King's Mountain Ride

I apologize right off the bat for no pictures. My hands were warmly tucked into my gloves which are apparently not touch screen compatible. 

The hunter pace got cancelled again last weekend. I don't know what is gong on with the season. On the plus side, it saves me some money so there is that. Saturday was a gorgeous sunny day with a mild breeze and we spent the afternoon at the barn so Dusty could get Pete out. He has lost a good bit of weight since moving him and now he just needs exercise to tone up. We are really hoping to lease him out this summer to a friend of the BO which would help us with board costs and help Pete get some exercise.

The BO was busy mending fences and I mentioned to her that I would be trailering out the next day to ride if she wanted to come with. She was game and so Sunday morning Gem and Tristan found themselves heading to King's Mountain for a 20 mile ride.

Gem was hilarious. BO has opened up a new section for them which abuts her geldings' pasture so that they can talk over the fence and it gives them access to a small shelter as well. Most of the time, all four horses are chilling near each other. I pulled in, screamed my typical hello and then proceeded to go behind the barn to hook up the trailer. Gem watched me like a hawk and as I was hooking everything up, I heard thundering hooves as she took off snorting to the other end of her pasture. The BO laughed and asked if I wanted some treats to get her.

I never bribe my horse to come to me mostly because it doesn't work but also because I don't want Gem coming to me just because I have food. In fact, I rarely give her treats at all these days. After I loaded the trailer up with my tack and made room for BO I went to get Gem. She was hiding behind a small strand of trees. I called for her and she went screaming past me snorting and farting and carrying on. I turned and stood still watching her as she pranced, tail flagged. About a minute or so later, without me moving a muscle, she came trotting over to me and stood as I patted her head and put the bridle on her. She just always needs to have her opinion heard.

Bonus with having to make room in my extremely messy trailer (hey, it happens when you live out of it for all riding needs and have no access to a tack room for over a year): I found my red mohair girth!! I thought I had lost it back at the Clemson Equathon debacle last fall, but it apparently just fell into the dark recesses of the trailer and then got covered in hay. Yay!!

King's Mountain is a great little trail system. It only has one trail for horse use which online states is 20 miles in one description and 15 miles in another, both written by the State Park Foundation. The trail head is beautiful with a generous area for parking, a bathroom and a handicap accessible mounting block. There were several other trailers already parked when we arrived around 9:30 am. I decided to forgo the bit and just use the side pull since we had company along.

The trail is like a lollipop with about a 1.5 mile section of "stick" common trail leading away and back to the trail head and then a long "sucker" circle portion. The only other time I had been there, I rode out about 5 miles to a picnic area and then headed back, so I was excited to see the entire thing this time.

The trail began with bowling ball sized rocks which the horses picked around carefully. From there it narrowed down to a single track trail with mostly hard packed dirt footing with areas of large rocks mixed in. We covered the ground in a steady trot for mile after mile. The trail is nice in that it is rarely ever flat. While there are some steeper climbs/descents the trail is mostly rolling hills up or down the entire way. The BO, an eventer, was getting tired of posting and endless trot work when we came upon a lovely double wide section with no rocks and she looked back to ask if we could open it up a bit. I was more than game and we headed off at a nice little hand gallop.

From there we crossed several streams and continued to chat as the miles went by. At one point Tristan put on the breaks and snorted. Coming towards us was a whole pack of hikers, probably boy scouts, and he was none too sure about the back packs they were lugging. A big bonus of having a toddler is that Gem is pretty much accustomed to all sorts of weird gear including kid carrying back packs, strollers and wagons and she barely batted an eye.

Once those monsters were passed us, we carried on like before walking where the trail became super rocky, trotting most of it, and cantering where able.

It wasn't long before we reached the picnic area I had turned around at before and I knew we were about 5 miles out.

Gem was still going strong at the end although she was getting a bit snarky about 2 miles from the end. I was getting a little worried about her thinking maybe all the rocks had caused her to be sore or worse a stone bruise, but then she peeled off the trail and emptied her bladder with the most melodramatic moan of all time. Mareface hates to pee under saddle and will typically go in her pasture when she sees me coming, but didn't take the time to do so that morning.

The last two miles were back along the bowling ball sized rocks and we picked our way back. Both horses were barely sweaty at all and neither looked overly tired at the end. Gem was starving though. She had started to look for anything edible along the trail around mile 7 or 8 and once back at the trailer she devoured her hay bag in record time. Tristan barely touched his and she was greedily eying it up when I unloaded her back home.

My Garmin read about 13 miles, which given the history of using it means it was more likely 15 miles. We finished it in just over 2 1/2 hours which I was pleased with given the need to walk a good bit and the stops for the backpackers.

I typically don't feed Gem right before a ride. The feed won't be usable energy by the time we are finished riding and we leave early enough in the morning that she generally had breakfast within a couple of hours of loading up. She always gets feed at the end, but if she continues to get hungry while out on trail, I may begin to give her a smidge before we head out.

I forgot to take some salt with me to make a salt water bucket for after the ride. It wasn't really needed anyway given the weather and the tiny bit of sweat she produced under the saddle, so I am not sure she would have even drank it. I want to start getting her used to it before the May ride though.

It was a fantastic day out on the trails with good company, both horse and rider and I know Gem always appreciates the mental break that having another horse brings.








 

Friday..Well...That Was A Different Story

Wunderground is my favorite app and I check it multiple times a day. When you get two days a week to ride, it is really important to plan ahead in regards to weather to get the most out of it.

Unfortunately, the weekend was looking bleak for a ride and I really needed to get some good double digit trail miles in. I wanted to get 20 miles on the books, but the more I looked at it the more depressing it became. Sunday was calling for rain all day (which in fact did happen) and while Saturday was looking great, Dusty worked in the morning and I wouldn't get out of the house until after 1 pm which meant hitting the trail at around 3 pm, so very limited time to ride. When Friday rolled around it was looking like a short ride Saturday late afternoon.

I had two surgeries planned for Friday morning, but then one got canceled. I was always trained to arrive at least an hour before start time and I work in a lovely operating room where the staff is more than happy to get things rolling as quickly as possible. My Friday surgery ended up going early and I finished before my start time even rolled around. I was happily walking out of the hospital at 9 am. 

I should have gone back to the office, but instead the brilliant idea of stealing off to the woods on my mare snuck into my brain and took hold. I ran home, changed clothes and headed to the barn in the truck.

Gem was not too pleased to see me two days in a row and showed it by galloping and bucking all around her pasture. I just stood still holding her halter and waited for her to stop being an idiot. About 5 minutes later she came walking up to me breathing hard and covered in a film of sweat. I just shook my head, slid the halter over her head and led her to the trailer.

After a quick text to the hubby to let him know where I was going and what trail I planned to ride, I headed off to Croft. I feel much more at ease when going out alone knowing that at least someone has some vague idea of where to look should I go missing. 

I was surprised to find the parking lot nearly full mid morning on a Friday and saddled up without an issue. I was putting my hydration pack on when a lady came riding up to the trailer on her horse. I poked my head around and she jumped out of her saddle a bit in shock. She said she wanted to look at the trailer as she really liked it and didn't realize I was there. I actually get this quite often, so I just laughed and told her about the trailer. Seriously, I think I get asked about it about every other time I take it out somewhere. 

As I started off, the temperatures were already in the upper 70s and climbing. I decided to do the ride I did last time backwards because the only on trail water was the river crossing on the outer loop that was 4 miles in when I went the other way. Going backwards would put it near the end. 

We started off on the familiar Forest Mill Loop and Gem was game and ready. Not anxious or jiggy, but ready to move out when asked and didn't try to stop or screw around. The first couple of miles flew by and then the breaks came on. Gem began to walk a lot and really slowly. My own head was feeling a bit dizzy even with using the hydration pack to drink frequently.

We reached the picnic tables at mile 3.5 and I got off her to look her over. 

An extremely hot mare

Absolutely lathered and dripping with sweat even over the areas that were clipped.  

She was breathing harder than she should have been given the effort and I knew she needed a cool down. I took the bit out and sat with her debating on what to do. The trail that led to the water was a 6 mile loop back to the trail head and I guessed the river to be about 2 miles from where we were. The way back also led to water at parking, but would be a mile farther and had more hills to climb. 

It seemed best to proceed forward, but I walked it in hand to give her a chance to cool down. I walked her the entire 2 miles to the river, but it only took about a half a mile for her breathing to return to normal although she was still lathered and dripping. A quick look at my weather app showed temperatures had soared to 85, near record breaking highs, and the sun was blazing hot. 

Once in the river, I cursed not bringing my sponge along and instead stood ankle deep in the refreshingly cold water to splash water onto her chest and legs.

Feels so good!

Don't even think about asking me to leave this river

I continued to splash her until I felt her skin was cool and she was looking refreshed and then forced her big hairy butt to move on. 

Once we reached the bank, I got back on board. She was spunky underneath me once again and I let her trot the flat and down hill sections, but walk the up hills on the 4 mile trip back. She kept asking to trot the uphills and she was cool enough to do so, but I didn't want to risk anything happening to her and made her walk.

By the time we made it back to the trailer, we had done around 10 miles in just around 2 hours and she was cool and calm. That was with the time I spent hand walking her and stood in the river. She had been really moving out when asked.

I gave her a full body hose done at the water spigot and loaded her bucket up with water to cover the feed. She gobbled down her entire soupy mash and happily walked back to the trailer with a spring in her step. 

Honestly, looking back I think she would have been just fine on the ride had she not spent 5 minutes working herself into a lathered mess back at the barn. When I tacked up, she was dry and breathing normal, but I don't think she was fully recovered internally. Record breaking highs and a partial winter coat didn't help matters at all either. I should have hosed her down once we got there to get her cool before I even rode which is a trick I learned from local riders when I first moved south. It works super well to get them started off cool, but she had been dry and looking fine when I tacked her up. Lesson learned for sure. 

She drank deeply once she got back home and quickly started devouring her amazing hay. I don't know where the BO found it, but it is the best looking hay I have seen since moving to SC. By the time I parked the trailer (all by myself too!!!) she was rolling in the grass and starting to graze. 

First Ride on TC Complete

Princess Gem ready to rock and roll

Before I get into this story I want to add a caveat to the post from yesterday which caused some consternation amongst readers. That is never my intention. Blogging is an outlet for me to write, collect stories and pictures as well as bounce ideas around in my own head and against others. I do in fact pre load Gem with vitamins and minerals the week up to and including the ride. I use a product called Grand Vite from Smartpak which is a full vitamin and mineral supplement containing the entire profile that a horse needs. I give this to her every day starting a week out of the ride and I mix it in a slurry of crushed up Alfalfa cubes and sometimes applesauce. She gets two full scoops a day which is the highest recommended dose. I then continue to provide this in her mashes during the ride. During the ride I then use Perfect Balance electrolyte paste the night before, morning of and at every hold and give her a full dose each time. This product does not contain a full vitamin and mineral profile and is mainly sodium and potassium. I do not consider giving this type of product every day a pre load as it is not giving the actual full profile to the horse. My whole point of the pre loading portion was to discuss the oftentimes recommended use of the sodium and potassium syringes before a ride to tank the horse up on water. I believe that that point was somehow lost.

Anyway...moving on to today's less controversial post about my ride last Thursday.

A week ago Sunday I switched Gem from The Triple Crown Senior to the Complete. I wanted the oats, a higher fat level than the Senior offered and didn't mind the protein level in it although I wouldn't want to go any higher. Pete was changed to the Lite food. Gem is currently getting 5 lbs per day. Recommended is 6 lbs for 1000 pounds and she weighs in at around 900 when in perfect fighting condition. Pete is getting 2 lbs per day. Both will be monitored for weight gain or loss and the amount of feed given will change as needed specially now with the grass growing once again. I would venture to bet that both will be scaled back once they begin eating the grass which is fine since they will be getting a bunch of nutrients from the grass anyway.

Oats have a bad reputation of making horses hot due to the high carb count. Gem has almost always had some form of either corn or oats in her feed, so I wasn't terribly concerned about her mental status when on the Complete.

Thursday night was the first chance I had to ride last week and I was barely making it out there before the sun began to bed down for the night. I quickly grabbed her, tacked her and headed up to the arena to get some work in. I like the deep sandy footing as a change terrain from our typical hard pack trails as it works her tendons much differently. When we wandered to the top of the property though I saw this:

BO is playing around with the footing. The base is river sand, but it doesn't compact down well enough due to a large particle size. She had black sand brought in to mix with the river sand to allow for more compaction and better resistance. 

With the entire arena either covered in piles of sand or cut up from tractor wheels, I knew it wouldn't be a great time to get any decent work in. Instead we headed over to the jump field.

The horror! So much dead wood piled everywhere!!

I had worked her in this field one other time and she was a hot mess between her typical hatred of arena type work and all the bare wood everywhere. I do enjoy working in a field with jumps set up though because I have a better ability to plan movements and paths around them instead of getting lost in a big open space and not holding Gem to anything specific.

I started by asking of a nice working trot, one that is slow enough to be reposing and not rushy or inverted, and she responded by throwing her head around and basically acting like my toddler. I learned a long time ago that in this situation it is best to completely ignore her and ride as if she had responded properly. The lack of a reaction takes all the fun out of it and she eventually gets down to business.

It took two circles in the upper portion of the field to get her to adjust to the thought of working. After that she was amazing. Light in the bridle, even paced steady trot, and would turn just from the shift of my weight in the saddle.

I fully believe in Anna Blakey's blog and if you haven't been following it, you really should. Anyway...from the very first ride with Gem I have always had a plan in mind and when she performs the task nicely and softly I dismount. It doesn't matter if I was only on her for 5 minutes or for 5 hours. Once she does what I wanted her to do, we quit.

After about 30 minutes of trotting around the field in circles, serpentines, figure eights and the like I asked her to halt and got off. She had done super well and deserved the release. I gave her a big hug and we walked back down to the barn together in peace.

A beautiful sunset on the farm

I stopped and let her munch on the early spring grass that she was greedily eye balling and just hung out with her as the sun set lower and lower thereby ending the brilliant spring day.

Back in the barn I took a second to really look at her condition. Her BCS is just about perfect now. It took about 2 months to gain back what she had lost at the last barn and she is really looking better than ever right now. I love her top line and her butt muscles are starting to become chiseled again. She has the Arab head and neck, but her butt is very solidly from her QH lineage and I love it.

Just about where I like her to be when amping up the conditioning. Her butt could use a but more definition, but that will come with more hills. I couldn't get completely square to her due to the barn wall being at my back, so this is a slightly angled shot. I swear she is not this butt high!

Her neck is a bit scrawny but that is mostly due to the fact that I am fairly clueless when it comes to any real contact and use of the behind in a true dressage sense which I hope to fix this summer once I begin lessons. Also, this is an angled shot so it makes it look even worse.

All in all I believe that we are finally back to a comfortable place and I am really happy with my decision to back off the April ride and go in May instead. Oh, and I needn't have worried about any ill effects from the feed switch. She was fully engaged and perfectly manageable.

Top 10 Best Ride

Tuesday night I got out of work a half an hour early and rushed up to the barn to chase daylight while mounted. A storm was blowing in, but wasn't supposed to hit until 8 pm, so while it was still sunny the winds were gusting for all they were worth.

Gem was a bit surprised to see me and at first wouldn't take her nose out of the delicious pile of green hay in front of her. After a bit of persuasion she left the pasture and stood to be tacked up.

With the wind flinging her mane and tail around and the sun setting faster than I had hoped, we took to the trail that leads through the woods behind the pasture and ends at the big hill leading up to the arena. I forgot my watch and for some reason my phone wouldn't open the App store to let me download Endomondo, so I can't tell you how much vertical gain or how long the hill is. I will just say that it is steep and most likely a quarter to a third of a mile in length.

Gem was UP UP UP. The wind was goosing her butt and she was looking at everything. I didn't mind though. She needed the extra drive for the evilness I had planned.

We exited the woods (maybe a half mile total of trail?) and hit the base of the hill. There was a pile of sticks to the left that she took a long look at, but I dug my heels in and moved into a half seat position. At first she trotted, but soon realized what I wanted and charged like a war horse up the hill. I was grinning from ear to ear.

At the top, we entered the arena and she was blowing hard. I kept her in a trot twice around and then we cantered once around before I slowed her to a walk and we went back down the hill. I wanted to use this as her recovery and she was told to walk. She jigged. She was told to walk. She trotted. She was told to walk.

At the bottom she tried to bolt through my aides and rush back into the woods, but instead I turned her around and pointed her back up the hill. She protested, but as soon as she felt me get into my half seat and squeeze, she once again charged up the hill.

Blowing hard, we entered the arena and went the opposite direction trotting twice and then cantering once around before I asked her to walk back down the hill.

Again she jigged and tried to duck into the woods at the bottom, but I halted her and made her turn to face the hill. She locked on. She now understood the game and as soon as I gave her slack and went into half seat she leaped from a stand still into a gallop and charged up that hill. I laughed and tried to remain as much out of her way as possible.

After the third set I let her walk to cool down completely. She was breathing hard. I also noticed that even in 50 degree weather with the cold wind howling around us, she was stating to get sweaty.

We walked around for 5 minutes until I felt her breathing return to normal and then she walked like a lady back down the hill, turned around on her own accord and stopped with her ears back at me just waiting for the signal. She was enjoying this game.

Up we went three more times until the daylight was fading too much. She was breathing hard and was lathered, so I felt a little bad for her. I thought maybe I had pushed her too hard, but once we reached the bottom of the hill and I let her know we were heading into the woods and back to the barn she just took off on me. The trail is super narrow and twisting and is not safe to take at speed. I kept reminding her that we were no longer galloping and any feelings of pity I had for my poor tired pony went out the window. She had plenty of energy to spare!

Back in the barn, I threw her cooler on her to let her dry out without becoming chilled. I was so thankful for the clip job and I am sure she felt much cooler because of it. About 20 minutes later she was good and ready to go back outside and I left feeling warm and fuzzy inside.

This was easily one of the most fun and top 10 rides I have ever put in with Gem. We were both in harmony with each other and the plan for the day. Feeling her rippling muscles go from a halt to full blown gallop up the hill was amazing. She worked hard and I believe that these hill work outs are going to really help her butt, abdominals and cardiovascular system a ton.

I Need a New Helmet

Sunday morning was cold at 37F, but the weather forecasted a high of 68F and the sky was free of clouds. I layered up against the morning cold, but prepared to shed layers as the sun warmed up the earth. Winter may make a comeback yet, but it will only be halfhearted and won't last long. Spring is beginning to make an appearance. 

I arrived and hooked up the trailer. Now, I don't usually mention this because it is commonplace for me when I ride, however I don't think I have shown you all where my trailer is parked now. Below you will see the spot available for the trailer. 

That is the BO's rig on the left side of the picture. And on the right is a wagon of sorts.

It is like threading a needle and I will fully admit that while I am 100% comfortable hooking it up and pulling it out without damaging anything, I have yet to be brave enough to park it. Dusty and Wyatt have been coming with me lately and so I always hand him the keys when we get back. They did not join me this time, so I was a little nervous pulling out about my prospects of a safe return. Fortunately, he came out to meet me and pull blood for the BO's Coggins after the ride. I will eventually need to figure out how to get it in there, but for now I have dodged that bullet again.

Croft was on the docket again Sunday, but this time I wanted to explore the large loop that we rode last time a bit. I wanted roughly 10-12 miles and planned to keep her moving. Well, as we left the trailer I remembered my dressage whip was still inside it and didn't want to turn around to get it. I probably should have. We left the parking lot going the opposite direction we normally go and hit the trail on the left side of the road paralleling it. The footing was gross. Lots of roots and rocks with muddy patches and Gem was none too thrilled about moving out.

Reaching the trail head on a bright sunny morning

The trail was barely visible and hid rocks and roots that made Gem stumble. I let her walk through this section until I couldn't take it anymore and then we bailed on the trail and just went up to the road until we crossed the street and hit the trail I really wanted to ride. 

Once we were on a well delineated trail, I asked Gem to move out. She was in rare form. No physical limitations, but her mental game was way off. I know I've mentioned this before, but tree branches, stumps and logs are her nemesis. I have no clue what she sees, but she is 100% convinced that the dead wood is going to eat her. Unfortunately for my patience and ride plan, the large volume of rain followed by high winds created a lot of downed trees and branches and she took the opportunity to zig zag, spook and stop at every single one.

Look closely. Maybe you can find the wood monster lurking in the logs. I can't.

She was trotting along just fine and then BAM! on came the brakes with ears forward and eyes staring a hole through these logs. Sigh. We need to move to the desert. 

 She did open up when able, but honestly the footing wasn't so great anyway and I reconciled with the idea that we would be working on her mental game more than her physical one.

A really nice, steep hill that she balked at going up at first due tot he sloppy base. She went up it just find without slipping or sliding once she realized I wasn't going to cave in. 

I was starting to get very frustrated at the start and stop, spook, zig zag behavior when I recalled something vitally important. Last year, when out conditioning solo even on familiar trails, I was thrilled if I could get a 3.5 mph average and maybe get her up to 5 mph at all. And now here she was putting in honest 7 mph trots when the footing and terrain allowed and I was frustrated. It wasn't fair to her, although her annoying spooks weren't very fair to me, to not notice or reward the change that she has shown me. It was about mile 2 that I noticed this and it made me take a super deep breath and relax into the ride, no matter the pace.

There were trees down all over the place as well. They had spiky branches that made jumping them unsafe and we had to bushwhack a great deal to go around them. I am not a fan of bushwhacking, even on foot which is a trait that drives Dusty slightly batty when we hike. All this going off trail was wearing on me.

When we came upon that tree it was roughly mile 2.5 or so and there wasn't a really good way to make it around while still on her. I decided to get off and lead her around and also look her over really well. She was breathing harder than she should have this early into the ride with as much walking as we had been doing. 

I led her around and saw this look:

She was hot and sweating profusely in the sun and probably over 60F temperatures. She has yet to start to shed and her coat is super thick. I felt bad for her and decided to hand jog a ways down the trail. I also pulled the bit out and went with the side pull again. Her gas pedal was a non issue at this point. I was more worried about releasing the emergency brake she seemed to have gotten stuck.

Eventually the trail crossed a road and led to a river. It paralleled the river for a time and then made a sharp left across it.

That was the crossing. Pure rock. I didn't think it was all that smart to take her over mounted up and so I dismounted pleased with myself for wearing my tall waterproof and insulated boots. While my feet were beginning to roast, at least I wouldn't get wet. She crossed without a hesitation and the water came up over my ankles. This is when I learned something new.

Apparently these boots are only water proof up to just under the ankle and then they remain insulated but are most certainly not water proof. At this point Gem was looking extremely hot and we had gone roughly 4 miles or so.

Of note, Gem hates sweating. Seriously despises it. Her little princess self is above working hard enough to break a sweat. When I went to mount up on the other side of the river I saw this:

That is not the face of a happy mare

Fortunately, having crossed the river brought really great footing that was dry and was clear enough that she could see the roots and rocks. The trees were upright where they belonged instead of across the trail and she began to move out better.

The trail then came to a T intersection and I really had no clue where I was. The sign was pretty full of choices of trails and I looked around as for a suggestion as to where to go.

There were two barn signs. The one above that went to the left and was 6 miles and one directly across from it that said 3 miles. There was no sign on the trail we intersected with, but there was a small map and it appeared as though this trail made a big loop and ended back along my beloved Forest Mill trail (the one we always take from parking and is 6.5 miles).

Given that we had only gone roughly 4 miles at this point, I didn't really want to take the 3.3 mile trail and the 6 mile one seemed to head off to nowhere, so I kept going straight to see where it took me.

The trail became lovely double wide track begging for a canter and so I asked Gem. This was the first time in the side pull that I asked for a canter and I wondered how she would move. She responded really well and moved out great. In fact, since taking the bit out back 2+ miles before she had acted pretty much the norm for her. Not better really, but no worse so that was a great sign.

Eventually the trail came to another intersection and I was really confused. The map didn't show any intersections on the trail I thought I was on.  I was a bit worried about the temperatures continuing to rise and being out for too long, so I turned around and decided to go down the 3.3 mile trail. It would be a bit shorter than I wanted, but at least I would know where I was and that water was close at hand back at the trailer if she got really hot.

And then the best thing of the entire day happened. This trail dead ended into my beloved Forest Mills Loop anyway. I could then go right and be at the barn in 2 miles or go left and be back at the barn in 5 miles. The 5 mile way would take me over my favorite part of the trail and would also put us back right around 12 miles total, so I pointed her nose that way and off we went.

I wasn't the only one happy to recognize where we were. Gem knew exactly what trail this was and perked up tremendously. From this point on, while still a complete idiot about the wood, she moved out without any nagging from me. At one point the mile marker beeped on my watch and I thought we were poking along until I saw we were trotting at 9 mph.

Having spent so many miles in the saddle with Gem and a Garmin, I had built up a pretty reliable internal sense of her speed based on her footfalls and my posting. In the past, if I was working pretty hard at the posting I knew she was going about 4.5-5 mph, when I was comfortable and could relax it was around 6-7 mph, when I was going way fast and having a hard time keeping up it was roughly 8+, and when she began to break into canter it was around 10-12 mph.

Well, after spending the fall and winter working on her speed, she has changed it up on me. I was feeling like I did at her previous 6mph, but instead she was going 8-9mph. It is really good to see that it has all paid off!

Anyway, we flew around those 5.5 miles and ended up back at the barn in good form with her still asking to go. Even in the side pull, passing several groups of riders both coming towards us and going our direction, she was completely ratable and controllable with the side pull. It was a big win!

And then we were coming alongside the barn and through the camp ground. The arena was in sight with the trailers behind it and I stopped riding. Plain and simply, I relaxed and loosened my legs from her sides to stretch them out a bit and started thinking about the ride in April as we meandered at like 2 mph in the grass. It had been a mentally taxing ride for me keeping on the alert for her sudden stops and jumps and I breathed out to let it all go.

The little snot knew I wasn't paying any attention and even though there wasn't a single leaf, rock, stick or shadow she went sharply right and deposited me on the ground. It has been a very long time since she caught me that off guard and I fell hard. For the first time in my entire 25+ years of riding horses, my head hit the ground. I have fallen off plenty, but have never felt my head hit the earth. It wasn't hard, but it sure pissed me off.

I got up and she knew I was pissed. She wasn't scared of anything and there was no reason for that. None. I got on and made her trot forward. When she tried to jump at nothing I growled at her, dug my heels in to move her forward and smacked her on the neck. Not hard, but enough to get her attention. Once we made it to the arena, I made her go in and work in there trotting and cantering in straight lines without being an idiot. It took a while, but eventually her head dropped and she relaxed and after she went in each direction in a relaxed manner, I let her be done and we went to the trailer.

I untacked her, took her to get a bath and made her a mash. She looked hot and sweaty, but was still full of pep. I checked the helmet as well and while there was no dent, I will be replacing it promptly.

Poor Pete, the good horse, was left behind and feeling sorry for himself when I pulled back in. 

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.

Croft State Park 6/5/15

Friday I played hooky at work. I don't talk about work on the blog, but I had to fire an employee on Thursday and it gave me a migraine and made me nauseous. I really didn't like doing it, but man was this person a terrible employee. It just had to be done. In fact, I hadn't even realized how stressed I had become in the month this person worked for me and ever since Thursday I have been in a much better mood with less fatigue. It is amazing what stress does to a body.

I decided that it was time for a day off, so I took Gemmie to Croft State Park for a ride Friday.



Obligatory pre ride pic. I put the fleece leather covers back on and really liked them this time. I think the problem the first time around was my frozen legs at Pow Wow and not the covers.  She is almost looking like a real endurance horse. I just need to figure out the breast collar and she will be all set.



 Took a new to us trail that began alongside the river. Recent rains have filled it back up. The trail  was really soft and squishy and I let Gem just walk along on a loose rein to ease into things.

Single track trail through the trees.  Gem just wanted feeling it this day and I just let her keep walking. I can't remember the last time I just let her walk in the woods with me. Probably over 2 years ago.

The recent rains had caused a lot of fallen trees over the trail too. At one point I had to get off her because the second chunk of the tree was so low I was worried I would get scraped off. She was a really good girl through it all though. Eventually we left the river and dove deeper into the woods and then crossed a paved road to the other side of the state park.



As we moved along I saw this offshoot to a rocky creek. I saw hoof prints and thought that it didn't look very friendly given the rock shelf across it and went on by. About 50 feet later I saw a NO HORSES sign and had to turn around. The riding trail went across the creek.

The creek crossing. Gem was being level headed the entire time and didn't give me any reason to believe she wouldn't cross, but I was alone and didn't know 100% where I was in relation to the quickest way back to the parking lot. If Dusty had been hiking there I would have asked her to cross with me on board, but when I am completely alone I tend to be more cautious. I got off and led her across. She didn't balk one time unlike our last outing where she flat out refused to cross by that black anti erosion material.

2 hours into the ride I got off to give her back a break. We had basically walked the entire time and I was getting sore from it. I swear walking is way harder on me than trotting.  Gem enjoyed the break and moseyed along behind me.

While I was on foot I happened to look down and see this guy. He was very long and thankfully heading the opposite direction. I should probably learn my snake species because there are black snakes that I think are poisonous. He seemed unconcerned with us and we walked on by.

I got back on her and we trotted a little to get moving a bit. The trail plopped us out at this little beauty. This is Lake Johnson and was really pretty. I looked around for a place to get Gem wet, but the banks were all super steep and the water dropped off quickly.

More Lake Johnson

The trail along Lake Johnson was pretty perfect. I asked Gem to move out here and she refused. It wasn't in a pig headed cranky way, but in an odd way for her. Typically she will move off my leg well and be all fidgety or spooky if she isn't feeling it, but this day she just plumb wouldn't get going. It wasn't hot out. She had peed three times already so maybe she was in heat and just didn't have the energy? Either way, since she was being polite about it I didn't push it and we continued to enjoy the scenery at a walk.

I had wanted 10 miles and studied the map prior to getting on. There are several smaller loops that interconnect and by the time we left Lake Johnson to head into the woods again I thought we were about 1-2 miles away. The trail came across an intersection and I looked to my right to see this sign. I laughed and apologized to Gemmie telling her that I must have missed something and we were actually doing 15.

Before I turned right I looked down the trail towards and left and saw this sign. Gem lucked out that I did!

There were quite a few climbs on this trail that were very rocky. By this point we were 9 miles in and she continued to not be herself. I began to worry that she was foot sore. I hopped off and hand walked her up this gravel hill to give her a break. She seemed to appreciate it and I watched her legs closely. Nothing was off and she was heel first landing, but wasn't walking off with as much confidence as usual.

This is Lake Craig. This is the normal trail we hike on with the dogs and Wyatt. I often times will see boats out on this lake.

The sandy lane that goes along the lake. To the left of the picture is the lake and to the right is a creek. Both sides are super steep and while I am tempted to gallop down it, a single spook could take us head over heels over the edge.

At the far end of the lane is this. Gem hates this. It is a large drain that empties the lake to the creek on the other side of the lane. It is super loud and hidden around the bend. She walked past it this time without too much of an issue, but the first time I tried she was a mess.

We ended up back at the barn. I believe the barn has 30+ stalls and can be rented out for use daily or overnight. There is a camp ground area for rigs too that is about 1/4 mile or less down the road. As far as I know you can't personally camp outside the camp area, so no primitive camping with your horse. There are three large grassy day parking areas that would be excellent for camping, but I am not sure if they would allow overnight use of those or not. I would love to put on an endurance ride here.

10 miles and 3 hours 45 minutes later we arrived back at the trailer. It was very slow going and I can't remember the last time we walked that much. At the end I think she was either in heat, foot sore or bored of going out alone. I contacted a local endurance friend and made plans to ride next weekend together so I can see how Gem moves then.