Okay, I (probably) wouldn’t smack Blaze up side his head, but BOY am I tempted sometimes. Yes, angelic little dumpling Blaze–has his moments, let’s say. I think he has been milking these slow lake rides and building himself a little mini tough guy attitude. He did this last year too, as he legged up he would throw a few curve balls my way just to see what’s what.

This morning I fed around 5:30 and had him pulled and tacked by 7. I forgot to buy more athletic tape and after raiding the numerous medical kits around the property I only came up with half inch wide tape. I had to make a pretty accurate wrap with it to get it to set where the boot shell does, and I did pretty well for an amateur. I’m getting faster with the taping and Blaze has, up til this morning, been very cooperative with letting his foot wrest on my knee for the taping and Glove-ing. I suppose it’s an indicator of his attitude to come that he kept trying to jerk his feet away from me this morning. Drives me nuuuttssss when I’m trying to finesse-tape.

We headed out for a short out-and-back on the dirt road above our property and he was literally snorting softly with every breath, like Snort Snort, ohmygod, Snort, lookatthat, snort. Arch necked, snorfalorfagus. It was pretty ridiculous for a horse that is generally not a very convincing Arabian. He spooked and eyeballed his way through the first few miles and on our second trot he went from about a 9 mph cruise to a DEADSTOP in 2 strides. Because you know, the rock next to the road that’s been there the other 2,765 times we’ve passed it, well, darn it, it’s THERE. And it’s SCARY. I had to smack him on that one, it was a way not okay over reaction.

So we pranced our way through 6.5 miles before the heat struck. It’s been 100 the last couple days and is supposed to be for a few to come. Weather forecast for Georgetown and the Gold Country endurance ride this weekend is currently 92 degrees for Saturday. Break out your electrolytes, boys and girls!

*Did everyone get the Honeymooners reference?

Blaze at his most dignified…

One week til Gold Country 30 miler with him. He is fine shape to cruise through it, been eating and drinking out on the trail/at the trailer really well and I plan to electrolyte him lightly (half doses of Endura-Max Plus). The taped Easyboot Gloves are working really well on his front hooves. He goes bare in the back even on endurance rides as he is narrow enough in the hind that anything on those hooves makes him interfere. He did all his LDs last year barefoot in the hind without issue. Saddle fit seems good, I’m really bummed that my mohair girth gave him rubs on *both* sides the other day, but they are healing well, I’ll be using Desitin or something similar on them, and am back to using his neoprene waffle girth. I have to be sure to stretch his front legs forward and get all his wrinkly armpit skin out of there (he has a lot more than Desire)–I think that was a part of the mohair girth issue, though it also really did seem like partially an allergic reaction since the rubs were not just pink but kind of swollen/inflamed. I’ve only used the mohair on him a handful of times and won’t again after that!

Blaze is a very itchy horse and rolls a few times a day whether he needs it or not; after a bath the drips drive him nuts and he has to roll more than ever! So, after I got home I was leading him back to his paddock after his bath and I got distracted by the sagging hot fence wire that Joey had apparently been leaning on while we were gone (it was unplugged). In the few seconds I was distracted by the wire Blaze rubbed his head furiously on his front legs, undid his halter (the tail wasn’t threaded down through the buckle), jogged a few steps and Stop, Drop, and Rolled before I even knew he was loose. Then he leaped to his feet, tossed his head mightily and trotted down to his open gate and out into his pasture where he rolled victoriously a few more times, leaped up, and trotted and cantered in circles at the fence line to be sure Joey knew how GoshDarn Tough he was. Joey worships Blaze and stood at the fence looking suitably impressed. I found it really hilarious because Blaze could have easily gone off to visit the mares or gone anywhere else on the 20 acre property but he trotted right to his paddock and put himself away all the while tossing his head and pulling snarky faces like he was being a rebel. Gotta love him, even when he’s bad, he’s good 🙂

 Later, I was digging through my grooming tote and opened one of the many zipper pockets only to discover blue rein stops! Not just any blue, clearly the exact same blue as Desire’s tack. By the tag I had bought them in my hometown area of Fort Bragg back when I was a teenager. My tack was red then and I wasn’t using a martingale so I haven’t the foggiest why I bought blue rein stops. Well, clearly I bought them so they would match my mare’s tack years in the future. They are narrower and actually fit my reins better than the ones I was using, too.

 I hacked up a stirrup leather cover that belonged to a saddle I’ve now sold, and covered up a leather strap on J’s saddle the other day. It was resting against her mare’s side because her pad is a short round skirted one, so we thought fleece against skin was better than hard leather in the long term. I had a remainder piece of the woolly cover so I chopped it up some more and covered the buckle/stirrup leather that always slides out of it’s keeper on my own saddle (on both sides). Me likey.

And now, a pile of dogs:

Clockwise from front left: Tady, Jay, Georgia

Even Blaze has Arab moments..

Sooo, this morning I loaded my junk into the truck and headed down to the Loomis/Folsom area to ride Chief, J’s Pintabian. Yeah, say it people, Pintabian!

A full cab…Yes that is Blaze painted on my purse 😀 

J and I dawdled a bit and may have stopped by a tack store on the way to the Sterling Pointe Folsom Lake trailhead. Christensen’s  is a good sized tack store with lots of English tack and apparel AND, of all things, some endurance tack and accessories in stock, hanging on the walls! I know, shocking right. I order ALL of my endurance stuff so occasional trips to this place is a bit thrilling. I really needed to get new stirrups with cages and happened to find a Yearling-size fly mask for Sheza. I went optimistic on her hippopotamus stature and bought her an Arab sized mask but her head is still a bit dainty for that. Put it away for future use. By the way, I saved her foal fly mask away in my tack trunk and am going to TRIP OUT when she’s like 16 hands and I see that tiny thing used to fit her fat head.

It must be a sign of how tired I am that I’m rambling. Soooo…J has been riding in jeans and boots for most of her life, but I have slowly been poisoning her mind and tack room with endurance-tastic items–a fuzzy seat cover here, a spare pommel bag there…she even started wearing a helmet after we started riding together (because I’m a good influence, not coz I’m scary to ride with..I swear). SO today at the tack store she took the final step and purchased riding breeches (snazzy denim/jean looking breeches) and some Ariat Terrain half chaps, yes it’s good to be size XS since that is about all that’s left of these dearly beloved, discontinued chaps (WTF, Ariat?).

I give you…Endurance J! (and Sedona, BLM Mustang)

Oh my GOSH, and I didn’t even mention yet that her mare went 15 miles in great style in Easyboot Epics today! She has been travelling fully barefoot but is ouchy on the fronts if there is any gravel or rocks, so something had to be done. I eyeballed the mare’s hooves last time and brought the Size 0 Epics I had on loan from N (didn’t fit either of mine)–sure enough they went on nicely and Sedona stepped out like she’d been booted all her life. She was a lot less fussy today about trying to stay off the trail in the soft grass AND we walked through boot sucking mud (like literally the boots were under the mud and she had to pull them back out and up) and they stayed on! Even with one of the cable clamp thingies swinging loose (fixed that tonight). So, quite a darn successful Easyboot fitting, I’d say. If only it were that easy every time.

Finally, at noon, we were on the trails at Folsom. Hey, tack shopping happens.

Jungle Pintabian

 Ahhh, Folsom Lake! Busy today, lots of boaters, jet skis, and ruckus. The horses were quite good about it all. Some vultures flew out from under the bank of the trail on our way back and Sedona squirted forward but Chief was too tired by that time to waste energy on spooking. A tired horse is a good horse 😉 

Cut down to the lake for a drink and a mid-ride cool down. Chief drank very well at both stops at this area.

 See, told you he drank 🙂

Looking nice and forward, good boy Chiefy

Today was a good day for Chief. He is still getting into shape and was plum tuckered by the end of it. But he ate along the way, drank deeply multiple times, pooed and pooed (I mean this dude is an Eating, Pooing MACHINE), and peed as soon as I dismounted back at the trailer. He also pooped while trotting once, oo ambitious! It was about 95 degrees today and we didn’t get an early start so were doing some heat training for sure.

Chief has issues letting horses head off without him getting to haul ass up behind with his nose up their butt. Imagine that in an 6 year old half-Arab. SO he is a bit of  pig head, when he isn’t allowed to do what he wants he can get a bit, ahem, dramatic. Like, throw himself sideways into a  bush dramatic. Or try to run us into a tree instead of up a hill. The first time I told him not to trot off after J on a ride a few weeks ago he tried a little rear. So, a bit dramatic. I like to say it’s his bull dog F* You QH/Paint side. I carry my crop when I ride him and I have used it, to be sure.

Today J trotted away and I checked Chief from jumping into a trot after her, so he tried the throw us sideways into a giant bush trick. I gave him hard right leg and a clip on his butt with the crop and he straightened out but was all wiggly and waggly going forward and certainly not using his brain. I turned him around to face the way we had come and flexed him left and right while he tried to stare back the way J went. After a few flexings he gave me an annoyed face, and then an OH FINE face. From there he was allowed to trot as long as it was a nice, polite, but perky jog with a nice head set. Oh MY does he have a smooth jog, smoother even than Desire I think. We had a few more discussions like that but for the most part he came around quickly and then trotted nicely off to find his trail buddy up ahead. He wasn’t collecting at the trot at ALL the last few rides and I’ve been working on it (as much as one can, once a week on the trail) and suddenly this week it was like *lightbulb* he just GOT it. I feathered the reins experimentally when we did our first trot of the ride and he just collected like Bam, yeah, what, I know how to do that. So, a nice surprise!

Bunny ears..

 Up, up we go!

  Butts..hehe love his markings

Well Chief, should we turn around? “Yes please!” 

Sweet relief in those ears, it’s the trailer at last!

Here comes a tired gal on her nice mare stepping out so fine in those Easyboot Epics!

There is a really nice trough and hose set up at the Sterling Pointe trail head and the horses got washed, the humans got hydrated (careful pounding ice water on a hot day without much to eat..J found out how ill it can make you feel!)

I got home at about 7:30 pm and didn’t finish chores and get in to the house til 9. Now that’s a summer day!

You just never know what the egg will look like when it hits the pan…we have 8 hens that lay religiously.