In which I ramble....

As I read through other endurance riders blogs, I always want to jump and chime in on a post.

Until I realize it's from like, 2009 or some nonsense, and I think "Man, I'll sound like a dipwad.  Better not."

However, feel free to comment on my old stuff.  Not that I really have any content of value, but...why not, right?

Right now, it's been probably almost 3 or 4 weeks since I last rode either Strider or Dakini due to hoof/lameness issues or just plain bad weather (a few weekends ago I met up with some friends and rode Socks though). 

Look, I don't mind riding in the rain if I must, but the fact, for ME, is a risk vs. gain calculation. 

The risks usually seem to outweigh the gains.  There's the potential for my horse to slip and pull/wrench/tear/hurt themselves.  No good. 

What will my horse gain from riding in the rain? 

Is the rain slated to last for a long time?  How long?  How much time will I lose if I don't ride? 

Here in Texas, in AUGUST, it has been raining for about 9 days now.  Basically, non-stop.  Or at least it hasn't stopped enough for the ground to dry out enough to make it safe to ride. 

NOW, if it was raining, and the ground was still fairly safe, not too muddy where my horse might slip and I just HAD to get a conditioning ride in for some reason, I -might- risk it.  But honestly, I tend to err on the side of over-caution. 

All of that said, I'm looking at the calendar and starting to panic a bit.

With 9 days of near-solid rain, and the ground so saturated at the barn that I'm worried my CAR will get stuck, I haven't been out since last Sunday when I mauled...errr, I mean nipped/rasped Strider's toes.  So, I'm about 99.9% sure I'm going to have 3 horses with some gnarly thrush.  There's just no DRY place to stand out there in an open paddock with no trees.  NONE.

So, a week or so, ONCE this rain stops (Wednesday I believe) before I can clear up the thrush (I'm guesstimating).  Let's just be realistic and say I won't get my ass into a saddle again until Labor Day weekend.

This leaves me 6 weeks until Armadillo Run.

The reality is it's not that bad.  I'm not gunning to Top 10 the stinking ride.  I just want to complete with 2 sound horses.  And that's doable.  COMPLETELY doable!  Ride one/pony one to condition.  And attempt to get out more than once a week.  Which requires some focused coordination with my husband to make that work.  If I could just get to the barn 2 or 3 days a week, I can easily get this done and have 2 ponies ready to go, if not be "racing ready". 

Yes, it's fast.  I'm modifying the hell out of Laura Peck's schedule.  Not 1 day of riding, but if I can manage it, 2 or 3 days of riding each week (squashed in there somehow between Joe's football games and Kaylee's dance class and other personal stuff).  The simple fact is that I will be spending Saturdays and Sundays at the barn definately.  Maybe Wednesdays.  Or Thursdays.  Not Fridays.  Occasional Mondays.  I don't plan on rushing Dakini through the schedule, per se.  I'm not going to be shooting for her to do 50's for a long while yet (or maybe never at all).  Strider and I won't do another 50 until the first weekend of December, so he and I will have plenty of time to really bring him back to work.  And I know an LD is in him. 

And yes, I know the general consensus/rule is that you're not supposed to go down in distance UNLESS you're rehabbing an injury.  And, while he's never been TECHNICALLY hurt...I think backing him down to an LD is in his best interest.  We NEED a good ride together.  Our last LD, lame (granted, the day before he'd done a 50 just fine).  Our last ride, OT. 

Here's a very VERY generic outline of our weeks for the next 12 weeks during football season.

Monday - Joe (sometimes) has football training classes
Tuesday - Kaylee has dance class
Wednesday - Joe sometimes travels out of town/Middle School football games
Thursday - Joe has Junior Varsity football games
Friday - Joe has varsity football games
Every other Sunday - Joe volunteers as a police officer in a small town nearby

I'm hanging my hopes on those Mondays and Wednesdays right now.  And, of course, Saturdays and Sundays.

To say he's busy during football season is an understatement.  I've communicated that he and I will need to share our calendars freely as I need to plan riding time around his football time (football earns money, horses cost us money, so his gets priority).  He never begrudges me barn time on weekends (though he does get fussy about the state of the house...what can I say, I'd rather be at the barn than in the house).  So, the house may just have to suffer this fall.

Let's also shuffle in here that Sept. 12th Austin flies out of San Antonio to Camp May, New Jersey for 8 weeks of boot camp.  This is a good/bad thing.  One less person in the house to worry about, but then I take on the responsibility of caring for and feeding 2 lizards.  And then in November we fly out to Camp May to see him graduate boot camp.  After that, he'll be home briefly then off to his assigned duty station.  And then we re-arrange the bedrooms to move Kaylee in to her own room. 

I constantly have to remind myself that it's one day at a time.  And if I have the info, it's one week at a time so I can plan my riding schedule.

This weekend is a little bit shot.  Saturday is Kaylee's birthday party and Joe has football scrimmages to work that morning, so no riding Saturday.  Sunday I -MUST- go to the barn as it's trimming day (professional trimming by my farrier).  Pending thrush, I'll ride one and pony one.   

Nip, Rasp, Freak-out

Random thoughts:

When you board, a good and caring hand who is somehow involved with your horses makes a world of difference.  USUALLY that person is the barn owner.  Sometimes it's the "jack of all trades" though.  Shout out to our barn's "Jack of all trades" who is a caring and conscientious horse owner himself.  He feeds the horses at the barn twice a day, rain or shine, 7 days a week.  Grain if the owners pay for it, which can include separating a horse (like Strider who is the only one getting grain, but will happily give it to Socks should Socks demand it...and Socks doesn't NEED grain!), and then letting said horse back out to the herd.  He also keeps an eye on the round bales, and puts one in the pen if the horses get low.  He dumps and cleans troughs every other week.  Turns the arenas.  Keeps the racing track turned as well.  If a horse is hurt and the owner isn't out, he'll doctor the horse and let the owner know.  He's ever friendly and willing to help you out if you have an issue.  He's a great guy.  So, shout out to those people.

It's been raining all weekend off and on.  I wasn't sure how it would be at the barn, but, I had committed to going out once a week to trim feet with Sunday being that day.  It wasn't raining when I left the house, but the skies looked like they held the promise of rain.  I had to swing by Home Depot to get some bolts for my hoof stand, so I ran in, did that and then scampered out to the barn, getting random sprinkles here and there as I drove. 

I knew it was going to rain, so I didn't even load my saddle or any of that gear.  Just grabbed a halter out of my trailer (which is currently parked at my house so Joe can replace the "leg/post" as my birthday gift!) and bolted to the barn.

It was a soggy mess when I got out there.  I hate going into the pen after a rain.  Right by the gate, it always bogs down, even though it's sand, it's slippery.  YUCK! 

Dakini was at the round bale, and I paused to say hello.  The sad, pitiful eyes she turned on me made me laugh.  "I'm sorry honey.  I know you're wet.  But at least it's cooler, right?"

Her eyes didn't seem to agree with my sentiment.  So I gave her a quick hug and a kiss on the nose and went off to go grab Strider.  Who insisted on using Socks as a body shield.

Are you effin' kidding me horse?! 

So we played "Whack a Mole" back and forth a few times until he finally gave that deep "sigh" and stood there while I tossed the halter on him.  Token resistance.  Idiot.  Life would be easier if you'd just give in and not do that.

Walk him out of the pen, set up my stand, grab my nippers...and the sporatic spitting water turns into a drizzle.

Okay.  Whatever, we won't melt.  I go and hose the mud off his feet, and get to work with my nippers.

So last week, it was hot and dry and his feet were like nails.  After 2 days of wet, his feet are like soft butter at the toe, and I almost scream and cry as I fear I've cut in to the white line.  What seems like, to me, a large "chunk" I bit off his toe.  Oh no.  NO NO NO!!!  There I am, in the rain, trying not to have hysterics.  Wondering if I should call my farrier in a panic and see if she'd send her son over to help me because I am dead SURE I've lamed my horse, cut him to far in, and he'll be dead lame, and just fall over and die.


Okay, not quite so dramatic, but I did honestly think of reaching out to my farrier to see if her son could come and guide me.  But, I resisted the urge.  She's on vacation.  Leave her alone Erin.  Leave.Her.Alone. 

So I nipped and nipped.  Don't go too far past 10 and 2.  Well, maybe that's a little past, but, maybe we can rasp it and make it look less chewed and mangled? 

FYI, nippers are slippery buggers when they're wet. 

Get his foot up on the stand and start rasping.  WHOA, it comes off quick when his feet are moist!  Rasp and rasp and rasp.  Well, it still looks hinky, but there's less toe.  There's some bar on the back and his heels are high...but..we're ignoring that as per my farrier's orders.  REMEMBER Erin!!  Don't mess with it! 

Okay, okay.  Let's take some aftermath pictures.  Oh my gawd, it looks hinky.  UGH!!!

Let's do the next foot, okay?  Just, do the next one.

Which I think looks even WORSE when I'm done mauling that one.  I swear I can see the white line from the front of the foot.  More tears and cursing my stupidity and dumb foolish choices.  And then I admonish myself; "Self, you want to do boots, right?  This is the ONLY way to make boots manageable for yourself.  LEARN FEET!!  You can't screw him up so badly there's no recovering right now."

More rasping, more cursing myself.  More photos.  Otherwise, I'll keep rasping away at his feet for hours trying to make them at least APPEAR nice from the front.

So, I left the barn, discouraged.  Posted the photos to Facebook, knowing that I'd get people questioning why I'd done what I'd done, and telling me that things were wrong here and there.  And, I don't mind.  I honestly don't.  It was a little stingy, but, I'm working with my farrier, so I didn't mind people asking why I had or hadn't done "X, Y, Z".  Because I know they're trying their damnest to help me.  And I appreciate it.  It's how horsepeople should be!!! 

My farrier texted me later in the afternoon to tell me I hadn't done as bad as I'd feared.  Things will be fine.  And to remind me to stop being so hard on myself. 

With that reassurance, I stopped fretting I'd hurt him.  I'd made sure to lead him up and down the alley between the pens at the barn, and he strode out confidently and soundly for me.  So, I hadn't been in horrible tears when I turned him loose again, just mildly anxious.  And my farrier talked me through some of my anxiety, told me what the goal and plan is for us, and I'm okay with it.  I view those photos as something that will pop up in my "Facebook Memory" feed in a year, and I'll be able to laugh because, hopefully in 52 weeks, I'll be doing MUCH better at it!! 

I did stop before leaving the barn and dropped off the 2 bags of the Nutrena Fuel I bought to switch Strider over too at a fellow endurance rider's suggestion.  I paid $46 for 2 bags (simple math, $23/bag).  Which FEELs ouchy, except before, I was buying a bag of Nutrena's Performance ($17.99/bag at Tractor Supply), then a bag of alfalfa pellets ($14.99/bag).  I can now cut out the pellets and just feed straight feed.  Double bonus as Strider isn't a fan of alfalfa pellets. 

I have a friend at work who sometimes has coupons for Nutrena products, so I'm hoping she'll get some more to give to me so I can stockpile grain. 

Actually, I'm hoping I can pull back a little bit on how much he's getting soon.  The original goal was to get weight back on him, and he's just about where he needs to be, so I'm going to be backing him down where he gets half the grain ration he's currently getting daily.


The rest of the day was spent dozing off and on when I got home and out of my wet clothes.  Rainy days make me lethargic.

We no haz a long trot...and nip and roll the toe!

I promised more on Dakini?

I lied.

Sorry Charlie, but I lied apparently.

Time to talk about the weekend, then I'll get back to mareface.

Out of the blue during the week, I was contacted by one of the ladies from the place I used to board to see if I wanted to come ride on Saturday morning at McKinney Roughs.  HELL YES I DO!!!

Drawback?  Of my 3 horses, 2 are still what I qualified as "lame", so, there was nothing left for it but to steel up my spine and ride the trotting horse.

No, I love that goofy boy.  He's a saint (for the most part) and ever since I took him on that first LD in October of last year, he's perked up on trails and is quite content to trot for as long as I'll ask it of him.  He does flag, but that's because he's just not conditioned for it, but he sure will try his sweet heart out for you.

Anyway, it was a nice little 5.11 mile trail ride that was over far too soon for me.  We had hoped to get down to the river, but we took the wrong trail turn.  We ran in to some other riders out there and asked them how to get there, but when they said it was an 8 mile round trip, while -I- was game (hey, 5 miles, we were just warming up!), my friends weren't.  So, we did the same loop again, but decided to spend much of it trotting (somehow Socks and I ended up in front and he was quite game to lead and just chug along with his rough little trot).  As we came up from down near the river, we decided it was time for a good leg-stretching canter.  So away we all flew.  Thing is, there's some small little "speed bumps" on the trails (no idea what those are about), and I swear anytime Socks got to one, he just lept over it.  Heartpounding to put it mildly.  I don't usually hang on while I canter, but I sure did have my free hand clutching the pommel of my saddle.  After that, we headed back to the trailers.  Hosed the horses down, settled them in at their trailers with hay and water and we broke in to the coolers for snacks and drinks.

It's taken about 3 days before the pain in my spine has finally ebbed.  My legs felt FANTASTIC, which I suspect is because I wasn't having to contantly "ask" for forward motion.  He wanted to go down the trail as much as I did.  But my back.  My aching, aching back.  I genuinely do NOT know how people ride trotting horses for 100 miles.  The 30 miler I did with him was bad enough.  But, my next goal for him is to put out feelers and see if I can find a local who is interested in endurance who might want to lease him and condition him.  He could go out right now and do an LD without a qualm, but should someone want to explore the higher miles, for his own soundness, he needs conditioning.  So, I should perhaps get on that. 

While I was talking to my friends, my farrier sent me a text to see if I was free on Sunday.  And if so, time to show me how to nip and roll the toe on my endurance horse. 

I guess this means I'm serious since I'd spent almost $90 on nippers (which is WAY cheaper than the $200 pair I wanted!).  The reality is he grows toe like WHOA!!  In just the 3 weeks since she'd trimmed him, we had to push him back again. 

Now, I had a hoof stand.  And an old rasp she'd given me.  And I'd TRIED rasping his toe, but I couldn't ever push it back far enough with just a rasp.  So, with slow and patient "nips" from 10-2 on his fronts, getting near, but not quicking him to the white line, away we went.  Slow.  So slow. 

My farrier is right, I AM hard on myself because I want to get it right the first time.  She was patient, showed me tricks and tips to make things easier.  Never at all critical of what I did.  As we both baked in the hot Texas sun (100+ degrees for the win?  No?  NO!). 

Anyway, the plan is I'll go out early again on Sunday to nip and rasp and roll and keep pushing and pushing those toes back.  I still want her to do the more difficult parts and to make sure I'm not unbalancing him.  But, since I don't want to do shoes, this is the only way to make sure boots fit him. 

Well, every week do the fronts, every 2 weeks, do the backs. 

So, Sunday is the first time I'll nip and rasp on my own.  I'm a little anxious, but, as she's said, if I just stay on top of it week to week, it shouldn't be too bad.  And, it might help to soak his feet just a little bit to soften them up.  They're tough as nails right now!!

Step back, punt and seek a way to move forward....

As can be gleaned from my wickedly neglected blog...Last Hoorah didn't go well.

We overtimed again due to a multitude of reasons.

Boot SNAFUs, getting lost on the last loop several times.  And Strider just being, in general, "weird".  We were alone for the vast majority of the ride, which I think he loathed.  So, he didn't really stop and graze while we were out by ourselves.  I made it a point at one moment in the ride to get COMPLETELY out of the saddle, pull the baggie of grain I had in my pommel bag out, and hand feed him grain to perk up his appetite.

He also COMPLETELY stopped eating the DynaSpark from me.  COMPLETELY.  It was just kind of spirit smashing for us as we trudged on through the day.  We did the entire 50 miles, we just didn't do it in time.  Again.  Apparently following ribbons is something I fail at (to be fair, I heard that the ladies I started the ride with, and who I had PLANNED to ride with said the last loop wasn't exactly well ribboned).

However, the Hoof Armor Holly applied to his feet 3 days before we left held up and kept him sound over some gnarly rocks.  I was impressed.  He didn't gait over rocks, he took it nice and slow, but he vetted in 100% sound at the end of the ride.

So, I've spent the past few months considering my booting options.

Glue ons?  Different brand of strap-on boots?  Shoes?

Shoes?  No.  Not worth it to me for the very few potentially rocky rides I might attend.  I do this sport for fun, and my horse should be able to have fun too.  Shoes on his feet doesn't seem like it would be fun for him, and the hassel of finding someone I trust to shoe him, and then to re-set or re-shoe is more than I want to deal with for 1 or 2 potentially rocky rides.  I'd rather skip those rides than shoe my horse and lose the points in the AERC and PFHA standings.

Glue ons?  Kind of expensive.  The glue gun is around $85.  The adhesive is like $25/tube (there-abouts).  Then I've still got to buy the shoes.  And what kind do I want?  The longest lasting ones are the brand new EasyBoot Flip Flop that last through an entire trim cycle.  But, at $30-something a foot, and being unable to re-se them, I'll pass.  Renegade glue-ons?  Only glue for the weekend and have to be removed post-ride.  Can only occasionally be re-used.  Still about $30-something a foot.

Strap-on boots?  Well, so far the Renegades just bug me.  They're not small enough for my dainty ballerina footed horses (plural...and I'm not including Socks when I say that...but more later).  They work just fine at a walk, but the twiddle and tweak is ticking me off. 

I'm currently looking at the ScootBoot ($170/pair) or the EasyBoot Gloves ($78/foot [and $12 for a fit kit]).  So, they're fairly comparable in price.

I have been waiting and hoping SOMEONE was doing endurance in ScootBoots, especially on a gaited horse.  Doesn't look like that is happening yet though.  So perhaps I shall be the first.  Or one of the first.  I'll sell off some of the Renegades that I have (I have LOTS of 1's, which primarily only fit Strider's rear feet, and I'm more worried about his front feet) and put that money towards a pair of purple ScootBoots.

Anyway...I'm avoiding.  So...I loaded Strider into the trailer and headed home.

I stopped for lunch, maybe 45 minutes or so, then proceeded to a friend's house in Hutto to pick up a new-to-me horse she's giving me (another Paso Fino), then off to drop both Strider and new-to-me horse at a new pasture.

Nothing untoward happened.  But, when Strider backed off my trailer, he was gimping, head-bobbing LAME.  I wanted to cry.  My poor boy.  He was fine Saturday night.  I woke up a few times in the night to find him laying on the ground by the trailer sleeping.  He seemed fine.

I kick myself because I didn't really walk him around much before I loaded and headed for home Sunday morning.  So either the adrenaline helped at the finish line Saturday evening, or he got super stiff over night, and then compounded with a trailer ride...it was too much.

The amazing Holly, my farrier extrodinaire, palpated him on Monday, said he was obviously flinchy, but she didn't feel it was a bowed tendon, but most likely tendonitis. 

He has had the entire summer off.  We're just now getting back in the saddle as I do walk only with him and consider how best to continue with him.

We spent 1 week at walk only for 30 minutes.  He was bored.  I'm bored.  He begs to go.  I hold him back.  We both feel like our wings are clipped.  But, my eyes are set on a long-term goal I cannot yet convey to him. 

Each week we add 15 more minutes.  However, 2 weeks ago we were supposed to be doing 45 minutes of a walk, but first the weather got in the way (RAIN!  RAIN in late July in TEXAS!!!!).  Then this week, as Joe preps for football season, he had a training class on Monday, then was out of town Wednesday...so it's just been one thing after another.  I say it's the Universe reminding me that I am not in control and must simply accept what is and move upward.

I'll speak more about the "new-to-me" pony soon!!