Trail Riding

I decided to forego the 12 mile trail ride with Tax since he was just off his injury. Instead we went to out local lake and did an easier trail ride just he and I.


I'll review what went right and then talk about what could have gone better...


When we got there he was calmer than he usually is when we go out to a new location. He has been to this spot before but not by himself and we took a new trail this time to avoid the worst of the mountain bike traffic. Tacking up and mounting went very smoothly. Most of the day he remained fairly calm and I got him down to the water line. He didn't want to go in the water but we got pretty close. He also didn't try to crush any mountain bikers or hikers like last time. He didn't jig a single step on the way out or the way back to the trailer. On the way back he was relaxed enough that I stopped steering and made him pick the trail for a while. He actually had to work on watching where he puts his feet since I wasn't there to direct or save his ass by balancing him up when he tripped. And you know what? He did it! I even thought I felt him shift his weight back a couple of time to navigate a downhill slope instead of leaping off it as per usual.

So, what we need to work on was he did not want to go down the trail by himself. Lot of things were scary and needed to be looked at. Most of the time he just stopped and stared. A couple of times he looked and then started backing rapidly down the trail. I swear it felt like he'd back off a cliff to avoid the scary (harmless) stick lying in the trail ahead. What I did was let him look for a minute without any pressure, then I'd put some leg on. If he didn't move forward I'd give him a bump with my heels. If he started backing up all heck would break loose and I'd really thump him and over and under him until he was at least stopped but preferably moving forward. This got him past everything and we needed the dramatics less and less as the day wore on.

I met a really nice couple who let me follow them for the first 20 minutes or so until our paths parted ways (they went up to an overlook and I wanted to hit the beach). Hopefully we'll see them again. They were very understanding when they came across my horse stopped dead in the middle of the trail and very kindly went around. We got back to the trailers about the same time so we shared some stories and they loaded up and left while I ate my lunch. Thanks also to the mountain bikers who were all very kind about getting off the narrow trails and letting the beast pass. Oh, and to the two kind, but timid ladies who tried to help me when loading back into the trailer didn't go well.

So, as for loading... Tax usually loads okay but not great. Last Sat he finally realized that when I load alone he can take advantage of the fact I can only cover one side. We ended up with a brawl but I got him in after almost 40 minutes. Thank goodness my rope held out. I had my long rope through the window so I could control his head and I got his feet moving with my whip. He reared and hopped around alot. Finally dripping sweat and exhausted he got in and it was smooth from there. I'm worried my driving has pissed him off so now I'm really trying to drive carefully. I tried to load him again this Friday and I had the same battle. Sigh... I did finally get him loaded but I was too exhausted to drive anywhere. I made him stand for a minute and then let him out. This should make moving this weekend pleasant. At least I'll have assistance.

I want to write more about the new barn so I'll do that soon. Also, a little change in format. I'm thinking about writing some stories about my beginnings with horses. Hopefully you guys will like it. Oh, and new pics soon too. I was watching my neice ride Tax for the first time on Saturday and I realized his neck muscles have really started to develop nicely. He looks good! His injuries have all healed well and it's pretty much back to business as usual.

Riding Again

Tax's puncture wound is closed now and healing nicely. The swelling in his chest is gone and the hair is growing back on his various scrapes. All of that meant starting slowly last night with some walking. We walked around the rail and then practiced bending around the new poles in the arena. He seemed to like that. He even felt good enough to start giving me a hard time when he heard the dinner carts going around. The mosquitoes came out as soon as the sun went down and it was time to call it quits for the night.

I'm still hoping to trail ride this weekend even if we have to take it easy and forego the 12 mile organized ride. The only thing that makes me a little nervous is that we may be trail riding alone for the first time. He's always braver with a buddy but I know we can do it. I haven't been out alone since I was in my early twenties. Scary, yes, but good scary...exciting.

I fell off that stupid gray mare again...in my velcro-y western saddle. At the new barn she's going out to dry pasture with lots of running room and getting no grain or other feed except hay and vitamins. If that doesn't solve the problem I'm done riding her.

Promise is doing really well at following his nose these days. He isn't throwing his head in protest every time you move your hands either. His gaits are also looking much more balanced and consistent. Way to go, Kim! Now if we can keep him from breaking cross ties every time there is a sound in the barn we'll be doing great.

The Fence - Warning Pics of Puncture Wound

Last Thursday I got a call from the barn owner, Sandy telling me that Tax had gotten out of his stall in the night. He'd gone over the top of his back paddock fence but she said that he seemed okay. I should have called back, or just gone out there to check on him right away, but I trusted that as she said his scratches were super all superficial. I did wonder how he'd gotten over the 5 ft fence but figured maybe he'd climbed it somehow or jumped over. I considered myself lucky he hadn't broken his silly legs.

What I'd forgotten was the top rail of the fence. I still have no idea how the brute shoved himself between the top two rails. See the second pic in this post to see what I mean. There can't be more than 2.5 feet between them but that is where he went through. The 5 ft rail is bent down a few inches and the entire back gate is pushed out about a foot. I'm probably lucky he isn't still hanging in that fence with a broken leg. I also can't figure out why he did it. Not that it matters....I'm just worried he'll try it again.

So that evening when my sister got out to the barn I started getting pictures sent to my phone. His chest was quite swollen and he had a puncture wound in his belly a couple of inches in front of his sheath. It wasn't large, just about the size of a quarter, but swollen and my sister couldn't tell how deep.

I got him up to my vet the next day and the good news is that none of the injuries are serious. We've been doing bute and antibotics daily just to ensure nothing develops. I've been cleaning the wound and dressing it with neomycin daily and it looks much better after a week. I hose his chest with cool water once per day. It's still a little warm to the touch. I'll try to get some updated after photos as it heals.

I've started walking him in the round pen daily per the vet's advice and letting him trot just a little if he feels like it. I got super lucky and while the first couple of days he was really sore, he's feeling pretty good now.

We have a 12 mile trail ride we're scheduled for next Saturday and I'm trying to decide if I need to pull out. If he gets enough exercise between then and now it might be okay but the vet was a little concerned that he might tie up. I guess I could take the BGM but that might make for an interesting day. I haven't gotten much riding accomplished with the days getting shorter and having to do my daily stall cleaning and wound care. I never know if she's going to decide to have an attitude.

The good news is that we're moving to a full care boarding facility with a covered lighted arena! It will be such a big change and I'm excited. It's owned by a H/J trainer and her father, a farrier. Hopefully it's as ideal as it seems. I haven't been at a show barn for years.

Realigning my goals

I meant this to be a training blog and I've really just ended up giving brief updates and posting pics. I'm going to get more serious about this now. The first thing I've decided to talk about is training myself for this work that I'm doing.

I have three kids, I have a full time job, and a large house. I'd gotten fat and lazy before I decided to get back into riding again. You know the thing is I don't really see a fat person when I look in the mirror but I just got some riding photos back and yeah, the bad news is I'm fat. The good news is that I'm doing something about it. I'm going to post some of the pics but it's been almost 2 months and I've lost some weight and I'm starting to really re-structure my body. I can feel it everytime I put on my clothes. But lets go back to how this all started.

I was watching So You Think You Can Dance on television with a girlfriend. I'm always incredibly moved by the strength, beauty and grace of great dancers. But sometimes I watch a piece so passionate it moves me to tears. I remember feeling that way when I rode my horses when I was younger. The thrill of mastering control of your own body to the point you can teach this large creature to trust you. It didn't take me long to decided I wanted to have the thing I've always been most passionate about. Horses.

I've always riden H/J so after I got Tax I was brushing up on some reading. I read a quote from George Morris that I can't remember exactly or even find now but it basically said that we cannot expect our horses to be great atheletes if we are not committed to being atheletic riders. Now I realize that's pretty common sense but I hadn't really thought of it that way before. I let it roll around in my head for a bit. What does riding mean to me? Did I want to be an athelete or did I want to pop on a pony for a bit of a trail ride? Well the answer has always been the same with me. I want to jump. I want to show. I want to, in fact, be an athelete. I also want to trail ride but if I had to choose...

So here I am on the long side of 32 with my three kids and busy life and I decided I wanted to go back to a sport I was so passionate about in my teens and early adulthood. I did an open schooling show back in February and was mortified when I saw the show photos. Was that what I really looked like? Wow. So starting in Feb I started to change some things. The progress has been slow. This is about changing my lifestyle not just about losing some weight. Although the weight is a huge part of it. I'll just be honest. At my peak I weighed 220 lbs and I'm 5'2ish. When I measured myself for a show clothes in Feb my calf was 18 inches, my waist was 41 inches and my bust was 46.5 inches.

The first change I made was my diet. I cut out soda completely. I was a pretty die hard Pepsi addict so it was painful. I still have one on occasion but not on a regular basis. Once a week max and 20 onces max. Then I started to cut out any overly processed foods. No more late night at the barn fast food evenings for me. Even if I stop and get the kids something I make sure I don't give in to the temptation. What this means is my husband is doing more of the cooking so I don't have to be around food. Then I flopped my eating patterns. I'm eating at breakfast and having a decent lunch but very light dinners consisting usually of 3 onces of lean meat, and ounce of cheese or some other diary and veggies.

Then I had to consider my exercise options. By this time I'd been riding for a while and working at the barn so I knew my cardiovascular fitness and my strength were already improved from what they had been. Before walking a mile would wind me and give me tingly legs. I crept out early one morning to try it out. I walked the first mile and felt pretty good to my surprise. I started jogging the second mile and was winded but with walking intervals was able to jog about half way. Every other morning I would sneak out into the early morning light and each day I pushed myself further. Now I can jog both miles at about a pretty steady 7 minutes each. I'm considering increasing to 4 miles and walking two and jogging two. I want to get to the point where I can jog three at a decent clip. The goal here is to build my cardio fitness and loose weight.

Next I started thinking about what is most important to a rider. Obviously strong legs are important. I visually prefer a rider with long lean muscle. Core strength, balance and flexibility are key. In my research the two most likely fits to help me develop the characteristics I want are yoga and Pilates. Someone recently described yoga to me as dressage for the human body. I liked it, and I was in.

Fast forward to today. I'm jogging almost every morning and I've added yoga every other. My goal is to get to 20-30 minutes every other day of just the yoga on top of jogging. You know what? I love the exercise. I love the peaceful, quiet minute I take to care for no one else in the world but myself. I love the strength coming back to me. I love everything about learning to control my body, my breathing and even my thoughts. I still hate eating well. I miss Pepsi. I want to celebrate each weight loss victory with a huge meal. I'm working on it...it's learning a new way to live and to balance everything in moderation. I don't want to have to sacrafice everything I love forever, but I need to be able to find the middle ground. I weighed in this morning at 191 lbs. Almost 30 lost. My waist now measures 36, my calfs 16.5 and my bust 41. People I barely know at work are starting to comment. It has been wonderful.

My riding is improving slowly but surely. I'm happy to be able to be a better trainer than I was a few months ago. Next time I'll focus on what my new plan is for the beasties since focusing on a plan for myself is really helping.

And now it's time for some pictures! Anyone else think Promise is pretty much a perfect english pleasure/HUS prospect?

Comments, oh my!

Okay, first wow! I have 3 followers! And comments even. Thanks guys.

Today is gonna be a picture catch up day. I know I still owe our recent trail riding pics but haven't actually downloaded them yet. Kim's gonna give me a hard time until I do though so it will happen.



Kim and Promise last summer. Kim would want me to point out right now that she's lost 30 lbs and looks great. All long and lean....brat. You'll see in the new pics so this is a good comparison.










Tax last year at Camp Far West. Nothing like trail riding 12 miles in an english saddle.











Lagoon Valley in Vacaville, CA.
Kim wanted a pic of her kissing Promise. So cute.

Tax is a ham sandwich and would rather pose for the camera than give kisses.


Here I'd like to point out that I've also lost almost 30 pounds since this was taken. Who said riding isn't good exercise?

It's a hilly area and the wind was blowing like crazy. Kim and Promise, here, are demonstrating how to try to see in 50 mile an hour wind. Poor guys.













Finally off that stinkin' hill and all that luscious green grass was too much for Promise to resist. Even Tax is licking his lips. WTF is up with my hands? I have no idea why they're up by my ears.












Heading back to the trailers...

















We took some pictures of the boys at the trailer after we ate some lunch. Here are their very handsome mug shots. Promise should have his own calendar.

I also just wanted to write to say how in love I am with my horses right now. Tax is amazing. He learned to canter...finally. December and I jumped and she didn't freak out or blow up. And I rode her bareback last night and got brave enough to canter. I never imagined cantering again like a kid with no saddle. It was amazing.

More soon! I've been rolling around some ideas I want to get out here for discussion.

Tax

I updated on Promise and then I felt bad. I should share how well Tax is doing too.

Come on...how could anyone not love this face? Remember I said that when I post those trail pics and you get a nice view of his teeth.

The truth is as regal as he looks here, he is a gigantic dork! And I do mean gigantic. That top rail behind him is probably about 5 feet.

He just got a bath because that white tail NEVER stays white. Filthy beast.

But he's riding well. His trot is fantasic and he's learning to really move off my legs. I'm teaching him how to do a roll back at the walk and next we're going to try a trot. We've been riding grids with trot poles and two cross rails at the end and he's moving through them nicely at a trot with a canter depart at the end. He's not balancing well enough at the canter to try cantering a line yet so we're taking it slow.

I decided to see if I could run him until he was tired enough to slow down the other night. What an idea.... After a half an hour at a hand gallop in two point I was certainly slowing down but he sure wasn't. After that I tried walking down the long side of the area, rolling back to change directions and then cuing the canter. My goal was to get him to stop before the end of the arena. Yeah, we'll keep working on it. The nice thing though is I feel secure on Tax. I don't think I've ever gone so fast on a horse in my life but you can tell he's listening, and he's not being mean. I think we scared one of the other boarders who kept asking if I wanted her to shut the gate but when he's getting to run he's not even looking at the gate (even though it was dinner time). I will say that this gallop at least felt much balanced than he has been in the past.

So we're going to keep working on roll backs, lots of transitions and hill work on the trail rides. This last trail ride he seemed to be working off his hind more going down hills which is good. He also didn't prance or jig a single step. We did learn that cows are not so scary but squirrels are cause to stop and let Promise lead just in case they might try to eat a horse. Lizards are also concerning because they move far too fast. Wooden bridges though are no big deal and he walks happily across them. Silly thoroughbred.

To any readers have a wonderful Mother's Day!

Promise

This is just about the best thing ever. When we first got Promise he wouldn't come anywhere near his stall if you were in it. A couple of weekends ago I was taking a pic of him in his paddock from inside his stall.

You can see he felt just fine about joining me.

Here's another of our pretty boy. We realized recently when he belted out a loud whinny that we'd never heard him make noise before. He was so quiet and worried all the time. He even got annoyed at a bath the other day and started tossing his head. It's so good to see him finally acting like a normal horse and not one that's living in fear all of the time.

He's going to make a pretty awesome trail horse. Nothing spooks him. He likes to be in the lead, and tolerates Tax's head right up his hiney. But he also doesn't mind following Tax when we canter up hills so that Tax doesn't feel like it's a race and get too competitive. He has just enough spunkiness to be a blast. Now, if we can just convince him to let the farrier put shoes on him so gravel doesn't hurt his toes...

I have pics of our last trail ride I need to post. Both of the boys were so good.