miscellanea

Quiet Happenings

/ Ashley Wingert / 3 Comments

So the blog has been quiet of late because not much has been happening. Weather has cut into our riding time…it’s been so hot and humid of late that we’ve not been very motivated to get the ponies out, and as such, have lost a lot of conditioning time. When it’s 110*, plus 40-50% humidity, there’s no sane time to ride. Even at night, temps have stayed in the high 80s/low 90s.

That, combined with rather tight finances (no thanks to school raising tuition…) means we’re skipping Man Against Horse this year. I’m sad about it, but it’s such a difficult ride that I’d feel guilty putting Mimi into it with the amount of riding we’ve been doing over the summer, especially since we haven’t done a ride since February. If she was 50-mile-over-the-summer fit, then having the last month of spotty conditioning probably wouldn’t be so bad, but that’s my paranoid ride making itself known.

Still working on my Tevis crewing story…

I did get a couple new pairs of tights in from Evelyn at Just For Horsin-Around. I’ve been a good girl and basically worn my current tights to pieces, so it was time for new ones. (I was down to one pair of publically acceptable tights for rides, and one semi-acceptable…the other are in various stages of disrepair and sheerness.) I got on pair of nice, sedate, plain purple cotton/lycra, which should be good for hot summers. The other pair, I just told Evelyn I wanted a nylon/lycra pattern with lots of purple and black in it.

I LOVE them!!!
I’ll be hard to miss at rides now…as if the rather memorable little white pony wasn’t enough, I’ll be sporting these wild numbers come ride day. I don’t think I’ll have to worry about running into myself out on trail. I just might have to worry about spooking my pony…
And I just got new insoles or my Terrains again, so we’ll see if I can make them work. They’re my favorite shoes, overall. My hiking sneakers are great for hiking, and good for riding, but can be narrow in the toes for riding and make my feet go numb after too long a period of time, especially downhill trotting. My Ariat Endurance (meshy, lighter-weight version of the Terrains, kind of) are great for riding, but my little toes jam into the sides in a weird fashion if I hike for more than half a mile in them. Overall, I’ve found the Terrains to be the best for riding and hiking, even if I think they could sometimes use a little more traction…observe as I slither rapidly down the loose granite hills and try not to fall on my bum…
Of course, looking at the underside of the Terrains, I cam to the realization that they are about seven years old…no wonder they’re a bit worn.

Coping Methods

/ Ashley Wingert / 4 Comments

Just reading through Merri Melde’s account of her Tevis ride — and finish! — I had to smile as she mentioned singing as a way of getting through the seemingly endless California Loop…apparently her music of choice is from “The Sound of Music.”

I smiled because singing has always been my coping method of choice for those endless stretches of trail, or when I get uptight on squeak-inducing sections of trail (areas of Man Against Horse in Prescott). My current selection comes from “Phantom of the Opera” and particularly the new movie version of it…they have a couple of songs that are exclusive to the movie (end credits) and for some reason, “Child of the Wilderness” stuck in my head and it’s easy to sing softly, even if I keep forgetting the exact order of the verses.

Mimi seems to like my singing, even though I’m pretty much tone-deaf. It cheers her up, and I’ve learned that as you’re singing, you have to breathe, so it’s pretty much impossible to stay tense and uptight in the saddle.

Anybody have any other music suggestions? I’m very eclectic in my music tastes, but not all of it translates over well to being sung going down the endurance trail. Something cheerful or melodic is good, or happy, bouncy, and a little bit silly. I’ve also been known to spout Disney music while trotting down the trail (is this scaring anybody off from wanting to ride with me?) from my favorite Disney offerings: “The Lion King,” “Beauty and the Beast,” and “Robin Hood.” “Anastasia” and “The Swan Princess” have given me a few good ideas, too. Sensing a trend here that I like animated movies? :)

(Just a hint: Chanting, “I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date” [“Alice in Wonderland”] while trying to make time can or cannot be taken as humorous by one’s riding partner, depending on the circumstances.)

Just plain musicals are good, too…”Phantom” as aforementioned, and “Wicked” are the two that I know really well. Mind you, I seem to have issues remembering the entire song, so I tend to string together a couple verses here and there from various songs. I’m a one-woman variety show. :)

I will learn all the lyrics to “Modern Major General” from “Pirates of Penzance.” It has a certain bouncy rhythm that would go well with the eggbeater’s trot, although that same quality can sometimes make it grate on other’s nerves. I try to sing quietly, and only when it’s my father and I, but I fear even he can only take so much. “It’s A Small World” is strictly forbidden.

What “coping methods” do others have out there?

Honest Scrap Award

/ Ashley Wingert / 2 Comments

Thank you Crysta at Go Diego Go and Danielle at If the Trees Had Ears for both bestowing upon this blog its first award ever, the Honest Scrap Award. Both are fellow endurance riders whose blogs I’ve been following for a while now, and I will have the opportunity in a few weeks to meet Crysta in person while crewing at Tevis.

When you receive The Honest Scrap award you must stick to some rules:
– Recognize your award presenter and link back to their blog in your post.
– List 10 honest things about yourself that others might not know.
– Present this award to 10 admirable bloggers and link to their blogs.
– Leave a comment on your recipients’ blogs to let them know to visit your post to retrieve their award.

My honest scraps:

1. I think I’m destined to be a professional student for the rest of my life. After grumbling my way through high school and ranting my way through my bachelor’s degree at Arizona State, I went back to school yet again for the (seemingly endless) task for getting my certification in court reporting. It’s a long process, but for the most part, I enjoy it.

2. I’ve been very blessed to have my “once in a lifetime horse” as my first horse. I can’t imagine having another horse that I’ll have this kind of close, bonded relationship with again. I was so fortunate to have been able to spend so much time together when we were both growing up, especially since our partnership of green rider + green horse was an equation that never should have worked.

3. I’m a slightly OCD control freak. Lists and post-it notes dominate my life. The upside of this is it means I can have my horse trailer packed and ready to go to a ride within a couple hours. The downside of this is everything has its place, and only I know where that place is. My patient father has learned to just pull down the heavy stuff and hand it to me to do with what I will. Beware, anyone that volunteers to crew for me at Tevis…there will be pages of instructions.

4. I’m a very eclectic person with lots of various interests besides horses to try keep my mind occupied and prevent OCD fixation on any one topic (it doesn’t work). These include writing, photography, reading, jewelry making, sewing, and travel.

5. I’m a former show person who used to be scared to ride outside of the comfort of the arena, since Mimi was “so bad” any time I’d ride off my trainer’s property. (In the mind of a very cautious [read: chicken$#!*] twelve year old, outwalking the other ponies and “looking” at the garbage cans was cause for great concern on my part.) Now, I hate riding in an arena unless I absolutely have to, and have a goal of doing Tevis on this same pony. :) How far we’ve come. I think my former trainer’s jaw hits the ground every time I email her one of my ride stories.

6. My biggest goal and obsession of endurance is Tevis. It’s probably so cliched by now, and I’m hardly the first person to come up with this goal, but it piqued my attention when I first started in distance riding, and grabbed hold of me after my first year crewing at there in 2004. Not to jinx best-laid plans and all that, but if the stars align and the distance gods are feeling gracious, my goal is to make it to Tevis 2010.

7. I’m an Arizona native, which means I can theoretically handle heat well. I do, but not without complaint. However, I die in anything over 15% humidity. There is a reason I want to move to San Diego, where it is 70* year-round.

8. I’m an only child, and still live at home. This works out very well in several ways: I work for my parents, out of the comfort of our home; Dad and I ride together; I can concentrate on school an not have to be a Real Adult yet.

9. As mentioned above, Dad and I ride together. Mom and I are what my Dad calls the “creative geniuses” of the family — we both have creative, artistic endeavors that we do together. Riding is Dad’s and my thing. We’ve been “returning the favor” back and forth for years — I was the first one to get into horses…Dad followed suit. He wasn’t interested in the show ring, though, and started trail riding, which turned into competitive trail (NATRC). He got me out of the show ring and onto the trail. After a couple years of NATRC, I turned my sights on endurance, at which point, Dad bought a new, endurance-suitable horse. Now, we’re both focused on Tevis, although I’m far more obsessed about it.

10. I’m a self-admitted geek in the sense that I love sci-fi/fantasy, computer stuff (although I’m bad at it), reading, writing, the works.

The ten bloggers list is going to be difficult, mostly because a lot of people in my immediate blog vicinity have already received the award. The problem with running in a small group of people, we all follow each others blogs, and I was slow on the draw to get working on this.

– Horse Stories Illustrated. Cristy Cumberworth is a friend, fellow distance rider, and amazing photographer. She was the photographer at my very first NATRC ride eight years ago, and she very graciously allowed me to be her photo assistant the following year. Her talents as a photographer are beyond amazing…check out her blog and see if you don’t agree!

– Here, There & Everywhere. Christine is working toward her first distance ride with her Standardbred Bling and done-a-bit-of-everything mule, TAZ.

– Between Golden Ears. Lei and her Halfinger pony Mitch are both fans of trail riding, and working towards the possibility of competitive trail. Mitch is one of the cutest ponies ever!

Brownie Points

/ Ashley Wingert / 3 Comments

Instead of riding on Sunday, I got to spend 15+ hours helping my aunt pack up her house and load the moving van, as she rather spontaneously decided to move…back to her home town of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, after living on the West Coast (CA and AZ) for the last 32 years.

Lots of familial brownie points were earned in the hefting of boxes, and my ability to pack fragile things and make boxes for pictures. Never knew those years of working in the packing/shipping/mailbox center would come in so handy. This ought to get me off the hook for family obligations for a bit.

Equally spontaneous was my father’s decision to jump in the moving truck with his brother, who is helping their sister (my aunt) with the move. Coincident to this is my grandparents will be moving out of their house and into a retirement community the same week their kids (my dad, aunt, and uncle) are going to be back there. Well, maybe not so coincident, as that was the hope that was how it would all play out, but very handy to have my aunt’s house and grandparents’ house sell at essentially the same time and to be able to time the move in such a way that they can all help each other out.

Mind you, Dad made the decision to go with them this morning. They’re leaving this afternoon. So much for careful trip planning. The entire morning has been spent running around helping Dad get stuff together, clearing and reuploading music to my iPod shuffle for him to borrow, ironing, and getting the last of the newly-inherited items out of my suburban. That’s why I don’t mind helping people move, since I tend to acquire new things. Among the new toys accumulated: a scanner (score! don’t have to go buy my own once I move), little bureau-top mirror and jewelry drawer, two picture boards (I adore these…they’re the fabric kind, with ribbons stretched across to slide pictures under…I have one that is hopelessly full already). and a rusty iron display shelf. Might not be able to use a lot of stuff right away, but I’m slowly gathering it all for my own eventual move.

Fortunately, we had a good ride on Saturday. I think I have a hot-weather pony, because she has been unnaturally cheerful for the past couple months. Either she loves the weather, or she’s feeling so good because her hocks aren’t bothering her anymore. That in mind, I had no idea they had been bothering her for that long, if that’s the case. She acts like she just turned six, not sixteen. She’s power-trotting up hills and through sand washes, playfully spooking at Pony Eating Birds, asking for more speed (um, no. we’re not trotting at 10mph through the sand wash) and in general, acting like a very cheerful, mischievous pony.

I can’t even get aggravated about her antics, because I’m just so happy to see her feeling so good and acting so happy. Makes me believe we might actually have an enurance career that spans beyond a handful of rides. She’s pretty good at telling me when she’s happy or not, and I figure, as long as she’s happy, sound, and healthy, we’re going to keep going until she says “enough.” Half of our time together has been littered with the echos of the phrase, “you can’t do x.” But that’s a whole other topic that deserves its own post. :)

Saturday was hot, Hot, HOT. 95* by the time we were pulling out of the trailhead after the ride. Still experimenting with packs and various and sundry. This time it was trying to find a way to carry loaded elyte syringes, and if I had a little bag long and narrow enough to carry them seperately (I don’t.) I have visions of applesauce/elyte-loaded syringes exploding all over my saddle packs…I might be able to put together something, but I don’t know if my mom’s sewing machine is strong enough to handle tough, cordura-type of material.

The other thing I was experimenting with was carrying my Camelbak waist pack. Apparently I’m a Camelbak collector and am determined to find something that works, sinceI have three of them — two of the backpack-style, and the waist pack. The smaller backpack I’m not too fond of, as it’s more of a nuissance than it’s worth for the amount of water it carries. Plus, it grabs at t-shirts and pulls them up underneath it. The larger backpack carries more water, but that makes it heavier, and it doesn’t shuffle around as much.

The waist pack carries about 45oz of water — two bottles worth, essentially, and doesn’t seem too heavy. It interferes a tiny bit with the cantle on downhills, until I figured out if I shifted around a bit, it rests against the cantle and I can lean back on it like a back rest going down hills. Trotting, it doesn’t seem to interfere, but I have to keep tightening it as I drain the water out of it. I like that I can carry more stuff in the pack, like more food for myself, and a mini first-aid kit. And with Mimi feeling so good lately, she’s been a little more “looky” and spooky…bad time of year to get dumped in the desert without water on your person.

My lower back is sore today, but I don’t know if that’s a function of the Camelbak, or of spending all day yesterday moving boxes. I noticed a tiny bit of muscle soreness Saturday night, but that could be just needing to acclimate my back and ab muscles to carrying more weight. All in all, definitely worth experimenting with, even if to only use it for the hot part of rides. I do drink more than if I have to fish around for bottles.