In Which I Manage To Get Arrested For Shrubbery

Yeah...2015 has been a banner year. I think an adult night of watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail with a big old glass of vodka is in order. You know, cause of the shrubbery thing.

So here's the thing. I'm a rules following kind of person. Straight and narrow, never in trouble, good student, the whole nine yards. The worst thing I have ever done is get a speeding ticket. (Unless you ask the husband - he may say the worst thing I ever did was back into the cop car and put a big hole in his bumper...but that's a different story).

You can only imagine my surprise then on Tuesday when I opened the mail to see a big old WARRANT FOR MY ARREST.

I went into panic mode: what am I getting arrested for? Will this go on my record? Will I have to report this to my licensing board? Will they then revoke my license? Will I be out of a job? Would I survive in jail? Are the cops coming to my work? My house? What is going on here?

Orange really isn't my color. I guess I could rock some stripes though.

Dusty had one too which was both a relief and even more frazzling. If we both got arrested, what would happen to Wyatt??

WHY AM I ON THE MOST WANTED LIST??!?!?!?

The warrant was issued in OH, a state we haven't lived in for many years. A quick call (or 5) to the courthouse and the answer was revealed:

We had an unruly hedgerow at our rental house.

Wait? What?!?

There is a warrant issued for my imminent arrest for.....unkempt shrubbery?

Then the panic was replaced with a deep seated, fuzzy, red anger.

In a world of racism, terrorism, mass shootings, bombings, drugs, woman and child trafficking and black market weapons, my overgrown bush is such a priority that I would be arrested for it? Seriously? That's an arrestable offense???

To make matters worse, we have a property management group who gets part of each month's rent to manage the property. We hired them to collect the rent, handle tenant issues, fix things that go wrong and make sure the property meets all codes at all times. You know, to avoid things such as fines. I guess I should have been more clear that they also needed to avoid getting me arrested.

To be fair, we had received a citation back in the summer for the bushes not being trimmed, dog poop being in the yard, the house needing painting and some other things. We paid to do all the things that were on the list and our responsibility, but made it perfectly clear that yard maintenance, including the hedgerow separating the yard from the sidewalk, was the tenants responsibility. The management group said they would get it all fixed and then even went so far as to email us and tell us it was handled and completed.

Apparently not.

Tuesday was a blur. Dusty called and called and called and called the prosecutor to try to figure things out. Would we need to go to OH to clear our names? So many questions. He left 5 messages and then began calling again on Wednesday. The poor prosecutor apparently only works Thur-Fri, but having been blasted with a million calls from us, he kindly called us from home on Wednesday morning.

As of today the warrant has been lifted.

I am no longer a fugitive.

We have to fix the hedgerow (contacted someone and they will be trimming them ASAP), have the city inspector out to verify and then everything will go away.

Well, not everything. Once everything is officially erased I will be contacting the management group. It won't be pretty.

25 Questions Answered

It is raining. Again. With standing water everywhere, the next pace is sure to be postponed and there is precisely nothing going on with Gem at the moment. So, to jump on the bored blogger bandwagon, here are my answers to those ubiquitous questions popping up on horse blogs.

Mares or Geldings? Why?In all my time riding I have been on two geldings and countless mares. There are times when I wish I was on a gelding who just did what I asked in a good natured sort of way and was the exact same every ride, but then I get on my opinionated, highly intelligent, sentient being of a mare and remember why it is that I love mares so much. I want an opinionated partner. I want to learn and grow and build a relationship based on mutual respect. I must be insane.

Green Broke or Fully Broke?
I am a one horse woman and when I get a horse it is for keeps. Given that, while I don't really want a been there done that plod of a horse, with specific goals in mind in a sport I wish to pursue, I need a horse that has some basic experience so that I know they will be a good fit. This wasn't the case with Gem, but back then I didn't have any goals except to enjoy my horse. With my next horse I want to be sure they can perform the tasks that endurance requires both physically and mentally. I don't want to buy a green broke horse with no experience in endurance just to find out they can't handle camping, trails, etc...

Would You Own A Hotter Breed?
I do now although I prefer the Arab crosses to full blooded. 

What Was Your Dream Horse Growing Up?
There wasn't any specific breed that I can recall. I just wanted a horse of my own.

What Kind of Bits Do You Use And Why?
Gem has been in a full cheek French link snaffle with a copper lozenge for several years now. She seems to be fine with it. I want to try a baucher on her though. When she went in her leather bridle I used bit keepers that allowed for a more stable bit in her mouth and she really seemed to like that. My bit keepers do not find on my halter/bridle and I think a Baucher would be a nice change for her to give her a similar feel to the full cheek with more stability in her mouth.

Helment or No Helmet?
A helmet. Every ride. All the time.

Favorite Horse Color?
A nice strong bay with obvious black legs, amen and tail. My dream color is a light buckskin with jet black legs, mane and tail.

Least Favorite Horse Color?
Cremello, palomino and overly flea bitten. I owned a mare with white around her eyes and she had cancer that required surgery and chemo treatments. I will never own a horse with pink around the eye again.

Dressage or Jumping?
Jumping is more fun, but only on a horse that will safely do it and enjoys it. Gem is not that horse.

How Many Years Have You Been Riding?
 For forever. Let's see....close to 30 in all, but there were large breaks in there for college and medical school.

Spurs/Whip or No Spurs/Whip?
When the occasion calls for it and when used properly, I am not against either.

Your First Fall?
Too long ago to remember. My first fall off Gem was back in Ohio when I first had her. Dusty was riding Pete with us in the indoor and the trainer put the sprinkler on to water the dusty footing. It was one of those old fashioned kinds that spurted and sprayed going clockwise and then rushed back in a  steady stream counterclockwise. Dusty rode Pete along the outside wall and he got a little spray on his lower legs without an issue. When I went to go, he decided to cut on the inside of us. Pete then got blasted full force in the chest which freaked even Mr. Unflappable out. Gem was trapped between him and the wall and had no clue what was going on, so she bolted. I landed in the fresh mud.

When Was The Last Time You Rode And What Did You Do?
Last Sunday and we kicked butt at the hunter pace.

Most Expensive Piece of Tack You Own?
Saddle for sure.

How Old Were You When You Started Riding?
I started being ponied by my uncle around the age of 3 and slowly graduated to my own pony then horse and so on.

Leather or Nylon Halters?
Nylon. Gem's halter sits on the pasture gate 24/7 and a leather one would be ridiculous. I also like the fun colors you can get and have an outdoor halter in some indiscriminate color plus her "show" halter which is red and black and monogrammed with her name on it.

Leather or Synthetic Saddles?
This is tricky. For ease of use I like synthetic, but I've never really been able to sink into one and be comfy. For that I really like leather.

What Type of Reins Do You Like?
I hate rubber reins and I really hate the ones with the knobby things on them. How do people ride with those? I like the leather lace reins and have some odd nylon type ones now.

English or Western?
English for sure, but Gemmiepants fits way better in the rigging available with western saddles so we are in a western based endurance saddle at the moment.

How Many Horses Do You Currently Own/Lease?
Technically two since we are married and therefore Pete is also mine, but I rarely do anything with him.

Do You Board Your Horse? Full Board? Self Care? etc.?
Pasture board at probably the best place we have ever boarded. Some day we will get our own farm, but I have been saying that for 15 years now, so who really knows.

Have You Ever Put Down A Horse You Loved?
I find the distinction of "You Loved" here to be really odd. Would it be different if it wasn't a horse you loved? How many people go around putting down horses they do not love? Anyway...to answer the question...no.

How Many Saddle Pads Do You Have?
 2 in service (Reinsman tacky too pad and ThinLne endurance pad), plus two AP trail pads that are somewhere in my garage.




Reinsman

Slant-Load or Straight-Load Trailer?
Straight load all the way for two horse. Above that and to save space and not be driving around a semi truck, slant load.

Why Do You Ride?
Riding is the only time in y entire life that my brain just shuts to poop up. Running, spinning, work, driving etc...it is always churning away with lists of thing to do, worries, dreams, hopes, or the fact that I hate running. When I get up on Gem it just shuts off. Everything is quiet and I focus on the ride, the horse under me and enjoying the moment.

Windridge HP Results

We came in 5th again :)

Optimum time was 1:08 and we came in at 1:00:29, so we were over 7 minutes too fast.

Season standings have not been updated yet, but going into this we were sitting in 7th overall. I think we will end up moving to 6th after this event.

I'm obsessively checking for the pictures to be posted as well. I had Gem in a lovely canter when we approached the photographers and I don't think I have any pictures of me cantering her to date. Hopefully they got a good shot.

One more pace left before the winter break which is slated for this weekend, but I think it will get postponed a week with all the rain we are getting. After that there is nothing until the winter Biltmore ride at the end of January. I am really excited for that one. They expanded the course to be 15 miles so that we can ride by the house. Plus it is only $40 which is the lowest price to ride at Biltmore you will find.

Wind ridge HP: Gem actually works!

I made two mistakes and did one thing incredibly right during this hunter pace. Oh, and Dusty made me laugh for hours. Overall it was a success!

Mistakes made:

1) I always wear a sports bra to ride and didn't think anything of it while getting ready Sunday morning. I bruised or cracked a rib fighting off a terrible bout of bronchitis earlier in the month and the pain had subsided considerably the week prior. The sports bra must have put just the right pressure on just the right spot because I had an aching, throbbing pain on the left side of my chest all day.

2) When I went to grab my saddle I remembered that I had shortened my left stirrup a hole during the last pace and regretted it. I grabbed the left stirrup and thought I lengthened it a hole to make up for it. As soon as I mounted up I realized my errors. First, the saddle had been backwards on the saddle rack in the trailer so I really messed with the right stirrup and not the left. Second, I shortened it again instead of lengthened it so now I was riding with two stirrups that were too short, although equal. Oops. I should have gotten off and changed them, but I didn't and instead thought I would fix it at the half way point. Only this ride didn't have a half way point. Oh well. I will make sure to lengthen them again before the next ride.

But enough of the mistakes. What was the one thing I did incredibly right?

After Gem was being a stubborn mule on the ground I grabbed the dressage whip to ride with for the first time

Last pace Gem was pokey and behind my leg even though we rode with Waffles. She came off the course dry as a bone while everyone else was dripping with sweat and I vowed to get her bay butt moving in the future. Haley was unable to join us which granted me the ability to get down and dirty with Gem.

Historically, she is really hard to maintain a pace over 4 mph when out solo. She weaves down the trail acting like everything will kill her and it gets really annoying. As we started off down a grassy lane cut through a pasture, she began ping ponging left and right down the trail trying to find anything to spook at.

I asked her nicely to move forward and she ignored me. I then lightly tapped her on the shoulder with the whip to encourage her. She ignored that too. So then I popped her with it on the right shoulder while giving her rein to allow her to fly forward in response. The last thing I wanted to do was to get her moving forward only to pop her in the mouth and trap her.

She surged forward as expected and then I gently asked her to collect up and come back to me, but keep moving forward. She did and I didn't have to ask her as strongly again the entire ride.

The trail was basically the same as the ride we did there in May and I had my hands full of reins and whip so I didn't grab as many pictures.

We were alone with the horses who left right ahead of us in view for the first couple of miles, but then caught them going up the only large hill on the course. I wanted to maintain a steady pace throughout with walk breaks only when the terrain absolutely required it.

Nearly at the top

Not the best view

 We ended up passing another group as we made it back down the hill and never saw them again. The other ladies, who had left right in front of us, would play leap frog with us the rest of the ride.

The trail left the woods by mile 3 and spent the next two travelling along the cross country course. We flew along here. I remembered how this stretch felt like it never ended in the heat of May with a horse who was sluggish and the unknown horse injury that occurred at the start weighing on my mind (this was the ride where Dusty helped the down horse who ended up not making it). This time however, Gem was on fire and we cantered along with a huge grin on my face.

When my watch beeped at 5 miles I was a little concerned that we hadn't made it to the half way point yet. The rides are all 6-12 miles in length and that would put us at a minimum of 11 miles. No big deal, she can handle it, but she was getting plenty hot and the weather was near 70 degrees. I would need to slow down if it was going to be that long.

Then at 6 miles I saw the finish line. At first I though I had to have missed a turn or something, but the other ladies were in sight behind us and there was nothing left to do but cross the line. We cantered across in style for the first time and I was so happy with Gem.

I really hate the changing of the seasons. Gem always looks odd to me as she changes from grass to hay/grain in the fall and then from her hay/grain back to grass in the spring. 

Gemmie looked like she had actually put forth some effort for the first time since our 50 last February. The water from the hose was bitterly cold, but she seemed to enjoy having the sweat scrubbed off her. She also got a soupy mash.

Derby mare face

After she was satisfied and tucking into a big bag of hay, we wandered over to lunch. I haven't stopped laughing since. Poor Dusty.

I turned in my number and the lady pointed to the food table. "There is rice and soup over here (pointing to the right side of the table) and bread and crackers over there (pointing to the left side of the table).

I wasn't hungry, but I always purchase an extra lunch for Dusty to eat and he made his way over using what I had been told as a guideline. I grabbed Wyatt some crackers and croutons to eat and when Dusty came to sit with us he had this:

The black thing in the bowl is a clove

It looked pretty unappealing and smelled odd for soup, but he said that was the only crock pot on the right side of the table and it was right next to the rice they said to use with it. We both figured it was some odd southern broth over rice thing we had just never heard of.

As he ate I keep seeing people leave the food area with what appeared to be very yummy veggie soup, so I asked him if i could try his. I took a big spoonful and nearly yakked.

"That tastes a lot like hot apple cider. Are you sure thats soup?"

Turns out he ladled the hot apple cider into his bowl thinking it was soup and choked down the whole thing. It was really funny.

Gem looked great back at the trailer and we headed home tired and happy. I'm not sure how much I will be using the dressage whip in the future, but I think it was a great tool to help her learn that she still needs to move forward down the trail even when alone. I had a great time and the results should be interesting.

I have never put in an 8 mph mile when solo on her. Ever. It was great to have her moving out beneath me solo like she will when in company.

Waterfall Hunt 2015: Cedar Creek Falls

Last year we decided to start a new tradition: each thanksgiving morning would be spent finding a new waterfall to tire out the pups and work on our appetites. We hit up Isaqueena Falls last year and considers it a success.

I grabbed the trusty hiking boot a day early this year and thumb through to find our next target. We decided on Cedar Creek Falls which was about 90 minutes away, a 1.2 mile hike which both Wyatt and Bones could handle and had a neighboring falls not officially listed in the book but mentioned in the comments as nearby but not safely accessible.

We travelled back over to Sumter National Forest in Walhalla, SC and made our way down dusty dirt roads to find the trail head: a gated Forest Service road. It felt like we were in the middle of nowhere and hunting trucks were dotted alongside the road here and there for deer season.

We all jumped out of the van and started down the FS road following the description in the book which said to go 1/4 mile before turning right at some boulders.

I had bought Wyatt a new coat and chose the pretty bright orange color without thinking about hunting safety. I was really glad he had it on as we made our way down the road and ran into a guy out hunting. 

Wyatt running and laughing his way down the road with Bones limping along behind him. 

Bones still has a lot of spunk at 8 years old and with a massive tumor in her front left leg. Dusty had given her a week to live back in March. She has done a great job at proving him wrong. 

The FS road was all downhill to start and ended at two large boulders. The book said to turn right at the first set and we saw a blue blaze marking the trees.

Bones found the first puddle and jumped right in. She loves the water. 

Einstein doesn't have any undercoat and gets cold way easier than Bones. He jumped int he puddle after her and quickly regretted it. He spent the next few minutes rolling in the leaves. 

This trail led down to a small creek and the book warned us that there was a steep scramble about 40 feet vertically down to the falls. I was really worried about Bones making it down this. We had debated leaving her behind, but Dusty wanted to give her as much outdoor time as possible. We let her make up her own mind and pick her way down s Dusty carried Wyatt.

Making their way down to the falls

Once I made it down, I was so glad we chose this one. It was absolutely gorgeous!! Be prepared for photo spamming below.

Cedar Creek Falls which feeds into the Chauga River

Einstein got in the water again and then started shivering

Bones. You can see how large her left front leg tumor is just above her foot

Looking down stream with the falls at my back. The horizon line is Blue Hole Falls. Below that is a steep walled canyon that has no safe way to make it down to the bottom. 

I walked down a ways to see what I could of the lower falls

Dusty took Wyatt s far as he could and actually saw a lot of the Blue Hole Falls. I am a wimp though and didn't make it as close. 

Stolen from Dusty's phone as I did not make it this far down the side of the falls

Looking back to Cedar Creek Falls 

The creek flowing between the two

 As I made my way back to the boys and dogs this is what I saw:

Wyatt hd wanted to get in and I had told him he couldn't get his shoes all wet and cold. When he made it back to Cedar Creek Falls without me he quickly ditched the shoes, socks and his pants too. Boys. 

Einstein ditched the water and found a nice stick to chew

We grabbed a quick and very rare selfie of us all in front of the falls as well

Wyatt is working on his camera face. When he is asked to smile this is what he does. 

I also asked Dusty if he could snag a shot of Bones and I. I thought the falls in the background would make for a wonderful photo of my baby girl and I was right. I absolutely adore this photo and hope print it out and frame it.

My favorite shot of Bones and I ever

Last but not least here is my favorite pictures of the entire day:

Proof he wore pants

Loving life

After everyone was cold and wet we scrambled up the hill and hit the trail back to the FS road. It was a great morning and we were all hungry for my mum's Thanksgiving dinner later that afternoon.

Wordless Wednesday: Satin

Multi Day 50s Versus Two Day 100

It is that time of year again. I am about to renew my AERC membership (a little late - oops!) and have been perusing the ride calendar for 2016. It is a little frustrating because a lot of rides are not on it yet, but by looking back over 2015 and guessing which will recur this year I can put together a rough plan of attack.

While doing so I noticed that the spring ride I am aiming for offers up a two day 100. This rang some alarm bells deep in my brain and I recalled a Facebook blow up about two day 100s and whether or not they should exist. As I recall the main point of contention was that they are reported the same as one day 100s and as such the rider gets points and bragging rights that those who ride one day 100s do not believe they deserve. I believe nothing came of the cat fight and I didn't get involved because I believe that you should mind your own crap and stay out of everyone else's. Plus I always shake my head at those who give a crap about what distances others ride as if it has any bearing on their own accomplishments. But I digress...

I am already planning on doing a multi day in April, but the thought of a two day 100 is very intriguing. For those who haven't heard of these the main difference between a two day 100 and riding two separate 50s is that if you fail to complete on the second day, you get a whole lot of nothing. It is 100 miles or bust even though you get the night off between the two 50 mile rides. The benefit is that you get credit for 100 miles for both your record and in the point system which grants you a big advantage over having singed up and completed the same 100 miles, but as two separate 50 mile rides. More of a risk, but a bigger reward.

Personally, I don't care about points since I don't attend enough rides to make them matter and my ride record is useless in my life except when talking about endurance. Neither of those plays any part in my decision.

So why would I personally chose to do one over the other?

Well, to start the two day 100 is cheaper. It is $130 versus paying for two 50s at $90 each. Even with the multi ride discount of $10, to do the same rides would be $40 cheaper as a two day 100. Then there is the extra challenge that a two day 100 brings. Yes it is the same distance, same course and same basic rules except if I don't finish all of it, I don't get anything. This means that I would have to get up and ride the next morning even if I'm sore or grumpy or not in the mood. I risk losing everything. While I don't really care about points and such, the two day 100 historically has like 2 or 3 riders in it. Even if I finish dead last I still top 10 :) Plus the fact that few do it means that it has its own bragging rights and such.

The downside? I only get to two rides a year (part of why I want to start doing multi days) and I am still shooting for that elusive decade team (one 50 a year for 10 years). If we complete day 1 but get pulled day 2 then I just lost my spring bid for our decade team 50. It puts a lot of stress on the fall ride which I am hoping to avoid because that ride is going to be used for something more important.

Again, more risk equals more reward, but is the risk worth it?

I have plenty of time to decide and part of it will depend on how good Gem is doing heading into it. It will be our first ride back since her injury and although the ride is very barefoot friendly, I plan to use it as my test run of the Easy Care NG shoes. So maybe doing two 50s would be smarter. I just don't know.

Opinions?