Endurance Clinic for Beginners

And here I was thinking that there wouldn't be anything for me to do Endurance related in September.

Surprise!

Yesterday in the afternoon on Facebook, TERA (Texas Endurance Riders Association) posted that they were doing a New Rider's Clinic at C Bar Stables in Waco the first weekend of September.

Sign.Me.UP!

I shot off my RSVP, dropped a text message to a friend of mine who joined AERC, but hasn't done a ride yet and wants to go (she's planning on going to Armadillo with me and riding the Intro to see if her horse can do it) to let her know so we could go up there.

I went ahead and splurged for a site with hook up, which means I'll have a fan for the weekend!!  I'm stoked!  That's luxury living for me!  I also won't need to take my water tank either!  And, my Renegades should be here well before then so I can try them out, get them adjusted right and try Strider out out there.  I probably still won't do Wacky Waco due to funds this year, but maybe next year! 

Of course, as I do sometimes, I RSVP'd and didn't tell Joe until last night.  He wasn't upset though.  Grateful that he "gets it".  I told him I'll figure out child care for Kaylee since that'll be at the start of football season and Joe referees football games (well, right now he does the chains, but he's working on being a ref).

I promised I'd keep it to a ride a month.  And I will. 

I'm just super excited.  I know, I've done 3 LDs, but I'm kind of fumbling my way through it, and it will be nice to meet some of the other local endurance riders and network so I'll actually KNOW people when I go to rides.

I had a discussion with a lady who went to her first ride at Spirit of Texas last year and she noticed just how cliqueish everyone is and how they don't really go out of their way to make new riders feel welcome.

It IS something I've noticed at the rides I've gone to.  And it troubles me.  So, I swear, once I've got this figured out a little bit better and I feel a bit more confident myself, I'm going to make it a point to say hello to at least one new "face" I see at every ride.  Ask them about their horse.  How far they're going to be riding.  Let them know if they just want to say hi, to swing by my trailer. 

Because, while I know many people travel with their family or camp with friends, not all of us do.  And I HAVE met some very nice endurance riders, but not all of them are. 

And I know it's about "Ride your ride", but when I'm not in the saddle, and it's at ride meeting/dinner, it costs me NOTHING to say hello.  Yes, I'm already thinking forward about everything I need to get done to be ready to ride my ride, but I should soon enough be in a routine where I can put it on auto-pilot and at least take a moment to make someone feel welcome.  It could very well be the difference in someone joining the sport or leaving the sport!

Strider's First Official Conditioning Ride (Week 1)

Saturday conditioning ride

Goal: 8 miles in 1.5 hours

Actually done: 7.25 miles in 1:51

Fastest mile: 12:53
Slowest mile: 17:14

Average speed: 3.92
Max speed: 9.77

There were many issues on our first conditioning ride. 

We were stuck on the side of the property with shorter trails, which Strider finds boring.
Leaving his buddies back at the pen, Strider finds it upsetting.

We did get belly deep in one of the stock tanks, and I took some time practicing tossing a sponge off his back, in to the water and then dribbling it on him.  I want to make sure that on race days he is already used to it so he doesn't lose his damn fool mind and kill us both.

Or, so that we don't re-create Angie McGhee's notorious "Sponge" story.  Haven't read it?  Do yourself a favor, go get "The Lighter Side of Endurance" from Angie herself and read it.  Cover to cover, I had a good laugh at each story. 

Now, I had put my heart monitor on Strider, and it worked great.  Until it didn't.  Very confusing and frustrating.

Of course, when I dismounted, I figured out what the problem was.  The positive lead had slipped out from under my saddle. 

I have a strong suspicion that Strider could almost make a good search and rescue horse as he LOVES to go bushwacking, and he's actually fairly careful with his feet when going up and down hills.  He has ZERO comprehension that there's a person on his back though. 

So maybe he wouldn't. 

So, while the original conditioning plan laid out was for 12 weeks, I don't think we can do it.  Not at the current speed we went.

However, there were a few areas where we'll work on improving.

One of the most important is to get my ass in the saddle before 10am.  That's just too late in the day, even if you're gunning for an hour and a half in the saddle.  Especially in the Texas heat.

So, my tweaked plan is to get out early on Saturday and have my butt in the saddle no later than 8am so that I'm wrapping up by 10 and can leave the barn by 11. 

I've given up "sleeping in" apparently.  A part of me laments this, but a part of me is happy about it. 

I'm earning my hours towards my Pasos for Pleasure patches.

I'm conditioning my horse.

I'm riding with a purpose.

I'm having FUN!

Someone wrote a beautiful piece about how endurance riding isn't about race day.  It's about the hours in the saddle spend prepping your horse.  Building a bond together and forging yourselves in to a team.  That's what I feel like we're doing.  We're going to eventually get there together. 

Friday; Gateway to the Weekend

Today entails heading to the tack store to take my co-worker who's leasing Socks to look at saddles.

Okay, okay...so I'm going to look.  Apparently they're having a sale on Abetta endurance style saddles for $300.  If they have one to fit my ass, I'll probably stop and think about it for a few days and then go get one.

I've also got a pair of Cavallos on order for me at a fantastic price.

And, on my Facebook feed last night/this morning, a set of black size 1 Renegades showed up, again, for an amazing price.  Emailed the person selling who I know is a Renegade dealer to see if she could look at the photos my farrier took (with measurements), and if she thinks they'll fit, then I'll snap those up too.

Because, at that price point, if they'll fit, and I can get some Renegades, then I'll happily grab them up. 

Of course, if they sell before I can get them, I've still got the Cavallos coming at some point, and I suspect I can make those work for me.  I'm sure they'll take some tweaking to work for endurance, but, if I can make Strider happy to go down the trail in a pair of boots on some rough terrain, then I'll twiddle and tweak!!

I've mentioned to Joe that when the time (sadly) comes to have to replace a horse, my next mount will be one who's already doing endurance.  And, while I know it'd be easy to be competative on an Arabian, I still think I'd prefer an endurance Paso.  But, we shall see.

I just know in my heart, I would love for Kaylee to come ride endurance with me.  That would make me so happy to have the two of us crusing down the trails together.

So, while I was looking over the AERC calendar yesterday, I remembered about Spirit of Texas, and how I'd told Joe after I wrapped that ride up last year that I'd love for him to come with me next year.  There's a barn and breakfast near the trail head, and there's a lake he can fish up there.

So, I emailed him yesterday to remind him about that.  Looked up the rates for the B&B (totally affordable!) and asked him if he might be interested.  And he is!  He actually asked if we could take Socks.  I don't see where that will be a problem.  Only thing is we'll need to probably rent a truck to haul my trailer, borrow a lighter trailer to haul with our truck, or rent a lighter trailer to use with our truck.

I think I can skip hauling water for that ride.  Would just need hay and grain.  Then on Sunday we could go tool around on the trails together.  And I could potentially see some different trails from the endurance ride!!

I'm actually getting excited about this weekend.  I can't wait to start conditioning.  I've got a new, lightweight saddle, my new heartrate monitor, and a plan in mind!  A completely achievable plan, and completely doable!  And it should get us prepared for our fall rides.  Which I can't wait to do!!  I'm ready to go see some new places!

In other news, I'm just 1 month shy of Kaylee's first birthday.  I haven't done much planning for her birthday party.  I'm surprised by how much other parents are doing for their baby's first birthday.  Big chalkboard signs with lots of information about their baby, fancy cakes, themed party, etc.

And I'm just over here going "Uhh..pink cowgirl theme.  I'll buy an inexpensive pool for the kids to play in, and some food.  Good?  Good."

It never ceases to amaze me just how much she's grown in 11 months.  And just how much personality she has.  And how clearly she can make herself understood without words.  She's not a snuggler or a cuddler.  For-get-it.  Don't hold her, just put her down.  Oh, you want to give kisses?  Nope!!  Not gonna have it!  She'll push on your face so you don't give her kisses.  Oh, is that a mirror?  Why yes, I'll check myself out, thank you very much!  She's such a riot.

And in other animal news; Shadow.  There's something wrong with him.  He's been on a thyroid medication for the past month, and so far, I'm seeing NO improvement.

He presented with:
Patchy/flakey/scaley skin
Pot belly
Lethargy
Excessive thirst
Excessive appetite

We did a blood panel on him, and they said it looks like thyroid.  HOWEVER, it could also be Cushings. 

The issue with that is testing him for Cushings is cost prohibitive.  We just simply don't have it.  Or rather, we have it, but, by the time we've spent it all, it's over what we've allotted for animal care.  I should perhaps do a post on that sometime and my thoughts.

So, I'm going to give the thyroid medication another month and hope that his skin clears up.  But, we're a month in now...and I'm seeing NO improvement.  In fact, I fear he's just getting worse. 

Other than that troubling stuff, the other animals are, as always, doing fine.

Plotting and planning my season...

Yesterday was spent trying to dig out from underneath work that has been piling up at work.  Things that need to be done, but there's no set time frame (per se) for it TO be done.

As such, I spent most of my day at work with my head down, putting out small fires as they popped up while attempting to get some of this stuff out of my office.

I did squeeze out some time to check over my AERC calendar once more, and then I do believe I've accidentally set myself up for an overnight equine camping trip the week prior to an endurance ride. 

By that point though, I should be so close to having Strider prepped and conditioned for the ride that a weekend of "easy" riding shouldn't undermine the foundation I've put on him.

Of course, since I like to get paperwork cleared up and out of the way, I went back to the AERC calendar to print off fliers and get my paperwork mailed in.  Out of 4 rides, just 1 has a flier up.  And I'm in a tizzy to get that sent in ASAP as it looks like there's limited trailer parking.  Now, while I have a small trailer, I do NOT want to park out in the boondocks and have to haul all of my gear to the vet in area.

In December I probably won't need the sun shade, but I'd still need to get set up:
Buckets for Strider to drink out of
Grain/Beet pulp/ELytes for him at our hold(s)
Hay
Chair for me
Snacks for me
Saddle rack to put the saddle on during the hold(s)

Just too much hassel.

I guess before I mail in the paperwork I need to decide if I REALLY want to try my 50 there.  I just dashed off an email to the RM (Ride Manager) to ask about the trailer parking, and when she responds, I'll ask her what I should do.  Pre-register for the 50, but if I need to drop down to the 25, could I do that at registration.

There's just so many factors at play here that I guess I can register for the 50, and if I opt to do the LD, the cost is just $10 less, so I can eat that without too much heartache.

I went ahead and emailed Joe my prospective ride calendar, and after that, it's just a matter of working out childcare for Kaylee while he's working Football games on Friday nights, and I'm off doing rides on Fridays. 

Of course, AERC is starting to post the spring rides.  I really should look at those.....

Racing Stripes in April (I missed it last year, and I'm so sad because I heard it was a great ride!), and Spirit of Texas again, also in April.  That's going to be a hard decision to make!! 

Maybe if there's not a ride I want to do in February, I can swing both in April.  :) 

So, going to look in to perhaps talking Joe in to staying at the Barn and Breakfast up there for Spirit of Texas, vetting in on Friday night, and getting up early on Saturday morning to head over to the trail head and do my ride, then maybe spend Sunday casually riding the grasslands.  :)

Only 2 full months left before ride season starts up again!!  And, if I'm lucky and fate's with us, Strider and I will make 100 LD miles before the end of the 2015 ride season!  And if we're ESPECIALLY fortunate, we'll ride our first 50 and begin the path to Decade Team! 

Conditioning Schedule for the Working Person (by Laura Peck)

I didn't happen to grab which Facebook group this came from, but all credit goes to Laura Peck who shared her conditioning schedule for those of us who work and have a life outside of the barn.

Weeks 1-4: Start doing 8 mile loop in 1.5 hours.  Each Sunday cut the time down until by the 4th week I'm near 1 hour.

Weeks 5-6:  Add 4 miles.  Now up to 12 each Sunday.  Do it in 2 hours or so.

Weeks 7-8:  Up it by another 4.  Now at 16 miles.  Have a VC (vet check) break in between the 8 mile loops.  Begin checking recovery HR (heart rate) time (magic number is 60 for me) adjust pace accordingly.  Faster if they come in at 60, slower if it takes them over 10 minutes to hit 60.  This is prior to any cool down.

Weeks 9-11:  If all if going well - I add a third 8 mile loop.  So for these three weeks, I'm doing a practice LD (Limited Distance) every Sunday.  I'm checking recovery times at the two trailer breaks, making sure they eat/drink well, and adjusting pace/electrolytes accordingly.  Also finding out what snacks and clothes work for me as well.

Week 12-on:  I back off.  Do 20+ mile training ride 2-3 times each month, with a short one thrown in - or skip one.  At this point, if you just do a 20+ mile ride every other week - they'll stay in shape.

Planning for the fall riding season...

An entire week off work and away from the horses has me tired and ready to get back to the barn.

Joe's laid out his fall calendar, and from the sounds of it, I'll be limited to only getting to ride on weekends.  Which hampers my conditioning plans immensely.  Frustrating, but I know it can be worked around. 

So, I'll spend Saturday mornings doing my conditioning rides; which means riding solo.  Unless I can hook up with other endurance riders, I know for those I'm better off just riding alone right now.  I need to work up some speed and distance, and to do that, I want to just hit the trails and get it done. 

Someone on the AERC or Green Bean page laid out a conditioning program for those of us who can only squeeze in a ride once a week, and while it's a 12 week program, Strider already has a decent base, and I know he CAN complete an LD at a turtle pace. 

My ultimate goal is Decade Team though.  And to be a decade team, you've got to do at least 1 endurance ride (and COMPLETE!) every year for 10 years. 

So, with that in mind, I started considering this conditioning plan, the future rides for this year that I want to attend, and when might be a good time for me to try and attempt our first 50.

The first ride for my fall season will be Armadillo in mid-October. 

I have EXACTLY 12 weeks to condition prior to that ride.  I'll be doing an LD at it as I want to ride with Beverly again.  And I want to see what kind of horse I have under me at the end of that ride.  If he still has gas in the tank and pulses down well.  He'll probably always be slow to pulse down, and I'm okay with that as long as he still acts like he's got some "go" to him.

So, there's Armadillo in October.

In November is Shuffle.  In Athens.  The trails that kicked our asses previously.  My single OT (you know, out of all 3 rides I've done). 

 This photo is from after our OT at Off Road Warrior.

And our two loops from that day:

First loop (the shorter loop!).

Second loop (the longer loop!).

If Strider does well for me at Armadillo, and we're not suffering under weeks of rain, I want to try it again.  I want to beat these damn trails.  Yes, they're technical.  But I KNOW we can do it.  And now that I feel slightly better prepared, I want to do it again. 

Planning on that one being another LD ride. 

And then, at the beginning of December is a brand new ride, River Run.  This is in San Antonio.

And, depending on the horse I have under me at Shuffle, I might give our first 50 attempt at River Run. 

My thinking is this; he's a heavier/thicker horse.  I'm a heavyweight rider.  The temps will be cooler at the beginning of December, so this might just work FOR him in this attempt.

Or, if I just don't think he's ready for River Run, there's High Roller on New Year's weekend, so I can try him there and see what I think.  I've ridden the 7iL trails once, and while I know they're sandy, I think he could still make a good run at it.

The other thing I'll need to do for those rides?  Clip him.  Which has me somewhat anxious.  I don't really own clippers, and I've never clipped a horse.  I'm thinking just a trace clip, but, I'll need to do some research in clipping and what might work best for him.

I did buy a lightweight blanket for him for the cooler rides to wear during holds.  I should also look at a rump rug as well I suppose.

But for now, my focus is on conditioning him. 

Every.Weekend.  Consistently. 

My last solo ride with Strider where we just went out and had fun alone together included LOTS of wasted time trying to get him to stand still so I could get in to the saddle.  He hates being alone, so standing still for mounting as well as side-passing to open/close gates is a training session we need to have.  The standing still one in particular.  That's one I can do on my own sometime.  It's not fun, but it's necessary.

But, in our solo ride, we covered 5 miles at an average speed of 4.27mph in 1:10.  A little too slow, but, factoring in the time I burned waiting to mount up and ride, we were perhaps closer to the minimal target of 5mph.  Maybe more.  I know with just a little more conditioning, he'll be able to hit the minimum without a problem.

I got my equine HR monitor in, so I'll be clipping that to him as well to see where we're at during rides as well.

In a separate post I'll lay out the program another rider uses.  It's completely rideable and something I can do if I get to the barn before the heat gets too bad, and even be home before most of the day is burned for the first few weeks.

I'm ready to get back to it!  And, honestly, Strider was so perky on our last solo ride together with seeing new trails that he was ears forward, head up, let's go and gait this mom and see what's around the next turn kind of horse. 

I'm ready to go.  He'll be ready to go soon enough!

Wants, Wishes and Dreams

While the boys have moved to a different facility (sadly, my BO decided not to renew her lease with her crappy Land Owner), I've only been able to make it out there a total of 3 times since the move.

It's depressing.  But, mostly because life has just been so busy that the horses have been put on the back burner.

Kaylee had swim lessons 2 times a week for a month, and then Joe and I are doing (tonight is our last class) the Dave Ramsey "Financial Peace University" which I highly recommend.  Common sense things to do.  Joe and I still aren't quite on the same page with all of the things he's teaching, but...hopefully he'll get on board.

So, with that in mind, and with Joe and the boys and I going out of town next week (mom and dad are going to keep Kaylee since I can't imagine an infant enjoying the beach very much), I've carved out two times to get to the barn before we go.

I'm going to go out Friday after work and just cram in a quick ride on Strider.  I want to get him out and stretch his legs.  Lately, the rides have been kind of...well...non-productive.  I don't enjoy those types of rides.  I want to saddle up and move out.  So, that's the plan on Friday.

On Sunday, I potentially have someone looking to lease Socks.  That'd be nice for Socks.  He's such a nice boy and I hate him sitting around, but I don't have enough free time anymore to ride 2.  I will in a few years, or when Kaylee is large enough to join me in the saddle, but until then, he needs a rider. 

Right now, if everything shakes out the way I hope, I'll be doing LDs beginning in the fall and almost running straight through until the summer hits again.  So, with that in mind, I've GOT to get Strider out and riding again.

I don't mind turtling, I really REALLY don't.  But it sure would be nice to have a horse under me who, at the end of 25 miles still had some gas in the tank. 

I think our last LD is still haunting me.  There were just SO MANY factors and things that went so awfully wrong, but I sometimes forget that.  But it's why I'm planning on trying it again this fall.  I simply hope to ride the trails and complete this go around.

So, if things work out the way I hope, I'll do 1 ride a month.

The List:
Armadillo in October (Davy Crockett National Forest)
Shuffle Away the Summer in November (Trace Trails in Athens)
River Run at Los Caminos in December (San Antonio)
High Roller in January (Cat Spring)
Racing Stripes in April (Mt. Pleasant)
Spirit of Texas in April (LBJ National Grasslands)

I'm hoping that Shanghai Trails gets posted to the AERC calendar.  I'd like to ride it again.  Yes, it will always hold a very special place in my heart as it was our first ride.  It was in March of last year, so potentially it could happen again.  I sure hope so.  It wasn't that far from home, and the property was very nice to ride!

Looking at the calendar from 2015, I'm hoping that another ride that's close to home gets posted again, which would be a February ride. 

Now, I might have to pick one of the April rides and only do one.  I did Spirit of Texas, but didn't get to see much of the Grasslands, which was disappointing.  But I heard Racing Stripes was a great ride too.  Decisions, decisions!

I'm half-tempted to try and book both, but need to decide a little closer.  There's a cute little "Barn and Breakfast" near the Grasslands I told Joe I could book for us so he could join me.  He could fish during the ride and I could go tear up the trails.  :)  We'll see how that works though.  When we get closer I'll decide.

Right now, all of these are barefoot rides.  I'm just not sold on boots yet.  Do I want a pair?  Of course I do!!  But, with Renegades running about $400 to go all around, and not being in a color I just am DYING to have, I'm good putting off that purchase. 

What I -want- is a lightweight saddle.  And some biothane colored tack.  ;)  I picked up a sponge, so that'll help keep Strider cool on trails.