Performance Horse

So, yesterday I finally found and acquired a saddle that fits Strider.

From the brief ride I took in it, it tips me forward slightly, but I know I'll get a good seat in it.  Strider acted up, did his little "bunny bucks", which might have been because of my seat being tipped, the light saddle, just a combination of things making it odd for him.

But, while we were fitting him, once again the saddle fitter had me come and actually physically FEEL how much better this saddle fits him compared to the ones on Sunday.  And, while doing so, she had her friend hold Strider for me.

Now, Strider is an asshole.  No, seriously.  I love him, but as his "mom" I let him get away with things I KNOW I shouldn't.  He won't stand still (tied, on a lead line [unless he's grazing or being groomed]), he's an animal constantly in motion and constantly needs to be distracted if you want him to be still.  It's draining.

Anyway, so she tells her friend that he's a performance horse.

I kind of mentally blinked, told her that it still really isn't an excuse and I really was sorry he was so rude.  But she just shrugged and said "Performance horses get a little bit of a pass because they're athletes."

Performance horse?  What?!  My mind revolted from this concept. 

He's not a performance horse!  He's just a trail horse!  My prospective endurance mount, but he's NOT a performance horse.

All the way home I talked this out to myself (am I the only one who talks to themself when alone?  Helps me think for some weird reason). 

In my mind, until he breaks through that magical "50 miles" number, he's NOT a performance horse.

But that's not being fair to him.  It's really REALLY not fair. 

He's technically logged 75 AERC miles (even if 25 of those aren't on the books, he OT'd but still COMPLETED them).  We're logging miles on the weekends to condition (now).  I'm starting to think in terms of getting him prepared to become that 50 mile horse.  I'm preparing him to BE that 50 mile horse.  And we're working towards that goal.  Not just in outfitting him (and myself), but in the miles I'm putting under his feet.  Even the "casual" trail rides are mentally gearing him for race days. 

By the time I step out of the saddle tomorrow, we'll be 3 weeks in to our 12 week conditioning schedule.  23+- miles under his feet.  And more to come. 

He's never going to be a top-competitor.  Do I dream of winning a monogrammed hay bag or camp chair? Of course I do!!  I would LOVE to do it on my Paso. 

But I don't think he'll ever Top 10 or ever be asked to stand for BC.  And honestly, I AM good with that.  I'm doing this for the miles.

Oh, and the shirts.  Don't forget the shirts!!  :)

But honestly, we're working towards him being a performance horse.  I'm starting to treat him more and more like a performance horse.  Granted, we're not working HARD at our job, but we are working at it.  He'll never be a "professional" athlete, and I'm no professional coach, but even if he's an "amature" performance horse, I think I'll always be proud of that. 

He's nothing super-duper fancy.  I've been told I could take him to a Paso Fino show and certainly not hang my head with embarassment with the horse beneath me.  I've been told that he does trust me.  That I could have broken him to ride completely by myself (I did do all the ground work, and had actually ridden him around at a walk before he ever went to a professional trainer).  And that he's a good trail horse.  I know he's all of those things. 

And, then there's that super small part of me that just smiles when Strider gets out there and rocks it.  Because the ex said he wasn't worth anything and wouldn't ever do anything useful.

Oh yeah?  Well eat it sucker.  We're out there DOING things.  What're YOU doing?  That's right, a whole lotta nothing.


I loved it at the Off Road Warrior ride, when I went to vet in, the ride photographer recognized him as "The little black Paso Fino."  I was so proud of that moment.  Only our 3rd ride, and the ride photographer knows who he is. 

Of course, he won't recognize him at the October ride.  He's very sun faded right now.  And when he was younger, I was vain enough to toss paprika as a top dress on his feed to keep him black.  But I just don't care anymore.  It's too much work to try and keep his coat a dark color.

Solid feet.  Solid legs.  Solid muscles.  Solid heart.  Solid back.  And solid try.  If he gives me all of those things, I can ask for nothing more of him.

Facebook Endurance Groups=Temptation

I really should STOP joining the Facebook groups for the rides that are happening that I can NOT attend.

It makes me second and third guess myself.

The first ride of the fall season is the Wacky Waco Wide, which I think I've mentioned before.  This is a very technical ride and very rocky and hilly.  I've never been, but not only have I heard this from more experienced riders, I can tell it from the photos.

In my mind, I want so SO badly to rack up my first 100 LD miles before the end of the 2015 ride calendar season.  And I'm worried it won't happen.

I'm limiting myself to 1 ride a month.  I currently have 50 LD miles on the record books. 

Armadillo is a 30 mile LD.  Everything I've seen and read and heard and understand says that one is a very easy ride, nice and sandy.  I've completed 2 other very easy and non-challenging LDs, so I've got no reason to think Strider won't complete there either.  Especially as we're now actually conditioning, and I'm going to be switching out his tack and lightening it up for him.  And I'm better prepared now. 

So, as long as fate doesn't laugh in my face and I can complete, I'm at 80 LD miles. 

In November, two challenges.

Make my 100.

Defeat the trails in Athens.

The trails that took Strider and I in to OT.  I want to do them again.  And I want us to defeat them. 

I am better prepared.  I am more experienced.  Strider is more experienced.  I now KNOW what I'm facing.

I want to conquer them.  Decimate those trails.

Assuming that we don't get deluged with rain again making the trails total slop.  I won't do that again to him.  Those trails were a rutted, foul mess with enough mud to suck your soul from you. 

It'll be November, so certainly not as warm and humid as it was in May.  That will help us.  He'll be getting fuzzy again, which means I need to consider a trace clip for him.  We'll see about that too.  Our conditioning rides will let me know where he's at physically before I go knocking off his coat.

And, since the power of positive thinking means I'll kick those trails this time, I'll break my 100 mile goal.

But, this brings me back full circle.

What if we don't?  I've missed my goal.  I'll have another chance on Thanksgiving weekend in Killeen, but that's violating what I said I was going to do; one ride a month. 

But, I'm in the Wacky Waco Wide FB group, and already getting the itch to give it a try.  And honestly, if I could get Strider up and vetted in without having to spend the night, I'd do it in a heartbeat.  But...finances, promises and the challenge of it are keeping me from doing it.  Or seriously considering it.

And besides, if I miss it at Shuffle in Athens...there's always Old Glory.  ;)

Plans and Clinics

It's only Tuesday and already I'm working for the weekend!

Saturday morning I've got another conditioning ride ready to roll out.  Going to let a friend come try it with me.  She's not sure her boy can keep up with mine.  As I told her, I'm not riding hard, I'm just going for mileage under his feet.  And, I told her she'll be surprised at how her boy acts with another horse who's moving out.  I certainly was! 

She did say she didn't want to slow us down, and if she felt she was, it wasn't like she was lost and couldn't get back to the barn, so we'll see how she and he do for our ride on Saturday.  I told her I like to have my foot IN the stirrup by 8 am so I'm done before 10 and it gets hot.  I know I'm supposed to be shaving time off on my 8 mile loops right now, but I feel like we did last week, and if I can bump an extra mile or so out of him in an hour and a half (like I did last week), then I feel I've accomplished that goal.

Then on Sunday is a casual and fun trail ride.  A good sized group of us is going over to McKinney Roughs to ride the Pope Bend Loop.  Not sure how long we're going to take, but it'll be nice.  And since it's close enough, we're going to go ahead and haul both boys in my trailer with my truck.  Going to leave it hooked up and haul it home so that SOMETIME during the week I can run it down and get it weighed. 

I'm also going to run to Dover Saddlery this week and have my noggin measured for a helmet.  I know that I need one (at least for endurance rides), and the one I've currently got doesn't fit me very well.  Time to fix that.  Or at least get a price estimate on fitting my brainbox so I can save up and get one. 

Also my trail riding group is kicking around doing a clinic at some point.  That'd be nice.  I REALLY want to get Strider to where he'll side pass.  It is the height of annoyance to climb out of the saddle to open and close a gate.  I hate it. 

I also hate that he doesn't stand still for mounting.  My fault.  I mount up and ride off.  Got to stop doing that. 

But I find it annoying that when I put him in a place, he won't just STAND there.  He wants to move off.  So we dance around and around one another.  Ugh.  I wasted like 15 minutes on Saturday (I paused my ride timer as I wouldn't have dismounted had my damn saddle not dropped a stirrup!) just getting him to stand in one spot.  He'd walk off, I'd back him up quickly, then put him back where I asked him to stand.  He'd move, I'd back him up, then put him back where I had him initially.  Lather, rinse, repeat.  So. Annoying.

Strider's Second Conditioning Ride (1st REAL Conditioning Ride)

Saturday conditioning ride

Goal:  8 miles in 1.5 hours

Actually done:  8.54 miles in 1:27

Fastest mile: 8:28
Slowest mile: 12:34

Average speed: 5.86 mph
Max speed: 11.77 mph

**UPDATE**
Heart Rate
Average: 116
Max: 170

I changed up how I approached the ride this week.

One, I got to the barn at about 7:20ish with the goal of having my foot in the stirrup before 8 am.  This meant that even if it took us close to 2 hours again, we would be done with riding by 10 am.

Two, I figured getting to the barn early enough would allow me to beat the dirt bikes to the side of the property I wanted to ride on.

Both goals, SUCCESS!!!

Now, he does know which direction the barn is, so when his nose is pointed in the direction, he certainly will move faster.

But, he's so obvious when he's engaged in something.  Instead of acting like a sullen child being made to do something, he's head up, ears forward, and all of his energy is forward and in motion.  He just wants to go.  I love riding THAT horse.  The sullen, sulky child isn't a lot of fun.  And the ride is just a grind of mileage under our feet.  And the time just drags along.  It really just isn't fun for either one of us, but we do it because I say we MUST. 

I know on conditioning rides, at about 4 miles in, I'm on the downward slope of "We've only got 4/3/2/1 more mile(s) to go!!  Let's get it done!"  I'm not so much bored as I'm eager to see how we've done.  I do need to get an mp3 player to carry with me so I have some tunes to listen to while we ride. 

This ride I also carried a crop.  Some days he just needs a little flick of it in his vision to move forward.  Sometimes he needs a little tap on the shoulder or butt to move forward.

He seemed to want to go swimming, or at least plunge in to the stock tanks as well.  We went in to the two (I wanted to give him a chance to drink), but he just went in belly deep, appeared to want to keep on going (Uhm, no thanks!  I'm not dressed to swim!), but when I turned him back to keep him from going, he just crawled out.  Okay then.

We did pop in once where I made him take a break in the water to cool off.  He wasn't over sweaty or blowing hard (I have his HR written down, but forgot to bring it with me), but I just wanted to give him a brief break. 

So, while last Saturday was a conditioning ride, this is the one I'll count as our first one.  I need to start trimming time off as best as I can now for the next 3 weeks. 

Breakdown of miles:
1: 10:27
2: 9:24
3: 10:24
4: 10:47
5: 11:56
6: 9:29
7: 12:34
8: 8:24
.54: 4:00

We were on our way to mile 9 being our fastest.  I know why.  There's a dirt track in the large open pasture across the road from the barn.  Strider KNOWS that the barn is "over there" so he picks it up.  And I was having a screamingly good time booking it around the track as he gaited and cantered around and around. 

I should have allowed him to finish off the mile, but...I also don't necessarily want to encourage his bad habits.  He already gets away with too much because...well, he's Strider.

I will say at, I think it was mile 2 or 3, the damn stirrup just gave way.  Oh was I pissed.  I was going down a hill, and all of a sudden, my left stirrup was a LOOOOONG reach for me.  I look down and see it's barely hanging on.

WTH?!!  Someone tell me how a Blevins Buckle flaps up enough to allow the straps to give way and let the stirrup drop free.  So SO furious.  I was technically out on the trail for 1:45 or so, but I paused my timer while fixing that issue and doing a brief training session of "Strider stand STILL so I can freaking get ON!!  No, you damn horse, stand THERE in that depression so I can stand on this slightly HIGHER area and get on you.  IDIOT HORSE!!!  DON'T MOVE!!"

Okay, so there's two things I wish my horse did; side pass so I could open/close gates...and stand freaking still where I put him (including by a mounting block) so I can get on.

I should see what a trainer would charge me just to teach him those two things.  Seriously.  Because it's an annoyance.

He's freaking lucky I love him.

Jerkhorse.

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.

1 Week At Our New Equine "Residence"

So the boys (and Fuego!) have now been at their new place of residence for a full week.

And it would appear that the three of them have integrated with one another nicely.  Only a few additional scrapes and hair missing.  What a RELIEF!!

There was a lot of discussion prior to the move and lots of communication between people who knew all three horses about how to ease them in to this with minimal amount of fighting between them all. 

Quick recap about my two:
Socks - was an intact breeding stallion until 6 years of age; low man on the totem pole in a herd now that he's aged.  However, is boss of Strider.

Strider - gelded as a yearling.  While at the last boarding facility, he was top dog of the herd.  Can be a bully.  However, yields to Socks.

Now, lets add Fuego in to the mix.

Fuego is a beautiful red road mustang that my now co-boarder Jet owns.  He was also a stallion and has at least 1 filly I know about on the ground.  When I initially moved Socks and Strider to the previous boarding facility, Fuego ran my two in to the ground to keep them away from "his" herd.  So, for the past 2+ years, Fuego's been in a large pen with occasional rotation out when my two are put up.  The three of them will ride out together just fine.  It's just at liberty that things could have potentially gotten hairy, so rather than deal with it, the old BO just kept them apart.

However, I get along great with Jet.  And I didn't want to lose a good riding buddy.  I hated seeing our barn break up, so she and I decided we'd stay together if our 3 could get along.

AND THEY DO!!  HOOOOOORAY!!!

Conditioning Isn't THAT Complex!

Now that I'm all caught up on an established endurance blog (Redheaded Endurance), and some of the newer endurance blogs (Willstheconquerer and green-to-100 and silver eagle soars), I'm off to go find another established endurance blog to devour like mad.

I keep jumping back and forth between Endurancegranny's and Funder's "It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time".

This is also along with my brief glimpse into the "arena set" of the $900 Facebook Pony and She Moved to Texas' blogs as well.

I especially adore the older blogs.  They're established, and there's enough reading material there to keep me happy for a few weeks while I get caught up to the current entries.

I'll probably continue to devour Endurance Granny's blog and then go read Funder's.

But, and I've known this, I've Known this, I've KNOWN this, but conditioning needn't take all that long.  I'm kind of "out" of it due to the weather, but for well over a month, I was committed to getting out to the barn 3 times a week and 1 day on the weekend, and I was lunging 2 horses at a gait or at a trot for 20 minutes (with brief breaks, they're both out of shape) because it was time consuming for me to catch 2 horses on 100 acres, groom and tack up.  Yes, short cut, but I'm trying to juggle my family and my horses and my "endurance" (well, right now, my Limited Distance) hobby.  So lunging was what I had the time for.

Now though, that we've moved, they're in a pen.  Very easy to catch them.  The property I'm boarding on has a lighted arena I can use.  A nice round pen.  And marked trails!  And a rought guesstimate about how long the trails are on each side of the property.  And one side is fairly flat trails, and the other side is hilly trails.  Conditioning opportunities abound now!  And I'm so close to McKinney roughs that I can haul over there for a morning ride on the weekend should I so desire!

So, as I'm reading through the Endurance Granny's blog, I'm noting that conditioning rides during the week are 6 or 7 miles (give or take, sometimes more), and I realized; hell, I can do that now!!  Pick a side of the property, pick a speed and get my tail shaking!!  I can do this. 

So I'm back to committing some of my time on weeknights to getting out there and getting myself some time in the saddle. 

I have a few "large" purchases I want to make before our next ride:
Heart rate monitor (about $100)
Hoof boots (price varies; probably about $160-$200?)
New saddle (the one I'm looking at, about $350 at the top end)

It's all doable, and it's all potentially doable prior to our next ride (in October, but I need the hoof boots ASAP to try and make the first ride in October on Strider).

I'd like to get Socks some official AERC miles.  Still trying to figure out how to make that happen.  It might be possible if I can borrow a lighter trailer to haul both boys.

In which case, I REALLY need to get myself a tent.  :)

Reality checks...right in the heart...

At work today (well, I mean, it IS Monday, right?), and I'm flummoxed and emotionally twisted over finances and some health problems (nothing serious, but my gall bladder is on a personal mission to kill me...or at least make me want to carve it out with a spoon ["Why a spoon cousin?" "Because it's dull you twit, it'll HURT more!"]) and realizing that all of my plans for this week are spiraling out of control, and my desire to go to the barn Monday/Wednesday/Friday/Weekend (Pick a day, any day!) was going up in flames.

Well, suffice to say, I was NOT a happy camper. 

I haven't ridden either of my horses in well over a month, closer to 2 months.  I've only seen them twice in that span of time (owing to holidays and weather primarily), and I'm just frustrated and angry about it, and that's bleeding over into my entire life.

Honestly, it's not a joke when I say my horses are my therapy.  Good ride.  Bad ride.  I just need to ride.  Or just get me out there to spend time with my horses.  It's a mood shift and I need it so badly.

Anyway, I'm at work, doing all of the little tiny things that need to be done, returning phone calls, putting out tiny fires, answering emails and in the midst of all of that, I'm reading the blogs I follow.

I'll be honest; I'm new at following Endurance blogs.  Not due to lack of desire, but I haven't followed blogs since LiveJournal stopped being the place to hang out once Facebook crashed on the scene. 

But, for the past few months now, I've been following 2 local Hunter/Jumper bloggers. 

Now, when I follow a blog, that means I go back to the very first entry (assuming I can get to it) and I begin there.  I want the WHOLE story.  I want to know how we got from *there* to *here*, and that means to get it, I need to read it.  Plus, it's nice not having to wait for updates.  I'm kind of impatient.

One of the blogs is the $900 Facebook Pony about Henry and his rider Amanda.  I don't understand some of it (I don't speak "English"), but the pictures are always great and I love the glimpse in to a world of horses so different, yet so familiar, to my own.

But the other local H/J blogger I follow is She Moved to Texas about Simon and his rider Lauren.  I love reading Lauren's blog because it's got lots of different things.  How to make a successful blog.  How to do equine photography.  And even some equine DIY stuff!!  It's fantastic!!

So, $900 FB Pony is usually first up for me to check in the morning as Amanda does her posts kind of early in the day.  Lauren does her updates around 10 (she talks about that in one of her previous blog posts). 

However, I noticed last week on Friday there was no update.  Weird.  I checked sporatically throughout the day thinking maybe she was just late.  But, nothing.

And today there was an update.  And it brought all of my own plans, bothers and nuisances right in to sharp focus and contrast.

I mean, you know it's never good when a blog post has a title of "The Heart Hurts".  My first thought was she'd somehow lost Simon, and my heart sank.

But no.  It was worse.  SO much worse.

I thought, as I read she and her husband were going to end up divorced.

But no.  It was worse.  So SO much worse.

Her husband died of a drug OD.

And my life snapped back and I realized that in all of my own petty worries and concerns, here is the fellow equestrian who's dealing with some REAL shit.  REAL problems.  And a heartbreaking loss I can't even fathom.

And the sheer outpouring of love for her on her blog.  Touching. 

I hope that some of the pain eases for her.  I know her heart will never be whole again.  How can it be?  But may the pain lessen over time.  May she find love and comfort and get through the rough times ahead as she has to go through the unthinkable of planning a funeral for someone she planned to live out the rest of her life with.  And she figures out where to go from here.

Her life will never be the same. 

And mine?  My life really isn't that bad. 

I needed that reality check today.  But not at that high of a painful price.

Pre-ride weekend ramblings...

I'm currently at work, but I've already mentally checked out, despite the mountain of work threatening to bury and crush me beneath its behemoth hulk.  And it's not like I can even stay late to finish up what isn't done.  Joe and I have our first Dave Ramsey "Financial Peace University" class tonight promptly at 6:30, so, time is running out.

But, when I've gotten breaks in the workload (waiting on faxes, just taking a 15 minute break, or just needing a mental break from reading), I've been popping on Facebook....because that's what I do.

And I had a moment where I kind of went "The endurance community is kind of cool."

Now, I'm not going to lie, the first two rides I went to, I could sense/feel the cliques.  Dude, they're real, like in any other group of people.  It's not that they're unwelcoming to newcomers, but they're very excited to see friends they may only see at rides, so they're busy catching up with one another, so they may not exactly greet the "Green Beans" with open arms and a booming welcome.

My first ride, I happened to get to hitch a ride with a rider who has been in the community for a few years, but tends to keep to the fringe.  I get it.  So it was GREAT to have her as someone to keep me company all weekend long.  Didn't hurt she also shared her knowledge with me.  That's what probably helped Strider and I get our first completion. 

My second ride, I went 100% solo.  Right after the ride dinner, I was sitting in my trailer, feeling rather lonesome and out of sorts.  No one really talked to me, and I was so overwhelmed about the new routes that the trail was going to be taking due to the weather that mentally during the meeting, I just shut down.  It had already been a long day of hauling to get to camp, and then setting it up that I was just mentally checking out.

I sent a text to Joe while I was sitting in my tent feeling sad for myself and told him I didn't even know why I had come.  I was lonely and I didn't feel like I fit in.

Now, as a brief backtrack, another rider had started a private conversation for some of us newbie riders on Facebook to talk and get to know one another.  But, as I'm such an awkward chickenpants, I was to scared to try and find their trailer to go say hi.

Joe told me if I was that unhappy, he and Kaylee could come up (4 hour drive?  And sleep I dunno where?  No, I wouldn't subject them to my own folly).  OR, he said just pack it in and go home.

Not gonna lie; briefly thought about it.  Except it was getting dark by then.

So, I ran to go potty, and when I got back, there were 3 people in my camp petting Strider.

It was the group of people who had hooked me up with some fellow green riders! 

So, I walked with them back to their trailer, met their horses, and worked out a ride plan for the morning with the newbie rider.

And I felt better.  So, at least I knew someone!

And, then I met and rode with a very experienced rider on the trail who helped keep us on pace and on track, and then she happily conceded the Turtle Award to Strider and I. 

After our completion and I got Strider settled in after our ride, she and I had a celebratory glass of wine at her trailer and sat and talked.  And that was nice.  And she said she'd try and save us a spot next to her trailer for the next ride.

And, tomorrow I leave for our 3rd ride, but it'll be our last ride of my "spring" season.  And, here I am on Facebook, talking with people who are coming, looking forward to seeing her again. 

And the few people I've talked to on Facebook, who have either been at the rides I've already been at, or who I've met (albeit briefly), while none of them can make the ride this weekend, we're all making plans for the rides in the future.  And it's nice.  Well, actually, there's one lady who I briefly met at my first ride who'll be at this ride, and I'm planning to ride with her on Sunday...so that's taken care of!!

So, while I know there's cliques, it seems that my way around it is to form my own group of friends to talk to at rides.  And keep up with them between rides on Facebook. 

And I know that as each ride goes by, it will get easier and easier.  I'll be (slightly less) anxious about going and making it through.  I'll figure out more and more what works best for me and my horse.  We'll tally up more and more miles, and, I hope, we'll enjoy the trails as they pass beneath our hooves.

As my horse lends me the strength of his back, his legs, his feet, his wind and his heart, I hope that we can enjoy the trails together.  We'll never be swift, we'll never be 'racers', but may our rides always be safe and pleasurable together.

It's almost time again Strider.  Time to saddle up and ride.

The Endurance Riders Prayer

I know that I haven't finished my write-up for my second ride just yet...and as of today, I have just today and tomorrow before I pull out on Friday for our third (and last of the Spring season) ride, but someone posted this to the Facebook AERC page, and it perfectly sums up how I feel while preparing for a ride. 

The Endurance Riders Prayer
Dear LORD as I send in my ride entry today,

I pray that you watch over my horse and his health,
Like holy bubble wrap for his legs, spine, gut, face, eyes
And holy armor for my truck/trailer, with specific attention to
My truck and trailer tires, suspension, exhaust system, brakes, transmission,
pumps, buttons, brakes, flooring and lights, and any other important parts I may be
forgetting or unaware of that are likely equally as important.
Also LORD, please watch over all my endurance pals and help them to be equally as safe as they make their preparations for their own rides.
In your holy name,
AMEN.
-Elizabeth Ecklund

Each and every rider worries and frets over every little thing on their horse up to the minute the ride begins, then as we go down the trail(s) at our own speed, we fret about them taking a misstep or a stumble.  Will they pulse down quickly?  Will they be sound?  Will they vet check okay?

We're bundles of anxiety...except the siren's song of the trail, it calls to us. 

I have found a joy and purpose in my riding that has been lacking the past few years.  Casual trail riding no longer satiates me.  I want to ride for a purpose.  When I put my foot in the stirrup, I want to gently encourage my horse to stretch himself just a little bit more than the last time we went out. 

I absolutely adore being out on the trails.  Being out there and enjoying my ride with everyone else.

I am overwhelmed at the improvements I've seen in my horse.  No longer is he sour and annoyed when we ride.  He comes to see me when I pull in to the barn, as if to find out as soon as possible what new adventure I have planned. 

He walks out with purpose if we stay on the property at the barn, and walks away from the herd without an issue.  He's ready to go.  Water in the way?  Let's get through it, or around it, but it's not going to deter our ride.  Want me to cross that creek that's to his belly?  Okay, sure.  I'm ready, let's RIDE!!

My horse is so utterly and completely different from the horse I used to have that it's sheer joy to ride with him.  He still pushes himself, and I still worry.  But we enjoy our time together.

Oh Strider, may our trails together be ever filled with beauty.  May you stay ever sound and may you always enjoy our rides together. 

Together, my sweet, brave boy, we'll see many trails.  Make many new friends.  And enjoy our hours together.

On the road to ride camp...

Friday morning, I slept in until 7.  Except I kept waking up sporadically all night long, checking the clock, thinking and re-thinking of everything I needed to take and pack and to not forget.

Sometimes it's hard to remember that the ONLY thing(s) I need are:
A horse
Tack

The rest of it, I don't doubt I could get at ride camp if I arrived only with my horse.  It's really not a joke that endurance people are so generous. 

Honestly, I suspect if I just showed up with a horse, I could cobble together tack to ride in, something to feed him and water for the weekend.  Because that's how endurance people roll.  They're so very generous.  It's one of the things I truly enjoy about being in ride camp.  Well, now that I'm starting to meet some people! 

Facebook helps in facilitating meeting others!  As does riding with people.  I'm quickly figuring out who's who...or at least putting some names with faces. 

Anyway..Friday morning.  The plan was to be rolling on down the road from the barn no later than 10:15. 

Yeah.  No.  11:15. 

It was raining all night, so just kind of icky out.  I hadn't yet filled my water tank.  I needed to load up my coolers with the frozen water and get my food and clothes loaded at the house before I could even get to the barn.

Got Kaylee out the door around 8ish, trailer loaded around 9:30ish (I could NOT resist a final shower before leaving the house since I knew the next shower I'd be taking would be Sunday night when I got home).  As I'm literally putting my boots on, Joe calls and asks if he can meet me out at the barn to at least say "Hi" as I'm running out of town.

So, I bolt out to the barn (well, bolt isn't accurate....I made my way slowly and carefully..you can tell there's 300 lbs of water in the bed of the truck, and I haven't even added the weight of a horse yet!) and make my way down to get Strider.

I stop and say hi to Socks as he's milling about with all the other horses while I wait for Joe.  He's got, as usual, some sunburning going on with his nose.  I need to get something on that to prevent the burning.  Poor fellow.  :( 

I have to hand-walk Strider through a few gates since there's 2 cattle guards in the way.  Always fun as I slog through wet grass up to my knees.  But, we did it.

And, he popped right in to the trailer (YAY!).  That felt good.  However, without Socks on the other side of the divider, he kept sticking his head under it and giving me this pathetic "Mom!  HALP!!  I'm STUCK!!  And sad looking!" look.  It really is pathetic.

I finally loosely tied him up while Joe and I went over the trailer one last time and made sure it was in as good as it could be order.

Said our good-byes, then Strider and I were rolling.

Instead of taking the toll road, I routed through Bastrop.  Not smart.  I think that added extra time to my drive.  I did stop for a potty break and water on the way, and finally gave up and hopped on the toll around at 71, then all the way up through to IH-35.

I stopped for gas around Waco.

And, I think sometimes the Universe puts us where we need to be and gently nudges us to our karmic destiny.

Anyway, I had JUST finished filling the truck up and was fixing to go inside to go potty again (I hate stopping!), and I had been thinking about an instance in the past where a poor guy had approached Joe at a gas station because he was a day or two before payday and didn't have the money to put any fuel in his truck, so Joe got a pump started for him, and the guy put $10 in. 

So, as I was thinking about that, a guy, deeply apologetic, came around the side of the pump as I was putting the nozzle away, and in a very embarrassed tone told me about how he and his wife were from Waxahachie and had driven down to Temple for him to get a job (he installs or does glass for businesses).  And, he realized he'd left his wallet behind, and the only reason he knew was because his wife mentioned she was starting to get hungry.  And, could I lend them some money to put like $15 in their truck? 

I happily started the pump up for him, and offered him a $20 for him and his wife to stop for something to eat as well.  As I told him, it wouldn't get them anything fancy for lunch, but it would at least get them something to eat (and, what I didn't say was, if they were careful and the little bit of gas they put in to his truck didn't get them home, whatever change was left WOULD).

I believe good karma gets paid forward.  I also believe that we put out positive energy in to the Universe, and that the Universe put me there at that exact moment to help him out.  If someone else had been there, he might not have gotten any gas.  If he'd gone to a different gas station, I wouldn't have been able to help.

The good feeling carried me forward.

Until Fort Worth.

Oh gods, how I hate you Fort Worth.  You and your ugly traffic and your road construction and your moron drivers who seem to assume that I can stop in a heart beat. 

I was SO relieved to get off 35 as soon as I was able.  SO relieved.  I'm sure Strider couldn't figure out why he was getting jerked around back there while I struggled with people cutting me off or not letting me merge when lanes mysteriously vanished within 100 yards or whatever.  SO annoying!!

But, we finally go to leave 35 and continue on our merry way to a far less busy road. 

I considered stopping for lunch several times, but by this point, I just wanted to get to ride camp so I could get my horse off the trailer, get my camp set up, and cook my hot dogs I had waiting for me in my cooler.  I'd been thinking about them for days and how good they were going to taste!!

And, as ALWAYS happens, I missed the turn off.  Yep.  ALWAYS happens.  So, I continued down a little further, turned it around and got back on track. 

Beautiful twisting roads with some hills.  I could drink in those views for years.  Wide open fields and just green, green grass.

And then, I turned off a paved road to the Forest road.

POTHOLES!! 

I can't stress how BAD the potholes and divots and just how AWFUL those roads are.  So SO bad.  I kept hollering out apologies to my horse for the rattling we were doing.

But, my phone's GPS got us to ride camp, where I stopped briefly and grabbed my envelope from registration and then I took stock about where the heck to park myself.  Most of the sites were already full, and I didn't want to get to far in to the grass for fear I'd never get out again. 

It was at this moment I was grateful to have a small trailer.  I saw there was an open spot near the registration trailer, near the vet-in area and near the potties.  SOLD!!!

I manage to pull through this site, assess where I want to put my portable corral, and I unload my horse.  Who, I must say, was GRATEFUL to be off the deathbox of horsey-doom!

Things just never go right...

Saturday the 25th was our second LD ride.  The Spirit of Texas Endurance ride at the LBJ Grasslands.

Now, since I've gotten the horses AND gotten a trailer, the LBJ Grasslands was one of my "Want to visit to ride" destinations.  How wonderful for me that the stars aligned to have an endurance ride at a location I wanted to ride at!!

Ohhhhh Universe.  Why do you mock me?!

The week leading up to that weekend, I had plans.  Every single day of the week was planned in an attempt to ease the transition for me to make the trip to the ride nice and smooth.

Funny thing about plans.  Mine always seem to never go smoothly.

So, that's how I found myself on Sunday before the ride using the PVC prep and cement to prepare my portable corral panels.  Oh, what a non-surprise, I was short a length for my 5th panel.  Fine, I'll make do with 4 instead of 5.  Except Joe went and grabbed the size I needed for my 5th panel on Monday and completed it for me.

Monday, ran to the barn to do a very light session with Strider.  Between the weather forecast, and Joe being out of town starting Wednesday, I knew I needed to try and work Strider at LEAST once more before our ride.

I also needed to do this as I had re-rigged my saddle, and I know, I know, I KNOW you simply DO.NOT.CHANGE.ANYTHING. right before a ride.

I don't recommend anyone do this. 

Now that I've said that; re-rigging my saddle worked wonderfully.

I bought a (used) Toklat saddle pad that's grippy on the bottom, 2 60" long latigos and a 30" roper style cinch.  And this all seems to have pretty much solved the issue I battle with saddle slip.  The pad grabs, and having the back of the saddle snugged down helps as well.  And it seems to work well on Strider.  I also did a quick step-stool/mounting block "stand STILL damn horse!!" lesson.  Saddle stayed put, and Strider eventually figured out that it was easier to just stand there with a foot cocked than to move away from my step stool (this lesson did NOT translate to our ride on Saturday with all the other horses trotting up and down and warming up right by our campsite).

Took him to the arena and we lunged for about 15 minutes in the saddle, then I decided to mount up.  And this was the real test of my saddle since mounting is when it always slips because I can't pull my fat ass into the saddle. 

Stayed put!!  YAY!!!! 

So I rode Strider around at a gait and a canter for about 10 minutes and called it a good solution.

Tuesday.  OHHHH Tuesday.  You were not a friend of mine.

The plan:
Take the truck to work, swing my Tractor Supply after work (which meant getting to the barn later) to get the 35 gallon water tank and the hay bale I needed, more treats and some VitaCalm.  I was hoping to get some wax crayons, but they didn't have any.  Ugh.

Did manage to get in and out and run to the barn.

The plan was to hitch the truck and trailer and do a trailer loading lesson and maybe one more gentle workout since it would be the last time before our ride.

NONE of that went right.  NONE of it.

Well, not entirely true I suppose.

I get to the barn and go to hitch up to the trailer.  After the million and one itty-bitty adjustments to get the ball under the neck (I want a wheel for my trailer SOOOO badly!), I started cranking down to drop the hitch on to the truck.  Crank down.  And down.  Down more.  Uhm, leg's all the way retracted, and I'm still over the ball.  WTF?!

Then I realized that it was because I keep a very LARGE block of wood to rest the leg on, and so now the entire trailer's hitch is sitting on this block, and unable to go any lower to drop on the ball.  Oh lovely.  Now what do I do?!

Thankfully, Joe came out with the hydralic jack we have, cranked the hitch up, we removed the wood and slowly lowered the hitch on to the ball of the trailer.

Sadly, this all ate in to my trailer loading session time. 

Not.  Good.  Because there wasn't another single opportunity for me to get to the barn before Friday morning to practice.  We had thunderstorms predicted (which we got), which meant I couldn't get the trailer back down in to the valley the barn is in (it's a gravel road in and out for the trailers). 

The sun was quickly fading, but I decided, well, I'm calm right here, right now.  Let's just see where we're at.

Let me back up for JUST a moment.

I have a 2 horse straight load trailer.

I've tried to get Strider to load.  Usually this involves removing the divider in my trailer, opening both back doors and me getting inside the trailer while someone gets behind him and wacks him on the butt with a carrot stick to get him in. 

I've taken him to a few places, but it's always taken someone else to help me get him in.  One time I actually allowed someone else to try and load him, but he outwitted them (they'd make him back up fast-fast-fast, so he learned he'd just stop further and further away from the trailer.  I did mention he's a Jerkhorse, right?).

I have NEVER successfully loaded my horse alone.  EVER. 

So, back to the present attempt at trailer loading.

I have a long cotton lunge line, so I used the center dividing pole in my trailer as a guide to keep Strider's head straight, and I stayed outside of the trailer so I could tap his butt to get him in.

He acted terrified and tried to dance around the side of the trailer.

"OH NOOOOO!!!  I'm so SKEEEERED!!!!"

Jerkhorse.

I just kept his head pointed forward and tapped his butt.

In less than 2 minutes, he loaded up.

I cannot express my shock and delight.

Figured it was a fluke, but I let him take a break, scratched him, praised him, then had him back off.

Then I loaded him again.

Gave him a break.

And loaded again.

We slowly yo-yo'd in and out of that trailer about 5 or 6 times before I was convinced my horse could load and WOULD load with just me there.

And with that, I turned him lose with a promise to see him Friday morning and headed home.

After I got home, Joe and I finished drilling holes in my panels, then headed for bed.

Wednesday evening saw me racing home after work to grab Kaylee so we could do some shopping for the weekend.

The water tank doesn't come with a hose attachment.  I needed one.  I also needed a few things from Home Depot and I needed some groceries, which she and I grabbed.

I got her to bed around 10 pm, then started trying to get the hose attachment on my water tank so I could get it loaded and filled with water the next day.

I wrestled with it.  I fought with it.  I'd fill it up a little bit to see a slow drip of water.  No good.  I didn't dare risk my precious water to a slow leak.  Tried again.  Same problem.  And again.  STILL same problem.  Around and around and around I tried to fix it. 

I failed.

And I gave up after midnight.  I still needed to pack and get ready and now I was in a tizzy about not having enough water.

Thankfully our friend's husband came over on Thursday evening and got it done.  So I was able to load my saddles and non-food items in to the trailer Thursday evening.

You're exhausted reading this?  Imagine how I felt actually doing it!!  And we haven't even gotten on the road yet!!

Lunging As A Stand In For Riding...

So I'm rolling in to week 2 of lunging for conditioning. 

I did commit and did 3 days last week.  And, for fun, I decided to see how Socks handled it on Thursday and Friday.

Surprisingly well it turns out.  So much so that I dropped the $15 with AERC and registered him.  So he's now my offical back-up horse.  Funny thing is that I really REALLY want to try him out on a 25, but I'm committed to Strider and getting his miles going.

It might be that I'll start taking both and riding one on one day and the other the other day.  We'll see.  That's a sizeable financial investment, so we'll see.

For the moment, I'm carving out the time to go to the barn 3 nights a week.  No lies, this is hard sometimes.  Fighting rush hour traffic is NOT fun for me.  Depending on what time I leave work (3 nights a week we're allowed to leave 30 minutes early to do exercise time), it takes an hour to an hour and a half to get to the barn.  Battling traffic that's mostly at a stand still.  I cannot express my loathing for Austin rush-hour traffic.  But I do it because it's exercise for me and exercise for the horses.  But it's hard.

I will say this to any potential Limited Distance/Endurance riders with children at home; this would NOT be possible if it weren't for my husband at home with the baby and the kids.  I have NO idea how single parents do this.  I couldn't and wouldn't attempt this (and certainly not with a 7 month old child at home) without help. 

The reality is my day begins at about 6am and most nights I'm getting home around 8:30pm.  Joe makes dinner and takes care of Kaylee until I get home. 

Anyway, I've started to lunge in the arena as our round pen is on a hill, and while I like the idea of them having to work on a hill, it's too much to ask all the time in an 60ft round pen. 

So I clipped Socks to the lunge line yesterday and lunged in our arena. 

He really has a very nice extended trot and really just takes it nice and easy on himself.  He's figured out that he really has no idea how long the session will be, so it's best to just take things at a nice and easy trot.  I usually lunge 5 minutes each direction with a break in between to check on them.  We work mostly at a trot with brief moments of canter interspersed. 

There are some poles in the arena, and I could see him looking down and carefully placing his feet over them.  It was kind of adorable. 

As I'm trying to get both horses to associate this work with something fun at the beginning and end, I do bribe with horse treats.  I offer them treats when I catch them in the pasture (I hate chasing my horses down in 100 acres when they REALLY don't want to be caught).  And, when I finish up, they get about 6 more treats.  2 are just "gimmie" treats that they get without working for them.  The final 4, we're working on "bow" (I bring the treat down towards the ground between their front legs).  One, I figure it's a fun little trick (I would eventually like to teach them to put a knee down on the ground; imagine how much easier mounting would be if I could get my horses to kneel or lay down!), and two, it just gets them to stretch their neck down.

So, I wrapped up working with Socks.  Opened the arena gate and told him he was free.  And he just stood there for a bit hoping for more treats.  Then slowly walked out.  He's a real spitfire that one.

I will admit while I'm trying to leg him up, I do worry about making him hot for guests and friends to ride.  And then he does things like that and I realize that he's just a laid back guy who takes life in stride.  "Want me to go 25 miles mom?  Sure, I'll do that, and I might even have a few stupid moments, but I'm not going to kill myself to win the darn thing!"  And I'm good with that!  I still want him to be my safe, family friendly horse.  If he ever shows signs that he's getting hyped up and hot, I'll stop conditioning him for LD/Endurance.

After Socks, it was time to work Strider.

Now, he was in time-out.  The BO got a new horse in, and she said Strider spent the previous day chasing her all over the place like he wanted to kill her.  Which is odd.  Strider usually LOVES the ladies, but apparently not THIS lady.  So, Jerkhorse got put in time-out up by the barn with his "I love to hate you" buddy Fuego.  And he kept pacing and zooming around the time-out pen.  So, he had been working himself, and I -almost- copped out and said he'd been working himself, why should I add to his workload.  Except, something someone said on Facebook echoed to me "Don't waste your time with 'junk' miles.  Make each mile count." 

And all he was doing while zooming around were junk miles.  NOTHING useful, nothing with a purpose except to display his frustration at being put up and away from "his" herd.

So, I grabbed him and down the hill to the arena we went. 

Now, when we first entered, he was acting like he wanted to roll.  I'm good with a rolling session, so I unclipped my lead rope (needed to put the lunge line on him) and gave him a few moments.  Then realized he just wanted to graze.  So, as I went to go get him, he scampered off.

Oh no.  Oh NO you did NOT just run off from me.

So I made him think he was gonna die.  I got after him and swung the lunge line around my head to get him to move out.

And learned a kind of cool thing about him.  Even in the arena, he lunges in a circle.  Okay, cool.  I can work with that.  I prefer to not use a line anyway, so we worked our circle.  And we put in our time. 

Strider does better when the sun's not on him.  The sun was starting to set while we worked, so he was in the shade for the whole 20 minutes and he wasn't breathing hard.  Some of that is (I hope!) he's starting to get in to condition, and some of it is lack of sun on his body.

I'm still considering shaving his neck for the ride next weekend.  I am certainly going to braid up the little amount of mane he has.  I'm just trying to brainstorm ideas to help keep him cool to help him pulse down.

Some things I'm considering doing and/or WILL be doing:
Having a water bucket and a flake of hay waiting at P&R (WILL be doing!)
Taking 2 of my frozen 1 gallon water jugs to use at P&R to dump over his neck (fairly certain I'll be doing this) - my rational is that the water will melt while we're riding, so still be cool.  I'll take 1 up to P&R while we ride first loop, then, after he vets in, go and get jug 2 to leave for loop 2. 
A blanket/rug/tarp to drop my saddle on before we go to P&R (WILL be doing!)
Shaving his neck/rump.  I'm still torn on this.  I might shave them down on Sunday

I feel like I learned a lot on my first ride, and I'll forever be grateful to Lynne for sharing knowledge with me.  I honestly believe if it wasn't for her help, I would NOT have gotten a completion for our first ride.  Now, I've got to build on that knowledge and make our second ride even better than the first was. 

And, after our second ride, we'll have 2 weeks until our 3rd (and final) spring ride for the season.  Where I'll keep working to improve our time.  And our conditioning. 

Then I've got to figure out how to continue conditioning over the summer.  In the Texas heat.  I think I'll be doing some hauling over to McKinney Roughs or other areas where there is lots of shade to ride on the weekend, or else get up early and try to squeeze in a ride on the weekends both Saturday and Sunday.  I'm not sure how to handle Monday through Friday yet though.

Day by Day

Here I am counting down the days.

30 days until I load the horse in the trailer and go to Shanghai.

Each day it gets more and more real.

Each day I tick things off my to do list.

Sunday March 1st; weather permitting, go trail riding at Nails Creek at Lake Somerville with the Central TX Lady Trail Riders.  Very excited as I'm going to take Socks so I can just sit back and relax.

Monday, March 2nd; pay my membership fees for AERC and PFHA.

Wait until I get both my AERC number and Strider's AERC number, and as soon as I have those in hand, I mail off my check for Shanghai.

March 7th; Trailer loading clinic.  Taking Strider.  Going to be up VERY early (I'll probably have to set the alarm for about 4:30 or 5am) so I can go to the barn and wrestle my horse in to the trailer.  Little worried about this.  Super long lunge line, hay and grain inside the trailer and a whip to coax him in I guess.  Honestly, if this clinic can help me get him to just self-load I'll weep with happiness.  Or at least make it NOT a struggle.

March 8th; Open Schooling event at County Line Equestrian Center in Hutto.  It's their St. Patrick's Day open schooling, so I'll doll up which ever horse I feel like taking.  Probably will be Strider.  In which case, as long as his registration goes through with PFHA, the day in the saddle qualifies us for "Pasos for Pleasure" hours.  Looks good on his registry number and we earn points and prizes as well as promote the breed.  He needs the exposure and trailer loading practice.  Not going to overnight him this time I don't think.  The drive isn't that bad to Hutto, and maybe some of the ladies at the barn will want to go.

Somehow try to squeeze in one good ride prior to Shanghai.  Might even get brave and load and go ride solo some where.  I need to find a place with decent footing where I can really open Strider up and get him moving and see what he's got for a day, but still allow him time to recover prior to Shanghai.

I honestly am still up in the air about how I want to do Shanghai. 

Do I want to try and do 25's both days?  Do the 25 on Saturday and the intro on Sunday?  Just do the 25 on Saturday and then volunteer at the vet check station?  Just do the 25 on Saturday, pack up and go home?

Joe gave me the pass to stay gone all weekend.  And part of me says I need to volunteer and contribute, but part of me says I want to challenge myself and Strider and try to do both days.  These decisions are getting to me.  I might contact the ride manager and ask her if I can register for Sunday and decide on that day what I want to do.  I kind of want to try and ride both days.  If I'm going to be sore, might as well go for broke! 

We'll see.

Equine Annual Goal

In the past few weeks, I've openly accepted my goal for this year in regards to my horses.

And as such, I'm diving head-long in to learning more.  This learning process involves joining various Facebook groups, buying a few books, investing some money for training into my horses, joining actual organizations and planning to join other organizations.  Putting dates and times on my calendar while I figure out how far and long I'll have to drive.  Wondering if my horse can do it.  Wondering if I can do it.  Making lists of things I already own that I can use and of things I'll need to go out and buy in order to make this work.  Looking at retro-fitting my trailer in order to make it work, but looking at it in the condition it currently is in and planning how to make that work in the here and now.

What is it I'm looking at doing?

Endurance riding.  If you don't know what it is, go to AERC.org (American Endurance Ride Conference).  Right now they're running a special, but it's usually $75/annually and your first horse is free (each additional horse is $15 for a lifetime membership).  I will be joining AERC on March 1st and registering Strider as my mount.

This is the perfect sport for me as well as for Strider (and Socks to a minimal degree). 

So with all that in mind, my first step was publicly announcing "I'm going to ride at LEAST one ride this year."

My second step was getting Joe's blessing.

My third step?  READ ALL THE THINGS!!!!!

No, seriously.  There are so many ways to be involved and so many organizations that I'm overwhelming myself, so I'm trying to pace things out.

Currently, I paid in $15 for a "Green Bean Membership".  I did this first as it gave me access to their forums where I was able to dabble a bit more and read a few more things.  Also, for so little, it allows me to feel like I'm an offical "Green Bean", though it's more a state of mind than anything else.

What's a "Green Bean" you ask?

Glad you asked!!!

(Taken directly from the Green Bean Endurance web page at: http://greenbeanendurance.weebly.com/ )

"Who are the Green Beans?

Green Beans are riders (and horses) new to the wonderful sport of endurance riding as well as the amazing mentors willing to give us a hand. Click below to learn more about who we are and what we do!  (PS - we have t-shirts!)"

So, I now am official.  I'm getting active in the AERC Facebook groups as well as on the Green Bean page.  I'm also considered in the Heavyweight division (between my tack and myself it's over 211 lbs), so I've joined a Facebook group for riders in that division.

But!  There are other organizations I'd like to join in order to help both my horse and I potentially gain the most that we can out of our rides together.

As I've said, AERC is my next organization to join.  Strider will earn points and miles as will I.  Assuming we complete our ride in time and he's not pulled by the ride vet. 

Some of the other organizations I'm looking to join?

TERA.  Texas Endurance Riders Association (Web Page at: http://texasenduranceriders.org/ )  This gives me a discount at some rides and is only $25/annually.

Now, here's where things get interesting and a wee bit sticky, and I'm still weighing if it's worth it to me.

Strider is a Paso Fino.  PFHA (Paso Fino Horse Association) offers a few different programs for those of us who don't show our horses.  However, you need to be a member of PFHA.  Once you're a PFHA member, that opens up some programs.

Right now I'm enjoying networking, and getting very excited about my ride which is now just a little over a month away.   

I'm also just soaking up books and reading what people are willing to share with me on Facebook.

Some of the things which I suspect are keeping people from this sport:
Lack of a horse.  Actually, this shouldn't stop you!  I see MANY people who haul horses to rides so their horses can get mileage for AERC, but they don't have enough riders for their horses!  Want to try out the sport, reach out and ASK!!

Lack of 'proper' tack.  Look, all of the photos I see online are of riders in lightweight saddles with matching biothane tack in their flashy colors, and the rider is all rigged out with all sorts of acoutrements.  NOT NECESSARY!!!  Want to know what I'll be doing my first ride in?  My leather gaited saddle with my mismatched headstall.  Why?  Because it fits my horse and is comfortable for me.  You can ride in tack you ALREADY OWN!!  Own an English saddle?  RIDE IT!!  50lb cutting saddle?  RIDE IT!!  If it fits your horse and it fits you, then you're good to ride!

Fear of rejection.  This was one of my biggest fears.  This sport seemed overwhelming to me, but so far, everyone is welcoming and willing to share their information.  There are mentoring programs, and I've seen so much support poured out my way, and people encouraging me that it's incredible. 
"Oh, I've seen this neat piece of tack I'm looking at buying!" 
"I own that, feel free to try mine out before you buy to see if you REALLy like it!" 
"I'm doing this ride this weekend.  Anyone else?  I've never done a ride before and I'm nervous!"
"Oh, I'm doing that ride.  Would you like me to ride with you?"

The reality is that I figured that I'd be "only" a trail rider.  Except I know Strider can do so much more.  He has the ability to be more, but it's a matter of me finding and figuring out what he can do.  I've had SO many people tell me he'd be an endurance mount, but for years I've made excuses and talked myself out of it and hidden my desire to try it in earnest.

This is our year.  My husband supports me.  My friends support me. 

I'm hoping by the end of May Strider and I will have racked up at LEAST 100 AERC miles.  There are currently a total of 5 AERC sanctioned rides in Texas that I can drive to in less than 5 hours (there's on near Amarillo, but I'm NOT driving close to 8 hours to do it) between today's date and the end of May.  There's 1 that has iffy footing, so I may or may not ride that ride (got to buy some boots!).  But, if I make my goal, then we'll hit 100 miles EASY before the end of May. 

Who knows, if the footing is REALLY that good and I'm feeling VERY confident in him...maybe we'll try a 50.  ;)

And, while I'm 99% sure I won't ever do it...even I can't deny that the pull of Tevis is there. 

First things first though; Shanghai Trails!!

Charity...

I've been moved to tears recently over those in need. 

I'm not sure if that's the post-partum pregnancy hormones talking, the nostalgia of my son getting older and my itty-bitty baby, or what it is, but I find myself shedding tears over people who need aid.

Joe and I were recently at our local grocery store, and as we walked in, I noticed brown paper bags to help "Tackle Hunger".  They were only $5. 

When I read what was inside, I got a huge lump in my throat as I realized that for so little, there was a nutritious meal for a family that otherwise might go hungry.

I asked Joe to please donate, which he did without a second thought. 

That moment made me realize how fortunate we truly are.  That, while we complain about the grocery bill, we can afford groceries.  We've never had to go to bed hungry.

It also made me realize that we could have been in that position.  Joe was laid off when the new Constable took over, after having worked there for almost 10 years, he wasn't brought back.  If Joe hadn't found a job, we very well could have been the family in need of a $5 meal.

As we exited the store, I looked around and realized that within 1 mile of where I stood there was, without a doubt, a child going to bed hungry that very night.

And it made my heart ache.  A parent going without food so their child could have food as they looked forward to Monday and the school day so they could eat again. 

And I clutched Kaylee a little tighter.

As I drove to work this morning, my radio morning show played some audio from when they dropped off 4 bikes to a disabled mother and her children for Christmas.  And I wiped away the tears yet again as I realized that I helped make that happen for her and her family.  Sure, I "only" gave $20, but that money, along with everyone else's "only" $20 added up and helped make Christmas happen for those children.  It helped buy them brand new bikes.

I've recommitted myself to save enough money to "buy" a llama through Heifer this year.  A full llama is $150.  I only need to put $20 aside each month.

I want to donate $20 each month on top of that to a charity of my choice.  I usually do Heifer as it's simple, but I think I should branch out and donate to other organizations as well.

But who should I donate $20 to?  There are many shady organizations out there who don't give much to those in need, while the people on the upper end of the ladder take home large paychecks (yes, I'm looking right at you HSUS).

So, who are some of your favorite charities or organizations?

Susan B. Komen comes to mind (my grandmother died of breast/ovarian cancer).  Who else?