Horsie Time

It doesn't get much better than this!

Wow, finally just a smudge of time to do with as I desire. It's been a whirlwind the past month moving ourselves, the dogs, and our stuff to our new home - separately and in multiple stages. The horses are the last to move, and are still in Duluth. This was my second trip back to see my patients, and the first time I've gotten to ride in over a month. Add in a gorgeous fall morning, leaves turning, bluebird sky, and peaceful woods trails to share with just my four legged companions,  and you've got a recipe for delight.

After methodically brushing every inch of his thickening coat, and every strand of his mane and tail, I was already feeling the horsie time glow (or, was that just the coating of white hairs all over me reflecting the sunlight?).  We set off on the Spirit Mountain trails, for both the first and the last time this year. The trails have been so wet when I have had time to ride, that we have done more road riding than anything this year.

The grass is still green and the hills are still steep, and we took our time going up and down, Rhio munching and me drinking in the blue sky and creamy pale orange of the newly turning maples. There is so much color this time of year - the palette of early fall is mesmerizing. With Kelso and a few songbirds for company, we made a loop around the trails and ventured back to the barn just in time to meet C for Rhio's chiropractic adjustment.

Zoomie boys

Puddle water is the tastiest, of course, and,yes, the sky really was that blue!

I had previously noticed a mildly alarming 'clunking' noise when Rhio ate; luckily, the dentist was already coming the following week.  Although I was not there for his dental work, it was reported to me that his right side jaw and neck were really tight (no surprise- his right side is always his problem side) and the dental issues he had were relatively mild.  Also, they could not elicit the 'clunking.'  Enter plan B for elucidating, or at least eliminating, the 'clunking' - chiropractic and acupuncture treatment of course!  C was able to squeeze Rhio in for an adjustment a week later when I was home, and she also found plenty of "stuff" on the right.

This is what happens when you are trying to take a pic with one hand, while holding your horse's lead rope for a chiro adjustment in the other.  Neat angle, though!

Yup, work on the right side.

Oh, yeah - that's the tight spot!

After also getting his shoes pulled and feet trimmed, I had to run off to see a paying patient.  Later, I returned and finished up Rhio's big day with an acupuncture session.  Too bad he doesn't like acupuncture!  He is one of the few horses I've worked on that truly doesn't like it.  I bribe him with food, and it generally works pretty well.  I try not to be offended at his dislike for acupuncture, even though he LOVES chiropractic adjustments and massage. I did get a chance to listen to him chew for a while, though, what with the bribing and all - and the good news is, no 'clunking'! 

Some of Rhio's needles - see the bent and twisted ones?  Sometimes that is due to muscle movement while the needles are in place, and sometimes it is due to a big energetic Qi release at the needle.

The next morning, before departing yet again, I stopped by for a quick snuggle and a few "carrot" stretches for Rhio's neck.  We practice our stretching A LOT and he totally "gets" it - after yesterday's sessions, he can reach a treat held at his hip on both sides!  I'll be gone for almost 2 weeks, so hopefully he'll keep himself moving about and his neck limber.  I cannot wait to have him nearby (the new boarding place is 27 miles away, but it's awesome) and be able to do this little routine maintenance stuff - as well as regular riding again! 

Rhio shows off how well the right side of his neck bends for his 'carrot stretches.' Treat hound!

Roads, or Trails?

It's not been the greatest summer for riding - busy and buggy beyond belief.  I've had a few memorable rides, and a lot of just good time spent with my horses and my friends.  We haven't competed in over a year, since May 2013.  But that all changes next weekend!  Rhio and I will be doing the 50 miler at Thistle Down Run in Frazee, MN and spending a weekend together that is all-girl and all-horse. I cannot wait! 

Ripe thimble berries - yum!

This morning we snuck in a quick ride on our own, snacking on grass (Rhio) and ripe, luscious thimble berries (me) along our route.  And I discovered something interesting - I have always thought that he is particularly pokey and unmotivated when riding away from home, alone.  And I have chalked that attitude up to the fact that he much prefers to have companions when we ride.  However, today, when given the option to turn around for home (staying on the road) or turn away from home (heading onto the trail) - he picked the trail, and positively flew down it with his mane and tail floating in the breeze. 

I have always known that Rhio gets bored.  And his current boarding situation actually gives us the fewest options for riding from home.  We use the road A LOT!  So he's bored with it and can't really be bothered to move his feet.  But give him something relatively new, and a trail, and he's bringing his "A game."  What a fun ride we had! 

Deer flies were still present in abundance in the woods, unfortunately, and my available time was short, but we had a great time on our last "tune up" ride before next Saturday.  I brought my girth and pad home to wash, and am planning time tomorrow to get ride stuff organized and ready to go.  I hope I remember what to pack (and I hope I can find it)!

42 Miles!

Wow, happy me - I rode 42 miles last week, split between my two boys.  It's been a long time since I've been able to do some serious riding, and especially riding both horses.  My riding muscles have gone a bit soft, admittedly, but it was lovely to spend so much time in the saddle.

Ride #1: Sunday, a ride-n-run on Red, with my honey, as he did his last longish run before his first 50K ultra marathon - 12 miles for the horse, 14 miles for the runner (and 3 brief but soaking rains, with just a titch of thunder and lightning)  Red was a stand-out, unflappably trotting along amidst scary random couches, bikes, traffic, and the occasional terrifying flowering purple lupine.

Crossing the river - so pretty!  A very scenic ride, just on the local roads.  We haven't caught C yet!

Can you see the orange dot?  That's C heading back our way after running to the top of the hill.  We met and resupplied his water, Red got some grass, and then we did the return journey together.

Mid-ride snack.

Our herd of three - two humans, one horse - traveled the road home at the same pace.  If you've never tried this - you should!  It's so fun! I see some ride-n-tie in our future :)

Ride #2: Tuesday, enjoying the day with Rhio, and C on Annie.  6.8 miles of scenic Skyline Parkway, complete with a road grader, dump trucks, motorcycles, and bikes.  Whee!!!

Kelso keeps up with C and Annie, while Rhio is content to poke along in the back.

This bridge was rebuilt after the floods of 2012 - it's gorgeous!  But I did appreciate the lack of traffic while it was unusable to vehicles.

Ride #3a: Wednesday morning, a bit quicker ride along the same route as yesterday, this time with C and Windsor (one of her other gray Arabs!).  We ran into a couple walking their two white German Shepherds and enjoyed the camaraderie of our shining white critters. 8 miles, with some lovely canters.

Both horse and rider enjoy the overlook.

I'm quite sure Rhio enjoys the view, too!

Ride #3b:  Wednesday evening, with D on Domingo, out back on our pirvate-access trails.  These trails are usually mowed, but with all the rain, they are too wet to mow.  So, we trot and canter though knee high to belly high grass, wildflowers, and ferns.  Quite an experience.  Red and I even jumped a small log!  6 miles

Lots of snacking ensued on this ride.  The big leaf in the foreground is from a branch I was carrying as a fly switch.  It's practically required equipment to ride in the woods in northern MN in the summer. 

Moose track!

Mane flying = fun for sure!

Ride #5: Thursday, Dago Lake, mostly delightful with C and Windsor (except for the persistent horse flies in a few sections)  Sandy footing and lovely canters, 7 miles.

Sandy footing for all!

I wonder if the multitude of tadpoles flavor the water?  If so, Rhio didn't seem to mind.

This is Dago Lake, where we can normally ride along a nice wide sandy beach.  The water level is so high, we couldn't even make it through in a spot and had to cut back to the trail. 

Happy me and happy pony!  He was raring to go this day - he likes to see new country, and was always offering his big trot or rocking horse canter (after plentiful grazing breaks, of course).

I Hardly Remember the Sun

Despite the title of this post, this pic from the end of our ride shows it cloudy again!

We've been back in Duluth since early June, and it seems we have only seen the sun for a few moments.  In one of those moments, Rhio and I were finally able to sneak in a conditioning ride.  He traveled back from Colorado to Minnesota at the end of March, and was then stranded at a friend's house in southern Minnesota until the first week of May.  He's been back at his former boarding barn in Duluth for almost 2 months now, and settled right back into the herd and the routine.  In all that time, he has been "resting" - or, at least, we were not actively conditioning, nor were we even riding except for a quickie here and there amongst my short visits to Minnesota this spring and the hectic first few weeks of being back.  It doesn't look like we have any competitions on our schedule until August, so I haven't felt much pressure to get him back to work.  Also, luckily for me, being a horse, he actually hasn't lost very much condition in the time he has been off.  All our mountain riding in Colorado is still with him, and it won't take much at all to have him ready for our first 50 miler of 2014. 

We took the only available route at the moment - down the long driveway to Skyline Parkway (which is still mostly closed to motor vehicles due to unfixed flood damage from 2012).  We then do an out-and-back along the road.  It's not the most exciting of rides, but it is quite scenic.  We currently have no other options, except hauling out, because it has been so incredibly wet here.  All the soils are completely saturated, the streams are running high, and the trails are way too wet to ride.  I am thankful just to have access to this quiet road full of scenic overlooks, and a set of shoes on my horse.

As usual, he was fussy and slow to leave the barn, even with Kelso's company, but at about 2 miles from home, he'd given up trying to convince me to turn around and head home, and, of his own accord, picked up the pace, hit his stride, and it was smooth cruising the rest of the ride. 

I am certainly not the only one to have discovered the pleasures of this quiet stretch of road, and we saw a few other folks out and about on this weekday, mostly bikers and runners.  Rhio isn't bothered by either of these, and keeps right on trotting.  The bikers, however, are mostly surprised to see us and often seem a bit confused as to what to do.  Some slow down, some stop, some speak to me and some don't - Rhio really doesn't care, but many horses will be nervous and uncertain around bikes. The trail etiquette is that bikers and hikers yield to horses - almost everyone in Colorado knows this, and there are signs reminding users of this on every shared-use trail I rode out there - but Minnesota folks are much less used to seeing horses on their trails and there seems to be a need to educate other trail users not only about proper etiquette, but also about horse psychology.  For example, if you, on foot or on a bike, approach a rider on horseback, please speak to the rider.  This simple act lets the horse know that you are a human being, and not a scary horse-eating monster.  Also, step off the trail if room is needed to pass, but don't hide behind a bush, a tree, or a rock.  Predators try to conceal themselves before they jump out to eat you, and horses know this very well.  Horses' prey instincts remain strong and intact, despite several centuries of domestication, and this is most often the root cause of spooking or shying in horses.  Non-horse people can have positive interactions when encountering riders just by remembering that horses will always err on the side of thinking something unfamiliar will eat them, and therefore by making yourself known as a human being,  usually all will be well.

Rhio comes to the car before I've even parked it (the horses are loose on grass around the barn, as it is all fenced).

We often practice eating on the trail, an essential skill for endurance horses.  

Kelso cools off in a puddle.

A natural water obstacle.

Hey, if the treats are in here, I'm coming in!

Free At Last

Friday January 31 was the day Rhio got to join the pasture herd and live like a horse again!  He's spent two months in his run, and has done really great.  He is happy, relaxed, eating well, enjoying his neighbors - but he has always been a horse that has lived with a herd on pasture, with freedom to roam at will.  He certainly likes his creature comforts - shelter, "catered" meals, warm blankets - but the best of both worlds for him is all the pasture turn out he wants, plus pampering.  So, now he will get that life again! 

I know that this is the very best way to keep him happy and healthy, but any change with horses can be stressful, and the social dynamics can lead to trouble.  So, I worry.  Happily, his buddy Leo lives in the herd, so E. came over and we had the boys eat their beet pulp together, then took them out to the paddock area (where the pasture herd has a large shelter and their automatic waterer) and showed Rhio the water.  We then turned them loose.  The rest of the herd was way out in the hay field, where hay had been spread on top of the snow for breakfast, and most seemed to be having a midday doze.  Rhio led the way across the paddock (we ride out through the paddock and hay field to get to the trail, so he is somewhat familiar with the surroundings) and then decided to go no further.  Leo wandered off across the small stream to take a nap in a little secluded corner, but Rhio retreated to the safe zone in the paddock. 

Rhio leads the way after they drank.

Soon, a Paint mare who is near the top of the hierarchy came in to drink, and check him out.  Rhio introduced himself across the paddock fence (a technique often employed by humans introducing new horses - but I haven't seen a horse do it himself before!) and she seemed to decide he was not much of a threat as there was no drama. Rhio followed her back out of the paddock at a canter, but stopped short of the gate to the hay field and turned to come back to safety.

Meeting across the fence.

Whee! This is fun! 

Never mind - scary out there.  I'm coming back!

After the Paint, a little bay Morgan gelding came up and did the same thing, but was more interested in hanging with E. and I, leaving Rhio to watch from the safe zone. 

Chatting with the Morgan.

Eventually, with Rhio showing no signs of wanting to leave the paddock on his own, I went to reassure him and let him follow me out of the paddock and across the stream to where Leo was chilling.  They hung out for a bit, and Rhio started looking for something to munch beneath the snow.  At this point, E and I retreated and watched from the barnyard a bit longer, then went on our way.

Going to hang with Leo in the secluded corner.

Checking for munchies beneath the snow.

I returned about 3 hours later to check on his progress and upon first glance, saw Leo out pawing through the snow to get at the grass in the hay field, along with the rest of the herd scattered about.  Granted, a gray horse against the snow is pretty hard to spot, but I couldn't immediately get my eye on Rhio.  I was fumbling with the gate, when suddenly Rhio appeared in front of me; he had been hanging out in the shed by himself.  After loving him up a bit, I started walking out to the pasture and he followed.  We went all the way out to Leo, who was eating with a little gray Arab mare, and Rhio started eating, too.  Quickly, the one other gray Arabian in the herd came over, and all four grays were hanging together. 

All four grays: foreground on the left, the youngster, then the little mare.  Leo has his rump to me, and Rhio is in the far back.

This seems cute, but I have seen it happen over, and over, and over again.  Horses of similar coloring have a tendency to group together.  Often, with only one gray or light colored horse in a group, that horse is "shunned" and stays somewhat apart from the group.  I wonder if it is because the light colored horse stand out from the crown, so to speak, and could potentially attract the attention of a predator.  But, with multiple grays, there is safety in numbers when they form a group. 

Shortly after  I'd settled Rhio out in the pasture, it was feeding time.  The herd went in to the paddock and milled around, with Rhio following them in but staying just outside the paddock and out of the commotion.  Soon, the hay truck came through the gate and made its way out to the field, where they would spread the hay out in a long trail, allowing all the horses plenty of space to eat.  The herd followed the truck, probably generally in about the order of standing in the social hierarchy.  Rhio was dead last, until he overtook the donkey and took the second-to-last spot.  He settled in to eating with the gray mare and a couple of the young horses, and everyone seemed content.  The herd continued to follow the truck, many of them coming all the way back to the paddock with it.  Rhio moseyed along the trail of hay, selecting his favorite spot, and started eating.  I didn't stay long enough to see what happened when the rest of the herd went back out to the hay, as it was getting dark.

Saturday morning I went to check on him, and the whole herd was eating peacefully along their morning arc of hay.  There wasn't a mark on him, so clearly he passed the night without trouble.  K. said he and Leo had been hanging out together, as E. and I had hoped, and that the big bully horse hadn't seemed to even notice him and certainly wasn't chasing him.  Some of the boarders think the bully horse out there is only savage to mares (and a young mare that is injured is the reason Rhio gets a slot in the 15-equine pasture herd.) 

The whole herd eats - Rhio is on the far right.

Saturday afternoon I went with his beet pulp, and to blanket him for the night.  I left him naked Friday night because if there had been trouble and he was in a blanket, I didn't want the possibility the blanket could have gotten torn up and entrapped him somehow.  But, I did promise pasture + pampering, so he'll be cozy in his blanket for the next week, as we have a long stretch of cold temperatures (lows in single digits or below zero many nights, and highs in the low teens).  When I arrived, he was not with Leo, but up in another section of the pasture with the majority of the herd.  I was very surprised to see him wearing a blanket, which is not mine!  There is a young girl who sometimes blankets the gray mare for her owner, and I think she must of not been able to tell them apart.  To me, it is obvious - the mare is, for one, a girl, and also is flea-bitten, meaning her gray is covered in red "freckles," plus she is a lot shorter than Rhio.  I switched blankets while Rhio ate his beet pulp, and trekked out through the snow to blanket the gray mare, too. 

He seems good!  I will continue to worry, gently.  The first two days went well, so I think it is likely to continue in this vein.  His weight is good, and I used the weight tape on him yesterday so I can monitor him to make sure he's not losing any.  He'll be getting his beet pulp every day, and plenty of self-exercise, which is awesome. 

Out in the hay field, where yummies can be found under the snow.

Someone Pinch Me

Heading out in the late afternoon, as the sun starts to sink behind the ridge.

Rhio's already sweating through his dense winter coat and I'm in summer tights and a t-shirt!

Checking out some other trail users on a different segment of trail.  Without trees, you can see little dots of color and movement all over the ridge as people move along the trail.  Rhio is fascinated.

Saturday January 18, 2014.  66 degrees, sunny, with just a light breeze.  I am definitely not in Minnesota anymore!  Rhio and I trekked around our "home" loop of about 5 miles up and down the ridge, just enjoying the weather.  Of course, we shared the trail with umpteen other users, but Rhio seemed to find all the activity thrilling.  He was very forward 99% of the time, and trying to turn around to go home the other 1% of the time.  This loop is excellent muscle building, as it's a steep, switchbacked trail up to the top, which we then have to trace back down to the bottom.  Unfortunately, it is very rough, rocky, and technical, so we have to walk almost all of it, but I think that Rhio's dexterity with his foot placement, attention to the trail, and just general balance and coordination has noticeably improved since we've been doing this trail regularly.  It is certainly entirely unlike anything we ride in Minnesota! 

On the way down, a small girl riding on her dad's shoulders was thrilled to see Rhio and asked if she could pet him.  Of course the answer was yes!  However, we were on an upper part of a switchback, and they were on the lower, so even though we weren't that far apart, she had to wait for us to come along the switchback and meet up with them.  Her eyes lit up with joy, and on her dad's shoulders, she was just the right height to pet Rhio's face and neck.  The family's chocolate lab was a little concerned about what this large creature was, so we didn't linger too long.  As we walked off down the trail, I heard the girl declare: "That's a baby horse!"  Despite her dad's opinion that Rhio was not a baby horse, she insisted.  Little interactions like this are so nice - hopefully the girl and her parents will remember horses and riders with a positive opinion and be on our side when things like trail use access, etc come up.  I have always felt that it is my job to have very friendly, positive interactions with members of the public; every time I'm out there with my horse, I'm on a public relations assignment, so to speak.

Our trotting lane on the flat.

We finished up the ride trotting home along the flat as the sky lit up with an amazing array of color at sunset.  Bliss!

Zoomies

It's been incredibly windy (as C. says - welcome to living on the east side of the Rockies) - gusts over 50 mph for multiple days now.  We even attempted to go running this morning (out of sheer desperation to get out of the house), and there were portions where I could barely stand upright, much less move forward.  Yikes.  Obviously I haven't been able to ride in this weather, either, and both Rhio and I are suffering for it.  He still lives in his run at the new place (no one has moved their horse out of the pasture herd yet, so we are still waiting for a spot to open up for him) and he is doing incredibly well with it - better than I could have predicted.  Every day I head over in the afternoon to get him out of the run to "do something" - it is not a ride nearly often enough, but handwalking along the road, a quick roundpen session, or free time in the outdoor arena is our usual when we can't ride, plus of course a nice grooming session, a roll in the sand of the round pen, and a big tub of beet pulp mash.  (Side note: today he did not get to finish his beet pulp, as the wind picked up his heavy rubber tub and flung it willy-nilly across the barnyard!)  He loves his neighbors - Hunter the Thoroughbred (good for playing bite-your-face games) and Lady the pinto (good for a nice mutual withers scratching) - and has his own shed and automatic waterer.  He's figured out how to keep his run relatively orderly, mostly pooping in one spot (good boy!), and clearly lays down to rest (one of his favorite activities) regularly, judging by the mud on his coat and the scrapes on his hocks from lying on the bare dirt (this isn't the best feature of his run, admittedly).  Being such a social and active horse, I am surprised and very pleased with how content he is with his confinement.

But, I digress - today I had my phone in my pocket when we trekked out to the outdoor arena for some free exercise (it's out in the pasture).  Along with the video above, taken after he'd settled in quite a bit and quit the rearing, bucking, and kicking he'd started his "zoomies" with, here are the following still shots reflecting not only his boundless energy, good spirits, athleticism, and presence (everyone thinks he's a much bigger horse than he is!), but the degree of windiness (check out the flying mane and tail).  I am so blessed to be partnered with this incredible horse - he is truly a gift.  He never fails to bring a smile to my face and lift my spirits - the power of a horse!