Gem Ran Out of Gas

The researcher in me is giving me a big FAIL for Saturday. There were so many things that changed in Gem's life that it is nearly impossible right now to pin point what went wrong. I have my suspicions, but that is all they will remain until further investigation. In the 6 years Gem and I have been together I have dealt with her mental shut downs on trail numerous times. I have never felt her physically give up before.

With the hunter pace postponed a week due to soppy weather, Gem and I headed to Croft to get some serious miles in on Saturday. (As a useless note to anyone but myself: the FETA trails were open having been closed Thursday and Friday due to 2" of rain on Wednesday night). The plan was to do the 6.5 mile Forest Mills Loop twice for a nice 13 mile ride. I wanted to keep the pace around 5 mph using the bit for the first loop and going to the side pull for the second.

My beautiful mare all ready to go

Under beautiful blue skies with a warm sun, but brisk air we began our journey to becoming endurance fit again.  While the first mile was slow going, only a 3.5 mph pace, she was forward with ears alert and engaged in the activity.

The trail begins by climbing up a gravel road and then quickly losing as much elevation as it heads to the lake. She was chewing on her bit which is a first for her. The old bit hangers were too long even shortened as much as possible. I have the new ones set a bit tighter (is that the right word?) in her mouth and she really seems to love it. She was chewing and foamy and nowhere near as spooky on the trail. I think the extra support really worked for her.

The first of many climbs that I forgot existed

Once the trail enters the woods it is a solid mile up hill. I pushed her to move up the hill only giving her a walk break when the mud was deep enough to warrant it. The first 2 miles were a bit touch and go with some spots dry and solid and others hoof sucking mud that she would sink in.

I was really happy when I looked down at my watch at mile 2 and saw that we were making my goal of a 5 mph pace without me having to nag her. She was moving freely and happily down the trail with the fewest sideways jumps that I have ever had from her.

After another steep climb to an old radio station we began the rocky descent. I let her slow to a walk and made note that she was breathing a bit harder than I liked after that last climb. This section is pure granite and for a short stretch you are walking on nothing but the large rock and I always let her pick her way down carefully.

The entire trail width is nothing but a large rock. She is very careful to pick her way down.

By the time we reached the bottom, she was breathing normal again and the trail hit the only true flat section along the entire loop. With the sun casting the shadows of trees across the leaf strewn trail, I placed my right heel on her side and gently asked for a canter. She easily picked it up and we soared down the trail kicking up leaves and reaching 12 mph. My face was split with a grin from ear to ear and the peace of the woods was broken by my laughter.

We only slowed down when we noticed a crew of horses coming towards us on the trail. Once we passed them, I asked Gem for a trot and she asked me if she could canter. I agreed and we once again laid down our tracks with haste as the bitter wind whipped at our faces.

All too soon the trail started to go down and become a mix of red SC clay and rock once again and so we slowed to a trot.

Sticky red SC clay

Lots of rocks as the trail heads back down hill along the river

The trail swept by under her hooves as she maintained a lovely trot keeping up between a 5 and 6 mph pace. She was feeling really good and seemed happy to be out.

With her new found confidence she even bravely marched across the bridge without a second of hesitation and only slowed a bit when our weight and movement made the steel trestles creak and groan.

Surviving the bridge of doom

After the bridge it is only 3/4 of a mile, all up hill in the sticky clay, to the barn. We had finished the first 6.5 mile loop in 1 hour 8 minutes which I was really proud of. I gave her a lot of pats and dismounted to remove the bit and start again.

I tried to hook the bit to the back of the saddle, but it made an awful noise as it bounced and clattered with her trot. I eventually just jammed it into my vest pocket. 

Looking really good after our first loop. Side pull is attached and ready to go. 

And that is when the wheels fell off.

Maybe it was the fact that me dismounting and removing the bit has always been her sign that we were finished and now I was mounting back up.

Maybe it was the fact that we were repeating the same loop over again which we have never done before.

Maybe it was the lack of her new confidence inducing bit and me asking her to move out in her new side pull.

Maybe it is was the less than ideal body condition she has been working out of.

Maybe it is the new food, Triple Crown Senior with no "hard" grains, that she hasn't been asked to work on yet.

Maybe it was an aggregation of all those factors, but something just wasn't right.

I asked her to move out and she did, but she was hesitant and slow. This was her typical mental shut down. Her "But...I don't waaaant to go down the trail...whaaa!" I deal with this after every hold on every ride we do and have come to expect a pokey mare for the first 1/2-3/4 of mile. I let her walk out of it and she has always picked up a trot and gone on to move out just fine before.

Decidedly less engaged and happy mare ears. She lost all her new found confidence in the side pull

I let her walk it off as usual as we made it back up the gravel road, past the old cemetery and down to the lake. Once we reached the woods I asked her to move out again which she did and she put in a good effort making it back up the mile long hill.

Once we made it off the hill and I let her walk she just never recovered. She was definitely unsure of the side pull and any small amount of pressure I applied to the reins made her come to a stand still immediately. I've never had such good brakes on her! I worked her along letting her know that pressure didn't always mean stop and after the first 2 miles in it she began to chew although she never made it back to her level of confidence with the bit.

But she never recovered her energy. She was trying her heart out for me. I would ask for a trot and she would immediately respond, but after only a few strides she would ask to walk again. She was breathing normally and wasn't off or acting sore at all, she was just plumb out of energy.

When we reached the steep climb by the radio station, she just stopped. She came to a stand still and looked back at me pleading not to go up that hill. She was done. I've never had her done before. It was a bit scary, a bit sad and a bit defeating feeling all at once.

Please let me stop here. I can't go on.

Unfortunately for Gem, we were at a spot in the loop where it was nearly the same distance turning around or going forward. The way forward had two more very large hills and the way back was mostly down hill. I decided to turn around, but make her go at speed the way back lest she learns that she can get out of work by stopping on trail and refusing to move forward. I want her to remain honest with me, but she tends to try to get out of work and I don't want her to learn any new tricks.

As we turned around (one thing about the side pull - she doesn't believe she can bend in it and turning was quite difficult. Something to work on) I asked her to move out knowing it was basically all down hill with only two smaller climbs. She moved out but again kept asking to walk after only short periods of trot.

We did manage to keep a 4.5 mph pace on the way back and she really and truly was trying. About a mile or so out from the barn we came across three DNR guys in full gear, with guns and badges showing. They were on 4-wheelers and stopped to turn off the engines as we came up to them. I have never seen any rangers or anyone in the park before, so this was really unusual. Just then I heard gun shots and dogs barking behind and to my right. They looked at each other and jumped back on to leave. Later I found out that they were searching for someone out illegally hunting with their dogs (no hunting is allowed in the park except for one day a year when they have a special event that you register for). I really hope they caught the bastard.

Making it back to the lake from the opposite direction

Gemmie looking out at the water

 We travelled down the lane separating the lake from the river it drains in to and I let her walk the rest of the way home.

The drain. Coming from the barn this is hidden behind a curve in the trail and all you can hear is the torrent of water

The river the lake drains in to. They had just weed whacked the hill and this was the first time I actually saw the river. The two guys were really nice to stop their work all three times that I went past them. I found out later that they were doing community service for some law they broke.  

We finished the ride in 2 hours 40 minutes or so and did 12 miles. Gem was happy to be done and scarfed down the mash I made for her in record time.

She actually looks pretty good here after the ride and happily munching away on her mash

Her heart rate and respirations were normal and she was sweaty, but not overly so given the work and the temperatures. She looked tired, but happy.

I was really, really pleased with the amount of effort she put into the entire ride. She tried so hard for me and that's all I can ever ask for from her. The first loop was pure magic and she let me know how much she liked the bit set where it was. I probably should have put the bit back in during the second loop to see if it really was the side pull, but I also wanted her to get used to it and try it out. I don't know what the correct answer was.

My biggest thought right now is that the Triple Crown Senior isn't working for her. It has put weight on her and has made a difference in her coat as well, but I am worried that it isn't enough sustainable energy for the amount of work. I'm not a nutritionist and know shamefully little about horse nutrition.

I do know that the big names in endurance nutrition love beet pulp, flax seed, rice bran and alfalfa which is basically all TCS is. It has a ton of fiber and low NSCs, so it really sounds like it should be a good complete feed for her. Except she bottomed out and she has never run out of energy on me ever before. Not even in the summer when she didn't get any grain or hay and just lived on her grass pasture. Not during any of the endurance rides where she puts in way more work at a higher speed than on any conditioning ride. Not even during the last hunter pace when she was still getting the old barn's locally milled grained and was in poorer shape. Never.

I know that I never want to feel her bottom out ever again. It feels like the worst horsemanship ever to ask more from her than she can physically give and it happened after only 8 moderately paced miles with plenty of walk breaks.

For now, I will hold off  on any major changes. Too many variables were off to really be able to pin it on her feed right not. First work after new barn, BCS just now getting up to where I like it, doing two repeated loops for the first time, loss of her newly beloved bit and change to side pull. Next weekend is supposed to be the rain date for the pace and she is typically much more on the go for a competition than a conditioning ride, so I will use it as a good test. The bit will be in and we won't be repeating trail, so the only major change will be the TCS. If she bottoms out on me during that ride, then I can look at the feed as the source and put more thought into what to do next.