How We Lost & Then Found Ourselves Again

Last week Gesa & I planned another long training/conditioning ride and set off to do our 11 mile loop once again.  Both Rhio and Paco were particularly lazy heading out from the farm, and this continued for a while.  It's actually pretty typical for Rhio to be unmotivated when we head out, and then we reach some unseen threshold and he is suddenly ready to GO!  I suspect it may be a certain distance from the farm - prior to hitting that magic place (I know right where the switch happens; it's pretty consistently in the same area), I can barely get anything more than a tiny jog-trot and he's dragging his feet (literally).  Once we cross that line, however, I have my forward-trotting, offering-to-canter-every-chance-he-gets Rhio, and grab mane for the ride home, because once we turn around, it's a race!  This is actually an annoying habit, and one I can't seem to conquer.  It doesn't happen at all if we trailer out somewhere else to ride, but almost always happens on rides from home.

Posing in the gravel pit.

We decided to cut through the big gravel pit to see what the footing was like in there, and for variety.  Doing something a little different always seems to perk the ponies up a little.  First, we had a nice long drink at the first icy puddle we came to, then a little canter up a hill until a big spook at the top because of the boulders lined up there.  They are the very same boulders that have always been there, and Rhio has been through this pit numerous times.  Ah, spring!  We head down into the "belly" of the pit to do a little hill work climbing back out again, and enjoy the views from the top.

Gesa & Paco at the top.

Ready to go on with our loop, we try to find the little path through the back of the pit to the trail in the woods that leads to the snowmobile trail.  This is just a trickle of beaten down ground through the aspen saplings which has been made by repeatedly cutting through, and although I had trouble getting my eye on just the right spot, Rhio remembered where he was and led us through the brush.  Once we hit the trail, we were surprised and disappointed by just how much snow was still on the ground in the woods.  It was grainy, soft, and slid around easily, making for very slippery going for the horses.  Rhio especially seemed to have trouble with his hoof boots; I have found them to be incredibly slick on snow.  We carefully picked our way along, sliding down the hills, and both horses did a good job of keeping their footing and moving cautiously.  The snowmobile trail was in slightly better shape as it had been packed & groomed all winter, but was still walking-only.  After all that walking due to the footing, our average speed for the ride was pretty slow, around 4.3 mph.  We picked up a trot down the gravel road starting the "top side" of our loop, and soon found ourselves waiting to cross the busy road.

Paco picking his way carefully down a little hill in the slippery snow.

Once across the road, we have about a 1 1/2 mile stretch along the shoulder of a fairly busy road.  The shoulder is wide & flat, but when the ground is dry we can actually ride way off the road in the ditch.  We had to stick to the shoulder now, but I am pretty comfortable riding here.  It is a long straightaway, however, and we are heading home.  Rhio & I started to argue at this point - he voted for an all-out gallop down the road towards home.  I voted for a nice controlled trot.  We were not able to compromise, and both became increasingly frustrated.  Every time a car would pass, Rhio would start to canter, sometimes in place if he was halfway listening to me and sometimes feeling like he was going to buck.  I was growling at him, yelling at him, trying to make him work (leg yields, circles) - but every time I put any leg on him at all, he took off.  Anytime I released pressure at all, he took off.  It was a very unpleasant ride, and once we got off the straightaway, we continued to argue pretty much the entire 5 miles back to the farm.

It was not a good end to our ride, though we had done the 11.6 miles with an average pace of 5.2 mph and he had done some things really well, like being careful on the bad footing.  It felt like we were really at odds with one another and not functioning like a team at all.  Part of the trouble could be the fact that I was very sleep-deprived and exhausted, and he is already starting to get bored with doing the "same" ride all the time. Also, I know that we have some saddle fit issues, and soreness will definitely make a horse out-of-sorts.  At any rate, I turned him out for the night and went to bed early!

The next day we went out for a solo ride to get our heads together again.  His back was a bit sore from the long ride (surprisingly, the saddle is not starting to fit any better on its own!) and he had little rubs from the gaiters on his hind Gloves.  So, I left him barefoot, tossed the bareback pad on, and we set off for a little wander with no purpose other than to enjoy ourselves.  A zero-pressure ride was just what the doctor ordered.

We picked our way through the trails out back, where the footing is pretty bad with alternating areas of mud and ice/snow.  The little stream which usually runs through a culvert on the trail was flooded and rushing over the trail, but a little lookie-loo at that for a bit and he walked right on through it (good boy!). We sank through snow & hit water beneath several times, which surprised him but he again stayed calm.    One section of mud was particularly deep & sucking, and that was no trouble either.  In fact, I would say the whole ride he was a model citizen and seemed happy, relaxed, and very willing.  I was happy & relaxed, too.  There was the little incident of the grouse, and then a little later the ducks - but besides a quick shudder in place at those frights, he just kept right on moving without any balking about being out alone or rushing to go faster.  We made a loop out of it, passing through the farmyard at Red's barn and home along the road.  He was so good we even cantered along the shoulder of the road, all nice & relaxed.  He didn't even break stride when we came even with the hayfield at the corner and saw a man dressed in a green sweatshirt lying prone in the grass.  Both Rhio & I did a double take at that, and I shouted "Hi!" and got a response of "Hi!" back, so at least I knew the guy wasn't dead or something.  But it was a very odd thing to see - why would you lie down in the middle of what was probably a cold, wet, muddy field?

So now you know how two rides can be so very different in tone & emotion; one was not fun at all, really, and the other was bliss.

Signs of Spring

Look closely & you'll see the oodles of chestnut fuzz littering the ground around him.  I love being able to do spring grooming outdoors where I don't have to clean up!

Yesterday was the first no-jacket weather we've had all spring, and Red, Kelso, & I went over to the gravel pit to explore.  Red's hocks are still sore, and I'm waiting on one item before I can do his injections, so we just moseyed and enjoyed.  See our ride in photo essay form below:

Gazing out over all the still-frozen ponds.

You can't see them in this picture, but there are Canada geese on one of the frozen ponds.

Poor geese possibly migrated just a shade too early this year!  They're stuck wandering around on the pond instead of swimming in it.

This is actually a photo of pussy willows - the little shrub next to the evergreen.  When the photo is large on my screen I can see them, but I realize you'll have to use your imagination for this one. Sorry!

The aquamarine color of the thinning ice was really pretty here - it is washed out in the photo.

Ready to go back out with his herd.

Difficulty in the Gravel Pit

All these pictures are post-difficulty.  Christine & Tomas did not have the best of rides, and her wrist/hand is now sporting a handsome brace to show for their bonding time together.  Argh!  We attempted to do a little hill work, but Tomas threw a bucking fit as he was cresting the first hill and Christine was unceremoniously dumped.  She's one tough cookie, got right back up and we came around to do the hill again.  No more bucking, but he was definitely not happy about doing the work of climbing the hill.  Conveniently, the equine body worker is already scheduled for Wednesday, and I'll follow up his therapy with some acupuncture.  Hopefully, we'll get Tomas straightened out and Christine's injury will heal quickly.  

The pond scum which the ponies actually thought was tasty.

Tomas sampling the scum.  Ewww! 

They had to drag me into the saddle...

but we had a very fun ride!  Yesterday it was hot & humid (for Duluth, in May, anyway!!) and I was tired, hot, & out of sorts after spending all morning weeding, planting, & watering in the veggie garden.  I was about as close as I ever come to not wanting to ride.  But Christine & Becca were ready to go with smiles on, and poor Rhio was looking pretty forlorn being the sole horse left in his pasture, so off I went to fetch my pony.  We set off down the road, with a destination of the gravel pits in mind.

What a cute pair!  Becca on Kaos & Christine on Tomas heading down the road

Once my butt hit the saddle, I felt great and was happy to be riding, as usual.  The sun beat down upon us, but we were able to catch a nice breeze and we hardly noticed the heat.  We meandered around the gravel pit, went up & down the hill a few times, enjoyed the scenery, and ended up cooling our heels in the pond.  

Lupine in bloom

All the horses seemed to enjoy the water - even scared-y Tomas! 

Becca & Kaos looking happy & relaxed

Upon our return to the farm, we rinsed the sweat off our threesome of greys (so they could go roll in the dirt and get properly grubby again) and enjoyed some ice cold adult beverages.  Ahhh!  Thanks, guys, for dragging me into the saddle for this ride :)  

Big & Bold

Are we done yet?

Today we were going to ride with Becca & Kaos, and since Rhio had a good workout yesterday, Red was up.  I drove the 1 mile over to his barn because I'm using the same saddle on both horses currently, so have to take it back & forth between barns.  I wonder if I could figure out some way to carry my saddle on my bike, because I feel a little silly driving 1 mile down the road and, heck, I could use the extra exercise.  

I tacked up and decided to head through the woods back to the other barn to meet Becca, as there was a lot of traffic on the road.  Red was afraid of the dump truck parked with its bed raised in dump position, and leery of the something that was hung over the grain auger & flapping a bit in the breeze - all while I was leading him around the barn to the car just to get Kelso & my GPS.  Oh, so it's going to be one of those days!  

 

Heading down the access route to the back trails - Dave is currently prepping this area to plant peas this year, which I think means the cows won't be pastured in here until the end of the season.  This is great, because it also means the gates will be open & it'll be easier to ride through - the gates are electrified wire with handles and a bit difficult to manage with a horse, plus I prefer not to ride through the herd of cows.  You can see Kelso trotting on ahead.

Big Rig and his buddy (I'm not sure if it's a steer or a young bull) - look at how massive he is!  Red was definitely looking askance at these guys as we went past; they're not usually so close to the fence.

We met Becca & Kaos, and came back through the trails to cross over the road & ride around those trails & the gravel pits.  Red was all fired up, which was slightly unfortunate because Becca has been having some trouble with Kaos misbehaving, and was hoping Red would be a positive influence.  I'm not sure he was, but we did have a good ride.  I wished I'd had his running martingale on him today, as he was ready to run.  Kaos seems to lose it when the speed goes up, so I was trying to keep him to a reasonable trot - and wasn't all that successful!  

Becca & Kaos leading the way

Red was big & bold when he was leading, hardly spooking at all today.  He is so much better with a buddy along.  He did want to go too fast pretty much the entire time, so we put Kaos in front so she didn't feel like she had to rush to keep up.  We did the trail - gravel pit loop twice and headed home along the road.  

Red picked up a 4 foot long weed somewhere along the way.  That thing stuck with us a long time!  We could hear it dragging along the ground, but it didn't seem to bother him & was too low in his tail for Becca to reach it from her saddle, so we just left it.  

Overall today we did 9 miles in about 2 hours - not a very fast pace, but a very nice ride.  We saw only a single Canada goose in the gravel pit, much less wildlife than I usually encounter.  Red was very fresh & full of himself but rateable and not too spooky.  And he felt sound, without the "offness" that seemed to be there on our last long ride.  He's had 2 doses of Adequan so far and 1 acupuncture treatment, so he needs another acupuncture in the next day or so and another dose of Adequan next week.