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.