Well, October got away from me a bit. I feel like I crammed a lot into this month, and some of this stuff probably deserves its own post, but at least I’ve place-marked it here for the immediate time being.
October in Pictures
endurance
New Horses Are Rollercoasters
I got a bit off track this month for blogging…not for lack of content, but more getting sidetracked and before I knew it, it’s the end of September.
We’re two+ months into things with Liberty, and after the one-month honeymoon, the hamster started falling out of the wheel a little bit, and we’ve definitely moved into the period of ups and down and the testing phase.
I’ve had her out on trail twice and she’s been brilliant. She’s bold, brave, forward, thinks before she spooks (if she even bothers to spook…she’s much more inclined to stop, think, process, then move on) and seems to love being out on trail. The arena, not so much. We’ve also got a major hiccup in our trailer-loading abilities. So more of this month has been spent on ground work and arena work versus trail work. I’m not concerned about that part, I already know she’s a good trail horse, and conditioning miles are all she needs out there. But I want her solid and reliable and cooperative on the ground and in the arena as well.
We’re also doing little things like working on polite syringe protocol. She’s another one that hates being syringed, but she’s a heck of a lot harder to wrestle with than the 13.3hh pony (who pretty much just protests for form these days), with a nasty habit of slinging her head around and bashing it into whatever happens to be in her way.
So we’re going back to square one, starting with syringing yummy things like date syrup or molasses from a syringe. I think it’s working, since I caught her making a grab for the ziploc bag I store all the syringe and electrolyte accouterments in and attempting to liberate the syringe. We’ll see if she still feels that way when I start incorporating the salty stuff, but for now, she’s happily trying to chomp the syringe in half.
I’m also addressing some of the “make sure there’s no physical issues to give rise to objectionable behavior” angles — such as, she needs her teeth done, which may be part of why she can be fussy and resistant to the bit. Given I’ve tried half a dozen bits on her, and she hasn’t seemed to love any of them (and downright hated a few of them), I’m inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt in this regard and think that this may be her way of saying “ummm, this is not comfortable.” So, teeth get done this upcoming weekend, after which time we’ll then resume re-assessing bits and hopefully moving forward with more momentum.
But even with some of the ups and downs, I feel like overall we’re still making better forward progress than steps back, so I call that a win. Although I did cancel our entry to the fun ride at Man Against Horse — I want her to be more solid with the trailer, as well as there’s some modifications I want to make to the trailer for it to be more storage-friendly/useful. In addition, I didn’t get her out nearly as much as I would have liked to (horrible air quality for several weeks, the aforementioned loading issues, picked up some extra work on weekends…so, y’know, life) so instead, we’re aiming our sites on the LD at the McDowell ride in November, and then another LD at Estrella in December.
And ultimately, at the end of the day, she still makes me smile.
Mimi got to go out a couple weeks ago, too. After Liberty’s steadfast refusal to load on day 2, I didn’t want to get into another battle with her more than i already had, so she got stuffed back into her stall, and Mimi got to go out. And she made a liar out of me — with her complete lack of enthusiasm for working in the arena, I figured she was done, and ready for total retirement. But I had committed to meeting a friend to babysit her on her new young horse, so I figured at worst case, I could hand-walk Mimi for the 5 or so miles we were planning to go. As it turns out, I think she was just bored and ring sour, because she was full of all kinds of cheer and enthusiasm (and soundness) when we hit the trail. So that’s good to know, and that means I’ll be incorporating taking her out some more as well now.
First Milestones
It’s been a month and 5 days since Liberty come home. In that time, I’ve put a dozen or so miles on her in the arena, with 7 or 8 rides, plus some non-riding groundwork days, the idea being to make sure we had a solid foundation and all the critical buttons installed and functioning before hitting the trail.
Today, though, I was ready to hit the trail. It was my “birthday gift to myself” — to finally head out and start putting our trail miles on as a team, hopefully the start of what will be many more.
This mare, on her own, is a gift in her own right. She is so much what I needed, moreso than I even realized. While a part of me wishes I had been able to bring her into my life earlier, I also think that both of us are at a better place, mentally, than 7, 6, even 4 years ago. I know I have grown as a horsewoman since our early rides together, largely in part to the years of catching riding, and I’m in a much better state to be the kind of rider that she needs. She’s matured a lot, for her part, and has gotten to be a very good communicator. Or maybe I’m just a better listener now. But either way…I was so pleased with the end result of today’s ride.
She’s been really good for me in the arena, and that’s a venue that she’s not particularly well-versed in. But out on trail? She was stellar. She was bold, solid, and unflappable. Went in lead, middle, or back of our group of three without any issue. Handled the strange “mud run” obstacles that are staged permanently along some of the trail without even a blink — large pits covered in chain link, construction pylons, half-covered culverts, large stacks of straw and palates. She displayed a lovely 4.5 mph walk, was responsive to requests to keep to a walk even when she wanted to trot inclines. And I stayed confident, relaxed, and trusted her, riding with very light contact but staying out of her mouth and trusting her to make smart choices. And she did.
With today’s ride, we reached our first Virtual Tevis milestone — 14 miles to High Camp and Watson’s Monument.
On the actual ride, reaching High Camp was the first real chance I had for a break — quick work of jumping off, tossing Roo’s reins to a volunteer while he drank, and ducking off out of the way to water some non-existent bushes (squat in the weeds/grass, no one cares…), then electrolyting, hopping back on, meeting up with some friends, and starting the last bit of climbing up to Watson’s Monument.
It is Tevis tradition to look back over your shoulder as you crest the top of the mountain at Watson’s Monument and take in the view of Lake Tahoe. Unfortunately, on my year, the smoke from forest fires was so bad, I couldn’t actually see the lake but for a tiny glimmer in one spot. Oh, well. Guess that means I have to go back and get the “proper” view. :D
Climbing up to Watson’s Monument 
Watson’s Monument 
Looking back at Lake Tahoe — only a tiny glimmer of the lake can be seen through the smoke 
Looking out into Granite Chief Wilderness — and the smoke layer beyond
From Watson’s Monument, it is onward into the Granite Chief Wilderness — which remains to this day one of the prettiest, most fun sections of trail I’ve ridden.
I love how much of a consistent motivator this Virtual Tevis has been, and a great way for Liberty and myself to start “getting our sea legs” together as we slowly accumulate our miles.
Finding My Footing
It’s not even been a month. I never expected to feel this deeply, be so strongly connected already. I knew from previous experiences that I liked this mare, enjoyed riding her, felt like she had potential, and had fun with her. I never thought she would bond to the level of my soul as much as she has.
I also hadn’t realized just how badly I needed this. This being a purpose, a project, to be in the driver’s seat (saddle?), to be in a position of daring to even think about being able to put some of my long-held distance dreams on track again.
I am so thankful for the experiences catch riding has given me. Not only was I able to keep riding and competing, I learned so much during that time period, the kind of learning that can only come from riding that many different horses and riding with that many different people.
But there’s nothing quite like one’s own horse, and the potential for an active future laid out in front of them. I hadn’t realized just how much of my enthusiasm had slowly faded, how much I was going through the motions, but without a whole lot of motivation or inspiration.
To that end, I’ve sent off our first “official” ride entry as a proper team (ie, “it’s my name on the ‘Owner’s Name’ portion). Now, fingers crossed that the ride actually happens. It’s not until October but management is going to decide at the end of this month if they’ll be able to make a viable go of it.
Given that Liberty has had a year off, hasn’t done an endurance ride in about 4 years, it’s ridiculously hot out, and historically, most of our previous ride attempts were done without much by way of ideal conditioning and prep…we’re starting small, aiming for the 12-mile “fun/trail/intro/whatever-you-want-to-call-it” ride. Maybe conservative, but my aim is to set ourselves up for success as much as I can along the way, and that includes not picking one of the hardest LDs around to kick things back off again. The 12-mile course is much more straightforward, and it will be a fun weekend of camping, being among endurance friends again, and starting to figure out our routine together.
I’m excited about being back in the position of ride planning and speculating on ideas and schemes for the future, but even beyond that…
This mare makes my heart happy.
Virtual Tevis: Week 2 and into Week 3
We’re currently sitting at a little over 7 miles along the Virtual Tevis trail, which means we’ve crossed under Highway 89 and are making our way into the Squaw Valley ski resort and up to High Camp. I loved the section from the start to the highway on the ride, and I really enjoyed seeing it is full daylight last year when I took my rider’s mare out for a pre-ride on Friday.
Just a little taste of what the area between the start and Hwy 89 looks like.
And for fun, a video of what the area of the highway crossing looks like. This is looking south, from the north edge of the bridge over the trail crossing. Riders come down the trail on the east side (at some points you can see them snaking their way down some switchbacks in the background), cross under the highway via a trail underpass, ride up alongside the bridge, make a sharp turn to ride northbound alongside the highway (there’s a concrete barricade between the trail and the highway), and then another turn off the road onto the trail. This is from 2018, the year I rode, and Roo and I show up at about the 1:30 point in the video — little grey Arabian in yellow tack, and I’ve got a grey shirt, black tights, and white helmet.
I tried to embed this, but the Facebook embedding code doesn’t want to play nice with my blog, so here’s the direct link for the public Tevis Cup Facebook page and subsequent video:
https://www.facebook.com/TevisCup/videos/1975576312466525/
And a second video, this one from 2016, from the perspective at the south end of the bridge, watching riders come up from the underpass.
I’ve hung out and taken photos/videos at the Hwy 89 crossing twice before, and it’s a ton of fun. Timing is such that if you’re part of crew that needs to be at Robinson Flat, you can’t be at 89 and still make it to RF in time to catch the front-runners, but it’s a great place to hang out and get to see the entire field of entrants come through in a relatively short period of time. Everyone is still clustered together as this point, so it usually takes less than an hour to see everyone go by.
It’s currently 113* here in Phoenix, and I’m really missing my annual Tevis getaway now. Not only for the Tevis environment and social aspect and catching up with my tribe of like-minded Tevis obsessees, but also for the fact that for at least a day or two, it means a respite in weather and the higher-elevation cooler temperatures. (In fact, yours truly briefly appears in the second video as well, about 2 minutes in. The wild tangle of blondish curls and the multi-colored puffy jacket? Yep, that’s me and my very distinctive jacket.)
But even more than the weather, the socialization…I find myself craving the energy and unique sensation that only Tevis has. There’s a vibe there, the kind that gets under your skins, the kind that fuels hopes and dreams. It might be a long shot, or it might not. At this point, I have no clue, so I can’t help but dream big and find my motivation from the possibilities.
With Liberty, I’m finding that baby steps now are going to lead to incremental leaps in the future. This mare is so smart, and has such a huge try, that I feel like taking the time now to really lay this foundation and establish trust between each other will really pay off in the long run. Because she is also stubborn, dominant, and opinionated…but that’s okay, because I know how to work with that.
War Mare Personified
Funny realization I had…she and Flash remind me so much of each other. They both equine personality test as “rock stars,” and she would be the “queen” counterpart to his regal, slightly imperious “king” aspects. Initially I didn’t make the connection of similarities — it had been a couple of years since I had been around her when I started riding Flash, but having ridden him and spent time with him off and on over the past couple of years, the similarities really struck me this time around as I’ve been working with Liberty. And that knowledge has been super instrumental in leading to success with her, because it’s taught me to respect their opinions, and to stay very level and matter of fact, and not take their opinions and small acts of defiance or attitude personally or overreact to them, but still stay firm, and redirect or correct as necessary, but done in a way that isn’t emotionally charged or defensive. I know Flash made me a better horsewoman, and in turn, I find myself now transferring those same skills into Liberty. It’s calm, confident leadership that supports but extends trust to the horse.
Today’s nemesis was something in that corner by the evil trailers.
Today was a day that demanded some tact and patience. Liberty’s biggest issue is she can be balky. If there’s something she doesn’t like, she will stop, plant her hooves, and refuse to move. She’s gotten away with it, too, because she learned that rather than fight her, her rider preferred to just dismount and lead her if they were solo, or rely on a tow from the other horse if they were riding with people. I myself employed the “buddy tow” system when I’ve ridden her in the past, especially at rides, or found myself relying a little too much on the ability to smack her with a crop. And I just don’t want to have to rely on that in the long run. So I was rather pleased to have her balky side pop its head up sooner, rather than later, and give me the opportunity to work through it today.
Shagyas are known for having a stubborn streak, which can make them interesting characters to work with, especially when that’s on top of an already opinionated horse. But by my own genetic background, I’m half-Slavic, which means I’m just as stubborn as my mare, and I was determined that I would out-patience her.
Ultimately, we stood in that arena corner for almost 10 minutes, eking out one step at a time. I had a couple of simple guidelines: she couldn’t back up, and she couldn’t bolt or rush through. And by the end of that time, she had made her way up to the scary corner, given several good Arab snorts, and then finally, I felt her give a big breath and relax her whole back and body. From there, we proceeded to do another 10 minutes of solid walk work until I really felt her settle, and then from there, we were able to do almost 10 minutes of solid trot work. I also started asking her for a little “more” in her trot, not just the soft little dib-dib trot, and it turns out she’s got a very nice 8mph trot in there. Not only is this building her fitness, it’s building my comfort levels, as well as readjusting my own internal odometer to “normal horse pace” versus years of “pony pace.”
I was thrilled with how the session went today. Was she perfect? Nope. I don’t know her well enough to know if we’re still working the kinks out (very likely), she’s still getting into the habit of regular work (also likely), or something is not comfortable — still haven’t found a bit she likes, and I don’t know if she likes the Total Saddle Fit girth versus the mohair. Thing to keep experimenting with. But we worked through some hiccups, and I’m super-proud of how both of us handled it. I kept my patience and my cool, and most importantly, my confidence. And she worked through a major balky moment without becoming scared, or resentful.
Definitely still talking to each other at the end.
When we finished, as I was untacking her back in the barn, that mare’s face was fascinating. I could see the wheels turning in her eyes as she was processing everything, and she stood for a solid five minutes licking and chewing and yawning. Some major releasing and processing happening.
Post-shower, enjoying making a mess of her sloppy mash. She’s definitely getting more svelte, and I’m seeing some more muscle development. She’s also reverting to more of her true seal bay color that she’s usually been. Previously, I’ve never seen her as dark, almost black, as she was when I brought her home. Which was fine, she’s beautiful either way, but I do lean more towards the seal bay shading as my preference, just because it’s a little more contrast on her beautiful face. Guessing some of this is sweat/salt/sunfade…but she was in 24/7 unsheltered turnout up in Kingman, and they get plenty toasty up there, too.
On the pony front…
She received the talk about using your powers for good or evil at some point in her life. I now know which side she chose…
Fine, Mimi, I get it. No more fly sheets this year. Obviously making her exuberance over not having to wear clothes anymore known…
Destructive tendencies aside, Mimi is loving retirement life. As long as she gets first cookies, a cool shower when it’s hot, her itchy spots scratched, and the food supplied, she’s a happy camper, and seems to be rather content that I have something else to occupy my riding time and attention.
Go Pony • Go the Distance 