Change is a lesson to be learned...or "Bend like a willow...it's good practice for life."

This weekend was spent in preparation for Last Hoorah.

Beet pulp is soaked, triple rinsed, and then put in the freezer so I need only pull it out, add a little water and grain and give it to Strider for pre-hydration.

The kaolin-pectin, CMPK and Enduramax are all in the house, ready to be mixed for electrolyting Strider.

I pulled out all my tack and power washed and cleaned EVERYTHING (saddle pad, cinches, seat cover, breast collar and even my Da Brim with the mud dried on it).

I got out my Hoof Armor gun and made sure to pack extra gloves and the wax paper.

Sunday evening, I did the grocery shopping for the ride.  I Googled the closest "Twice the Ice" location I could drive up to for ice for my coolers on Friday morning. 

Except for throwing my bag of clothes, and my blankets into the truck and trailer, I'm....I'm actually ready and packed for the ride.

HOWEVER....

I was nervous over something with Strider, I had his accupressurist come out BEFORE Last Hoorah instead of the day after team penning in two weeks.  I could feel what I THOUGHT were splints on his fronts.  But, were they new or old?  I ran my hands down his legs; cold and tight.  I've been watching him like a hawk for weeks.  Never a single step that wasn't sound.  I made Joe trot him out for me.  Sound.  I lunged him on a circle both directions.  Sound.

In my mind, I remember (or I've created a false memory) of my trimmer saying that at one point, he has PROBABLY popped his splints, but, they've healed cold and tight.  He's fine.

But I was driving myself insane; had she REALLY said that, or had I made that memory up?

Better to change my appointment, have another set of eyes/hands on him that knows him and to either tell me he's injured, or that he's okay and I'm a freaking lunatic.  So, with all that in my mind, I had Jodi come and do a session on him. 

I mean, he'd done the Intro (16 miles) and the LD (25 miles) for a total of 41 miles 3 weeks prior. 

He was being an absolute turd-asshead about not standing still.  Usually he stands and lets Jodi work on him. 

We eventually went and grabbed Zurkh for company, and he immediately settled down.  *sigh*

As Jodi touched him all over, she said he felt great.  Not a single red flag.  She said every single thing about him was a horse who was the picture of health and who definitely had the energy to do his job.

THAT all said...she said, knowing his history and KNOWING about that soft tissue injury and that we're only about 8 months out from it...she said, sure, he could do the LD...and he'd probably be GREAT at it and he'd sail through without an issue...-but-....

And that's all I needed.

"Would he be okay for an Intro or should I pull him completely?  12 to 15 miles?  I'm good either way, but be honest with me."

So, we're dropping to the Intro. 

Yes, he's fine.  And I'm sure he is.  BUT, right now, why risk it?  The Six 0 Ranch has some challenging terrain. And, he's my long-term riding buddy.  Why push for 25 miles? 

And...while I won't earn as many PFHA points...well...I'll earn some points towards this:

PFHA's Pleasure Long Distance Trail Horse standings

I'm playfully working towards it this year.  However, the first place horse currently racked up 50-odd points last season, so, if she does again...not a chance.  But, I'm having fun with this too.  I'll earn another 6 points, and we'll then take the summer off.  We'll go team pen, he'll get to rest and finish healing, and come about last July/early August, he and I will get back to work and prep for legging up for our 50 attempt.

My "Bargain Bin" Easy Boot Gloves showed up yesterday.  They're brand new in so far as I can tell.  Frankly, I'll never buy them at full price if I can order out of the BB again.  It -LOOKS- like they MIGHT fit his fronts once I trim them up and get the toes pushed back.  If not, they will PROBABLY fit his rears (they're more oval than round). 

And, we're currently in a competition to win a pair of Scoot Boots.  Which would be AWESOME and AMAZING if he did!!!  Not holding my breath (I never win anything....except that one time I won tickets to the opening season of  Sherwood Foreset Faire off the radio), but it sure would help my wallet!!

If not...I'll keep stalking the Easy Boot Bargain Bin and hope a pair of #0's pop up.  Blue would be amazing...but the red ones I got yesterday (I think that's why they're BB boots; they're an older/discontinued model) are going to be VERY visible on his feet!!!

So, that's the current plan right now.  We'll skip the LD and drop down to the Intro (extra bonuses are it's a little cheaper, and I get to ride with my friend C.B. and her horse Decker). 

It would be a lie to say I still sometimes consider just doing the LD anyway.  Who doesn't always do the "Well...what if...?" dance?  I'm human. 

And then I remind myself my horse isn't.  He doesn't understand what we're doing.  He does it simply because I ASK it of him.  He doesn't give two shits about points (PFHA, AERC or Green Bean).  He isn't asking me to go 15, 25 or 50 miles.  He does those things because, again, I am asking it of him.

So, here is where I'm learning to bend like the willow.  Because it's not about ME.  Endurance isn't, per se, about me.  It's about my team of 2.  Him and I. 

Maybe I asked too much for 41 miles.  He told me about 3 miles out of camp he was getting a little tired on day 2.  I heard him.  I listened to him.  I didn't push hard.  I'd ask nicely, and if he gave it, great.  If not, I didn't ask again. 

So, instead, we're going to go have fun at one of my favorite ride venues, and we're going to go and completely enjoy ourselves.

And then he'll get a break...and we'll come back better for it this fall.

Gearing up for the "Last Hoorah!"...or "Final ride of the spring season is coming"

And, just like that, my spring ride season is winding down again. 

1 day of a NATRC ride done.
1 intro.
1 LD.
1 LD left to go.

I'm feeling semi-confident that we can tackle the LD at Last Hoorah.  I admit to SOME anxiety because I have YET to finish a ride at the Six 0 Ranch.  But, I had promised the RM last year, after my stomach fought against me, I wouldn't try another 50 this year.

Didn't say anything about next year though! 

He isn't ready for a 50 right now anyway.

But, my current plan is to apply Hoof Armor to his feet, make time up at the beginning of the ride as it's pretty barefoot friendly there, and then take it easy over the gravel and rocks.

I did order a pair of EasyBoot Gloves from their bargain bin (hard to resist getting 2 boots for the price of 1!), but, based off the fitting kit I'd ordered, I'm not sure if this size is going to work on his fronts.  I also don't have a lot of time to trial them before the ride, so, I'm currently not planning to use them for a ride until we can do some conditioning in them.

However, I'm a little anxious about getting ready for the ride.  This weekend is currently jam packed with things I need to do, and I'm going to go ahead and pack my trailer for next weekend.  I'll pull everything out, and get my tack cleaned up and loaded up.

Speaking of tack, look what showed up in the mail yesterday!!!

My new Michael Gascon halter!!!  I reached out to Sophie (Michael's girlfriend) and asked about the possibility of getting a halter in purple.  She checked, and said that it was possible to get one tied in purple.  So, got one ordered, and it happened to arrive last night!! 

So, with our Hoof Armor, and our new halter, and all of our tack loaded up, we'll be ready to rock and roll for our Last Hoorah!

And then the weekend after that, Team Penning...and then after that...another big surprise....:) 

May is shaping up to be a busy, albeit FUN, month!!

Racing Stripes (LD)...or "Bad weather, a quick 'bath', but so many laughs and memories made!"

So, after ride meeting it was time to hustle back to camp and secure everything down for the bad weather which was approaching.

I tossed everything I didn't want to get wet into the horse compartment of the trailer and tossed tarps over all of it.  Strider got put in his rain sheet, with a high amount of anxiety from myself (the last time he wore his rain sheet over night at a ride was that disastrous Shanghai Trails ride, and he got that touch of colic).  But...I made myself do it, and then battened down the hatches and shut myself in my trailer.

And then it hit.  I could feel the temperatures dropping and getting progressively colder as I huddled up.  The rain...the hail...the wind.  All 3 of us (T.M., myself and A.C.) were messaging and texting.

At some point, something hard and heavy hit my rig. I initially thought it hit my trailer.

But...no....

When I went to check on Hannibal the next morning.  Here's what I saw.

And here's what was laying on the ground by my truck.  Assuming
this is the culprit.  DAMN THING!!!!

So hard to see.  Laying there, all innocent like you didn't just
SCREW UP MY TRUCK YOU DIRTBAG!!!!

Let me say, it was COLD.  I never sleep in socks because I hate the way it feels.  But I slept in 2 pairs of socks and my riding clothes for Saturday.  I read for a while...called Joe at home...kept texting with the girls...it was just hard to get warm with the trailer shaking like it was.  I had my quilt and 2 thin fleece blankets I'd tossed in the trailer a few years ago as makeshift "coolers/rump rugs" for the horses.

But, eventually I managed to settle in and get warm enough to drift off for a few hours.

I woke up around 2 or 3, and forced myself out of my warm cocoon to check on Strider. 

The fabric from my little pop-up was completely off and laying beside it.  One of my neighbor's tents was partially collapsed. 

But, my horse was dozing within his pen.  I opted to leave the blanket on, hit him with another dose of electrolytes, then bolt back to bed for a few more hours.

And, before I knew it, it was time to get up. 

Now, my cinch from the day before had been a little wet, and I'd hung it under my pop up tent to let the wind dry it out.  I hadn't thought to bring my spare cinch.  Thankfully, T.M. loaned me one to use for the day, so I rapidly swapped them out, got him tacked up, wolfed down my breakfast and scampered up to have him vetted through for the day before hustling back to our camp and mounting up.

T.M. and A.C. were already warming up WELL away from the large group at this point, so I joined them as we waited, walking large, gentle circles.

We notice people leaving on trail, so we wait a few more minutes, and then we make our way over and head out on trail.

Strider's a little fussy, so he falls behind as I allow him to graze for a few moments, then he realizes what's happening and he hustles to get caught back up again.

I realize my stirrups are too damn short now that I've brought them up.  *sigh*  Whatever, it's only 25 miles, no big deal.  I can do this.

It's the same loop that Strider and I did yesterday, so I'm still familiar with what we're doing and where we're going.  We quickly cover the first portion, passing a few people, but we're not in a great rush to move out.  We're taking it nice and easy and setting a good pace.

Being a little bit fussy, but still moving nicely
in his rope halter!
(Photo credit: John Nowell.  Picture Purchased)

For a brief moment we had someone join our group who liked our pace. 
T.M. on the gray and A.C. on the adorable appy!
(Photo Credit: John Nowell.  Picture purchased)

And, once more we're back out in the big pasture that's wet and mucky.  I tell T.M. and A.C. that it doesn't take TOO long, we'll be through it soon.

We pass a lady on foot who says she's fine, and I felt kind of bad because I knew she was slogging through water.

And, as we attempt to navigate a large puddle/small pond, Strider dips his head as though to drink, and his entire body just naturally follows, and down he goes.

I'm screaming "NONONONONO!!!"  And T.M. and A.C. are just looking at him and I in shock like they can't believe it.  I had told them a few minutes earlier I can't ever let him stand in water because he goes down, but this, I got ZERO warning on!!

So, it's cold, wet, and it smells.  And I can't get back on in the middle of the pasture.

A.C. graciously dismounts to hold my stirrup while I hop my butt back up.  I'm shivering, but ready to get moving again and stay in the sun.

We go another 5 or 10 minutes and we're going down a fenceline when my Da Brim flies off.  I say "Eff it.  Leave it.  I'm not getting off again."

A.C. says no, she'll get off (AGAIN) and get it for me.  Bless her sweet heart.

And we get back to boogying down the trail.

We cross over the metal bridge, and I point us down the road, and up into the pasture where I couldn't find the ribbons yesterday.  They had, indeed, put a surveyor's stake out with a blue ribbon so it was easier to find on day two.

We wrapped up the pasture, and took a grazing break, then kept on going.

Overall, besides the being dumped in the puddle, the ride was amazing.

As we were leaving the large water trough after the road crossing, T.M. needed to put some chapstick on, but her horse, Galley (Sir Galahad) wasn't quite in gait, so she was kind of bouncing...which led to some hysterical laughter about gaited horses, and the ease with which we could apply make-up.

We were all laughing hysterically, wanting the moment to never ever.  It was one of those perfect moments that make you grateful to be alive, on the back of a good horse, with good friends under the warm spring sun.

This was really only wide enough for 1 horse across.
(Photo credit: John Nowell.  Picture purchased)

It's blatantly obvious in this photo that I'm soaking wet.
PRETTY sure that's cow shit on my sleeve. 
(Photo credit:  John Nowell.  Picture purchased)

After we polished off the first loop, we all vetted in, and again, dropped Strider's head.  At 14 at P&R, not great, but, he was calm and still and not fidgeting.

Over to VC where it was A's down the board and a CRI of 52/48.

And, back to the trailer's for a quick break.

Brief break at the trailer.  Rump rug to keep him warm!

Noshing on our alfalfa yums!

And after sampling the wet "smush" provided.

Holds are always fast, and before I can really blink, it's time to get back in the saddle and get back out on the second loop, which was the yellow loop (I think).  12.something miles.

Finally got to see some different trail. 

We continued to laugh.  We took it easy, while keeping an eye on the clock.  We made sure to stop to graze some for Pegs', A.C.'s horse.  And, of course, ours grazed too.  She would dismount and hand graze him in an attempt to tempt him to eat.  He ate, some.  He just wanted to get going and get on down the trail.

So, we continued to oblige him, although we sprinkled in breaks here and there.

Strider was starting to get a little tired at this point.  He wasn't QUITE so eager to offer me a canter or a gait, though he would if I gently squeezed.  And I'm okay with that.  He was willing and compliant, he just asked (nicely) to walk a little bit.

Just a brief break.  Not very long. 
(Photo credit:  John Nowell.  Picture purchased)

This loop finally started winding down, and we knew, as we came up towards the end, we had about 30 minutes to get back to camp within the window we had set for ourselves.  A.C. dismounted a little early to allow Pegs to graze...T.M. and I slowly walked, allowing ours to graze a little before we reached the dam.  We hopped off and all 3 of us discussed what the plan was.  We opted to drop saddles at the trough and walk over to P&R.  It wasn't cold at this point, per se, or I would have dashed off for a blanket.  The sun was out and warm.

Now, I knew that we were starting to get close to cut-off, and I knew there were at least 2 people behind us, so, as I came in, I asked Linda if I was turtle; to which I was told, no.

DANGIT!!  I reallllly wanted that turtle award!!!

Oh well!!  

Once more to the P&R box, where I had him drop his head.

Down at 12.

Walk over to VC, A's down the board, although B's on guts (which is troubling because he was grazing, heartily, when we stopped for Pegs to eat).

But, ultimately, we got it done, and we had a MARVELOUS time!!!

(As you can tell from our vet cards, we REALLY were cutting it close!!  Needed to be pulsed down before 1:30.  I was pulsed down by 1:21.)

Our vet card!

Splits

	Time	Cumulative Time	Moving Time				Avg Speed	Avg Moving Speed	Max Speed
1	11:00	11:00	10:51				5.5	5.5	7.8
2	9:57.6	20:57	9:55				6.0	6.1	8.7
3	12:44	33:41	12:19				4.7	4.9	10.9
4	8:51.4	42:33	8:51.4				6.8	6.8	10.7
5	8:23.9	50:57	8:17				7.1	7.2	10.8
6	10:49	1:01:46	10:16				5.5	5.8	11.0
7	8:26.8	1:10:12	8:26				7.1	7.1	12.2
8	11:36	1:21:48	11:02				5.2	5.4	9.7
9	12:08	1:33:56	11:27				4.9	5.2	10.8
10	8:49.0	1:42:45	8:08				6.8	7.4	11.5
11	9:19.0	1:52:04	9:00				6.4	6.7	11.1
12	10:02	2:02:07	9:50				6.0	6.1	13.0
13	11:01	2:13:08	10:55				5.4	5.5	11.6
14	10:26	2:23:33	10:15				5.8	5.9	12.8
15	12:56	2:36:30	12:35				4.6	4.8	10.8
16	27:07	3:03:37	20:41				2.0	2.6	11.4
17	0:05.9	3:03:43	--				0.1	--	0
18	0:01.3	3:03:44	--				0.1	--	0
19	10:05	3:13:49	9:40				6.0	6.2	10.3
20	10:19	3:24:08	10:02				5.8	6.0	9.2
21	14:50	3:38:58	11:59				4.0	5.0	11.1
22	11:10	3:50:09	10:33				5.4	5.7	10.7
23	14:15	4:04:24	13:25				4.2	4.5	9.1
24	11:41	4:16:04	11:16				5.1	5.3	9.6
25	10:59	4:27:04	10:39				5.5	5.6	10.3
26	10:19	4:37:22	10:17				5.8	5.8	12.5
27	9:16.1	4:46:38	9:12				6.5	6.5	12.8
28	13:23	5:00:02	10:47				1.8	2.2	4.1
Summary	5:00:02	5:00:02	4:42:07				5.1

After that, it was back to our camp for a well-earned rest (for my horse, anyway!) and some pampering.

It was a little cool, so I tossed his cooler on him, then went ahead and put Ice Tight on his legs.

Hail the conquering hero!!

Or, rather...leave him alone so he can nap!!

Knowing that we were staring at a LONG drive home, and the temps were going to get COLD again, I went ahead and packed up everything I could and made my rig as 'road ready' as I could before morning.

I packed up my pop up, shifted hay bales around, loaded up the truck and basically killed time until the awards dinner. 

Awards dinner was hamburgers, hot dogs and junk food GALORE for which T.M. and I were grateful for something warm that wasn't our OWN junk food from our stash. 

Another shirt, and another ride in the books, OFFICIALLY!!!

Darkness.  In our rain sheet because it's not AS heavy, but still offers some warmth.

I love the twinkling lights!!!

 A.C. told us she was getting up at around 5 and driving for home then (she said she actually was up at 4 because it was so cold, so she just left then).  I hadn't actually set an alarm, but, at about 7 I rolled out of bed, and saw T.M. was packing up.

I was a little sore, but once you're moving, it gets easy.  I continued to shift stuff around, break down my bed and I had camp completely broken down before 8 am.

Last thing to be loaded on ride weekends is my horse!

T.M and I caravanned out of camp and headed on down the road.  We made a quick stop where I filled up again, we grabbed some warm (and DELICIOUS) breakfast tacos, some drinks, and drove on down the road.

And drove.

And drove.

And kept on driving.

The drive really is VERY long.

At Waxahachie we stopped for a break for the horses and ourselves.  I filled up again (hey, why not!), and then it was back on the road.

For more driving.

And more.

We made a final stop in Belton for a break, then we went our separate ways to get it on home.

Overall, it was a successful weekend.  He is DEFINITELY back for the LDs. 

And now, I have the summer to get him legged up for a 50 attempt this fall. 

Good job Strider.  Good job.