Endurance Granny

There is something about the end of February that gives one hope.

2012-02-28T09:29:00.000+11:00

We have had an unusually mild winter as temperatures go. A lot of wind, and plenty of wet. The last three days have been just beautiful. I was so itching to ride this evening, but Journey's mileage tally for the week is already 37 miles. She looks no worse for wear but some rest I'm sure is in order, and I don't want to sour her on distance either. So far she has been a trooper. I worked her some in the round pen this evening just to remind her of respect issues and who is REALLY the alpha-mare in this here herd *LOL* and she complied, with ears flat to her head. This is less than a spectacular result, but she did move out of my space when asked, did lower her head when I applied pressure to her poll, did yield her hindquarters when I circled out towards her rump, did trot the circle on line and off and stop when I asked her to "whoa." She joined up and followed me around, not perfect (the ear thing) but she tried and complied. I followed with catching up Phebes to do the same work. First crack out of the bag she reached to nip me and met my elbow instead. After that little drama she was all sweetness and light. She looked like an old western pleasure horse that couldn't lift one leg after the other while trotting the circle. I thought "when did you go all mellow". This is the horse that could trot 13 mph barely sending up a puff of dirt her hoof falls are so low to the ground with absolutely no extension. Maybe Journey has corrupted her with that new way of going. ☺ I thought I'd load Phebes. She hasn't been in a trailer since I brought Journey home. She looked at it hard, but then got right on in. Good girl! Spring my friends is just.........around..........the ...............corner...........and I can't wait! ~E.G.

OAATS

2012-02-27T11:10:00.000+11:00

I was happily surprised to receive an OAATS Ride & Event Schedule in the mail this weekend. Especially since I hadn't asked for one. OAATS has a big line-up of rides on their calendar for 2012. CTR, Endurance, and LD's. They also have something very interesting they are adding to their events, a new type of distance ride called recreational distance rides. Even though these will not be sanctioned by AERC there are still some great reasons to do these 10-20 mile rides.

New horse to distance.
New rider to distance.
To be used as conditioning rides for longer distance.
To continue riding a senior horse that may not be up for the longer distances.

There are other great things about this new venue.

You still get a good ride in at 10-20 miles per day.
There are no "placements" given so no worries about a horse race. Average speed cannot be over 7 mph. So if you like to move out a little you sure can, but you can ride turtle pace too.
These rides will count as career mileage with OAATS and will also count toward year end awards with OAATS.

They also have some other fun stuff planned for the year.

A multi-year jacket program and a new endurance challenge involving kicking some trail butt at the Chicken Chase, Scioto Run, and Salamonie Stomp by riding both days at all 6 rides!

It is wonderful to see such an active and outside the box thinking regional distance club. I'm thinking that these nicely paced recreational rides will be very appealing to trail riders, ACTHA riders, and others.

Way to go OAATS! (and thanks for the info).

~E.G.

Encouragement may be the best teacher...

2012-02-27T08:34:00.001+11:00

All dressed up and ready to go!

Today was an encouraging day. We are still too slow for an LD but we are inching closer. We did a mock LD of 20 miles today.

The first half went well. She was a bit full of herself, but since it was all hills the first hour that kind of worked the kinks out. She drank well on trail, and ate pretty good at the halfway. We had a forty minute hold to refuel. She ate some grain mix, some hay, grass, and drank 1/3 of the 5 gallon bucket of water. She also drank from streams, and grabbed a little grass while we were out.

LD training ride half-way, Granny style...

And back out we went to another ten mile loop.

I thought that this half would be hard for her. She was a bit less spooky, but still kept about the same average speed. We lost a little time when she heard a horse and decided she was doing the driving. Otherwise we would have matched or bettered the time on our second loop.

How's that for a nice trot out? Cruising right along.

She pulsed right down, we untacked. Muscle tone was like

J-E-L-L-O

☺

Again she ate and she drank down most of the rest of her bucket of water. The only thing we were lacking on is peeing under saddle. She held it ALL DAY. As soon as I untacked her, turned her out, and gave the pee command she wasted no time letting loose. I ask you, what is better than a flood of YELLOW pee?

Yes, I feel encouraged. We'd have been overtime at an actual ride if it had been today. But we are getting there. We have a lot of other dynamics to work out concerning how she will act in the midst of many horses. But the plan is to be way in the back. I had plenty of horse left. In fact I could have done another ten miles (slower) but we could have got it done.

Moving ahead we need to work on our sustained trotting. I can't do that on our trails here too technical and too much up and down. So maybe I can work on that in our arena. We need to focus on some hills, so a session of that once or twice a week.

Wish I had a picture of the happy dance I did when I got home this afternoon. You all will just have to visualize...

~E.G.

Riding by the Numbers

2012-02-25T00:06:00.001+11:00

A Look Inward

Gearing up to write on horse # 2 which was a horse unknown to me I felt suddenly that all I could draw from that was a "theory" of the numbers. In the case of horse #1 I had some background on the horse. So instead I decided to look at my own numbers and translate what if any meaning those numbers reflected, as the entire gist of this blog post was to look at your own horse and see if the numbers bring to awareness how your horse is doing over a period of time. Looking at our own numbers, limited and abbreviated as they may be, they do tell an underlying story if you know the background.

RIDE #1 25 miles/ 3:52 To fast. Almost four hours. But too fast at the start. Training with middle of the pack LD riders, and completing that first ride with them. Starting with the pack. I have to wonder if I'd have had a solo mentality and understanding of the term "slow" which I though I was ascribing too but was not, if all things would not have been different. This one ride set the course for all the trouble that followed. A caution to anyone starting the distance sports to take that first year easy, use it as training, not competing. Slow is not 7 mph. Slow is more like 4.5-5 mph. You walk a lot with slow. I was later to discover that I actually prefer slow...seeing the trail, looking out over woodland hills and vistas, it is all a very Zen-like experience if you let it happen. The founders of the sport understood this I think.

RIDE # 2 30/ 4:55 We were still struggling with our pacing. This ride was the choke me up ride. We finished. My horse was okay. We rode by ourselves, doing our own thing, and it worked for us. I appreciated Phebes more that day than all the previous time we'd had together. I also appreciated the hazards of the sport on a non-typical breed, and saw much more work to be done on pacing.

Ride # 3 30/ 5:07 A slightly different course that day, and again riding solo as much as possible. We started near the front and found a pocket. It worked well. Had some booting issues on this ride, but my girl did fine.

Ride #4 Rider option. Missed a ribbon, and had to back track the first half of the ride. Got to the vet check horse all worked up, NQR, and a personal issue with my family caused me to have to pack up and go home.

Ride #5 30/ 4:11 Day one of the ride. The pacing issue arises again...we had lessons with two trainers, and though I could get her to rate in an arena setting, in the midst of the trail, and passing horses, she'd emotionally unravel. We finished way back in the pack, but an exhausting ride.

Ride #6 30/ 5:02 Day two of this ride went much better. We added an hour to our ride time.

Ride #7 25/ 4:41 Day one of a two day ride. Rode solo, lost the horse....retrieved the horse. No vetting issues.

Ride #8 25/ 4:10 Day two. Different course, not quite so hilly. Much cooler rainy day and we rode with a buddy at the back of the pack.

When I look at the numbers I see that we could have walked a bit more. Taken more time on the hills. Perhaps if we'd held back and started ten minutes behind the entire pack...things would have worked out better. Still she is a very emotional horse. It may have made no difference at all. But Phebes, and the trail have taught me some valuable lessons that I just didn't "get." Eight rides is a very short career. But it charts the difficulty with this horse in this sport. Phebes is physically a much stronger horse than Journey with much more drive. More of what you'd expect an endurance horse to be. But yet...it wasn't working. She has had a full year off now. To rest. To heal. At some point I may start her over with a trainer and a turtle mentality and see what happens. If Journey gets the curve...and just a little go (enough to complete) I may totally abandon the idea of distance for Phebes forever.

Now just a slightly different look at just one ride which I did repeatedly.

25/3:52

25/4:41

25/4:10

All I can translate from this is that by riding alone (the middle ride) we got the closest to our goal of "riding our own ride." Another important point to remember with Journey in the future.

No big surprises here. Only eight total completions as a rider. Seven on Phebes. Still a newbie in every sense. But... I.HAVE.LEARNED.A.LOT. I'm still learning.

~E.G.

What do the numbers tell us?

2012-02-22T08:11:00.001+11:00

Since I've struggled of late with keeping fresh thoughts on my blog (too much drama in my life currently) I thought I'd put to blog some thoughts about the numbers. By numbers I mean AERC equine stats. Now the stats tell you the distance and time of the rides competed in a given season. But perhaps a study of the numbers can tell us something else? For the purpose of this study I have chosen the stats of two riders who have horse's with extensive careers. Numbers can't tell you everything, but they can be indicators of something. Shall we start with horse #1?

Season #1:
25/5:09
25/5:20
25/4:00
25/4:55
25/3:23
50/8:19

Now I happen to know that this horse did some CTR's prior to the first LD/Endurance season and was a fit horse. Still the rider rode very conservatively that first year in endurance, competed with no pulls or RO's, attempting a first 50 after a string of successful LD's.

Season #2:
25/4:00
50/8:51
25/3:15

I see here the horse getting a pretty strong run time at LD. Perhaps the rider is on the fence...LD? or Endurance?

Season #3
25/3:20
25/ 3:20

A short season (rider may have had to set out the year for most of the season) but look at the consistency in rating the horse over the same course. Did the faster times make the rider decide on a skinnier schedule? Probably not, but I'm still googling over the rating control of those two rides.

Season #4
25/Completion
25/Completion
25/4:18
25/4:03

In the case of completions, did the rider get lost? Take a wrong turn and have to repeat the course? Again the last two 25's are pretty consistent time-wise.

Season #5
25/3:58
25/Completion
50/7:51
50/Lame

So what could have happened here? The rider has shaved about an hour off their previous 50 mile ride time. Were they riding LD pace? Or just the rock with their name on it?

Season # 6
25/3:44
25/4:19
25/3.23
25/4.25
25/5:02
25/Lame
30/5:02
30/4:51
25/3.55
25/3:58

The horse had a pretty good season and looks like the rider is keeping the focus on LD. The horse is also preforming at a faster ride pace at times, and completing some two day rides.

This horse went on for about twelve seasons. Won two national CTR championships besides the long LD career, and career ended due to a serious health problem with the horse not related to distance riding. The numbers don't tell you everything, but do reflect such things as consistency, improved ride times, and such. What if anything do your ride numbers reflect about your horse?

Horse # 2....another day. ~E.G.

OH! Chris is back and the Monk report!!!

2012-02-21T09:56:00.002+11:00

MONK

Muddy & Slow

2012-02-21T08:51:00.003+11:00

We did accomplish half of an LD but the time would have been too slow in a real world scenario. Journey is definitely not a horse that excels in the mud. She thinks mud means "walk." Of course a rutted muddy course doesn't give you a lot of wiggle room. So we didn't make the 4.5 mph average for the 15 miles. I was in fact on foot for some of it on the last section to just give her a break on a long downhill. She was well behaved for the away ride. She drank well on trail, and ate good when we finished. Her trailer loading today left room for improvement, but I got her there and I got her home....just need to revisit it again. I suppose next LSD will be bumped up to a 10/10 split with a nice break in between. I'll probably do that at home for the convenience even though she will likely be a butt in the morphic bubble with Cree and Phebes. Once that is accomplished she needs work on her trotting speed. Journey can putt-putt along at 6 or 7 mph when she wants too, however she isn't strong enough yet to do that consistently. I've been wanting to do some intervals on the hill out back but have been thwarted by the slick clay mud. Just have to wait for it to dry out good (JUNE? *LOL*). Maybe some hill building will toughen her up some. We need some sessions on giving to pressure, and finding her go. Sessions on walking faster than 3 mph...what's a a lowly robot blogger like me to do? What a world...what a world! ~E.G.

The ride report:
Distance: 15 + miles.
Time: aaaaaaargh! (remember the crooked line of success!)
Terrain: boot sucking mud.
Ride-ability: + (loose rein all day) (sandbagging a bit on effort expended or the mud???)
Eating: +
Drinking: ++
Pooping: +
Peeing: *sigh* She won't pee on trail, or at the trailer. Holds it until we get home, hustles to the dirty hay pile and pees about forty gallons, moaning and groaning. This is a problem!
Pulse: 57 bpm @ 5 minutes post ride.
Tack: No rubs, back seemed fine.
Booting: wrapped hinds and fronts with athletic tape and boots stayed on in very bad conditions. She was willing to trot on the gravel service roads, though not "forward." New gaiters applied to the hind boots too.
Other: We jumped about five deer and she came to a stop (I'll take that over a spin back ANY day). We also had to pass a dead dog along the road. Journey is usually very bothered by this kind of stuff, but she snortled and went on. So all and all, a good ride day for the freckled faced wonder.

Finally a weekend worth riding!

2012-02-19T07:09:00.001+11:00

We definitely aren't breaking any speed barriers. Journey has not yet found her "go." I have yet to determine if she actually has enough go to stick past 10-12 miles. The plan this morning was to haul to the park. Had horse loaded and on the road, and that dreaded sound..."thump...thump...thump thump thump." So glad it happened within three miles of home. The tire had enough in it to limp home at 20 mph. It had cast off the rubber and was running on the inside belted thing. So had to resort to plan B while LSEGH went out in search of a new tire to fit the trailer. In the meantime we've decided that the tires though very low mileage have dry rot on the passenger side, the other two having already been replaced. To just casually look at them they look okay, but on close inspection not. So a reminder to look over your trailer tires. Low mileage doesn't mean squat if your trailer lives outdoors as our's does. So! we segue to plan B as it was going to take too long to drive for a tire, replace it, drive back, haul out, ride the miles, and come home. So it was a home ride. Rode the hill side first, and then added enough on the woodland trails to tweak us up to ten miles. Journey has yet to eat or drink post ride. Her pulse down today was pretty slow...I'd say almost 15 minutes as she was screaming her head off for Phebes and dancing on the backside of the trailer. Not good for bringing down pulse. I'm not entirely sure this little Appy will be ready for an LD by summer...maybe by FALL? This process is akin to watching winter grass grow. On the bright side today I discovered if we do the hill section first, and the woodland trails second I don't have the behavioral issues of a very fresh horse acting silly. So in future I'll run my loop the opposite of what I've been doing. Same mileage but a better outcome.

CREW BAG: Initial review

2012-02-17T22:59:00.000+11:00

The Tough-1 gear bag arrived today. It was much roomier than I expected. I folded up a horse blanket in one compartment and had room to spare. There is a side pocket that will hold a hoof boot, zipper compartments where I can stow vet wrap, scraper, hoof pick and a brush, a pocket for a nice fat flake of hay, and honestly room for a change of clothes if I want to. The bag itself is very light weight with shoulder carry straps. The zippers could be better, but then you wouldn't be getting that price. I figure if they become an issue I'll put velcro tabs on, but I'll leave judgement out on the zippers until I've used the bag for a while. Our's is royal blue as I thought it would make it easier to spot in the case of an "away" check which I've only had one of thus far ever. My real purpose for it is just getting everything assembled easily in one spot neatly. For the price? $28.52...(at one online store) I'd say worth it. ~E.G.

TIME or DISTANCE/ Recommended Blog Post.

2012-02-17T10:01:00.008+11:00

Training tips: distance versus time

The original question was posed on Boots and Saddles then segued to Go Diego Go, and is an interesting enough topic that I thought I’d throw in my two pennies for what they are worth. (possibly about one half cent but here I go, newbie-ness has never stopped me yet).

In an all perfect world on a sensible and well-trained horse I would focus on TIME with distance being a secondary factor. I feel that the worse disservice one can do to their horse is to train distance and then at an actual ride when time becomes critical, the horse being pushed harder (even a little matters) than actually trained. All manner of things can and do go wrong when that happens. Just sayin’ because it is the honest truth.

But there is always an on the other hand…

A new horse, an untrained horse, a horse with holes in their training, let’s say ride for distance. Ride for distance until the horse knows their job, ride for distance until the horse rides like it has a brain. Ride for distance until you get all the bugs worked out. This includes all your tack fitting issues, rider issues, eating and drinking issues. Be a good steward of your horse. This distance riding thing asks an incredible LOT of your horse. When all that is in place, then think about time, finish, and / or placements. It will take you a year or two. Your distance may not amount to much at first, but eventually the bugs work out, and you can think about time.

If you ride enough slow distance you will work all these things out, and determine if the sport is even reasonable for your horse. You might even say, crap! That's too much work! Distance is a good way to find those kinds of things out as long as you have no agenda in the beginning other than gradually increasing distance.
When I’m doing distance this is how I approach it. First the horse has to be fit for ten miles. I pick a course that I will use for my distance portion once every 7-10 days (depending on ice, snow, my crappy mood, blah blah blah blah blah). In our case it is a 6.5 mile out trail, where I reverse and ride it back for a total 13 miles. I ride it out pretty slow, and on the turn around a little faster, though still slow by anyone’s standards. This course is for the purpose of LSD, meaning sustained trotting on the flat portions. In the beginning we do it the boy scout’s way. We walk some, we trot some, and we repeat that until we finally get the job done. Once the horse is solid with that, then for future rides I try to shave off 4-5 minutes (time) if the footing is good each time out until my horse is going the speed that I eventually desire. It takes me weeks and weeks. I won’t increase distance until the horse feels solid in recovery, eats, drinks, pees, poops, and does a happy dance. Rides the course like she has two ounces of grey matter between her ears. Once that is in place I will add a couple miles every 7-14 days doing the same thing until we peak at our distance goal (in our case 25 miles). All across the bloggish-phere I’ve been told you don’t have to ride the distance before you show up to compete the distance. However, I never had a satisfactory finish until I did exactly that. It is called preparation. On a seasoned horse? That is a question better answered by a seasoned rider/trainer/conditioner.

However, this only addresses the LSD component of a training ride. It does not address strength training, it does not address anaerobic fitness training. For those, the session is different. My goal is always three sessions a week.

LSD (in gradually increasing doses)

HILLS (a butt kicking one hour session once or twice per week)

CARDIO (anaerobic work of the big fast twitch muscles) (we will address that when we get there)

Hill work involves one hour of intense uphill/downhill work. I mean intense. Not charging up like a nut, but solid steep walking uphills that later will evolve into gradual trotting uphills, and later still some uphill cantering. Journey is still mostly walking the steeps, and trotting some gradual uphill grades, and hills are still pretty much kicking her butt. Hills also address cardio, but so does interval training. My take on fast intervals is that they are for mature well trained horses and balanced riders. I’ll talk about those when I feel she and I are ready for them. We are too busy with the baby steps. TIME OR DISTANCE? The answer for me is both. Just not at the same time exactly!

I love these little blog blurbs that kind of go viral. I learn so much from people that take the time to honestly talk about how they do it. But also remember that “my” or "their" workout may not fit your horse, your riding style, or your goals. This sport has some loose conditioning guidelines to go by but don’t be fooled that one size (training/conditioning) fits all. Soon as you believe that it will jump up and bite your horse’s ___. But there is some value in the advice given by someone who successfully competes 100 mile rides. She got the learning curve. Sit up and listen. Good stuff Mel!

~E.G.

Credit for this topic goes to Boots and Saddles. Mel from Boots and Saddles is a Tevis finisher, with several hundred mile competition notches in her saddle. She has shared her endurance adventure from the beginning with its early struggles and later successes, writing with honesty about her journey. Check out her article at Boots and Saddles.

Find out more about the author of Go Diego Go!. She has a few notches in her cantle too.

Back into the deep freeze today

2012-02-12T13:19:00.001+11:00

I believe our low today was 15 degrees, kind of windy, so feeling much colder. We are on down time again. Journey has had a few days off, some extra low-starch feed (about an extra 2 1/2 pounds per day), and more hay, she looks filled back out. Pretty sure at this point that some of that tucked up look was fluid she sweated out. I seem to be ~~cursed~~ blessed with heavily sweating, full of angst type mares. She isn't as bad in that department as Phebes was, does drink out on trail which helps, but I've noticed that a ten mile ride really makes for a thinner looking horse when we get back. I'm having some doubts about an April or May start for her. She still seems so unsettled, and in dicey situations she doesn't look to me (at least for long) for leadership. I don't want Journey sucked up into my desire to get on with it. We move a bit forward, and then we have a little crisis of sorts, fall backwards, and recoup. With Phebes it was easy to gauge her fears, as it was basically EVERYTHING (rock, stick, sounds, smells, you name it, it scared the hell out of her). We eventually overcame a large portion of that, but it took a couple of years. Journey? She is different. The trail doesn't bother her at all, she will step off a steep bank and slide down into the water, cross logs, go through the brush, all that is really good. It is the unseen that really gets her. The wing flapping in the brush, or the rustle of an animal, or another horse coming up quickly from behind, those things totally unravel her. The scent of a dead animal gets her highly "on alert." We will take it as it comes I reckon.

I bought her a pretty purple blanket / cooler today. Sewed a snap onto the chest area. If my gear bag ever shows up it will go in there. As an FYI if you order one of those DO NOT ORDER GREEN. It is discontinued and your order will get bogged down for ever. Hope all are having a great weekend!

p.s. Monk and Lyndsay Graham finished the President's Cup in Abu Dhabi. Ride time of 8:53. Only about a third of the horses entered actually finished this desert ride. The US riders finished :)

Endurance Blurbs: Zebra Stripes

2012-02-10T22:40:00.001+11:00

National Geographics says that ZEBRA STRIPES may hold a useful secret. I need me a sheet, rump rug, and tack in wonderful Zebra.......

A Caloric Melt-down

2012-02-08T22:44:00.000+11:00

Journey appears to be loosing weight. I've not put the weight tape on her but will try to do so on Friday. I've begun the addition of a "recovery ration" as of this week. Journey is fed twice per day (concentrates) and there lies the rub. I'm finding it difficult to get the needed calories into her in two feedings. Even getting the extra 3500 calories for a five mile hill session is challenging to get into her. On her best day she is a fussy eater, and when she is done, that's it! Unlike Cree and Phebes who would happily raid and devour a grain bin if they could get to it. When riding at home it is hard to gauge where energy levels begin and end vs. behavioral backwards thinking of getting back to her barn buddies. Is she not moving out because she wants to go home? Or because she is tired and has a calorie deficit? The only way I'll be able to figure that out is to haul her to the park and ride there where home is not on her little old radar.

The calorie breakdown for recovery from "work" (hills, sustained trotting, intervals) is as follows in miles:

5= 3500 calories added to the ration

10=7000 calories

15=10, 500 calories

20= 14,000 calories

30= 21,000 calories

Because of the nature of what we do recovery rations have to be low protein, high fat, and also replenish electrolyte losses (in hot weather) and actually end up in the horse's digestive tract (vs. remaining in the feed bucket).

Last night we did about 5 miles of hill work so based on the above calculations she needed an additional 3500 calories in her recovery ration. She did eat that over night, but then refused her morning chow which means we accomplished nothing.

Walking off....scratching my head....trying to figure out how to get the chow to her when she needs it, and keeping her diet low starch on off days, and get her to clean up all of her feed. ~ E.G.

Can I just say WOW!

2012-02-07T08:21:00.000+11:00

Journey had a busy (and exciting) seven days. Logging 33.54 miles in the past week, plus some schooling tonight. I realized this evening that I'm no longer riding a "drunken sailor." It was a huge WOW moment. She has always been so sluggish in the bridle and communication was like drawing her a picture at times. Tonight we trotted patterns and I was nearly speechless she was just weaving and circling, and I said whoa and guess what I got? WHOA. Whoa!!! My little spotted wonder has a brain *LOL*. We finished our session with a back up which is another hole in her training, and she stepped back nice and soft three full steps. I said, we are done. You horse, did REALLY REALLY good. Myler bit people I LOVE YOU.

By the way, thought I'd mention...don't ever kiss your horse right after applying chapstick.

~ E.G.

Technical Difficulty...

2012-02-06T07:21:00.001+11:00

Distance:	8.91 mi
Time:	2:25:29
Avg Speed:	3.7 mph
Elevation Gain:	1,063 ft

I never seem to remember to turn the Garmin off when I'm side-tracked.

It was an interesting little ride today. First I caught her up and was picking out her hooves and suddenly BLOOD. It appears she tore her frog on something and then I caught the edge with the hoof pick. Doug cleaned it out good, medicated it, packed it with some cotton, wrapped it with vet wrap. I put a boot on and she was going sound on it so we went out for some slow hills. She did pretty well today but on our little field that we trot along she kept acting a little goosey like tippy toes through the grave yard each time. I didn't see anything spooky. Later we came up the cut through road from this field and she was snorting and acting funny. Off to my left I notice a ten-point buck, dead, and mostly eaten. Then I find the big cat track! I was so freaking excited. I've been looking for his/ her tracks since last winter and the bloody deer kill then. This was a big old buck that cat brought down. Had to be cat as there were not any claw marks in the track, and a really good size track too. So that kill was what had Journey acting (rightfully) on alert. I took pictures with my phone only to realize that I've switched phones and do not have a cord to connect to my computer. Journey wanted no part of that dead deer. I'd like to hike back out and retrieve the antlers. They make great buttons, and pulls for drawers, knife handles too.

I am a little worried about that torn frog. If it were dry I wouldn't sweat it, but the ground is sloppy nasty mud, so I'll have to really stay on top of this or I'll be out for lameness.

We are also having some booting issues. Her size appears to be going down. Having trouble keeping her back boots on. May have to get a couple of 00.5's and see if they will go on the backs. It is a pain in the butt to be loosing those hind boots and having to slap the muddy things back on. Today the vet wrap goosed up her size enough that they stayed put.

Our total mileage this week wasn't too bad. Slow still, but with the mud I'll take 4 mph. I'm really more concerned with her riding "right" than I am about getting up to speed. Does me no good to move out, and then get hammered because her head is not in the game.

In the meantime...I need me a turtle to talk to. Someone who seriously turtles rides consistently. ~ E.G.

A Bluetooth Technical Question

2012-02-05T01:21:00.000+11:00

Technology evades me....it is what it is with me. Wondering though if a Bluetooth setup would work under a riding helmet for hands free phone. I generally can get a cell signal most of the time while out on trail, and would like to be able to check in with my husband periodically to assure him of my safety (or not). I've never used one of these devices but it seems like it might work? Anyone doing this? I'd like to be able to call him using voice, or a single touch. So can I carry the phone in a zippered pocket and access with the Bluetooth? ~E.G.

We are experiencing some technical difficulty

2012-02-04T10:26:00.000+11:00

The problem is not in your computer's monitor.

This evening I was hammered not once....oh no, but twice. First time I was in the midst of trying to shut down a bucking episode, horse went down, then rolled, feet straight up in the air. Having survived that, and retrieved the fleeing horse and missing hoof boots we set our course for home.

Some red-neck threw a dead deer carcass along the road.

Episode # 2 in which I did not eat dirt, but have pulled a muscle.

I can hardly wait for the weekend... ~ E.G.

LAST JANUARY UPDATE OF THE BBBDR

2012-01-30T10:38:00.000+11:00

16C Maggie 74 miles
14 C Nicole 14.8
9 C Kerrie 134.17
5C Caitlin 155.9 *
4P Aurora 98.7 *
2C Elizabeth 32
1P Deanna 78.81
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Remember! DO NOT POST ANY FEBRUARY MILEAGE on the BBBDR. Keep a paper tab and post up the mileage the first week of March. Let's see what happens! ~ E.G.

A Slump of EPIC proportion

2012-01-29T13:46:00.000+11:00

I'm experiencing an EPIC seasonal slump. Lifting a leg to move from place to place is more than I find currently appealing...it is like the motivation and life has been sucked out of me. I do well as long as I'm on track and inching forward. It is the backwards moments that really tax my mind. I'm not a person who enjoys the idle time of winter or rainy springs. I'd make a lousy vampire... The little things are keeping me somewhat glued into place. Got my trailer tags for the year, park pass and bridle tags came in this week. My gear is the cleanest I've seen it in two years ('cause we aren't working), I have the pads to test drive over park service road. Front concavity of hoof continues to make progress. The old bruising on her rear hooves has worked its way almost all the way down to the bottom of the hoof wall.

It would have been a nice sunny day to ride except for the gusty wind that had the horses running, snorting, blowing, with eye staring off into outer space at unseen demons. I'm over riding "crazy." Picking my battles seems to make more sense. So it was hoof trimming instead for the girls. Fitting pads to Journey's gloves on the fronts. Checking Phebes for scratches which have been problematic of late, but she looked okay.

I need a vacation. Somewhere sunny and warm and QUIET.

The Sisterhood in the Kingdom of Mare

2012-01-26T22:26:00.000+11:00

Journey and Phebes got off to a rough beginning. Journey whipped Phebes into shape in a hurry as to who was going to be the Alpha-Mare in a herd of two Alpha-Mares. It has been interesting to watch this dynamic over the months. Things have settled down to a "sister-hood" of late. Journey still wielding the power when necessary, but most of the time more like siblings in the back seat sticking their tongues out at each other and one yelling "she touched me!" Phebes gets chased. A LOT. But it is pretty passive now. She trots a circle and twirls her head at Journey until Journey is no longer enchanted by the game. Journey grooms Phebes against her will and Phebes stands there because she likes it, but gives snarky faces at Journey the whole time. The last time I took Journey for a ride (you know...back when there was no sheet of ice, or flood warnings) Phebes was upset that Journey was leaving. Phebes never gave a rat's butt about anyone's coming or goings before. And Cree? He is the center of the universe. A twitch of an ear, or a dirty look generally puts things back into place. ~ E.G.

Great Deal on a CREW BAG

2012-01-24T22:44:00.001+11:00

Tough 1 crew bag the price is nearly half the cost of other sources. If they make their crew bags as well as their horse blankets this is a steal!

The herd threatening mutany!

2012-01-24T10:35:00.000+11:00

The winds were gusting hard today. Sheet metal rattling on the barn, wind whooshing through the trees, tarps and pool noodles flapping in the tree of death. The horses were up. In fact so badly up I thought one or the other was going to crash through the electric rope fencing. I tried animal communication (desperate times call for desperate measures), arm flapping, petting and consoling. The horses continued to splatter through the mud like out of control tumble weeds! What to do? WHAT TO DO?

Three flakes of hay in three separate piles saved the day. Why is the simplest measure the hardest to conjure up?

Whew!

This was the first time I've seen Journey all torqued up and she looked like a little spotted arabian. Tail flipped up and giving it heck out there.

Weather of the Day

2012-01-24T06:31:00.000+11:00

Let's just all sing along! La la la la la la....

The ice has indeed melted, we had thunderstorms overnight (in January?) and now the creeks are flooded, and we are under a wind advisory with 45 mph gusts.

I guess I'm gonna have to resort to doing dishes (right after I put my clean sheepskin seat and leather covers back on my saddle).

Happy trails (at least someone, somewhere).

~ E.G.

Back to Work MELTING....MELTING!

2012-01-23T22:35:00.000+11:00

So the ice persisted through yesterday with a THUNDERSTORM and subsequent downpour, and we are melting. I figure by Wednesday the flooding will be done and the trails will be accessible... since I'm working 12 hours straight and doing it again on Thursday. That has been the trend for the past couple of weeks. I get a weekend and it plunges to a deep freeze, or an ice storm, or a soaker, or, or, or...I just don't do cold and wet, or flooded, or dangerous. Life is short, no sense making it shorter. There is endurance tough, and then...there is stupid.

LSEGH moved manure mountain yesterday with the tractor. We have seeded the new manure mountain wanna be as of this morning. Hard to believe how much manure three horses make in eight or ten hours! I take about a wheelbarrow load out of stalls each morning. What do you do with your manure mountain? Ours rots down for the garden eventually.

Have a great week!