Play Days

June 28, 2015 / Ashley Wingert / 2 Comments

It’s summer in Arizona, which means it’s hibernation season. Other parts of the country may hibernate in the winter due to snow/mud/impossibly frigid temperatures…we’re sort of the opposite in that we ride in the winter, and then lay low in the summer. For the most part. Unless you have active ride goals and plans, and then you spend the summer getting up at 3AM to try to get a couple of hours of riding in before it gets unbearably hot, or you ride at night (still hot), or you trailer up to higher elevations (which are still warm but not quite as brutal).

Right now, I have no active goals, plans, or activities…and the part of me that likes sleep is really enjoying not having to get up quite so early. I’ll do it if I need to, but it better be a very good reason.

So right now is just about relaxing, enjoying barn time as I can get it, and trying to find a balance between heat acclimation (it does make Tevis crewing easier) and hugging my air conditioner.

I got a little lax with hoof trimming for the past few weeks, and she paid me back for it with longer-than-ideal front toes. *sigh* I can always tell, because her boots then don’t fit the way they should (long, low toe leaves a gap at the top of the boot shell). Trimming in triple-digits is always fun,but I’ve taken to standing her in a small pan of water as I’m working on one hoof, and doing a rotation around of “nip wall, trim bars/anything dying to some out of the sole, rasp, mustang roll.” This pony’s hooves still kind of drive me crazy sometimes because there are just so many things about them that are “not ideal,” but that’s one of the trade-offs of not having the power to create an “ideal” living environment for her, so until I’m in a position to be able to do that, it means a lot of proactive hoof management. (That I sometimes get lazy/slack off on and then she rewards me with long toes and higher heels. Owner fail.)

11692595_10105206379465711_4257788906230285591_n

I really don’t get tired of just looking at this pony and spending time with her.

Today was a “good day” in Pony-ville. She actually really likes the warm weather (less-crunchy joints) so she was quite cheerful to have me doing stuff with her today. I also had to miss last weekend’s barn trip due to extra-busyness at home, so I think she may have actually been missing me.

And it was a “let’s mess around with headgear” day…I have a vosal that I’ve had for a number of years that I’ve played around with off and on, but never used on her for competition, mostly because I was never happy with the headstall it was on and that I could never get it adjusted short enough. After eyeballing my tack, I discovered the headstall for her s-hack is sized smaller than the vosal headstall, and that I had more adjustment with it. One swap later, and I was able to seat the noseband higher up on her nose.

Little peahead. My constant refrain when it comes to tack-buying has been “it doesn’t adjust small enough.”

We didn’t ride a ton today (really hot by the time I was done with hooves) but I really like how she worked in it. Super light in the face, which is a Big Deal in Pony-ville. Granted, it was the arena, which is not the most “stimulating” environment for her forwardness…but I liked it enough that I’ll probably keep messing with it. If nothing else, it’s something *different* and she seems to crave difference and change-up, even just in gear.

1908013_10105206379470701_2106283408293509703_n

In a photogenic mood today and showing off for her new boyfriend. Someone please tell the 22-year-old mare that she’s too old to be that flirtatious?

And after riding, she got a full bath. Up to this point, she’s just gotten water-only spray-offs, but today was a full soap bath. “Yellowtail” is a type of fish, not a proper pony color designation. Plus her hind legs were all nasty and peed-upon from her aforementioned flirtations. And the flies and mosquitoes are out, so she’s itchy. And it was triple-digit temperatures. All good reasons for a thorough scrub-down.

I judge the temperature levels by her willingness to get her head wet — normally she really hates water on her face and it’s a wrestling match to try to get her face as white as her body.

Today, she stuck her head under the hose running at full blast and let me scrub her face and rinse it. Without me even holding her head down to a reachable level.

11246975_10105206379460721_2848260255614152626_n

I have to say, she does look good for 22-years-old. Maybe a slight dip in her previously tabletop-flat back, and she has a *different* look to her face (more mature?)…but I’m very pleased with how she looks right now. Not fighting trim, but still reasonably fit.

And finally, she got a fly sheet today. The next-door neighbors at the barn train bucking bulls for rodeos, so there are a lot of cattle on the premises…which tend to attract more flies, no matter how good the barn protocol is for stall cleanup and maintenance (and it’s very good). The barn owner is apologetic, but there’s really nothing she can do about it — the downside of an area that has properties in somewhat close proximity to one another — but she’s willing to fly spray/fly mask/fly sheet all the horses as long as we provide the materials.

So one online visit to Riding Warehouse later, I found a flysheet that met my criteria of: belly band, neck cover (for mane protection — she sticks her head through the stall bars to get at her neighbor’s hay and has rubbed the middle section of her already-pathetic mane out), Euro cut, and not completely bank-breaking, since she has a history of being hard on sheets/blankets, and while I’m under no delusions that one will have a long, happy, snag-free existence, I would at least like to not cry when she does inevitably destroy it.

I ended up with the Saxon Softmesh Combo Fly Sheet. I will say the mesh isn’t quite as soft as they make it out to be…but good enough. And I’m guessing wear/dirt/washing will soften it up as well.

11665769_10105206380568501_9026019042690230437_n

Unimpressed mare is unimpressed by the new addition. The look was definitely a “Really? Are you seriously going to make me wear this?” She should be grateful I haven’t gone off the deep end and gotten leg wraps as well.

11058695_10105206379480681_3819690293170896020_n

Spotty pony! Her spots have gotten crazy — and you only see it when she’s wet, when her dark skin shows up through the wet hair. Sometimes you can kind of see it this time of year when she’s in her summer-bald coat. But she’s got a crazy Appaloosa blanket color pattern…had she not greyed out, she would have been a flaxen chestnut with the frosted blanket.But as striking as that would have been, I absolutely prefer her as a grey. It suits her. And makes her look even more like the little Arab she tries to be.

Another weekend gone, another week approaches. Monsoon season is starting, with a major dust storm last night and a minor one threatening this evening. Monsoon rain in the forecast…it’s just gotta cool off enough to not evaporate the rain out of the clouds. Summer plans on the horizon, some horsey (Tevis crewing, again) and some not (camping trips). Stay cool, pop electrolytes, and hug an air conditioner!

History Made

June 6, 2015 / Ashley Wingert / Leave a comment

American Pharoah won the Triple Crown today. 37 years since the last Triple Crown winner.

I’d not yet experienced a Triple Crown winner in my lifetime…born in the decade after the Triple Crown winners of the 1970s. It’s something I’ve followed and hoped for ever since I figured out what horse racing was…Silver Charm’s bid for the Triple Crown in 1997 was the first one I remember actively following.

An extraordinary horse and an extraordinary accomplishment. History in the making.

Functional Pony Roulette

June 1, 2015 / Ashley Wingert / 1 Comment

Part of having an older ~~horse~~ pony is management…and part of management is recognizing they have good days and bad days in terms of how “functional” they are.

From a “normal” perspective, Mimi is still very functional. But my perspective is a bit skewed, coming from the angle of a high-demand performance sport…so I’ve had to learn to readjust my settings to better align with what she is capable of offering me at this time.

It’s a bit of a roulette game in that I’m never quite sure on any given day what her level of function will be. Since I’m pretty sure what I’m dealing with is a creaky/crunchy/arthritis/aging joints scenario, “function” or lack thereof generally relates to how she’s moving, and her general outlook on life, and I have to go down to the barn ready to either move forward with potential plans for activity, or be willing to alter/cancel those plans at the last minute is she’s just not feeling it that day.

“Trails” around the barn, such are they are. At least it’s open space and (mostly, sans some gopher holes) good footing.

Fortunately, as the weather gets warmer, the happier she is, and a 10-minute loose-rein walking warm-up goes a long way towards better performance as well.

Yesterday was a good day, so after an arena warm up, we headed out around the barn neighborhood…not my favorite compared to real trails, but better than ~~nothing~~ endless arena circles.

She’s always very “up” in a urban/semi-urban setting, despite having lived in some kind of a more-urban-than-rural setting for the past 18-1/2 years. Some of that is probably me — we had some “incidents” fairly early on, including a spin-n-bolt parting of the ways that resulted in me splatting and road rash sliding on pavement at a young-and-impressionable enough age that I’m pretty sure I’m still subconsciously cringing.

Yes, I can handle narrow, drop-off, cliffy trails way better than I can handle a stroll around the urban neighborhood. Judge at will.

But honestly? Most Arabs don’t have anything on this pony in terms of “up”ness, reactivity, and the power to pull a fast one.

And yet I still adore this pony. She makes me a better rider, even now, and I have to actively ride her shenanigans and manage the zoom-brain. (There’s a reason she’s the original Go Pony.)

In a very cheerful, “let’s do something!” mood.

I also finally managed to make the English hackamore I’ve had laying around here for ages work properly. In the past, I always issues with the shanks sitting up too high (to the front of her face, not height in relation to length of the face), thus bringing the headstall cheekpieces way too close to her eyes. So I pulled off the traditional fleece-padded leather noseband that comes standard on many of these types of hackamores and replaced it with one of my longer and lower-profile beta nosebands.

And it worked. I was finally able to position the hackamore in a way that was functional and not too close to her eyes.

Why mess around with another headstall?

Because I can. :) I love messing around with different bits/hackamores/headstalls/etc, just to see how they all work, and the different effects of each one. This style of hackamore is very mild in terms of leverage and severity; and I know I definitely had “less” brakes with this set-up on this particular horse than her standard s-hackamore or a bit. Probably good I never got it rigged up for an actual ride, but for yesterday’s purpose — a ride that requires some pretty good contact and “hold” at points — it worked quite well, as she was not in a frame of mind to be allowed too much loose rein, but I didn’t have to feel to bad about hanging on her mouth or exerting too much pressure on her.

(Will also likely be a good introduction to bitless riding for future young horses without quite as many/as strong pressure points as the s-hack.)

It’s also an environment that encourages very good control of your horse — despite it being a residential area, people zip by really fast, and there’s some real redneck-in-the-worst-sense-of-the-word behavior, especially when it comes to driving…not at all uncommon for people to speed up, rev engines, or squeal tires. So you might call it defensive riding, but there’s not a ton of leeway there to be able to handle overreactive spooks or antics.

Scratch those itches!

Fortunately for us, the idiots were not out in force, so I only had to give the stink-eye to a couple of people that went zooming by, and the pony’s only major indiscretion of the whole time was to forget herself in her “want to trot” quest and trip on a pavement-to-dirt transition, for which she was spoken sharply to and then made to walk as punishment. The horrors.

Vacant property was housing a hawk — we stopped to watch him for a few moments, and he was holding some kind of prey (gopher, looked like) when he took off.

“Open space. Can I GOOOOOOO???”
(No, you may not, since cars like to zip by at way-over-the-speed-limit on the [residential] road next to us.)

And then once we were done, she got a nice bath, as it is officially summer here in the Valley of the Sun. Really can’t complain, though, as we were fortunate enough to have an unseasonably-pleasant May. And hot weather just means the inevitable overspray from horse bathing feels really good. All told, we did about 4 miles, which, for both of our fitness levels, was good enough.

And so summer (and heat conditioning) begins.

Happy 22

May 26, 2015May 26, 2015 / Ashley Wingert / 1 Comment

Happy Birthday, Mimi! 22 years old today…and still such a pony. She’s an interesting dichotomy. In some ways, I can say she’s definitely aged. Physically, I can see it…although it’s a case of not seeing it unless I go back and look at photos and compare to today…and of course she has her on-and-off days of physical crunchiness, especially in her hocks. But mentally she hasn’t slowed down at all…still smart, sassy, and always within a couple seconds of pulling a fast one on me. Now seems like a good time for a photo spam day.

Leading ears at Mount Elden in Flagstaff, AZ. June 2009.

Man Against Horse 50. October 2009.

Horse camping at Little Elden Springs, Flagstaff. June 2009.

Bad hair day. Usery Mtn Park, January 2015.

First LD. Man Against Horse 25, October 2005.

Fashion plate? January 2010.

Las Cienegas 25, Sonoita, AZ. Dec 2006.

Sulking out of camp on loop 2 at the Valley of the Sun 50, February 2009. (Two miles of sand wash = sulky pony.)

Finding the ribbons on the Man Against Horse trail. October 2007.

Evening training ride.

We can never be sure what the future holds…I can only hope for a number of happy years still to come with her…she may be competition retired, but she’s not ready to be put out to pasture quite yet!

Do What Works

May 22, 2015May 22, 2015 / Ashley Wingert / 3 Comments

Treed vs Treeless.
Barefoot vs Booted vs Shod.
Brand X vs Brand Y.
Bitted vs Bitless.
Minimalist vs Maximalist.
Training programs.
Diet choices.

Did I manage to hit just about every major hot topic button out there liable to start online riots?

Most of us probably have some sort of an opinion on any of the above topics. And since it is our opinion, there’s a good chance we’re probably pretty convinced that we’re right. (No one likes to have a wrong opinion, right?)

But when it comes down to it, who’s to say what is right or wrong? Obviously there are some hard and fast rules of the world — like I’m pretty sure running a red light is illegal in all 50 states, no matter your opinion on whether stopping for other traffic is stupid or not. But there are a wide range of subjects in which “Your Mileage May Vary” and one size definitely does not fit all.

Especially on those topics that we feel very passionate about, we (myself included!) can get somewhat…ardent in our beliefs. And that passion and enthusiasm is awesome, and usually contagious. It’s the reason for the success of word-of-mouth referrals — you’re going to be more apt to consider something that you received direct information and/or feedback about from a personal, reliable source, versus just a shiny marketing ad.

Where I begin to have a problem is the black-and-white extremism that says “This is the only way to do something and everything else is just wrong” and doesn’t consider that maybe what works for them won’t work for someone else. Very few things in this world are absolute, and while there are times that “If it’s not working, you’re doing it wrong” are applicable…more often than not, it’s better to keep an open mind, be flexible, and willing to do what works.

Naturally, me being me, of course I have an opinion on all of the above topics. ;) However, just to keep life interesting, I’ve had to re-visit some of these opinions depending on the horse in question, and learn to be very flexible.

At the last ride, Liberty tended to get behind the vertical with her s-hack, which tells me she isn’t ready for that many points of pressure and contact; back to more snaffle-basics for her. I prefer the s-hack for ease of eating/drinking/not removing headstalls…but when the training occasion calls for a bit, that is what I will use.

Personally, I’m not a huge fan of treeless saddles…for me. I recognize that they work really well for a lot of people, but my experiments with them have been mostly underwhelming. I also admittedly ride off my stirrups probably a little more than I should, so pressure dissipation on a treeless has the potential to be an issue with me. After sitting in several models of them, I would dearly love to try a ReactorPanel at some point, as their specific flex-panel technology intrigues me. And in the meantime, my old faithful Duett still continues to do the job.

The barefoot vs booted vs shod debate could probably take up a post all on its own. Suffice today: I have barefoot, booted performance horses. I want them barefoot and moving around as much as possible when they’re not working; but the majority of the time when they’re being ridden, I use boots. My personal stance on that is that under saddle, I’m asking them to do things that are unnatural, such as carry and balance weight, and move at speeds that may be faster than the terrain would ideally dictate, especially in a competition setting where we’re racing against the clock and may not have the luxury of slowing down for every questionable section.

As a caveat to that, I will say that training barefoot on a young horse can be a handy training tool. Not only does it teach them to pay attention to their feet — and that landing on rocks is a bad idea — it can also help curb excessive enthusiasm on a more forward horse after they clatter through a few rock piles and realize that might not have been the best idea.

Sometimes Arizona footing can be barefoot friendly. And then sometimes it’s really not.

And it’s not going to be for everyone. It can take a lot of time, dedication, and the right set of circumstances to have a successful barefoot performance horse. And if it’s hurting the horse, it’s not worth clinging to an ideal…do what your horse needs not what you want.

Oh, and FWIW, on the running front of happy debate topics, I haven’t been able to successfully use minimalist or maximalist shoes. So there. ;) Actually, the challenge of finding appropriate running shoes for myself has been even harder than it was finding boots that worked on Mimi.

Bottom line: Do research, take a moment to think about the arguments being made for or against something, try something, and don’t be afraid to say if something doesn’t work.

Go Pony • Go the Distance

The Trail Goes Ever On and On