Disapointment, new blankets

Last weekend (Oct.8th) was the last endurance of the season here in Alberta. I hauled Player down to do another 50, which ended up being a 55, however I decided to "RO" (rider option) out after the first loop. It was too bad, I was having a fun ride with a girl I only get to see at endurance rides, but it was the right choice. The ride was split into 3 loops, the first 2 were 21 miles and the last one 13. Unfortunately, Player hit a gopher hole pretty hard and fell to his knees during that first loop. When we went to vet in he was off, so I decided to wait until the end of my hold and vet in again. He was still off on his left front. So I decided the pull. This was a *very* challenging ride and I figured it was not worth another 21 mile loop to hurt him even worse, and get pulled by the vets anyways. So it was disapointing, however talking to other riders they all say it happens from time to time. The vet figures he just strained a muscle, so he is getting lots of time off and massage work.

I was planning to give Player 2-3 months off this winter anyways, he worked so hard this summer he deserves a break. I honestly think a little break like that is good for a horse too. It's lets his body rest and heal, and is good for his mind too. Just let him hang out and "be a horse". I was going to wait until the snow flies to do it, but I am going to start it now instead since he needs some time off now anyways. By the time he's ready to go again the snow will most likely be here anyways. It snowed the other night, and yesterday if you looked in the shadows along the house it didn't melt there. Winter is on the way!

So now it's time to focus on LJ again. The plan is to do arena work with him, and start hauling to an indoor near us once the snow is here a few times/week. Then after Christmas or maybe in February (depending on weather) I will get corks put back on both of them and start conditioning again.
I got LJ a new winter blanket. I am hoping to clip them once I start conditioning again, so as soon as the temps get low enough (consistantly below freezing) the blankets will be on 24/7. I ended up getting a 72" for the lil' guy.

I'm hoping to update this more often now :) LJ is going back into boot camp starting Sunday!

Rolling Hills - 50 miles!!

Saturday (Sept.10th) Player and I did our first 50 mile race!! And it quite honestly could not have gone any better :D I am SO proud of my boy! It sounds quite sappy, but I really feel like my bond with Player was strengthened over this ride. I clicked with him right from day one, but I can say over this summer he and I have gotten to know eachother inside and out.

My hubby couldn't come to this ride so I was crewing for myself. I pulled in Friday evening and chose a great parking spot next to a wonderful lady who helped me out a lot. She even leant me some panels to use instead of my usual tying to the trailer. I should have known better. Player figured out that crashing his chest against the corner panel would gradually losen and open it, and escaped on me Friday night! Luckily he just want to the neighbour's trailer to hang out with her horse. TURD! He is so much more active that LJ...LJ just sleeps and hangs out. Player is always looking for trouble!!

So handsome, but mischevious!

Anyways, he vetted in good with all A's. Unfortunately there was no photographer at this ride, but I rode with a girl whose husband was there and he snapped a few of us at the vet checks. She said she's going to e-mail me them so when she does I will post them.

Saturday morning the ride started out at 7:30 am. I started dead last, but Player was still worked up and we ended up passing a bunch of people (at a sideways prance...LOL). I was a bit worried as I'm sure Player was thinking we were just doing 25 miles, as usual, and was going to tire himself out. Luckily I was able to get him steadied out after a few miles into his nice steady pace.

This ride was at the same place as the last one, so I knew the trails which was nice. We did each loop twice. The first loop was 13 miles, the second 12 miles. You should have seen Player when I tossed my saddle back on him after our 2nd hold..."Wait...aren't we supposed to be DONE now lady?!" LOL! He was so confused as to what the heck I was doing to him. We took it easier that 3rd loop though, at that vet check he just about gave me a heart attack. First vet check he was all A's, 2nd vet check all A's except he got a B in gait! The vet figured it could just be the ground (the one side of the arena we vetted in at was not worked up) so let us go on. I slowed our pace for the 3rd loop and paid extra attention to Player's gait, which felt fine to me. After that 3rd loop he vetted in all A's again, even in gait, and I trotted him out on the worked up ground so the ground must have been in the issue.

The 4th loop was our best :D Player was feeling great, caught his second wind and really got in his groove. This was definitely our funnest loop as well! It just felt perfect. I always get off him about 1/4 mile before the vet checks to come and lead him in, I do find it helps a lot to drop his heart rate faster. So I did at the end there too and he practically drug me across the line! LOL! I was WAY more tired than he was! Plus there were a few girls who did the 25 cheering us on at the end (everybody loves Player, mister quirky! LOL!) that had him perking his ears and arching his neck as if to say "I am awesome, aren't I?!".

We ended up finishing just a few seconds before 4:00 pm, so in 6 hrs 29 min 54 sec and in 5th place (we had two 30 minute holds and a 60 minute hold at the vet checks)! WAHOO! He vetted out with only an A- in skin tenting. Much better than I thought, I figured we'd drag our exhausted butts over the line at like 8 hours! LOL! Like I said earlier, I was a lot more tired than Player was. However I wasn't near as sore as I thought I'd be, and it wasn't as draining as I thought it'd be. I will admit emotionally it was pretty draining though, I was just about in tears at the finish I was so proud of my horse!

He did give me the BIGGEST stink eye after I vetted and washed him down at the end....I threw my saddle back up on him so he could carry it up to the trailer and he figured I was getting him ready to go for another loop LOL His head just dropped..."seriously? is this ever going to end?!" LOL Hmmm well one day I'll find out his reaction to what 100 miles will be like hopefully :D He was still all perky and nickering and being a turd in his pen after the ride, so not near as tired as me (who may have passed out in the lawn chair I had set up right beside his pen).

Great news is that they have added another ride this fall, so this wasn't our last one for the year! Oct.8th (Thanksgiving long weekend here in Canada) they are having another one, down south near Okotoks this time and Player and I will be tackling another 50 mile/80 km ride. I am SO excited we get to do another one this year! I am totally addicted to the longer distance now, 25 milers stink compared to the 50's. I know I'll need to do a few with LJ next year to build him up to 50's, but I hope I can get him built up fairly quickly. Which will require a lot of conditioning at home but that's ok with me!

Horseshoe Lake ride

I just want to say, I LOVE my horses. Especially Player right now. He was such a super star last weekend for me! He has the biggest heart and we work so well together. I love his quirky personality and how he just wants to work for me. He is the first Arabian I've ever owned, and the reason I fell in love with breed and wanted more :D

Last weekend, Aug.26th, Player and I loaded up to head up to the Horseshoe Lake endurance ride. I decided to do another LDR (25 miles) with him. It was a great ride, I'd been on those trails last year and really enjoyed them. The weather was perfect, not too hot or too cold and no rain!

This was definitely the best ride Player and I have ever had! We ended up finishing 4th and our time was about 3 hours, 15 minutes (waiting for the results on the ERA website so I can see our exact time). We started off about mid-pack but soon caught up to the front people. Player was feeling good and really wanting to go, but after a few miles I held him back to ride with the 2nd group of people. He has such a huge heart, he never lets me know when he's tired and just pushes through it so I really have to keep an eye on him and pace him myself. At the vet check he was all A's except for a B in gut sounds, which was my fault I should have let him eat more before vetting in.

Our 2nd loop was a lot harder than the first. Lots of bush whacking, I rode with 2 other ladies (one on a really cool Rocky Mountain Horse! <3 him!) and we were wondering at times where the heck they were sending us LOL! It seemed in a few spots like we were making new trails for them ;) There were lots of twists and turns, and we had to ride along a fire guard from the forest fire there last year. So there was a lot of rough riding through the bush and over logs so we did a lot of walking on that loop. The trail is nice though and there was lots of water, and Player always eats and drinks so well so I had no worries on hydration.

When we came in from our 2nd loop Player pulsed down right away, ate and drank and vetted in with all A's!!! Hurray!! What a good pony I have :) I feel like I finally have a good base on him and like he's ready for a 50.

Our next ride is Sept.10th (a week! eek!). Unfortunately it is our last ride of the season :( I wish there were one in October but not this year. I have decided to leave LJ at home to make his debute next spring in the endurance world. I am a bit disapointed to do so but I really want to do a 50 this year with Player. I feel he is fit enough and I'm quite excited to tackle that many miles!!

So I'm already making preparations for it that I don't usually do for a 25....saddle bags (or small back pack?), electrolytes, snacks and water for me on the trail (I usually just wait to eat and drink myself at the vet check, but 50 miles is a lot longer than 25 so I'll need to refuel on the trail I'm sure!), sponge for wetting down Player...so much to pack and plan! This ride will be at the same place the last one was, so I know both loops well now (we will do each loop twice for a 50) and am planning out my ride accordingly. Another girl I met there might be trying her first 50 as well, so we are definitely going to hang back and start at the back and just take it slow and aim for completions. No placing goals for our first one, just get the horses (and ourselves!! LOL!) through it.

Player is feeling good and ready to take on the 50 miles with me! He's such a great partner on the trail :)

Only one scary thing though, there was A LOT of fall foliage on the trail...we were riding through quite a bit of red and orange leaves. Today's high is 12 C (54 F) and it's been getting scarily close to 0 C at night. Summer really is coming to a close :( I will say I do love autumn and all the colours and cooler weather, despite the fact that it means winter will be here in a couple months. I'm already planning my winter riding schedule and starting to winterize the horse pasture (got a new round bale feeder for them, now just to get LJ a new winter blanket and hopefully have time to throw up a new pole shed for them). Also, new tires for the truck so I can pull the trailer out of a snow bank to haul to a  nearby indoor arena for riding!

Ya Ha Tinda

Hubby and I have been super busy lately! The last 3 days (Aug 5-7) we spent out west in the mountains on the Ya Ha Tinda ranch with the horses. This is an awesome gov't park where you can come in and camp and ride, free of charge, and there and tons of gorgeous (and challenging ;)) trails. Hubby and I usually get out here at least once every summer, but we are hoping to go back in September this year again.
http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/ab/banff/activ/activ35.aspx

This was LJ's first trip out here, and he did quite well. On Friday we did just a did short, hour long ride after we set up camp. We ended up getting caught in the rain near the end! Player has been out here before, and is experienced with endurance and CTR now, so he is our good steady eddy out there. LJ was quite nervous the first day, didn't like the rocky footing and a few times got into "race mode" with Player :D However after hubby had a discussion with him he settled down quite nicely.

Saturday we went for a long ride. The longest LJ has ever done. We did about 25-30 miles, but suuuuper slow. We walked probably 90% of it. The terrain out there is something LJ has never experienced, so long slow distance was our aim with him this weekend. The rocky trails, big tree roots, super steep hill climbs and descends, and creek crossings were all band new to him and he handled it all very well. In fact much better than Player did on his first mountain outing a couple years ago (he bucked me off LMAO)!! Player is still a diva about water, likes to go in sloooowly (dips his toes first to make sure it's ok ;)). LJ suprised us at the first creek crossing and dove right in before Player even dipped a toe. No hesitation for water crossings on his part! We didn't end up doing any of the trails that crossed the river, we have had an unusual amount of rain this year and the river is the highest we've ever seen it and running fast this year too. We just didn't feel safe tackling it this year. Anyways, LJ had a couple little spook-in-places where he got poked by long grass or short trees, but his one-reined stop is solid and his spooks are 2 second prances/humping up his back snort fests :D Quite comical actually. However by the end of the ride he was acting like a broke old mountain pony, going along just as calmly as Player. I was SO happy with him <3

Sunday we did a shorter, 3 hour ride before we packed up to come home, which went well as well. Got in some different terrain and some good hill climbs, and LJ was finally figuring out how to use his booty to get up those hills! He is definitely sloooow at the steep hill climbs as he's not as conditioned for that as Player is, but it won't take long until he is rocking them too. He definitely out trotts Player on the flats and downhill. I'm quite excited about the next few years with him!

Overall it was a fantastic trip. I just LOVE it out there! It just feels like home :)

Pics

Creek crossing, no problem!

Yes, I need to trim those bridle paths...LOL

I really wish you could see my face in this one :P

Heaven <3

We ended up getting a flat tire on the horse trailer on the way home, so we made it home a bit later than we wanted but that's ok. Horses are turned out and happy to be home and resting. I had 2 horses to massage this afternoon, and now we're packing up and getting ready to leave tomorrow for a trip to Vancouver to see family! We will get home Sunday or Monday so the horses will get a very well deserved week off.



Little John

Yesterday was a gorgeous, sunny day so hubby and I took the boys out on an 8 mile loop down the road. Player's first ride since the endurance ride last weekend and he did great, barely broke a sweat and it was hot out too! Hubby rode LJ so I got to see him move. WOW. His trott is absolutely amazing, and blows Player's out of the water :D Player's is good but not near as floaty and nice and LJ's. LJ is a lot faster too. I think once he's fit enough for a 50 he's going to be amazing! He just covers ground so nice and his extension is beautiful. And he settles down into that and just loves to go, ears perked forward and enjoying himself so much. I loved watching him go, usually I'm in the seat so I can feel how good he is but never get to see how pretty he looks going down the trail haha! I wish I had remembered my camera to get some pics.

He has settled down SO MUCH. He used to spook and everything, even long grass touching his belly or a tree branch brushing up against him (or mole hills on the ground hahaha!). Now he barely blinks an eye :) We even met some friends driving down the road and stopped to chat, and their dog started barking at him and he was FINE! I was so so so happy because he had a major fear of dogs (remember that incident in January when he got me off in a snow bank? LOL), and this time he just looked a little but hung out fine. We passed a driveway with a barking dog too and he just trotted along past and didn't even side step. So proud of my boy!! He's turning into a broke horse!

August.20th will be his first ride. A CTR and hubby is going to ride Player on it with us so he'll have his buddy. I'm really looking forward to it! I think he's going to be just fine. We are also heading out west in 2 weeks with both ponies to the Ya Ha Tinda for 3 or 4 days of camping/trail riding in the mountains which will do him a world of good! I'm quite excited for that too. And I promise to take a zillion pics!

I am really starting to think LJ could be my 100 mile horse in a few years!

There are 2 more endurance rides and one more CTR I hope to make after the one on Aug.20th. I am thinking Player and I will tackle a 50 miler in September if he's feeling up to it! He handled the 25 last weekend with energy to spare and I could maybe do one on him in August but I am focusing on getting LJ started and making hubby and one of my friends ride Player along the 25's with us for the 2 rides in August.

Horse Creek Ranch Ride - July 16, 2011

Player and I had our first endurance ride of the year last weekend, up at Fort Assiniboine, AB. About a 3 and a half hour drive from here. We just did the 25 mile. What a great weekend!! Hubby and I had a BLAST. There is seriously no better crowd of people than endurance people :) Everybody waves at you as you pull in, are friendly and chat with you even if you've never met them. I love this crowd of horse people!! It makes the event so much fun.

Anyways! Hubby and I headed up there Friday. We decided to bring LJ along too just for the experience of being away from home. So we loaded up the camper, horse gear and the horses and were off just after lunch, arriving there mid-afternoon. Got the horses comfy and fed and watered. I vetted in Player after supper and he was all A's with only 1 A- (skin tenting). He trotted out great for the vet too, something back in 2009 he had a lot of issues with (he did NOT want to trott LOL) so I was happy that the work I did with him has still stuck!

Saturday morning my ride started at 8:00 am. But as usual I could not sleep all night and was up at 6:00 am. Fed and watered the horses again and started getting ready. I realized I forgot my breeches (why do I remember EVERYTHING (plus some) for the horses but always forget something for myself???)  but thank goodness I had my half chaps so jeans wouldn't be too bad ;)

Player tends to get hyper at the start and want to take off. So I held him back and let the front runners go so I could start at an easy pace. Which worked out great until I got about 2 miles down the road and had 10 riders coming back galloping towards me! Haha! Apparently we all missed the first turn off. I had been just following the riders I could see ahead of me instead of paying attention to the ribbons! Lesson of the day: Use your map and ribbons instead of relying on other riders! Anyways, THAT had Player worked right up and when we turned around I just had to let him lope up to the turn off with the group or we would have had a huge battle on our hands. After that we picked out a nice spot and trotted along at a good pace.

The trails there are GORGEOUS! Sand based and groomed. It's been a long time since I've rode on a groomed trail! And despite all the rain we've been having they were pretty nice and dry. I was super pleased with that! The scenery was awesome too, Horse Creek Ranch is in a provincial park so the whole ride was in the forest. Awesome! Anyways, we had a couple girls we were playing leap frog with so we just ended up riding together with which was nice. We stopped for water on the way in and I ended up coming into the vet check with another girl who was super nice. I love meeting endurance friends!

Player pulsed down right away. If I walk in he always does. I just took off his saddle, got my vet card from my hubby and headed strait to the P&R guys, then off to the vet. He vetted in awesome! Just 2 A-'s (skin tenting and gait), the rest all A's. There we had an hour hold. So we fed and watered Player, and then myself and just relaxed.

Once my hour was up I was heading out by myself. Which I don't mind, I actually like riding alone :) I like to set my own pace and ride my own ride. Except it makes it tougher to stick on trail for some reason....like that I am colour blind to ribbons apparently!! Everything was going great, Player felt awesome and had tons of energy. Then I went off trail. To me, the green and yellow ribbons looked pretty close to the same. So I went off on the yellow loop at a intersection instead of the green. Got looking at the trail signs and figured I was in the wrong spot, took out my map and sure enough I was!! So that was TWICE in one day I missed a darn turn! I bet in total with the 2 mistakes I lost 1/2 an hour. Oh well! I got turned around and back on the right track.

Player did great the rest of the ride! We passed a few people with no fuss (he used to be pretty "herd bound" and want to stick with other horses), got in a few awesome hill climbs and nice lopes in some more open areas. I really enjoyed the trails on this ride, they were awesome and safe for the horses, plus the views and scenery were just great!! I had a blast!!

We ended up finishing 13th or 14th I think. The ride results are not up the website yet and we weren't able to stay for the awards but hubby was counting people coming in. Not too bad for going off trail TWICE! Player vetted out well (again mostly A's) so I was happy with that.

All in all it was a FANTASTIC ride! The people were amazing, it was organized and well run. Hubby and I had a great time! Though I know it'd be funner for him to be out on the trail with me ;)
I got a few pics...the boys at the trailer:

Player and I at the first vet check

Heading out on our second loop

And I did end up buying a professional pic...the photographer was awsesome!! He had quite a few good ones so it was hard to pick, but in this one we both look so happy :)

LJ did AWESOME too! He acted like he'd been out and about like that a million times. Just hung out at the trailer and ate/slept. Calm as can be. Even when we took Player away he just whinnied a couple times and then went back to munching his hay. I'm so proud of him! He's been doing great on the trail, seems to be turning into a broke horse...so my next ride I'm going to take him and hubby is going to ride Player. It's not until Aug.20th, and it's a CTR (Competitive Trail Ride) which has a bit of a calmer atmosphere so I think it'll be great for LJ's first one. I'm soooo excited!

In a couple weeks we are planning to do a Ya Ha Tinda trip (mountain camping/trail riding) for 3 or 4 days of trail riding on the boys. I will be sure get some pics and do a post on it as well! 

Updates

I have quite obviously been neglecting my blog!! Things got quite busy and the blog fell to the back burner. In March I took an equine massage and vertebral realignment course, and I'm trying to get my business with that off the ground. The course was absolutely amazing, my instructor was fantastic and quite a horsey inspiration for me. I learned SO much not just about horse health but about handling horses, bonding with horses and the whole emotional aspect of being a horsewoman and the connection with them. Wow that sounded super sappy!! But anyways, I also met some amazing people. One girl who is getting into endurance this year even, which makes me very happy that I'll get to see her lots on the trail hopefully!

After that, hubby and I took a month long trip to the States in April/May. We went all over, through Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California (Disneyland!), Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and Montana. Holy moly! Mind you a lot of those states we just drove straight through. One of my closest friends lives in Arizona and was getting married in New Mexico, and I got to be a bridesmaid so that was fantastic! Plus it was a great excuse to have a little escape with my wonderful hubby <3

But all of that led to a lot of time off for my ponies. Which pushed back our endurance goals this year. Which is okay, there are still 5 or 6 rides I am hoping to make it to this year. I probably could have taken Player to a ride in June, or the one next weekend, but I don't feel comfortable pushing him when he had all that time off in addittion to the 4 months off he had this winter due to his injuries. I know some think I'm a little too paranoid and careful but better safe than sorry. I want my horses to be high mileage horses and last a long time on the endurance trail, so that means some extra care and precautions.

So here's a bit of an update on the ponies and my plans for this year. Player is back in conditioning full time. And he's feeling great! Finishing up our rides with energy to spare so I'm gradually building him up again. I'm aiming for a 25 miler on July 16th with him. Not enough recent pics of him, I should get more, but here is one from after one of our rides last week. You'll probably hardly recognize him or LJ in these pics considering their last ones resembled wooly mammoths (or cows). Sleek and handsome now!

LJ is back in training full time now too. He's still green, so he's getting mostly pen work right now. In July I plan to add more trail riding to that, but right now we are still working on getting a good foundation on him under saddle. He tends to be very reactive on the trail so I want 110% trust (and control) with him before taking him to a ride. I'm hoping to take him on a 25 mile CTR (competitive trail ride) in August as his first ride. The atmosphere there is a lot more laid back, no high emotions. I think this is the best way to start him. With his high energy I could see him being prone to getting 'race brain' and that's the last thing I want. No recent under saddle pics but this is from the other day in the round pen. When my hubby gets home from work I will have somebody to take pics of me in saddle :)

Totally looks like a different horse huh?

Anyways, I'll be adding some posts regarding equine massage and health as well. Whatever comes to mind I guess! So that should have you all up to speed on what's going on in my horsey life. Here's a few pics of LJ getting some TLC today to end this entry.

Dang he's cute <3