Post-Game Analysis: Bumble Bee 2016

/ Ashley Wingert / 7 Comments

I need to stop thinking and just post this, especially since I have another ride coming up this weekend.

Given that it’s been two years since I’ve been to a ride, I kind of felt a bit like starting from scratch. During that time period, I’ve managed to change out/swap/acquire different gear, most of it untested in an actual ride environment.

The Horse

I had some weirdness this time around with getting her halter-bridle to fit well in conjunction with the s-hackamore. (Which I don’t understand because it’s the same setup as previously and it didn’t get used on anyone else.) I think I’m running into the same situation that I do with Mimi – their heads are fairly short, length-wise, so I run out of real estate to have a halter noseband plus an s-hackamore…and still have the curb on the hackamore make appropriate contact. She also has big ears (sorry, mare), so I’m wondering if the headstall-style halter-bridle may not be the best option, as it’s really tight to get it over her ears…but if it’s easier to put on, the noseband sits too low, and if I’d be better-served going with the bit-hanger style. (Which I historically haven’t liked for trying to bridle with a bit and keep the bit in the mouth while fumbling with bit hanger snaps…an s-hack shouldn’t have that problem.) Further justification for tack hoarder behavior.

S-Hackamore: Given that I don’t work with her on a regular basis yet, I use what she usually goes in, and that’s an s-hackamore. I made one change and swapped out the curb chain for a solid beta curb strap, since the last time, she was acting super-fussy and would drop off contact (hate that) and go behind the vertical when the curb chain would engage. She did much better with the solid strap, although I had to use some authority on her a couple of times when she started getting competitive. Still, I’d rather have that, and have her learn “some contact is good,” since that is how I ride.

In the future, I would like to go back to some basic bitted work with her…she could do better on yielding, and really work her on engaging her hindquarters, working on some contact, and getting her to shift from the shoulders to the hindquarters. (Noticeable when she “drags” herself around on a tight, standstill turn versus doing a nice, from-the-haunches pivot.) She may also be a good candidate for working in a Myler Combination bit, as that offers so many opportunities for contact and release. Plus more groundwork.

Saddle: Unfortunately, I think it’s “three strikes and it’s out.” (Someone send a Money and/or Saddle Fairy my way, please?) Three rides, three different saddle pads, and sore all three times. I initially thought it may be too narrow (and it still might be, thus tipping back on the loins, also causing me to fight against it), but now I also think her back isn’t actually as table-like as I thought it was, and the saddle probably doesn’t have enough rock to it. So saddle shopping will eventually be on the table.  And the Duett is Mimi’s saddle, so it’s not going anywhere. (Ahem, Money Fairy???)

EasyCare Ultimate Stirrups: I am a revolving door of stirrup purchases. This was my latest one. I had high hopes for them, but after doing a ride, I am forced to conclude they are no better than my normal plastic EasyCare ones, and have some aspects of them that I didn’t care for after putting them through a ride, such as a somewhat sharp edge to the aluminum (looking at the dirt/sweat patterns afterwards, I can’t help but wonder if they would end up rubbing the horse’s sides), as well as the top slot is supposed to fit 1” leathers – they are a tight squeeze to get in there, and I worry the sharp edge will start cutting into the stirrup leather.

Gaston Mercier Comfort Stirrup Leathers: Don’t love them, don’t hate them. Want to put more miles on them, as well as play around with how the stirrup leathers loop onto the fender and see if I can make it more streamlined, because as it is, I can feel it as a potential pressure point. Really want to like them, because the leather is lovely and the fact they loop around the stirrup bar with no buckle means that part is super-comfortable.

Skito Dryback pad: Even had new inserts, so I can’t blame that for back soreness. Love my Dryback pad, although I had a hard time getting it centered this time. Which is what happens when you’re using to easily seeing over your pony’s back and now you have an extra five inches to try to see over.

Stillwater mohair contour girth: 24”…and fatty errr… “fluffy” mare could almost use a 26”, since I had to start at the very bottom holes on my billet straps, and gradually up to the second holes.

Boots: I was a material/color test guinea pig for the weekend, and the test boots were done in the Classic model. Liberty is actually a better fit for the Viper model, especially with her toe angle, which is just slightly lower, even with shorter toes. They all stayed on, but we scooped up quite a bit of sand in the washes, and ultimately discovered what we think was the source of her lameness pull: it looked like a small rock had gotten between the captivator and her heel bulbs and created a cut on her coronet band line. When I was poking and prodding her leg, I noticed what looked like a small cut/crease in the area and poked at it, and she flinched a bit…but I figured “surely something so small can’t actually be the cause, right?” Apparently it could. So tough, and so delicate, these creatures. (Which then goes to my own internal debate of “Is it better to have a stoic horse or a wimp? As exasperating as it is sometimes, I’m more inclined to go with ‘wimp’ since they let you know right away if something is bothering them.)

The Rider

The only thing different was my Irideon Synergy tights…and I love them. Must get more. I was initially worried that the multiple seams would cause some rubbing, but so far, so good. Granted,  I would like to take them through a full 25, and a 50, before proclaiming they’re the most awesome end-all, be-all of riding tights…but I’m really liking them so far, and I did some active riding. As well as dealt with part of my sheepskin cover creeping up and bunching up under my leg/seat, and that didn’t cause any rubbing or issues.

However I managed to forget everything I have learned about taking care of myself in my quest to “hurry up and keep moving”. Ate: Nothing along the way. (Fail.) Drank: A few sips of water. (Even more fail.) If I can’t be bothered to fuss with water bottles, I may need to go back to wearing a hydration pack for a while to re-train myself to actually drink. (Running pack is so much better than the old Camelbak…I should try that out riding one of these days.)

“Race brain” doesn’t just happen when you’re “trying to win.” We were not going fast (3 hours to do the 16 mile loop), but I still let myself get sucked into that mentality of “move along , must get down the trail, must not get caught on time” to the detriment of settling in and enjoying the ride.

I had a very enlightening conversation with Bruce Weary at the AERC Convention about learning to relax when you’re in the saddle and how that saddle time is the rider’s time to settle in, let the horse take care of you, make sure you’re hydrating, and not getting to mentally wound up. (Easier said than done.) And then the vet checks are the time for you to take care of your horse…and then once you’re in the saddle and on trail again, rider relaxation time. That’s not something I had every considered — normally I’m the “crash for 30 minutes or however long I have at the vet check” type — probably because Mimi has required a very “on” ride, and I’ve ridden a lot of new/younger horses…so I’ve never learned to relax. (FWIW, a similar thing has been pointed out to me by friends — that I have to learn to relax, go with the flow, and stop being so uptight/controlling/nitpicky when I ride, or I’ll burn myself out on 100 milers.)

Food for thought, and definitely something for me to work on.

AERC Convention 2016

/ Ashley Wingert / 5 Comments

Another whirlwind Convention weekend has come and gone, leaving me short on sleep but exhilarated, inspired, and content after spending the weekend with some of my best friends and endurance “tribe.”

Convention means:

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running the Renegade Hoof Boots booth

 

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snow on the way in to Reno

 

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saddle testing…meet the new love of my life that will someday be gracing a saddle rack in the tack room…one of the flapless ReactorPanel models

 

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way too much fun with saddle testing…where’s that Money/Saddle Fairy when I need her?!?

 

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hanging out with friends

With tack swap sales, a teeny bit of shopping, really yummy food (all-you-can-eat sushi!!!) and drinks all thrown in, it makes for a really fun weekend.

Capped off with a driving tour of the Virginia City 100 ride, courtesy of Lucy and Kaity, who have both ridden it multiple times. They succeeded in getting me hooked on the idea of doing this ride, for sure.

SOBs in the distance (3 v-shaped, very steep canyons)
fun times in Virginia City… ;)
looking down at one of the out/in trails
Delta Saloon: the ride starts here
looking down on Reno
wild mustangs! (all over the place)
driving into Virginia City

PSA: Endurance and Social Media

/ Ashley Wingert / 6 Comments

Most of the time, I like social media. (Obviously. I’m a blogger.) The vast majority of my friends are out of town or out of state, so things like Facebook allow me to stay in easy contact with them (well, so does texting), and theoretically, it is nice to be able to create “groups” for like-minded people to gather and have discussions.

Except when discussions degenerate into hysterical, name-calling, mud-wrestling, argue-fests. Which happens quite a bit on some of the endurance groups, especially this time of year, when a large part of the population is snowed or mudded in and looking to take off a piece of someone’s hide in frustration. (It’s not just ponies and dogs that get spring fever.)

It’s not a pretty picture, and doesn’t give a great impression.

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Facebook groups give mare faces a run for their money in the snark department

So I’ll come right out and say it: If you’re considering endurance, or want to dip your toes in the water of the sport, stay away from the Facebook groups. Not only is there a ton of unnecessary drama that will leave a really bad taste in your mouth, it is often a case of “ask ten people one question and get 13 different answers.”

(I want to give people the benefit of the doubt, that maybe they don’t realize how they’re coming off sounding online, since they’re otherwise perfectly pleasant people to talk with in person. And then other people are just as belligerent and argumentative in person, so it’s not always a case of “lack of social media social graces”. )

While there is very little “there is only one way to do things and this is the correct way” in endurance, that myriad of information overload can be intimidating, overwhelming, or confusing. Also consider: we have approximately just over 5000 AERC members. There are almost 12,000 people that participate in one of the “main” Facebook groups. That’s a pretty big difference, even taking into account that some people may not have renewed a membership, or ride but don’t have a membership. So that means there are probably people on there who are also new and seeking information, as well as the handful of “internet experts” who feel obligated to dole out information despite the fact they don’t even have a ride record.

So, know thy source when gathering information, or deciding whose advice to take. There can be some really good advice to be found (which is why I still lurk on these groups), and I have an ongoing Word doc of “tidbits of advice to save” for individuals whose experience and approach I like and respect.

AERC itself offers some very good “how to get started” information, located under the “Education” tab on aerc.org, and of superb value: the Mentor program. They give email addresses and locations, so you’re able to contact those individuals with everything from an email question to a more involved “can I ride with you” type of mentoring.

Those are the official AERC mentors. You might also know someone local to you that you can approach, who takes you under their wing and introduces you to the sport. Not everyone advertises as a mentor, but most of us are willing to answer questions when someone expresses an interest in our sport.

(And I’m going to preemptively say that I’m best suited for giving advice on how to do a lot of conditioning, attend rides very infrequently, and quite a bit of “don’t do what I did.” Most days, I still feel like I need a mentor, but I’ve been fortunate enough to be friends and acquaintances with a lot of people who are way more experienced with endurance than I am, and they take my picking of their brains and information gathering with good humor. I may be experienced with horses and riding in general, but many days, I still feel like I’m splashing around in the kiddie pool when it comes to endurance.)

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at least we look put together?

I say this, not to scare people off, but rather, to prevent them from being scared off — social media seems to bring out the snarkiness, especially this time of year — so please, please, if you’re an aspiring endurance rider, don’t judge an organization by its Facebook groups. Make personal contact with individuals, reach out to a mentor, come attend a ride and get a feel for it, and you’ll find that we’re, overall, a fun bunch of people who love our horses, exploring trails, and pushing ourselves to go a little bit further.

EDIT: I also want to add a belated edit that not all of the groups out there are bad. While I’m not really an active participant in many of them (I tend to lurk, and save my social interaction or very small groups, or in person), I’ve gotten some very good information and found helpful, kind people in some of the more specialized groups, such as the “Zonies” group targeted at AZ endurance riders, just as one example. So Good People are out there…even on social media. ;) 

Training Nosebands

/ Ashley Wingert / 6 Comments

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As in “the noseband is the thing getting trained.”

I love my beta/biothane hackamore nosebands. They’re becoming more and more available as replacements to the rope hackamores that come standard on a lot of s-hackamores, and some of the nicer s-hackamores (like Taylored Tack or Hought) are made with the them as par for the course.

However, there is one thing about them (and it has a lot to do with the number of layers and type of padding) that I find a little bit annoying: they tend to start out more rigid, without much shape to them, and thus will stick out from the side of the horse’s nose at first. Especially the more padding there is.

I have a basic, unpadded Hought biothane noseband on Mimi’s s-hack that is over 10 years old now. It has the top strip of biothane, with a single layer of thin, heavy-duty beta underneath. And it has a very nice curve shape to it.

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Of course, that was aided by the fact that Mimi tends to believe in “excessive rein contact”. (aka “she pulls like a crazy freight train”)

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way to foster the “all go” endurance horse reputation, pony…

That hackamore noseband shaped very nicely, and in a very short time period. (We’ll discuss my horse’s training and lack of “softness” on trail sometime next never.)

One a horse that is much lighter in the face, the noseband never really gets a chance to shape very much. It’s a small thing, but one of Life’s Minor Annoyances.

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Noseband exhibit A on Beamer, who was very light in the face and never required hard contact.

Liberty is another one who is light in the face (a relief for my shoulders, that’s for sure) and it would be really nice if she stays that way…but my Type A OCD-ness demands that I do something with my nosebands if the horse insists on being polite and only needing light contact.

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The noseband on the left is actually triple-layered (layer of beta that the buckles thread through, layer of thin beta under that, which is the same as Mimi’s purple one and the orange one to the right, but then with another layer of PVC waffle padding under that). Nice and cushy, especially for the sensitive horse, but really tough to get to hold a shape.

But hair elastics and keychains seem to be doing the trick, so they’ll stay this way until the next time I need to use them.

Review: Straight Shot Metal Smashing

/ Ashley Wingert / Leave a comment

I had seen reviews crop up on several friends’ blogs about Straight Shot Metal Smashing, by Beka at The Owls Approve blog. Pretty bridle charms, lightweight aluminum cuff bracelets stamped with a name/phrase/saying and with different colors available to highlight the stamping.

I’m a sucker for pretty, blingy things, and decided to exorcise my post-ride pull-demons with a bit of retail therapy.

The hardest part for me was deciding what exactly I wanted, but I narrowed it down to a couple of bridle charms and a cuff.

Within a day of placing the order, Beka messaged me about one of the charms (the skull) — I had color options on that, and which one would I like? Oooo, sparkly *and* colorful???

I ended up choosing the orange skull charm, and within another day, I received a shipping notification. Wow, talk about fast turnaround and excellent communication!

So I was stalking the postal service site (received a day early, even!) and booked it down to my mailbox as soon as I saw the “delivered to parcel locker” status appear on the tracking number.

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pretty packaging! with a bonus skull charm! (going to add a clip to that and turn it into another bridle charm, probably.)

Love the details on the packaging — pretty wrapping, with horse-print tape, and the little bonus skull charm.

And this is what was inside (ugh, blurry phone camera pics):

“Horse sense”
Orange skull with sparkly eyes
feather charm…I love feathers
Yay, goodies! Cuff and two bridle charms.

On the cuff, I had the phrase “horse sense” stamped on it. It has multiple purposes and meanings: 1) I’m pretty sure (most) horses I know have more sense than many people. 2) Our world often doesn’t make sense to horses, so when I’m working with them, it’s a reminder to me to make sure I’m trying to come at that work from a horse’s perspective. 3) Knowledge and theory and learning is valuable…but so is intuitive horse sense.

The orange skull will look great with my orange tack set (and Liberty’s black/white skull-n-crossbones fleece), and the feather…I just love feathers. They go along with my love of birds of prey.

Her prices are really reasonable, with excellent workmanship and attention to detail. (I’ve done some jewelry-making in the past myself, so really appreciate things like smooth jump rings and secure fastenings.) I’m currently wearing the cuff, and will be attaching the charms to my bridles right away…and am already “wish listing” ones I want to order in the future!

Disclaimer: I do reviews based on products and companies that I like. All opinions are my own and I have not received any compensation or benefits for my review.