Blog Anniversary!

It's been three years since I started this blog, taking some of my adventures public. I have posted over 800 entries in that time! Thank you to all of you who follow my ramblings :)

WW: Love of my Life

Sunshine Award

Thank you to those of you who nominated me for the Sunshine Award, including TBA and Thee Ashke.

The sunshine award is for people who 'positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere'. The nominee of this award must do the following, thank the person who nominated them, nominate 10 bloggers of their own, answer the 10 questions given to you, post them, and add the Sunshine Award Button to the blog.

1. Mares or Gelding? I have always been a gelding person. All three of my horses are geldings. In fact, all the horses currently living with me are geldings, right down to the minis! 

In my experience, geldings are easier and more straight-forward to teach. They tend to be willing to please and are easily influenced and persuaded. 

I joke that I can't stand mares and that I don't recommend getting one, but the truth is that I've known some really wonderful mares. In fact, I worked with three excellent mares yesterday alone. 

The one thing that somebody told me once is that a gelding may be easier to train, but a mare will never quit on you. I've heard from several people now that once you gain a mare's respect, you'll have a lifelong partner, and I believe it! I'm just not convinced I want to deal with the hormones in the meantime!

I'm getting a little bit off topic now, but the stand-out mare who broke my no-mare rule was Rayzer, who I competed briefly, but successfully in 2011.

Riding Rayzer in Maine.

2. English or Western? I am an English rider at heart. I always have been! I adore dressage and get a kick out of jumping. I also ride English when I do endurance. With that said, I do both for work. My clients are split about 50/50 between English and western. I still feel like I'm just an English rider in western tack, though.

English with CP last summer.

Western with Wink.

3. Do you prefer younger or older horses? Most of my early horse history involves young horses. I spent a long time working at a breeding farm, bringing foals into the world and teaching them about being domesticated horses. I halter-broke babies and prepped yearlings. I love watching them learn and play and interact with each other. I also spent years working at the track, where the majority of horses were under five years old. They were handled daily, but a lot of things were still new, scary, and confusing. 

Nothing more endearing than a baby horse!

I love, love, love working with young horses. There's nothing better than a blank slate and I love laying down a good foundation, from manners to early rides. I love the look of wonder on a greenie's face the first time he goes trail riding. I want to get into this sale horse thing a little more seriously mostly so that I can give youngsters a good start and see them go on to be successful.

However, I also have a great appreciation for older horses. The wisdom, gentleness, and graying faces melt my heart. Some day, I want to have my own property and bring in a couple old, non-riding horses to live out their retirements. Working in rescue gave me a soft spot for the oldies, and I wish I could keep them all on a pasture, safe and happy until the end.

My friend Sandy's 45 year old gelding lived the best possible life right until the very end.

4. Have you trained a horse from ground zero? Yes. I have brought various horses through all the phases of training, from halter-breaking to lunging to ground driving to saddle-breaking, and up through competitions of various kinds. Many of my client horses are ones that I start from scratch.

Romeo the first time anybody sat on him.

I have known Ozzy since he was a yearling. I was involved in all his early training at the track and helped break him to drive. I also taught him about bathing, clipping, having his feet handled, etc. I started him under saddle before he was mine and did all of his training myself. He has done everything from endurance and parades to jumping, dressage, and even cross country. I'd say Ozzy and I have gone through pretty much all the training steps together, and I learned a lot from it.

Currently, I am starting Booger from the ground up. She was basically feral when I started her. As of yesterday, she is ground driving figure eights at the trot, free-lunging like a pro, and wearing a saddle and bridle like a real riding horse. I'm excited to throw a leg over her in the spring and see where our journey goes.

In case you haven't figured it out, I get a kick out of bringing horses along!

5. Do you prefer riding or groundwork? I enjoy both. I think people under estimate the importance of ground work and how it affects everything about riding. I do significant ground work with every single horse I work with. I think it's unfair to expect a horse to do something while carrying the weight of a rider if he can't do it without a rider on board. I rarely do traditional lunging unless it's for conditioning and muscle-building purposes. I love round pen work and liberty work, and I can't count how many times a client has been thrilled with the difference just one good ground session can make in a horse's training! I also feel that ground work can often be a much safer way of working with horses who have major holes in their training or severe behavioral issues.

Liberty work with Ace.

6. Do you board your horse or keep him at home? Before I started my own business, I kept Ozzy wherever I happened to be working, which was very convenient. Since then, I have acquired more horses and sort of taken over a farm. I board my horses because we don't have a farm of our own. However, I have always been in charge of their care, and am currently almost-leasing the farm they are at. I make all the decisions about feed, turn out, medical and hoof care, blanketing, etc. After hearing the drama other people go through with their boarded horses, I cannot imagine having it any other way. In fact, I'm dying to get our own property so I can really run things 100% my way (and be able to look out my window at my horses instead of driving to see them). 

The front pasture at the farm (where Dancer and JR are currently).

7. Do you use all natural things or just commercial stuff (the products you use)? I don't really use 'things'. 

I am very big on natural horse keeping. My horses live turned out 24/7 (unless they are sick or injured). They don't get blanketed. They are all barefoot (even the thoroughbred). Dancer gets grain, but everybody else is on grass-only in the summer and free choice hay in the winter. Nobody is currently on supplements or medications. I don't consider myself a hippie horse keeper, but I probably sound that way to some people!

With that said, there are times when horses need supplements or medications. For the most part, I use commercial things when that happens. Bute, Adequan, thrush medication, antibiotics, etc. With that said, I believe in homeopathic remedies for certain situations (I know some mares who do well on herbal supplements when they're in heat, for example). 

8. All tacked up or bareback? These days I ride mostly client horses, and therefore ride tacked up 99% of the time.

I have been known to go 'naked' from time to time, though...

9. Equestrian role model? I don't really have one. I have been to a lot of clinics and demonstrations by various trainers, both traditional and natural horsemanship. There are many trainers who I admire. I love watching upper level riders compete in their various disciplines, but I don't follow any specific sports closely. I know of a few farms whose horse keeping practices are on par with my own and who I look up to for their horse knowledge, dedication to the animals in their care, and willingness to do right by the horses.

I guess if you twisted my arm about it, I would pick Steve Rojek, a well-known endurance rider from Vermont. Not only is he extremely accomplished in the sport, but I have met him on several occasions and he is down to earth, kind, and very approachable. I have also had the pleasure of riding at his farm and all the horses were well-kept and beaming with joy and energy, not to mention the place is just plain gorgeous. 

Steve Rojek on Cougar Rock during the Tevis Cup. Photo courtesy of Mary Watkins.

10. What's your one main goal while being in the horse world? To help as many people as possible gain a better understanding of their horses. I started out on my own to help horses, and that remains my goal. The more time goes by, the more I see that a horse issue is very frequently a human issue. 

Getting to the root of Willie's problems.

My 10 nominees:

1. Mare at Simply Horse-Crazy. Talk about a girl who is wise beyond her years and always willing to do right by her horse! I've had several in-depth conversations with her on topics ranging from the breeding of paint horses to feed choice, and I always forget how young she is because she is so mature and with-it.

2. Sprinkler Bandit who is approachable, fun, and posts gorgeous photos of the progress she makes. She is currently bringing along a young OTTB named Courage, and their journey has been an impressive one already!

3. Kate at The Adventures of Lucy is someone I have met in person when she generously gave us a place to crash with the horses in 2010. I admire her for her ability to juggle life and horses, now more than ever! Her journey with Lucy hasn't been an easy one, but she has always put her mare's needs first and gone above and beyond to provide for her beautiful, but sassy mare.

4. The Hoge Homestead who posts the most beautiful trail riding photos on a regular basis and manages to make me jealous even when I'm actively trail riding myself! She is a blogger who leaves me supportive comments always, and who is easy to talk to and fun to follow!

5. Debra at A Peace-a-Bull Assembly is someone I found through the Team Unruly blog. It turns out we have an eerie amount in common! They had a mostly white pit bull. This year, a homeless black and white pit bull unexpected joined their family... and his name is... wait for it... Julius!

6. Amanda at Love Me in Focus. Her journey has been a heart-breaking one at times. This year it really hit home when she lost her soul-horse, Image, to mysterious neurological issues. He was way too young and their time together was much too short, but she handled his passing with a grace that is inspirational. Get the tissues out for this beautiful blog.

7. Morning Line is the blog of a talented photographer who works in the world of thoroughbred racehorses. I have followed her since my DeviantArt days and she continues to wow me every day.

8. Stephanie at the Nie Nie Dialogues is a living miracle. This blog is completely different from my normal reads, but totally worth reading from start to finish. The short version is that she and her husband were in a small airplane crash a few years ago and Stephanie was burned over 80% of her body. She survived, but her life was forever changed. Her strength is something I can't even fathom.

9. Sue at Sue's Daily Drive posts everything from delicious recipes to fun anecdotes. I go there every day for my daily dose of trivia and it never gets old!

10. Jess at The Spyder Standard is a friend and client of mine who is taking her pacing-bred, opinionated standardbred gelding and turning him into an eventer. She is always up for an adventure and has worked tirelessly to overcome Spyder's long list of attitude quirks! Her determination to progress with him and her dedication to the breed really make her stand out in my mind!

(Geez, I can really ramble, huh?)

Sunday Stills: Jersey Devil Preview

Booger Updates

For those of you who don't remember (or weren't around yet), Booger is the half-Arabian daughter of a Missouri Foxtrotter mare that I trained last year. She was a surprise foal who showed up in the straw one morning, shortly after her mother, Lilly, was rescued from a bad situation. Due to her owner's health complications, Booger didn't get a lot of handling as a youngster, and grew up with quite the attitude. She is a beautiful and smart filly, but she's not 100% convinced that she wants to be tame, let alone work for a living!

I started with Booger last fall and she was full of herself. She threw some pretty impressive temper tantrums and demonstrated that she wasn't afraid to fight pressure or go through fences. Yikes! She could rear like a circus horse (ironic given her history) and buck like a rodeo bronc. I did get the very basics (wearing a saddle, the beginnings of lateral flexing, and the base-work for lunging) installed before winter fell, and mentioned that she might make an excellent partner if she ever settled down.

Booger's owner, Frances, and I decided to give the pretty black filly the winter and spring off. It would be a good chance for her to grow both physically and mentally. After all, she was only two at the time.

Booger turned three at the beginning of July and Frances called to see if I had healed enough to take her on again. We discussed potentially sending her to my farm for 'boot camp', but decided to just start with once a week sessions at home.

Our re-evaluation was in August. Booger looked downright dismayed when I appeared at the barn. She did remember how to cross tie like a lady and didn't protest when I saddled her up like old times. I took her outside on the lunge line and she remembered the few cues I had taught her.

That didn't mean she was willing to do it though! She fought and pulled and yanked until I brought her into a smaller area and started from scratch. She went pretty well to the left, but circling to the right was basically a no-go. She was putting up a fight, but I noticed that her antics were as violent as they had been the year before. After the initial battle, in fact, she actually settled down and started trying to figure out the right answer. She grasped the concept pretty quickly, and after a few repetitions, I called it quits.

It wasn't a lovely, peaceful session, but it ended on a good note and gave me hope. I told Frances that I felt as though Booger had matured through her time off and might actually be willing to start learning some things.

Over the course of the next several sessions, I introduced Booger to the bit and bridle (she was furious) as well as polo wraps and other leg-wear.

The downside to doing all this work with Booger was that she really didn't want anything to do with me. I couldn't really blame her. She only sees me once a week and it's only to work. I'm also the only person who makes her do her job. I'm not exactly her favorite person. In fact, it got to the point where I was spending the first ten minutes of each session trying to catch the filly. I asked Frances to start bringing Booger in and stalling her before I arrived.

I also requested that Frances put up a round pen to give the horse some boundaries. Aside from one time when Booger tried unsuccessfully to break through the round pen fence, having a smaller area to work in really resolved a lot of her issues. It was harder for her to get away from me and she had to start paying attention to what I was doing on the ground. Slowly, but surely, some of the cues started to sink in. Booger was reluctant to slow down from a canter, but she started to understand what the words 'trot', 'walk', and 'whoa' mean.

Then, one day, Booger and I had a break through. I tacked her up, led her to the round pen, and turned around to find her staring eagerly at me, awaiting the first cue. I ran her through her paces on the lunge line and she was reacting quickly and obediently. Furthermore, she actually seemed to be enjoying herself. I took a deep breath and unclipped the lunge line from Booger's bridle. It was time to see if Booger was really listening and absorbing... whether she was ready for the next step.

That's when I discovered Booger's love for liberty work. To her, this was a great big play session... only I was in charge! She turned on a dime, obeyed all my hand cues, and kept her eyes and ears on me at all times. Of course there was nobody around to see it and I was worried it would be a fluke. Booger and I 'played' for nearly an hour that day, and at the end of the session, she approached me and asked for physical contact. I was elated! I called Frances and gushed about how good her filly was, then ran back to the barn and stuffed Booger full of carrots.

Since then, Booger's entire attitude has changed. The next time that I went out to the barn, it was misting and gray. Frances wasn't sure I was coming and she had left the filly out in the pasture. To my surprise and delight, Booger came galloping up to the barn when I whistled, and quietly followed me into her stall. It turns out that the excellent free-lunging session we'd had was no fluke at all! In fact, it seems to be a big breakthrough in our relationship! (We're finally developing a good working relationship!)

Since then, Booger has learned to ground drive and has even started working outside the round pen. She still needs a lot of guidance outside the confines of the round pen, and she occasionally tests the limits, but she's finally starting to act like a horse with a lot of potential rather than a rank youngster with no work ethic.

I am pleased to announce that I actually remembered to charge my helmet cam and bring it to one of our training sessions. Check out these two videos of Booger doing some of her liberty exercises.

You can see she's reluctant to slow down, but she is really learning her verbal cues. She is especially good at stopping on a dime, but her favorite thing is changing direction! She has even given me some great rollbacks on command! I think she wants to do endurance and sort cattle, but that's just me ;)

I suspect you'll all be hearing a lot more about this little half-gaited filly in the near future!

Erin and JR

Erin came down from New York this past weekend with her boyfriend, David. They were heading to Six Flags, which is only half an hour from my barn. Since they had to pass the barn to get there, I invited them over for some pony time.

Dancer was off for the day so we played with JR instead.

We started off by giving David his first riding lesson, and things were going well (he even got to do some trotting on the lunge line!) David started to get an appreciation for how hard it actually is to ride a horse, and JR was plugging along, doing his job like the good boy he is.

When David had had enough, Erin hopped on the pony. She's the perfect size for him and I was excited to see her put him through his paces. Erin doesn't get to do a lot of jumping these days, and she was hoping to jump something a little more substantial than six inch cross rails.

Erin warmed up on the flat, then over some crossrails and a 2' vertical. After a few run-throughs, I invited her to take JR down the diagonal line, set at 2'6". I was taking pictures, of course.

Have some photos of JR and Erin

WW: Herbie and Julio

Real posts coming soon...

Dogs and Gratitude

A Team Unruly post about Julio and his new lease on life.

WW: Dogs

Hangover Ride

Plaid pony and his new girlfriend.

I enjoyed another beautiful Saturday of trail riding, thanks to Sandy and Sherry. Sandy's birthday was on Friday and we were up late, celebrating with tequila shots, hence the title of this post.

The following morning, Sherry and Sandy met me at the barn with Sherry's three-horse in tow, and Ember on board. Sherry's horse, Scutch, is recovering from a suspensory injury, and she needed more AIS time to prepare for some upcoming catch riding she's doing. I offered her JR to use and she jumped on the opportunity.

Poor JR wasn't quite sure what hit him.

I think I need to back track for a second...

Ace went home at the beginning of the month. His owner is saving the money she's not using on board for further diagnostics.

When Ace lived with me, he got fed just enough grain to cover his supplements every day. He is extremely food motivated, and the meager handful of daily feed was enough to keep him coming up to the barn any time I made an appearance. The benefit to having Ace be buddy-buddy with Dancer was that I could appear at dinner time, whistle from up at the barn, and have Ace 'bring the thoroughbred up' for dinner.

When Ace left, Dancer seemed to forget where the barn was, despite the fact that he's lived in the same field for close to nine months. I would whistle and Dancer would throw his head up and trot in confused little circles.

JR, meanwhile, would look on with an expression on his face that was a mixture between exasperated and dumbfounded. Fat!Pony, of course, doesn't get fed at all. He stared at Dancer, as if bewildered. "Dude, she wants to feed you. If she was feeding me, I'd be galloping up to that barn!" Then, with a heavy sigh, JR ambled up to the barn, Dancer in tow, as if to finally give in. "FINE. C'mon, dumb-dumb, let's go get you fed. Barn's this way."

Familiar trails.

So I started rewarding JR's efforts by giving him a cookie or a mint every time he came when I called Dancer. Thereby, I taught the pony to bring the thoroughbred up for dinner.

On Saturday, I whistled and JR came trundling across the pasture, Dancer hot on his heels. The little Morgan pony looked downright startled when I haltered him and brought him into the barn. He definitely knew something was up when I groomed him thoroughly and tucked him away in the stall while I fetched Ozzy. By the time the trailer rolled up the driveway, his expression said, "O you've got to be kidding me. How did I get roped into this?" And by the time we got back, in the dark, a few hours later, he was looking at me like, "Yeah. Let's see if I ever bring Dancer up again. You can catch your own darn thoroughbred."

Ozzy, of course, was delighted that we were going on two adventures in three weeks! He was waiting at the gate, staring at me intensely, when I went out to get him. Once again, he nickered as the trailer pulled up the driveway, and leaped right on board as soon as the door was open.

JR followed dutifully and loaded like the good man he is.

By this point, thanks to the sunshine, brisk breeze, and happy horses, I was feeling peppy. Sherry and Sandy did not seem to share my delight. Sandy dangled the keys hopefully in my face, "Does this mean you want to drive?" I declined, choosing to navigate instead. Sherry napped in the back, on the midget-seat-of-death.

We made our way down to the Assunpink, opting to park at the Horse Park rather than the ranger station. Bow season is open now, but the park is still open to riding and hiking in the mean time. Still, the hunters tend to use the parking lot by the cabin, so we thought we'd have better luck at the HP. There was a dressage show going on that day, and we parked alongside the competitors. I think our cover was blown the second our motley crew of horses unloaded. It was definitely blown when I pulled my lime green tack out of the trailer.

I had Ozzy tacked up in record time. Sherry and Sandy were not so quick and offered to let me ride Oz and pony the other two. Haha.

JR and Ozzy stood by the trailer, dozing, while Ember took everything in with bright eyes and perky ears. Sandy has done an incredible job with her in the last year, but there are still so many things that she just hasn't seen. The Horse Park was definitely full of interesting things to gawk at.

What mounting issue?

Before long, we were mounted up, but not before Ember demonstrated (repeatedly) how good she is at hopping up walls and banks. Eventually we parked JR on top of the 'mounting wall' to keep her on the ground level.

We rode across the cross country course and into the Assunpink, and I voiced my preference not to be the brains behind the operation. Unfortunately, I was sort of stuck with that duty since I'm the only one who has ridden at the Assunpink in the last twenty years. It's true that Erin and I spent an awful lot of time riding there once upon a time, but we always did some variation of basically the same loop. Plus it's been over two years since I've been to the Assunpink on horse back (and even longer since I've gone with Ozzy).

Upon entering the park, we found left over trail markers from a recent trail event, and decided to start by following them. Unfortunately, most of the ribbons had blown down and we were left making it up as we went along. We took turns deciding which was to go. We started on territory that was vaguely familiar to me (from the time Erin and I rode in that massive thunder storm) but, before long, we were on trails I had never seen before.

I have been wanting to explore new parts of the Assunpink forever and ever, so I was delighted to be on new trails. Besides, we had the GPS, so we weren't likely to get very lost.

Ember and Ozzy spent the first few miles competing over who got to be in front. I definitely need to put the bit back on him the next time we ride in a group. I'm relieved to find out that, once they get moving, Ember and Ozzy are pretty well matched at the trot.

JR and his corn.

Meanwhile, JR brought up the end of our group. By two miles in, he was pretty much convinced he was going to starve to death. At one point, Sherry plucked a cob of corn off a stalk at the edge of an unharvested field and tossed it on the ground. JR came to a grinding halt, dropped his head, and started eating it... left to right like a cartoon horse! That got us laughing pretty well...

Some time later, we crossed over some gorgeous, pine tree-lined fields that I had never seen before, and crossed a tree line onto the edge of some huge crop fields. I could see civilization at the bottom of the hill and we had to check the GPS to make sure we were still in the park. This was the first time I'd ever reached that end of the Assunpink, and I couldn't believe just how far it went in that direction.

We had to do some guessing on how to continue from that point. Many of the former trails in that remote part of the park have been severely damaged in the storms and are just not passable. We tried several dead ends before finding our way to a beautiful, wide sand road. There we were really able to get the horses moving out for several miles, and Sherry found JR's hyper drive. I joke at Fat!Pony's expense, but I really think he was having the time of his life. He was truckin' happily along with his ears up the whole time, and looked completely content by the time we made our way home.

After a while, we started seeing things that were familiar to me. Again, I had been there a time or two with Erin, but wasn't really sure where I was in relation to the world. We took some educated guesses and ended up on the back side of Stone Tavern Lake, crossing the dam to get to a trail I actually knew.

Along the way, I hopped Ozzy over a jump or two. This may have been a minor mistake, since it totally put him into jumping mode.

A little ways down the trail, we came to a pretty technical stretch. There was a large log across the trail, on a pretty steep downhill grade. After the log was a pretty significant drop to the next stretch of trail. After a moment of hesitation, Ember carefully stepped over the log, dropped to the next bit of trail, and carried on. Ozzy, who was next in line, suddenly got really amped up and I could feel him 'lock and load' onto the log.

"NO! Don't even think about it!" I told him, gathering my reins and asking him to halt, but Ozzy already had his own concept of how this part of the trail was best navigated. He coiled into a little ball, then sprang sideways over the log. As he took off, Sherry and Sandy gasped, and I grumbled. He did manage to land us safely (but not gracefully) on the other side of the log, then pranced on as if he was super proud of his accomplishment.

JR took one look at the log, which was higher than his knees, and stepped calmly over it. "It's a freaking log, Ozzy. Yeesh!"

We rode the narrow, winding path down the backside of the lake. The views were breathtaking, with the fall colors starting to show on the trees, and the swans gliding majestically out of the sky to land on the bright blue water. It was also quite windy and the horses' manes were whipping up as we rode. It's definitely starting to feel like fall in these parts...

Of course, we stopped at the boat ramp to let the horses cool their feet and get a drink.

Ember prancing through the fields.

As we came around the corner, we spotted a man and a woman on two horses. The man was on a chestnut in English tack, with a helmet on. The woman was riding a beefy looking spotted horse with blue eyes... western gear, no helmet.

As we came out of the bushes, the woman was looking down at the ground. Her horse took half a step to the right so he could see us better, and we were horrified to watch the woman come crashing to the pavement, head first. She landed with a sickening thud and then just lay there, while her horse looked horrified. I was completely convinced that she was dead, or at the very least unconscious, and I was off of Ozzy with my phone out before anybody could blink.

Thankfully, the woman was merely stunned. She got slowly to her feet, assured us that she wasn't hurt and didn't need medical attention, and climbed ever so tenderly back onto her horse, who stood like a saint the whole time.

We were letting the horses drink when the couple rode over to join us. The woman told us that she had dropped her gloves and was looking down to try to locate them when her horse 'threw a bucking fit' and she 'couldn't stay on'. Alright... if that's how you remember it...

It just goes to show that it may not be a bad idea to wear a helmet. Even if you're just trail riding. Even if you're just walking. Even if you're on Ole Reliable.
Ok. PSA over.

JR looking happy at the lake.

By then, the day was drawing to a close, but we decided to get a couple more miles in. We stuck to the loop that Erin and I used to do, riding it backwards past the Hunt Club and to the cabin where we used to park. From there we made our way past the 'bowling pin' and around the old galloping track, which is quite over grown, before crossing back to the cross country course and meandering back to the trailers.

The ride was just under 12 miles, and left us wondering why nobody does an endurance ride out of the Assunpink.

Ember, who had been pretty up all day, had worked up a good sweat, but still had plenty of pep in her step. Ozzy was ready to go out and do another loop, and was barely sweating. JR was pretty wet, but looked perky and was delighted to learn that long trail rides=FOOD.

After some brief hand grazing, we had the horses loaded back up for the trip home. All three of us felt significantly better after a few hours with the horses, but admitted that we would be sleeping like logs that night.

I am delighted that I got to go out and enjoy Ozzy again. It's my favorite time of year for riding, and I was so worried we'd miss out on the fun this year. It was also good to get JR off the farm. I feel guilty that I don't do more with him sometimes. He's a great lesson pony, which means he gets an awful lot of ring time, but not a whole lot of excitement. The change of scenery seemed to do him good.

We all agreed that we have to ride out there more often. It's a bit of a haul for Sandy, but the terrain and the footing and the views are so varied and diverse. It definitely makes for good conditioning.

Dancer Updates

Here's  department I've been slacking in!

Dancer picked just about the worst year ever to land in my lap. 2013 has been all about set backs and glitches and stress. To be fair, I think having winter and spring off was probably the best thing for the OTTB. He had his own set of issues to over come, due to poor saddle fit, bad shoeing, and some pretty awful riding. I feel like a lot of his story has consisted of hurry up and wait.

With that said, Dancer has about 30 rides under his belt now and I couldn't ask for better progress. Despite his initial awkwardness over cross rails (when I first went to see him), he has turned out to be quite the little jumper. He seems to genuinely enjoy jumping and is getting braver and braver over fences. Even when he's faced with a new or scary situation, he is honest and willing. It very rarely takes him more than two tries to find the right answer to any given question.

We spend most of our rides doing flat work. I don't jump more than once a week. Instead, I spend rides working on basics that will build a better horse over fences. We do lots and lots of trotting and bending and figures and transitions. Slow and steady wins the race, after all.

I've also been riding Dancer outside the arena a bit. I was told when I got him that his old owner 'would pay money to see him trail ride'. It's true that Dancer had never really experienced the wilderness and didn't really know what to do with it, but he is in no way a spooky or stupid horse. I took him out in the woods a while ago and his response to scary things in the trees was just to stop, put his head up, and listen. Not something I can complain about! We end most of our rides by cooling out in the fields behind the indoor, and he's getting bolder and more relaxed with each ride.

Dancer is officially for sale now, but I secretly hope to have him long enough to take him cross country schooling. I think he would rock it.

A while back, we reached the point where Dancer found schooling 2'3" courses pretty dull. Especially at his height, the fences aren't much of a challenge. After seeing some photos of his jump, we raised the bar (literally) and got him schooling oxers and jumping 3'.

2'3" easy!

Then I contacted Christine and asked her to come down to take him for a spin. After all, if he's going to be a sale horse, I need to start getting different riders up on him. Christine definitely rides a lot more like a jumper than I do (forward, fast, and high). It had been eight months since anybody but me sat on the horse, and it was high time that changed.

That day, Christine and Dancer really impressed me. She warmed him up on flat, and I got to see how much better he goes now. She popped him over some cross rails without an issue, then warmed him up over a 2'6" course, starting with individual fences and working up to running through the whole thing.

From there, we decided to play Pony High Jump. I tend to go pretty easy on my horses. I slowly build on their abilities until, one day, we're doing way more than we were a few months prior. It's slow and gradual and pretty simple for the horse. With that said, I recognized the need to see Dancer go under pressure. While I have no problem stepping in on a horse's behalf, even if it means crashing a sale, he's going to need to know how to show all he's got to potential buyers. I told Christine to go ahead and push him.

One hole at a time, the oxer grew and grew until Christine was taking Dancer 3'9" over a three foot spread. While I think Dancer is currently best marketed as a 3' horse, it was good to see that he has enough scope for the bigger fences. In fact, with more training and fitness, I'm sure he'd have no problem doing four feet. (I had him x-rayed this week, and the images confirm that!)

Scope is definitely not a problem for this horse!

By then, Dancer was pretty tired, and we let him quit on a good note. Even though he had worked harder than I have ever asked him to, with a new rider, he never stopped being the willing, pleasant, honest horse that I know him to be. It was very encouraging to watch!

So there you have it... Dancer is coming along! It's time for him to find a new address... one where someone can show him and bring out his true potential! I'm very excited to see where this horse ends up, though I will be more than a little sad to see him go.

Ride for the Ribbons

The headshot in question.

Mike and I spent Sunday up at Six Mile Run for the Ride for the Ribons CTR. The ride took the place of the Canal Ride and featured a 15 mile CDR and 25 mile CTR.

This is a ride I have always wanted to do. The tow path is gorgeous, especially this time of year. Unfortunately, they no longer allow horseback riding on the path on the New Jersey side, so the only way to enjoy riding that particular trail is to do it during an organized event. Every year I plan to go and every year something happens to prevent me from doing so. This year was no exception!

I got recruited into playing the part of the ride photographer way back in March. Jess, who ran the ride in memory of her mare, Ribbons, as a benefit for New Bolton (where Ribbons was a frequent patient) is friends with Sandy. Sandy put in a good word on my behalf. Jess happened to have her cat in the clinic one day and asked me if I would be up for the role. I agreed without much thought.

Two weeks ago, I got an email asking if Mike would be willing to be the head timer. Apparently he has quite the reputation in the CTR community! In fact, by the end of Ride for the Ribbons, he got wrangled into timing for the Mustang Memorial in November.

My favorite of the day.

Mike and I got up bright and early on Sunday, guzzled some coffee, and drove over to Six Mile Run.

Sadly for me, but gladly for the riders, the sun didn't come out all day. This was good because it would have been way too hot for the horses if it had, but it was bad because it made for poor photo conditions all day. In fact, it was misty and dreary when we first arrived, and I was pretty worried about getting any shots at all.

The ride got off to a delayed start because there was a bad accident that closed the main road to the park. We spent the down time getting organized and catching up with familiar faces.

Just before the start, I drove down Canal Rd. to my first shooting spot of the day. I had scouted out parts of the trail the night before to pick the best spot to shoot from. The first stop was across the canal from the towpath. I had a clear view of the riders as they came out of camp for the first loop, with the reflections in the canal for a nice foreground. I don't think a single rider noticed me as they went by, but several of the horses spotted me and looked at me with their ears pricked.

Adorable mustang and Standardbred.

Once the last of the riders was out on trail (or so I thought), I drove up to the halfway point of the canal path loop. The CTR's were going 6 miles out and 6 miles back. The CDR's were going 3 miles out and 3 miles back. At the three mile mark was a road crossing with a water stop and a vet checkpoint. I parked my car at the road crossing and walked down the canal path a ways. There I photographed all the CDR riders as they came in and then again as they went back out.

My timing was perfect and I shot the last CDR rider heading out with just enough time to cross the street and set up for the CTR riders as they came back from their extended first loop. I got everybody one more time that way, then drove back to camp to see how things were going.

It turned out that I lucked out with my timing again and managed to get back to camp just as the first CTR riders were getting ready to head back out for the second loop. There had been a mix up with the vetting process and Mike had his hands full saving the day, as usual, but I kissed him quickly before driving around the park to find a good place for more photos.

I spent the afternoon photographing riders on their last loop and watching a model airplane circling in the sky (until it crashed in the treeline across from me with a sickening crunch).

The parents of a junior CDR rider were also nearby, looking to get photos of their daughter. After a while, they came over and asked if I had seen her. I hadn't, but I also noted that Ival and Wendy also hadn't been through. By 1:30pm, we started to worry. I had figured everyone would be through my final spot by then, but there was no sign of the junior rider or her friends.

Eventually, I got worried enough to go back to base camp and try to figure out what was going on. It turns out there was some confusion with trail markers on the last loop. Ival and Wendy had gotten turned around and came back to camp to restart the loop. The junior rider was actually lost and going in circles out in the park with her whole group. Thankfully, ride management had located them and was in the process of getting them back to camp. Unfortunately, they were pulled for going off course. For what it's worth, I wandered a good bit of the trail that day and had no problem finding my way, even without a horse to give me the extra boost needed to see further down the trail.

While Mike finished up with the timing and got all the numbers into the score keepers, I scrambled to get photos edited. I wanted to make sure I had at least one shot of each rider printed before awards, and I ran my photos against his timer sheet to make sure I had everyone.

Jess was using my photos as awards for the Longest Partnership and the Hard Luck Award. That's how I found out I had missed a horse and rider! Apparently, one of the CDR riders got dumped right at the starting line, which put her about 20 minutes behind everyone. I didn't have my phone with me and didn't get notified, so I moved on before she came past me. I kept moving all day and was just ahead of her on each loop. I had only gotten one photo of her riding, and it wasn't particularly good.

Then, just as I was beginning to despair, her daughter came over, pointed at a headshot I had happened to take before the start, and announced, "That's my mom's horse!"

Perfect!

I drove faster than I'll admit to Walgreen's to get photos printed. I had everything set to go. I would only have to hit one button and wait about ten minutes. When I arrived, however, I found two older women taking up both kiosks in the store. To my dread, they were editing wedding and graduation photos... hundreds each. I groaned, but remained polite, waiting my turn for the machine. Thankfully, I was able to convince the guy at the counter to slip my order in before theirs and I was still out the door in a short time. I raced back to the park, taking a short cut that saved me some miles, and arrived just as awards were starting.

Using the 'grab factor' of having the photos on display for cheap, I sold enough prints to cover my costs for the day, and then some. Woot! Then I spent hours at home battling with my computer and the new Weebly editor (NO DON'T CHANGE THINGS OMG WHY) to find a way to make my site order friendly. I've gotten a few purchase orders in already, so I guess I made it user-friendly enough. Mike says I over think things. He may be right.

All in all, I'd call the day a success. I won't bog you guys down with 900 photos of random horses and riders on mostly the same backgrounds, but I have included some of my favorite shots from the day.

Friday Fotos: Dogs Available

I have to get the exact number from Carolyn, but we have placed close to 100 dogs since she started this project. In fact, Arf of Mercer is getting closer and closer to becoming an official organization.

Here are some of the dogs we currently have available.

First up is Charlie Brown, a senior male chihuahua. Charlie is a 100% lap dog. He loves to be held and cuddled. When he's not being loved, his favorite pass time is sleeping in his dog bed, oblivious to the world around him. Charlie is in the process of being adopted and will most likely go home on Sunday.

Next is CeeCee, who has already warmed her way into my heart. When I met her, she was still in her airline crate because she refused to come out. I happened to have some DD hash browns with me. One crinkle of the wrapper brought her nose cautiously to the front of the carrier. I was able to coax her out and pet her, but she was still wary of everyone else. Yesterday, I went out to the clubhouse and she greeted me happily. I fed her breakfast, slipped a leash on her, and took her for a potty walk. Then I scooped  her up and brought her inside where we fitted her with a kitty collar. Since then, she has been my best friend. She comes running when I call her and begs me to pick her up. She is most like a JRT/chihuahua mix and she is very, very pregnant. She will not be available until her puppies are weaned. It's a good thing I'm full on my animal quota (and especially my dog quota) because I'd be tempted to take her home with me and carry her in a fanny pack when I ride.

In which Ozzy and I drag-ride 25 miles in Maryland...

The Fall Chesapeake CTR was a week and a half ago. This is the ride that I did with Poe last year. We rode 80 miles, got stung by bees, and came in as Reserve Champions, earning Poe's Versatility Award for 2012. I had no intentions of going this year. My endurance riding sort of came to a grinding halt at the beginning of the year. I dunno... something about my right leg.

Rode the first loop at dawn.

As you've all probably gathered, Ozzy has been semi-retired since my accident. I had made a New Year's resolution about taking him to as many hunter paces and trail rides as possible this year, but that too fell by the wayside after my accident. I took him to the hunter pace in June and hacked him around the farm once or twice after that, but that's about it. Mostly he gets stuffed full of treats while I brush his long mane and tail.

About a week before the Chesapeake, Sandy called me to offer me a spot on her trailer. She was taking Ember down to Maryland for her first CTR, and planned on riding the 25 on Saturday. Her truck devours gas and she likes to have someone to split the cost with (and for company). 

Long time readers will remember that Fair Hill has a long history of being bad luck for Ozzy and me. It's where we first found out about his heart condition. It's where he took the misstep that ended his endurance career. I've told countless tales of catching loose horses out on trail, waking up in flooded tents, and having my heart broken at one Fair Hill ride after another. In fact... wasn't I just talking about bees a moment ago?

Despite all that, Fair Hill has always been one of my favorite places to ride. It is just plain gorgeous, with rolling hills, winding wooded trails, scenic water crossings, and the famous covered bridge. I jumped on the chance to go down and pleasure ride the trails at my own pace. At long last, Ozzy and I would be able to just enjoy the beauty of the Maryland countryside. 

It almost didn't happen. The ride was full long before Sandy called me. As a result, the stalls were all spoken for. Fair Hill has strict rules about keeping horses stalled over night. They don't allow high ties or temp pens. When I tried to reach out to Cate, I couldn't get a hold of her. I even tried calling around to some local stables to see if they had any openings. No such luck.

I was just beginning to give up hope when I managed to reach the ride secretary. She told me that the ride was full with a long waiting list. Even if someone scratched, there were several people in line before me. Then she paused.

"What did you say your name was?"
"It's Dom."

"O! You were the one who got stung by the bees last year!"

-_-

"Yes. Yes I was."

"Your boyfriend was the timer!"

"Yes."

"Will he be coming with you?"

"If I go, he'll come with me, yes."

"Let me call you right back."

Minutes later, my phone rang again.

"Cate says that if Mike times, you can have a stall."

Huzzah!

I called Mike and informed him that I'd traded his slave labor for a stall for Ozzy. He was thrilled, I promise.

We left for the ride on Friday. Sandy and I met at my barn at 2pm, loaded up the horses, and drove down first. Mike finished work, took care of the dogs, finished packing, and followed us down with the Yukon so he and I would have a place to sleep.

Every night around sunset, Ozzy can be seen galloping laps around his field. I always joke that he keeps himself fit because 'someday mommy will ride me again.' When he saw that trailer come up the driveway, he whinnied loudly, a look of pure excitement on his face. 'Today is someday! I knew someday would come!' Needless to say, he jumped right in the trailer and rode peacefully all the way to Maryland. He did steal Ember's hay bag and poop on a tailgater's windshield, but we'll gloss over that...

Such a happy horse.

We hadn't even unloaded when Cate asked me if I would be willing to drag ride in the morning. I had been planning to follow the marked trails anyway, so I agreed. I told her I wasn't sure how many of the loops my horse could do, but we would do whatever he was up for.

The second he got off the trailer, Ozzy was convinced that he was doing an endurance ride. He greeted the vet exuberantly while I chalked a big triangle onto his butt, confirming his suspicions that we were definitely competing. He hand-walked and grazed quietly all evening long, like an old pro, not a horse that has been sitting in a pasture for the better part of two years. When I set him up in his stall for the night, he settled immediately to munching on his alfalfa and watching the world go by. His favorite part of endurance riding is definitely the food. He eats grass all summer and timothy hay all winter  and that's about it, so getting to pig out on grain and alfalfa is a special treat.

Once the horses were taken care of, Mike, Sandy, and I wandered around ride camp, catching up with familiar faces and befriending new ones. Mike and I sipped on a rum and coke and finished off the last of our West Virginia moonshine.

That night, Mike and I slept in the Yukon, parked down by the treeline with the moon reflecting off the tinted windows and the crickets singing their last summer song in the dark. Occasionally horses' neighs would break the stillness of the night. I slept like a rock, snuggled up close to Mike on a foam topper we borrowed from Sandy.

I woke a few hours later in the familiar pre-ride darkness... the only time when I become a morning person. Ozzy was up and ready to go, greeting me with a hearty nicker as I slid back his stall door. He had eaten every last bite of his grain and dunked his alfalfa in his water bucket until it was a slimy emerald green. I walked him around the hold area while chugging watered-down coffee and stuffing my face full of hard boiled eggs. 

It had been decided that I would start the day by drag riding behind the 100's on the ten-mile yellow loop. It was the shortest of the marked trails, and the 100's would be the only ones riding it. They were starting first and I was about five minutes behind them. 

I quietly tacked Ozzy up by the trailer, opting to put the bit back on his bridle for the first loop, just in case he got hot, and putting my newly acquired endurance stirrups on my saddle. I swung onto Ozzy from the ground and circled the barns at a walk while waiting for the 100's to start. After the last 100 mile riders disappeared over the horizon, I kissed Mike goodbye over his clipboard and rode off after them.

Ozzy and I rode down the driveway alone, and I was grinning from ear to ear already. We rode into the woods just as dawn began to creep into the sky. It was quiet, so very quiet, and I could hear every soft plod of his bare hooves. His ears were locked and loaded in upright position and he marched along, head swinging like a gaited horse. We caught occasional glimpses of the 100 milers in the distance as we rode across the dew-soaked fields, but otherwise we were alone. Ozzy moved along at a ground-eating trot, seemingly fit and glad to be out. You never would have guessed that he's missed a single ride. He remembered everything and navigated the trails as though by memory.

I let Ozzy pick the pace for the most part, watching for signs of fatigue or soreness. He was fresh and peppy and delighted to just move forward. We trotted a surprising amount of the ten miles, walking wherever the path got technical or the footing got rough. 

Before I knew it, the first loop was behind us. Ozzy hadn't taken much interest in drinking on trail so I electrolyted him when we got back to camp. I tucked him back in his stall and fed him his lunch. 

Some time later, I had Nick vet him, just to be safe. Mostly I was concerned about his gut and his heart. I was worried that his heart would be pounding away irregularly, or that his gut would be too quiet. Nick happily announced, "The good news is that I can barely hear his heart over his gut." Ozzy was alert, sound, and hydrated. Awesome!

By then I had a game plan. I would opt out of the 14.7 mile pink loop (which the 100's were riding second, and everyone else was doing first). That would give Ozzy about two hours to rest and refresh, at which point everyone would be out on the 15.3 mile orange loop, the last section of trail for the day. Assuming that Ozzy was willing to go out for a second trip, I would bring up the rear, making sure nobody was lost or in trouble.

I spent the two hours keeping Mike company while he timed. It was a leisurely and enjoyable afternoon.

Cooling our feet.

After the last of the riders were in for their hold time, I tacked Ozzy back up. He was definitely raring to go some more. I had a pretty good grasp on the layout of the trails, and contact info for ride management if I decided he needed to quit before the full fifteen miles. I could always just take a short cut back to camp (or request a trailer if I was too far out).

The last rider out was a woman on a chestnut Paso Fino gelding who looked just like Willow. I gave her two minutes after she disappeared into the distance before going out after her. 

For the second loop, I put Ozzy back in the hackamore. I spent most of the day riding him on a completely loose rein. We rode alone for 25 miles and he. was. perfect. As I let him navigate down a particularly rocky and technical and steep downhill grade, I remembered just how much I trust this horse. He may not be the most graceful animal I've ever ridden, but he is 100% my partner and definitely in tune with me every step of the way. I can also say that he has definitely not forgotten an iota of his trail knowledge. Not only did he navigate expertly through the terrain, but he seemed aware of both base camp and the other camp we've stayed at for Foxcatcher. 

I needn't have worried about Ozzy being able to complete the second loop. I was prepared to walk the whole thing if I needed to, but Ozzy had plenty of spring left in his step. He gladly moved out anywhere that the trail allowed it, and we even cantered several open fields. At one point, we actually had to slow down to keep from catching the woman on the Paso Fino. 

Ozzy took much better care of himself on the second loop, pausing to eat some extra juicy grass on the edge of a hay field, and nibbling periodically along the way. 

About two miles from camp, there was a water trough in a field. Ozzy approached it eagerly, only to find that it was already dry. I think both our hearts sank. Thankfully, there was a sparkling stream crossing shortly after that, and Ozzy drank deeply. I let him guzzle as much water as he wanted to, and let him stand for a while to cool his feet. It was positively blissful.

We came into camp just moments after the last rider. I was beaming and I still had plenty of horse left. Ozzy probably would have happily gone out a third time. I am extremely proud. Three months after his last real trail ride, and he happily trots out 25 miles like it's nothing. I think he may be ready to do an LD (I'm not sure I can say the same thing for my leg, though. My knee was throbbing pretty good by the end of the day.)

I left Ozzy on the high tie to graze while Mike, Sandy, and I grabbed lunch down at the pavillion. Sandy had completed her 25 mile ride without much issue, and is already planning her next several events. 

Lots of bridges.

We stuck around for the award ceremony before making the long drive back to Jersey. Sandy and Ember finished in the ribbons, which was very cool! Ival and Wendy were there too and had completions with Clover and Fleuron. Mike got a special shout out during the awards. As usual, I got several comments on the fact that he's a keeper (I know!)

The only ill effect that Ozzy suffered was a touch of back soreness on the left side. It was totally because of me. My knee was really bothering me during the last five miles, and I dropped my stirrups several holes to alleviate the pain. I was definitely shifting my weight to the left to protect my bad leg. 

Poor Ozzy-- I'm sorry I rode like a sack of potatoes. Thank you for being a trooper.

The good news is that I rubbed him down with Sore-No-More when we got home and his back was back to normal two days later. 

All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better trip or a better ride. I miss endurance riding, but mostly I miss adventuring with my heart horse. No matter how many 'better' horses I ride, Ozzy will always be my #1. I appreciate him now even more so than I already did. I don't want to jinx anything, but Sandy has convinced me to sign up for some stuff this fall. There are exciting things in the near future.

I've missed this.