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

The Best View

Definitely the best way to view the world :) I never feel so at home as when I'm on the back of my horse and hitting the trail with him.

We finally got a few nice days that got above zero and the thaw has begun. Which right now means slushy, wet snow dripping everywhere but the ice is clearing off the roads so it's time to get back into conditioning mode! I swear Player is already looking better just after 4 conditioning rides and a week of lunging. I'm getting quite excited for our ride in April!

I'm still undecided as to if I will be bringing LJ or not though. He'll definitely be fit enough but I'm not sure about if he'll be mentally ready. On Monday I start the hands on portion of my equine massage/vertebral realignment course (woot!) and that will take up 11 days. Which I plan to keep conditioning Player in the dark through that, but I'm to keen to ride LJ in the dark yet. Hopefully hubby will be home from work again early next week and I can con him into putting some miles on him during daylight hours for me while I'm in my course!

Hurry up spring!

It's coming! Just not here quite yet. The day before yesterday (the 9th) it got up to 0 C (32 F) though! Hubby is home from work for a bit so we went for a ride together. Decided to go check out and see if we could get back to our trails....nope. The snow is pretty deep this year, and the little pass to get into our trails is by the road and the grater has plowed the snow so deep there that you can't even see the fence posts anymore. So we can't get back there yet. Hopefully in April but it will be a muddy mess.

So we gave the horses a bit of a workout just around the field in front of where our trails are. LJ was pretty PO'd about it LOL But Player was just happy to be ridden again! Got a few pics.

Player happy to be going for a ride! Dang he looks awful after 4 months off...still on the fence about that Okotoks ride at the end of April. We'll see how he conditions, I plan to take him 6 miles today to see how he is.

LJ in the snow...

So yeah, we are dealing with lots of snow right now and I am just itching for it to melt! Today's high is -10 C though so not happening today. However next week the highs are all around 2-5 C so it should get started anyways!

Also, here's a little clip of LJ from the other day...working on our figure 8's. He's definitely starting to get it!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=421073&id=878020550#!/video/video.php?v=10150410852310551

And me and my buddies to end the post for today :)

March 5, 2011

Well...the end of February was mostly a write off. Deep freeze again! When the weather is in the -30's and -40's I don't do much outside other than feed the ponies and haul them water (unfortunately I do not have heated automatic waterers so winter = hauling water from the house. Hey I get a good work out from it at least!). My in laws are in Cuba right now and I am insanely jealous.

So 2 days ago it warmed up to -17 C. Which, sadly, felt warm to me so I was back to my active self after being in forced hibernation for a week. Went out and worked LJ on the lunge (he's catching onto figure eights really well, I should get a video! I am so proud of him!), and decided to give Player his first workout since his injury in January too. He is externally healed up now, but I was worried about any soundness issues so I have him a little more time than probably neccessary but better safe than sorry. I just gave him a 20 minute lunge session and he looked great! There was no short striding or toe dragging going on at all, looked perfectly sound. Which I am very excited about! I worked him yesterday as well, and plan to do some more lunging review exercises with him today as well (forecast says high of -15 C today, practically baumy right?). Next week when the weather warms up even more (if all goes as planned) I plan to start riding him. He's basically had 4 months off though, and looks like crap. Lost his topline completely. So I am mostly going to work on building up his fitness again and getting his topline back. There is an endurance ride on April 23rd I would like to hit, however I am not going to push it with him. If he feels ready by then for a moderate LDR (25 miles) I will go and use it as a conditioning ride, but I am not going to push him. He does have a good base fitness and holds onto his condition really well, so we will see!

Anyways, I am just ecstatic to have my big boy back in training! He is so funny, I almost forgot what he's like. He seems A LOT bigger than LJ (he is about 15 hh, LJ about 14.2 hh though I should stick them...he is quite a bit bigger though LOL), and a lot...lower energy haha! I need to use that lunge whip with him, whereas with LJ it's on the ground because he is just so much more reactive. Which is good and bad....good in that he is a lot more reactive to me and my aids, bad because I need to a lot of desensitising with him as he's reactive to everything (ie.barkings dogs haha!). But he's a lot funner to lunge because he constantly "what do you want me to do? this? is this right?" whereas Player is more "okay, if I have to". Player is a lot more laid back to work with at home, which is funny because he's the booger who I need to concentrate on pacing on the actual rides. He wants to be in front and is willing to kill himself to get ahead of those horses in front of us. So he gets to circle circle circle quite a bit. Actually he is a lot better than he used to be so it is coming! It helps to wait until the front runners who take off fast at first are gone before I get on and start heading down the trail.

Anyways, that turned into a huge novel entry and I haven't even done much exciting as it's obviously still winter here :P Here's a pic of the old boy (okay he's 12, so not exactly old but older than LJ) from the other day. Happy to be back in work and getting attention!

Ugh look at that top line *shudders* Hill work and ground poles coming our way....

Running buddy

When it comes to endurance riding we all know that our horses need to be conditioned and fit. That much is pretty obvious! But what about the rider? If my horses have to be fit, should I be fit to make it easier on my horses as well? I am not just talking about weight, I know I have a much easier time riding when I'm fit than when I'm not. I don't get as sore after rides, I'm not as tired after long rides, I use my body better while riding, I can get off my horse and run with him up a steep hill instead of making him pack me up it. It seems like if I'm fitter and more functional on my horses it is easier for them too.

I'm not saying as a rider we have to be marathon runners or track stars. I'm not. But I think riders should be somewhat fit for long distance riding. I run to stay fit, and I'll admit I let myself "go" a bit over Christmas and the cold November/December/January months. I was still walking my dog 3 or so miles 4-5 days/week, but I stopped running and ate a lot of bad food over the holidays. Now with spring on the way, I'm kicking my butt back into shape and running again. For me, being about to run 3-5 miles does make me feel A LOT better in the saddle.

The other day I decided to take Little John with me on my run :) Why not? I ran 3 miles with him trotting beside me. I actually got the idea from another blog I read (http://inthenightfarm.wordpress.com/). It sounds silly, and my hubby thought I was a total goof, but it makes sense to me too. Gets my green horse out and active, even if a 3 mile trott without a rider isn't that much of a work out for him, it does get him out, seeing different things and getting used to going down the road. Works on his ground manners, trotting next to me at a nice distance and not lagging behind or going ahead. Plus if he's used to trotting out with me he'll be good for the vet in trott outs at endurance rides, I hope LOL! Plus it's just fun....I had more fun running with him and my dog (gets him used to crazy Lucy too! haha!) than I would alone.

Once Player is healed up (almost there!!) I'll take him on some runs too. I think I prefer having an equine running buddy to a human one :)