Old Dominion Open LD

The Kenai sugery saga left my competition season pretty high and dry this year. I fit in one 50 in August at my local ride and figured that would be it. Financially, I couldn't afford to do much else. Getting pulled at the finish at Fort Valley last year made it so Q would have to complete two 50s during 2015 to qualify for the National Championship (NC) 50, an event that was held nearby in Virginia on the Old Dominion (OD) course this year. While I could have squeaked by financially with the RBTR 50 and the NC  50, I certainly couldn't afford two qualifying 50s plus the NC 50.

Dan, one of my Canaan buddies, wanted to try his hand at an out of state ride though. He and his Morgan X Standardbred gelding, Dakota, did fantastic at RBTR in August. I've been coaching them along and they've improved incredibly this year. The goal is for Dakota to try some "easy" 50s next year. (Whereby easy = non-mountainous rocky terrain like what we train on all the time.)

The OD staff decided to hold an open LD between the NC 50 and the NC 100. Dan told me if I could manage my entry fee, he'd cover the other expenses for the weekend if I'd ride with him in the LD. I crunched numbers in my head briefly, and then agreed. An LD sounded like a lot of fun after a few years of only 50s! I figured it would be a fantastic conditioning ride for Q, too.

Pre-Ride

With my trailer and my boyfriends borrowed truck, Dan and I set out from Canaan mid-afternoon last Thursday. The trek was a short 2 hours for us.

We arrived at camp, found a parking spot, set the horses up quickly, and headed straight to registration. We hadn't done any paperwork preceding the ride. With rider cards in hand, we went straight from registration to vet in. Q and Dakota both vetted in with pulses @ 40 and all A's on their cards.

With the horses taken care of, Dan and I set to getting the human side of things setup at camp...but not before I noticed we'd parked two rigs down from Gail - whom I had to greet. Hi, Gail!

With a ride start of 9:30a the next day (LUXURY DISTANCE!), Dan and I were in no great hurry to do much of anything that evening. We attended the ride meeting, mosied back to camp, chatted with friends, imbibed ourselves with alcohol, and then slept when we felt like it. SO RELAXING.

I awoke in the morning a little before 7 to feed the horses. I roused a sleeping Dan and met Gail to go get coffee (essential for zombie-Dan).

With breakfast and caffeine in our systems, our trio headed back to camp where Dan and I gathered Gail's crewing stuff with ours to run it over to the away check. I was pleased to discover that the away check was a short, easy drive from ride camp. This allowed us to get things setup in record time and still have nearly an hour to ready the horses for the start. With lightning bolts on their hindquarters, hawk feathers in their tails, and smudging with sweet grass (horses and humans alike), we were ready.

Dan and I trotted around camp a bit to warm up and then headed to the start to give our numbers at the check-in and await the opening of the trail. Our ride plan for the day was to 1.) have fun and 2.) go fast. We knew both horses could more than handle the trail as we train them on very similar terrain at home.

I was really excited to be able to go fast and only ride 25 miles! Q was really at ease with things, too, evidenced by her behavior as we awaited the start: she waltzed herself up right to the starting line and then stopped, cocked a hind leg, and took a small nap for a minute or two despite all the hustle and bustle around us. I couldn't help but laugh at her. I don't think she really knew what we were getting into - that or she took me at my word that it was going to be a short, quick day!

The first loop

The trail opened promptly at 9:30a. Dan and I set off at the very front with Daryl Downs.

Dan and Daryl got acquainted as we trotted with speed down the road to the point where we'd veer into the woods. By the time we reached the first single track section, Daryl was in the front followed by myself, Gayle, and Dan.

I chatted with Daryl while Dan chatted with Gayle as we sped along at a fast trot with occasional cantering through the woods. What a thrill!

About 4.5-5 miles into the trail, we came upon some fellows on dirtbikes who had stopped and turned off their bikes out of courtesy. We thanked them greatly and continued...except we missed our first turn! It was right where the dirtbikes had been and we'd been distracted. Daryl quickly knew something was amiss and we re-righted ourselves to head off in the proper direction...except in that process one of Q's hind boots had a blow out.

I stopped to remove it and quickly slap on a replacement. Dan was courteous enough to wait for me. The two of us tackled the rest of the loop together at a slightly slower pace than Daryl and Gayle.

This climb? NBD

The steep climb wasn't so bad seeming after the training I've done since I last tackled the trail in 2014. The single track along the ridge was also much easier than I remembered from 2014; areas where I thought I could only walk before we trotted. In fact, about the only area we walked all day with exception of very short tricky areas was that steep climb! It's amazing what time and miles will do for how one views terrain.

After a short stop at the water tanks where the horses drank deeply, we set off down the gravel road descent into Bird Haven. This was another section I remembered disliking from 2014...and it was yet another section we tackled with ease, fast trotting and cantering it this time around. All the downhill training I've done this year has helped immensely!!

Before the part where we made a wrong turn

In no time, we were at Bird Haven. Dakota took a little bit to pulse down, but nothing crazy. Both horses vetted through well, though the vet (my vet from home as luck would have it) noted Q was a little off in the hind end, "She's not quite even in the hind end. I think it's her RH. She's waddling more than she usually does." We received a B on gait and had a note of "grade 1" on our card. We agreed it was likely due to my mismatched hind boots (one Rennie and one easyboot). I told her I'd put two Rennies on and asked if she'd double-check us before I headed back out? Certainly.

The rest of the check went smoothly. Both horses ate and drank - and Q peed! - and were generally in good spirits. Q's gait was without flaw at our recheck and I felt confident about heading back out on trail. It seemed we had a very nice pocket to ride back to camp in, all we needed to do was complete!

The second loop

The last few miles flew by. Dan and Dakota led the way. We trotted nearly all of the trail and enjoyed the beautiful day. We had no mishaps to speak of beyond Dakota's RH shoe coming off about a mile from camp. Not a big deal that close to the end.

At the finish, two of Dan's friends set to sponging Dakota with Dan. I cleaned the mud and dust off Q's legs and took her straight to the P&R area as I knew she was  already at pulse criteria. The ladies  called time at 1:16p and informed me that we had finished 4th (provided we passed the final vetting). They asked if we'd like to show for Best Condition (BC), but I was undecided, worried Daryl had finished so far ahead (26 minutes) that it wouldn't matter. They told me I could change my mind if I wanted, and if I did to return in an hour to present.

Q passed her final vetting easily, and a volunteer even trotted her for me! I discussed the BC showing with Dr. Art King and it was decided I should present just for the learning experience. I agreed that was a great idea. I weighed in for BC (167#) and set back to camp to clean Q up and give her something to eat.

Coming into Bird Haven (vet check)

On my way back to camp, I ran into Dr.  Bob. He informed me that there was a thumper at the finish and he was on his way to get some calcium to try to correct the issue. "Magic?" I queried, wondering if his gelding was having yet another issue knowing Dom has dealt with several finish line pulls as a result of the big red horse thumping this year. "No," Bob replied, "it's your friend's gelding!" Oh shit! Knowing I couldn't do anything, I made sure Q was taken care of, deciding to go find Dan in a little bit to check in if he hadn't returned.

Dan and Dakota walked into camp right as I was about to strike off to find them. Dakota's thumping had ceased 5 minutes too late and they'd been pulled! BUMMER. But he was happy and healthy and checked out by the treatment vet, so all was well. If Bob had been parked a little closer, things may have resulted in a completion. C'est la vie.

Q and I reported back for our BC vetting an hour after our completion. We ultimately weren't awarded BC (out of the 5 horses that showed for BC) which didn't surprise me a bit. Take aways: need to either wash girth prior to rides, tighten girth more, or find a new girth/girth rigging system because Q was a bit swollen and tender in her girth area (we use a 22" dressage Woolback with elastic on both sides; need to work on our trot outs. The former was a small surprise, the latter I was aware of.

Take-aways to improve upon

I'm sure the trot out improvement will be a relatively easy problem to fix - we just need to practice a bit at home. I can do that! I need to focus on getting her to trot at my shoulder vs. following me to improve her presentation during trot outs. Regardless, her movement is her movement. She's got a lot of action behind that can alarm folks who aren't accustomed to it. At my vet's recommendation, I had her hocks checked a year back and they were fine, beautiful even, so it isn't her hocks that are an issue. Nicole has a fabulous eye for irregularities in a horse's gait and has ridden with Q and I quite a bit - through two 50s, in fact! She notes that while Q has a lot of action behind, she absolutely isn't "off" or lame in her movements. She's just different from other horses.

My vet always has Q in mind when she's at conferences where horse movement is discussed; we've had many conversations about Q's way of going. I'm so grateful that luck gave me my home vet at the check at this ride due to her familiarity with this horse's movement. She describes it as a hip waddle and has also noted how Q always bobbles her head around; she's very loose with her movement. (Perhaps due to her flexibility? My BO has told me that she's never seen a horse stretch in the field as much as Q does (she can watch them from her kitchen window). She says Q bows, arches her back like a cat, and stretches her hind legs straight out behind her rather regularly. She's quite the little "yogini" as my BO puts it. She also stretches her back out more under saddle than other horses I've ridden, especially if we are stuck on flat terrain for long periods of time.)  Dr. Nick Kohut notices how loose Q is and has mocked her multiple times during trot outs (including the BC trot out at this ride) saying in a sing-song voice, "Hum dee dum, hum dee dum." It's really quite spot-on.

Leaving Bird Haven (away check)

Q's head/neck bobble absolutely is not a lameness thing, though I do understand why people worry that it is. I've experienced Q's lameness head/neck bobble and it is very distinct and different from her normal "hum dee dum" plod along head/neck movement. However, I know this because of the length of time I have spent with this horse, others don't have that history to think back on. They're seeing her during a brief moment in time; she's one horse among many in their day and she isn't like the others so it can cause alarms to go off.

The girthing issue will take a bit of trial and error though... I definitely hadn't recently washed her girth, so I did that immediately upon my return home. I am confident I can tighten the girth a hole more at least, though it is hard to say if this will completely resolve our issues. Daryl showed me how his girlfriend (also named Liz) had sent her non-centerfire rigged saddle to a saddle specialist to have centerfire rigging installed. This can often resolve girths that slip forward, though I don't know that it is an option for my treeless Ansur dressage saddle. And before anyone makes the suggestion, I have zero desire to go saddle shopping and deal with the saddle fit saga. I have not the money, the time, nor desire to go through that right now. And besides, Q's saddle has done amazingly well for her during her endurance career!

I may need to look into a contoured girth option...in past attempts to use a mohair girth on Q, the black material where the buckles are chafed her wildly after a short conditioning ride. I've since ruled those out...but maybe a girth cover would prevent that? Though if I'm going to put a cover on a girth, I may as well just buy a basic contoured girth instead of a costly mohair girth... Thoughts on potential ways to resolve/test the issue?

: : : : :

I had an absolutely blast dropping back down to an LD for a ride. It helped me remember how insanely fun this sport is; that's the reason I got into it from the beginning! I look forward to next season and my hopeful plans to tackle some new rides and new trails.

Right before we showed for BC - she looked pretty fabulous.

The Trouble with "Cowboys"

There are cowboys, and then there are "cowboys".

The former have a good hand with a horse, a good understanding of how big of an impact body language plays, respect the instincts of a flight animal, and successfully start and train wonderful animals.

The latter however? The latter are the complete opposite. They "accomplish" the same as the former, but the end result is something entirely different.

The "cowboy" trained animal results as one that holds onto fears and trauma because fear was used to start that animal. The same methods that a cowboy will use are abused when used by a "cowboy".

Flags, carrot sticks, and use of a rope by a cowboy can be valuable tools to direct, redirect, focus, and shape the behavior of a green horse. A cowboy knows how the tiniest of gestures from their body or the tool they use as an extension of their body can greatly influence the responding behavior in the horse. Through proper use of these tools, the cowboy and horse find a middle common ground where they communicate and work with understanding.

"Cowboys" over-use these tools. Their gestures are over-large and very threatening. They don't seek to find a common ground of understanding with the horse, they seek to dominate and force the horse to their will. The horse, fearful for its life, complies.



I'm sure many of you know just what I'm talking about. I'm sure you've witnessed it with your own eyes. And I know you can think of examples of horses that have resulted from cowboy training and "cowboy" training.

Q was trained by a "cowboy". The longer I spend time with my little mare, the more she tells me of her past.

We've managed to work through many issues:

• she used to be incapable of standing tied; now she will stand for hours.
• she used to be flighty and panicky when in the round pen, running herself in circles with the mere presence of a human in that shared space, staying always at the outer perimeter; now she is calm and relaxed and would rather follow me about than run away.
• she used to be very nervous about being handled from the ground; now she's her calmest when being handled from the ground.
• she used to be an absolute monster about trailer loading, nearly bowling me over to avoid getting on; now she's more apt to push past me to self-load herself - she self-loads at the very first opportunity.

But I'm still working through some and still uncovering more to work through.

That "cowboy" trained Q with excessive force. The fear he instilled in her sticks with her strongly. It's at her core. The first things she ever learned about riding and being handled she learned from him.

The scars from his rowled spurs on her belly scream about the force he exerted to "train" her to move laterally. The larger mark on her right side is likely why she moves as well as she does to the left now, he forced her harder to that direction and she still gravitates that way more now when she's scared.

But the worst of it? The worst if it is the extreme claustrophobia and fear she exhibits when you try to stretch and handle her hind legs or deal with her hind end. You see, that "cowboy" who trained her likes to break horses by tying a leg up because they grow tired faster of fighting when they've only got three legs. This information was a strong theory I'd developed over time, but it has more recently been confirmed to me by others who have been around that "cowboy" and horses "trained" by that "cowboy".

He definitely spent more time tying her left hind as she's far worse with it than the right hind. I can only wonder how long he left her tied up with a leg in the air like that. It kills me to think about it though, so I never ponder for long.



Fortunately, Q doesn't have a mean bone in her body, a fact that makes this all the more sad and makes me wonder how she would have been if she'd been brought up by someone kinder. It makes working through her issues a little easier to do though. She doesn't strike out in fear when you work with her. She always tries to escape; from small side steps to large jumps and whirling, she always seeks escape. (She's also never offered a buck or rear under saddle in our 3.5 years together.)

She's EXCESSIVELY better about things with her hind end now. She lets me trim her feet with minimal issue. Treating scratches last year on her hind legs was a bear of a task, but we managed (albeit with lots of screaming from me because of her escape antics when all I wanted to do was make her better).

But that fear is still very much there, evidenced by how Q is always at least a little on edge when you handle her hind feet. Or how she gets more nervous than any horse I've ever ridden about noise approaching her from behind, despite having a lot of experience with it because of endurance competitions!

Strides are being made and Q handles things better every day I spend with her, but it is still so sad (but not surprising) to me that she holds the fear so strongly after this time. Each season I've focused on a certain fear of hers to work through: first standing tied, then onward to being handled on the ground, then handling of her hinds for trimming, then the trailering, then her anxiety in the round pen. This next season we will be focusing on more extensive handling of her hind feet/legs with a goal of being able to stretch her leg standing behind her - this is something she fosters the most fear about. We'll take time and baby steps and I know we'll get there.

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So, some queries: Do any of you have a horse that was trained by a "cowboy"? Or experience with them? Specifically, a horse whose legs were tied/likely tied like Q's? What did you do that helped your horse through its fears developed from this kind of "training"?

Many Much Jumping Media

Because I'm shameless (and desperate), I conned a friend into coming out and getting some photos of me jumping over the weekend. The most beautiful evening settled in after several days of questionable weather and I had to take advantage of it.

And let's be honest, the tripod video stills were getting old, amirite?

After a quick warm-up over cavaletti and smaller verticals for a time, we hopped over half of the 3' Swedish oxer I had set up.

Griffin says, "3 feet? Lawlz."

I seriously adore this little grey beast. He's 15hh, but his presence is so much bigger.

I am so obsessed with the above photo. Those knees. The dapples. He makes it seem so easy...despite my expression of extreme concentration.

Once again at 3' with ease.

His ears are always so happy. He really loves this job. He's executing his job better than ever lately. It's a direct result of being ridden more during the week (which has been all dressage-based lately with minimal jumping) and getting out on trail two days one weekend over some new terrain. His mind and body are growing.

3' Swedish oxer

And then, after we'd done the oxer more times than represented in media, I got a little crazy and popped that sucker up to 3'6" ...or maybe that means the pole was at 3'9"? (...Dom? Are the standards 4' at the top? If so then I guess the top of the pole as it rests in the cups set is closer to 3'9" ...)

I've lunged Griffin over this height before, but never had we tried it under saddle.

We've got cavaletti setup as a 18" oxer about 4 strides out from this jump. It's the same approach he had to the 3' oxer.

As we approached the mondoginormous now-bigger jump, I did my best to not think about how big it was at all. I focused past the jump and just tried to ride my horse to the best of my abilities.

Griffin's very first time ever under saddle at 3'6". My very first time ever jumping the height.
(My standards are only 4'. Dom's Mike made them for me.)

My leg slipped like mad, my back is roached, and there's oodles of other tiny things, but it's 3'6"! And it's the very. first. time. And we jumped it clear without even touching a pole. And we were centered over the jump. And just wow. This little horse. This is the most fantastic baseline footage.

I'd like to affectionately caption our expressions as:
Me - Ooohhhshitohshitohshit....
Griffin - Heave-ho!

We only jumped the height once. Griffin received many, many pats and much praise for his effort.

I really don't plan to jump that height again soon or frequently. It is a great baseline to have, however.

I'll revisit it again in a few months after we've had more conditioning.

Now, don't mind me. I'm just going to ride off into the sunset on my little grey dreamboat.

Northern Travels

I headed north to Maine for work and found some fun along the way. Here is a glimpse into the trip.

Paused in MD to see these ladies.

Gracie played, too.

The canal in downtown Frederick is very picturesque

Finally crossed this state off my list

Killed some Ethiopian with Hannah and Amanda in Mass.

Walked the breakwater (7/8 mile) out into the Penobscot Bay near Rockland, ME

I love the fishing / lobster boats so much

And the rocky coastline...I love that, too

And the conifer trees on the rocky coastline

I also love sailboats paired with the rocky coastline

And sunsets along the water

See the mist receding in the distance? I can't look at this photo and not hear music from the score for Pirates of the Caribbean. I feel like the Black Pearl is going to emerge from that mist at any moment.
This photo and the following one taken at Schoodic Point - newly opened/acquired NPS land.

Wish the mist hadn't been there so I could have seen the islands in the distance. Did you know there are over 4,600 islands off the coast of Maine?!

And again with the fishing / lobster boats. I adore them. Oh, and a lighthouse.

This bog not only looked like high elevation parts of WV (Dolly Sods/Canaan) it also had the same familiar smell.

This trail, too, reminded me much of the Sods/Canaan.

Except that trail ends with a view like this where my mountain trails would end with a cliff into a mountain vista.

Again with the mist... Again with the Hans Zimmer score...

Downeast Maine, I seriously love you.

The very rare photo of me attired for work.

South meets downeast Maine. Because YUM.

Two 2 lb. lobsters. Do you know how much they cost me? $19.94 that's not too bad at all. And they were delicious.

Sunrise over the Penobscot Bay.

A beautiful morning over calm waters...

...which was great because boat travel was much smoother! Island hopping time.

Metinic Island owned and managed by USFWS for seabirds - common, arctic, and federally listed roseate terns in particular.

The Owl's Head lighthouse with schnooner

The hell that was driving over the JFK bridge into NYC during a deluge at 11p.
I knew city folks sucked at driving in inclement weather, but dear god.
Driving 15 mph and stopping dramatically with no warning is a little excessive. Fortunately, I and my car survived.

(The dreaded bridge in the sunlight.)
I was in the city for the 14th anniversary of 9/11.

The Irish Rover in Astoria where beer is cheap (for the city) and I got into an argument with the two Irish owners about steeplechase horses...and it earned me a beer on the house!

Mi hermano y yo.

A very poor picture of the very best salmon I've ever had. Check out Isabella's on the Upper West Side.

Empire State showing off at night.

Technology vs. paper. Everyone biding their time on the subway in some fashion.

And then I made it home again. Where it was in the 40s (observe our attire) and rained for the first 3 hours I was back.
But it cleared up right before sunset making for a beautiful, beautiful [windy and cold] evening.

And it was so good to be home with this kid again. I missed him.

My mountain momma showing off why she's wild, wonderful and almost heaven.