Today I had my first “bucking incident” since my leg-breaking “bucking incident” 2 years ago. In this happy case, the incident was much shorter and less alarming than last time and, most importantly, I didn’t come off the horse (or break anything)! I’m glad for a myriad of reasons that I stayed on, first and foremost to prevent injury but not far behind that is the thought that I am grateful that I don’t have to deal with any renewed fear from coming off again;  in fact staying on and bringing things back into control was a sort of confidence booster. It also lets me know that I have made progress in my mental battle, since a very minor crow hop a year and a half ago turned me to jelly, and today I sat a couple of rather serious bucks and then continued on through the ride feeling okay with things. That said it reminded me that while I am greatly enjoying Desire I still don’t know all her ins and outs. As we progress towards working good mileage at speed, and at speed with others, she may show me some different sides to herself. Not that I think she’s going to become a murderous hellbitch or anything, it’s just that I should continue to be awake to the fact that she is somewhat of an unknown quantity. And we all know speed+other horses sometimes brings out different elements of a horse’s temperament. Even my darling Blaze has been known to start acting like he’s heading to the post against Secretariat at times. So anyhoo, figured I should start the post by saying I endured, and I survived, and I finished in the saddle. Winning.

To be more chronological, the morning started with a tap-dancing-as-usual Desire in the cross ties. Annndd..snacks!

We had another morning ride planned with N. I’m getting mighty handy at slapping those Easyboots Gloves on, if I do say so myself. I’m figuring out how helpful, or unhelpful, Desire is going to be about it and the process involves a lot less grunting, swearing, and sweating now. We were going to Camelot Equestrian Park  and had our longest haul yet, it took us about an hour with a stop for gas and beverages. Not long in the scheme of things but certainly longer than the usual 15 or so minutes to the lake. Happy to say Desire came out of the trailer at the park nice and dry. The park is a really cool place, if you aren’t familiar with it click the linked name and check out their website. I’ve been there in the past for gymkhanas but didn’t go this year due to all the endurance rides and also because their gymkhanas became CGA events and that was a little too serious for my taste. The place boasts multiple arenas, a cross country course, some neat little trail loops, a galloping track, and a lot more.

 Well anyway its turned into a Camelot PSA but I just think its a neat place and again grateful to live nearby to such a thing. Lake Oroville trails are where I will spend most of my time but Camelot is a novelty and I AM going to try out their galloping track at top speeds some day soon. Today just wasn’t the day.

Saddled up, N and I headed out past various cross country obstacles, a few of which Desire had to eyeball suspiciously. The place is quite open with minimal trees so you can really see what’s around and what’s coming, including the various herds of cows pastured in a couple of directions. Both mares spent a good amount of time monitoring the cow’s every movements throughout the day’s circuitous routes. We also encountered tractors, tanks, generators, various jump obstacles, signs up and signs down, even one of those gas station signs with the gallon prices listed out, lying in the grass. We had the girls graze next to it to show how brave they are. There was also a minor water crossing and a water obstacle jump to wade through.

There was intermittent wind. Decent footing though some of the trail could have used a plowing to take care of some sinkholes and rocks. Desire may have been happier barefoot there, it was pretty generous, deep footing and felt a little clumsy in the boots, and N’s mare was barefoot. But I am sticking with the boots until my trimmer and I are happy with the state of her hooves. We took a couple of turns around the galloping track, which is measured out in meters with mostly nice footing. Started out walking and then had one good brisk trot/canter around again and I believe it was the third route around the track that things got a little exciting. We were trotting along, on the right side of the track, just ahead of N, and I felt Desire hump her back ever so slightly, and since my gelding often gives exuberant mini hops early in a ride, my thinking was it was a little friskiness. She wasn’t tossing her head or pulling, and we were trotting along at a medium speed. I felt the little bump. We trotted on, things seeming kosher then BUCK BUCK BUCK. That girl has some power in her hind end and the transition from trot to buck was pretty powerful. I don’t remember if I lost one or both stirrups, but I did initially lose at least one, and started to slide to the side as well. I remember the thought “OH HELL NO” searing through my brain and I clamped my thighs and knees around her as tight as I could and cranked one rein. We did a couple of spazzy circles and stopped with her head to my knee. I do believe that the whole lot of us, horses included, were a bit shocked. N and I discussed if it could possibly have been exuberance/shittiness but it really felt like something either hit or bit Desire. I got off and straightened a front boot that had gone crooked and checked her over for any marks or what could have scared her. We didn’t discover anything and the cause of the bucking will unfortunately remain a mystery. I can only speculate. She was totally normal and quiet the rest of the ride, aside from the usual cow-eyeballing. The part of the galloping track where it happened runs alongside and then away from the highway and we thought maybe a car had crested the hill in her peripheral vision and spooked her, but it also did quite feel like a panic, get-away reaction, so maybe a rock flew up and hit her or something. The western saddle I ride in has hanging straps at front and back of the saddle that swing and slap but one would think she was quite used to that by now. I DO wish I knew what had made her do it, since its the unknown quantities that instigate little demons dancing in my brain, but oh well. I sat the bucks, stopped her, and then went on to ride for another couple of miles, and did some trotting. All around good stuff. I don’t *think* Desire will do it again, though a small part of me wonders, due to some brattiness exhibited when she doesn’t get to go as fast as she wants, if she doesn’t throw attitude when getting fired up in race mode (Since we were trotting along with, a little ahead of, another horse). Hopefully not, and that’s really my old inner demons talking.

We rode on and with various grazing stops and a water-obstacle drink stop, we ended up doing 8.8 miles in just under 3 hours. I was actually impressed we got that much mileage in with the relatively small trail loops and all, but we did have 4 or 5 trips on the galloping track.

There were low jumps set up in the jumping arena and that mini thrill seeker still left in the corner of my heart wanted to go trot Desire over them, but we had plenty of excitement for the day as it was. We hung about and let the horses graze, and N’s horse roll (I swear Desire rolls the least of any horse ever!), and I shared a bag of carrots and apples I brought along. I glad I was prepared today with water, horse snacks, and some leftover homemade pizza in the truck for the drive home! Yum. I did forget sunscreen though and my face feels toasty tonight. When we were unwinding after the ride N said she worried she slowed us down on our rides together but I assured her it’s always fun. And it is. I ride on my own quite a lot and have for years, and that is a fine time for me to do the speed work I need or want to do. I really enjoy riding with N. We have great conversation, the mares seem to get along well, and of course those social rides are always great practice for the horses.We also actually do a good amount of trotting so its a perfect mix of things and I always have fun on our rides.

For whatever reason Desire came out of the trailer ride home sweaty and a little nervous. I cruised home as slow as ever but maybe the longer ride and excitement of the day still had her a little squirrelly. She had eyes only for the warm mash I mixed up, while Sheza had eyes, and vocal chords, only for mom. My goodness can that baby make some noise.

Now all the ponies are fed, I’m showered and armed in full pajama gear, (I didn’t fall off!), and the husband is making dinner..Life is good.

This morning was my first solo ride away from home with Desire, as my riding buddy had other plans and I was curious to see how we would do alone. I do so much of my riding alone and am used to Blaze who merrily goes anywhere by himself. It was a beautiful bright sunny morning and a Sunday, so I knew there would be plenty of trailers at the somewhat limited parking lot and we needed to get out there and claim a spot! It was a very chilly morning but I fed early and was ready to GO. Desire was FIRED UP when I pulled her from her paddock again, she really seems to have anxiety about the grooming process, or maybe its just uncertainty on where she is going next since I have just started trailering her out in the last few weeks. She literally tap danced, muscles quivering, in the cross ties and seemed pretty disturbed by Sheza galloping around screaming at her. That sounds like a “well duh” comment but in the past she hasn’t seemed very keyed in on Sheza in her anxiety. Today she was definitely trying to look over the solid partition to see what the heck her baby was doing. And to be fair, Sheza was acting a complete fool. She has discovered the joy of bucking in the last few days and is in bronc mode about half the day, sleeping the other half. LOL. If raising your first kid is anywhere near as alarming and surprising as raising an Arabian filly, I’m really glad I don’t want kids too!

Anyhoo, Desire popped into the trailer in no time at all, which was great. I literally just showed her the dressage whip and she went from “let’s play games!” to “let’s ride in the trailer!”  Oh, and no, I didn’t beat her with it last time, but I did give her a tap on the rump and that is what ended the stalemate and got her in. So this time I gave her a chance to load politely, then when she started to swing her butt around and start the shenanigans, I showed her the whip and in she went. We cruised the 20 minutes to the lake; there were 2 trailers there when I pulled in and 3 more drove in as I was tacking up. There’s a real bathroom at that trail head (yay!) so I started across the parking lot to use it before we headed out and I heard Desire whinny, then as I turned to watch she leaned back, popped the tie line, and came trotting over to me like “Don’t leave meee!” While breaking free is of course terrible behavior, I had to laugh. There were other horses tied at the trailers and green grass everywhere but all she wanted was to follow me and not be left behind! It warmed my heart, even as I admonished her and returned her to the trailer. Upon examining the trailer tie she had been attached to I don’t think it was sound to begin with, after being used and sitting out in the heat all summer. The sun really destroys stuff here and when I examined both ends of the tie it seemed frayed and I saw at the time that Desire barely had to pull to pop it in half. So A) I should examine what I tie with more regularly and closely and B)Its kind of a good thing as it broke away and didn’t cause any damage to her or anything else, right?  That’s what I’m telling myself anyway. I re-tied her to the trailer with her lead rope and then cautiously inched toward the bathroom. She had never pulled back like that before and it wasn’t a panicked thing but I wanted to be sure she didn’t automatically repeat the behavior since she got what she wanted by me retrieving her and going back to the trailer with her. She watched me go but didn’t move a muscle and when I peeked out of the bathroom she was standing quietly at the trailer, though watching the bathroom closely.  I gave Desire a ghetto scissor bridle path last week and today she didn’t do her weird head flick that she has been doing when I pull the bridle over her right ear. I think I might have been accidentally pulling her copious amounts of hair when I was doing it and ticking her off, because with the bridle path she didn’t even flick an ear at the bridle going on. Her mane and forelock are just everywhere and hard to sort out one from the other so the little clipped space definitely helps! There were horses being tacked up and more trailers pulling in so I decided we better jam out of there before it became a real circus, especially since we had to head off on our own.

We headed up out of the parking lot away from all the other horses and Desire was nice and forward though another funny moment was when a horse whinnied and she instantly, almost automatically, turned halfway around to head back before I even realized what she was doing. I encouraged her on and it was smooth sailing from there. Endless barking dogs, lots of scary wood and rocks, she took it all in her stride today. I would say she was less spooky today alone than last time I rode with N. Then again, it was her third time out on the trail so maybe she was just more comfortable with it. But less spooky while alone=Winning! We took the same route N and I took last time, for a total of 10.5 miles in 2 hours today vs. 12 miles in 3 1/2 hours the other day. We just cruised at her handy little jog most of the time, walked the long downhill, and had a fun little canter on the one safe straightaway. 

I walked her the last half mile in and there was a total of 12 horse trailers stuffed into the parking lot by then! Glad I got there when I did, and glad I parked facing out as I’ve been boxed into some very small spaces there with trailer crowds in the past. Since I won’t be using a panel saddle again I’ve been using my fleecey numnahs from my old saddle to rub Desire down when we get back to the trailer all sweaty. Since I can’t realistically bathe her in the cold and she is a horrendous mess after riding, I wipe her down with the fleecey pads first, then try to brush and fluff her hair, and always throw the polar fleece cooler on her for the trailer ride home since my trailer isn’t exactly air tight. She didn’t want to load without a glance at the dressage whip but she still hopped inside in less than a minute. I stopped at the market for something to drink and the very nice Indian owner who always queries me about horses wanted to come out and see her so I opened the “head door” (for lack of something better to call it..manger door I guess? I dunno) and we admired her for a few minutes, then I cruised slowly home. She got a warm EGM pellet mash when we got home which she dived into enthusiastically.

 Every time I ride her I am more happy with her gaits and attitude. There is no wondering IS she an endurance horse, she just clearly is. She travels effortlessly, hasn’t tired yet (in our admittedly limited miles, but not bad for coming back from a baby), drinks at every opportunity, drops her head to graze if I stop her, and consistently poops and pees under saddle. She is happy to go and LOVES to eat just about anything. I am pretty much in love with her and really wish she was 5 or 6 instead of 15! But we will still have lots of fun in the years to come. I’m really excited for our first 50 now instead of excited/worried because I know that with proper conditioning she can handle it and will take care of herself. I’ll still do an LD on her first just to acclimate to her in race settings, but hopefully by May or so we’ll choose a 50 to do!

Oh! Almost forgot the ironic part of the story. So, 12 horse trailers in the parking lot, 2 more parked down below, for a total of 14 trailers. 1 of those trailer owners took the trails north up and over past the dam. 13 trailer owners took the horse camp loop to the east. It is SO funny to me that everyone goes on the short little loop around horse camp and we’ve got almost 20 miles of other trails to use! I guess really its a good thing, since I almost always get those trails to myself. But still. The horse camp loop has picnic tables and a porta-potty halfway through (so like…2.5 miles in) and I guess most of the weekend traffic are, well, weekend warriors. Its just so funny to see a parking lot stuffed with rigs but not see a single horse out on the trails I went on. They must have had quite a traffic jam on the horse camp loop today!

Not only did we get a lovely bushy Christmas tree home, set up, and decorated, my husband scored a like-new sectional Lazy-E-Boy couch and recliner for free from a friend that was moving! So our living room got a whole overhaul this afternoon, with new couches and recliner moved in, old couches moved out into the cabin/master suite (our bedroom), and a Christmas tree set up. It was a pretty exhausting day especially since I started it awake at 2 am feeling awful, but I’m glad it turned into such a productive day! I have really gone to town on the house since I got home a week ago and have re-arranged the living room, dining room, and our cabin bedroom. Now we just need to find some chairs for our dining table and things will be pretty well dialed in. Yes that’s right, we didn’t have a dining table set up like real adults, we–probably shouldn’t admit this–ate on the couch in front of the tv. But now we’ve got a proper table again! And my husband has a proper fly-tying station for his fishing stuff, and the recliner he always wanted. I was planning to get him a recliner for Christmas so now I’m back to square one on a present idea for him! Still pretty happy we scored all this furniture, that stuff can be expensive! I’ll happily trade acquiring free couches and a recliner for now having to wander around fishing and hunting stores in circles trying to find him a Christmas present!

Now that the BBBDR has started (see previous post) I’m feeling totally guilty I haven’t logged any miles yet. To be fair its only been 2 days and the north wind has been screaming here for the last week. But still. My competitive spirit is stirring just as much as my Christmas spirit! Luckily Desire and I are headed to the lake tomorrow for some miles, windy or not. As for Christmas, I’ve survived the blinding ear/tooth ache that came out of nowhere last night and lasted til about 8 am this morning, and we are off to find a Christmas tree this afternoon! I absolutely love the Christmas season, especially decorating the tree–and the property. We’ve got lights strung across the horse’s fence line and around the trunks of our Italian cypress trees down to our front gate and its fabulously cheery at night! I’m that person that keeps their tree til it’s a crispy fire hazard and is totally depressed after the holiday is over (for a day or two, anyway). Yes I’ll admit giving and receiving presents is good fun, but I really just love everything about the season. I’ve been better at visiting my family consistently throughout 2011 (and going to endurance rides actually helped with that!) but in general Christmas it the for-sure gathering of as much of our family as can possibly get together, which I love.

Hope those who celebrate it are enjoying getting into the holiday season as well. I know it isn’t for everyone but for me, December is one of my favorite months! Time to go dig out the ornaments…

Last year’s Christmas wiener…

Since I began reading other folk’s endurance blogs this spring, and subsequently started this, my own, Endurance Granny has come up with a fun mileage competition, the Big Bad Blogger’s Distance Race. It begins today, December 1st 2011, and runs through November 30th 2012. Sign-ups are of course now closed but folks may want to check out mileage various “novice” endurance/distance riders across the country are logging over the coming year. I’ve “met” a few folks through this event already and we now share our blogs with each other as well. Networking, don’t cha know! There are two divisions, one for single-horse riders and one for us folks with multiple horses to ride, and competition is only against others in your particular division.

Oh hey, and there are small prizes from Nutrena, Trailwise Tack, and Moss Rock Endurance for the winner! I feel my competitive spirit being kicked into gear. Anyway if you are interested in checking it out:

Big Bad Blogger’s Distance Race