So Where Does That Trail Go?

Yep, way behind on blogging again!  You may think I haven't been riding, but that's not it.  Luckily, I have been riding and enjoying my ponies - so these next few posts will be "catch up" posts about rides over the last few months, and I will try yet again to get back on track and keep up in more "real time." Do forgive me, gentle readers.

Several weeks ago Gesa & I had the opportunity to head back to one of our favorite riding spots up in Brimson, about a 45 minute drive from the farm.  This was only our second time to ride up there this season.  Last time we rode here, in May, we followed an old logging road that petered into a well-travelled ATV path.  It was so well-travelled that we assumed it went *somewhere*, but we didn't have the time to explore, so we vowed to come back and find out where that trail went.

Deer flies were still in full force, and our boys sported their fly masks for the entirety of the ride.  Even with the masks, we also needed rider-applied fly control to keep our mounts happy.  Rhio & I employed several leafy branches (it took me three tries to find a good one!), and Gesa found her crop to be an excellent fly swatter.  The flies swarmed the lead horse, and switching off leading was a welcome relief for the following horse.

For those of you who don't ride ATV trails horseback, here's something to note:  humans on horses are much taller than humans on ATVs.  That translates into lots of ducking and dodging for us riders!  Our helmets & sunglasses are employed as branch-control devices, and we must stay alert for the next face-slapping twig.  This trail was much like other user-created ATV trails I've ridden in that you must be loose & limber in your saddle and your horse must be instantly responsive to leg & rein.  Rhio and Paco were very good all day, and we emerged after our 15 mile ride with only a few superficial scratches and no major mishaps.  We did have one large tree crosswise across the trail which was too short to ride under, but our little horses were able to walk under it once we dismounted.  Whew!

We kept following the trail, eventually emerging at a minimum maintenance road and a set of railroad tracks.  To my knowledge, Rhio has never crossed tracks before, and he did very well.  The minimum maintenance road was smooth, level, and relatively soft - begging for a long, easy canter.  We took advantage and cantered the boys quite a ways, with a few scoots to the side when we crossed a large cement culvert and passed by a monster pile of logs.  Eventually the road ended at the county highway, and we crossed it briefly to explore further ATV trails, which were clearly on private property (though it wasn't signed as such) and led only to deer stands.  We made the turn for home, retracing our steps, and the boys were, as always, very motivated to head back to the trailer.

Both boys wore boots for this ride, Paco on his fronts only and Rhio on all four hooves.  Paco's boots only lasted the first few miles however, as one of the gaiters finally bit the dust (it had been on its last legs anyway) and Gesa had to carry the boots on her saddle the remainder of the ride.  Paco seemed to do well barefoot, though he did seek the side of the trail on some of the rockier sections.  Rhio's boots worked well, as usual, though he has been battling scratches (a skin infection) on both his hind pasterns, and one front pastern (all his lower legs with pink skin instead of pigmented skin).  I was concerned about the gaiters rubbing on this raw skin, so I outfitted him with some old socks from my sock drawer; it turns out his feet are a bit bigger than mine!  It was a little bit of a struggle to get them over his hooves. The socks stayed in place, and because I used non-cotton they seemed to perform well even when wet.  Upon removal of the boots & socks, his pasterns looked just the same as they had pre-ride - no rubs!  I was dismayed to discover about 15 minutes returning to the trailer and removing his foot & leg wear, that all of his affected legs swelled!  His right front is especially prone to swelling, and I can only presume it was due to using the socks & boots over already compromised skin.  He didn't seem sensitive, sore, or lame at all - he didn't seem to notice he was swollen at all.  After the trailer ride home, the swelling was reduced and he remained completely sound.  How frustrating!

It was a great ride, though - one I wish I could repeat more often.   Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures as my camera has died the true death - have no fear, however, the new hand-me-down camera is working well and future posts will be adorned with my usual assortment of photos.

And, as a side note, Rhio's trailer loading was very good this time - walking onto the trailer instead of leaping, and only having to consider the big scary box for a moment or two.  I hope this trend continues!

Plan B

Friday was our first opportunity to ride together in nearly two months, and despite the high dew point and stifling humidity, Gesa and I loaded the boys up for the short trek to our local snowmobile trail.  This spot was a favorite training trail last summer, and the footing was great, barring a couple of dodgy culverts, for about 3 1/2 miles (giving us a 7 mile round trip).  Early this spring we discovered a side trail that will make it a 9+ mile training ride, and we can do it at speed, and it has hills.  Did I mention it's only a few miles from Gesa's farm?  Yep, pretty much perfect for a quick ride...  Except not this summer!  We haven't been over there at all since our difficult ride in the spring (mucky with frost coming out of the ground), and were dismayed to find that it has not been mowed at all.  The snowmobile trails are usually mowed to maintain their condition for winter use, as well as having trees cleared, etc.  The great state of Minnesota endured a government shut-down for nearly all of July, and I wonder if this was one of the many tasks set by the wayside.  I don't actually know who mows the trail, but the belly-deep grass was not conducive to a training ride, though the boys did enjoy munching at chest-level as we traversed the first long hill in hopes of discovering mowed trail at the top.  So, we decided to move on to plan B....which we didn't have in our back pockets, but the ride back to the trailer yielded one!

Good thing we left our skis at home!

We would drive just a few more miles, parking at the base of the Amity Creek trail, and utilize both the Amity trail and Lester Park trails for some conditioning in the heat and, we presumed, bugs.  Rhio has never been there, so it would be new to him, and neither of us had ridden there in over a year.  It is an extremely popular spot for hikers, runners, bikers, and dog walkers, but as it was a weekday morning we were in luck with just one car in the parking area.  It is designated as a city horse trail, but it's brevity (3 miles total) and inaccessibility for trailer parking (our one little rig takes up the majority of the available parking) means it's mostly used by locals with horses near enough to ride to the trail.  The non-horse users are somewhat used to seeing horses, though, and that makes for generally pleasant encounters.

Rhio says, "Really, Mom, you want to ride in this weather?  Shouldn't we just stand here in the shade and eat hay?"

The poor horses were dripping sweat just from a 10 minute trailer ride, it was that hot & humid.  We tacked up for the second time, applied more bug spray, and headed up the trail.  This trail was formerly a road, so it is a very solid gravel - dirt base and includes two stone bridges at its base.  It is entirely shaded, tucked into the backside of Hawk Ridge, and with the Amity Creek rushing (lots of rain recently, usually by August it's more burbling than rushing) along the other side, it stays relatively cool and fresh.  To our utter amazement, it was also virtually bug-free.  We didn't need the fly masks we'd put on the horses, and I think I only had to swat a half-dozen deer flies the entire ride!

The tip of the trail, near the ford

Given the other trail users, we kept our speed to a slow trot and just enjoyed our surroundings.  The boys were eager despite the heat, and once Rhio figured out that the noise was rushing water (we couldn't really see the creek at the beginning), he was constantly asking for more speed, ears pricked ahead to see what was around the next bend.  We stopped for a cooling drink at the ford used by a local riding stable, and got back to the trailer feeling great and ready for more!

Standing on the bank of Amity Creek

Heading back to the trail-side of Amity Creek

We had about 1/4 mile of paved road to travel to get to the lower trails, and being out in the full sun with the heat radiating up from the pavement was a whole 'nother world!  It would have been an extremely unpleasant ride in the sun, but was a magnificent ride in the shade.

There was a lot of water damage to some of the trails from our recent torrential rains, with deep fissures in the red clay which Paco was pretty wary of but Rhio barely seemed to notice (so much that I was worried he might step in one!), as well as multiple areas where the vegetation was swept all in one direction, showing how much water had flowed overland to get to the creek and river.  We crossed a metal snowmobile bridge, which was covered almost completely in run-off clay and made hardly any clanging noise because of it, and were off for another 5 miles of hill work.

We did a lot of walking the whole ride, with our overall average speed a mere 3.8 mph.  But, with the weather conditions and the hills, the boys were both panting when we finished our total of 9 miles, and had begun stopping at every mud puddle for a sip or three.

Does it taste like chocolate milk, too - or just look like it? 

I was very pleased with Rhio's loading on this trip, since it's been a few months since we've gone anywhere.  He walked on each time, calmly, instead of his customary leap into the trailer.  It still was not a shining example of trailer loading (like Paco), but his hesitation was probably only for 2 minutes each time.  I hope this was a sign of permanent improvement!

Looking ahead to a 50 miler in two weeks (fingers crossed that the logistics all work out to get there), I need a few more good rides on Rhio to feel confident for that competition.  After Friday's heat, humidity, and hills, he got Saturday off, and Sunday we went for speed work.  We did half the distance at more than double the pace, 4 miles at 8.2 mph - whee!  He feels great, now if only the last of his scratches will clear up and his leg will quit swelling up at every little thing...

The boys rubbing each other's heads after sponging.

Mouths to Feed

G & her family have been gone since July 5.  Her three horses, two cats, and one pony are pretty self-reliant, but needed a human caretaker for the 3 1/2 weeks the family was away.  I gladly volunteered my services, and, as always, things did not go 100% according to the plan, but everyone fared well and I hardly know what to do with myself now that the family is home & I'm not making my twice- or thrice-daily visits to Tischer Creek Farm.

The plan: Belle the pony stays in the barn during the day due to her allergies, and goes out into the "dry lot" paddock with a shelter and hay for the night.  The horses, Paco, Gimi, & Sefi, have free grazing in the back pasture at night and are locked in the paddock area during the day.  All the equines get a handful of vitamins and a sprinkling of grain in the mornings.  Cats get fed twice a day and can stay either in the house or out as they prefer.  It sounds so simple!

The reality: The weather was ghastly, with oppressive heat & humidity for nearly two weeks.  The horses were dripping sweat by noon, and even the pony's stall was stifling (though at least shady).  Oozing horse fly bites needed doctoring, and stinky feet needed thrush treatment, and overheating horses needed hosing and fans to stay comfortable. My planned twice a day visits quickly morphed into three times a day so I could check on everyone more closely in the dangerous heat, and I kept the horses stalled for all or part of the days as well, which meant 4 stalls to clean instead of 1, 4 water buckets to dump, clean, fill, & haul instead of 1, and very appreciative horses (which makes the effort so absolutely rewarding)!  Several mornings Paco, Gimi, & Sefi had to be chased out of their stalls to go back outside for a few hours, when they would have preferred to stay in the barn (though the mornings were the most tolerable part of the day).

Gimi and Sefi, the "little ones," are just three year olds and have minimal experience with hosing.  The several days that I attempted to cool the horses down by hosing were interesting, to say the least.  Paco seemed to enjoy it the most, and Gimi quickly figured out that he liked the cold water on his chest and shoulders, and *really* liked flipping his nose through the spray and splashing me, but Sefi wanted nothing at all to do with the scary water-spouting snake.  Belle didn't really like it, either, and so I left those two to sweat (you'd think they'd figure out how good it felt!) and concentrated my efforts on the more appreciative boys.

After their hosing, I scrounged around to come up with enough fans for everyone and managed to snake extension cords through the barn aisle so each horse had a fan for his/her stall.  Sefi was of course afraid of her fan, and I don't think ever really got used to it, as she mostly stayed on the half of the stall away from the fan.  Gimi fell in love with his fan, and stood blissfully in front of it with his forelock blowing in the breeze.  Paco & Belle seemed somewhat indifferent to their fans, although both of them managed to knock their fans around when I wasn't there and cause a bit of a ruckus.  I was a bit apprehensive on leaving them to their own devices after my first attempt at "be-fanning" the barn, as Paco's & Gimi's fans were floor fans balanced on the garbage can (!) and the mounting block, respectively.  I was nervous about the multiple extension cords, and the capacity of the electrical circuits, and flammable nature of barn contents, though I raked all the loose material out of the aisle, made sure the stall doors to the hay & bedding were firmly shut, and even unplugged the radio and the fencer for good measure.  Upon my return that evening, Gimi, who I most suspected of getting into trouble, was completely innocent of any wrong doing, and Paco, who I thought the least likely to bother anything, had managed to knock his fan over (or, it fell over on its own, also a possibility).  But, no damage was done and the horses seemed as comfortably not-hot (I can't say "cool") as I could have hoped.  I somewhat refined my fan technique on subsequent afternoons, and did finally get a good working set-up which seemed to balance air flow and safety, as well as put fans in the shed Belle uses at night and the big horses have access to during the day, so that even if I didn't bring them in to their stalls, they had some fan action if they wanted it.  And you can probably guess, but I found Gimi standing with his nose just on the inside of the bars directly in front of the fan on more than one occasion!

Belle & her fan - gotta love baling twine!  She did manage to knock this around a bit but no damage done. 

The horses and I came to a mutually agreeable arrangement for coming in, going out, applying fly spray, donning fly masks, administering thrush treatments, and doctoring the oozing fly bites, and our visits slipped into an easy routine.  The cats got progressively more desperate for attention (I did pet them & talk to them!  Every time I came!  Really!) and got to the point of following me everywhere, meowing pitifully, except when I would bring the dogs along and they would fluff up, hiss, and run under the porch (poor kitties - so traumatized!).  The strange little insects called fly predators arrived in the mail as promised, and I let them hatch before spreading them about as directed.  This was my first experience directly with fly predators, and I have to say, I do think they make a big difference in the leg-biting fly population, although they don't seem to have an impact on the deer or horse flies (which I think makes sense, as those flies breed in water and the fly predators eat the eggs laid by flies in organic matter like manure, moist ground, old hay, etc).

Gimi, Paco, and Sefi wondering if I am going to feed them. 

Luckily the weather broke, and I was able to quit all the hosing/fans/stalling rigamarole this past week.  I did a little temporary fence repair where two wooden posts had broken and the whole fence was leaning precariously, and after the initial look-see (Gimi studied it pretty carefully), the horses left my handiwork alone (whew! I don't think the fence was packing much of a punch as far as I could tell with the fence tester, but I will fully admit I was too chicken to touch it).  I "fixed" the gate with a bungee, and found the little red wagon to be a real back-saver when it came to hauling the buckets of manure around.

The broken wood fence and my "fix" with T-posts.   Thank goodness I was able to find posts, post pounder, caps, insulators, electric rope, screws, and a drill that worked!  Nothing like nosing around in other people's stuff :) 

Ah!  The barn aisle all neat, clean, and tidy - I love that! Now imagine this with blue extension cords & fans all over the place, some balanced on things they probably shouldn't have been... not such a pretty or satisfying sight (and why didn't I have my camera that day?!). 

So this is what it's like to have your own place?  I think my McGyver is ready to roll - bring it on!

An Adventuresome Weekend

Gesa & I found ourselves with a coinciding schedule for this past weekend, so we tossed a bunch of stuff (but not all the right stuff, though we got by with what we had) into the truck & trailer and loaded horses for a weekend of horse camping.  Kelso & Berlin came along, too, and we had a full load with horse gear, dog gear, and human gear (we pack nearly as much for a weekend trip as we would for a week long trip - just less hay).

Our original plan was to camp & ride at Wild River State Park, which neither of us has ever visited before, but along our way we stopped for gas (and Benadryl for poor Berlin who was a bit carsick) and decided to change plans at the last minute and head to Tamarack horse camp in the St. Croix State Forest.  I had been there once before as a day trip (it's about a 2 hour haul for us), but never camped there.  Pulling in to the horse camp (you have to know where it is to find it - we ended up in the "regular" campground on our first attempt), we drove around the loops to discover that we were the only people there.  Hmm.... this might have been our first clue, but instead we took our time choosing just the perfect campsite (a double so we had lots of space) and as we were backing in, another rig pulled in.  They picked a site on an entirely different loop, so we did pretty much have the place to ourselves.

We set up camp in a flurry, putting up our fake electric pen for the boys around the base of the permanent high lines and pitching a tent for me & the dogs.  Gesa brought her camp cot and was excited to try out sleeping in the trailer (cleaned out, of course, and with a tarp down over the shavings) - luckily the trailer has screens on the windows so she could have ventilation with minimal mosquito invaders.  Rhio & Paco are pretty respectful of a non-electrified pen (Rhio was very wary after getting his big shock from Donna's pen back in May at MnDRA1), but we didn't leave them unattended in it and we tied them to the high lines at night.

Rhio & Paco settle in Friday night

With my little propane grill, I cooked us up some marinated chicken breasts  & zucchini and we ate dinner by headlamp, tired from packing, loading, traveling, unloading, setting up camp, pumping & hauling water (pumped by a poorly-functioning hand pump which stuck at the top of every full stroke, and hauled by wheel-barrow back to our campsite - let me tell you, that water was precious!), dousing ourselves in copious amounts of bug repellant (oh the clouds of mosquitos!), and all the various other tasks that come with setting up camp for 2 people, 2 horses, and 2 dogs. Why is it that we willingly work so hard to have fun? 

I slept great (except for 3 or 4 times I came awake with a start, feeling crawly and pulling ticks off out-of-the-way body parts), snug in my sleeping bag with the snoozing dogs snuggled up in their beds next to me.  Very early in the morning, just as it was getting light, I heard wild turkeys gobbling off in the woods somewhere,  but the horses were still quiet and content on the high line (so different from ride camp, where as soon as the first horse is fed in the wee hours, all the horses in camp are clamoring for their breakfasts), and I happily rolled over and went back to sleep.  We all got up around 7, and Gesa & I thoroughly enjoyed a leisurely morning with our respective mugs of coffee and tea.  We took the horses for an amble down to the day parking area, to check out the trail map and plan our ride for the day.  We were very pleased that the hordes of mosquitos of the evening before were gloriously absent, but still applied bug spray to ourselves & the boys and tacked them up with their riding fly masks. 

Around 11, after settling the dogs in the trailer, we mounted up and headed off on our adventure.  The first marked horse trail we took directly out of camp was twisty, heavily overgrown, and difficult to follow in spots.  Interesting.  This one must not get used much, we thought.  We popped out on the gravel road that leads to the campground and decided to follow it for a bit, as we couldn't quite make out where the horse trail was supposed to go and I'd noted on the map quite a few ATV/snowmobile trails, which I knew would be wide and easy to follow, if nothing else.  We hit a parking area for motorized users, and stopped to consult the map again, determining that with a mixture of ATV & horse trails, we could make a long loop (loops are my favorite!).  While we were map reading, a small group of ATV riders, followed shortly by two rangers also on ATVs, passed us & continued along the trail in the direction we were headed.  We also met a couple of geocachers with their beautiful collie, who was staring wide-eyed at the "big dogs" we were riding.  Off we went, with some idea of where we were going and plenty of get-up-and-go from the horses.  

The ATV trails proved to be a sandy dirt base with plenty of mid-sized rocks both embedded in the surface and strewn about, and a healthy population of mud holes to either balk at, drink from, or trot right through (which ones fell into which category was a mystery to me, but the horses clearly knew which type was which!).  Just going based on what I'd memorized from the map and my sense of direction, with periodic map-checks when we came across them, we made a few wrong turns and trotted a few sections of gravel road in leu of trails I wasn't quite certain were going in the right direction.  It was a nice mix of moderate trotting & technical work on the ATV trails, with some nice long canters and long trotting on the gravel roads.  The horseflies & deerflies were definitely making themselves a nuisance at grazing stops, but while we kept moving they were pretty tolerable. 

Eventually, we found our goal - the Gandy Dancer State Trail, a former railroad grade that is now a gravel-surfaced ATV and snowmobile superhighway.  The horses really enjoyed moving out & we handily covered a few miles at a good clip before reaching the St. Croix River bridge (hello, Wisconsin!).  This is one impressive bridge!  It's a wooden former railroad trestle, resurfaced with tightly abutting wooden planks and a central rubber matting and with tall, secure railings.  But this thing was high, and quite long - I've never ridden across such an imposing bridge.  It was prominently signed "Bridge Closed to Vehicles over 1000 lbs," and we debated whether we counted as "vehicles," since horse+rider+tack was a bit over 1000 lbs each.  Deciding to play it safe, and not wanting to get caught on the bridge with an ATV crossing at the same time (it was too narrow for any passing), we only ventured about a quarter of the way out onto the bridge, to take in the view of the St. Croix River way down there below us.  I was perfectly happy out there snapping pictures while leading Rhio, but decided to mount up for a photo and immediately felt the insecurity of realizing I was taller than the railings.  It was a little unnerving sitting up there on top of my not-very-tall horse on this bridge, and I decided right then that I was going to make myself ride off the bridge (back the way we came, not across it) and that I probably don't ever want to cross No-Hands Bridge at Tevis (as if I thought I'd ever be riding Tevis anyway!).  I'm not exactly afraid of heights, but I was definitely not feeling super comfortable up there, and breathed a sigh of relief when Rhio stepped hoof back on solid land.  

We were both very happy to have our hoof boots for this ride, as the rocks & gravel would have been tough to cover at speed if the horses had been barefoot.  I was using Red's Epics on Rhio's fronts, and his own Gloves on his hinds.  Paco sported a pair of Epics on his fronts, and was bare behind. I was very pleased with the traction provided by both styles of boot, as some of the muddy spots were slippery and we crossed some wooden bridges and a hill made of cross-wise cement "timbers" later in our ride, with both horses being completely surefooted all day.  

The few ATVers we met along the way were all very considerate, slowing down to pass us and even a few giving us a jaunty wave.  Everyone seemed to be enjoying the beautiful Saturday afternoon.  

Gesa spotted the horse trail branching off the Gandy Dancer trail, and we set off into the woods to complete our loop.  We'd done about 12 miles at this point, in 2 hours.  Little did we know we had 6 miles and 2 more hours of riding ahead of us before we'd finally make it back to camp. 

The horse trails are in very poor shape currently.  I don't know if it's budget cuts, or just the long and brutal winter & wet spring we've had, but the trail was horribly overgrown so much that it was hard to follow at times.  There were numerous trees down that we had to skirt around, and the insect population was pretty spectacular, combined with our forced walking speed, and I would say it was a fairly unpleasant situation.  At first the horses thought the single-track trail was fun, but they quickly lost their enthusiasm when it became apparent we weren't going to be able to do much more than walk, and walk, and walk.  We crossed rickety bridges, or in places had to clamber down & up small ravines where the bridges had been completely washed out.  Some of the hills had originally had horse-friendly stairs for erosion control, consisting of 5' or 6' square timber "boxes" filled with earth, such that the horses could have all 4 hooves on each "step."  Many of these were washed out completely or had the dirt eroded out of them such that they were obstacles and hindrances rather than helping the horses negotiate the slopes. Our boys were wonderfully brave and willing the entire time, with the exception of Rhio refusing to cross a flat plank bridge with no sides which was elevated about 8" off the trail surface.  Gesa & Paco had to ride out of sight before he would follow me across it, and even then he crossed it in two big leaps, knocking me into a patch of stinging nettles (in case you were wondering, summer riding tights are NOT thick enough to protect from stinging nettles!  Yowzie!).  Rhio did perform an interesting feat of acrobatics, in which he managed to chew on his right hind pastern on a single-track trail with me still mounted (can you say Gumby?), and we only had one tree-encounters-riders-leg incident despite the narrow single track trail winding through plenty of knee-knocker trees, so all in all it was a successful though mentally and physically taxing last third of our ride. 

We returned to camp, released the hounds from their confinement, pulled our camp chairs up to the pen to watch our sweaty, filthy ponies happily munch hay (er, well, actually I guess they were frantically swishing, stamping & biting at the hordes of flies), and reveled in our ice-cold beverages.  Once recovered, we grabbed our sponges and headed down to the Tamarack River to cool the horses and clean them up a bit.  Both boys willingly walked into the river, and as I was sponging the dirt and sweat off Rhio, I realized that many of the "dirt" spots on his legs were really ticks!  Ai - yi - yi!  The horses danced out of the river and up the trail, antsy as all get out as they were being mobbed by horseflies.  I quickly washed up our hoof boots in the river (can't waste any of that precious camp water we sweated & huffed to pump by hand!) and we high-tailed it back to camp to apply tick-killing fly spray and then pick the nasty buggers off our horses' legs.  For once I was grateful to have a gray horse, as the ticks were very easy to spot.  We each got about 30 ticks off our horses, with most of them being the regular dog ticks and just a few being deer ticks.  

We discovered our steaks were still frozen, so we had vegetable medley (carrots, potatoes, asparagus), hard boiled eggs, and bread for dinner, with s'mores roasted over the campstove for dessert!  Completely bushed from the day, we rolled into the sack and one again slept well, though it was pretty chilly this night, possibly getting down to the high 30's.  Berlin woke me up in the middle of the night, so I had a chance to enjoy the brilliant stars on display and listen to the coyotes' song before discovering that he couldn't sleep because he was cold.  Instead of getting out of my warm sleeping bag yet again to fetch a horse blanket, I simply emptied all my clothes on top of him in a heap as extra insulation (he was already wearing a polarfleece doggie jacket) and fell straight back to sleep.  In the morning, he looked amusing, adorable, and slightly ridiculous buried in his mound of clothes, but at least he was warm - and of course I didn't have my camera in the tent!

One of many maps we encountered throughout the day

Gesa & Paco approaching the massive bridge

Gesa enjoying the magnificent view of the St. Croix River

Ok, so it doesn't look very scary in the photo - but I wasn't thrilled.

Berlin, a happy 16 year old, still has the camping mojo!

St. Croix River, Minnesota on the right and Wisconsin on the left

Our little camp

The ATVers obviously love their mud - we saw a group dressed head-to-toe in rain gear, which seems like a good wardrobe choice if you're blasting through mud puddles, I guess. 

I made myself ride my horse off this bridge. Next time I'm there, I just might force myself to ride across the whole thing...... or maybe not!

That's Wisconsin way back there across the bridge!

Probably the best piece of single-track trail we saw all day.

Hand-walking down the steep hill which is stabilized with cement "timbers" like a boat ramp at a public water access.  

A close-up of the cement we were traversing - the boys' hoof boots were excellent on these, and I absolutely would not have taken a horse in steel shoes on this hill - it would have been horribly treacherous.

The Tamarack River

Rhio looking for more goodies, like the wasabi peas both he & Paco developed a taste for.  Yes, you read that right, our horses LOVE wasabi peas! 

We had a quick breakfast on Sunday, tacked up, and headed off to try the ATV trails heading in the opposite direction.  We had about 2 hours to ride, and set off happily enough, only to discover that the trails in this direction were in rough shape with many more rocks & mud holes than Saturday's trails, and an even greater army of horse- and deer-flies on a mission to suck every last drop of blood they could from us and our horses.  We made it about 4 miles, then hit a gravel road which we thought might be better - though it was better footing and allowed us to outrun the bugs at a pretty handy canter, the flies were actually worse out in the sunlight than they had been in the shady woods.  We detoured to a small lake and let the boys have a little grass (the least buggy spot of the day, actually), then turned back for camp.  We started to run into ATVs at this point, and this trail was not a good place to encounter them, as it was so twisty-turny that we could never get to a spot with a good long sightline for them to see us before bursting upon us.  As a result, we surprised nearly all of them, which can be a bad situation for all involved.  We, of course, knew they were coming because we could hear their engines, but they had no idea we were there. The horses didn't care one whit about the ATVs, but *hated* having to walk or, heaven forbid, stop, as the clouds of buzzing flies descended upon us, driving the horses absolutely nuts.  All the fly spray in the world couldn't have helped this situation, because although they would land & fly off again immediately (I was using Endure fly spray - little product endorsement here - and  it really did keep them off Rhio, but of course it doesn't stop them from buzzing around), they were still causing immense mental distress for both horses.  I didn't even try to hold Rhio back, but let him run everywhere I possibly could, as it was the only way to deal with the flies. I can't think of a time I've been so grateful to get off a trail as I was when we finally burst out of the woods and hit the gravel road leading back to camp.  I let Rhio run home, a bad habit but an utter relief to us both.  In the end, we'd done about 10 miles in an hour and half of mostly desperate trotting & cantering to escape the bugs.  I have to say, big kudos to Rhio & Paco for keeping their cool, mostly, and not simply dumping us & high tailing it out of there.  

Grace Lake

Amazingly, there was hardly an insect here at the boat landing, and plentiful grass, so we took a welcome break on our Sunday ride.

Paco

We packed up in record time, loaded the horses into a horse-fly infested trailer (Rhio was extremely reluctant to load - perhaps because of the flies?), and climbed into the truck only to hear click-click-click instead of the expect va-room! of the engine.  Oh, no!  Dead battery!  Luckily for us, Gesa was prepared with a jump pack thingee, and we were able to jump start ourselves and be on our way in under 5 minutes.  Since we had the drained truck battery at MnDRA 1 and required a jump, we've known there's a short or something in the trailer or the truck which kills the battery when the truck & trailer sit hooked up.  We'd unhooked the lights for the weekend, and only plugged them in just as we were loading horses.  Somehow in the 10 minutes it sat with the trailer lights attached to the truck, it drained the truck battery - and we'd even started the truck prior to plugging in the trailer to make sure it started!  There is definitely something not right in the electrical systems or connections of either the truck or the trailer or both, but at least we were well prepared for the situation (many thanks to Lynne for showing us such a thing as a jump pack thingee even existed!).  

Thankfully the trip home was utterly uneventful, and I loved every second of my hot shower, complete with a full-body tick check (no ticks!), when I finally got everything unpacked, cleaned up, and put away.  The next day I found one deer tick on Rhio, and he had a couple of minor rubs from the Epics gaiters in the front (I'd forgotten to put vet wrap on his pasterns), but mostly he was just pissed that he hadn't been able to go to the cow pasture to graze when we got home but had to eat boring old hay all night instead.

It was really a great weekend, and overcoming adversity makes it all the more memorable.  But I do think I'll avoid Tamarack horse camp during bug season in the future! 

You Shall Not Pass

Impassable trail

I thought about putting sunscreen on this morning before we loaded up to check out our favorite portion of the North Shore Trail... but didn't do it.  My "farmer's tan" is well-started now, unfortunately, though with the added marks of a wrist GPS and riding gloves it should probably be called "riding tan," which is my perpetual state in the warm months, I'm afraid.  I'm thinking self-tanner may be my ticket to looking halfway normal in dress-up attire for my cousin's wedding in June!

Pre-ride, before we knew what we were getting into!

This particular section of snowmobile trail is only a few miles from Gesa's place, and is all rolling hills and high ground.  We hoped it would be dry enough by now to ride.  We were wrong.  The low spots which looked mucky & muddy were exactly what they looked like, but they were not the problem.  The problem was the unexpected sucking mud pits hidden beneath what appeared to be solid grassy ground.  Paco could pass through a section in the lead and not have a problem, while Rhio stepped just a few inches to the left or right of Paco's hoof prints and we found ourselves sucked in hock-deep.  We realized in short order that we wouldn't be able to do anything but walk, at least then when we hit the horrible bits the horses were able to scramble out.  At a gait faster than a walk, those sudden squelching, clinging, seemingly bottomless mud holes would have been disastrous.

A pretty pond we didn't know was there!

Spring in the Northland - see that faint tinge of green in the trees? Yup, if you've got dirty sunglasses you can't see it - but that's spring, for sure! 

Given the circumstances, we took the opportunity to thoroughly enjoy the weather - blue skies, a light breeze, flooding sunshine everywhere - and the slowly greening spring.  We spotted pretty little ponds and trail off-shoots that are all but invisible when the forest is in full-leafed glory.  We followed a well-travelled ATV path and found ourselves in the back lot (culvert storage, apparently) of the county road maintenance depot.  This was the best, firmest footing the entire ride and we got about 2 miles of trotting & cantering.  The boys enjoyed gorging themselves on the newly green grass, and Kelso had a ball sniffing, snuffling, and snorting his way through last fall's dead leaves and the new spring sprouts.

Oh I know where we are! (and the horses weren't at all fazed by the huge shiny metal tubes)

Our muddy souvenirs of the day

The boys enjoying their hay while we soaked up some excess sunshine in our lawn chairs before heading home

This ride wasn't particularly fast, or long, or difficult, but it was glorious to be out there on a mini-adventure on such a day as this.

MnDRA I - What a Weekend!

Loop 1, about 11 miles into 15 miles (photo by Henry)

Gesa & I had an uneventful trip to Sand Dunes State Forest for the very first distance ride of the season.  Before loading up, however, I discovered Rhio in the pasture with a bloody leg.  Of course, he manages to hurt himself in the four hours between morning feeding & time to go!  The wound was small and high on the inside of his left front forearm.  Wounds always look quite dramatic on a grey horse, but after cleaning it up I decided it wasn't anything to worry about, and a quick trot confirmed no lameness, so he climbed aboard Christine's trailer (thanks for the loan, C!) and we headed over to pick up Gesa & Paco.

Rhio's wound on Saturday 

Driving into camp, we spot Lynne & her horse Niso set up just across from vet check, so swing in by them, since we were planning to camp together.  Paco & Rhio settle in to the high line, with Niso next door in her pen.  In no time, Donna, Salma, & CrackerJack arrive and set up with us as well.  Yay!  We haven't all been together since last August, so mile-a-minute talking quickly ensued, though I had to excuse myself and begin vetting horses in for Saturday's events.  Dusk set in with some beautiful clouds prompting us to preemptively cover the boys in their rain sheets.  A couple laps around camp to stretch everyone's legs (and the horses almost always drink when we get back from a walk, so that's a nice bonus), with the horses thrilled to munch the plentiful green grass (none of that at home yet!), and we were ready for the night.  Camp settled down quickly Friday night, with most everyone planning to ride Saturday (except all of our contingent - I was vetting & Gesa volunteering as scribe Saturday, Donna's CrackerJack is a few days shy of 48 months old - the minimal age to compete an LD, and Lynne & Niso didn't feel conditioned enough to compete).  We had munchies & conversation in Donna's trailer before splitting up for bedtime - Donna, Salma, Kelso & I in her trailer and Lynne & Gesa in Lynne's trailer.  Gesa & I loved the luxury of a mattress over our usual tent!

Ready for bed!

Saturday "morning" (yes, technically 4:40 am is morning, but it sure doesn't feel like a reasonable time to be awake - the major drawback of my chosen obsession is the wee hour wake-ups) came all too quickly, and I piled on a few extra layers, refilled the boys' hay bags, and dragged myself over to vet check for the rider's meeting and to vet in a few last minute starters.  By the 6:00 am start for the 50 milers, the sun was up and it was clear the weather gods were smiling upon us this day.

I was able to see Rhio & Paco on their high line all day from vet check, so I was able to assure myself they weren't getting into any trouble.  Gesa spent a lot of the day helping, but also did all the pony care while I was working (thank you Gesa!!!).  In the afternoon she saddled up for a little ride, and Rhio was unhappy to be left behind.  Besides making a pitiful racket calling for his buddy, he was good while Paco was gone.

Aww!  My lovely pony. 

It was a tough day on course for a lot of competitors, with temps in the low 70s and the perennial deep sand that Sand Dunes is famous for.  Six of the 11 starters in the 50 were pulled, mostly for lameness.  A few LDers and competitive riders didn't complete, either, and one horse had to be treated for a tie-up after completing the 25 mile ride.  I think there has been a horse treated at this ride almost every year; I think the course is deceptively challenging with the deep sand, especially when coupled with a slow, late spring that really cut in to most rider's training time.  Add to that the warm temps, which we haven't had a chance to accustom to yet this year, and it was a recipe for hot, tired horses.  Many of the horses had tight hamstrings from the deep sand, and sore shoulders were also a common finding.  All the riders did a great job of taking care of their horses whether they were pulled or completed the course.

Paco & Rhio vetted in with flying colors Saturday evening, with Rhio's heart rate at 32.  He must be getting used to ride camp (he should be, I think this is his 4th year of attending rides), as 32 is his resting rate at home, but it is typically 40 at a ride.  After getting our 52 inked in green on his rump, we settled the boys into CrackerJack's vacated pen for the night (thanks Donna! our boys LOVE to have a pen to relax in) and I watched as Rhio proceeded to immediately zap himself on the electric tape.  I felt a little sorry for him (he looked *very* surprised), but I was also pleased that he'd touched it and felt much more secure in leaving him in the pen overnight.  This is the first time he's been in an electric pen at night, without direct supervision.  I would have to say I think he much prefers a pen to any form of being tied.  He was very leery of exiting the pen, though, and Paco had to be brave one and lead the way through the gate every time.

Loving the life of freedom in the pen (but Rhio's staying safely away from the fence.)

Potluck & awards were held in our campsite, so we had front-row seats and our horses seemed to enjoy observing all the commotion as well.  Rhio was probably scoping out the potluck dishes, hoping for a taste of the left-overs!  I don't know about anyone else, but I quite enjoyed my potluck plate - dominated by delicious tacos provided by ride management.

Potluck!

Pre-potluck relaxation with Donna (have I ever mentioned that 60 lb Kelso is a lap dog?)

Kelso's safe spot

Beautiful Salma

I think we all tried to stop visiting and hit the sack a little earlier Saturday night, as Gesa & I were riding in the morning!  Ride weekends need to be 3 days, so we could have a whole day to relax & visit with all our ride buddies.  4:40 rolled around way too early yet again, and as I was fumbling around in the dark to get ready, trying not to wake Donna, I managed to drop a contact somewhere in her trailer.  Of course it was utterly impossible to find the tiny but vital item, and I hadn't packed any extras (won't make that mistake ever again!!!), so I was forced to use my glasses for the day.

This turned out to be more challenging than I had anticipated, as the prescription in my glasses is not the same as in my contacts. Also, as anyone who wears both will attest, the difference in peripheral vision is quite dramatic between contacts & glasses.  My exhausted, too-early-roused brain was very slow to adapt to the different visual input, and as a result I couldn't exactly "see straight" for about half of the first loop!  My glasses would jiggle a bit at any gait faster than a walk, and I had to attempt to focus on whatever horizon line I could find ahead on the trail to keep myself steady.  It wasn't as challenging as riding in the dark, but I did feel that I had to give over most of the decisions to Rhio and I knew the trail well enough I didn't need to spot ribbons or read plates (whew!).

Group shot!  Early on Loop 1, and Rhio is all business getting us past these horses without a backward glance.  Notice Rhio's forward ears (as long as I'm in front, I don't care about the other horses!), and Paco's inside ear tipped to the other horses (um, this ok guys?  Whatcha doing over there?)

The start of a ride is always a little intense with equine emotions running high, and riders' following suit (or is it the other way around?).  Gesa & I waited to let the hot shoes get out of camp, and well down the trail.  One disadvantage of the early portion of the trail at this ride is that you are able to see horses in front of you on a long straightaway not too far out of camp.  This makes life a little difficult for most of us with horses who want to catch those in front of them.  Rhio was very good, though, and we walked calmly out of camp, picking up a nice trot and all was well...until we caught sight of horses in front of us.  Bear in mind that my vision problems are peaking right about now, as Rhio's speed increases and my brain pretty much can't compensate for it yet.  Lots of half-halts (surprise!  Rhio presented me with a new behavior - a chin-tuck in response to a half-halt.  Previously he has always thrown his nose up in the air if I half-halt him and he doesn't want to listen.  The chin-tuck was new for him, but he was still listening and staying controllable so I left him alone) and Rhio, while anxious to catch & pass horses ahead of us, also stayed in his trot and said "Ok" every time I said "No" to a speed increase.  It was by no means an easy, relaxed first 5 miles, but it was pretty good.  Five miles is the magic point at which he becomes my easy, responsive boy again, instead of a barely contained rocket ship.

We crossed the highway bridge, manned by a caffeinated cop & a cruiser with flashing lights at either end, and made our way through the housing development to reach my favorite section of trail at this ride. The new obstacle for the day was a lawn sprinkler on full blast, spraying an arc of water & mist into the air and across the road.  Unless he encountered one before I bought him, I can attest that Rhio has never seen a sprinkler before.  I simply asked him to move to the opposite side of the road, and we passed it with no trouble at all.  Good boy Rhio!  Paco followed suit, though the guy riding behind us had more trouble I think.  Shortly after the sprinkler, there was a house & a living room picture window barely containing a frenzied dog barking & barreling into the glass; I'm quite sure there wasn't anyone left asleep in that house!

Having a bite to eat midway through Loop 1 - in our coveted pocket of space! 

And onward through the sand.

By about half way through the first loop of 15 miles, the horses were spread out enough that we had our own little pocket and were no longer catching other horses or being caught.  It is my favorite part of a ride when we have our own bubble of trail and have no interaction with other horses on the trail.  I know for sure in such instances that we are "riding our own ride" and not being pulled or pushed by another horse's position ahead of or behind us.  Rhio & Paco have done so many miles together now that their trail relationship is effortless, both for them and for us.  We are free to chat and to enjoy the scenery, soaking up the joy of time spent on the back of a good horse with companionable trail partners.

Both Photographer Bob & Photographer Henry (volunteers! wow!) were out in various spots on the trail capturing our horses' beauty in action for us.  I can't even adequately articulate how much I love having pictures of my horses at a ride.  I am incredibly biased, of course, but Rhio looks absolutely fantastic in these photos; they are the best photos of him doing his job and loving every minute of it.

Loop 1, about 4 miles from camp (photo by Henry)

Walking in to camp at the end of loop 1 (photo by Bob)

Gesa & Paco eager to go at the start (photo by Bob)

Riding with heart rate monitors was really helpful at this ride.  Gesa & I know how the boys' usually run, and we were able to monitor them closely during a markedly more challenging exertion level than we've asked of them yet this spring.  In the deepest sand, Rhio's heart rate ran about 10 points higher than normal for whichever gait we were in.  He recovered into the 80s within moments to a minute of dropping to a walk, even in the deep sand.  Paco, however, would not drop below 100 while walking in the deep sand, but would immediately drop once we hit firmer footing.  This was especially useful information to have as we came in the last mile of the first loop.  Rhio would have been fine trotting the whole mile, and the walk from the end of the trail through camp to the timer would have been enough recovery for him to be at criteria by the time we handed our card over for our in-time.  By watching Paco's monitor, though, we knew that Paco was still working hard enough to keep his heart rate just above 100 bpm and therefore we walked the whole mile and he was able to recover to criteria just a few minutes after arrival.  I think if we hadn't used the monitors, we would have trotted more of that mile and Paco would have taken longer to pulse down at the check.

After our hold, we completed our exit exams with flying colors.  Rhio had an astounding CRI of 9/10, meaning his heart rate was 36 bpm before trotting 250 feet, and 40 bpm one minute later.  Both 36 & 40 bpm are normal equine resting heart rates.  He was exhibiting pretty much complete recovery from the first 15 miles.  I do not push my horses, but I do kind of wonder what he is capable of.  I don't train *that* much - this is mostly his natural athletic ability.

Last minute adjustments before heading out on loop 2

Off we go on loop 2, scuttling out of camp at a good clip to maintain our little bubble of trail as a pair of LDers and the first group of novice competitors were set to head out just a minute or so after us.  We did a lot of cantering, which my horses seem to prefer in the sand - and taking off on loop 2 at an easy canter with forward happy horses is such a rush!  Gesa & I were both grinning & laughing with glee, and that feeling persisted throughout the 10 miles (well, actually only 9 according to my GPS) of the second loop.   We mostly trotted & cantered, with both horses drinking long & deep at a muddy puddle, and before we knew it we were done!  We could have been the only two out there, as we didn't see anyone the entire loop.

We finished in 6th & 7th positions, though we were 1:40 behind the winner.  We stood for Best Condition anyway, knowing that we had no chance of winning the award, but as good practice for our horses and because neither Paco nor Rhio had ever stood for a BC exam before.  Unfortunately, it did require the dreaded weigh-in, which I detest, but I just claim a heavy saddle.  Rhio looked good, but Paco was a little muscle-tired.  Both horses ate, drank, and rested while we started to break camp as the increasing clouds began to sprinkle and finally out-and-out rain on us just as we were loading horses & the last few items were being shoved into the tack room or truck.  Why is it that our neatly organized bins, bags, & boxes are always in compete disarray and the whole lot of it barely fits back into the rig when we leave?

All done! The boys are resting while we hustle to get camp cleaned up & packed before the rain really starts.

The truck battery was dead, but the ride manager was able to give us a jump (thanks, Theresa!) and we were on our way home, slightly damp and a titch smelly but oh-so-proud of our ponies.  I had so much fun at this ride, despite all the small troubles like a lost contact and the usual sleep-deprivation.  Thank you to all the ride managers, volunteers, fellow vets, riders, photographers, and everyone else involved in this incredible sport.  Here it is a week later, and I am still feeling the euphoria.