, really clipping himself. We stopped at the junkyard for a bite of wheat and then I asked him for the canter. He wasn't thrilled, but willingly went along. We turned up Telephone Pole Road and trotted most of it to the corner, where I let him rest and eat the grasses and alfalfa alongside the road. At this point the heat really hit us. Sinwaan's shoulder was all sweaty and I could feel heat just coming off my arms and my head under the helmet. Yuk! My arms were glistening. Time to go, let's get home before the real heat hits.
Riding through the stubble of the wheat field Sinwaan knew now we were headed back in the "right" direction - towards home - and he was happy to pick up the pace. I let him set it, knowing this would be more work for him plowing through all the churned dirt. At first he started his flying trot which soon turned into head tossing and a little buck, he was agitated. Ok then, GO! And go we did, we had a very nice canter after that and were through the entire field in no time.
On the road for a very short stretch to cross over the railroad tracks and turn back onto Elliot, I saw a truck heading towards us. No worries, we were off the pavement with a minute to spare. More trotting, loose rein, ears ahead, good attitude. Sinwaan was a joy to ride the rest of the way home. Even slowed to a walk a couple times on his own, I think that field wore him out. We had a bit of a breeze and occasional patches of shade. Saw the man with the grapevines taking a break as we went past.
I had Sinwaan walk the last 1/4 mile to cool him off a little but once we got back to Braden he wanted to trot. Eager for food! I had let him stop periodically to much on wheat or weeds or alfalfa on our ride but nothing beats a good meal. I was hungry too. I untacked and put him in the shower stall and hosed him off. He was pretty sweaty today. It looks like his hair is shedding and clumping up under his girth by my stirrup. I didn't like the looks of that but otherwise didn't see any problem areas. I fed him his carrots, I had thought about working him in halter a little today but I want to set him up for success and didn't think he would be in a very good mood if I withheld breakfast any longer. He gave me a great ride - 8 mi in about an hour +, so he deserved to be done. (I forgot a watch and know I was only gone from the house 2 hr total)
I hope to go out tomorrow to work on halter, and will try to arrange some more help from Shane on clipping, etc before I leave town.
I had hoped to ride with Ernie but he was doing a 50 mi training ride in the mountains today with Dean. Nope, not ready for that distance yet. :-)
I was able to get the dogs pottied, chickens fed, and filled up a water bottle, got dressed and grabbed some carrots, all without waking up Levi. Gave Matt a kiss goodbye and quietly snuck out of the house. The weather was perfect for a motorcycle ride out to the barn, and I even wished for a jacket when I hit the 40 mph straightaway.
Sinwaan eagerly came over to greet me, thinking I had some breakfast for him I reckon. I pulled him out and had just gotten done grooming him when Darold came out to say hello. I asked him if he would join me today and he said he wished he could but he was watching his grandchildren at 8 am. Maybe next time. He did say he would wait to feed the horses until I was gone, which was very nice of him.
We headed out at a brisk walk and then had a little startle when Sinwaan saw a lady walking up the road. He was acting up a little on the short stretch to Elliot but once there we could trot and get some of his bugs out. He actually did better for me today than I expected, considering he hasn't been ridden for an entire week, and he was going out without his breakfast. I was relieved, as I was feeling a bit faint already. Power through....
It was getting warm already. We saw a man out working on his grapevines at the first homestead, I said good morning and he responded. When we hit the dirt road I asked for a trot again and he was moving sloppy, really clipping himself. We stopped at the junkyard for a bite of wheat and then I asked him for the canter. He wasn't thrilled, but willingly went along. We turned up Telephone Pole Road and trotted most of it to the corner, where I let him rest and eat the grasses and alfalfa alongside the road. At this point the heat really hit us. Sinwaan's shoulder was all sweaty and I could feel heat just coming off my arms and my head under the helmet. Yuk! My arms were glistening. Time to go, let's get home before the real heat hits.
Riding through the stubble of the wheat field Sinwaan knew now we were headed back in the "right" direction - towards home - and he was happy to pick up the pace. I let him set it, knowing this would be more work for him plowing through all the churned dirt. At first he started his flying trot which soon turned into head tossing and a little buck, he was agitated. Ok then, GO! And go we did, we had a very nice canter after that and were through the entire field in no time.
On the road for a very short stretch to cross over the railroad tracks and turn back onto Elliot, I saw a truck heading towards us. No worries, we were off the pavement with a minute to spare. More trotting, loose rein, ears ahead, good attitude. Sinwaan was a joy to ride the rest of the way home. Even slowed to a walk a couple times on his own, I think that field wore him out. We had a bit of a breeze and occasional patches of shade. Saw the man with the grapevines taking a break as we went past.
I had Sinwaan walk the last 1/4 mile to cool him off a little but once we got back to Braden he wanted to trot. Eager for food! I had let him stop periodically to much on wheat or weeds or alfalfa on our ride but nothing beats a good meal. I was hungry too. I untacked and put him in the shower stall and hosed him off. He was pretty sweaty today. It looks like his hair is shedding and clumping up under his girth by my stirrup. I didn't like the looks of that but otherwise didn't see any problem areas. I fed him his carrots, I had thought about working him in halter a little today but I want to set him up for success and didn't think he would be in a very good mood if I withheld breakfast any longer. He gave me a great ride - 8 mi in about an hour +, so he deserved to be done. (I forgot a watch and know I was only gone from the house 2 hr total)
I hope to go out tomorrow to work on halter, and will try to arrange some more help from Shane on clipping, etc before I leave town.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
August 11 Halter Photos
Tonight Matt went out with me to the barn and we got some halter photos of Sinwaan at magic hour. He did pretty well for me. This was my favorite shot of the evening.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Virginia Highlands Endurance Ride
The countdown has begun - this time two weeks from now the Virginia Highlands Endurance Ride will be over.
They offer a clever award to the person who has traveled the farthest distance to their ride. Here are my numbers -
2,512 mi as the car drives.
3,454 mi going from College Place to PDX to Baltimore Airport, to Hagerstown, to Luray and onto Ivanhoe VA.
Wonder how I'll stack up.
From the website:
Free Ride entry 08 (your choice) for whoever travels the furtherest to participate. Please figure mileage from where you actually leave from. Sponsored by Tom Sites ---Paid for by Don and Nicki Meuten
They offer a clever award to the person who has traveled the farthest distance to their ride. Here are my numbers -
2,512 mi as the car drives.
3,454 mi going from College Place to PDX to Baltimore Airport, to Hagerstown, to Luray and onto Ivanhoe VA.
Wonder how I'll stack up.
From the website:
Free Ride entry 08 (your choice) for whoever travels the furtherest to participate. Please figure mileage from where you actually leave from. Sponsored by Tom Sites ---Paid for by Don and Nicki Meuten
Leisurely ride with Ruth
Today Ruth agreed to trailer out and ride with Sinwaan and I, so she picked me up about 9:15 am. The weather was just gorgeous, about 80° with a breeze, could not have asked for better! I showed Ruth my Arab halters and we talked a little about the halter training and then we groomed and tacked up the horses.
We went down Elliot Road and turned onto the dirt path and followed it to where it intersects with Telephone Pole Road. We then took Telephone Pole Rd south to the intersection at Birch Creek Road. Here we decided to ride along Birch Creek Rd to where it comes back to Elliot Road at the grain elevator. There was really not much of a shoulder on the road so we took advantage of the neighboring wheat field which had been tilled under. We had a lovely ride. We probably walked about half of the miles and trotted the other half. There were still train cars on the track but no activity today (maybe that's the trick - ride on Sunday's when no one is working) The horses were both well behaved and there is no real trouble to report on.
I thought for sure we must have done about 8 miles today but looking at the map now that I am home reveals a trip of about 6.8 miles. [EDIT - I drove the distance in the suburban 8/11 and it was exactly 8 mi!] Well at least we are riding! Ruth said next time we should try to do the whole thing at the trot. We'll see. I got back home right about 12:15 pm.
:)
We went down Elliot Road and turned onto the dirt path and followed it to where it intersects with Telephone Pole Road. We then took Telephone Pole Rd south to the intersection at Birch Creek Road. Here we decided to ride along Birch Creek Rd to where it comes back to Elliot Road at the grain elevator. There was really not much of a shoulder on the road so we took advantage of the neighboring wheat field which had been tilled under. We had a lovely ride. We probably walked about half of the miles and trotted the other half. There were still train cars on the track but no activity today (maybe that's the trick - ride on Sunday's when no one is working) The horses were both well behaved and there is no real trouble to report on.
I thought for sure we must have done about 8 miles today but looking at the map now that I am home reveals a trip of about 6.8 miles. [EDIT - I drove the distance in the suburban 8/11 and it was exactly 8 mi!] Well at least we are riding! Ruth said next time we should try to do the whole thing at the trot. We'll see. I got back home right about 12:15 pm.
:)
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Halter training, take 2
This morning the weather was cool and I was excited to go out to the barn and try my new knowledge out on Sinwaan. Riding the motorcycle out was a bit hairy - the wind was blowing me all over the place, it was crazy. At the barn there was just a nice breeze so I grabbed the show halter and whip and went out to get Sinwaan.
He walked right on up to me and waited as I put on the halter and attached the throat-latch. I led him out to the round pen and noticed that he never even tried to take a nibble of anything on the way there. Either he was full from breakfast, or he remembered a little of yesterdays training - this halter means business.
We worked together for about 30 minutes and I was very pleased to see that he had remembered just about everything from yesterday. He got his rear planted in the right spot and then would move his fore with me to the side when I asked to line up and stretch out just a bit. Twice he gave me trouble backing up, rather than getting more frustrated I moved him forward again and we would start over.
I took carrots out with me today and when he would set up and stand just right I would then ask him to bring his head forward and if he did a good job he got a baby carrot. I figured he deserved some little rewards today. He really did awesome for me and I am thrilled. What a confidence builder! I feel like I could really take him out now either for photos or to a show and we would do ok. I am sure there are still some things to learn but for now at least I feel like I am getting a grasp on this whole halter handling business. Exciting!
Tomorrow it's time to saddle back up and go for a ride. Weather is reported to be a high of 84, I can't believe it! :-0 In August! I am getting SPOILED and am sure I am in for a real awakening when I hit the highlands of Virginia - only about two weeks away now.
He walked right on up to me and waited as I put on the halter and attached the throat-latch. I led him out to the round pen and noticed that he never even tried to take a nibble of anything on the way there. Either he was full from breakfast, or he remembered a little of yesterdays training - this halter means business.
We worked together for about 30 minutes and I was very pleased to see that he had remembered just about everything from yesterday. He got his rear planted in the right spot and then would move his fore with me to the side when I asked to line up and stretch out just a bit. Twice he gave me trouble backing up, rather than getting more frustrated I moved him forward again and we would start over.
I took carrots out with me today and when he would set up and stand just right I would then ask him to bring his head forward and if he did a good job he got a baby carrot. I figured he deserved some little rewards today. He really did awesome for me and I am thrilled. What a confidence builder! I feel like I could really take him out now either for photos or to a show and we would do ok. I am sure there are still some things to learn but for now at least I feel like I am getting a grasp on this whole halter handling business. Exciting!
Tomorrow it's time to saddle back up and go for a ride. Weather is reported to be a high of 84, I can't believe it! :-0 In August! I am getting SPOILED and am sure I am in for a real awakening when I hit the highlands of Virginia - only about two weeks away now.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Halter Training
Today was the big day. After work I went home and ate a bowl of granola with blueberries and then hopped on the motorcycle and rode out to the barn to meet Shane for our halter training lesson. I was nervous - felt like a kid going back to school again. The weather was HOT, and I was so glad to take off the motorcycle helmet.
Sinwaan was just standing around in the sun and came over to me eagerly, almost shoving his head into the halter. I noticed the flies were bad again today. I took him into the shade of the barn and brushed him and put on fly spray. That helped a lot. Then I took him out between the barns and let him nibble on what growth he could find. Mostly weeds. I noticed how he seemed to enjoy pulling them out by the roots and then crunched down on them, almost as though he was eating little carrots. It was so hot standing there in the sun, I could not believe it. I was wiping the sweat out of my eyebrows when I saw Shane pull into the drive. I walked Sinwaan down there and halted early when I saw he was on the phone. Sinwaan whoah'ed when I asked and stood quietly. Surely that is a good sign.
We walked back to the barn and Shane brought along his own halter and whip. I showed him what I had, and he made some comments. He pointed out that the lead on my black halter is patent leather and that is notorious for sliding out of one's hand. He advised wearing gloves. I asked him for all shows, or just when using a patent leather lead. He said pretty much all shows. He pointed out that he wears a suit to the class A Arab shows, and a nice shirt and vest to the MacMurdo show. This talk reminds me of showing AKC. Dress up and try not to get dirty. He also showed me how he connects the chain to the lead so there is no part of the chain in constant contact with the horse's head.
We put Shane's halter on Sinwaan and went out to work in the round pen. Shane walked and trotted him around in hand to get an idea of where he was at with his training and how quickly he would stop when he said WOAH! Sinwaan didn't do too bad at this part. Then Shane showed me how to set him up. You want the horses' hind end set up first. The rear left leg is set at a normal angle and the right leg is slightly to the inside (forward). You walk the horse up until that right rear is about to come forward then you WOAH and they should stop just as it lands ahead of the left. To get the front end where you want it the handler steps to the left or the right and asks the horse to move a front foot that direction. This is where Sinwaan had a lot of trouble. He would just about move a front foot and then his rear would move with it. When he did this Shane would back him up and get his attention and then walk him forward and try again. This is when we discovered that Sinwaan really doesn't like to back up - or at least he hardly tracks straight in reverse. He was scooting all around trying to go any direction but back. He was crowding Shane and not paying attention and looking to me.
Shane was all business and made it look easy even with the challenges presented to him. He handed me the lead and whip and told me to try. This is always my least favorite part when learning something new. Well Sinwaan knows his momma and took advantage of that right away, crowding me and hanging over me so Shane made me get after him and back him up. Pop with the lead and hit the whip down towards the ground at his front feet when needed. I was paying more attention to where that back foot was then the fact he was breathing down my neck. When I would bend down, Sinwaan's head would come down so I would have to stand up straight and pop the lead to get his head back up and then move over and ask him to move a front foot and then he did. I think ONE time I got him to do it well. At least he caught on pretty quickly what we were asking him to do.
Shane took him back after I tried a couple times without a whole lot of success. He wanted to get him to stand up well and end on a good note since we had been out there for awhile. And boy did he ever. The last time he had him standing up perfectly and his head was up and starting to stretch out for the whip end and he was a completely different horse. I wished I had brought a camera. Oh well, next time maybe. He looked amazing. Maybe there is hope for us after all. Shane said he thought for sure Sinwaan must have had some halter training at some point in his life, because usually horses' won't finish up that well. He said that was a large part of the battle won right there.
We heard rumbling thunder in the distance so decided to call it a day. Shane said he would come back out and work with us on Sunday if I wanted. Heck yes!
We went back in the barn and talked more about show specifics, where to clip the bridle-path to (the top of the poll), and how to get a thick mane to lay flat (clip some of the underside of the mane). He said he would come back out and help with all that too. He said when clipping the inside of the ears, to leave a small 'teardrop' section at the tip. We also talked a little bit about some of the horrendous tactics used by some barns to get a horses' tail up, etc. It was an incredibly informative session, and I am so grateful to Shane for his kindness.
He looked at my black halter again and determined for sure that it was too small. I guess I didn't measure his head right. Shane said we could put a tag on the halter and try to sell it at a booth at the Pegasus show next month. Sounds great to me since returning it isn't really an option.
The rust colored halter looks like it could work if I could find a gold chain for it. A dog choker will work if I can find one the right length. Then most people remove the end rings and put on heavy key chains instead. I had heard of this about a month before so it didn't surprise me when Shane mentioned it. For now I can also use Shane's halter.
Lesson one, a success.
Sinwaan was just standing around in the sun and came over to me eagerly, almost shoving his head into the halter. I noticed the flies were bad again today. I took him into the shade of the barn and brushed him and put on fly spray. That helped a lot. Then I took him out between the barns and let him nibble on what growth he could find. Mostly weeds. I noticed how he seemed to enjoy pulling them out by the roots and then crunched down on them, almost as though he was eating little carrots. It was so hot standing there in the sun, I could not believe it. I was wiping the sweat out of my eyebrows when I saw Shane pull into the drive. I walked Sinwaan down there and halted early when I saw he was on the phone. Sinwaan whoah'ed when I asked and stood quietly. Surely that is a good sign.
We walked back to the barn and Shane brought along his own halter and whip. I showed him what I had, and he made some comments. He pointed out that the lead on my black halter is patent leather and that is notorious for sliding out of one's hand. He advised wearing gloves. I asked him for all shows, or just when using a patent leather lead. He said pretty much all shows. He pointed out that he wears a suit to the class A Arab shows, and a nice shirt and vest to the MacMurdo show. This talk reminds me of showing AKC. Dress up and try not to get dirty. He also showed me how he connects the chain to the lead so there is no part of the chain in constant contact with the horse's head.
We put Shane's halter on Sinwaan and went out to work in the round pen. Shane walked and trotted him around in hand to get an idea of where he was at with his training and how quickly he would stop when he said WOAH! Sinwaan didn't do too bad at this part. Then Shane showed me how to set him up. You want the horses' hind end set up first. The rear left leg is set at a normal angle and the right leg is slightly to the inside (forward). You walk the horse up until that right rear is about to come forward then you WOAH and they should stop just as it lands ahead of the left. To get the front end where you want it the handler steps to the left or the right and asks the horse to move a front foot that direction. This is where Sinwaan had a lot of trouble. He would just about move a front foot and then his rear would move with it. When he did this Shane would back him up and get his attention and then walk him forward and try again. This is when we discovered that Sinwaan really doesn't like to back up - or at least he hardly tracks straight in reverse. He was scooting all around trying to go any direction but back. He was crowding Shane and not paying attention and looking to me.
Shane was all business and made it look easy even with the challenges presented to him. He handed me the lead and whip and told me to try. This is always my least favorite part when learning something new. Well Sinwaan knows his momma and took advantage of that right away, crowding me and hanging over me so Shane made me get after him and back him up. Pop with the lead and hit the whip down towards the ground at his front feet when needed. I was paying more attention to where that back foot was then the fact he was breathing down my neck. When I would bend down, Sinwaan's head would come down so I would have to stand up straight and pop the lead to get his head back up and then move over and ask him to move a front foot and then he did. I think ONE time I got him to do it well. At least he caught on pretty quickly what we were asking him to do.
Shane took him back after I tried a couple times without a whole lot of success. He wanted to get him to stand up well and end on a good note since we had been out there for awhile. And boy did he ever. The last time he had him standing up perfectly and his head was up and starting to stretch out for the whip end and he was a completely different horse. I wished I had brought a camera. Oh well, next time maybe. He looked amazing. Maybe there is hope for us after all. Shane said he thought for sure Sinwaan must have had some halter training at some point in his life, because usually horses' won't finish up that well. He said that was a large part of the battle won right there.
We heard rumbling thunder in the distance so decided to call it a day. Shane said he would come back out and work with us on Sunday if I wanted. Heck yes!
We went back in the barn and talked more about show specifics, where to clip the bridle-path to (the top of the poll), and how to get a thick mane to lay flat (clip some of the underside of the mane). He said he would come back out and help with all that too. He said when clipping the inside of the ears, to leave a small 'teardrop' section at the tip. We also talked a little bit about some of the horrendous tactics used by some barns to get a horses' tail up, etc. It was an incredibly informative session, and I am so grateful to Shane for his kindness.
He looked at my black halter again and determined for sure that it was too small. I guess I didn't measure his head right. Shane said we could put a tag on the halter and try to sell it at a booth at the Pegasus show next month. Sounds great to me since returning it isn't really an option.
The rust colored halter looks like it could work if I could find a gold chain for it. A dog choker will work if I can find one the right length. Then most people remove the end rings and put on heavy key chains instead. I had heard of this about a month before so it didn't surprise me when Shane mentioned it. For now I can also use Shane's halter.
Lesson one, a success.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
August 6 2008
First ride for the month. The guy coming out to help me with halter pointers had to reschedule for Friday, so I decided to go out and ride tonight. It has been fairly hot lately (high of 92° today) and today we had quite a bit of cloud cover, making for a muggy - yet cooler - day than anticipated tomorrow (98°). So I figured I needed to get out there and ride!
I drove the motorcycle out, and on the way there thought about how I really didn't want to ride tonight. I was getting uncomfortable under the helmet, it was warm. I thought of Kim and how hot it will be at that ride later this month and decided I had better grit my teeth and get used to it!
Sinwaan peeked at me from behind his shelter. I'm not sure he was thrilled about working either but he willingly came along with me into the barn for his quick grooming. I brought a backpack this time so I could haul out my water bottle and some new fly spray for the equine. The flies are starting to show up now that the heat is coming on stronger. Until last week I hadn't seen any.
I tacked him up quickly and was soon mounted up and riding down the driveway. He took a second look at the motorcycle but otherwise was fine with it. He tried very hard to convince me this time that he was STARVING and just HAD to sidestep over there and take a bite of weed. I think not!
He was pretty lazy and slow on the way out tonight. I decided to go up Stateline Road again and see how things went. As we passed the pasture on the left three horses came galloping up to meet us. Just then a truck came up behind us and drove past in-between (I kept Sinwaan to the right) There was a cute red roan, a dun and a lighter horse, all mares. They were very curious. A small car followed the truck and both were courteous, not too much dust. We crossed the railroad tracks and I took a look in both directions. No trains tonight, hallelujah!
We did a lot of walking and some trotting but overall took it easy. There was more traffic tonight then I have ever seen on this road. People coming from both directions. Most slowed way down to pass and to help with dust, but one lady in a little hatchback cruised on by us in the other direction at about 30 mph.
I asked Sinwaan to trot some more and we set a fairly slow pace for about 1/4 mi. I saw a little road to the left into a wheat field so we took that for a change of pace. Sinwaan was happy to trot down this road because he thought it would take him back to the barn and his dinner. It didn't go very far, looked like a turn-around for farm trucks. We turned around and headed back to the main road.
We went back into a trot and then I asked him to canter and he picked it up right away but was sluggish. We cantered for a short stretch and then came upon a sprinkler that was jetting out across the road. We walked up to it and timed it so we could walk past without getting wet. We went on up to the stop sign and turned around and headed for home.
As usual, now I had a different horse under me. He walked to the sprinkler section with no problem but boy then he wanted to GO. I let him trot but had to keep checking him to remind him who the boss was and I hadn't asked for more speed. He was really moving out and wanted to run but I made him trot until I felt him settle down a little. Once he was more manageable I asked for the canter and he was quick to give it to me. I felt his hind end come up and out in a quick buck and I verbally warned him and after that we didn't have any more trouble. He was running so he was happy. We kept it to a hand gallop, nothing crazy on these back gravel roads. We had a truck come at us so I slowed him to a trot until it went past and then back to a canter. A little more attitude from him - but again - quick to settle into a nice gait. Goodness me. We must have cantered 2/3 of the way home. Just before the railroad tracks I made him trot and we trotted until we reached the horse pasture just before the pavement. From there we walked so he could cool down a little.
He wasn't thrilled about walking but he did listen. He had a little spook once or twice from that point - on the right was a winery building with some kind of fan that kicked on, on the left was a house with a jumbled-looking yard (lots of cars and 'stuff' scattered about) and kids hopping around playing on riding lawnmowers, a sprinkler going, etc. We got past it at a brisk walk.
Back to the barn safe and sound. What a relief. Now that I am riding the motorcycle out to the barn I worry a little more about coming off and getting injured. It would be possible to drive myself home in a car with an injury, but a motorcycle? Not a chance, I need all limbs working 100%.
We did about 3.4 mi tonight. Not much, but at least I am riding! Only 2+ weeks until the Virginia Highlands ride.
I untacked, gave Sinwaan some baby carrots as a treat and put him away in his paddock. I am looking forward to our halter lesson on Friday!
I drove the motorcycle out, and on the way there thought about how I really didn't want to ride tonight. I was getting uncomfortable under the helmet, it was warm. I thought of Kim and how hot it will be at that ride later this month and decided I had better grit my teeth and get used to it!
Sinwaan peeked at me from behind his shelter. I'm not sure he was thrilled about working either but he willingly came along with me into the barn for his quick grooming. I brought a backpack this time so I could haul out my water bottle and some new fly spray for the equine. The flies are starting to show up now that the heat is coming on stronger. Until last week I hadn't seen any.
I tacked him up quickly and was soon mounted up and riding down the driveway. He took a second look at the motorcycle but otherwise was fine with it. He tried very hard to convince me this time that he was STARVING and just HAD to sidestep over there and take a bite of weed. I think not!
He was pretty lazy and slow on the way out tonight. I decided to go up Stateline Road again and see how things went. As we passed the pasture on the left three horses came galloping up to meet us. Just then a truck came up behind us and drove past in-between (I kept Sinwaan to the right) There was a cute red roan, a dun and a lighter horse, all mares. They were very curious. A small car followed the truck and both were courteous, not too much dust. We crossed the railroad tracks and I took a look in both directions. No trains tonight, hallelujah!
We did a lot of walking and some trotting but overall took it easy. There was more traffic tonight then I have ever seen on this road. People coming from both directions. Most slowed way down to pass and to help with dust, but one lady in a little hatchback cruised on by us in the other direction at about 30 mph.
I asked Sinwaan to trot some more and we set a fairly slow pace for about 1/4 mi. I saw a little road to the left into a wheat field so we took that for a change of pace. Sinwaan was happy to trot down this road because he thought it would take him back to the barn and his dinner. It didn't go very far, looked like a turn-around for farm trucks. We turned around and headed back to the main road.
We went back into a trot and then I asked him to canter and he picked it up right away but was sluggish. We cantered for a short stretch and then came upon a sprinkler that was jetting out across the road. We walked up to it and timed it so we could walk past without getting wet. We went on up to the stop sign and turned around and headed for home.
As usual, now I had a different horse under me. He walked to the sprinkler section with no problem but boy then he wanted to GO. I let him trot but had to keep checking him to remind him who the boss was and I hadn't asked for more speed. He was really moving out and wanted to run but I made him trot until I felt him settle down a little. Once he was more manageable I asked for the canter and he was quick to give it to me. I felt his hind end come up and out in a quick buck and I verbally warned him and after that we didn't have any more trouble. He was running so he was happy. We kept it to a hand gallop, nothing crazy on these back gravel roads. We had a truck come at us so I slowed him to a trot until it went past and then back to a canter. A little more attitude from him - but again - quick to settle into a nice gait. Goodness me. We must have cantered 2/3 of the way home. Just before the railroad tracks I made him trot and we trotted until we reached the horse pasture just before the pavement. From there we walked so he could cool down a little.
He wasn't thrilled about walking but he did listen. He had a little spook once or twice from that point - on the right was a winery building with some kind of fan that kicked on, on the left was a house with a jumbled-looking yard (lots of cars and 'stuff' scattered about) and kids hopping around playing on riding lawnmowers, a sprinkler going, etc. We got past it at a brisk walk.
Back to the barn safe and sound. What a relief. Now that I am riding the motorcycle out to the barn I worry a little more about coming off and getting injured. It would be possible to drive myself home in a car with an injury, but a motorcycle? Not a chance, I need all limbs working 100%.
We did about 3.4 mi tonight. Not much, but at least I am riding! Only 2+ weeks until the Virginia Highlands ride.
I untacked, gave Sinwaan some baby carrots as a treat and put him away in his paddock. I am looking forward to our halter lesson on Friday!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
July 30 2008
Temperature has been delightful this week. High today of 79°!! (Our average high for this time of year is 92°) I went out to the barn about 6:30 pm or so and pulled Sinwaan out of his paddock. He still looked pretty clean from his power wash at Ernie's so a light grooming was all that was needed. I tacked up and we headed down the driveway.
I saw a big truck coming off of Elliot Road so I reconsidered our usual route, I needed a change anyway. We took Stateline Road today instead. It turns to gravel not far from the Elliot. We crossed the railroad tracks and as we did I looked over to my right (the direction of the grain elevator) and saw train headlights! What!? Oh crap, better get some wings and get the heck away from there...we proceeded up Stateline road at a trot. When we were about 1/4 mi from the tracks I stopped and let Sinwaan munch on the roadside wheat heads. I could hear the train coming...chug chug chug and a wooo wooo at the Elliot Road crossing. This train was not moving very fast at all chug chug chug and then it got to the Stateline intersection and we watched it wooooo wooooo wo wooooo as it crossed over. It was loud and we were not very close to it. Sinwaan did awesome, kept an eye on it but was happy with the wheat distraction as well. Ok well that threat is past, on up the road we go.
I didn't have a plan tonight at all, and Stateline road didn't look very long. (It is actually 1.6 mi) We walked past a road sign on our right that said Buchanan Lane. I thought about riding down it but then I saw two signs "Keep Out" and "Private Drive." Well darn. So up to the stop sign we went. Here Stateline road intersects and ends at Powerline Road. The traffic on Powerline moves along at a pretty fast rate, so I didn't want to attempt that on the shoulder. The field to our right had been plowed and the footing looked good so I decided to ride in it and stay to the edge. We hadn't been in the field long when I looked back and there was a semi-truck just hauling up Stateline like he had some place to be, and quick. I was really glad we were not sharing a road with him at that moment. The dust was pretty thick and billowed out behind him.
We were about 3 horse widths into the field and we walked and trotted as long as we could. Eventually the field ended and I was not sure what to do. Initially I had thought perhaps I could make it over to Birch Creek Road and that would take me to Elliot and then on home the usual way (this round trip would have been 6.4 mi according to Google maps, which I am not sure that I believe). But there was no shoulder on the right side of the road, hilly with fast traffic just seemed like an accident waiting to happen. I saw what looked like a farm road across the street but wasn't sure if going on it would be considered trespassing and I didn't want any trouble. I decided to turn around and go back the way I came.
Sinwaan wanted to GO, even with all that working going along in the plowed field, he always knows the way home. He started jogging, which was good for me since he finally was doing something faster than a walk that I didn't have to post. It was pretty cool, even if he was misbehaving a little. His head was sky high and he kept asking for more. A couple of times he got real pushy and tossed his head and acted up and I turned him around and made him trot back the other direction. This helped a lot and he settled in and behaved after that.
Back on Stateline road there was a slight hill at the intersection and we walked down that but then I let him go and we trotted fast until I saw a car headed towards us. We got really lucky this ride with traffic, always missing it until now. The car was courteous and slowed down as it passed us. Sinwaan didn't mind it and we went onward. I could tell he wanted to run and had been behaving himself this stretch so I asked for the canter and off we went, soon a gallop. Sinwaan thought he saw something (likely a shadow from the graded road, or some trash on the edge) and jumped to the other side and then threatened to buck but I got a handle on him and kept him going and we had no trouble. We were back to the pavement in no time and we walked the rest of the way home.
I untacked and went looking for Darold's clippers. He said he had some and I could borrow them. Ah ha, there they are! I put Sinwaan in the cross-ties and got to work. He was a bit agitated (for some reason baby flies swarmed his back just then) and didn't love the clippers but I was able to get his bridlepath done, fetlock hairs and jawline done before dark. I figured that was enough for the evening and I put him away and threw him a flake of hay.
Another boarder was there, she owns the "pony" Garreth who is taller than Sinwaan. She asked me if I was going somewhere. I said 'no, we are done here for the evening.' And then I thought about it and said "oh you mean because I clipped him?" She grinned and said yes...I told her I had entered him in the open show at the Fair and she said she had entered Garreth also, but it sounds like they are doing pretty much everything, english and driving as well as halter. Sinwaan won't be in the same class as him because he is four years old and that is the cut off for the younger class. I told her she would be showing against a little Arab filly that I know and she said "oh, we only entered halter because we paid for all day, he won't do anything, he isn't a halter horse." I guess she had been away last week at a breed show and he didn't do so well there either.
We chatted more about showing and I finally got home about 9 pm.
Looking at the map below, I was surprised when it said we had done exactly 6 miles this evening. It was a good ride!
I saw a big truck coming off of Elliot Road so I reconsidered our usual route, I needed a change anyway. We took Stateline Road today instead. It turns to gravel not far from the Elliot. We crossed the railroad tracks and as we did I looked over to my right (the direction of the grain elevator) and saw train headlights! What!? Oh crap, better get some wings and get the heck away from there...we proceeded up Stateline road at a trot. When we were about 1/4 mi from the tracks I stopped and let Sinwaan munch on the roadside wheat heads. I could hear the train coming...chug chug chug and a wooo wooo at the Elliot Road crossing. This train was not moving very fast at all chug chug chug and then it got to the Stateline intersection and we watched it wooooo wooooo wo wooooo as it crossed over. It was loud and we were not very close to it. Sinwaan did awesome, kept an eye on it but was happy with the wheat distraction as well. Ok well that threat is past, on up the road we go.
I didn't have a plan tonight at all, and Stateline road didn't look very long. (It is actually 1.6 mi) We walked past a road sign on our right that said Buchanan Lane. I thought about riding down it but then I saw two signs "Keep Out" and "Private Drive." Well darn. So up to the stop sign we went. Here Stateline road intersects and ends at Powerline Road. The traffic on Powerline moves along at a pretty fast rate, so I didn't want to attempt that on the shoulder. The field to our right had been plowed and the footing looked good so I decided to ride in it and stay to the edge. We hadn't been in the field long when I looked back and there was a semi-truck just hauling up Stateline like he had some place to be, and quick. I was really glad we were not sharing a road with him at that moment. The dust was pretty thick and billowed out behind him.
We were about 3 horse widths into the field and we walked and trotted as long as we could. Eventually the field ended and I was not sure what to do. Initially I had thought perhaps I could make it over to Birch Creek Road and that would take me to Elliot and then on home the usual way (this round trip would have been 6.4 mi according to Google maps, which I am not sure that I believe). But there was no shoulder on the right side of the road, hilly with fast traffic just seemed like an accident waiting to happen. I saw what looked like a farm road across the street but wasn't sure if going on it would be considered trespassing and I didn't want any trouble. I decided to turn around and go back the way I came.
Sinwaan wanted to GO, even with all that working going along in the plowed field, he always knows the way home. He started jogging, which was good for me since he finally was doing something faster than a walk that I didn't have to post. It was pretty cool, even if he was misbehaving a little. His head was sky high and he kept asking for more. A couple of times he got real pushy and tossed his head and acted up and I turned him around and made him trot back the other direction. This helped a lot and he settled in and behaved after that.
Back on Stateline road there was a slight hill at the intersection and we walked down that but then I let him go and we trotted fast until I saw a car headed towards us. We got really lucky this ride with traffic, always missing it until now. The car was courteous and slowed down as it passed us. Sinwaan didn't mind it and we went onward. I could tell he wanted to run and had been behaving himself this stretch so I asked for the canter and off we went, soon a gallop. Sinwaan thought he saw something (likely a shadow from the graded road, or some trash on the edge) and jumped to the other side and then threatened to buck but I got a handle on him and kept him going and we had no trouble. We were back to the pavement in no time and we walked the rest of the way home.
I untacked and went looking for Darold's clippers. He said he had some and I could borrow them. Ah ha, there they are! I put Sinwaan in the cross-ties and got to work. He was a bit agitated (for some reason baby flies swarmed his back just then) and didn't love the clippers but I was able to get his bridlepath done, fetlock hairs and jawline done before dark. I figured that was enough for the evening and I put him away and threw him a flake of hay.
Another boarder was there, she owns the "pony" Garreth who is taller than Sinwaan. She asked me if I was going somewhere. I said 'no, we are done here for the evening.' And then I thought about it and said "oh you mean because I clipped him?" She grinned and said yes...I told her I had entered him in the open show at the Fair and she said she had entered Garreth also, but it sounds like they are doing pretty much everything, english and driving as well as halter. Sinwaan won't be in the same class as him because he is four years old and that is the cut off for the younger class. I told her she would be showing against a little Arab filly that I know and she said "oh, we only entered halter because we paid for all day, he won't do anything, he isn't a halter horse." I guess she had been away last week at a breed show and he didn't do so well there either.
We chatted more about showing and I finally got home about 9 pm.
Looking at the map below, I was surprised when it said we had done exactly 6 miles this evening. It was a good ride!
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Info on the Sr. Rookie Horse of the Year/PNER
We are currently in the running for ...
Sr. Rookie Horse of the Year Award
This award is for the new horse and senior rider team, neither of which has previously completed more than 100 miles of endurance or LD. This award targets people who are new to the sport and encourages completions over the long run. Initiated by Anne and Larry Eades, more than 25 years ago, this award supports the individual who can ride moderately, bring on a beginning younger (or older) horse, and produce a safe and consistent performance (completion). The award goes to the sr. rider/horse team with the most consecutive completions of PNER rides under 50 miles (LD). If you're pulled on an LD, the count goes back to zero and you start over.
We have three consecutive completions. Don't know if we will get one more ride in this year or not but we have completed 75 mi for 2008.
Sr. Rookie Horse of the Year Award
This award is for the new horse and senior rider team, neither of which has previously completed more than 100 miles of endurance or LD. This award targets people who are new to the sport and encourages completions over the long run. Initiated by Anne and Larry Eades, more than 25 years ago, this award supports the individual who can ride moderately, bring on a beginning younger (or older) horse, and produce a safe and consistent performance (completion). The award goes to the sr. rider/horse team with the most consecutive completions of PNER rides under 50 miles (LD). If you're pulled on an LD, the count goes back to zero and you start over.
We have three consecutive completions. Don't know if we will get one more ride in this year or not but we have completed 75 mi for 2008.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Halter training
Tonight I took my two new Arab halters out to the barn to try them on Sinwaan. Why two? I made a post on a messageboard that I was looking for an Arab halter and in the meantime found one on eBay and bid on it. A day or two after the bid I had a lady contact me with a nice looking halter at a decent price. It was the size I needed, so I bought both of them. They are quite different from each other. The one pictured at left was made by Pat Dangel of WA and is more of the native style halter. It is a rust color and quite pretty on Sinwaan with his rust colored fleabites. Pat added a throat-latch for me when she found out I would need it for a halter class. (Photo taken from eBay ad, the bay horse has done some endurance himself!)
The other one (the one I used tonight to start training) is black and complete with chain and lead. I was hoping I could just disconnect the chain and lead on this one and use it on the other one but it doesn't look like that will be possible. This one came from a woman named Michelle.Well my first challenge was figuring out how to put the darn thing on. There is only one buckle and that is at the poll. The throat-latch does not come off (or maybe it does and I don't know how) and there is no way to undo the chain for the chin. Sinwaan was very patient with me, although I am sure he wondered what I was doing at the barn AFTER dinner tonight as the sun was setting. It was super tight and for a minute I didn't think it would go on all the way. I loosened it a hole to the end and then managed to get it on his big head. The chain was really tight but seemed like it might work, at least for today.
I found a whip in the tack room and took my bag of dried-out baby carrots with me out to the gravel driveway. There we practiced standing, moving feet, staying and getting his head up and slightly out. Thanks to the training we have done for endurance, he has no trouble at all with the trotting in hand. By the end of it we had made a little progress but I still don't know what the heck I am doing so I am hoping to get a clue here pretty soon.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Ride with Ernie
Friday I asked Ruth about getting together this weekend to ride out somewhere. She was game so we tried to think of where to go. She was a little tired of Bennington Lake and thought we could try a location near where Sinwaan is boarded. It sounded good to me but then I remembered that Ernie Schrader had invited me out there to ride sometime, so I dropped him an email to see if he was home.
Ernie called and left me a message this morning saying that he was in town and planning to do a ride this evening and we were welcome to come along if we had a way to get there. So I called Ruth but she didn't answer so we headed over to Matt's grandma's for lunch. The craziest thing, on the drive over there I realized Ruth's truck was ahead of us. So we got along side her and I motioned that she should check her phone because I had left her a message. We ate lunch and came back towards home, I stopped by her place and she said "let's do it!" and I said "great!" so I came home and called Ernie to verify. He said he wouldn't be ready to ride out until 5 pm so Ruth and I decided she would pick me up at 4 pm.
I got changed into my riding clothes - jodhpurs and my HOTR t-shirt, and took the dogs out. While outside I realized I felt warm - too warm for a t-shirt - so I came back in and changed into a tank top.
Ruth pulled up with Topper in the trailer and we headed out to pick up Sinwaan. (I noticed she had her HOTR t-shirt on and was glad I had changed. How goofy would that look if we showed up dressed alike!?) We loaded him up and grabbed my tack in a flash. We were on our way! I had asked Ernie how long it would take to get out to his place from College Place and he said a half an hour. I put his address into Google maps and sure enough it said 30 min exactly (16 mi). We arrived at Ernies just about 5 pm. He had told me on the phone to drive past his place, use the school bus turnaround and then come back and park out front. So we did that and then walked up the driveway to meet Ernie and figure out what to do from there.
Their place is surrounded by four-plank brown wood fencing, a huge entry sign that said Schraders with Candy's name on one side and Ernie's on the other. A beautiful large home nestled on a hill at the edge of the trees. The driveway splits and to the left the drive goes to the horse barn, framed by more brown fencing. At the end is a 4-stall barn with paddocks, a grassy field where they park their horse trailers and a full dressage arena. Candy waved at us from the other building between the house and the barn and motioned to come on up that way. Ernie met us half way up the lane, pushing a wheelbarrow of manure. "I didn't get my chores done earlier so I am doing it now" he grinned and I introduced him to Ruth. He said since we had a small trailer we could go ahead and pull in the driveway and park next to his trailers. He didn't know what to expect and the larger trailers have a hard time turning around once they get back there. So we followed him back down the drive and got back in the truck and pulled in.
There is a creek running along the edge of their property so we crossed a wooden bridge (with no sides) pulling in. I wondered how the horses would do with that if we had to cross it. Once we had parked Candy and two people visiting her came over to say hello. It was then we realized the 'visitor's' were Kathy Tatro and her husband Steve. Kathy works with Ruth and I. Small town! Steve talked to me a little bit about how he knew my mom from school. Small world!
We unloaded the horses and quickly groomed and tacked up. Just as I was putting on Sinwaan's bridle Ernie rode around the corner. He was on Captain Calypso tonight, aka "Spot." He said Spot had just completed a 100 mile ride last weekend (and placed 3rd, ridden by Australian Melissa Longhurst) and usually he would give him two weeks off but since we should be riding pretty easy he should do fine. Once we were mounted up Ernie asked "do you want to do 10 miles tonight or 15?" And I replied "Uh, we should probably stick with 10." And I could hear Ruth behind me say "Yes, 10 please." (We had to be back home before dark).
Ernie grinned and said "ok!" and off we went at a trot down the driveway. I noticed when I was alongside him that Spot's color is also red. Good choice. (grin) Across the wooden bridge and had no trouble. Ernie said he would keep it to an easy trot and we should holler at him if we needed to slow down. Ok! We made a right turn onto Blue Creek Road and rode along the shoulder until we reached a fork and we took it to the left. This road was gravel and we could ride down the center. Ernie turned back to me and said "We're going to go up a hill pretty soon that will really get your horses' rear in condition." I said OK! He asked me if we rode with a Heart Rate Monitor. I told him I always do on competitive rides but haven't been lately because I usually just do an easy ride around the barn. He said he wished he would have known, he could have lent us BOTH a HR monitor for the day. Darn!
I wasn't sure if we would be turning off the road for this hill, but soon realized this road WAS the hill. At first it was gradual, but it got steeper as we went along and Sinwaan's trot got slower and slower and then he was walking. He was huffing a little so I let him go at his own pace and Ruth even got ahead of us. I told her to holler up to Ernie that we had slowed down. Ernie stopped for a minute and then said he would go on up and wait for us at the top. By now Sinwaan was stopping and breathing and then he would walk up a little more and then stop and breath and then walk a little more. Poor guy is in worse shape than I thought! At the same time I look up and see Spot pick up a canter and just float on up the hill.
I want to take a minute to talk about Spot. What an amazing animal. He is 1/2 Arab and 1/2 Saddlebred and is a pinto with one blue eye. His movement is truly a beauty to behold. He just FLOATS along. His trot is effortless and Ernie tells me when he moves out he can trot 16 mph. He is incredibly fit and it was a honor to ride alongside of him.
At the top we turned left again onto Spring Creek Road. This was a mostly gravel road with wheat fields all around. The views were incredible. Ernie told us another ride he likes to do is a 25 mile round-trip on up the mountain to his cabin. After being on this road for a short distance I asked Ruth if she would like a photo. The scenery was breathtaking, hills and mountains and fields of all colors. Ernie offered to take a photo of the two of us. So we posed as best we could and Ernie took a couple. He didn't give us any warning so I don't know what kind of an expression I will have.
At one point we came to a downhill and without hesitation Ernie hopped off and started jogging downhill along side Spot. I decided to do the same thing since Sinwaan had a hard time coming up I figured he could use any extra energy I could give him. He trotted along next to me quite nicely. Ruth stayed aboard and walked part of the way down so Ernie and I let the horses graze along the roadside and chatted while we waited for her to catch back up. We talked a lot about endurance and a little about Dean Hoalst also.
We passed a house and there was pavement again so we kept to the right on the shoulder. Apparently it was only paved a short stretch in front of the house and then we were back to gravel again. That house had some pretty aggressive Boxers and I was glad for the fence between us.
After that it seems we turned onto Meiners Road and it was another climb. Ernie jumped off again and started tailing Spot on up. I told Ruth I was going to try it. She asked me if my reins were long enough...well no, but with my extra popper it should work. Sinwaan was last in line here and I was hoping seeing the other horses leaving him would be enough to pull him along but that didn't work. I told him to trot and he took off but he didn't like me hanging onto his tail so he swung around fast in a big circle and I realized I needed more training before doing this, I didn't want to lose my horse out in the middle of nowhere. So I got up near his head and took a chunk of mane in one hand and started running alongside him. We jogged up about half of that hill and then I had to slow down. I was breathing hard. At the top Ernie was showing Ruth how well Spot knew voice commands, but I didn't know that so I asked for them to wait up so I could mount up. Ernie pointed Spot at the wheat and said "head down" and Spot happily munched. I put Sinwaan in the gutter between the road and the wheat field and hopped on easily with the foot or more of a boost. Then we stood around and let the horses eat for a couple minutes before resuming our ride.
The weather was perfect, we even got some light cloud cover. As I rode along I thought of my poor aunt Kim trying to condition two horses in Virginia with a heat index of 110. How lucky am I to have these glorious trails and comfortable weather!? (SORRY KIM!!)
As we trotted along, Ernie put Spot along the edge and told him "head down," and Spot, never breaking his stride, dropped his head and started grabbing at stray wheat strands. Amazing! There were a couple of times that Ernie said he was going to move Spot out and he would wait at the turn or come back for us, which was fine. I found riding with him to be quite educational and he is a kind and courteous rider.
Coming down another knoll we saw a pickup on the side of the road and some guys tinkering with an ATV. Getting closer I noticed a track in the road where they had peeled out and spread the gravel out in a half circle. They had all their vehicles turned off and a dirt bike as well as a 4-wheeler. Spot acted up a little going past them and once we were far enough away Ernie commented "I bet there is a warrant out for their arrest. Spot doesn't care about dirt bikes, but he knows bad people!"
Here we got back on Mill Creek Road and trotted along the shoulder a couple of miles. Sinwaan needs more work in this area, he kept wanting to pull to the left back onto the pavement. Ernie told me to lead so he wouldn't be pulling us along the whole ride. I was content to follow him but it is always good for horses to take turns leading. With Sinwaan pulling and Ernie in the rear pushing, Ruth reported that Topper did really well and seemed to like that arrangement the best. I kept the pace to a trot, probably 6 mph or so. Before I knew it I could sense we were almost back. Just when I thought we would see his house on the right, there was the turn (left again) for Blue Creek Road. Ah, another mile or so yet. Ernie got back in the lead when we crossed over the road to the opposite should in one tight spot.
On Blue Creek Road I saw a dead possum. I don't recall which road it was on but close to home Ernie took a right turn into an archery spot that led up to the creek. He said the horses could have a drink here. Sinwaan stood in the water but wasn't interested in drinking. None of them really were. We stood there about five minutes and then headed back out to the road.
Once back at the Schrader's place we untacked and Ernie offered to let us use his hose and magic wand to get the sweat and grime off the horses. He asked me if I wanted warm or cold water. Options!? I asked him what he thought and he replied the horses would probably appreciate the cool water, so cold it was. I think he was right, Sinwaan didn't jump or balk at all when I turned that cold water on him. He stood there and seemed to enjoy it (a first!)
Then Ernie asked us if we would like a wine cooler or soda or anything to drink. I said I was fine, I had my water still. Ruth said she was ok too. So then he asked if we would like a cold water. Well I couldn't turn that down so I thanked him and said that would be great. Off he went to the building in the center of their property. He came back with two gatorades and two wine coolers. Said there wasn't any water in the fridge. He asked if we were sure we didn't want a wine cooler? I asked him if he didn't like them and was trying to get rid of them. He said no, and opened one and drank it down. So then he went in the LQ part of his horse trailer to look for more drinks. He found a root beer (which sounded really good to Ruth) and an "ice-cold" water. Well the water was mostly ice but there was some water around the edges. (grin)
Then Ernie put ice boots on Spot. He asked me if I knew what they were. I guessed correctly and told him I had never used them. He said that normally he would not use them after an easy ride like the one we just did, but that since he just got done with the 100 last weekend, it was more of a precautionary measure. He said it wouldn't hurt any to put them on, and just might help. He said they were the best kind to have and could be used on people also.
Ernie had told me I could come out and ride sometime if I wanted to go along with him on one of his horses (so he could really move out, no doubt) and that sounded good to me. I think it will be helpful to ride a different horse before I head east for that ride and hop aboard Red Dog Dan. So Ernie pulled Marquis out and took him to the dressage arena and put him through his paces for me. He showed me the voice commands he knows (walk, trot, canter, turn, stand, stay, follow me) and even crawled under him to show how quiet he is. He is a beautiful bay Arab gelding with a blaze and some white feet. He said he was 11 and they had gelded him about 6 years because they just weren't set up for stallions. He said "think you could handle this horse?" and I said it would be pretty sad if I couldn't.
By now the sun is setting so we loaded up and headed home after many thanks to Ernie for sharing his place and trails with us. He invited us out to ride any time, even if he wasn't home and said he would like to show us the other trails sometime also. Said we need to come out and do the 25 mi one before winter ("although with you two that one would take all day" - said thoughtfully, it didn't feel degrading)
We were trying to figure out on the way home how long the ride had taken us. Since Ruth picked me up at 4 and we were heading home at 8, minus an hour of driving time, and minus an hour of tacking up/down and talking with Ernie we figured we were probably on the trail about 2-2 1/2 hours. Not bad for out of shape horses.
What a great day. Ruth said she had a blast also and we were glad we went. Thanks Ernie!! And thanks Ruth for the ride and the photos!!
Ernie called and left me a message this morning saying that he was in town and planning to do a ride this evening and we were welcome to come along if we had a way to get there. So I called Ruth but she didn't answer so we headed over to Matt's grandma's for lunch. The craziest thing, on the drive over there I realized Ruth's truck was ahead of us. So we got along side her and I motioned that she should check her phone because I had left her a message. We ate lunch and came back towards home, I stopped by her place and she said "let's do it!" and I said "great!" so I came home and called Ernie to verify. He said he wouldn't be ready to ride out until 5 pm so Ruth and I decided she would pick me up at 4 pm.
I got changed into my riding clothes - jodhpurs and my HOTR t-shirt, and took the dogs out. While outside I realized I felt warm - too warm for a t-shirt - so I came back in and changed into a tank top.
Ruth pulled up with Topper in the trailer and we headed out to pick up Sinwaan. (I noticed she had her HOTR t-shirt on and was glad I had changed. How goofy would that look if we showed up dressed alike!?) We loaded him up and grabbed my tack in a flash. We were on our way! I had asked Ernie how long it would take to get out to his place from College Place and he said a half an hour. I put his address into Google maps and sure enough it said 30 min exactly (16 mi). We arrived at Ernies just about 5 pm. He had told me on the phone to drive past his place, use the school bus turnaround and then come back and park out front. So we did that and then walked up the driveway to meet Ernie and figure out what to do from there.
Their place is surrounded by four-plank brown wood fencing, a huge entry sign that said Schraders with Candy's name on one side and Ernie's on the other. A beautiful large home nestled on a hill at the edge of the trees. The driveway splits and to the left the drive goes to the horse barn, framed by more brown fencing. At the end is a 4-stall barn with paddocks, a grassy field where they park their horse trailers and a full dressage arena. Candy waved at us from the other building between the house and the barn and motioned to come on up that way. Ernie met us half way up the lane, pushing a wheelbarrow of manure. "I didn't get my chores done earlier so I am doing it now" he grinned and I introduced him to Ruth. He said since we had a small trailer we could go ahead and pull in the driveway and park next to his trailers. He didn't know what to expect and the larger trailers have a hard time turning around once they get back there. So we followed him back down the drive and got back in the truck and pulled in.
There is a creek running along the edge of their property so we crossed a wooden bridge (with no sides) pulling in. I wondered how the horses would do with that if we had to cross it. Once we had parked Candy and two people visiting her came over to say hello. It was then we realized the 'visitor's' were Kathy Tatro and her husband Steve. Kathy works with Ruth and I. Small town! Steve talked to me a little bit about how he knew my mom from school. Small world!
We unloaded the horses and quickly groomed and tacked up. Just as I was putting on Sinwaan's bridle Ernie rode around the corner. He was on Captain Calypso tonight, aka "Spot." He said Spot had just completed a 100 mile ride last weekend (and placed 3rd, ridden by Australian Melissa Longhurst) and usually he would give him two weeks off but since we should be riding pretty easy he should do fine. Once we were mounted up Ernie asked "do you want to do 10 miles tonight or 15?" And I replied "Uh, we should probably stick with 10." And I could hear Ruth behind me say "Yes, 10 please." (We had to be back home before dark).
Ernie grinned and said "ok!" and off we went at a trot down the driveway. I noticed when I was alongside him that Spot's color is also red. Good choice. (grin) Across the wooden bridge and had no trouble. Ernie said he would keep it to an easy trot and we should holler at him if we needed to slow down. Ok! We made a right turn onto Blue Creek Road and rode along the shoulder until we reached a fork and we took it to the left. This road was gravel and we could ride down the center. Ernie turned back to me and said "We're going to go up a hill pretty soon that will really get your horses' rear in condition." I said OK! He asked me if we rode with a Heart Rate Monitor. I told him I always do on competitive rides but haven't been lately because I usually just do an easy ride around the barn. He said he wished he would have known, he could have lent us BOTH a HR monitor for the day. Darn!
I wasn't sure if we would be turning off the road for this hill, but soon realized this road WAS the hill. At first it was gradual, but it got steeper as we went along and Sinwaan's trot got slower and slower and then he was walking. He was huffing a little so I let him go at his own pace and Ruth even got ahead of us. I told her to holler up to Ernie that we had slowed down. Ernie stopped for a minute and then said he would go on up and wait for us at the top. By now Sinwaan was stopping and breathing and then he would walk up a little more and then stop and breath and then walk a little more. Poor guy is in worse shape than I thought! At the same time I look up and see Spot pick up a canter and just float on up the hill.
I want to take a minute to talk about Spot. What an amazing animal. He is 1/2 Arab and 1/2 Saddlebred and is a pinto with one blue eye. His movement is truly a beauty to behold. He just FLOATS along. His trot is effortless and Ernie tells me when he moves out he can trot 16 mph. He is incredibly fit and it was a honor to ride alongside of him.
At the top we turned left again onto Spring Creek Road. This was a mostly gravel road with wheat fields all around. The views were incredible. Ernie told us another ride he likes to do is a 25 mile round-trip on up the mountain to his cabin. After being on this road for a short distance I asked Ruth if she would like a photo. The scenery was breathtaking, hills and mountains and fields of all colors. Ernie offered to take a photo of the two of us. So we posed as best we could and Ernie took a couple. He didn't give us any warning so I don't know what kind of an expression I will have.
At one point we came to a downhill and without hesitation Ernie hopped off and started jogging downhill along side Spot. I decided to do the same thing since Sinwaan had a hard time coming up I figured he could use any extra energy I could give him. He trotted along next to me quite nicely. Ruth stayed aboard and walked part of the way down so Ernie and I let the horses graze along the roadside and chatted while we waited for her to catch back up. We talked a lot about endurance and a little about Dean Hoalst also.
We passed a house and there was pavement again so we kept to the right on the shoulder. Apparently it was only paved a short stretch in front of the house and then we were back to gravel again. That house had some pretty aggressive Boxers and I was glad for the fence between us.
After that it seems we turned onto Meiners Road and it was another climb. Ernie jumped off again and started tailing Spot on up. I told Ruth I was going to try it. She asked me if my reins were long enough...well no, but with my extra popper it should work. Sinwaan was last in line here and I was hoping seeing the other horses leaving him would be enough to pull him along but that didn't work. I told him to trot and he took off but he didn't like me hanging onto his tail so he swung around fast in a big circle and I realized I needed more training before doing this, I didn't want to lose my horse out in the middle of nowhere. So I got up near his head and took a chunk of mane in one hand and started running alongside him. We jogged up about half of that hill and then I had to slow down. I was breathing hard. At the top Ernie was showing Ruth how well Spot knew voice commands, but I didn't know that so I asked for them to wait up so I could mount up. Ernie pointed Spot at the wheat and said "head down" and Spot happily munched. I put Sinwaan in the gutter between the road and the wheat field and hopped on easily with the foot or more of a boost. Then we stood around and let the horses eat for a couple minutes before resuming our ride.
The weather was perfect, we even got some light cloud cover. As I rode along I thought of my poor aunt Kim trying to condition two horses in Virginia with a heat index of 110. How lucky am I to have these glorious trails and comfortable weather!? (SORRY KIM!!)
As we trotted along, Ernie put Spot along the edge and told him "head down," and Spot, never breaking his stride, dropped his head and started grabbing at stray wheat strands. Amazing! There were a couple of times that Ernie said he was going to move Spot out and he would wait at the turn or come back for us, which was fine. I found riding with him to be quite educational and he is a kind and courteous rider.
Coming down another knoll we saw a pickup on the side of the road and some guys tinkering with an ATV. Getting closer I noticed a track in the road where they had peeled out and spread the gravel out in a half circle. They had all their vehicles turned off and a dirt bike as well as a 4-wheeler. Spot acted up a little going past them and once we were far enough away Ernie commented "I bet there is a warrant out for their arrest. Spot doesn't care about dirt bikes, but he knows bad people!"
Here we got back on Mill Creek Road and trotted along the shoulder a couple of miles. Sinwaan needs more work in this area, he kept wanting to pull to the left back onto the pavement. Ernie told me to lead so he wouldn't be pulling us along the whole ride. I was content to follow him but it is always good for horses to take turns leading. With Sinwaan pulling and Ernie in the rear pushing, Ruth reported that Topper did really well and seemed to like that arrangement the best. I kept the pace to a trot, probably 6 mph or so. Before I knew it I could sense we were almost back. Just when I thought we would see his house on the right, there was the turn (left again) for Blue Creek Road. Ah, another mile or so yet. Ernie got back in the lead when we crossed over the road to the opposite should in one tight spot.
On Blue Creek Road I saw a dead possum. I don't recall which road it was on but close to home Ernie took a right turn into an archery spot that led up to the creek. He said the horses could have a drink here. Sinwaan stood in the water but wasn't interested in drinking. None of them really were. We stood there about five minutes and then headed back out to the road.
Once back at the Schrader's place we untacked and Ernie offered to let us use his hose and magic wand to get the sweat and grime off the horses. He asked me if I wanted warm or cold water. Options!? I asked him what he thought and he replied the horses would probably appreciate the cool water, so cold it was. I think he was right, Sinwaan didn't jump or balk at all when I turned that cold water on him. He stood there and seemed to enjoy it (a first!)
Then Ernie asked us if we would like a wine cooler or soda or anything to drink. I said I was fine, I had my water still. Ruth said she was ok too. So then he asked if we would like a cold water. Well I couldn't turn that down so I thanked him and said that would be great. Off he went to the building in the center of their property. He came back with two gatorades and two wine coolers. Said there wasn't any water in the fridge. He asked if we were sure we didn't want a wine cooler? I asked him if he didn't like them and was trying to get rid of them. He said no, and opened one and drank it down. So then he went in the LQ part of his horse trailer to look for more drinks. He found a root beer (which sounded really good to Ruth) and an "ice-cold" water. Well the water was mostly ice but there was some water around the edges. (grin)
Then Ernie put ice boots on Spot. He asked me if I knew what they were. I guessed correctly and told him I had never used them. He said that normally he would not use them after an easy ride like the one we just did, but that since he just got done with the 100 last weekend, it was more of a precautionary measure. He said it wouldn't hurt any to put them on, and just might help. He said they were the best kind to have and could be used on people also.
Ernie had told me I could come out and ride sometime if I wanted to go along with him on one of his horses (so he could really move out, no doubt) and that sounded good to me. I think it will be helpful to ride a different horse before I head east for that ride and hop aboard Red Dog Dan. So Ernie pulled Marquis out and took him to the dressage arena and put him through his paces for me. He showed me the voice commands he knows (walk, trot, canter, turn, stand, stay, follow me) and even crawled under him to show how quiet he is. He is a beautiful bay Arab gelding with a blaze and some white feet. He said he was 11 and they had gelded him about 6 years because they just weren't set up for stallions. He said "think you could handle this horse?" and I said it would be pretty sad if I couldn't.
By now the sun is setting so we loaded up and headed home after many thanks to Ernie for sharing his place and trails with us. He invited us out to ride any time, even if he wasn't home and said he would like to show us the other trails sometime also. Said we need to come out and do the 25 mi one before winter ("although with you two that one would take all day" - said thoughtfully, it didn't feel degrading)
We were trying to figure out on the way home how long the ride had taken us. Since Ruth picked me up at 4 and we were heading home at 8, minus an hour of driving time, and minus an hour of tacking up/down and talking with Ernie we figured we were probably on the trail about 2-2 1/2 hours. Not bad for out of shape horses.
What a great day. Ruth said she had a blast also and we were glad we went. Thanks Ernie!! And thanks Ruth for the ride and the photos!!
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