It has been insane lately. The business opened up last week and even though my patient volume isn't so great since it just opened, there are sooooo many things to do that my time is just eaten up with it all.
I did manage to get out to the barn 3 times last week which is great. I only rode 1.5 times though. That's better than the 0 times the previous 2 weeks, so I am getting better. Now that life is sort of kind of settling a little bit, I am really trying to get out to the barn 3 times a week. The hot weather is going to settle itself in soon and I want to get as much conditioning in before that occurs.
So how did I go to the barn 3 times and only ride 1.5? How do you ride a half a time?
The first attempt was early in the week and it just wasn't in the cards to ride. I left later than intended and so my window to ride in the light was already shortened. Then Gemmie decided to drop the remaining winter coat (or most of it...she always leaves the top of her butt for absolute last) she has been carrying around with her and so the grooming process took an hour. The trainer lady was also there and finishing up and was apparently in the mood to talk, so we chatted it up while Gem got the spa treatment and the sun set. She got her dinner, supplements and a lot of love before going back out in her now greening up pasture.
The second attempt was on Thursday. I got to the barn good and early and even managed to dodge my usual 35 minute conversation with the BO so that I could actually get a ride in. I remembered my Garmin and we headed into the arena. My goal: ride 1 hour spending at least 35 minutes of that at speed (trot and canter). We began and it was apparent Gem was not mentally prepared for this. She was spooking at everything. The fence around the arena? Yup, scary. The jump standards against the fence? Yup, scary. The gate leading into the arena? Yup, scary. We worked through it and I was focusing on keeping her at speed. I thought things were going super great until I looked down at my watch and noticed we had only been at it for 4 minutes. Ugh. It already felt like an eternity and we still had 56 minutes to go!
To break it up a little I put down some ground poles to work her over and she did good with those, but we were still bored. So I made a small jump and worked her over that which didn't start out so great but eventually she jumped it like the good girl she can be. But it still had only eaten up around 15 minutes of our ride and I was bored.
Time to discover those trails on property! We headed out of the arena and across the driveway tot he trail entrance. Remember how she was spooking at everything in the arena? Well, this quadrupled as soon as we hit the trails. I swear sometimes Gemmie is infuriatingly annoying. I can trailer her someplace completely new and she will mostly behave herself. Take her out on the property she lives on and she becomes a giraffe on cocaine. Saying that she was on high alert is an understatement. The pigs were a problem, the dogs barking were a problem, the ditch was a problem, the leaf that blew across her path was a problem. It was borderline not very smart to continue this way. And we had gone all of 100 yards.
So..I did the smart thing and got off her. We hand jogged along the trails and she was still on high alert but at least then she could look around and feel safer. And I was much safer on the ground as well. We went about 2 miles (the longest I have run in a long time) and the trails are gorgeous. Once she gets her head around those will be very nice to train on. We didn't even explore the entire set. It is mostly double wide trails and there are not many hills, but there are a few steeper sections. Basically once she gets calmer on them, they will be a great way to get out of the arena and we can start working on some canter sets out on trails. I'm very excited about it!
But that only counted as a half a ride since I think in the end I did more work than she did.
I will post my equally annoying, but in a different way ride from out on the trails Sunday with pictures soon.
April 28, 2014
April 18, 2014
Future Plans
We all know how I feel about plans and even my attempts to only kinda, sorta make them for the spring have gone out the window. But...I need to have some sort of idea on how we are going to make it to our first 50 in the fall.
I would love to make it to a 25 mile ride beforehand. It would be great to get her back into the mindset of the ridecamp and having a true hold with a second loop to go out on. But it just isn't going to happen.
Rides up north begin in April and go pretty solidly until the end of October. Each weekend had many to chose from and it was rare to have a weekend without any ride going on. But down here the rides shut down from Jun-Sept due to the heat. Some locals head up north to Virginia to keep riding, but that is too far for my life right now.
I don't see making it to a 25 before the end of June. I don't have the time right now with starting up the new business nor do I have the money. I also won't sign her up for 25 miles 2 weeks prior to our first 50 mile ride. That would be setting us up for fatigue and failure and I won't do that to Gemmie.
So that leaves me in a little bit of a conundrum. I plan to continue to try to ride 2 days a week in the arena working on speed and consistency working up to a solid hour of work at speed. One weekend day will be spent out on the trails locally spending about 2 hours out on the trail. I hope to keep increasing our speed on trail so that our distance in those two hours increases.
When I rode with T she mentioned a trail system called the Brick House that is a bit far away from here, but will be a shorter drive once we move this summer. It sounds like a great place because it has two loops: 9 miles and 16 miles.
Here is what I am thinking: continue with my current 3 days a week plan until we move in June/July. As long as our heat conditioning is working well, head out to the Brick House in the summer to simulate a ride hopefully in mid to late June. Go out on the 16 mile loop and then take an hour break at the trailer to untack, offer water and food, eat and then trot her out by hand. Then tack back up and head out on the 9 mile loop trying to maintain an endurance style pace throughout.
That would give us a 25 mile ride and while it won't be at a real endurance event it will simulate it well enough to give me a good idea of how we are doing. Hopefully I can convince T and/or S to join me :)
There is no need to go beyond 25 miles in a conditioning ride so if we handle that just fine we are in good order to just back off a bit in the heat and work on maintaining. Pick it back up a bit again in late summer and then head off to our first 50 in September! :)
I would love to make it to a 25 mile ride beforehand. It would be great to get her back into the mindset of the ridecamp and having a true hold with a second loop to go out on. But it just isn't going to happen.
Rides up north begin in April and go pretty solidly until the end of October. Each weekend had many to chose from and it was rare to have a weekend without any ride going on. But down here the rides shut down from Jun-Sept due to the heat. Some locals head up north to Virginia to keep riding, but that is too far for my life right now.
I don't see making it to a 25 before the end of June. I don't have the time right now with starting up the new business nor do I have the money. I also won't sign her up for 25 miles 2 weeks prior to our first 50 mile ride. That would be setting us up for fatigue and failure and I won't do that to Gemmie.
So that leaves me in a little bit of a conundrum. I plan to continue to try to ride 2 days a week in the arena working on speed and consistency working up to a solid hour of work at speed. One weekend day will be spent out on the trails locally spending about 2 hours out on the trail. I hope to keep increasing our speed on trail so that our distance in those two hours increases.
When I rode with T she mentioned a trail system called the Brick House that is a bit far away from here, but will be a shorter drive once we move this summer. It sounds like a great place because it has two loops: 9 miles and 16 miles.
Here is what I am thinking: continue with my current 3 days a week plan until we move in June/July. As long as our heat conditioning is working well, head out to the Brick House in the summer to simulate a ride hopefully in mid to late June. Go out on the 16 mile loop and then take an hour break at the trailer to untack, offer water and food, eat and then trot her out by hand. Then tack back up and head out on the 9 mile loop trying to maintain an endurance style pace throughout.
That would give us a 25 mile ride and while it won't be at a real endurance event it will simulate it well enough to give me a good idea of how we are doing. Hopefully I can convince T and/or S to join me :)
There is no need to go beyond 25 miles in a conditioning ride so if we handle that just fine we are in good order to just back off a bit in the heat and work on maintaining. Pick it back up a bit again in late summer and then head off to our first 50 in September! :)
April 17, 2014
Post Ride Analysis of Gem and Myself
GEM:
She really is a rock star. I find it hard to remember how horrid she used to behave 4.5 years ago. It has been a lot of hard work, tears, blood and sweat to get our partnership the way it is today. She isn't perfect, but she is absolutely amazing.
Some of my primary concerns of late have been: hydration, nutrition and feet. We will begin there then.
Hydration: She has been refusing to drink on my conditioning rides of late and I found this odd since in the past she would not pass up a single water trough on a ride. I guess she just hasn't been very thirsty, because Sunday she drank and drank and drank until she had her fill. It was great to see. I just need to trust that she will take care of herself in this regard. She was sweaty at the end, but dried off nicely while I ate lunch and by the time I went to load her on the trailer you couldn't even tell she had been ridden :)
Nutrition: She has historically been a poor eater. She again didn't touch her hay at the trailer after the ride. She did eat some alfalfa cubes as a treat, but her hay bag remained untouched. I wasn't overly concerned though because a) S's mares didn't eat a thing either and b) she ate a good bit of grass out on the trail. She has started to perfect her ability to grab a mouth full of grass on the go and while the other two mares didn't eat much at all she ate anytime there was grass around which was a good bit of the ride. We made good time in the woods and I let her lag a bit in the grassy areas to eat. I think this is a good strategy for us and one I will remember for the 50 up there. I didn't bring any grain along because it was only a hunter pace, but even on the LD rides she wouldn't touch it at the hold or afterward.
Hooves: She continues to be bare all around and is doing well. The footing at Biltmore is a mixture of awesomeness and horrible gravel. I tend to allow her to pick her own footing and help to steer her around large holes, logs etc... as I see them. But her job is to go down the trail and she gets to pick her footing. I offered to have her go on the grassy sides of the gravel roads and she chose to go down the middle. Obviously she wasn't hurting. I checked her feet at the end and they were not ouchy at all and looked really good. I am still debating on putting boots (probably glue ons) on all 4 feet for the 50 in the fall.
Her current gear set up continues to work really well. No rubs, blood, dry spots or sores from the saddle or girth. We did a ton of canter work and it all stayed put nicely. I really want to try a hackamore on her. I just never use the bit all that much and it seems pointless to have metal in her mouth. S said she has two hacks around the barn somewhere and I can borrow one sometime.
After our lunch break she seemed well rested and probably could have gone out for more. I don't think she could have done another loop at that pace, but who knows? I don't push her anywhere near hard enough. It was a great day and a great ride.
ME:
11 miles of trotting and cantering and my knee didn't hurt!! I have had left knee pain in the past with the old Wintec and even once in my beloved WISE saddle. Nothing in the Advantage.
I really like the wider endurance stirrups. My feet didn't go numb which was nice.
I can't wait to get the saddle I ordered whenever it eventually arrives. It will be a smaller seat size and I think it will make a world of difference in my comfort.
The next day I was sore in two places: my deep glutes and my shoulders.
My butt only hurt when I would go to stand up or sit down and that is from all the posting and two point I did during the ride. No surprise there.
My shoulders though shouldn't have been so sore. I only had to remind Gem of my existence a couple of times when she decided we needed to get in front of the horses ahead of us and again when she decided to race S's mare. The rest of the time we were on a loose rein. So in theory there is no reason my shoulders hurt. Except they did and that means I ride waaaay too tense in my upper body. I brace and that is not good. I will have to keep an eye on that and remind myself to relax during the ride.
I was dehydrated at the end which always results in not being able to eat anything without getting really nauseous and full quickly. None of us thought to bring water for us and the small glass at the half way point just wasn't enough. I will definitely have to remember to have water on me for longer rides so that I can eat at the hold.
All in all it was a great training ride for both of us. We need to keep it up to be prepared for the fall.
She really is a rock star. I find it hard to remember how horrid she used to behave 4.5 years ago. It has been a lot of hard work, tears, blood and sweat to get our partnership the way it is today. She isn't perfect, but she is absolutely amazing.
Some of my primary concerns of late have been: hydration, nutrition and feet. We will begin there then.
Hydration: She has been refusing to drink on my conditioning rides of late and I found this odd since in the past she would not pass up a single water trough on a ride. I guess she just hasn't been very thirsty, because Sunday she drank and drank and drank until she had her fill. It was great to see. I just need to trust that she will take care of herself in this regard. She was sweaty at the end, but dried off nicely while I ate lunch and by the time I went to load her on the trailer you couldn't even tell she had been ridden :)
Nutrition: She has historically been a poor eater. She again didn't touch her hay at the trailer after the ride. She did eat some alfalfa cubes as a treat, but her hay bag remained untouched. I wasn't overly concerned though because a) S's mares didn't eat a thing either and b) she ate a good bit of grass out on the trail. She has started to perfect her ability to grab a mouth full of grass on the go and while the other two mares didn't eat much at all she ate anytime there was grass around which was a good bit of the ride. We made good time in the woods and I let her lag a bit in the grassy areas to eat. I think this is a good strategy for us and one I will remember for the 50 up there. I didn't bring any grain along because it was only a hunter pace, but even on the LD rides she wouldn't touch it at the hold or afterward.
Hooves: She continues to be bare all around and is doing well. The footing at Biltmore is a mixture of awesomeness and horrible gravel. I tend to allow her to pick her own footing and help to steer her around large holes, logs etc... as I see them. But her job is to go down the trail and she gets to pick her footing. I offered to have her go on the grassy sides of the gravel roads and she chose to go down the middle. Obviously she wasn't hurting. I checked her feet at the end and they were not ouchy at all and looked really good. I am still debating on putting boots (probably glue ons) on all 4 feet for the 50 in the fall.
Her current gear set up continues to work really well. No rubs, blood, dry spots or sores from the saddle or girth. We did a ton of canter work and it all stayed put nicely. I really want to try a hackamore on her. I just never use the bit all that much and it seems pointless to have metal in her mouth. S said she has two hacks around the barn somewhere and I can borrow one sometime.
After our lunch break she seemed well rested and probably could have gone out for more. I don't think she could have done another loop at that pace, but who knows? I don't push her anywhere near hard enough. It was a great day and a great ride.
ME:
11 miles of trotting and cantering and my knee didn't hurt!! I have had left knee pain in the past with the old Wintec and even once in my beloved WISE saddle. Nothing in the Advantage.
I really like the wider endurance stirrups. My feet didn't go numb which was nice.
I can't wait to get the saddle I ordered whenever it eventually arrives. It will be a smaller seat size and I think it will make a world of difference in my comfort.
The next day I was sore in two places: my deep glutes and my shoulders.
My butt only hurt when I would go to stand up or sit down and that is from all the posting and two point I did during the ride. No surprise there.
My shoulders though shouldn't have been so sore. I only had to remind Gem of my existence a couple of times when she decided we needed to get in front of the horses ahead of us and again when she decided to race S's mare. The rest of the time we were on a loose rein. So in theory there is no reason my shoulders hurt. Except they did and that means I ride waaaay too tense in my upper body. I brace and that is not good. I will have to keep an eye on that and remind myself to relax during the ride.
I was dehydrated at the end which always results in not being able to eat anything without getting really nauseous and full quickly. None of us thought to bring water for us and the small glass at the half way point just wasn't enough. I will definitely have to remember to have water on me for longer rides so that I can eat at the hold.
All in all it was a great training ride for both of us. We need to keep it up to be prepared for the fall.
April 16, 2014
Biltmore Garmin Information
I remembered my Garmin. Well, that's not 100% accurate. I remembered my Garmin when I was at the barn and it was still on the kitchen table at home. So, then I remembered to text the hubs to remember to bring it with him to S's house. Which he did. So in fact I did remember my Garmin in the end.
I found a new feature on Garmin connect that breaks each mile down. Be prepared for over analysis 101 :)
We covered 10.85 miles in 2:10 for an average pace of 5.0 mph.
When the hubs runs he is all over the board. He will put in a 7:30 minute mile and then a 10 minute mile. His overall pace ends up somewhere in the 8-9 minute mark, but he is rarely actually within those parameters. Opposite end of the spectrum was me. I would start running and always maintain the exact same slow but steady 10:30 pace. He ran with me once and remarked at my ability to do so. Neither approach is right or wrong. What does this have to do with anything? S rides the way that hubby runs. I ride like I run. So while we averaged a 5.0 mph pace we were all over the board.
For example:
The first mile happened to also be the hilliest mile with a total of 159 ft elevation gain and we averaged 4.6 mph for that mile. Our max in that mile was 9.7 mph. Miles 3, 4 and 5 were at 6.2, 6.5 and 7.4 mph. Mile 5 was when I started to worry we wouldn't make it at this pace. But at that point I had thought we only were going 8 miles, so wasn't overly concerned about making it only 3 more miles. I didn't know we had 6 more to go. Gemmie definitely needed a break after mile 5. Mile 5 also had 120 ft of elevation gain. Compare that to mile 9 which had a 3.5 mph pace for the mile over fairly flat terrain.
The outliers were mile 9 (3.5 mph) and mile 11 (3.8 mph) with the remaining ones generally keeping above 6 mph. I think if S had been alone she probably would have done closer to 8-9 mph with her mare. She just floats down the trail and her long legs eat up the miles much better than Gemmie does. She did note that around mile 8 or so her mare was breathing pretty hard and was showing signs of being tired. I am glad that they are out of their typical endurance shape or there would be no way we could keep up with them. They just naturally go much faster than we do at this time.
In the end it was a great conditioning ride. I don't push Gem as much as I could/should because I am always worried she will get hurt or something. But she can go faster/farther and having someone like S to ride with on occasion will really help me to push Gem more. If we always just stroll down the trail we will never make it to a 50 and having that experienced rider to push us is really important for me.
I found a new feature on Garmin connect that breaks each mile down. Be prepared for over analysis 101 :)
We covered 10.85 miles in 2:10 for an average pace of 5.0 mph.
When the hubs runs he is all over the board. He will put in a 7:30 minute mile and then a 10 minute mile. His overall pace ends up somewhere in the 8-9 minute mark, but he is rarely actually within those parameters. Opposite end of the spectrum was me. I would start running and always maintain the exact same slow but steady 10:30 pace. He ran with me once and remarked at my ability to do so. Neither approach is right or wrong. What does this have to do with anything? S rides the way that hubby runs. I ride like I run. So while we averaged a 5.0 mph pace we were all over the board.
For example:
The first mile happened to also be the hilliest mile with a total of 159 ft elevation gain and we averaged 4.6 mph for that mile. Our max in that mile was 9.7 mph. Miles 3, 4 and 5 were at 6.2, 6.5 and 7.4 mph. Mile 5 was when I started to worry we wouldn't make it at this pace. But at that point I had thought we only were going 8 miles, so wasn't overly concerned about making it only 3 more miles. I didn't know we had 6 more to go. Gemmie definitely needed a break after mile 5. Mile 5 also had 120 ft of elevation gain. Compare that to mile 9 which had a 3.5 mph pace for the mile over fairly flat terrain.
The outliers were mile 9 (3.5 mph) and mile 11 (3.8 mph) with the remaining ones generally keeping above 6 mph. I think if S had been alone she probably would have done closer to 8-9 mph with her mare. She just floats down the trail and her long legs eat up the miles much better than Gemmie does. She did note that around mile 8 or so her mare was breathing pretty hard and was showing signs of being tired. I am glad that they are out of their typical endurance shape or there would be no way we could keep up with them. They just naturally go much faster than we do at this time.
In the end it was a great conditioning ride. I don't push Gem as much as I could/should because I am always worried she will get hurt or something. But she can go faster/farther and having someone like S to ride with on occasion will really help me to push Gem more. If we always just stroll down the trail we will never make it to a 50 and having that experienced rider to push us is really important for me.
April 14, 2014
Biltmore Hunter Pace 4/13/14!!!! Ride Story
Thanks to S I finally got to ride at Biltmore!!! And it was all I dreamed it to be! I am officially in love with riding there.
Warning: this is going to be looooong, but hopefully not boring
Saturday night at 7pm: The hubs heads off with the truck to the barn. He hooks it all up, fills the hay bags and the BO suggests he brings Gem in (she thinks I am insane, by the way) to the barn to make life even easier in the morning. He does this and grabs grain for her breakfast and stashes it in the trailer for me. He then proceeds to run the 10+ miles back home. I think he is insane
Saturday night at 8:30pm: Hero has a breakthrough "episode" even on his new high power medication. I spend the night alternating between sobbing, trying to comfort him and shoving miscellaneous pills down his throat.
Saturday night at 10pm: Hubs returns, Hero eventually calms down and I get to sleep around 1am.
___________________________________________________________________________
4:30 am Sunday the cell phone alarm goes off. I groan in despair as 3.5 hours is just not enough sleep. I mumble some expletives, roll back over and bury my head in the covers debating on bailing. But I didn't want to ruin my new friendship with S by texting her that early saying I wasn't going, so I drag my sorry butt out of bed and get dressed: of course in true endurance geek style I put on my matching red and black top and riding tights.
The barn yard is still dark at just after 5 am as I pull in, but the early morning air is warm and the moon is bright. What a peaceful way to start the day! Gem pokes her head out of the stall to see what I am up to now. I wasn't born yesterday (but was in fact born 32 years ago to the day :) so I grab her breakfast first and tempt her with luscious grain while I stealthily groom her out hoping she won't notice what I am up to. Gemmie is taking forever to eat her breakfast, so to not waste time I pack up some things, fill the 7 gallon water jug (best move of the day!) and then hover over her while she licks the bowl clean. On the trailer she goes without a pause and off we go to find S's house in the dark.
The day starts out great though as I find that my favorite cd is in the truck and I blast happy music (Zac Brown Band) into the early morning air. I miss the left onto S's street, drats. Oh well, I am still on time so I just go a little farther down, turn around in the CVS parking lot and go back.
I pull in just as it starts becoming light outside and it is 6:30 am on the dot. We are waiting for her junior rider, M, to show up and it turns out she over slept her alarm. In the meantime the hubs wakes W up at 6:05 am, is told "go away" by our lovely 16 month old, gets him dressed anyway and pulls into S's drive around 7 am. M shows up around 7:15am and we get everyone loaded onto S's three horse trailer in good time and head off to Biltmore :)
It is a beautiful drive through the mountains at the SC/NC border. I am just about to doze off in the front seat of the minivan when the change in altitude starts to bother W's poor little ears and the remaining 30 minutes of the drive is spent listening to him voice his displeasure. Gates opened at 9 am to the west range of the Biltmore estate. I am a little disappointed that the actual house won't be visible during the ride, but the good news is that we won't have to pay for the hubs to enter the property. We pull in, sign up for the hunter division and unload the three mares. W wants up on Gem after I tack up, so he gets to be the first to ride at Biltmore :)
S is on her lovely Arab mare and M is on an Arab/Saddlebred cross mare. She is exceptionally well trained and a great horse for a 16 year old just beginning to ride. I see a great future for those two.
We head to the out timer, but S's mare is all worked up and there is a line of people waiting. We head off in the other direction to waste a little time and see whose horse has their head screwed on right this morning.
Eventually the line clears up and we head back to the timer tent.
The weather is spectacular with a clear blue sky, but it is going to warm up fast out here. The trail begins on a semi gravel like road and then immediately takes a sharp turn to the left and goes up hill in the grass. Gem is calm and cool, but S's mare is ready to go! We allow them to trot up the hill to burn some excess nerves and S is in the lead with me behind and M in the back. We make our way to the hilltop and the view is spectacular. Rolling green hills with some trees and since we are in the sunny south spring is in full bloom. I can't think of a better day for a ride.
The trail the keeps to the side of the most lush pasture I have ever seen outside of the bluegrass fields of Kentucky. I am trying to take pictures without slowing the group down. I usually put my phone into my small riding tights pocket, but my shirt also has a pocket and I decide to use that. Well, as I am fiddling with it I drop it, crack the screen a bit and have to stop everyone to get off and grab it again. Oops.
Gemmie is settling down into the group and then we see some horses ahead of us. She is usually so mild mannered and lazy, but when we are out on a ride and she sees someone ahead of her, watch out!!! She locked onto them and all she wanted to do was get past them. Fortunately, S's mare is the exact same way, so we chuckled and worked on passing at a reasonable rate. It was a lot of fun!!
As the trail continues in the grass alongside a fence, we turn a corner and see a whole herd of black cows out on the grass. Cows are no big thing to Gem and so we continue on. Apparently, cows are horse eating demons from the dark regions to S's mare and she began to put on a lovely little show of just how high a horses head can go. S got nervous due to the electric fence being present and even with M in front of her an Gem between her and the cows it wasn't going so well. So S jumped off and hand walked through the rutted, tall grass until we passed the cow pasture.
S got back on and we were off again through the grass. The footing was actually pretty nice for most of the trail.
Eventually we make a turn out of the pasture and into the woods. We pick up a nice trot and just fly. S is in the front and her mare has legs that just never seem to end. Her natural trotting pace is pretty fast and we cover the ground. Poor Gem just can't trot that fast and keep up. She switches in and out of a canter and I let her. As long as the overall speed doesn't change I don't mind if she switches up the gait she uses to get there. It is a lovely rolling hill type of trail. Nothing steep and not rooty or rocky at all. Her bare feet can handle this all day.
What is super nice is that we change up our position a lot. S leads a good bit, but her mare enjoys being out front the most. M gets a chance to lead as well and so do we. Gem doesn't like to lead all that much. Her favorite spot is beside the lead horse and just slightly back. This way she gets a good view of the trail but really isn't in charge of the safety of everyone. I actually also prefer to ride side by side on a double track trail as it allows for easier conversation and you don't have to worry about getting kicked or sudden stops in front of you.
At one point early on we are really moving it with no sign of a break in sight. S is out front and the hills just keep coming. Poor Gem is starting to lag farther and farther behind. I tell her at the next hilltop we will walk for a bit. When we reach it S slows down anyway so I don't have to ask and we walk for a little while. I think at this point we have past everyone else on the trails.
I had overheard someone at the start saying the trail was 8 miles. There is a halfway stopping point with water. I look at my watch and we have gone 5 miles already. Hmmm..where is the break? The sun has come out and the horses are very, very sweaty. The riders are too and nobody thought to bring water!
We reach a slightly less than ideal puddle on the trail and all three mares stop. Gem guzzles down the water!!!! I am sooo thrilled. On all the conditioning rides to date she passed up the water and I was worried she wasn't drinking. But I needn't have worried. She takes care of herself really well and will drink when she is thirsty.
Right after the mud puddle we come out of the woods and across the 3 minute hold. There is a fresh water trough and the horses gets down to drinking again. We all opt for water and then ask if we could scoop some water onto the horses. I think they all really appreciated it a lot.
3 minutes later and we are back up and moving out. The trail takes us along an (thankfully) cow free pasture and the ground is very uneven. We decide it is best to walk this part which gives the horses a breather as well.
Back along this pasture, into the woods once more and then we pop out onto the rolling greens hills again. We follow along the vineyards and are treated to the most beautiful views. I really love riding here!!
We keep going. And going. And going. Gem still has fuel left in her tank and has been perfecting her grab a mouthful of grass and walk maneuver. I don't mind it at all. She needs to fuel and needs to keep something in her belly. I ma getting a little curious though. If the trail was really 8 miles we should be closing in to the parking lot again. My watch says 9 miles. There was a lot of open ground so it probable didn't drop a while lot, but 9 mile sis probably closer to 9.5 or so. Hmmm...did we miss a turn? 
Hmmm...maybe I am not cut out for endurance. If I can't make it through a hunter pace without internally complaining about the distance, how on earth will I make it through 50 miles? S is up ahead. She has done numerous 50s, 75s and even 100 mile rides. This is probably a walk in the park for her. She mentioned potentially going out for a second run after lunch.
Just then S turns around and says "not that I'm not having fun because this is a gorgeous day, but are we ever going to be finished??? Where is camp!"
Ha!! It isn't just me!!!!!!
The trail snakes back onto the gravel road now and my watch reads 10 miles. If we hit 12 miles we are going to have to rethink this.
But then Gem starts to walk really, really slow. She starts trying to stop all the time. She starts asking to go back. This typically occurs when she knows we are close to being done. I don't know why. You would think she would be happy to be off the trail. But this gives me hope that we are close. It also manages to make me begin to worry that all the gravel has made her lame and that she is never going to be able to finish 50 miles if 10 miles hurts her. Should I have put shoes on her? Boots? Am I killing my mare??
And then at 10.85 miles we comes across and pass the finish timer. We are done.
We walk back to the trailer and untack. There is no water on the grounds and I am so very glad I remembered the 7 gallon jug. I offer to each horse, but they all refuse. I then pour some one each to help cool them out and wash off the sweat. They get hay bags and we go get lunch.
A friend of S's walks by her with Arab gelding and she asks if she is going to go out again. I have no interest in doing another 11 miles (Garmin says 10.85 which is probably closer to 11.5 or 12) and thankfully S says no. This was a hard enough ride for her mare.
It was a fabulous ride. The girls emptied about 6 gallons or so of water before we left, loaded up fine and by the time we left Gem was dry and pawing at the ground again. S remarked that she could definitely go 50 miles probably sooner than fall if we kept this up. It makes me very hopeful for September.
We left and headed back to S's house where the hubs split off and took W home while I unloaded all my crap from S's trailer and into mine. Gem wasn't thrilled with getting on yet another trailer, but got on with minimal aggravation and we headed home. An hour later she was out in her pasture and I was on the bed at home groaning about how tired I was and how we still needed to figure out dinner.
It was a blast and I can't wait until the 50 in September!!!
Up next: gear review, Gem and my own review, garmin data, and plans for the future!!!!
Warning: this is going to be looooong, but hopefully not boring
Saturday night at 7pm: The hubs heads off with the truck to the barn. He hooks it all up, fills the hay bags and the BO suggests he brings Gem in (she thinks I am insane, by the way) to the barn to make life even easier in the morning. He does this and grabs grain for her breakfast and stashes it in the trailer for me. He then proceeds to run the 10+ miles back home. I think he is insane
Saturday night at 8:30pm: Hero has a breakthrough "episode" even on his new high power medication. I spend the night alternating between sobbing, trying to comfort him and shoving miscellaneous pills down his throat.
Saturday night at 10pm: Hubs returns, Hero eventually calms down and I get to sleep around 1am.
___________________________________________________________________________
4:30 am Sunday the cell phone alarm goes off. I groan in despair as 3.5 hours is just not enough sleep. I mumble some expletives, roll back over and bury my head in the covers debating on bailing. But I didn't want to ruin my new friendship with S by texting her that early saying I wasn't going, so I drag my sorry butt out of bed and get dressed: of course in true endurance geek style I put on my matching red and black top and riding tights.
The barn yard is still dark at just after 5 am as I pull in, but the early morning air is warm and the moon is bright. What a peaceful way to start the day! Gem pokes her head out of the stall to see what I am up to now. I wasn't born yesterday (but was in fact born 32 years ago to the day :) so I grab her breakfast first and tempt her with luscious grain while I stealthily groom her out hoping she won't notice what I am up to. Gemmie is taking forever to eat her breakfast, so to not waste time I pack up some things, fill the 7 gallon water jug (best move of the day!) and then hover over her while she licks the bowl clean. On the trailer she goes without a pause and off we go to find S's house in the dark.
The day starts out great though as I find that my favorite cd is in the truck and I blast happy music (Zac Brown Band) into the early morning air. I miss the left onto S's street, drats. Oh well, I am still on time so I just go a little farther down, turn around in the CVS parking lot and go back.
I pull in just as it starts becoming light outside and it is 6:30 am on the dot. We are waiting for her junior rider, M, to show up and it turns out she over slept her alarm. In the meantime the hubs wakes W up at 6:05 am, is told "go away" by our lovely 16 month old, gets him dressed anyway and pulls into S's drive around 7 am. M shows up around 7:15am and we get everyone loaded onto S's three horse trailer in good time and head off to Biltmore :)
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| Isn't she looking stunning? |
S is on her lovely Arab mare and M is on an Arab/Saddlebred cross mare. She is exceptionally well trained and a great horse for a 16 year old just beginning to ride. I see a great future for those two.
We head to the out timer, but S's mare is all worked up and there is a line of people waiting. We head off in the other direction to waste a little time and see whose horse has their head screwed on right this morning.
Eventually the line clears up and we head back to the timer tent.
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| Look! Gemmie can be out in front! |
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| That mare has some loooong legs on her |
The trail the keeps to the side of the most lush pasture I have ever seen outside of the bluegrass fields of Kentucky. I am trying to take pictures without slowing the group down. I usually put my phone into my small riding tights pocket, but my shirt also has a pocket and I decide to use that. Well, as I am fiddling with it I drop it, crack the screen a bit and have to stop everyone to get off and grab it again. Oops.
Gemmie is settling down into the group and then we see some horses ahead of us. She is usually so mild mannered and lazy, but when we are out on a ride and she sees someone ahead of her, watch out!!! She locked onto them and all she wanted to do was get past them. Fortunately, S's mare is the exact same way, so we chuckled and worked on passing at a reasonable rate. It was a lot of fun!!
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| So much temptation to eat!! |
S got back on and we were off again through the grass. The footing was actually pretty nice for most of the trail.
Eventually we make a turn out of the pasture and into the woods. We pick up a nice trot and just fly. S is in the front and her mare has legs that just never seem to end. Her natural trotting pace is pretty fast and we cover the ground. Poor Gem just can't trot that fast and keep up. She switches in and out of a canter and I let her. As long as the overall speed doesn't change I don't mind if she switches up the gait she uses to get there. It is a lovely rolling hill type of trail. Nothing steep and not rooty or rocky at all. Her bare feet can handle this all day.
What is super nice is that we change up our position a lot. S leads a good bit, but her mare enjoys being out front the most. M gets a chance to lead as well and so do we. Gem doesn't like to lead all that much. Her favorite spot is beside the lead horse and just slightly back. This way she gets a good view of the trail but really isn't in charge of the safety of everyone. I actually also prefer to ride side by side on a double track trail as it allows for easier conversation and you don't have to worry about getting kicked or sudden stops in front of you.
At one point early on we are really moving it with no sign of a break in sight. S is out front and the hills just keep coming. Poor Gem is starting to lag farther and farther behind. I tell her at the next hilltop we will walk for a bit. When we reach it S slows down anyway so I don't have to ask and we walk for a little while. I think at this point we have past everyone else on the trails.
I had overheard someone at the start saying the trail was 8 miles. There is a halfway stopping point with water. I look at my watch and we have gone 5 miles already. Hmmm..where is the break? The sun has come out and the horses are very, very sweaty. The riders are too and nobody thought to bring water!
We reach a slightly less than ideal puddle on the trail and all three mares stop. Gem guzzles down the water!!!! I am sooo thrilled. On all the conditioning rides to date she passed up the water and I was worried she wasn't drinking. But I needn't have worried. She takes care of herself really well and will drink when she is thirsty.
Right after the mud puddle we come out of the woods and across the 3 minute hold. There is a fresh water trough and the horses gets down to drinking again. We all opt for water and then ask if we could scoop some water onto the horses. I think they all really appreciated it a lot.
3 minutes later and we are back up and moving out. The trail takes us along an (thankfully) cow free pasture and the ground is very uneven. We decide it is best to walk this part which gives the horses a breather as well.
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Back along this pasture, into the woods once more and then we pop out onto the rolling greens hills again. We follow along the vineyards and are treated to the most beautiful views. I really love riding here!!
We keep going. And going. And going. Gem still has fuel left in her tank and has been perfecting her grab a mouthful of grass and walk maneuver. I don't mind it at all. She needs to fuel and needs to keep something in her belly. I ma getting a little curious though. If the trail was really 8 miles we should be closing in to the parking lot again. My watch says 9 miles. There was a lot of open ground so it probable didn't drop a while lot, but 9 mile sis probably closer to 9.5 or so. Hmmm...did we miss a turn? Hmmm...maybe I am not cut out for endurance. If I can't make it through a hunter pace without internally complaining about the distance, how on earth will I make it through 50 miles? S is up ahead. She has done numerous 50s, 75s and even 100 mile rides. This is probably a walk in the park for her. She mentioned potentially going out for a second run after lunch.
Just then S turns around and says "not that I'm not having fun because this is a gorgeous day, but are we ever going to be finished??? Where is camp!"
Ha!! It isn't just me!!!!!!
But then Gem starts to walk really, really slow. She starts trying to stop all the time. She starts asking to go back. This typically occurs when she knows we are close to being done. I don't know why. You would think she would be happy to be off the trail. But this gives me hope that we are close. It also manages to make me begin to worry that all the gravel has made her lame and that she is never going to be able to finish 50 miles if 10 miles hurts her. Should I have put shoes on her? Boots? Am I killing my mare??
And then at 10.85 miles we comes across and pass the finish timer. We are done.
We walk back to the trailer and untack. There is no water on the grounds and I am so very glad I remembered the 7 gallon jug. I offer to each horse, but they all refuse. I then pour some one each to help cool them out and wash off the sweat. They get hay bags and we go get lunch.
 |
| W decides he wants to sit on the trailer like the rest of us |
A friend of S's walks by her with Arab gelding and she asks if she is going to go out again. I have no interest in doing another 11 miles (Garmin says 10.85 which is probably closer to 11.5 or 12) and thankfully S says no. This was a hard enough ride for her mare.
It was a fabulous ride. The girls emptied about 6 gallons or so of water before we left, loaded up fine and by the time we left Gem was dry and pawing at the ground again. S remarked that she could definitely go 50 miles probably sooner than fall if we kept this up. It makes me very hopeful for September.
We left and headed back to S's house where the hubs split off and took W home while I unloaded all my crap from S's trailer and into mine. Gem wasn't thrilled with getting on yet another trailer, but got on with minimal aggravation and we headed home. An hour later she was out in her pasture and I was on the bed at home groaning about how tired I was and how we still needed to figure out dinner.
It was a blast and I can't wait until the 50 in September!!!
Up next: gear review, Gem and my own review, garmin data, and plans for the future!!!!
April 10, 2014
Shaken...Not Stirred
My life that is.
Maybe it is some sort of mental disorder, but I just can't seem to ever remain still. Every time life gets settled into some sort of routine, the apple cart gets upset and we start scrambling.
When we moved down here to the land of sunshine and happiness, we knew things would end up changing. The hubby's job is 50 minutes away from my job. We actually thought that he would end up leaving his and moving closer because vet jobs are easier to find than my job. We were smart (or just too poor to do otherwise) and rented our house to wait and see how things ended up.
Well, it turns out that he adores his job and is staying. I, on the other hand, do not adore my job and so I put my 60 days in (almost 60 days now...wooot!!!) and purchased my own medical practice that will be official Friday (eeeek!!) It is a lovely 7 miles from the hubs. Which is all sorts of good.
But it makes absolutely no sense for us both to drive 40 minutes to work in the same direction. The wasted gas money alone is worthy of a move. So when our lease is up in June we plan to move over yonder. Over yonder has a lot of benefits. The big one being that the hubs can now start helping to drop off and pick up W from day care.
Moving also means a massive life upheaval. I'm going to be a business owner. A boss. The sole person responsible for everything. That is exciting, scary, fun and a lot of hard work.
It also means a whole lot of change. We found a new day care for W that is just down the street from my new office. It is a commercial place versus his in home one now, so I think he will have a period of adjustment. There are some awesome things that we love:
There are some things I am concerned about, but it will work out in the end and if it doesn't we can always move him.
I'm not a big fan of our house or neighborhood so leaving those behind isn't a big deal to me. The hubs is hopeful he can find us a farm to rent, but I'm doubtful. Where we live now is annoying. We live in a 60 house neighborhood and hear our neighbors late at night and can't go outside without someone being around. That would be just fine with me if it wasn't for the fact that we are an isolated neighborhood in the middle of nowhere with a 20 minute drive to the store. No quick trip for milk for us. Now I know plenty of people drive farther, but for me if I am going to be stuck with neighbors on top of me I better have the convenience of the store being on the corner. If I want a long drive to the store, then put me on 50 acres and let me have my space and privacy. We currently have neither.
The one big, huge thing I am stressing over is the Dynamic Duo. They must be moved because the current barn, while we love it, is going to end up being 50 minutes or so away and that is just too far. If I want to have them that far I will find a barn with intimate access to a massive amount of trails.
I have scoured the area looking for a new barn for them and found some pretty amazing things existing in the world. Like $1200/horse/month board. In nowhere SC. Are you serious?? I'd like to meet the people who pay that. Seriously.
Stay tuned for our barn hunting adventure....
Maybe it is some sort of mental disorder, but I just can't seem to ever remain still. Every time life gets settled into some sort of routine, the apple cart gets upset and we start scrambling.
When we moved down here to the land of sunshine and happiness, we knew things would end up changing. The hubby's job is 50 minutes away from my job. We actually thought that he would end up leaving his and moving closer because vet jobs are easier to find than my job. We were smart (or just too poor to do otherwise) and rented our house to wait and see how things ended up.
Well, it turns out that he adores his job and is staying. I, on the other hand, do not adore my job and so I put my 60 days in (almost 60 days now...wooot!!!) and purchased my own medical practice that will be official Friday (eeeek!!) It is a lovely 7 miles from the hubs. Which is all sorts of good.
But it makes absolutely no sense for us both to drive 40 minutes to work in the same direction. The wasted gas money alone is worthy of a move. So when our lease is up in June we plan to move over yonder. Over yonder has a lot of benefits. The big one being that the hubs can now start helping to drop off and pick up W from day care.
Moving also means a massive life upheaval. I'm going to be a business owner. A boss. The sole person responsible for everything. That is exciting, scary, fun and a lot of hard work.
It also means a whole lot of change. We found a new day care for W that is just down the street from my new office. It is a commercial place versus his in home one now, so I think he will have a period of adjustment. There are some awesome things that we love:
- it is only $10 more a week ($40 more a month) than what we currently pay
- they provide breakfast, lunch, milk and two snacks
- they provide diapers
- they provide wipes
- they are never closed
- they teach, a lot
There are some things I am concerned about, but it will work out in the end and if it doesn't we can always move him.
I'm not a big fan of our house or neighborhood so leaving those behind isn't a big deal to me. The hubs is hopeful he can find us a farm to rent, but I'm doubtful. Where we live now is annoying. We live in a 60 house neighborhood and hear our neighbors late at night and can't go outside without someone being around. That would be just fine with me if it wasn't for the fact that we are an isolated neighborhood in the middle of nowhere with a 20 minute drive to the store. No quick trip for milk for us. Now I know plenty of people drive farther, but for me if I am going to be stuck with neighbors on top of me I better have the convenience of the store being on the corner. If I want a long drive to the store, then put me on 50 acres and let me have my space and privacy. We currently have neither.
The one big, huge thing I am stressing over is the Dynamic Duo. They must be moved because the current barn, while we love it, is going to end up being 50 minutes or so away and that is just too far. If I want to have them that far I will find a barn with intimate access to a massive amount of trails.
I have scoured the area looking for a new barn for them and found some pretty amazing things existing in the world. Like $1200/horse/month board. In nowhere SC. Are you serious?? I'd like to meet the people who pay that. Seriously.
Stay tuned for our barn hunting adventure....
April 9, 2014
Trailer Loading 101
If you recall, last weekend Gem and I had a difference in opinion when it came to the importance of getting into the trailer. She won. Not good.
Saturday was D-day. I headed out to the barn around 10 am and planned to spend the entire day if it was needed to make her understand that while I appreciate the fact that she has an opinion, in this case it doesn't matter.
I tied two 20' lunge lines together (although I really only needed one), hooked it to her halter, up through her side of the trailer, around the center divider and back out to me. I grabbed a borrowed dressage whip and started tap tap tap on her big brown (and shiny :) buttocks. She stood there and took it. I thought we were in for a loooong day.
Apparently the tap tap tap is pretty annoying because it didn't take long for her to react by rearing up and scooting off to stand beside the trailer. The lunge line got snagged on the hinge of the back trailer window and this ticked her off. I unhooked it and led her back to facing the trailer. Tap tap tap. She reared again and again ended up beside the trailer. I unhooked the snagged up line and brought her to face it again.
Eventually I gave up on bringing her around. The rope prevented her from ever facing away from the trailer and kept a constant pull toward it, so I didn't care really where she stood. I didn't appreciate the rearing though and so when she did that she got a whack. Any forward motion or really any hint of forward motion and she was told she was good and given a break. But if she refused to moved when asked, it started again.
40 minutes later and she was on the trailer!
She stayed put for about 3-4 minutes while I told her how awesome she was and gave her treats which she refused out of principle. Back out and I walked her around and headed back to the trailer.
Nope. Wouldn't get on. This time it only took 10 minutes before she gave in and got on the trailer. I did this for 2 hours until she got on with only a lead rope and no whip.
Lunch break then an hour later I returned.
You should have seen the look she gave me in the pasture when I went to get her! It was priceless. But she stood there and let me drag her back out. She loaded just fine the first time, but not the second and so she got hooked back up and we started again. But she went on just fine in the end and all was well when I left her.
Sunday I went out alone with my big girl panties on and hooked up the trailer, grabbed Gem and she loaded great. No whip. No ropes. She walked right on.
After the ride she had attitude. I'm not sure why she is worse to come home. You would think she would want to get her butt home and be put back out. I just don't get it. So I gave her two chances. Nope. I hooked the lunge ropes back up and by the time I walked over to grab the end she decided it wasn't worth it and just walked on by herself. Good girl!!!
I know we aren't perfect and she will fight again, but at least now I have the tools to out do her.
Saturday was D-day. I headed out to the barn around 10 am and planned to spend the entire day if it was needed to make her understand that while I appreciate the fact that she has an opinion, in this case it doesn't matter.
I tied two 20' lunge lines together (although I really only needed one), hooked it to her halter, up through her side of the trailer, around the center divider and back out to me. I grabbed a borrowed dressage whip and started tap tap tap on her big brown (and shiny :) buttocks. She stood there and took it. I thought we were in for a loooong day.
Apparently the tap tap tap is pretty annoying because it didn't take long for her to react by rearing up and scooting off to stand beside the trailer. The lunge line got snagged on the hinge of the back trailer window and this ticked her off. I unhooked it and led her back to facing the trailer. Tap tap tap. She reared again and again ended up beside the trailer. I unhooked the snagged up line and brought her to face it again.
Eventually I gave up on bringing her around. The rope prevented her from ever facing away from the trailer and kept a constant pull toward it, so I didn't care really where she stood. I didn't appreciate the rearing though and so when she did that she got a whack. Any forward motion or really any hint of forward motion and she was told she was good and given a break. But if she refused to moved when asked, it started again.
40 minutes later and she was on the trailer!
She stayed put for about 3-4 minutes while I told her how awesome she was and gave her treats which she refused out of principle. Back out and I walked her around and headed back to the trailer.
Nope. Wouldn't get on. This time it only took 10 minutes before she gave in and got on the trailer. I did this for 2 hours until she got on with only a lead rope and no whip.
Lunch break then an hour later I returned.
You should have seen the look she gave me in the pasture when I went to get her! It was priceless. But she stood there and let me drag her back out. She loaded just fine the first time, but not the second and so she got hooked back up and we started again. But she went on just fine in the end and all was well when I left her.
Sunday I went out alone with my big girl panties on and hooked up the trailer, grabbed Gem and she loaded great. No whip. No ropes. She walked right on.
After the ride she had attitude. I'm not sure why she is worse to come home. You would think she would want to get her butt home and be put back out. I just don't get it. So I gave her two chances. Nope. I hooked the lunge ropes back up and by the time I walked over to grab the end she decided it wasn't worth it and just walked on by herself. Good girl!!!
I know we aren't perfect and she will fight again, but at least now I have the tools to out do her.
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