Carpe Diem

Kristi & Cody entering the barn after our ride & a little cool-down walk

Heavenly bodies aligned to give us perfect weather and willing horses for a nice conditioning ride today.  Barn buddies Christine & Tomas and Kristi & Cody came along for a 6 1/2 mile road ride.  I was a little late for our arranged meeting time, as I had to take a detour on my way to the barn due to a house blocking the entire road on my usual route.  That's not an everyday sight!

I really wasn't sure at all what sort of ride I was in for, as Red put on quite the show galloping to & fro in the mud before allowing me to catch him.  He was huffing like a steam engine when I did catch him (really, I just wait for him to stop being silly - then he walks up to me) and completely splattered with the mud he'd been throwing up.  What a mess!  I just knocked the majority of the mud off the areas where tack goes and called it good - he was a very dirty boy today!  Sometimes he's so wild after an episode like this that a ride becomes a unwelcome challenge, but luckily today wasn't one of those times.  And I couldn't find my reins with the rings for his running martingale, so I didn't even have my extra insurance along in case I needed it.  I find I need a running martingale in the spring and also for the start & first loop of an endurance ride.  Red likes to throw his nose up when he's really amped up, evading the bit and taking control.  The running martingale works perfectly to remind him that he can't do that.

Red & I quickly covered the mile to meet up with the others, and we set off down the road.  Since we were all riding geldings, Red was happy to lead and only put his ears back once early on to remind Tomas that he was just a young pup along for his first long-trot road ride and he'd better defer to Red's supreme experience & control in this situation.  Red is extremely deferential to mares and doesn't like to lead with mares behind him - one little mare glare and he's a puddle of apologies for deigning to invade her space or offend her in any way.  He's quite happy to rule the geldings, however, and lead almost the whole ride.

We started with a few walk-trot transitions to get everybody comfortable and make sure Tomas in particular remembered that he had several gears & gaits and was quite capable of using them all.  We settled in to a nice trot for the majority of this ride, with occasional breathers at the walk.  Cody, especially, was pretty tired on the way home.  Overall, we did the 6 1/2 miles in just under 1 1/2 hours, which was a nice pace for a first conditioning ride of the year.  I used my GPS to keep track of our time, distance, & speed.  It's remarkable how quickly our average speed dropped when we slowed to a walk. Our average trotting speed was about 8 mph, but our overall average speed was 4.3 mph.  We walked in the last mile as cool down.

About 2 miles from home on the return trip

Red was very good, going a comfortable speed & easily rated the whole ride.  He gave me a couple of decent spooks, including one where he was looking at a pink ribbon, tripped, and dropped to his knees.  He popped right up & carried on trotting.  What a silly horse!  He's certainly seen tons of ribbons (not in that exact spot, though), as our endurance rides mark trail with ribbons.  The most entertaining spook, according to C & K, was the spook at the culvert, while I was simultaneously chatting on my cell phone.  I carried on my conversation after a brief exclamation and Red kept trotting, so it couldn't have been that serious :)  I didn't have a heart rate monitor on him today, but these are the sorts of things that don't typically cause any change in his heart rate - so I know he's not really afraid of them.

Sweaty & hairy boy!

We hung out with the girls at the barn for a bit upon our return before carrying on and returning to Red's barn.  It was such a fun ride on such a beautiful &  extremely unseasonably warm March 15.  I hope it bodes well for the rest of the spring & the whole riding season.

I was happy to note that Red didn't develop any girth rubs.  He is prone to rubs only during the spring & fall, when he's shedding either his winter or summer coat.  I use a fuzzy sheepskin girth during these times, but a braided mohair girth during the summer.  The fuzzy girth sure does collect the shedding hair!

What he did develop, however, was squared-off toes from how he breaks over.  Even though the gravel roads are soft currently, they are still abrasive enough to cause very noticeable wear to his toes.  He breaks over just off of center on both front feet.  My farrier won't be very happy with me, I expect!  I'll have to start booting him up for our road rides.

Instead of being a nice arc, Red's worn his toe into his favored breakover position

I was unable to resist the temptation to get Rhio out for a spin today, as well.  The weather was too enticing at 60 degrees in March in Duluth!  I just know winter will have the last word, and we'll get hammered with something unpleasant.  So Carpe Diem & make use of the opportunity when it presents itself!  Rhio & I did a little speed work, 3 miles in about 25 minutes.  He was very good working at speed with only minor headshaking.

Splatter

Much melting has occurred even since yesterday, and Rhio & I were able to trot the entire 7 mile route that we attempted today.  It was just our basic home training route, an out-and-back on Pioneer & Church Roads.  We started the ride with Becca & Kaos, and Katie & West, plus dogs Cash & Gunnar.

Katie & West (L) and Becca & Kaos (R) with Kelso in between - Rhio was actually leading at a walk! I think of him having a slow walk, but he was very forward today. 

After about a mile, however, Rhio, Kelso, & I continued on while the rest of the crew hung back.  We had a lot of gas in our tanks & places to go!  Of course, once Rhio realized the horses weren't coming with us, he was less enthusiastic.   After not too long, however, we continued along our route at a nice easy pace and had a really great ride.

Why do I own a grey horse?!?!  This is what he looked like after trotting 7 miles on wet, muddy gravel roads.  

And Kelso's sporting quite the mud splattered look as well!

As it's spring now & we're starting back into serious riding, I'm making tack adjustments. Today I changed Rhio's hackamore noseband cover from a fuzzy sheepskin which has seemed SO itchy for him (and he has an itchy head in general, anyway) to vetwrap.  The underlying noseband is stiff coated rope, which is too harsh & too abrasive for the long hours Rhio spends wearing it.  So far, the vetwrap seems like it's going to work well.  

I also rode him in Red's Synergist saddle for our first long ride in it.  Interestingly, he exhibited his leg-lifting behavior while tacking & mounting, but he seemed completely at ease in motion.  I wasn't completely happy with how his back looked at the end of the ride, though.  He had zero soreness, but a small patch of rubbed hair on the right side of his withers which was somewhat dry (indicating too much pressure there, I think).  I will have to keep a close eye on this.

Not only does the vetwrapped noseband seem less itchy to him, it's also a cleaner silhouette, which I like.   Now if finding a new saddle were as easy!

The Bay Brigade

Where else would I be on a warm (35 degrees!) sunny Saturday afternoon but at the barn!  Lucky for me, several of my fellow boarders felt the same way. Given the opportunity for a little group ride, I decided to take Cricket out for a spin.  He is such a joy to ride, but he does not go out by himself.  At almost 28, this is just a facet of his personality that he is entitled to have.  I won’t fuss about it, but it does mean that I have to jump at the chance to take him out when I can.  With Kristi (brown jacket) & Cody and Karen (red jacket) & Duke, we formed a trio of bay geldings for the outing. 

We headed west out the driveway and continued about a mile out, encountering some newly cleared area with logging equipment and a brush pile burning, crossing a paved road, and continuing to the top of a small hill before heading back to the barn.  I’m quite sure that Cricket has no idea how old he is – tack him up and mount, and he suddenly becomes a proud prince and all Arab.  Ears up, forward, and prancing into the lead was his favorite place to be today.  He is so proud of himself when he is out for a ride J  And I’m told I wear a silly grin the whole time.

Cricket & Duke enjoyed some socializing, 

and Cody showed off his fancy saddle pad.  

Back at the barn, I spent some time adjusting Rhio’s new beta biothane tack (from http://www.runningbear.com) – an endurance racing bridle with snaps to detach the bit and thus convert into a halter (called a halter/bridle).  These are great for competition because you never have to change headgear on your horse during the ride – you can go from the trail in a bridle to the vet check & back to the trailer to eat & relax on your hold in a halter.  I typically ride Rhio in a hackamore, which I have on the neon lime green “add-on” bridle, which slides on easily & clips to the racing bridle for stability.  I used to place this over a simple rope halter, but I want the option to use a bit (instead of the hackamore) so this new set-up will be perfect.  Right now I have Red’s bit on Rhio’s bridle (I ride Red in his rope halter all winter) while I’m trying to decide what bit to get for Rhio.  I also have a new matching beta biothane breast collar, but he’s not modeling that here because I didn’t saddle him today. 

 

Folks who know me well may think it odd that I chose black.  One of the fun things about biothane tack is that it comes in all the colors of the rainbow (and then some!).  Red's bridle is royal blue with white overlay, and he looks smashing in it (thanks to the famous Secretariat, also a shining chestnut, for color inspiration - he raced in blue & white).  

Well, since I already had the neon lime green (and also matching saddle bags) - I figured that was plenty of color.  Also, what really matches neon lime green?  Not much!  Rhio's saddle is black, so the black breastcollar ties in well.  I do feel slightly conventional with my color choice, but I have to admit that a white (well, technically gray) horse looks spiffy in black.  If only choosing a bit were as easy as choosing a color scheme!