conversations with major: up and down

Let’s go!
But it’s breakfast,
I’ll get your breakfast in the hitching area.
Ok, fine. Mmmm, breakfast.
You look super classy Major.
I know.

Have you even moved your head the entire time I’ve been tacking you up?
What? My mouf is full I can't hear you.
I don't think that's how it works. Again, keeping it classy dude.

Let’s go, let’s go.
Oh, you’re in a good mood, huh?
Can we go fast like last time but not over the bridge of death?
No, we’re not going that way. Plus, you were brave over the Mormon Ravine bridge last time, even with the rushing water. Today we’re just going to work some hills.
Then go fast?
No, just hills, here’s our first little one, let’s go.
TROT!
Nope, we’re walking hills today.
But, but…that’s hard.
Exactly.

See, not so bad, into the forest.
I think we should turn here.
That is home.
Duh, I know. Turn here.
No, we just started.

 Up Beginner’s Hill.
You wouldn’t call it Beginner’s Hill if you were climbing it!
I’ve hiked this with you, it’s hard, so keep on trucking.
Truck, where’s a truck?!
Just walk. No, walk.
This is sooo hard at the top.
OK, now trot, it’s the flat part.
Weeee!

Ok, this is a little hill, but you can trot since it isn’t very steep,
Weee, must canter!
No, trot!
Fine, woah, big branch!
Yes, we dodged that one! Easy now, walk down here.

This doesn’t go anywhere.
Yes it does, Three Oak Knoll.
But no where else.
You’ll see.

Now let’s walk back up.
Sooo far up the hill, this is so hard!
Yes, but good job, now one more time.
Whaattt? Again?.
Yes, we're practicing.
Fine. Walking down, walking down.
Ok, turn around and...
RUN!
No, walk.
RUN!
Ok, fine, canter. Not a good plan, but try it.

Look, we made it to the top so much faster!
Yup, now back down again.
What? You said one more time!
That was before you decided to go all sassy on me. We’re walking hills today, remember.
No.
Too bad, one more time, really, IF you walk.
Fine.

See, that wasn’t so bad.
I think I need a drink.
Here is a disgusting puddle.
Mmm, delicious.
Your ID tag is jangling around and driving me crazy. Let me tie this leftover ride ribbon to it, just stand here.
But my feet are wet and there is nothing to eat in this vast wasteland.
You're fine. Just stand still. Oh yeah, we’re classy Major.
I know.

All we do, down and up, up and down.
I know, but it’s good practice, wait here at the bottom.
We have to go up that!  I can’t, too hard, just too hard.
You can! Woohoo, at the top, good job buddy. Now we can trot.
Yeah, trot!
Aren’t you more tired that that crazy man trot?
Nope, let’s go home!
Not yet, contain yourself.

This is dumb.
What?
Working. Back, trot, sidepass, turn around, walk, back.
Well if you’d listen we could skip this stuff. We're getting closer to home.
I know, I'm thinking about dancing!
No dancing, just listen.
Really, up and down, no fun at all.
Really? Then I guess we can just stand here and admire the new green plants.
Ok, I guess this is fun enough, let's go.

One more thing to do,
No, I hate it.
Yes, just stand here.
There could be clowns in there.
There aren’t clowns.
I hate the manhole cover.
It’s not scary.
I know. But I have to stand here and be good. That is hard.
I know. Now both feet. Good boy! Here is a carrot piece.
More?
More what, manhole cover?
More carrot!
Maybe later.

OK, here is your treat, lots of yummy grass,
Mmmm, thanks, so itchy, so sweaty, I should roll.
No you don’t! Not with your saddle on, just wait 10 minutes till we’re home.
Then more carrots?
Then more carrots. And a little bath, you’re sweaty and dirty.
And I’m classy.
You’re classy Major.

love him, love him not

I had an unexpected day off, trails are dry, let's head out! I knew Major would be a little full of it since it had been two weeks since a real ride, but you have to get out sometime.

The lake trail's sandy footing beckoned, and Major was joined by our friend Friday for a jaunt. The sky is gray, but no rain, and it's humid and warm, more weird winter weather. Everything was actually going ok, trotting merrily along, if you don't count Major being a twit pulling like a freight train and Friday was beginning to think he should follow suit.

It's all fun and games till the helicopter arrives.

Yes, a helicopter. On the trail. Doing maneuvers. At first it just flew by, pretty low over the lake, we just kept the horses walking no big deal.

Then we could hear the rotors behind us, and saw the helicopter blades just over the edge of a rise. Now it was time to get off.

The horses weren't actually reacting, but we couldn't tell what the helicopter was doing! Was it going to come over the hill right next to us, flying low? I'd love to desensitize to a helicopter, but you need slightly more controlled circumstances! I did really want to take a photo as it flew so close, but restrained myself. Instead I took a photo when it was a little spot far away, just to be safe!


So we stood for a bit, waiting to see where the helicopter was going. I was able to read the markings clearly when it flew by, it was a CDF (Cal Fire, in charge of wildland fires in the state) practicing water pickups. So plumes of water were falling from the rising helicopter, then they'd go back around to a slightly different spot and practice again. Super glad they practice this stuff, great organization, but we decided to head back into the forest and skip any more lake trail today.

Major was convinced we were going home, so we didn't. We wandered the forest, turning the direction NOT towards home, letting Friday lead, and other horse-frustrating experiences. At one point we turned off a trail onto larger road and Major thought it would be a good idea to just try taking off.

Which is why I ride pretty defensively. Not even a full stride before I got that silliness under control. We need a ride of many, many miles, but I actually don't want to condition much right now. I've looked over the AERC calendar and am probably not doing a ride till end of April, and then starting with an LD 25 for the beginning of the season.

So Major and I have some time to work on behavior. "Love him not" when he's an idiot and we're fighting. "Love him" when he is so good and we have so much fun. But I do of course still love him even when naughty. He got a Valentine's carrot and all I got was covered in horse sweat, snot and shedding fur. Just another dysfunctional relationship.

getting educated

puddles reflect blue skies again

I took my kite out for a walk earlier in the week. After 4 days of rain and “trapped” under his shelter, he was a bit anxious to get out! Major was jigging at the end of his leadrope, and needed some serious reminders to stay out of my space. I’m sure the folks driving by on the road saw “the woman in the orange jacket beating her horse.” We were actually working on “do not run into me or you will have to back really far and into the puddle.” Perception. At least (so far) he has been smart enough to not run around in the slippery muck. Even when hand-trotting him up the road he stopped and walked in a slippery area.

I spent one of the rainy days at the Loomis Basin Endurance seminar. Lots of people, and so much information. There were also some booths for tack vendors, American River Ride, local feed stores, and more. Too much information, but here is what I processed:

1. Electrolyte Research by Langdon Fielding, DVM. One study says one thing. Another says another. Super hard to do a controlled study since electrolytes can be altered so much with diet, exercise and just genetics. Do what is best for your horse. They talked about what electrolytes are most important, and how plain salt might work for many people. Err on the side of too little rather than too much.

2. Body Condition by Susan Garlinghouse, DVM. I’d read this research before, but it was great to hear it in person. Dr. Garlinghouse studied about 300 Tevis horses and recorded Body Condition, how far they went, did they finish. Horses 4.5–5 on the BCS had a much much higher rate of finish than horses 3.5-4. So keep some extra gas in the tank as she called it. Body fat going into the ride will make the difference, not dietary fat during the ride.

3. Minimum Fitness Levels for starting the ride by Jay Mero, DVM. This was information on conditioning, which was pretty general as it is so specific per horse, terrain, etc. The importance of rest, progressive loading. Horses show no appreciable changes in fitness after three weeks of rest. Humans aren’t so lucky!

4. Gastric Ulcers by Gary Magdesian, DVM. I don’t even want to go here. So much controversy right now about should ulcer meds be allowed in competition. AERC debates this regularly. Horses did show some ulcers after rides, mostly very minor ones.

5. Tevis Data Analysis by Kathie Perry. Lots of statistics, all pretty interesting, but also a Tevis movie was playing the background which was great. Tevis has also decided to not allow very low (I think 3.5 or below) or very high (more than 8) body conditions to start the ride because of their very poor competition statistics.

6. Lameness review by Langdon Fielding, DVM. Dr. Fielding (who is one of Major’s vets) discussed lameness in endurance and scoring. Explained the concept of “down on sound” to watch for the head bob. He also showed some lameness videos and tried to help us see the slight lameness. Very hard.

Overall a very worthwhile event. I liked that the evidence was presented in a scientific way, and science concepts explained very clearly. Then the vets talked about what could work for your horse could be different, and some explained what they do, as an example. It is hard to stay general when endurance is so individual-focused, but I have lots of ideas floating around in my head, and I like to err on the side of too much information rather than not enough! We can learn from many different sources, but our horses are the best teaches. Do what is right for them.

I learned something else this week: A four mile bareback ride of walk/trot makes me more sore than a normal training ride of 15 miles of trotting. See, always learning!

crooked tree on crooked trail

perspective

good gray skies

I am reveling in raindrops on grass, new buckeye leaves, and the fresh smell of rain. Actual storms are rolling through the area, all the little birds finally out and about, it seems like nature has woken up.

raindrops with promise of green

new buckeye leaves

I love to take Major on misty walks. While the rain will melt him in his pasture, he doesn't mind geting wet on a walk. But puddles, now those are to be avoided at all costs, except on a ride, when they're different. Sigh...

take me to grass, slave girl...

mmm, blackberries

oh no, puddles all over!

must avoid puddles!

hiding behind the weeds, maybe she'll leave me out here in the grass

On a chilly rainy day, I give him some extra treats. He totally knows the blue bag. It has alfalfa. And works perfectly as a crack snack pack (fun sized!). Usually I just dump it on the ground, but sometimes he gets his nose in there too quickly!

Whatcha doing in there?

love the crack snack pack

useful blue bag (from a sunnier day)

So the rain will continue, and I have a weekend of no riding, which feels weird! Like regular winter! Last week I fit in a fast ride, a slow ride with friends, and a short ride, which is a good balance. This weekend I could catch up on some projects, instead I'm going to attend a local endurance seminar! It is hosted by Loomis Basin Equine (the vets for Tevis), and has an interesting line-up of speakers. I'm sure I'll be presented with way more info than I can comprehend. But I hope to learn something along the way, a good way to spend a rainy day.

anticlimactic

classy Major

My glorious apple-eating steed welcomes you to Year of the Horse. I know most pictures are "oh my horse is so cute." Yeah, this, not so much. Dirty, goofy, eating an apple, this is reality. But still cute to me!

We had some rain! My unofficial rain gauge (mason jar on my deck railing) said about a quarter-inch, woo, hoo. But even that lackluster appearance made the air better, and gave a tiny bit of hope for the season.

Major of course thought he was melting. And was supposedly trapped and hiding under his shelter. Because wet stuff was falling again. But happily came to the gate to go for a walk in said wet stuff. Which is obviously totally different when someone is taking you to get snacks.

A scarce bunch of hidden grass, we trampled down some blackberries to get to this deliciousness.

This should be a season of rest and rejuvenation. I like to give Major some time off, but with the weather so weird it's been more riding in January than usual. We both feel the need to get out! But not much serious training, that can wait.

streets where the park is! love it! Of course the neighborhood is tract houses...

So my own feet have propelled me along. A short jaunt a couple hours away to visit friends and family, quietly enjoying the season. A little hike in a suburban park. Someone joked long ago that new subdivisions and streets were named after that which they displaced (Oak Creek, Deer Park, and here, Arabian Bridle Path!).

dry fields should be covered in green

oaks stand sentinel, they've seen droughts before

the lazy Russian River meanders past exposed gravel

glorious sunset

waiting for more rain

This winter season may not be what I expected, but it is still lovely in it's strange austerity. And we're still going to get out and enjoy the trails, just inhaling dust much sooner than usual!

another cool adventure

Under impossibly blue skies on a glorious three-day weekend, we took a January trip to Auburn for a fun ride to Cool. It should be cold and damp, with average temperatures of 55. Instead it is dry as a bone and 70 degrees. Officially in a drought with no end in sight, we desperately need rain. But might as well make lemonade out of the lemon weather and ride while we can!

Major hopped right in the trailer, and not just because his hay bag had a flake of crack alfalfa hay. In Auburn he surveyed the scene and then found his hay net to be the most interesting. I love a horse that is happy to eat wherever I tie him! When his buddy Friday arrived a few minutes later, Major nickered to his long lost love, momentarily distracted, but dove right back into the net.

one last bite of the good ground stuff (even if the reins are falling on my head)

The boys (and us girls too!) we happy to hit the trail. And we headed out, encountering very few riders, but quite a few runners in the morning. Major behaved impeccably, just having a good time and we were so happy going along I didn't even stop for many photos (you've seen it all before: the view, river, trail, etc.).

obligatory view, a hiker took our photo coming across, we're famous!

the shortcut trail, by the trail sign actually .2 longer than the standard trail (?)

The way down to the river takes a bit of time, we walk down the steep parts, trot the flats, then down again. The Cool side is different, one long gradual uphill, Major loves it. We can trot almost the whole thing. At the top we considered just stopping and turning around, but the horses were sweaty. We rode to the staging area, thinking maybe they'd like a drink from the nice trough.

Of course not. Major enjoyed a snorkeling adventure, and Friday took one gratuitous sip. Horses. We humans did take a break for peanut butter sandwiches at the convenient picnic table. Remember the tales of Egyptians keeping their prized horses in their tents? Do you know how annoying that would be? Both horses tried to prove it to us, and of course their annoying antics were rewarded with bites of sandwich. Bad owners.

hidden on the right, C is valiantly defending her sandwich from the sweaty horde

Heading back the horses kicked it up a gear, but not once did I have to pull or fight Major, (only at home and endurance rides do I seem to need to do that, arghh.) We also worked on being a horse ambassador. We walked by children with shining eyes, seeing the pretty horses, and Major is so good at stopping and being pet. I was that kid, I would have been overjoyed if someone had let me pet their horse. We even stopped for a photo with a birthday girl. I know all that takes time, but really, why not? As C noted, better to bring happiness to someone rather than them cursing the poop we leave behind!

river and bridge from above

We cantered the final stretch to the staging area, where after 16 miles the finicky horses finally drank from the trough. Major was more interested in eating the little bit of grass, but did manage to find a nice spot to roll after he was all nice and clean.

now all is right with the world: coated in dirt

Clean then dirty horses, happy and dirty people, a picture with a horse making some little girl happy: now that's a cool ride.