Three Years Later: A Catch-Up

/ Ashley Wingert / Leave a comment

It…has been a while.

There’s probably a thousand and one reasons for why…but bottom line is, I lost my writing mojo, then felt like I had too much to catch up on, and so never did. (Some of it is also because WordPress changed their formatting for writing posts and I hate it…apparently they made even more changes since and I hate it even more. The “geriatric millennial” in me very much resents this relentless forward “progress” march of “change just because it gives the programmers something to do” and would prefer to go back to the days of Oregon Trail on the ancient Mac computers, or the early days of Windows 95, thank you.)

I am currently in the strangest place I have ever been in my life: without any critters of my own. Even as a young child, I always had fish, or my turtle, or the chinchillas. It’s left me feeling a tiny bit adrift, but it has also give me a lot of flexibility, so I am spending a lot of time chasing whims

The cliffnotes of the last 3 years:

  • Mimi: Mimi was laid to rest in August of 2023. She was 30 years old. I still cannot bring myself to write a final tribute for her that encapsulates all that she was. There will forever be a piece of my heart that is permanently pony-shaped.
  • Liberty: We completed the 20 Mule Team 100 in February of 2023. This unfortunately would be her breaking point, as I then spent the next two years struggling with mystery lameness issues. She would go on to have lameness pulls at both rides I attempted later that season, after a winter of rehab, she came back for an LD in the spring of 2024, then had a pull at our next 50 attempt later that fall. After another round of diagnosis and rehab attempts, I made the decision in January of 2025 to retire her. She is back up in Kingman with her original breeders and owners, ruling their herd and living her best retirement life. I miss her so much…she was my War mare, and I miss the feeling of confidence and competence that came from being in her saddle.
  • Sofie: Sofie was also laid to rest earlier this spring at age 14-1/2. The adage that the only time animals break your heart is when they leave you is hitting hard right now, and I feel like I have dealt with quite a bit of loss concentrated down into the last half a dozen years.
  • Catching Riding: Without a horse of my own, I have delved back into the world of catch riding again as a way to stay in the saddle and active in endurance. In the last two years I’ve competed six different horses, plus a few others for training rides. I have primarily been riding with my friends Susie and Brad as part of the Steel G Ranch endurance team, and they have been extremely generous in sharing their time and horses with me and keeping me in the saddle.
    • Schnitzel: This boy has been my primary catch ride for the past year and half. He is a 7-year-old Arabian gelding, bred by Aljassiyma Farm but because of an asymmetrical dent in his face, deemed unsuitable for the show arena. Fortunately he is thriving on the endurance trail. He belongs to Susie and Brad, and they have had me riding him as a “bring the young horse along” project. I put his full first ride season on him, and they have both done rides on him this season now. He has been a challenge at times, but always a ton of fun, and he’s been very good for my heart. We’ve done 10 rides together to date, making him my “most ridden” catch-ride horse, and next to my own mares, he’s been the one horse I’ve put the most time and effort into as far as training, conditioning, and spending time around, especially given I’ve only been riding him since late fall of 2024.
  • Australia: Well-deserving of a multitude of its own posts, I’ve apparently been doing my best to turn Australia into my second home, making an annual trip down there for the past three years now. It started with the ultimate trip: In October of 2024, I travelled down there to ride in the Tom Quilty ride (their 100-mile championship, often compared to our Tevis). This absolutely needs its own post, but the short version is: I finished and got my buckle, and even more importantly, developed friendships that have turned into my “Down Under family.”
    • I have since gone back in 2025 (Quilty again, to strap [crew] as a ‘thank you’ for the 2024 ride) and again earlier this year to be a speaker at a barefoot hoof conference. This trip also involved finally getting to meet in person a long-time online/blogging endurance friend, and I found another across-the-pond soul sister.
  • On the Homefront: I got my parents to drink the Kool-aid that is Decker Rat Terrier ownership and in February of 2024, they brought home their own pup. Meet Zeke. He’s a near-twin to Artemis, looks-wise…and similar personalities as well (they would have been cousins of some extent). He is sweet, hilarious, and Dad’s adventure companion.
  • I also managed to finally part ways with the Suburban (the third time it stranded me was the last straw) and got myself a proper Big Girl Truck. This is actually the first vehicle I have ever bought myself and two years later I’m still pinching myself. I love having a diesel, although ironically I’m not doing much hauling right now…but I still love that it is a big, solid, kick ass, one-ton truck, and that’s a lot of metal around me when I’m out braving the craziness that is AZ roads and freeways. And being a diesel, I hope to have it for many, many, many more miles. I sold the Suburban (half ton, V8 gas engine, used for quite a bit of towing) when it was 26 years old, with ~280K miles on it. Challenge accepted for how long I can keep the RAM going.
  • AERC: I ventured into the world of ride management and managed my first ride earlier this year. It was a good experience and I had quite a few takeaway lessons of things to do different in the future. I would do it again, but not necessarily at the same venue or as a repeat of what I already did.
    • I also was elected as one of the Directors of the SW Region this year. I’ve been trying to get on the AERC Board on and off since 2017, and it finally happened. So far it’s been an interesting and educational experience for the few months that I’ve been on the board and I have enjoyed getting more involved on a couple committees (my committee work is involving some article writing, which re-awakened my writing mojo).

I think that covers the last 3 years in the broadest of strokes. Most of my life happenings and updates have done straight to social media, so it’s a condensed, cliffnotes version rather than my long-winded stories of the past. I don’t know how much of that I have in me anymore (although some of the bulletpoints above do deserve their full tales to be told); while I still enjoy telling stories, I’ve also learned the value of “limited public consumption” as far as my life, ride details, etc. So we’ll see. I do want some of these memories captured, if only for my own information and recollection down the road.

February: A Placeholder

/ Ashley Wingert / 1 Comment

I’m going to owe you guys some really good stories and major catch-up, but that’s going to entail me slowing down enough to write them first, which probably isn’t going to happen until mid-March.

What have I been up to and am up to that had me so tied up? Here’s a hint…

Liberty and I completed our FIRST 100-MILE RIDE at 20 Mule Team this month! Epic story to come…it was a long day, I think we both learned a ton (I know I did, and can only hope she did), and it’s only just now starting to sink in that I finally achieved a goal that’s been at the foremost of my endurance dreaming.

This is what a work trip looks like. ;) I’m currently writing this post from my Jacksonville, FL hotel room, where I’m at through the weekend for the AERC Convention. I am SO excited to be back at Convention — it’s been 3 years ago that I was last at one (in this exact place, actually) before the world went off the rails — and I have really missed it. (Virtual Convention in 2021, and last year I wasn’t in a mental space to really want to go). It’s so good to be among my endurance tribe, and I have at least half an empty suitcase to fill with shopping goodies.

January 2023

/ Ashley Wingert / 2 Comments
Sharing the trail with another fun junior — MJ’s granddaughter Elle, who is just starting her endurance career.
Dream Saddle arrives — it is a Reactor Panel Heraldic model with Tribute tree and scooped thigh bumps. It looks black, but the skirting and cantle inset are actually the deepest brown pebbled leather. I’m in love.
Saddle fitting and testing. It is Big Mare Approved.
Pre-Tonto Twist shakeout riding, showing a friend one of the loops of the ride.
Tonto Twist 50. The gremlins raised their heads once again at this ride, and we were pulled after the first 30-mile loop for a very sudden lameness that ended up being either a hoof bruise or abscess.
Post-ride sleepy Sofie. She loves being ridecamp dog.
If you’re going to wear multiple hats…make sure one of them is a pink hard hat.
Still drooling. Love it more with every ride.
Bit testing. Have determined that the baucher cheek seems to be one of her “more preferred” options…but still sorting the mouthpiece, and will be forever, because she is that *fun* combo of strong but sensitive.
Naptime in the sunshine. Mimi and her bestest pal Stoney.
Wrapped the month with a ride at Camp Creek. Blue Wash actually has water in part of it right now.

For the first time in years, I bailed on my New Year’s Day tradition of riding…because it was pouring rain. Now we’ll find out how superstitious I am (or not), and if this jinxes me and my riding plans for the rest of the year.

To that end…Tonto Twist did not go according to plan. (What is it with me and this ride??? 1/4 on competitions versus attempts…I think I just need to stop. Which is embarrassing considering it’s my “home turf” and trails I utilize on a regular basis.) Ride story still to come on that…because we had a really great ride, right up until we didn’t, when she pulled up lame in the last mile of the first loop. Subsequent vet exam revealed an extremely sore spot on her hoof, so either a bruise or an abscess, and a week later, she was totally back to normal.

My Dream SaddleTM arrived at the beginning of the month. It is a Reactor Panel, Heraldic model with the Tribute tree. It was actually a demo saddle, made at the very end of 2019…but obviously didn’t see a whole lot of use, given the timing…so it is still in outstanding shape, and the leather even still smells good. I waffled back and forth on getting the demo versus a brand-new custom, but the immediacy factor, and the fact that the specs on it are exactly what I was looking for had I gone custom, convinced me to stick with the one I had in my hands. (Besides, me and my indecisiveness on color and design would probably still be sitting here trying to figure out how I wanted to customize it.) This model looks all-black from a distance, but the skirting and cantle inset are actually a super-dark chocolate brown pebbled leather, and I love it. It’s super-classy, with a very subtle contrast. And looks really good with the white tack. So far I’ve put about 75 miles on it, including the 30-mile loop of Tonto we did, and it’s been fabulous right from the start. This is a couple decades of saddle dreaming finally fulfilled, and I couldn’t be happier with it.

I wish I could sort out her bitting/headgear situation as readily, though. I thought Mimi was a challenge but this one has taken that to a whole new level. She’s a tricky combo of sensitive, fussy, and strong. Especially when following in a group. By ourselves, or leading in a group, I can ride her in a sidepull. But put her behind, and I have to really actively ride and remind her that tailgating other horses is completely and utterly unacceptable…and the sidepull doesn’t quite cut it in that environment.She used to go in an s-hack before I got her, but I rescinded those privileges after figuring out she needed a lot more education before the hack could be properly utilized. And she’s still not really at that point to be using something that is, in essence, a curb bit, or at least the same effect of poll/curb pressure and working primarily off of seat and leg.

I have a whole box of bits (and that’s even after selling some), and all of them meet varying degrees of disdain, everything from “will vaguely tolerate” to “absolute fit-pitching.” And she clearly didn’t read the descriptions on some of the bits, either…by all rights, they should be exactly what she needs, and she couldn’t be more unimpressed with them. Work in progress, that’s for sure. Yes, I have a fascination with bits and collecting them, but this extent wasn’t quite what I had in mind…

(And the obligatory disclaimer that she’s been fully examined by veterinarians, equine dentists, equine veterinarians who specialize in dentistry, bodyworkers, clinicians, consults with bit manufacturers, has regular dental work and body work. When it comes to face/mouth pressure, she’s very…particular. And opinionated.)

I may need to look into a career in bit fitting and consulting at this rate. (Any bit companies out there want to sponsor me? [My favorite bits so far have been Bombers, followed by Neue Schule and Myler.])

On the Pony front…Mimi will be 30 this spring. !!! She’s still spunky and bright-eyed, and runs in and out of turnout daily. We have a routine, in which I pull into the barnyard, get out of the truck to hitch up the trailer, she shrieks at me, I go dispense cookies and kisses, then go back to hitching the trailer. She’s happy, and doesn’t care two whits about the amount of time I spend with Liberty as long as she gets her cookies. She’s living her best filthy, semi-feral pony life, and looks about two yaks removed from her former show pony life…but she’s more than earned it.

One last ride to round out the month up at Camp Creek (far NE part of the Valley, on the west side of Bartlett Lake), which included water running in part of Blue Wash. Pretty scenery, good friends, and excellent training trails…can’t ask for more than that.

Monthly Ride Stats
91 miles
1 [partial] endurance ride
5 training rides
1 arena ride

December 2022

/ Ashley Wingert / 2 Comments
The month started off with rain…which has continued through the month and made for some amazing, unusual foggy mornings.
Foggy morning walks. Sofie loves the cooler weather and is acting 5 years younger.
Liberty got some downtime after McDowell, so rather than ride Jingle Bell Trot, we volunteered our time and pulled ribbons.
Fog-covered Estrella Mountains. “It’s like Scotland, but with saguaros!”
Liberty is officially registered as a Shagya Arabian.
A festive, pre-Christmas ride out at the Superstition Mountains with my friend Michele, who came down from Prescott Valley for the day.
“I thought elves rode reindeer.” As overheard from a little girl along the trail.
One last visit to Bergie’s, our favorite local coffee shop in downtown Gilbert that is closing its storefront doors after a decade and half. It was close enough to home to be able to walk there, and I’m very sad that it’s no more.
A pre-New Years ride with my friend Lauren, who came down from the snowy cold of Flagstaff to get some desert riding in before the Tonto Twist ride in January.
Majestic Mare Faces
One last ride for the year, finally sharing the trail (on my own horse!) with my friend Lucy, visiting from the rain-drenched Auburn area. It was really good to see her again and ride together.
Rain = perfect sand wash footing.
One last shot of this photogenic face to wrap up the month and the year. We’ve been testing a borrowed Reactor Panel saddle all month, after her back conformation changes that came with a marked increase in her fitness rendered our PK Saddle no longer as ideal for her. At first glance, she doesn’t look hard to fit, but the truth is, she’s very challenging, with drastically different angles to accommodate, and a very wide spine that needs a lot of clearance. Reactor Panel has been my dream saddle ever since I started endurance, and I’ve spent hours at every AERC Convention at their booth, learning about the saddles and trying out different models, and while I could never justify getting one for Mimi (especially after she was retired, since she would have needed a super-custom tree width, etc), I think Liberty’s performance and our aiming for bigger and loftier goals in the coming years means this is as good a time as any to finally spring for my dream saddle.

A pictographic summary of the month…tell me, do you guys like this format as a quick way to do a monthly wrap-up to cover all the things that aren’t necessarily significant enough to warrant their own posts? This might be a good way for me to compromise on trying to get a little more blog content up (especially for those folks who aren’t on social media and aren’t Facebook friends/Instagram followers) that isn’t just ride stories, but not feeling pressured to try to post on an ‘x number of days’ basis, because we’ve already established that isn’t going to happen from this blogger.

And with that, I’m signing off for the night, and for the last couple hours of 2022…see you all in the New Year!