Planes! Fish!

One of many ponds at Murphy-Hanrehan

On Sunday, I left my husband and son to their own devices (football) and trailered Rhio to a nearby park, Murphy-Hanrehan Park Reserve.  It is only 14 miles from the new barn and offers a nice amount of varied trail with some hills.  It's what I think of an "urban" park, as it's located within the greater metropolitan area of the Twin Cities.  When you are out on trail, however, it feels quite rural, with the exception of the planes.  We were obviously in one of the flight paths being used that day, as there were countless big jets flying over on their way to or from the international airport.  And, it must have been as nice a day in the sky as it was on the ground, as I noted at least 5 small recreational planes flying as well.  Rhio didn't seem to notice the planes, but I definitely did.  It's not something I'm used to while riding, as the majority of my hours in the saddle have been in much less populated (quieter) spaces.

The very start of our ride, up a hill from the parking and group camp area.

Rhio and I met up with our new friends Sparrow and T. for some conditioning miles.  Sparrow and T. are new to endurance and we met earlier this year at a Mock Ride hosted by our local endurance group.  I'm trying to get T. to come to a ride this year, and we've ridden together several times this summer.  The horses seem to enjoy each other, as do their riders.

T. aboard Jack Sparrow, bay horse of mystery lineage (but a very good boy! and he likes this trotting/cantering stuff!)

Hydration is important! Sparrow already knows how to drink on trail. 

Boy, nothing beats the view between these ears, no matter what they're pointed at! 

It has been unseasonably hot and humid these past few days, beginning on Sunday with highs in the 80s and full sun.  We received about 5" of rain the previous week, and all that water on the landscape has to go somewhere - so it either was saturating the air or standing on the trail!  Every water body was rushing and/or overflowing its banks.  Luckily the soils here are excellent in wet conditions, and it was not at all muddy.  We trotted most of the first 8 miles, with the exception of the flooded trail segment around a small lake.  For this 1/4 mile section, we walked through knee-deep clear water, which provided a first for me - fish on the trail!  Rhio was in the lead, and at one point a whole school of minnows darted off the trail and into the grass along the side.  That was a surreal experience!

The flooded section of trail, where I saw the school of fish.

The larger portion of ridable trails is on the "prairie" side of the park. We enjoyed nice vistas of blue stem grasses turning their pretty red color for fall, waterfowl and snowy egrets dotted the many ponds and small lakes, and  I even spotted an Eastern Bluebird, goldfinches, and some species of wren (kind of hard to do quality species identification at a trot!).

Blue stem turning red

We met many other riders, and several hikers & dog walkers, out enjoying the day, and everyone seemed to be having a most excellent time.  We did our last 3 miles on the other side of the park, on a narrower trail through tall oak forest.  There are more trails on this side, but they are closed and inaccessible.  We were forced to do an out-and-back style ride on this segment, as at the bottom of a hill, the trail was completely obscured by a pond full of duck weed.  We'd ridden through water on this section of the trail earlier in the summer, but the bottom was not solid like near the lake, and we didn't want to chance it.

Woodsy side of the park 

Overall, we did about 11 miles in 2 1/2 hours with 1100 feet of elevation gain.  It was fun, and Rhio feels great!  I'm thrilled to be so close to this park, and I imagine many more conditioning miles in our future at Murphy-Hanrehan.  I'm looking forward to our 30 mile ride at Run for the Ridge this upcoming weekend.

Post-ride snacking

A New Home for the Horses

In the outdoor arena

After 6 months at a big boarding stable only 10 minutes from the house, today Red and Rhio moved to a small private barn (4 horses total) about 20 minutes away.  They were champs for loading, hauling, unloading, and settling in - but of course I didn't expect anything less!

Enjoying the yard grass

Sampling the hay in the outdoor feeder (and making a crazy face because of the mosquitoes!)

They will have stalls at night, and be out in the pasture during the day with hay.  For the first few days, they will be in the outdoor arena to get to know the other two horses across the fence.  I love that I will have the ability to change Red's feeding strategy as needed to account for his dental issues. That will be another post of its own, but this summer we confirmed that Red's all-important chewing teeth (the premolars and molars) are pretty much out of commission.  While he's not technically missing any teeth, the majority of them are so loose that he can't really use them.  The move to this barn will provide him with better quality hay, that he hopefully can successfully eat, as well as twice a day meals of senior feed and beet pulp mash.

It is sometimes (often) difficult to manage the varying issues that crop up in senior horses. Red has pretty significant arthritis in his front legs, from his 2015 left front injury and just normal wear and tear throughout life.  Arthritis is best managed with full-time turnout, so that the joints stay mobile and lubricated as best they can.  His dental disease, however, necessitates special feeding, which is easier accomplished with individual stalling.  So, we will see how things balance out in the new barn and how the change of living circumstances affects both his mobility and his body condition (which is basically his ability to take in and utilize calories).  I have no doubt that they will both be much better attended to in the small, private barn.  But it will be mighty strange to A) not see them every day for feeding and B) not have an entire feed room of supplies, buckets, bins, tubs, etc in our garage anymore!

Stall boy! I do think they may really like their stalls.  They have in the past at other barns.