Partner vs. Pet

Mel wrote a great post about the differences between horses that are partners versus pets. It really resounded with me and as I started to compose a novel-length comment on her post, I decided instead that I would write a post of my own!

As Mel notes, neither partner or pet is better than the other - and I agree. They're different and special in their own ways.

Griffin

Griffin is just like Mel's ML - a pet. He's friendly to a fault and always wants to be around me and anyone else in the field - human, horse, dog, or otherwise. Most photos I get of him involve his nose in my camera because he is constantly wanting to be RIGHT beside me.

He's got an insatiable need to please, too, unlike any horse I've ever been around. He wants to work, he loves any and all jobs I've given him (although he absolutely loves jumping the most), and wants absolutely nothing more than to provide me with The Right Answer when we're working. I routinely refer to him as "my very large dog with hooves" to my non-horse friends.

Walking toward me. Forever and always the most common photo I have of him.

When I bring Q or Stan (or both) in from the field, it is nigh impossible to not bring Griffin. He almost ALWAYS volunteers himself to come, too. He wants nothing more than to be with me. If I work other horses in the barn/barnyard, he waits by the gate for the entirety of the time I'm with the other horses. The only time this wasn't true was when he decided he could no longer bear giving riding lessons to newbies and he would NOT be caught for anything. Any time Griffin alters from his in-my-pocket demeanor, I know something is up and evaluate how to make changes to resolve the problem.

I'm a total sucker for Griffin being such a sweetheart, too, and give him ample treats from my pocket which has only reinforced his behavior through the years. #sorrynotsorry I absolutely adore Griffin, his temperament, his trust in me, and the relationship we have. I think working with him from a young age really helped hone his temperament, the trust, and the relationship.

Stan

Back in the day, Stan and I were closer than close. I had but to think a thing for him to do a thing. He was a partner and a pet and mostly my close friend with whom I could do anything. He was kind of an extension of myself. We spent 5 years apart and he was a pasture puff during that time. Now we're coming back into a relationship and I'm not quite sure how it will end up so far as the partner - pet spectrum.

Stan definitely resents being pulled away from a cushy retirement to re-enter the working world. And I don't blame him! Additionally, he's finally living with mares for the first time in a very long time, so he is quite loathe to leave his ladies to spend time with me. And that is also understandable, considering he lived in one place for 11 years and has now been plopped into a totally new environment. I've been very understanding of the herd dynamic change in his life and have not pushed any steady regimented work on him beyond about one or two rides a week - usually Lauren riding him - since he joined me on July 31. I know all too well how herd dynamics can influence a horse's behavior, and I wanted him to have time to settle in knowing I'd start anew with a schedule for him in January.

From the days we used to just hang out together before and after work was done.

While much of Stan not seeking me out in the field is due to the new herd dynamic, I can't ignore that in our time apart Stan has grown creakier with his increasing age which may be influencing how he views time with me. When I'm sore, I don't want to do anything with anyone (especially a person who instigates activities that make me sore), so I can't fault him for it either. I'm hoping that efforts to keep him working for a minimum of 20 minutes a day 3 - 4 days a week (plus supplements in the near future) will help combat this and make him a bit more willing to be a working partner for me as time goes on. I'm not at all concerned with the in-between no-man's-land we're dealing with right now because I haven't had Stan in any kind of steady work to really judge. He's only been back in my life for 5½ months. The real work is just beginning and we'll have to see where we are at in a few months. Time and miles do a lot for a relationship - and from my experience, usually for the better.

Q

Q entered my life as a partner, strictly. In fact, when I bought her, while I hoped she'd be a grand endurance mount, I wasn't even sure I'd keep her forever and ever. Our first year was one of learning one another. Q has an aloof personality which is likely due to being passed around between a minimum of five people prior to entering my life (and that was all before she turned 6!) As we moved into the second year, we were finally starting to be more than strangers, though not quite friends.

My personal relationships with a person or two resulted in me being a total shitbag to Q in 2014 and I spent 2015 rebounding from that; being overly critical (i.e., a shitbag) to a sensitive horse will leave you years of mess to clean up - learn from me and don't do it. We were on the up and up in 2016, my mess of 2014 mostly resolved except for lingering spooking. We completed a 100 last year and didn't hate one another afterward (minus that moment at mile ~44 where she spooked at a deer and dumped me...I hated her a LOT in that moment).

Q, my business partner for 100 miles

In our time together, Q's been my athletic partner far more than a pet. However, unlike Mel's relationship with Farley, her partner-horse, Q does still seek me out when we aren't working and we definitely don't hate one another after a weekend together. In fact, in times away from home, Q looks to me MORE and while not as cuddly as Grif, she wants to be with me. I become her herd of one and she seeks me out. (Food has a huge thing to do with this, I'm no dummy.) Additionally, during this time off due to the suspensory injury, Q will come over to me in the field when I fetch one of the boys and has come to the fence/gate with increased frequency to presumably check in on me.

While mostly a partner in the past, I can't help but wonder how much toward pet Q will migrate as time goes on. Slow, quiet one-on-one work builds my relationship with this mare. That is exactly the kind of work that is going to be paramount in our time together over the next many months. As with Stan, I'll have to revisit the pet-partner relationship with Q a few months down the line.

A follow up thought

I think there is great value to horses that are partners, horses that are pets, and those who can be a little bit of both. There really isn't a bad result to any option. It's absolutely personal preference. You still have a bond with that animal in some manner regardless of whether they're more in-your-pocket or strictly a business partner, per se. Personally, I enjoy a dynamic that involves aspects of both and I can honestly admit that having a horse who was strictly my partner would be more difficult for me at this point in my life. (I say "this point" because I can absolutely see where I may prefer differently one day.)

A hard working partner with unquestioning trust of a pet

However, in my reflection of my horses and how they fall on the pet-partner spectrum I am left pondering one thing in particular: the way the horse's early years were spent and how that influenced them. Let's review --

Griffin was passed around frequently for about six months (to three homes) following his weaning, but each new home was short in duration. He was too young to start under saddle so he mostly traveled around meeting new horses and eating as he was handled by different folks. He came to me at 1½ years old and has been with me ever since. It's all chronicled on this blog. And he's had a great life with me, if I do say so myself. He was started slowly and we have built a great relationship over the past five years together. Griffin trusts me implicitly as a result, which is a very big factor in our every interaction. If I ask something of him, he doesn't fret, fear, or worry, he simply tries to find the correct answer that garners the praise he seeks (be it a release of pressure, kind words, treats, etc.) and life moves forward.

Stan was with his breeder to age 4, then was gelded and brought to his next home where he stayed for 11 years before re-entering my life as my horse last year. Stan was never presented with a reason to distrust people. He was started between 3 and 4, was green when I met him, and when I was 16, I put most of the miles on him to make him go from "green" to "broke". I was never mean or pushy and Stan learned what was acceptable and what wasn't through time and miles. I learned a lot, too. Freedom to enjoy one horse in that manner at that age resulted in a lot of blind trust in Stan. And for me, blind trust was a beautiful thing at that point in my life. I didn't necessarily abuse it or push it to crazy limits by any means - and I'm grateful Stan didn't either - but not being told I couldn't do something meant that we tried a lot of things that would cause me hesitation today. A level head and some blind trust built a great relationship and a great foundation for Stan.

Q differs from both geldings. She was bred, then sold to lady #1, passed along to lady #2, then sent to the cowboy, then went on trial to lady #3, then went back to the cowboy, and then came to me. The reasons for being passed along to folks beginning with lady #1 all revolved around her being "too much horse". Mostly, she was hotter than your typical quarter horse (the most common horse in this area, see: Stan) and really needed one person to be around as she learned what was okay and not okay. She also needed that one person to be patient and not react with anger, force, or aggression (the three things that cowboy did). Her 4½ years spent with me support this wholly; the more time she's with me and the more patient, calm, and consistent I can be, the better she is and the more she trusts me and exhibits pet-like qualities instead of exclusive partner qualities. Her guarded personality has blossomed and bloomed.

Seeking me out.

And while I certainly recognize that the temperament of an animal will vary and that there are absolutely bad eggs out there, I wonder about those early years of training and how they correlate to where a horse falls on the pet-partner spectrum?

Certainly other variables factor in over time, too, like how many homes a horse has had, the quality of those homes/their people, and the horses' breeding and tendency to be hotter or quieter. But for the sake of this argument, let's assume no matter the breed, if a horse was brought up by someone knowledgeable, patient, and consistent in a training schedule, would that horse develop more on the pet side of the spectrum or the partner side of the spectrum? Does correct early training that builds more trust provide a higher frequency of horses with pet-like qualities? Or are those things purely temperament based?

Thank you Mel for providing the prompt for this thought process. Animal behavior is absolutely fascinating to me and I've really enjoyed thinking about the pet-partner spectrum as it applies to my horses and potential training of other horses.

So how about you? Where do your horses fall on the pet-partner spectrum? What kind of horse do your prefer? Do you think training plays a part in where a horse falls on this spectrum? Leave a comment below or perhaps compose your own post. I'm interested to see where this discussion goes!

On Point

I had THE GREATEST ride on Q last night. I cannot remember the last time I had a ride of that caliber with her. It's been a solid 2 years or so at least.

Not too shabby at all.

The climbing was good, the pace was solid and doable, and while the distance wasn't quite what I'd wanted to achieve, this was the ride we needed to build confidence. She did not spook at all (whereby the definition of spook means one of Q's infamous whirly bird spooks that unseats or nearly unseats me over something completely trivial like a broad leaved forb, a small rock among large rocks, a small stick among large sticks, a purple flower among yellow flowers, etc.). She balked at a few things, and shuddered a time or two, but beyond that? She kept it together.

Her head was cocked slightly to the side constantly if we were moving along a curve in the trail - which is pretty continuous for a lot of our riding because these trails are old logging roads that hug the side of the mountain. She was focused on the trail ahead, ears pricked, looking to and fro a bit, but not in the manic looking-for-monsters manner she has exhibited in the past. I could practically see the cogs whirring in her head as she worked through things.

I slowed Q down a little more than I usually do. Looking at the data on endomondo (the app I use to log our rides...and to log all of my outdoor pursuits of multiple miles), it shows 7 significant walk periods throughout the ride. Slowing Q down to let her look at things and settle for a few minutes really did the trick, I think. ...and somewhere in my stubborn head, I knew that would be a valuable tool to utilize. I just didn't do it enough before.

Pre ride. So happy to be clipped finally! Both horses fell asleep during their clips last week.

Any time I can get this horse to lower her head and neck, I'm thrilled. She's always so on-edge about potential monsters. She lets her stress build up and build up and won't find a release from it...until she spooks. I've always heard that a horse who lowers its head triggers the release of hormones/chemicals/what-have-you that help with relaxation. A horse who won't (or physically can't due to needing an accu. / chiro appt. (true story, happened to your most recent Old Dominion 100 trophy winning horse)), can't relax as much or as easily. Slowing down for periods of time on our ride allowed Q to settle out of any anxiety she was building. She even lowered her head to sniff at the trail here and there when she wasn't moseying along with a low western-esque headset.

Other than having a non-spooking, confidence building ride at a respectable distance and pace with some solid climbing (this seems like a lot, but let's keep in mind that I've been working with this horse for going on 5 endurance seasons now; expecting respectable distance and pace with climbing in our workouts is not completely out of this world), I wanted to work on switching my diagonals consistently throughout our trot work. Q loves me to be on her right diagonal. If I try to get onto the left, she will do one of three things to get me out of it: go into the canter, stutter step such that my rhythm is altered to back to the right diagonal, or spook so that I'm forced to the other diagonal. If she's ever going to move beyond 50 miles, we've got to be solid at both diagonals. No more excuses for either of us. And, I can honestly say, night one was a success and a step in the right (or rather the left) direction. ☺

Looking great post-ride. She pulsed down quickly, was alert, and had an appetite.

This type of ride aligns perfectly with my training goals for this horse and myself. Not only did we build confidence and have a solid ride, we kept our pace within my goal range (6 mph or greater) and climbed a fair amount for the distance. If you extrapolate our climbing from the 9 miles we did into 50, it would be just shy of 9,000' of vertical. Into a 100, it would be just beyond 17,750'. Conveniently for me, the rides I'm working toward have elevation profiles nearly identical to those extrapolated numbers! And they're on similar terrain to boot.

I hope our subsequent rides continue to align with the theme of last night's ride. That's the horse I knew was hiding behind Q's various insecurities. That's the horse I know can be a viable distance partner through 100 miles. ...even if I have to sing "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music to her over and over and over again as we move down the trail.

Birds Eye View of My Trails

Okay, so I had WAY too much fun with Google Earth and put together this ridiculous post for y'all to see the kind of terrain I ride on every day.

I use ArcGIS at work and don't spend much time on Google Earth ever. I'd forgotten how fun it could be to alter my POV on the landscape and get to see in 3D vs. 2D.

The following screenshots with my awesome Paint skillz help narrate the trails I ride and have discussed with you before. Descriptions of each screenshot will be below each photo. Enjoy!

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Beginning with the above image, you can see the pasture access the horses have, the barn, and several trails I use on the norm. It's kind of an overview of the property and its access to trails.

The haul road trail is wide enough to drive a car on. It's tougher footing because of the gravel that was laid years back when they logged the area. The top trail is wooded, wide enough for ATVs and the like. The footing is soft, though there are intermittent rocks.

The haul road has a very moderate to easy incline; no crazy up/down, just a steady incline as you travel to the right across the photo or steady down as you travel to the left across the photo. DEFINITELY a *safely* trottable incline.

The top trail has a steady, steep climb up the mountain, then some moderate ups and downs once you're on top. It slopes down at the log landing to meet the haul road, which climbs slowly and steadily to that intersection.

I use both the haul road trail and that top wooded trail to access trails further out. I like riding the wooded one more in the summer because it is much cooler due to being almost 100% shaded while the haul road is almost 100% exposure to sun.

While not shown in this image, the top trail and the haul road do intersect what used to be the main log landing area. To ride from the farm and make a loop out of these two trails is about a 3.5 mile ride. This is the loop I'll go out and do at speed no matter the weather because it is so fun.

So now, before going into the trails in more depth, let's rewind and take a better look at the pasture.

The horses have around 40 acres of pasture and they are on 24/7 turnout. There is stream access for them to drink from, though we have two troughs, too. The dotted line shows the fenceline that has a gate so we can close the horses off from being able to access the upper pasture.

The upper pasture is a ~100' elevation change and that change happens in almost as many feet. To march yourself up that hill is like climbing stairs if you do it straight up without meandering.

When I talk about "riding in the barnyard", I'm talking about riding in the grassy area to the right of the barn that is contained within that big U of yellow. It's fenced on three sides and the barn provides a good visual to create an imaginary fenceline on the fourth side. If you were to round that square area off into a circle, the circle's diameter measures almost perfectly at 100' (I've paced it out several times).

 The above is an altered view looking at the haul road and top trail. (Note that north is now located in the lower left hand corner of this image - circle in top right corner with the white dot demonstrates where north is in all photos.)

You can really see the terrain in this image! The top trail through the woods climbs up up up and levels off while the haul road winds along only a few contour lines as it weaves itself across the mountainside.

I love having the horses canter the haul road stretch if I'm traveling in the "climb" direction. Additionally, when we climb the top trail, I have them travel as fast as they can. Booty power!

The descent of the top trail is the area where I am getting off and running down with reins in hand and horse behind. Its a great little area for that.

Where the valley terminates in the upper left third of the photo is where I end up riding to after the haul road trail and top trail combine into one. That one trail meanders UP the mountain to the top of that vally. The bridge of mountain that connects the two mountains that makes the valley has phenomenal footing. Additionally, that area is where the forest makes a drastic change from successional (thick understory) to mature (open understory). I love galloping through there! It is so open and beautiful.

Where the haul road and the top trail meet at the log landing intersection, they combine and form the trail that I then climb up the mountain. This is that trail in one of its "less climby" parts. It'll climb up, level off, climb up, level off. Never very steep. It has much more incline than the haul road does, definitely, but it isn't *quite* as sustained as the climb up the top trail.

I typically have my horses trot this whole trail at a minimum. Lately we've been cantering and galloping it! Serious booty power.

The black area in the above image is the pond that accompanies the cabin we go by when we do the 10 mile loop. (The cabin is there, too, the pond is just easier to note.) 

This basin area has about a 600' elevation change from the top of the mountains down to the cabin. There are three trails that travel over that elevation change: one is VERY steep and does the elevation change in a hurry; one is steep, but not wicked; and the third is much more moderate. The middle of these options is the trail I use the most to ascend and descend. You can trot down the large majority of it, and it is a GREAT trail to make the horses canter up. Phenomenal workout as it is about 0.75 mile long with a relatively sustained incline (Saiph this is the one we ran up when you and Charles were in recently)!

All of the trails in this area are very well established, wide, have great footing, and are in mature forest with a pretty open understory. The basin area down by the cabin used to be an elk farm, though the farm died out when the economy crashed. My BO's husband's uncle owns the land now.

The whole area around this cabin is great hill training. I love it.

And finally, here is an overview shot of the terrain once I've left the barn and set out on a ride. 

You can see the haul road (the top trail is*just* out of view), the climbing trail, the cabin basin, the area right before the river valley, and the river I hope to reach. 

Remember, the elevation change from tops of mountains to cabin is ~600'. The elevation change from the high point Saiph and Charles and I reached to the bottom of the river valley is ~700'! And the area I'm going to try to find trail to get down to the river so I can play and swim with the horses descends that 700' in under a mile! Eep.

So while my Appalachians aren't as extreme as the Rockies, they're still quite steep! I do a LOT of climbing on my rides. 

I am BEYOND fortunate to have this kind of trail access from the barn. (Not to mention the rail trail, too!) It is an AMAZING training ground for endurance. AMAZING. I have all of the climbing that you'd encounter at the Old Dominion rides or any other ride in the mountainous east. I just lack the technical rocky/bouldery sections.

I hope you've enjoyed gaining a glimpse into my trail system and my horses' weekly workout realm!

Griffin: Flat Land Speedster

I took Griffin on his first rail trail ride with bikes last night. T accepted my offer to ride with us for his first time pacing with bikes on the trail.

I've paced with bikes in the past with Q, and it's a great training tool. The bikes keep pace well, the horse sees the biker as "lead horse" and is very calm and relaxed about the environment because they don't have to keep as watchful an eye for "monsters", and I have someone to chat with as we go along.

While Griffin hadn't paced with bikes prior to last night, I was confident he'd pick it up quickly. He has a lot more trust in his surroundings than Q, and if Q can pace with a bike, Griffin certainly could! Additionally, I knew his fitness should be at a great level for this flat, predominantly grassy terrain. I've been riding him 2x, occasionally 3x a week in our mountainous terrain behind the farm where I do almost all of my riding. Additionally, with summer pastures open, he's doing a pretty wicked hill climb on his own a couple times a day as he moves throughout his 40 acre pasture.

I did Griffin a solid by trailering him the couple miles to the trail head, too. I did this to

1. save time,
2. save distance (by trailering I cut off a grand total of 4 miles from our final ride distance as it takes me 2 miles one-way to get to the trail from the farm),
3. show him that all trailer rides are not long ones,
4. demonstrate that he didn't need to be stressed about riding in the trailer because rides can be short.

I turned the trailer around and was able to park in a homeward direction on the huge berm alongside the road, too. It is perfect. Certainly there is the risk of the horse spazzing as they back off the trailer and running off into the road, but I know my horses well enough with their trailering skills to be able to accept this risk and chalk it off as quite minimal! Griffin especially is a pro with entering and exiting the trailer. Q would obviously take a little more work or a second person; I would likely account for having a second person if I decided to trailer her to the rail trail.

I'd tacked Griffin up with everything except the bridle and the saddle bag with my water prior to stuffing him in the trailer for the 3 minute ride. As I was putting those two items on him at the trail access, my mom showed up on her bike out of nowhere; she had just finished a 20+ mile ride.

I let my mom in on what we were doing, invited her to come along if she wanted, and noted that I hadn't invited her because I figured she'd graduated from rides like this considering she's out doing ridiculous 40 mile rides on her bike now! Despite that, she opted to come along with T and Griffin and I (and would end her day at 31+ miles or some nonsense).

And so we set off.

Griffin picked right up on how to pace with the bikes and allow them to be "lead horse". A few times he would strike out ahead of both when we were cantering for stretches.

He didn't love the pea gravel on his bare, freshly trimmed tootsies, but after a few miles, he wasn't so dramatic about it. (This horse tends to act far more dramatic over things when he's not getting his way; as soon as he's doing what he wants or likes he's far less upset about things that were previously The End of the World.) For most of the ride he was able to be in the grass on either side of the trail.

We did a solid 10 miles following the rail trail mile markers. Our starting point is just a titch before the first marker though, so our final distance was 10.4 miles.

By trotting ~60% of the time and cantering the other ~40%, we ended up with an average pace of 9.8 mph! I was shocked to discover this because Griffin really didn't seem to be exerting himself much at all as we moved out. It was certainly a working trot, but far from strenuous. His canter as well was rolling and calm. In fact, when we paused for a few minutes at the turn around area to head home, Griffin wasn't even breathing hard at all. Elevated respiration rate from resting, but far from tuckered out. Kid's in a lot better shape than I credit him! Granted, when I remove the absurd mountain climbs from my horses' workouts, they both strike out at a fast pace.

We cantered the last half mile or so to the end point. Griffin's HR with tack on at this point was 90.

Knowing my haul was a whopping 3 minutes, I just loaded him up and took him home before focusing on cooling him more.

At home, off the trailer, untacked, and after one round of sponging (15 minutes max from first reading), his HR was at 62 and dropping. The other horses in the field were calling to him at this point, and I knew he wanted nothing more than to just roll and "wipe the human off" as Dom would say, so I turned him out to be with his friends instead of trying to cool him more and see if I could get his HR even lower; ultimately, being with his neighing buddies would calm everyone down - if I'd tried to wait him out and cool him, he'd probably have remained a little higher due to not being with the herd.

All in all, I was over the moon with his performance on this ride. He's never had quite that kind of a workout on the flat before and he excelled and then some! All of that mountain climbing over rougher terrain has done him good; when he has the opportunity to move out on almost exclusively mowed grassy footing on FLAT terrain he excels. He did show fatigue after 8 miles, but mustered up and trucked on steadily for the final 2 miles.

Go little grey speedster, go! Very proud of how this little horse is doing.

A stellar ride on G-man

I had an absolutely stellar ride on Griffin on Sunday.

I'd originally hoped to get in around 7 miles with him on Sunday, but I wasn't feeling great. I almost didn't go to the barn at all. Knowing Q needed her supplements at a minimum though, I mustered up some strength and sucked up being a wuss and headed out.

I brought both horses (who both trotted up to me in the field!) to the barn and fed them. I applied Q's scratches medication (omg summer scratches are so worse than winter scratches!) which she was well behaved for, and toyed around with her saddle/saddle fit/testing back soreness (because the post I'd written and my conversation with Karen was fresh in my mind). She wasn't responsive to a single poke or prod that I did along her back. I even went so far as to see if she would be cinchy about it if I tacked her up as she sometimes gets cranky with me. However, per the norm if I am a calm and not rushing, she stood with floppy lip and ears lazily swiveling around her. Still not ruling it out completely, but definitely putting that potential pain trigger behind other options. (All will be assessed with vet on Monday.)

I loosed Q into the field after this and turned to look at Griffin who had been patiently waiting tied this whole time. "Alright little man, time for you to go to work at your job." *ear flick*

I tacked Griffin up in the Ansur setup + breastplate and crupper, dialed into a Decemberists album on my ipod/earphones and we headed out.

I wasn't really certain how far I'd go. We'll just see what feels good.

Griffin set off at a nice little trot, both hesitant to leave and eager to see what was around the next bend. Once we were into the woods, he focused in on working a bit more. (Just like Q does. Woods = work. Back field = potential to still go back home in their minds.)

He trotted the whole way, walking through slick muddy areas when I requested, cantering as much as we could. Up, up, up through the woods, avoiding the haul road trail due to its full-sun exposure and rockier terrain. (Griffin's feet were a bit more tender following a rain event.)

We leveled off along the first ridgeline, trotting the good bits and walking the tricky ones. We galloped full out up a short 100' long stretch of hill, leveling out again for a time. Griffin showed me his expertise with this trail and his interest in his job by going along on autopilot and choosing to make the tricky 90° turn on his own accord without encouragement from me. Good boy!

We walked through a muddy downhill section, and Griffin picked up the trot on his own as soon as we reached dry, level footing. We trotted and cantered all the way up the next mountain with gusto. Griffin's eager ears leading the charge.

At the top of the mountain, finally into mature forest with clear understory and beautiful trails, we trotted more. Griffin decided in this section that he was tired and thought it was time to go home. He tried to stop (slowly not rudely) and turn for home a few times, but I made him go onward. I respected his decision to want to be done, but made him go a bit further until such a time the decision to turn could be all my idea, not his.

He gave up his "go home" requests and focused on power walking the last STEEP climb to the apex of the mountain. I turned him around for home half way up. He seemed surprised at first, but then settled into his homeward trot once we'd leveled off of the mountain.

I don't advocate "running home", but if we've been trotting/cantering most of a ride, then maintaining that gait in the homeward direction is completely acceptable. Griffin definitely has a bit more spunk to him when he knows we are going home (different from Q who just maintains no matter what direction we're going once we're *away from the barn*).

For a youngster, Griffin handles himself EXCEPTIONALLY well on downhills. Never once has he pulled the move I see so many youngsters doing, serpentining the downhills, confused at how to best navigate the terrain with a rider. Griffin just strikes out, strong and steady in a straight line.

We walked the steepest bits and the muddy bits, and trotted the rest, breaking into a canter for a few strides here and there where it was best. We backtracked our trail through the woods exactly as we came on the way back. Griffin demonstrating his knowledge of the trail time and time again on the way home, choosing to make the turns before I guided him toward them. He picked his pace well nearly the whole time, too. Such a good boy!

At the last major downhill before the homestretch, I dismounted. I ran down the hill (hello rider fitness) and let Griffin trot fast behind me. He got overeager and sped a little too far forward outside of His Box a few times, but with a "WHOA" from me, he checked his speed and went back to His Box.

At the base of the hill, I mounted back up and we went the last little bit through the woods, circling wide around the property to add a little novelty to the end of the ride. When we finally re-entered the back field, we hand galloped across it - a first. Griffin was completely content, happy ears, and in control during this hand gallop. I was so impressed.

Crossing the creek, he chose to go right into a 2½ foot deep section, ducking his nose for a few sips as he powered through.

We trotted right up and into the barnyard on a loose rein, halting perfectly under the barn awning where I gave him lots of pats for being such a good boy.

5.73 miles with a 5.77 mph average pace.

We came in hot to the barn because I wanted to see where his heartrate was and how fast he'd drop. Almost immediately after dismounting, with girth loose, but saddle still on, he was at 88. I untacked him the rest of the way, sponged and scraped for 7 or 8 minutes and checked him again. He was hanging right around 68-70.  Not too bad for a horse who really doesn't have a huge fitness base right now. It was good to gain that baseline, and I look forward to watching it (hopefully) improve in coming months.

I had so much fun riding him. His gait is so different from Q's lofty gait, which was odd for me to adjust to riding after my recent 50. Griffin has a much shorter stride. Much smoother. His super fast trot isn't hard to sit at all. His canter needs the most work.

But more than his gait and the fun I had adjusting to it, I loved his work ethic. His eagerness to move forward down the trail with minimal guidance on my part. I bumped him a little to the left and a little to the right to help guide him through areas of tricky footing, but beyond that, it was all him. He was eager to try to please my requests every step of the way.

I was able to kind of "check out" mentally as we went along after 2 miles or so. My music took over my thoughts, and my muscle memory and subconscious took over my actions guiding Griffin as I needed. I let my right brain do the work for once, pushing my worrisome left brain out of the picture. OH, how I wish I could do that on every ride! Just RIDE and let myself do what I know I can do instead of thinking so much about every tiny thing. It was great to have a ride where I was able to do that; hopefully with time and miles I'll be able to do more of it -with both horses. =)

A New Approach

Or maybe a new hypothesis. Or a new experiment. Or a new theory.

Either way, I'm going to try a new approach to tackling Q and her spookiness on trail and other interactions.

My problem with this horse, and let's face it, my human problem with any aspect of life is letting my emotions rule. In fact, I've been beating myself up internally about this issue for months. I've been fretting about how I just can't seem to get along with this little mare as I did that first year with her. I worry and I fret, and now I need to just DO something about it for good. Giving up is the easy way out; I don't like giving up and Q deserves for me to give all I can.

Photo by Dom

But, I'm only human. I feel that much of our lives are spent tackling the challenge that is controlling our emotions in situations that revoke a "fight" or "flight" response. And while situations with Q that frustrate me don't often elevate so high on that scale of "fight" or "flight", the repetition associated with some of the behaviors is increasing my level of frustration to such a level that I cannot keep it hidden. And she knows that. Damn horses, they know our emotions better than we do!

In my new approach, I'm going to strive even harder to stay calm and check my emotions at the door when I work with Q. I need to dial back my tendency to fly into agitation and re-form it to be encouragement.

This mare loves praise. She thrives off a calm atmosphere with a lot of praise. My error has been thinking that 2 years into owning her and working with her, she would have moved onward and be able to handle things without SO MUCH praise and SUCH a calm atmosphere. She hasn't moved on. In fact, as things seem to happen so often in life, we've taken a couple steps backwards.

I need to break down everything I ask this mare to do down into smaller steps. I need to praise the smallest efforts constantly. I need to bolster her confidence in herself and my confidence in her abilities. The trouble is being certain to recognize all of the small steps in all of our daily routines. I know I need to break things into smaller steps and work from there, but I'm not great at being able to recognize the small steps.

Despite that difficulty, I need to try. Practice makes perfect. Break down the small steps. Praise. Praise. Praise. It's not fair of me to be so hard on my animals all the time. (Where hard is a relative term as I'm not very hard compared to many.) I need to appreciate their every tiny try to do what I am requesting and I need to praise for it. Q just needs this MORE than the others if I'm to get anywhere with her.

If I can train myself to do this, to be calmer and to recognize and praise all the small things, my relationship with this little mare will improve. Additionally, the results of our rides and exercise sessions together will improve. We won't be arguing over the small, petty things. One tiny step at a time, we'll build into more confidence. Or at least that is my hope.

And, as all behavioral challenges with my horses result, I'm certain that this practice of staying calm and finding smaller steps to tackle and praise will help my relationships/interactions with people, will improve results in my endeavors, and will improve future implications in many realms of my non-horse life.

To supplement all of this behavioral change in my training pursuits with this mare, I'm also going to alter how we train. For the next several weeks, out goes the jumping cross training. Out go other riding pursuits. All of it gone in favor of time on the trail. Miles upon miles and hours upon hours on the trail. We'll go fast. We'll go slow. We may only go out for one mile or two before we're done. But we're going out on the trail.

She's going to get to see the trees and the rocks and the grass and the sun's rays dancing off of all of it. Again and again and again and again. Her small efforts will be praised. Praised and praised. And hopefully, with time and miles, she's going to approach the "monsters" with less spooking. Hopefully we'll get back to where she gives things the stink eye, slows her gait a bit, and a provides slightly excessive wide berth around the offending object. No more horizontal teleportation and slamming on the brakes. ...at least, that is the hope.

OD 50: Thoughts, Review, Future Plans

Thoughts on the Ride

-  This was hands down the rockiest of the OD rides. All three rides (Triple Crown for the east) require hoof protection, but beyond a couple sections here and there, the rides weren't very sustained and rocky. This one though? This one was. This one sucked. Hard.

-  My experience on the trails in the Smoky Mountains two summers ago prepared me well for this trail though. It was rough, but not nearly as treacherous as trail I rode in the Smokies - or even some of the trails I've ridden in the WV backcountry. There were very few, if any, areas of this trail that had huge consequences if a footfall or two weren't perfect (unlike the Smokies).

Mountain tops aren't as bald as the Smokies, but they're similarly rugged here!

-  It was steep, yes. It was rocky, yes. BUT, there was plenty of room to stop and turn the horse slightly or all the way to reverse direction or to rest. There were no areas that you really needed the horse to move forward or else (unlike the Smokies and a few sections of WV backcountry trail I've been on).

-  For Q, the magnitude of rocky area was the most difficult part of this ride. Q can pay mind to rocks and be very good - we've done it on some super sketchy trails in WV - but this ride (and lately in all riding) Q was more concerned with what was AROUND her instead of being cautious about her footfalls. Her movement over the rocky areas on the second ridgeline trail became sloppy and careless as a result, which was highly frustrating.

-  The sustained incline/climbing sections up the mountain on this ride surprised me from a trail building/maintenance standpoint. These trails are so unfriendly for any travel because they lack switch backs. Additionally, this kind of design leads them to serve as areas for washouts during high precipitation events, which harms the integrity and condition of the trail over time.

-  Downhill inclines at speed are a huge issue for Q and I. I am cautious with these in training and had no choice but to make time on them during this ride. This is no bueno. I need to strive to build rider fitness in this area; I need to train myself to be better at running downhills so I can still do them with speed without the increased stress on Q. As it is now, running downhills makes me incredibly sore. I cannot do it and walk the few days after a ride. These OD rides leave few opportunities to make time up for the areas you HAVE to walk if you don't take advantage of these downhill areas on FS roads. Q had a bit of inflammation and swelling in her forelegs after this ride that I suspect is in large part due to taking these downhills at speed. Additionally, I cannot physically get off and walk her UP any hills to help through those areas if a ride is > 60 degrees. I am too prone to heat illness to be able to do this and remain healthy and sound myself! So downhill training it is!

Queen Q and her flop lip.

-  B's on Q's vet card through the checks at this ride were sporadic and seemed to be subjective based on the vet I had. Vets at the beginning and final two checks who had seen my horse in the past and have been ride vets for longer were much better (IMHO) than the newer vet I had for the middle checks. I can only hope that that vet learned a bit from the experience and can take that information to be better later. All the same, it was really frustrating to deal with at the time. I think that vet took what I said about Q's scratches and her movement to be me arguing and making excuses more than me trying to inform. I need to come up with a different way to present this kind of thing in the future just in case that was the issue. (I'm always wont to blame my own communication skills first before presuming the worst of someone else; I'm not perfect and have much to improve on!)

-  Q's score of B for anal tone at the second-to-last check was really telling for me. This ride we spent nearly 2 hours longer on the trail than our other 50s. That was a lot, and it showed.

Q taking a pause from drinking.

-  Q ate and drank well all day. This was great. I am really pleased with her drinking which I'm pretty certain can be attributed to the electrolyting we've done these past two rides.

-  As much as it pains me to say this - I think Easyboot gloves on the hinds is what works best for this mare right now. I had ZERO issues with these this ride. The failed Renegades on the hinds during the beginning was really frustrating. It may be that Vipers on her hinds will work just as well as they do on her fronts (we only had one very minor moment where the toe strap came undone in the second loop on a downhill and her foot came out as a result of the SLICK clay/silt/mud in the boot to deal with for the Vipers). So one day, when I can afford Vipers for her hinds, maybe we'll try those, but right now, Vipers on the front and gloves behind is working...even though it pains me to deal with getting those gloves on! Renegades behind in this terrain is just difficult though. The kind of soil we have creates such SLICK mud. And we have a LOT of water crossings on trails over here in the east. I'm never overly surprised when I lose a boot after a stream crossing - as that is when it almost always occurs! That slick mud coupled with fast movement uphill makes it difficult for most things to stay on horse and human alike thinking back on times I've kicked off my own shoes on accident, haha.

-  This was the longest Q has been on trail for a 50. It was her toughest, yes, but also the longest. The fact that she was STILL spooking - and being worse about it even - at the end was SO FRUSTRATING. I think I definitely need to pus her harder in the future to make her more tired (like she was at No Frills) so she can't spook on that last loop. Ding bat.

-  There is a fine balance I need to discover with hills and speed for this horse. She is the Lance Armstrong of hills/mountains. She's so much rather take them at speed than dally around at a walk. We train on mountains and hills at home ALWAYS taking them at a minimum of a trot. No walking until we get to the top. Gotta build that ass! So few people we encounter at rides have the training terrain available to them that I do. Q has a huge advantage here. So I need to figure out HOW tired it will make her to go fast up all of these hills. If we trot them all - as much as possible anyway - at rides, will it make her too tired to do more later? Or if I run all the downhills dismounted and she trots the uphills will we balance out to do better? Trade-offs...time will tell?

Positive and Negatives on Gear, Etc.

-  Electrolytes really seem to be working well for Q. She's drinking much better than she did last year with the addition of electrolytes. I'm please and will keep her on this until it isn't working as well - at which point I will reassess. Currently her mixture is half Perform N Win, half Enduramax. These are mixed with a solution of molasses and applesauce to make it tasty. Having actually tasted it myself, I can honestly say its not too bad! Salty, obviously, but not bad otherwise.

Bizz-oots! Vipers on the fore, Gloves behind.
Q was doing her big trot here, evident in how her hind end
tracks outside of her fore as she strikes forward.
Basically, she moves like she's got a huge pair of nuts.

-  Vipers in the front are AMAZING. I've never had so little issue with boots. Each ride we've had with them we've only encountered one issue per ride. Both minor. Both on inclines after a mud/water crossing. At No Frills it was speed on an uphill coupled with a very jagged trail and rocks that tilted her feet at odd angles; at Old Dominion, it was trotting downhill after a crossing. When I fixed the boot at the OD, I was honestly surprised it hadn't come off sooner or been worse than it had! There was a layer of silty, slick mud spread throughout. Silt is basically the finest soil you're going to find and it will permeate anything and everything. It's natures equivalent to WD-40. That we only had the minor issue of the toe strap coming undone and her toe slipping out of the boot a tiny bit as our only problem is a miracle in itself!

-  Begrudgingly, I have to admit that the Easyboot gloves on Q's hinds do beautifully. We completed the second half of Fort Valley and No Frills with them. I have to vet wrap her hinds prior to putting the boots on, but once on, they don't budge. The failures with Rennies on the hinds has only occurred due to cable issues where the cables break or tear out. In past rides with Rennies on Q's hinds, I've had little to NO trouble with them. I think the Vipers will be a much better fit and have fewer issues, but until there is a time I can afford to get them, I will be using the gloves.

-  For me, a half gatorade (the light blue kind!) and half water is heaven's elixir. I guzzled this down each loop from my bottles. I was SO hydrated all day. It was awesome. Additionally, Mike MADE me eat and drink at each check, before, and after the ride. I was really well taken care of!

-  Saddle bags...I set out both this and the No Frills ride with TWO saddle bags: pommel and cantle. All I really keep in the cantle are my water bottles and spare boots/vet wrap. Nothing else. I'd really like to eliminate that cantle bag completely for future rides. I'm just a bit hesitant about wearing a Camelbak again for my water as it made my shoulders sore before. I guess we will see...

Training Changes for the Future

- Rider fitness on downhills: I plan to start running all the downhills when I do trail rides with both horses. Downhills tend to make me really sore currently, so I obviously need to start working on them! Hopefully, by my next ride, I'll be in better shape and be able to gain time on the downhills without trading the health and fitness of Q's legs.

I chowed down so hard at this ride. NO training needed to
continue this.

- More hill sprints: My little mare is the Lance Armstrong of hills and mountains. I have a HUGE advantage over most people I compete against because I have mountains and hills accessible FROM MY BARN while others have to haul long distances to find similar training grounds. I need to use this to my advantage and do more of it. Power Q up those steeps, let her rest some while I run down them on foot with her following.

-  More hill/mountain work on sustained inclines: I've got at least four sustained (between a 0.5-1.0 mile long) climbs. I need to hit these up more and really work them. Back to the previous point, I need to take advantage of the training grounds I have and use it to our advantage!

- More time on the trail: I really need to get Q out onto the trail and increase her miles out there. Not because she needs more miles and more trail fitness, but because she needs to see more of the things that seem to scare her so much. "Desensitizing" an animal can only work if they see the stimuli that triggers them in a "normal" setting. Doing work with her around the barn and barnyard to help her get over these issues won't help her when we're on the trail. Only trail work will help that. I'm hoping that with increased time on the trail, her degree of spookiness will lower. I'm not naive enough to think it will go away completely, but if I could get her back to just balking and not launching herself away from "monsters" I would be a lot happier. With a plan of jogging the down steeps and powering the up steeps, the flats are the only areas I need to be concerned with her spooking. She'll be unconcerned on downhills if following me on foot, and uphills make her work too hard to have time/effort to spook. Sadly, the flats are where we need to make time, and the flats are where I'm scared to make time because her spooks are a million times worse when done from a canter than from a trot. :-(  I have to help her to overcome this if we're to further our riding career together. I just have to.

The Battle Continues

(I am about to kill Blogger's formatting, or lack thereof, so I apologize for the way photos are portrayed in this entry. I had to post it before I deleted the whole thing in a rage. Grumble.)

The battle to regain the horse I bought and not this new spazz mare that has emerged.

Things I have changed and things we have been doing since the initial freight train episodes:

Flat work with tons of transitions and changes in direction in the field - Walk -canter - trot - halt - back - canter - walk - halt - trot - canter - walk - trot - halt - back - trot - halt - back - canter - walk - etc. Add lots of directional changes to that mess and you'll have nearly every day since that entry about the freight train. This is working. She is more focused on me than ever. She's not overly rushy in the home directions either. However, she is still spazzy and super cued up and on edge. Its insane. I've got her focused, but she's still manic and panicky about things. To the point where a blade of grass blew in the wind and she balked and her whole body shuddered violently. She's not even in heat! When she's in heat she can be like that, but she's not usually that way out of heat. Its getting ridiculous.

Video still: A nice halt. Go Q!

Video still: Backing - halt - canter!

Ported kimberwicke > snaffle - Yes, I bitted up. I did it initially to see how she would even respond before making a final decision. And, guess what? Miracle difference in her. She was a bit appalled at first when the curb action made contact, but after her initial disgrace at my added control against her evasions, she shuttup and focused. My aids are light and she is responsive again. Its amazing. I hated the force that I had to apply to the double-jointed snaffle to get any sort of response from her when she was having A Moment. It wasn't good on any level. She likes this kimberwicke more it seems. She's responsive and light again.

Running martingale - She hates that this is on still. But her hate of it is only evident when I request something she really wishes she didn't have to do like SLOW DOWN and STOP instead of making moves to push forward. While she's not rushing like she had been, she is trying now to make the Correct Answer be Going Toward Home Direction As Fast As Permitted And Not Stopping. So when I ask for a downward transition or a halt she will shake her head no more than 3 times to demonstrate her dislike of my request. Its not very predictable, but the times it happens are always in the home direction and usually when asking her to downward transition from the canter.

Flat work with *surprise* jump - I'll march her around with flat work and then pop her over a *surprise* jump. There is no rushing in any direction. She gets a little excited when allowed to canter a jump, but she's not a completely crazy bat about it, just exuberant. I can deal with that.

Video still: Hunt that jump!

Video still: launch!
Yes, no ground pole, shame be on me. They'd brush hogged the field, a surprise to me, and all my jumps
had been moved everywhere.

Video still: Wee!

Video still: Clearly the fence is much higher and wider than the naked eye can see.

Video still: Wee!

So, yes, lots of positives. 

A looming negative though is still her elevated spazziness lately. It has reached new levels. I don't know what crawled into her head to whisper things in her ear about how awful the world is, but it needs to end. SmartMare Harmony and a Mg supplement will be arriving soon. I hope that in the next 45 days there is a marked difference in her behavior because it is getting OLD.

Our first really awesome breakthrough ride with lots of transitions and her attention on me was a really big high for me. It felt great. I thought I was getting somewhere. Only to come back to the barn and have Q flip her shit over Mystery Something. She flailed and thrashed about in a manner that made me think she was likely to flip herself onto the ground. I wasn't about to step into that, so I just turned around and set to putting her bridle away as I had been doing. She would either stop her thrashing or hurt herself, but I wasn't about to get in the middle of it and get hurt, too. That helps nothing. When I emerged from the tack room seconds later, she had slipped her halter and was running the far fenceline in the barnyard, visibly upset. Ugh. 

I brought her back and finished untacking her and turned her loose, but the whole thing - even though I had NOTHING to do with ANYTHING that caused her alarm (I was in the tack room during the whole ordeal) - really put a damper on my spirits. 

She's not even in heat! This elevated spazzy behavior is outrageous. Typically she's FINE around the barn/barnyard. No problems. Calmest horse you ever met. You'd have a hard time believing she could ever be a spazzy witch. But ugh. Its hit or miss lately. I don't know what's going on with her hormones or the hormones floating around from the little mixed herd of 9 horses she lives with, but eegads. 

Tomorrow we do a demo for 200+ elementary schoolers. All I can do is pray that she is her usual away-from-home self. Calm. Happy. Cross your fingers and light a candle that this is the case!

Griffin Under Saddle: Backstory & Preview

Backstory: Last fall when I was riding Griffin sporadically, I noted that his worst outbursts under saddle were related to having pressure put on his mouth. All his training had primarily been with the halter and pressure from it. I'd introduced the bit and bridle slowly over time, and transitioned my requests through it so he could understand that the new sensation should still result in movement he already had learned with the halter. I had even played around with single and double-jointed snaffles to see what he preferred. Despite all of this, he was somewhat resistant and would demonstrate his displeasure toward pressure the bit applied on his mouth with a variation of outbursts: head tossing, crow hopping, bucking, etc. If I rode him in just a halter, none of these behaviors would persist. He wasn't in any pain, he was simply being a pill. The behaviors reminded me a lot of a two year old toddler throwing a tantrum over something trivial.

(Worth noting: All of the outbursts he throws under saddle as a result of not liking something are the same maneuvers he throws on his own if he thinks I haven't given him his grain soon enough. He'll stand tied in place throwing his head, crow hopping, bucking and rearing in place. Its actually quite comical to observe. I'll stand and laugh at him as he throws out all his tricks. He never gets his grain until he's been standing still and stately like a gentleman for a solid 15 seconds minimum. I share this example to demonstrate that the outbursts are not as a result of being ridden or experiencing pain. He just gets pissy when he doesn't get his way and acts out in an attempt to bully me into making it "easy for him". Such a little ass...but I love him.)

He bucked me off during one of his outbursts one day last September when I was riding him with bit/bridle; I tweaked my ankle pretty bad when I hit the ground. While it seemed minor at the time, the ankle didn't truly stop hurting until sometime in December. As a result of this incident, I quit riding Griffin for a long time. I couldn't risk injuring myself with my 50 on Q coming up and ski season approaching (my second job that sort of requires good physical condition and health).

Through the winter months I toyed around with a myriad of gadgets with Griffin on the lunge. I never had the goal of "forcing him into a frame" with this work. The only reason I applied gadgets that had connection to the bit was so that he could experience pressure on his mouth in different ways and work out his issues with it on his own without a rider. He's a sensitive guy. He's also young, and the tantrums he likes to throw are something I'd rather watch from the ground than experience from the saddle. So, I let him work through his issues on the lunge.

With time, his outbursts (squealing, crow hopping, bucking, kicking out) from feeling pressure on his mouth ceased. I introduced work in side reins regularly to help him build strength by encouraging him to use his back; he started seeking the contact, working the bit in his mouth, not fighting every step of the way.

I started riding again. I kept it short and slow at first. Noted he still had some confusion when a bit was used, but was wonderfully responsive without it. I decided to take a step back from riding with the bridle for awhile and would ride him with the halter-bridle instead - I wanted him to have positive riding experiences! We put in time and miles and had a lot of good experiences this way. He learned how fun riding could be. His outbursts completely ceased under saddle.

The next slow step I took was to put the bridle on over his halter-bridle. I still connected the reins to the halter-bridle, but now he had the bit in his mouth as an addition. It was more an ornament than a functional piece of tack, but riding with it in this manner let him learn that it's mere presence when riding didn't mean negative things.

Finally, last week, I got on him formally with the reins attached solely to the bit. We tooled around for about 5 minutes (at a walk) in the barnyard. He was a steady eddy, responsive to my requests and even sought out contact as he does with the side reins. YAY! I quit on that good note that night and didn't attempt riding with the bridle again until this week.

Both Tuesday and Wednesday nights this week I have had wonderful rides on him - both rides with reins attached to the bit. Both times with minor outbursts.

What triggered these small outbursts, you wonder? Not being allowed to chase the dogs. -_-  Its one of his favorite games. When I turned him away from his path of chase, he shook his head and did the babiest stutter-step/crow hopping for about 5 seconds then moved on. Each time he locked onto the dogs to chase and was redirected he'd behave this way. These were the only occurrences.

The rest of the ride was wonderful though. SO WONDERFUL. He's SO MUCH FUN.

Tuesday was 15 minutes long. I'm trying to keep this type of session short right now. We did at least half of the 15 minutes at the walk, and then the other half was a mixed bag of walking and trotting with a sprinkling of canter, mostly to see if he would. I have no idea how he looked for certain, but he felt so collected, so uphill, so nice! <3

Last night Mike was kind enough to take videos for me while I was riding Griffin. Sadly, I don't have these uploaded yet - but when I do I will be certain to share! I rode him for 25 minutes last night. He didn't feel as totally wonderful as he had the night prior, but there had been a lot of commotion going on at the barn (vet giving fluids to one of the dogs who has been having some problems, more people than usual to help, gusting winds, intermittent rain sprinkles, etc.) that was likely distracting him a little.

We walked for the first 15 minutes of our ride last night. Then I had him trot several circles. And then we cantered 2 circles in each direction. (The circle out there if I use the full barnyard to my advantage is right around 30 meters. We closed it in some last night, so it was probably closer to 25m.)

When I got to watch the videos I squee'd a whole lot. He is just SO CUTE. And he tries so hard! He's far from perfect, and I know that, but because this is our "beginning" I am so, so, so thrilled with the kind of beginning it is! And I really can't wait to compare the footage from now to footage I get months and years down the road. Damn is he fun to ride.

I took screenshots from the videos to share until I can upload and share videos, enjoy!

Creek Riding

***VIDEO PRIVACY ISSUES RESOVLED (uploading from my phone is tricky!, sorry for inconvenience)***

I have so much to catch up on and multiple posts in draft format that are in various stages of completion...but I just can't finish them to post in chronological order right now. I'm too jazzed on the short, silly ride from last night.

Weather this week (until later today, sigh) has been phenomenal. The sun has been 90% present which has done wonders for how cheery I am. I never notice how glum winter gets until I get to experience the sun again for multiple days, oh the difference it makes! Additionally, its been in the 60s this week! T-shirt riding weather! I forgot what that could be like.

After work last night I headed out to the barn to "play horse".

I brought both horses in, gave them some grain, and then spent some time touching up Q's feet (another post for tomorrow) and shaved her girth area. Karen had mentioned shaving Askhe's recently, too, because he has princess tendencies about having hair pulled during girth tightening. I'd been pondering the same thing for Q because she is suddenly cranky (princessy) when I tighten her girth this winter. Go figure that as soon as I shaved the area and tacked her up last night she could care less! Happy swively pony ears, slack lower lip, soft eye. So, Karen, Q sends her thanks to you and cousin Ashke for swaying me to do this! She's much happier!


After I'd tacked Q and Griffin up, Mike showed up and we headed to ride.

The first part of the ride was in the barnyard. I'd put the bridle on Griffin and attached the reins to the bit for the first time in a couple months. I've been avoiding it because I'd noticed that the bit and contact with it when riding was triggering outbursts (head flinging, stompy front feet in pseudo-buck, tripping over his feet when asked to turn).

Imagine my pleasant surprise when Griffin had no outbursts last night! He was definitely focusing harder on what I was asking, and he gave me a lot of try. Circles were balanced; no tripping and confusion like before. Trot to walk transitions with slight cues involving pressure on the formerly-hated bit were no big deal! And. And. AND! He even collected like he'll do on side reins while we were at the walk. WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER. Houston, we have contact!

I ended on that good note, swapped out the bridle for his halter-bridle, and Mike, Q, Griffin and I headed out.

I had zero plans for what kind of ride we'd do. When we reached the creek to cross into the far field, I asked Mike if he could get Q to walk *up* the stream. He, and Q, obliged. A little hesitancy at first, but then they plunged right along upstream, no big deal!

I had Griffin follow.

We ended up doing a good ½-mile or more in the stream last night. It was SO MUCH FUN. We avoided holes deeper than their chests, but tackled everything else. I giggled like a fool the whole time.

At one point, where we turned around to come back downstream, Q even did a beautiful side pass UP a steep 8-foot bank. Pretty and hilarious. Mike and I decided she's our tiny dancer with her fancy footwork.

Q has so much action in her hocks

After the creek adventure was over, we trotted and cantered around the back field for a little while. There is now video evidence of me trotting and cantering the grey beast!

He was such a doll the whole evening. I'm sorry the video doesn't capture some of his better cantering because he cantered a 200 yard stretch beautifully. There was a huge grin on my face the whole time. He was even doing the whole "snorty exhale" thing and sounded like a train. Such a goofball.

I had SUCH A BLAST riding in the creek and then tooling around in the field at the trot and canter with Griffin. The whole ride ended up being 2 miles with an average pace of 3.2 mph. Both horses got a fun little workout, had their minds stimulated with some out-of-the-box exercise in the creek, and as a result their legs were the cleanest they've been in weeks! So, so, so much fun.

Taken from the creek