Spring Greens and Second Chances

For my first trailer-out ride of the year, I chose to take Q. She's my tried-and-true professional. All three horses are, really. But Q is the cream of the crop about it all. Countless endurance rides and training miles will do that to a horse.

Having upgraded to a huge truck and and a 3-horse trailer is such a great change. My nerves hauling are all but absent these days.

It's crazy to think now, but a few months ago I had decided I was going to rehome this little mare. We've never gotten along perfectly. She's great for everyone, but she and I always seemed to butt heads. It's a big reason why I straight up quit riding her last year. It was far easier on both of us to just let her play tag-along instead of riding pony. 

Happy girls who loaded themselves into the truck while I fetched Q

She built a lot of confidence during that time without me astride her back. And I enjoyed watching her be her. Watching her build confidence in herself and her surroundings. I also enjoyed recentering myself without also balancing Q's emotional status. 

Spring greens

I'd gone so far as to reach out to both Austen and Jen to let them know I was ready to rehome Q if they happened to know anyone. Austen knows and loves the mare and has always been a great advocate for Q. Jen - who helped me rehome a friend's horse last year - understood where my headspace was with it all coupled with the desire to find Q a good fit like we did with Ivan last year. 

The happiest dogs

After I'd made the decision and shared it, my partner made a compelling argument for me to keep Q. Grateful for his advocation, and in a good faith effort to give it One More Go, I decided to put a ride or three on Q and see how things went. It'd be the litmus test for whether she stayed or went.

It was nice to see the river with short vegetation

Long story short, every ride has been just lovely. Q and I have turned over a new leaf together. She didn't spook a single time on our entire 10-mile outing 2 weeks ago. In fact, when I dismounted at the end to pick up a heaping load of trash some redneck assholes left in the woods and wheel it out in the wagon they also left, she gave me a "WTF, woman?!" look, but was otherwise completely unbothered as I hauled the wagon down the trail in one hand while she was on lead in the other. (I did not take the wagon full of a cooler and plates and containers of food with me for the ½-mile journey down the road to the trailer, but instead left it alongside the road to hopefully be retrieved by some other good Samaritan to take to the dump. I hate inconsiderate assholes.)

The mosaic of greens in the spring is simply my favorite

 More excited than I've been in ages to spend more time with this little mare! And very grateful for my partner's encouragement to keep her. 

Shifting into the Next Chapter

Let's just rip this band aid right off shall we?

I have decided to retire Q from competitive endurance.

It's a decision I've been pondering for over a year. My downtime due to COVID-19 has only helped solidify it for me. 

Repeated comments about Q's way of going have made ride vettings feel a lot more like Russian Roulette than a routine double-check of the horse's condition. Fortunately (and very gratefully!), I received an absolute wealth of information about how to help resolve Q's gait at last year's Biltmore 50. It was eye-opening and amazing to learn so much about how I can help my favorite little mare. I worked through much of what those wonderful vets recommended for me and had hoped to give things a go for No Frills this past April, but then - as we all damn well know - the pandemic struck, life changed, and endurance competitions were put on pause.

While I was a bit bummed at first knowing any ride season I could have hoped to have had was not going to happen for 2020, I opted to make the most of it and just enjoy riding my horse. And you know what I've learned during this slow down and lack of endurance rides? I really don't miss the hustle and bustle of competition much at all. 

Being put "on pause" this year has given me time to reflect on why I was attracted to endurance from the beginning. The answer? Camping with my horses, seeing beautiful terrain from horseback, and riding oodles of miles (at relative speed) across that terrain. Simply put, I wanna camp and ride fast through the wilderness. 

And you know what? I absolutely do not need a competition aspect to do those things. I also don't have to ride a set number of miles in a set amount of time to enjoy those things. This seems like such a simple realization that I can't believe it took me the amount of time and thought it did to reach this point. But I'm here now, and it feels really damn good. 

I'm already planning a series of 1-2 night adventures with Q this fall to make the most of the remaining months of warmer camping weather. I'm also carefully planning my camera setup for said trips, in a new effort to get some fun, high quality shots of Q and I riding in these beautiful places. Hopefully, I'll have a wealth of fun, new stories and trails to share in this space as the rest of the year unfolds. 

Online Riders Collective Feedback Video | Q

In early May, Lyss shared about the Online Riders Collective. A few of Lyss' friends put together the site with the idea that trainers could view video submissions from riders across all disciplines for 1:1 virtual clinices. Called "Clinics for a Cause" riders are able to submit up to 15 minutes of video (one video or a compilation) of them riding and choose a clinician of their choice for tailored feedback on their ride. Every dollar of your video submission is donated to The Equestrian Aid Foundation.

I quickly decided that I was on board with this and would submit a video of Q and Grif. At the time of my submissions, it was only $25, so I ultimately submitted one video of Q and two of Grif. Unfortunately, I'm still awaiting the return of Grif's second video. I'm hoping it will be returned soonish? I'd like to share the feedback videos of him in the same post to compare/contrast the feedback I received. Until then, we'll focus on Qdle Doo. 

I opted to submit Q's video to Lauren Sprieser. I've seen Lauren teach in person, loved her style, and have read numerous accounts from other bloggers who have ridden with her. I've wanted to trailer to her for lessons (likely from one of her assistants at first), but my finances have been directed in other places in recent years (totally worth the barn and bringing the horses home lol). One day! 

To preempt Lauren about Q, I provided the following description with my video:

Q is a ~15 year old Morgan x Arabian mare. She's my 100-mile endurance horse and has completed the Old Dominion 100. My dressage friend has been after me to get this mare into the dressage court for years, so that is my aim for the future in addition to an endurance ride each year. 

This mare is opinionated and stubborn AF. I love her to death, but she's not easy! Also, Newton's 8th law of filming dictates that you're guaranteed to have a not-stellar ride when the camera is out, and that's definitely what this day was. Q rode like an angry little Morabian motorcycle, ignoring my leg and seat like a boss and bracing hard against the bit (very typical for her). 

This was our first time in an arena in ages (there are only two privately owned arenas here in rural Canaan Valley, WV) and she thought that was a bit of BS. Because she's an endurance horse damnit, and this dressage business is a load of crap in her opinion.  I was good humored about it (the reason the video is sans audio due to my rampant giggling, laughter, and making fun of Q), but it definitely wasn't an easy ride and I have a LOT to work on with her. 

The beginning clips are Q motoring around the arena like her tail is on fire. She was super go-go-go and not a lot of whoa or listening. I was trying to get her to calm down a bit (she's never been in this arena before) and relax before trying something more structured like a dressage test. The last two clips are her first ever attempts at dressage tests in an arena - Intro C (2019) and Beginner Novice Test A (2018). 

Thank you in advance for taking the time to give us feedback.

 

 

Lauren's feedback basically boils down to the following: do lots of transitions to keep Q more focused, do smaller figures to keep her attention, more inside leg, more outside rein, more leg, and do some spiraling in-out on a 20m circle. 

None of Lauren's feedback is a surprise to me. But it is very confirming because many of the exercises she recommends are things I've pursued in the past. It's nice to know that my approach/thinking has been in-line with what she'd recommend!

Something about summer weather makes me want to school dressage more often, so my plan is to work on these things with Q throughout the summer with the hope that maybe? MAYBE? I'll be able to go somewhere for a schooling show in the autumn. At the moment, endurance competitions just don't have me as jazzed as they used to. And honestly, with the pandemic and restrictions on gatherings, a dressage schooling event seems much more friendly for keeping people at a distance from one another than an endurance event. 

At any rate, it is nice to have a focused direction to work with this little mare. I'll do my best to do monthly recaps on my progress with her now that I have a Pivo to capture All The Media. 😁

Working Toward 600 Annual Miles (or more?!)

One of my big "number goals" for this year is to attempt to ride at least 600 miles.

I've tracked my annual mileage with increasing frequency since 2012 with the Endomondo app and my Garmin watch, from which data can be transferred to Endomondo. From 2014 through 2016, I managed 500+ annual miles. Then, in 2017, I moved to Canaan and the horses remained in Elkins. As a result, my 2017 and 2018 annual mileage was around 370 miles.

The Endomondo output for my first ride of 2020 with this little queen. The most exciting part of this ride? We cantered for a long stretch that previously would have resulted in constant spooking from Q. While she was uncertain about a few boulders this time, she kept her forward motion and kept me in the saddle!

As everyone knows by now, I moved the horses home last year. Prior to the move, I had to be more judicious with my available time and was almost exclusively riding Q in an effort to get her fit and ready for a 50-mile race. Riding Griffin and Stan - especially Stan - went on the back burner. This didn't have a huge effect on the boys' fitness levels because, prior to the move, they had 28 acres of 24/7 turnout and were part of a very active herd that moved all over the property during a 24-hour period. However, moving the horses home changed the turnout situation significantly. They went from 24/7 turnout on a large tract of varied terrain to a 40' by 60' dry lot with occasional (weather-dependent) turnout on two one acre pastures, which they didn't have access to until late September.

Riding more became a priority due to the limited turnout situation. Fortunately, my barn commute went from 50 minutes one-way to about 50 seconds one-way allowing more available time for riding. From August through November, I rode a minimum of 8 days each month (so, roughly, twice a week). It wasn't a lot, but considering that I was working 40 hours/week, still finishing the barn & fences, doing daily barn chores, and cutting and splitting 3-4 years-worth of firewood most weekends (oi vey), that frequency was pretty good! By the time December rolled around, the barn and fences were complete and the firewood was cut and split. As a result, my riding frequency in December increased to 14 days with several twice-a-day rides.

Most of my rides are around 4-miles long as it is easy to do a 4-mile circuit (that could be repeated for more distance) from the barn. I will also be gaining access to a 5-7 mile route with tons of elevation gain quite soon. (I can't tell you how grateful I am to be able to head out and do that without trailering!) I'll be utilizing these trails often to help preserve my pasture, which is where my jumps and dressage letters are. To offset the lack of an arena, I incorporate dressage movements on trail quite often. I also practice oodles of natural jumps, ditches, water, and banks when I'm on trail, which Griffin absolutely loves. It's all about making the most of what you've got, yes?

The rides I put in during the latter half of 2019 really helped to set a base of fitness on the horses. Thanks to those rides, I've begun pursuing longer conditioning rides off-property (when the road conditions allow me to trailer off the mountain) this month. Q has been out for two longer conditioning rides so far and Grif has been on one. Each ride was only a 15-20 minute trailer ride and each was in a different local location.

I'm already having so. much. fun. planning and implementing these rides. And I honestly cannot remember the last time I felt so excited to plan/schedule rides. It is such a thrill to have so many options so close to me!

Post-ride Griffin looking alert and happy following a 3-mile canter to end the 13.4 mile ride.

My current hope is that I can trailer off-property for at least two conditioning rides of 12+ miles per month. Two longer rides per month coupled with shorter rides twice a week is a schedule that has worked rather beautifully to keep Q in competition-shape in the past. Grif does well on that schedule as well, but he does even better if I can fit in one more ride per week.

And Stan? Well, as I've stated ad nauseam, he owes me nothing at this point in his life. If I wanted him in shape for some sort of distance competition, he'd need a 6-day-a-week schedule. But fortunately for Staniel, my only goal for him is to keep him fit enough to keep his joints happy so he may continue to enjoy his senior years with ease.

Qdle (cue-dl - a new nickname I find myself using quite often) couldn't be bothered to open her eyes for any photos after the ride. Seriously, I have 4 photos and her eyes are shut in every one. 

Hopefully, 600 miles in 2020 will be quite achievable! And hopefully I'll end up with some fit, happy horses as a result of all those miles. No matter what, the first full year of having the horses home is bound to include many more miles than I've enjoyed in the past couple years, and I will enjoy every single one!

Snow Ponies

Apologies for any formatting errors - I have received countless errors from Google in my attempts to post this all week...

There is no purpose to this post beyond sharing several photos of the horses having fun in the snow earlier last week. Looks like we may see another dusting of snow sometime this weekend - fingers crossed that we get more than that! I miss the winters of my childhood.

He's simply the handsomest

Wishing he had a play buddy to romp with

Rushing to her stall because she was "missing" dinnertime. Why was she missing it? Because she was too beside herself being upset that she was missing out to realize that oh, hey, the stupid human OPENED THE GATE FOR HER TO WALK INTO THE DRY LOT AND HAVE STALL ACCESS. Sigh. She stood for a solid 5 minutes on the other side of the fence throwing a tantrum and was too into her tantrum to notice the open gate.

Stanley galloping to his dinnertime.

Gotta get those hind legs UP to get them out of the snow drift area!

A majestic Staniel excited for his dinner.

The sweetest face

Engage: zoomies.

The boys. And, uh, well, also the photo debut of Griffins Very Horrible Clip Job. I got some new-to-me clippers and should have gotten accustomed to them on Stan or Q before trying Grif... So now I have two horses and one part-zebra. Thank god hair grows back!!! It's already looking MUCH better this week. 

And she's off...

But not without a sassy head toss

I'd turned them out about 30 minutes before taking this photo. The cold, misty air wasted no time in adding frosty tips to each horse!

Snow-encrusted barn and house. One day, the barn will be the same grey-ish tone as the house when the white oak exterior weathers more.

Grif telling Q how it is... And with good reason. She's a witch to him most days in the dry lot!

In sync

Q's tell tale "I hate this cold wind in my face" posture

Stan herding everyone down past the barn

Angry Staniel ears and irritated Q ears in response. Griffin is just a lemming following along.

Oh hai, boys!

And they're off again, this time with Q bossing Griffin...

LOOK at that angry mare!

Fortunately, Grif is becoming adept at escaping her attempts...

It's a horrible clip job, but he's a majestic fellow. Also, note Taiga in the window lol!

Snow Ponies of Starlight Lane album cover

Q's frosty mane

His clip job may suck, but his tail is pretty clean these days now that he doesn't have iron-rich mud to wallow in!

This old man <3

Heading down to the barn... Those trees tho!

The barn nestled in for the winter

Snow Gallops

This post serves no purpose other than to wish you and yours a Merry Christmas by sharing some seasonal photos from a fun afternoon galloping Stan and Q in the snow atop my mountain.

After days of clouds and snowglobe-esque conditions, the skies parted and the sun peeked through towards the end of our ride. It was beautiful to behold the view afforded by clearing conditions. Days like these, when the trees are hoar frosted or rime iced, are my absolute favorites.

Merry, merry, y'all. Enjoy!

I love Stan's listening ear on Barbara. He was SUCH A GOOD BOY for her. To her credit, she was taking my instruction more beautifully than I've ever had someone take it before. She grew up only riding bareback and this was only her second time in a saddle in ages - and the second time she LIKED the saddle. I used a lot of Mary Wanless and Centered Riding concepts with her and she picked up on them perfectly. Stan responded in like. It was SO COOL to see.

Barbara's permagrin was also something to behold.

Though no matter her smile, Stan is always FOCUSED with his Business Face when galloping!

Seriously, this old man loves sprinting.

GIDDY UP!

And of course the snow princess was out and about with us.

Look at all that snow flying behind them!

Neeeeerrrrrrrmmmmmmmmmm

Movin' it, Staniel!

What a happy pair they are.

And then it was my turn with this little nugget.

Still the prettiest trotter...

Q's GAME FACE. I love it. Also, I love that I'm to a place where I am comfortable letting this little mare gallop full out with only one hand on the reins.

Zoomy Qbee.

And now, Q catches on to the camera and becomes The Cutest Ever.

LOOK AT HER. I CANNOT EVEN.

Gallop spot #2 for the day.

Stan also brought his game face to this location, worry not.

Again with the listening ear <3 <3 <3

Houston, we have take off!

Look at that big smile!

Pinch me. I can't believe I live here.

His tail slays me.

Tiny fox cameo!

Austen, one day I'll have husky +gallops photos like you. 

And we'll also have derpy outtakes of those photos....lol, Taiga.

Q. I DON'T DESERVE YOU AND YOUR ADORABLENESS.

THOSE HAPPY EARS. OMG.

JUST LOOK AT HER BEING AN ADORABLE HOVER PONY.

Hoar frosted/rime iced trees - my very favorite thing in winter

Just living my best fairy tale life...

Telling her to get up and GO.

Smile means we've hit cruising speed.

WAHOO!

Those trees!

And this pony!

She's really gettin' up and goin' now!

Speedy bullet

Ugh. She's just the cutest.

And here, we have Barbara being, well, Barbara. It's not hard to imagine us sword fighting as kids...

Stan, bless you.

Cuties.

Enjoying the Mt. Porte Crayon vista

Laughing at Q's distaste for posing while standing still

Her listening ear <3