Endurance Race

I've got to stop saying YES!  SURE!  to people during the dead of winter.  It makes me do crazy things like herd cattle or enter an endurance ride.

Last weekend I went with a few friends to an endurance race at Mid West a private trail riding property with trails connecting to the Hoosier National Forest.  A place where cell phone coverage has not yet reached.

With showers, a hot breakfast, real toilets, and electric hook ups for the trailer it made our camping trip not so primitive.  It was great having heat in the trailer when the night time temps dipped into the lower 30s.  Some of the tent campers said they saw snow.  Poor tent campers.  Wouldn't doubt it, stupid winter that will never end.

They even have stalls for your horses

You can't see it, but there's a campfire burning right behind Annie's stall.  Good Annie.

Our "race" wasn't really a race and it wasn't really "endurance" as we were "only" doing 15 miles.  The big boys were doing 25 and 50 miles, some of them did 25 on Friday and 50 on Saturday.  Because they're nuts.

Endurance starts off like three day eventing.  First, you have to present your horse to the vet who takes down vital information on your vet card.  This is Annie's vet card for post race but it was the same pre race.  She got all "As" except for gut sounds.  She's not a big breakfast eater.  After the race I got lots of advice like feeding soaked beat pulp the night before and carrying along carrots that were soaked overnight in water and feeding them to her on the trail.  After you do get your card you jog for the vet and then if you pass you get to use a grease marker to write your entry number on your horse's butt.  Much different from a bridle number.

We didn't go very fast.  It had rained very hard over the last several days and some of the trail bottoms had mud up past the horse's fetlocks.  We still did quite a bit of trotting.  Oh my knees.  I didn't want to cause any injury doing something stupid.  The terrain was varied, with some flat stretches followed by climbing and descending steep hills.  Even a few switchback trails down the sides of ravines.  Multiple water crossings, some fairly deep.

It certainly was no Cougar Rock at the Tevis Cup

but it wasn't no central Indiana flatsville.

We even got lapped by the people doing 50 miles. They came cantering by, both horse and rider looking lean and fit like marathon racers.  Biothane bridles, endurance saddles, sponges on ropes.

We finished 15 miles in 3 hours and 45 minutes.  Not fast by any definition of the word but we weren't last!  Getting off to walk Annie over some big rocks and across the finish (she'd already carried my butt far enough) I almost hit the ground, and had she spooked and took off I'd have been left in the dust.

After the ride you have 10 minutes once you cross the finish line to vet in.  They take your horse's heart rate and it has to be below a certain number, in our case 60.  We came in at 36 which the vet was very complimentary about.  They go down the same marks on the card and you have to jog again, no easy feat after 15 miles of posting trot and 2 point up hills.  Annie even did the whole ride barefoot all around where most of the other horses there had boots or shoes on, yeah to good feet and great farriers.

Then you take care of your horse and collapse into a pile.

Annie showed zero effects of her ride, and I even got her a massage just to make sure.  Wish someone gave me a massage.  I got some Aleive.

Would I do it again?  Sure.  Would I do more miles?  No way in heck.  We aren't sponge on a rope carrying endurance riders.  I did tick one more thing off my horsey bucket list.

I scored a what?!?!

After Heartland I made a decision to work hard on our dressage at home.  Transitions and connection have been my biggest hurdle to cross so in the 3 weeks between my next show I vowed to work hard on those things.

I've also developed a plan for my dressage warm up.  What?  Not just madly bounce around the warm up until it was time for my test?  Instead I worked on getting the connection by doing lots and lots of transitions between gaits and insisting on being connected and soft.  My warm up wasn't nearly as nice as what we've been getting at home.  Even though Annie is very comfortable with Come Again Farms, schooling in a field is different from schooling in the indoor at home.  We're on GRASS!!!! in the great outdoors and there is lots to look at.  I worked on using the several different connected fields, staying away from any horse having hysterics, and pushing hard for the connection.

I also developed a "enter the ring" plan. How was I going to use my time schooling in the ring before the judge rung the bell?  How was I going to exit the ring, turn around, and enter at A while keeping my connection during that tight turn?

It felt like a nice test.  There wasn't any bucking!!!!!  My trot walk transition RIGHT in front of the judge at A was fantastic.  My transitions to the canter were disconnected, which I expected, but my downward transitions were "not that bad" considering that we usually motorbike through them.

I got a few compliments leaving the ring, just people being nice I thought.

Standing around watching the lower division (I LOVE that there's actually a "lower division!") someone who knew me came up and asked

"Are you the person riding Annie? Did you look at your dressage score?"

"You're in first."

WHAT?  Pfffft.  No way.  Like did everyone else fall off?

Standing there looking at my dressage score I got a little teary eyed.  I was hoping for a 38 or maybe a 37.  Whatever, just out of the 40s.  But a 31?  In dressage?  ME?  ANNIE?

I was very proud of our work and very very happy!!!

For show jumping I continued on with my warm up plan.  Jump three or four fences, test breaks and gas, and get the heck out of the warm up before I got flattened or lost my nerve.

I also had a different goal.  I wanted to WIN.  I wanted a blue ribbon.  Annie's first blue ribbon at a CT.  I wanted to finish on my God Damn dressage score.  ME.  I came into the ring in the best way possible to show Annie the ring.  I counted in my head THE ENTIRE TIME.

ONE TWO ONE TWO ONE TWO THREE release damn it.  ONE TWO ONE TWO.....

I thought about my use of the ring, keeping her attention in any places she might get distracted, my rhythm, my flow.

Clear round.  Blue Ribbon.  Fireworks!  Victory Gallop! (not really).

What's next? Did I really enter BN at Dan Hobyn?  Am I going to throw up?

Rolex purchase

I always have a great time at Rolex, it's like Mecca for eventers.  Without a bunch of things on my shopping list I was struggling to burn through the money in my wallet, until that faithful moment.

I've been kicking around the idea of a new dressage coat.  I have one, but you can't have just one coat.  I wanted a navy one with sparkly buttons from Horze

I also looked at this coat from smartpakequine.com

both fantastic stretchy softshell coats that fit my wonderfully.

If any of you have been following my blog for awhile now (gosh I hope so) you'll remember this post from Xmas when I talked about a few of my "wants."

What's on your Christmas List?

I posted a stunning dressage coat from England with purple highlights.  Drool.

Imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon that exact same coat at VTO Saddlery.

I tried it on.  Fit me like it was made for me.  I put it down to think about it.  I milled about the shop.  I didn't NEED a coat.  Although it was WAY cheaper than a bunch of coats I've seen it's still a chunk of change and frankly I'm a bit stingy spending my money.

Then I had a moment of giddy weakeness and found myself carrying around the coat with a big stupid grin on my face.  Then checking out with the coat in hand.  MINE!!!!

I'm glad I did.  It's exactly me.

It's also popped  up EVERYWHERE.

Behind The Bit Blog  showcased it in a post.

It even showed up on the famous Eventing Nation

Now, will I ride well enough to deserve it?  Who knows.

Will I get extra points for wearing it?  "I'd give you a three for whatever the hell movement that was supposed to be, but stunning coat so here's a 5!"

and most importantly, can I find a stock tie to compliment it?!!!

This stock almost works, but it's cream and wouldn't match my breeches.

Rope Halters

Rope halters can be great tools in the right hands for natural horsemanship, remedial horses, or pretty much anything.  They are unbreakable, washable, and provide the right amount of give plus bite just when you need it.  

I have a plain ol one at home, and there are a couple attached to Parelli style leadropes in the barn, but I wanted one that was a little bit special.  Some sort of extra detail that set it apart from other halters.  

I found this great Ebayer.  Her prices were very reasonable, she had lots of options, and she has this unique way of adding accent cord on the ends to make the halters special and pretty. 

http://www.ebay.com/usr/thehandmadehomestead

She's even willing to do some custom work in special colors for you, has great communication, and loves to make people what they want.  I was very pleased with how my halter turned out.  I ordered one with riding rings so I could attach reins to it and use it more as a sidepull instead of using the fiador knot on the bottom.  I also had a chin strap added as using it as a sidepull sometimes causes the halters to swing around on their heads.  The chin strap is removable and adjustable.  I also like the accent on the nose which takes away some of the bite since I don't have control problems with Annie.

Here's Annie modeling her new halter.  

Heartland Wrap Up

First show of the season is over and out of the way!

First up we had dressage.  Annie was braided and looking semi spiffy, her winter coat went all curly when I gave her a bath on Friday.  I have no idea where my chestnut thread went so I had to use black, but at least it stayed in.  I'm not taking a picture of her forelock until she gets over her refusal to have it braided so I had to do it while it was dry and her head was moving.

It was difficult to get Annie's concentration in warm up so I decided to take charge and be a rider and not a passenger.  I did lots of serpentines at the trot, did some leg yielding, worked on 4 strides of trot, then halt, then walk, then trot off again.  I wore my spurs to help her be more obedient to my leg.  I asked her to trot straight down the middle of the arena, halt, TOH to reverse, then trot off in the other direction.  I trotted figure 8s.  I had to work hard on getting an obedient canter depart when I asked for it, and to work to make her engage at the trot instead of sucking back and picking up a crappy canter to avoid the bit.

Annie went tense as soon as we set foot in the dressage arena and I worked hard at keeping her forward.  She did much better then I thought, the HHP  is a big and scary place.  I liked her trot work, I felt like she hid behind the contact and wasn't as forward as she could have been but I sensed tension under the surface and know if I kicked her in a confidence lacking moment she'd explode.

She picked up her left lead willingly and was nicely on the bit but I let her break when I got her too deep into a corner and didn't keep my leg on.

She had a very nice freewalk and a nice right trot circle but she was not feeling having to pick up her right lead in the scary arena so she let me know how she felt about that

She was also resistant to our downward transitions, which is something I knew coming in as I've only started trying to polish those up within the last week or two.  I went back over to the dressage warm up after I was done on the advice of my friend and I was glad I did.  It helped teach Annie that she wasn't done after dressage so no reason to hurry through it and I got a phenomenal trot lengthening.  On the bit, driving of the hocks, toe flipping, honest to God lengthen.

I got a score I figured I'd get but it's hard to be so far behind everyone else.  I feel like, as an arab, she gets double penalized for her head being above the bit, where a non arab gets "green horse" points.  When she's more on the bridle she gets penalized for having a "stiff neck" Even her freewalk where she reaches for the bridle all the way down and really swings forward with a huge overstride gets fewer points.

Show jumping warm up was CRAZY, I'm always nervous warming up for stadium and 90 people barreling around makes me woozy so I jumped 4 warm up fences and headed over.

I had to whack Annie into the stadium ring and then whack her several more times along our tour around the arena toward the start flags.  She's a cautious horse and would much rather stop and look at the spooky thing than barrel past it, which is great for staying on top, but not so great for forward motion.

She neatly jumped all her fences clean but powered back to the trot after almost every fence without my asking her.  I had to work hard to keep her moving in between the fences and to keep all four legs under me, I made lots of adjustments to keep her attention focused,  I did have a much better trot than I've gotten before, and a better trot even then when we have jumping lessons, but the canter was horrible.  I felt like I could have forced her into the canter but the rhythm would have suffered so I made the choice to let her pick her gait as long as she jumped clean.  Once she was lined up with a jump she was "ohhh I understand why I'm out here."   In my lessons she has this bold "let's get down to business" canter that's easy to ride and I know she's on a mission and I have nothing to worry about.  She's never as confident at the HHP as she is at LAZ's barn and I feel like I should help support her and not chase her.

Still I couldn't help feeling like I was letting people down by not cantering around the course.  The fences were no problem, they were ridiculously tiny.  So why can't I get it together?  I saw plenty of people who had no business in the division they were in barreling around or riders stronger than I am shoving their green horses around the course so why can't I?  Here I am wanting to move up to BN and I'm trotting around the course.  In the end it didn't matter as I was dead last after dressage anyway and stadium wasn't timed.

After I was done I went and walked the BN showjumping course and all the fences looked doable except one airy oxer, in fact I've been jumping bigger in my last couple lessons.  It wasn't a max course but it felt doable.

First show of the season

After a winter that just WILL NOT DIE (it was 75 yesterday and it's going to snow tonight!) I'm more than ready to go horse show.  Or am I?

Where are my boots?  Do they fit?

What do I wear, did I bother to clean my show coat from last year?

New Dressage tests?  What new dressage tests!  Many thanks to Cobjockey for mentioning it because I would not have bothered looking.  I've been doing BN A for the last 15 thousand years and I had it memorized.  I think Annie had it memorized too.


OMG, my horse is mostly dirt and hair.  She looks like a clydesdale her legs are so hairy, her mane is filthy, her ears have sprouted tufts, and there is a layer of hay in between the hairs of her mane.  I have part of her mane braided in an attempt to train it over to one side but all the loose bits just stick straight up in the air.  Plus she keeps rolling in the mud.

Will it be warm enough to give her a bath?  Is there enough hot water for a 3 hour bath?

I've had two really great jumping lessons that are going to set me up for a good round at Starter and a move up to BN.  My instructor has taken it upon herself to push me, which sounds like a great idea until she starts making the fences bigger.  So I just try  not to look at the fences.

Sunday was a gymnastic day.  We built off one big gymnastic then added several other jumps that had canter placing poles in front of them.  A challenge for me, I hate lots of poles.  If you hit a bad distance to one then you cathunka down the rest of the line.  What started off as a sea of poles eventually turned into:  pole, pole, jump, pole, pole, jump, bunch o poles, jump. A one stride to a two stride ending in a sizable oxer.  Then around the corner over a couple more poles, a jump, bending line over two more poles and a jump, jump a single, jump the bicycle fence, then a long gallop to the scary wave fence (LEG LEG LEG LEG).

It was a challenging day, I want to override in gymnastics and my instructor wanted me to keep my hands on Annie's neck and make adjustments with my legs.  Eeeepppp.

Cantering down to the wave fence was a challenge. Annie had popped over it deconstructed two weeks ago, but here it was fully assembled and we barreled down to it.  I debated trotting then decided to just wing it and canter down to it.  Keep your leg on!  Don't look at the fence!

 She took a peek and jumped it a bit big (for her) but didn't think about stopping.

It was a good confidence building lesson before our show.  Now, to worry about that bath.

Spring is Springing?

The winter that never ends seems to be continuing on right through spring here in Indiana.

I've been able to put more consistent rides on Annie and even had a jumping lesson a few weeks ago in which Annie seemed to have not missed a beat but where I looked like an idiot (although I always look like an idiot so maybe I have not missed a beat).

Last Sunday I got a spur of the moment call from a friend who asked me if I wanted to go on a trail ride.  As I was sitting in my PJs eating a bowl of CocoWheats and a mug of tea of course I said yes!

We both thought it was a little bit chilly when we tacked up but the parking lot was full of people there with their mountain bikes and children of assorted ages.  Turns out it was a brisk 35 degrees.  Apparently 35 degrees feels warm enough for taking your horse/child/bike out for a spin, an indication that everyone was used to those -14 degree days.

I thought that Annie did really well, she's a funny horse.  She isn't terribly BAH!!! spooky but she's more STATUE! spooky.  If she wasn't sure that a rock/tree stump/person was a danger to herself or others she'd freeze like a statue and stare at it.  Once she decided it wasn't a threat she moved on.  I worked on both letting her figure things out for herself and reinforcing that forward meant FORWARD! by using my stick.  She grew more confident and was soon trotting down the trail (occasionally slamming to a stop to STATUE!) and did some "hand galloping" in the lead as well.

A good experience to get her out of the ring and to work on her obedience, her trust, and her bravery.  All important things for an eventing arabian.

Here's Annie posing on the trail.  Notice the purple biothane bridle.  REQUIRED equipment for an arabian on the trails.