Endurance or Bust

2012-01-29T14:01:00.000-08:00

A Short Ride with Trainer Mike

2012-01-26T08:30:00.000-08:00

TRAINING!!!

2012-01-26T08:16:00.002-08:00

Falcon has arrived!

2011-06-26T09:59:00.000-07:00

He is safe and sound in CA despite a most crazy long trip, and a lying and non communicative company. The company is TDS. BEWARE!

If I Could Fly

2011-05-26T08:20:00.000-07:00

If I could fly on Falcon wing
What would I see
What would I sing
Where would I be?

If I could fly
Spirit free
Uplifted
Soaring
Spiraling to see
Where would I be?

If I could fly
looking down from above
I'dlike to see
You and me
Sitting down
under that oak tree
Passing time
Talking and singing
of things sublime

Arrangements made....

2011-05-26T08:19:00.000-07:00

...Again
The Equine Virus delayed the shipment
Betz to pick up new shipping certificate
Pick-up on Sunday or Monday....

Preparations continue

2011-04-19T22:42:00.000-07:00

Email from Bets saying that Christie would be available for the Vet on Friday.
Vet to arrive around 9 to pull the coggins on Falcon
Addresses for shipping and billing clarified with the White Oak Veterinary Clinic in Flint Hill VA

Clarified with shipper that it is NOT this Saturday that I need Falcon picked up...it is in MAY!
Re-faxed contract to them for shipping and wrote all over it the date in May.

Will be glad when I can see Falcon again and get some pictures and start writing about something more exciting then shipping papers! :)

2011-04-17T00:11:00.001-07:00

Beginnings and a little bit of fear

2011-04-16T08:11:00.000-07:00

1. Boarding facility finalized-Lakeside Equestrian on Auburn Folsom Road. I now have access to the tack room, so at some point I will take my saddle over.
The place is immaculate and seemed quiet when I was there around 10 in the a.m. The horses were still sleepy and relaxed. two boarders were there brushing out their horses and a sleepy cat meowed and brushed up against my legs...it was a good feeling to be around horses again

2. TDS equine transportation-deposit and contract sent in.

Still left to do:

3. Arrange for Falcon to have his coggins and Vet card completed so he can be shipped. I will have to wait until I get a date for the transport because the Vet card has to be during a 30 day window of the shipping. But it looks like Falcon will be shipped out around the 21rst of MAY.

4. When I get to VA in May, I need to get a tack box ready to ship with him and 3 bales of hay for the journey.

Betsy will bring him over to her place at shipping time since it is easier for a big rig to get into her place rather then Christies steep driveway on busy 340.

I have been reading the posts in this blog. Didnt even remember that I had written so much and it brought back some excitement, but also fear that Falcon is gonna dump me off on the GIGANTIC rocks that live in this area! : )

He will settle in and then I will maybe get a trainer to work with him for a few weeks since he hasnt been ridden in 2 years...

Hello Friends

2011-04-15T00:07:00.001-07:00

Preparations are being made to move Falcon to California.
Watch for updates in the near future

My Falcon no longer flies

2009-07-06T15:47:00.001-07:00

Falcon has an injury of unknown origin. I am hosing it out everyday, putting betadine on it and some other wonder dust or something....I wish he would heal, but he has so much movement in this area, it keeps breaking open.

Helloooooo I am back...

2009-06-30T15:31:00.001-07:00

Wow! It has been a long time since I have blogged. Ok, well, Long Story Short!

My friend Karen and I went for a ride in April. A lovely warm day. Falcon was fairly well behaved.

we had a nice canter up a short hill and did a lot of walking and trotting since it was our first day out in a few months.

I was just recovering from a stomach bug too and was fairly weak. We were just about a half mile from Karen's house when a small red truck came blowing up the gravel road.

He slowed down and stopped while Karen passed. Falcon and I were farther behind, the fella inched towards us and waved me to pass. As I came up even with his truck he stepped on the gas....spun out and sprayed stinging gravel on me and falcon.

Falcon went straight up the steep embankment to my right and I turned him back I thought to myself...yippee, I stayed on! BUT my hip was out of wack so I kicked my foot from the stirrup. Falcon was still slipping on the slick gravel road. He dipped and splayed out and I flew over his right shoulder.

My foot was stuck in the stirrup and I remember reaching up with my hand to loosen it and seeing Falcons belly and legs and I hadnt even hit the ground yet!

WHAM I went. Falcon went straight up in the air and took off bucking like a bronch up the road.

Karen didnt seem to know what to do...help me or get the horse. I was stunned, breathless, I told Karen to leave Falcon, that he would come back.

Sure enough....galloping back he came when I called him. He wouldnt have if there had been other horses to follow.

I climbed back on, but man did my right side hurt. I got off, I got on, I got off. I couldnt decide which was more painful, riding or walking. That was the longest half mile I have EVER walked.

I didnt go to the E.R. until the next day. My whole back/right side was ripped up and bruised and my right knee was as big as a grapefruit.

X-rays did not show any breaks so they gave me vicoden and two weeks off from work.

two weeks later the pain was worse then ever. So I took another week off. The Ortho surgeon pushed on my ribs and said....ohhhh you have broken ribs no doubt...non displaced ones don't show up on first x-rays...it takes 2-3 weeks.

8 weeks later, I still have some aches and pains, but all is improving....BUT NOW....OHHHHHH dearrrrrrrrrr.....Falcon must have gotten got in some downed trees or something and has ripped up his back leg.

Bad time of year with all of the flies....I am hosing his leg everyday, betadine, flyspray and antibiotics....OHHHHHH BOTHER....and I move to CA in two weeks. Now he can't be ridden by the lady who was going to keep him conditioned for me.

Falcon will have to go back to training if he ever gets better...he has had wayyyyyyy too much time off from school!

Sweeping out the Cobwebs

2009-02-07T17:10:00.000-08:00

Today was beautiful! 61 and sunny, BUT very windy. I decided that I would take a ride on Red Dog and let Karen ride Dakota. We headed down through the woods as usual and made the 0.5 mile loop up to the driveway.

At this point, Griffin, the labradoodle decided to attack the hens and I had to make Red trot over and threaten Griffen. The hen squawked as she was freed. Hit the pasture fence and bounced through...and hit the ground running.

I decided that maybe it would be best not to take Griffin since there were new calves in the pasture. I locked him in the kennel while Karen went to the barn to get a breastplate for Dakota.

The woods were barron, the leaves damp and moldy and the ground squishy from the thaw.
We reached the open field and gingerly trotted around the edges. Everything was muck. The field had been plowed and replanted with winter rye which was peaking its little green shoots through the mud.

It wasnt a very good decision of mine to slop through all of that mud. The horses ended up with muck all over their bellies and girths.

The open grassy pasture was a welcome site. I hopped off and did the gate duty. Red did not want to stand still for mounting..but I worked with him a bit on that and then we trotted and cantered around a small part of the field, crossed the stream and skirted the larger part.

The cows and calves were all huddled in a hummock trying to get out of the wind.

Karen didnt seem too interested in more cantering. She was tired from shoveling gravel all morning and stressed by her car and family.

Red was pulling to go home, so I pulled him back towards the west and cantered him up a hill away from Dakota. I circled him several times and as we neared the pond a huge gust of wind came and blew up waves in the pond. At the same time Gemma came up over the hill and Red spooked and took off running at full speed and gave two big bucks. I managed to stay on and hauled back on his reins. I was really unbalanced after the second buck and was so totally glad he hadnt given a third one.

Regaining control we circled the pond and met up with Karen and Dakota and rode to the gate. This time Karen hopped off and did gate duty.

Red was chomping at the bit and tried to race for home. I whirled him around and whacked his butt. He was MAD and kicked out wildly to the right then pranced sideways angrily...I made him STAND and calm down then allowed him to walk towards Dakota. From there we mostly walked until we reached the driveway and there I let red trot out.

He really was mostly a very comfortable ride. I told Karen that he is better without shoes on. She didnt think it would make any difference...but she hasnt ridden him unshod...so maybe tomorrow....

It was GREAT to be back on a horse!

A paradox

2009-02-07T08:12:00.000-08:00

The short days of winter really are VERY LONG! quite a paradox. I have not been motivated this winter to even think about endurance riding. And, I have only ridden twice...short rides at that.

There is quite a mindset for Endurance and I must say that after the initial week long adrenaline rush high that I had after the Fort Valley LD in October...I had a state of depression going on for a few weeks.

In January, I had the opportunity to fly to Sacramento, Ca. There was a professional archer/hunter on the plane in my row of seats and we talked about the adrenaline rush/depression syndrome. He gave me some good tidbits of advice that he had gotten from an Olympic runner.

He said to make a plan for your next goal/quest. Put it in writing...in easy to follow steps and make an effort to start attaining the simple goals.

I have yet to make my list...I figure I might be too far gone at this point...BUT if I do manage to motivate myself to get back on the horse, I might have my starting point at least. IT is sunny, warmer today...maybe today is THE DAY!

White Oak Canyon ride.

2008-11-01T17:28:00.000-07:00

Wow, a week gone already since the LD. Where does the time fly!

Last night I hooked up the horse trailer and took Falcon to it. He stopped 6 ft from the trailer and wouldnt budge. I climbed on and put steady pressure on his lead rope and asked him to "load up" or "step" Finally he stepped and nosed the trailer.

More rebellion, more pressure, then step, step, one foot on the trailer. Finally, up he came. I made him stand there for about 5 min. then backed him off. He was tenative and hung balancing on the edge of the trailer before finally stepping off.

I repeated the process 5 more times until he was loading without hesitation again...YEAHHHHHHHHH!

So today, when Karen came, I asked her to keep her distance with Red and not to crowd us. Falcon loaded right up. Then Red.

We drove up to Skyline Drive and looked for parking....Were we crazy? It was a weekend during PEAK LEAF season! Finally we found parking at Skyland in front of some of their cabins.

We hadnt checked the horses feet before we left and Karen promptly found that Red was missing his right front shoe and pad! DARN! Ok, well, coban and duct tape it is. His foot was too wide for the Easy Boot.

That done, we wandered around looking for the trail that our map showed to no avail.
Finally we headed down Skyline Drive towards the stables where we knew the White Oak Canyon trail was.

The Trail started out on a fire road down crossed three creeks that paralleled each other and then turned on to a leaf strewn rocky trail down into the canyon to the creek. Unfortunately I dont have any pictures of us CROSSING this creek because it was quite tricky and narrow underwater with large slippery rocks.

Falcon and Red crossed like champs and we continued for a short distance up the otherside. Then decided that the day was short and we better head back since we couldnt make time with Red's lack of a shoe.

This time, Red crossed the creek first. The creek became muddy and Falcon managed to step up onto the large slippery rock under water. He kind of lept foward to regain his balance, only to freak out at a tiny waterfall on the left and two barking dogs on the right.

Mid stream he whirled around and lunged out. Oh great. No amount of coaxing would get him to reenter. I dismounted and tried to walk on dry rocks while leading him through the water...He chose to attempt to follow me on the rocks and promptly slid hither and yon.

Quite a crowd of tourists were gathering to see the outcome....most of them had seem him cross initially.

Karen attempted to get Red to come back across so she could lead Falcon, but Red wouldnt budge from the opposite side!

Finally a young man pointed west and said "hey, there is a foot bridge up there"

I said, "that is for people, big sign says, horses not allowed"

He said, "I won't tell if you wont tell!" yee hahhh...

So I walked Falcon up a narrow foot path, up 4 narrow steps onto a NARROW metal bridge. Falcon put one foot on the bridge, CLANK! another foot on the bridge CLANK!
foot 3 on CLANK, foot 4 on CLANK! Ok, this is going to take a LONG TIME!

Then CLANK CLANK CLANK CLANK....right across he scurried and then tackled 10 semi-wide steps down the other side and back on the trail.

Shooooo weeee and clapping and exclamations were heard how amazing it was for such a big horse to walk on such little steps....yeeee hahhhh.

Back up the trail we went, completing just under 6 miles in all quite uneventfully after the creek crossing...until we arrived at the trailer....DUMB PEOPLE parked a CAR RIGHT BEHIND the trailer.

Thankfully, the car ahead of me was just leaving and I was able to pull forward to board the horses. Falcon clambored right on, with Red close behind and we headed home having had a great day.

Squishy Squishy Ride Day

2008-10-28T19:50:00.000-07:00

The ride manager invited all to come and ride the Fort Valley-describing beautiful fall foliage, etc.....

October 25, 2008

I didnt want to crawl out of my nice warm sleeping bag. I didn't even want to ride. I was having pre-ride jitters.
This would be my second LD ride if I managed to get on my horse.

My friend Karen had fed the horses at 6 a.m. and so I all had to do was decide what to wear and to saddle my horse.
The fine misting rain made everything all drippy, including the horses and I told Karen that 'we don't HAVE to do this' and she retorted 'we didnt do all of that conditioning for nothing, we are going to do this ride!'

I took in a long slow deep breath and turned my focus on getting Falcon ready. The darkness quickly turned into daylight with omnious clouds hovering overhead. By 7:30 we were mounted and warming the horses up. Falcon, a 5 y/o arab/paint cross was fairly relaxed/if not sleepy.

At 7:55 we checked in and waited for the start. A "controlled" start?!!!! NOT what I considered controlled. We started out in the middle of the pack. Horses were prancing and cantering and trotting along behind the lead vehicle and I had a major panic attack as I saw some horses slipping on the sleek wet pavement. We crossed a cement bridge and thankfully Falcon was more focused on the other horses.

Falcon, by this time was almost out of control, prancing and dancing sideways like a dressage horse as we all swept up the pavement...then aaah, a right turn onto a gravel road, much safer footing...and we cantered and trotted and moved our way towards the front of the pack.

Soon Karen and Red caught up to us and we went single file up a rocky trail over Milford Gap. The trail down the other side was rocky, wet and narrow. A rock ledge bordered the right with a sharp incline. Falcon maneuvered the trail well, head down, looking for rocks. Several times he stumbled and I flew up out of the saddle, losing my right stirrup and noted to myself that I needed to shorten that stirrup at the next water stop.

The rain began to deluge us now and water squished out of my moisture wicking tights everytime I hit the saddle. Yeeee Hah!
We came apon a wonderful grassy road and Falcon took off at a canter, on and on we went taking the lead for a while. He wanted to gallop, but we had miles to go and so I tugged on him to slow down (with little success) When we reached the gravel road along the Shenandoah river he set in to a more steady pace.

Soon we reached the ascent back up the mountain on another narrow and rocky trail. We climbed slowly and were soon overtaken by 5 other riders who we let pass. The warmth and steam rising from the passing horses made a great cloud to settle in over us. I thought we would never reach the top.

It was on this trail that we saw the BEAUTIFUL FALL FOLIAGE that ride management had spoken of. It was absolutely breathtaking. Then as we crested the top, the view of the Shenandoah valley once again took my breath away.

Once again a downpour enveloped us then lightened as we crossed back in to Fort Valley. We sped back down the trail and ended up at the first Vet Check in 7th place and all A's.

Karens daughter brought us hot Chicken Noodle Soup while friends took care of the horses for us. Karen's time out was about 4 min. later than mine, but since she was riding my horse and she is my friend, I waited for her. Karen needed some motivation to get going again, but soon we were back out on the trail at 1201.

Up the road we went, trot, trot, trot, squish, squish, squish. And DARN we missed the first turn and had to backtrack what seemed to be a mile. After that we stayed on trail. But I hated that loop for the most part. All winding through the woods and taking so many turns that my mind was in a whirl and I couldnt place what direction we were going in my head.

Up steep hills, down hills, more rain, trotting, galloping, squish, squish, squish. At a creek, Falcon stopped to drink and drink, then led 3 other horses up the rock creekbed, surefooted as ever. Man, I am glad he takes care of himself.

Finally Red took the lead with some urging from Karen. When we reached the hayfields Falcon decided it was time for a good buck or two, but I quickly caught on and yanked his head up. From there we had a belly deep water crossing. We LOVED that. Falcon didnt want to get out of the creek...as if we werent wet enough already.

One more short steep climb, then good trails to home. YEAHHH!. We had done the 12 miles in less than 2 hours. I walked Falcon in to the Vet, but he was too excited to be back 'home' and whinnied at anyone who would talk to him...not getting his heart rate down to 60.

Judy Ricci, his trainer was close by and came over to help...stuffing some electrolytes in his begrudging mouth and sponging him down for me. Then time for the vet. I was so excited, since we had come in next to last in the Virginia Highlands ride. We finished in the middle of the pack this time and could have placed a little higher had we not left 6 min. late and then gotten lost. And to think that I wanted to quit just because of a little rain!

It was an AWESOME ride.

And the sun came out just as the Vet called out 'overall A'! What an AWESOME AWSOME DAY!

Lunch Time

2008-10-24T17:40:00.000-07:00

After setting up camp, we walked over and checked in. No waiting, we were early for the Saturday ride and todays riders were still out on the trail.

Walking back we mosied around at the two Vendors that were there and I hungrily eyed some black stirrups with cages. The other stirrups on my black plantation saddle creak with every move and the pads are quite worn out.

The plantation saddle had been basically a last minute decision when I found that my tree was broken on my Tucker Cheyenne and a pad was missing from my Tucker Endurance saddle and my stirrups were not interchangeable.

But, by then Betsy and "her" Ed had arrived at camp with lunch...Yummy turkey wraps with chipolte mayonaise, Cilantro potato salad and cranberry bars along with a selection of sodas, beer or water.

Betsy used to run Jordon Hollow Farm Inn and now just Inn sits, so she has a multitude of yummy recipes up her sleeve.

After lunch we wandered around camp. Betsy is also a past endurance rider and so she knew lots of people at the camp. I took this time to head back to the Vendor to splurge on the stirrups.

Taking that back to the saddle, it seemed that the bars were too wide for the leathers, so Betsy, Ed and I went back to see if they had a narrower bar, but alas, I already had the smallest one. The vendor said "They will work, I sold some to a friend with REALLY NARROW leathers and she didnt have ANY problems. I garantee that they will be fine"

Betsy mumbled...mmmmmmm, I don't know, I don't know about THAT!. Well, I decided to go with the vendors words and trudged back to the trailer to put them on.

Karen also bought a pair of endurance stirrups with out cages for her Aussie. She had been riding in english irons....not good for 30 miles in the mountains and expected rain.

Then it was time to vet the horses in. They had had plenty of time to eat and drink and Falcon vetted through with an overall of A- due to relaxed skin, but I believe he is just like that, he just isnt really tight skinned.

Then we relaxed around camp. Betsy had talked to the first place finisher on the 30 mile ride and got the scoop on the trail conditions...not that it would totally help us since he rode on dry trails and we were expecting wet ones. But at least he told us where we could really move out and make up some time if necessary.

By then it was almost 5 and I decided that I better head 10 miles back down the road to check in at Fort Valley Stables where I had reserved a cabin for two nights.

Just then "my" Ed drove up, so I hopped in his car and we took our stuff to the cabin which turned out to be cozy with a tiny t.v. and a GIANT microwave oven. I think it must have been the first one ever made!

We threw our sleeping bags out on the bunk beds and then headed back to camp for a supper of baked ziti, rolls and salad and then pumpkin bread pudding for dessert. I had the vegetarian baked ziti. Man it was good, but I harrassed the man for serving me with the same spoon that he had dished the meat version with...hheeee heee.

I told him that I didnt mind since I wasn't even a vegetarian, but liked the plain version better.

The young girl that took our meal tickets was quite creepy, very straight faced and quiet until the guy in front of us tried to get his meal with out his ticket, she frowned and said "no ticket, no meal"! yikes....so he dropped out and ran to his truck for his meal ticket. Turns out that they had like 5 big pans left over and could have fed like 50 more people!

A fine misting rain started to settle in as the ride meeting started. A great indicator of the day to come!

The ride meeting over, we went and blanket the horses even though it was around 60 degrees. Most horses were blanket and we figured the temperature would drop with the rain.

From there Karen opted to sleep in her truck to be close to the horses and Ed and I drove back to the cabin where we both crawled in to our bunks.

I didnt sleep well...pondering the next days ride, the weather, and the fact that I just didnt even want to do this ride at all. Pre-ride jitters for sure.

Time to Set Up Camp

2008-10-24T16:31:00.000-07:00

I slept past 7 a.m. because I had not set my alarm. I always wake up at 5!

So, I had to scurry around filling the water tank on the horse trailer, grabbing my saddle pads from the dryer and putting my bags and food baskets in the truck.

Then it was time to feed the goats and pen them so that Jay could drive through the pasture without the goats escaping. By then, Karen had arrived with a big light weight roundpen on the back of her truck for Red.

We walked down to the lower barn and watered the cows while waiting for Jay. Jay arrived at 9:15 and tightened up Falcon and Reds shoes, then yakked to Karen about the arrest of our local sheriff.

I grabbed the grooming box and an extra bucket and headed for the Trailer. Karen got the hint and shut the gates after Jay drove through. Then we brought the horses to the trailer.

Falcon was a pain and would not load, but after some coaxing he finally walked on.
Red loaded without issue.

At exactly 10 we motored out of the driveway with Karen in the lead, through town and on to Mechanic Street, heading for the Massanutten Mountains a few miles away.
The road up the mountain is curvy and narrow and at one point, I passed a van going in the opposite direction and there must have been only 4 inches clearance between us....yikes, but if I got over to the right, I would have rolled down the mountain side.

The down side is just as steep and curvy with a sharp hairpin bend thrown in for good measure. Then, reaching the floor of Fort Valley, the road widens and is more level, but still curvy.

12 miles later we arrived at Base Camp-Fitchetts Field. There was plenty of parking and we found a spot not too far from the Vet-In and Check In.

Quickly we set up the round pen and the porta corral, unloaded the horses (Falcon had to be coaxed off of the trailer) and put them in their corrals to munch grass.

Then we set up two canopys that Karen had that belonged to the Old Dominion...Set down our chairs, propped our feet up and each had a beer. Then we set about getting grain and stuff ready for the next day.

Rose River Ride

2008-10-19T06:12:00.000-07:00

Wow what a gorgeous day! Only 48 this a.m. Quite a change from Hot and Humid Wednesday.

Betsy and Tristana were supposed to go with us on this ride, but alas, Tris had the worst case of "scratches" on her front fetlock and some on the back as well, that I had ever seen. Betsy and Ed had come over the night before to look at it and she trotted out extremely lame. So Betsy's plan for the day was to get Tristanas, sores cleaned up and bandaged.

Karen's friend Sarah met us at Red Gate Road. Sarah doesn't ride but she is going to Pit Crew for us at the Fort Valley Ride next week and she wanted to meet my horses prior to the ride.

Red refused to back off of the trailer and so Karen put a long lead line on is right side and the shorter one on his left. She used the long right line to guide his butt to the left and with that he stepped off quickly.

We were saddled up in no time flat, but then my GPS screen went gray. I handed it down to Sarah, who is a geology major and lives by GPS. She fiddled with it awhile, but it still wouldnt work. I suggested turnining it off and waiting 10 seconds. That did the trick and we took off up the trail by 10:45

We walked the horses for 15 min and then trotted/cantered for 2 miles, walked for a breather and then trotted the remaining 1.5 miles to Skyline Drive.

At Fishers Gap overlook we crossed over Skyline Drive and Picked up the Rose River Fire Trail.

There were a lot of tourists on this trail. One little girl wanted to pet the horses so Karen let her pet Red since Falcon was a little freaked out about the "little" people.

The first mile of this trail is small gravel and we made good time at the trot. Along the way is a grave yard to the right with a flag flying and many people were taking a look at that. A little further down is a waterfall and a wide metal bridge.

Many people were lined up on the bridge taking pictures. We dismounted and handwalked the horses over it. Falcon was a little freaked by the people and also by the clanking ove the bridge as his metal shoes hit the metal bridge.

But we crossed without mishap and remounted. At this point the trail sported many rocks and the going was slow as the horses picked their way through them. It just wasn't very safe to trot.

Down down down the mountain we went. Our goal was Graves Mountain Lodge and an Apple Fest, but it turned out that we would not make it due to the slowness of the trail and the distance was further than Karen had figured. She had figured another 4-5 miles from Skyline Drive....NOT, it was more like 10 miles!

The fall foliage was beautiful and the temps cool. I wore my 3 season jacket without the liner and also a flannel shirt with a t-shirt under that. Most of the ride we also wore gloves.

In a few places my nose was cold, but no complaining....IT was GORGEOUS! Part of the way we followed the Rose River that is really nothing more than a big creek.
After 8.5 miles of riding we decided we better turn around and head back towards home. (now, looking at the map, we were less than half a mile from the end of the fire road)

Anyway, we crossed another metal bridge and this time, Falcon put his head down and gingerly walked across it, again without mishap.

Here we chose a potty break/snack time before turning to head back for home.

We made better time going UP the mountain since the horses seemed to be able to trot easier going up. We passed the Man with his black Tennesse Walkers, although this day he was with his wife, but the man was walking, saying that his horse had lost a shoe. Well, we never saw a shoe, but there were so many fallen leaves...that I wish them luck in finding it.

Then I saw a good place to canter and urged Falcon on, he took off and I soon heard Karen yell....Red was bucking bucking bucking. 4 times! BAD BOY. This was the third time of the day that he had done this...hhhhmmm, I had asked Karen to change her girth from the nylon string one to a felt one since I didnt have a neoprene one for her aussie saddle....wonder if it was the girth.

Well, she can use the nylon string one for the LD I guess.
At one point, Falcon's right hind end went down as his foot got stuck in some rocks, but he kept moving and didn't show any signs of lameness.

We reached the upper waterfall and metal bridge, dismounted and walked across. Still many sightseers here. As we mounted, Falcon's head came up and he whirled around like something was scaring him.

Two men on Tennessee Walkers were seemingly racing down the trail. I managed to settle Falcon slightly and kept him in the middle of the trail hoping to force the men to slow down.

They barely slowed and raced on past, making a horrific noise as they raced over the metal bridge.

What in the WORLD, I wanted to report their bad behavior....but ya know, a horse does not sport a license plate. They should have been moving slowly through that area with all of the people/children milling about.

Soon after a group of about 10 people on TW's came through, albeit at a more moderate pace. After they passed we took off at a trot/canter for the remaing mile up to Skyline Drive. I would have taken pictures, but I needed both hands on the reins.

At Fishers Gap, Falcon freaked slightly at a big tour bus that screeched in to the overlook with two noisy motorcycles close behind. But soon both horses were munching on the lush grass.

The day was growing short, so after allowing the horses to graze for 15 min. or so we mounted back up and took off at a trot down Red Gate Road. One mile from the trailer I dismounted and started jogging down the trail with Falcon at my side.

Karen had taken off with Red to see if he would go off by himself. She said he did but he started spooking at ever rock, leaf and stump. Silly boy.

I felt warm jogging so I stripped off my swishy coat and tied it to the saddle. Falcon was not bothered by this at all and we continued onward. The horses were obviously tired at the end and their butt muscles were tight. I massaged Falcons haunches and he seemed to really enjoy it and started to doze.

When I checked his right hind heel there was a tear in it and he seemed tender to touch. Hope that heals up well before the ride. Other than that both horses had come through without other issues.

Time to load up. Falcon, for the first time ever, refused to get on the trailer. I don't know what ailed him. We tried and tried to no avail.

The sun was getting lower in the sky and temps were falling again. So we loaded Red up and then tried Falcon in the rear stall. Again, he would not load, so I passed the rope through the window to Karen, got off the trailer and behind Falcon and FINALLY he loaded up.

I guess he thought that I was going to take him for another long ride! Well, it was either load up or I would have to ride him another 8 miles home!

At home, Falcon then would not get off of the trailer. When he is in the front stall, he knows how to swing his butt over and backs right off. Being in the back stall, he was afraid and stood with his hind hooves on the edge of the trailer but would not step down.

Finally, after much coaxing and pushing, he got up his nerve and stepped off. Sheesh! Red thankfully got off without much ado.

Falcon was happy to see Tristana and both horses were happy to chow down and head out for a much needed drink of water.

A GREAT 21 mile ride....hope the weather is this perfect at the FVLD next week!

Quicky

2008-10-15T06:09:00.000-07:00

Today was HOT HOT HOT! Come ON it is OCTOBER for Pete's SAKE!
Both Karen and I had headaches. Sweat was pouring off of me just saddling the horse and Karen said that Red's neck was wet under his mane just from standing still! BLA!

I told Karen, well we don't HAVE to ride...but she said nah, lets go. The horses were sleepy, not motivated at all. So basically we walked up Piney Hill and around to Summers Road, did a little trotting and called it a day.

Playing Hooky

2008-10-13T05:48:00.000-07:00

There was a staff meeting at work at 8 am that lasted an hour. However, there werent any surgeries scheduled for the day and the weather promised to be lovely again. So I decided to use my last remaining paid leave day and play hooky.

Karen did not have to work either and by High Noon we were mounted up and head for Skyline Drive via Red Gate Road. (reminder to self, get a picture of the red gate and the road sign next time out)

Temps were in the low 70's but the horses have already accumulated some "fur" and Falcon was sweating behind the ears one mile into the ride.

Basically we sauntered, some trotting, but mostly sauntering. At the top (4.2 miles into the ride) we crossed through the Fishers Gap overlook to the south, hand walked the horses about 1/10 of a mile on Skyline Drive then picked up another trail that circles around behind Big Meadows and heads for Tanners Ridge.

At Tanners Ridge we headed back west on a gravel road for a short distance, just to look at the Tanners Ridge cemetary and to let the horses munch on some grass.

I munched on an apple and then gave Falcon the remains which he seemed to swallow whole.
We passed a man and his son on Black Tennessee walkers and then boogied down the trail that we had come up on.

The sun was hot and Falcon fleered at the only water that we found along the trail.
Back down Red Gate we went to the trailer and called it a wonderful day. A good 11 miles or so.

More trail riding

2008-10-12T17:33:00.000-07:00

I was away for the weekend, so Betsy and her friend Christie and also Karen came over and took the horses out for a pleasant 4 mile ride around the home trails.

Christie reported that Falcon was a GEM and very well behaved.

Good! He is getting back in to the habit of behaving himself!

All 4 horses were together in the pasture when I arrived home, so that was a relief too, seeing that everyone was getting along nicely. Maybe I can get some pictures to post this week.

More Riding

2008-10-10T17:16:00.000-07:00

At 10 a.m., I received a call at work that my horses were out roaming in the road and could I please come round them up.

I tried to call Betsy, since she lives closer, then I am at the hospital. But she didnt answer her cell phone, so I ran out and sped homeward. I stopped at the Turners place and Emily was closing a gate to one of their fields. There were hoof prints, but no horses.

Emily said that she is afraid of cows and horses and didnt know what to do, but had run across the street and told Mr. Moyer that there were horses out.

I had passed Mr Moyer in his dump truck while speeding up the road and he waved and smiled and certainly hadnt flagged me down....

Then I asked Emily if she had seen where the horses had gone...welllll, she said, the gray one went THAT way, pointing across the road.

I breathed a sigh of relief....I dont have a gray horse anymore....it couldnt be mine. So I stood on my tiptoes and peered across the fields to my pastures and there stood all of my horses, swishing tails and munching grass....shooowheeeeeeeee.

So apparently, they were Moyers horses and he had caught them and had gone on his merry way. Back to work I went and was happy to head home again at 3 pm, knowing that my horses would be where they belonged.

Karen was basically on time today...yeahhhhh, but hhhmmm smelled a bit like beer?

Well, I would keep an eye on her and Red. She actually was ready to go before I was.
I pondered taking her on a different trail and then opted not to, deciding to do the regular trail once again to familiarize her more with it in case she went riding without me.

We sauntered along, all of us needing a quiet ride without any mishaps. I did decide to do the side trails on the east side of Piney Mt and that added an extra mile to the ride as well.

We trotted along Summers until we reached Rosedale. I asked Karen if she wanted to do it...she was undecided and I kept Falcon trotting, but at the last min. as we were just about to pass Rosedale, I turned Falcon up it and we continued with our nice steady trot to the end, said hello to Mr. Black Stallion, let our ponies munch some green grass while a car passed and then we turned and headed back to Summers.

Temps were once again about 70. Very sunny, not a cloud in the sky. I told Karen that the next time we ride Summers Road in the afternoon that we will have to come from the opposite direction so that we arent blinded by the afternoon sun.

We had a lovely, uneventful ride and put in 7.2 miles in about an hour and 10 min.

Dakota was hollering for us when we returned, but he is still to be alone until Betsy decides that Tristana can be with him. So far introductions and living in a pasture with Red and Falcon have been uneventful for her.

Another Ride

2008-10-08T17:12:00.000-07:00

Temps were about 64. Breezy, and threatening to rain.
Betsy arrived around 3:45 and Karen arrived at about 4:15. We saddled up and headed out. This time for a much shorter ride.

I took them up my usual trail to the radio tower and then over the east side of Piney Mt. We didnt take any of the side trails that dead end. I kind of wanted to because they add and extra mile or two to the ride.

But Betsy and Karen were both still very sore from trudging down the mountain on Sunday. I guess I am in better shape since I don't smoke and I have been working out on the Elliptical at the gym several days a week.

When we reached Valleyburg Road, there were HUGE rocks across the trail and also some wooden thing and some metal.

The Rocks had been there on Friday and Falcon had jumped over them, but Betsy moved the metal that was now there and we were able to walk to the left of the rocks under some branches of a tree to access the road.

At this point, Gemma the Maremma came dashing around the corner, happy that she had caught up with us. She must be a glutton for punishment, but she loves to go with the horses.

Betsy and Tris are really good at going at a "sitting trot" pace. It is a nice relaxed slow jog that covers ground without using up tons of energy. Falcon eventually relaxed, lowered his head and settled in as well, but his legs are so much longer that his sitting trot is a lot faster than Tris's.

We were able to keep up that pace for about 1.3 miles after which we walked another
.3 mile to the Jacobsons driveway, then trotted again until we reached our woods trail.

IT was a nice 4.7 mile ride. I actually felt like I could do more at the time, but now that I am in the house...my stiff neck returns to my conscience...I am scheduled for a MRI tomorrow of my head and neck.

We turned Red out with Falcon and Tris. No excitement occurred to speak of and in a few days, Dakota will be added to the mix and if all goes well we will open the gates and let them all have access to the barn again.

Betsy and Ed also fixed my electical sockets that were filled with Mud Daubers nests.

Karen is taking my twisted and ripped up Western saddle to a saddle repair shop in Warrenton on her way to work tomorrow....

So making these new friends has helped me out...plus it is good to have someone to ride with again!

New Girl in Town!

2008-10-05T16:27:00.000-07:00

This morn came all too soon it seemed. I didn't rest well during the night.

But Betsy and I had planned on driving an hour north to pick up her horse Tristana.
A friend was supposed to be conditioning Tristana for an endurance ride, but she works for FEMA and with all of the hurricaine mess, she just didnt have time to ride.

So Betsy had said "I don't know what to do with Tristana! I would LIKE to bring her to your place and then we could RIDE!

Well you have to know Betsy, can't help but like her, raspy smokers voice, and at times bad language and gruff, but yeah, ya just have to like her.

I said SURE, lets go get Tristana.

The FOG was thick as pea soup. Pea soup like my mom used to make when I was a child. NASTY STUFF, thick, had to CHOKE it down. Yeah, it was that kind of FOG!

3/4th's of the drive is along the Shenandoah river....so fog, fog and more fog. I was glad to reach the farm.

Tristana is a sweet little arab mare and we rounded her up and loaded without issues. Betsy drove home...and of COURSE there WASN't ANY fog when SHE was driving!

On the way, I called Karen W. and she met us at the house. It took me a bit to get motivated/ready, but still Falcon was saddled before Karen had Red Dog ready to go.

Then I tried to capture the Maremma's but they caught on and took off. Finally I rounded them up and got them in to the pasture, but we hadn't even ridden off the property before they escaped and caught up with us.

Oh well! They were gonna be SORRY!

At the neighbors place Cola went off to visit their dogs and we never saw him again until we returned home.

Gemma trotted right along with us as we struck out, albeit very slowly towards Skyline drive. The last time I had been there was about 6 years ago on Sinwaan, and we questioned ourselves a few times as to whether we were taking the right road to lead us to the Fire trail up the Mountain.

I wished I had had a camera AGAIN! I tried to take my little one (which now belongs to Alison) but she needed to use it so alas, some other time I spose.

In our travels we had to walk about 3/10th of a mile on a paved road along which was pastured the most beautiful black quarter horse stallion I have ever seen. He raced up and down the fence line...which was barely a fence. He could have STEPPED over it at one point....wow, I am glad Tristana wasn't in heat.

Soon after we arrived on the Fire Trail to Skyline Drive. The shady woods were a welcome respite from the hot sun. Up up up we climbed, mostly walking, some trotting. Up, up, and up.

This was a HARD trail. The history on the trail is that Tourists would come by train and stay at the Luray Hotel (which later burned) Then they would take a horse drawn carriage ride up to Skyland at the top of Skyline Drive.

It just boggles my mind that they did this. The trail climbs 2500-3000 feet out of the valley from Luray. There are very few switchbacks and very few level areas for a reprieve from the climb.

The trail is rarely used now and the rain has washed much of the topsoil down and thus we have our FAMOUS ROCKS! ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS. But we did come upon several mossy/grassy areas where we had a good gallop or two.

But even at a walk, the horses were huffing and puffing and dripping buckets of sweat by the time we came within a third of a mile from Skyland.

Betsy decided to use Gemma as a reason not to go all the way to the top. Gemma does not wear a collar, thus no tags and no method for with which to control her.

But the park is also sticky about having coggins papers with you or even a park pass while on park property...of course we didnt have any documents with us and I keep telling myself that I need to have some identification on me and the horse in the event that someone questions us or a mishap occurs.

So we rested a spell and I pulled out a granola bar for each of us and some carrot snacks for the horses.

Then we turned and headed down the mountain. Handwalking the horses. Man I was tired. I had only had water and 2 granola bars all day.

Down down down we went. Down, down, down. After dropping 2500 feet we attempted to remount.
Karen did ok getting on Red, but Falcon decided to act up after his saddle slipped.
And poor Betsy tried to haul herself up on Tris. but she was so sore and weak since she is on some new diet...I thought she was going to pass out when I saw her leaning on Tris with her head down.

Finally after snugging up Falcon's girth, I managed to drag myself up on him. Then Betsy found a root to climb up on and from there managed to board Tris.

Onward we went at a slow trot. At the paved Valleyburg Road, Karen and I hopped off and handwalked the boys until we reached Rosedale, a gravel road that takes us to Summers. Betsy said no way was she getting off again, because she just knew she wouldnt be able to get back on later.

Summers Road was a wonderful sight and we knew we were less than two miles from home.

But, what we had forgotten to do was to find and fill a water tank in the front pasture for Tris and Falcon....ohhhhhhh man we were tired when we did that. Then I took one of the cows 50lb salt blocks and threw that over the gate in to the pasture for the horses as well since they would be separated from Red and Dakota for a spell.

Red and Dakota were not happy to be separated from Falcon, but too bad for now.

After filling the water tanks for the cows and the two separate horse pastures, we drug ourselves up the hill. Karen and Betsy headed to their homes and I flopped in a chair with a Corona and a heating pad on my neck.

I think we over did it! AND I have no idea how far we went. Maybe 10 difficult miles!

back in the saddle

2008-10-03T18:14:00.000-07:00

It seems like forever since I landed in a heap on the rocks...

The first week was filled with misery-aching head, stiff neck, bruises everywhere. But soon the bruises and aches and pains subsided, all but my stiff neck and bruised elbow and bruised base of skull.

My vacation arrived just in time and the Saturday following my fall, I was headed to the beach to be with family and significant other. The Sea Air is enough to take my thoughts off of my aches and pains.

I walked 5 miles every other day down the beach and enjoyed several massages to lessen the pains.

But once I arrived home, the aches and pains returned and I realized that along with the distractions at the beach I had also been enjoying alchohic drinks each day which certainly had provided medicinal values!

So on Monday, I took Falcon and then Red to the small round pen and exercised them for about 20 min. each. They are fatter then ever and out of shape for a Limited Distance Ride.

On Tuesday, Karen and I were supposed to ride, but my neck was killing me after being on the computer at work all day long entering data from the inventory...I am a RN for petes sake in an OPERATING ROOM! But when you work in a small place like I do, you get to do anything necessary!

Anyway, I canceled our ride and instead drove 70 miles to go to my daughters Varsity Volleyball game, which thankfully they WON!

Wed. came and went, then Thur. I felt like I was losing my nerve to get back on to ride again.

Jay came and put pads and shoes on Falcon and Red in anticipation for the ROCKS on the Fort Valley LD Ride.

Ok, that BROKE me! Shoes AND pads! I better get on and get my moneys worth!

So today, FINALLY, Karen came over. The day was PERFECT! 71 degrees.

I had Falcon already saddled and Red brushed when she arrived. She used her Aussie saddle on Red which fit him perfectly according to her.

Yeah, whatever, let's get on and ride! We took my usual trail and I showed off where I got BUCKED off and she said "ooooohhhh ouch, nuthin but ROCKS!"

Basically we walked and trotted the FAT boys with very little cantering up the mountain...even that had them breathing heavy...yikes, I don't have a good feeling about finishing the FV ride.

The boys picked their way down the east side of Piney Mountain without any issues, the pads doing a good job. Then we trotted some down Summers road, but Falcon was spooking a good bit. There were plenty of deer out that kept crashing into the woods.

Karen was totally disoriented as to where she was, so I gave her a quick idea of where we were and then we headed up the Jacobsons driveway towards home. As we topped their hill, the sun streamed across the valley as it set over the Massanutten Range.

Both Karen and I wished that we had brought our cameras along.

It was a lesiurely ride. It took us one and half hours to complete a ride that normally takes me 30 min. But it was a good introduction for Karen to get a handle on Red and for me to fight some of my fear demons.

I never felt one ache or pain in my neck while riding. AMAZING what the outside of a horse can do for the inside of a woman!

We just make it through that FV LD after all!

Eatin' DIRT

2008-09-13T08:58:00.000-07:00

7:30 a.m.! I decided to ride early, weather forcast was for a 90 degree hot & humid day. Fog blanketed the front fields and the air felt close and damp. Falcon was sleepy when I mounted him and moved off slowly down the fence line trail.

Red and Dakota slowly walked along to the corner and didn't even bother to whinny good bye.

As we continued on, I heard a loud crashing in the woods behind us. I turned to look, but didn't see anything. Gemma and Cola barked and ran, but soon came back. It must have been a startled deer.

Suddenly Falcon woke up and took off at a flying trot. We rounded the corner and headed up the trail towards Ruth's house at a canter. At Ruth's place, I pulled him up to a walk until we reached the ridge trail.

We a slight nudge Falcon took off again at a flying trot then started to gallop. I didn't like this and tried to pull him in to at least a canter, but for some reason he kept galloping on the right side of the trail avoiding some rocks.

Then it all happened so fast....a tree limb of some sort caught him on the right. He bucked to get away from it...but one buck was not enough and straight up in the air he went again.

With that massive buck, I went off of his left side. I saw his body very close to me and had a fleeting thought of him trampling me. But that is all I remembered.

I must have been knocked out just momentarily because when I opened my eyes I felt very dizzy and my vision was limited. I saw Falcon trotting on up the trail.
I hollered for him, but on he went around the bend and out of site.

Dragging myself up and still feeling dizzy, I yelled for him again...then took stock of my injuries. RIGHT SIDE AGAIN! Now HOW did THAT HAPPEN? I went off of him from the LEFT?

My right elbow was killing me, had a gouge in it and was swelling. The right side of my head felt all tingly (THANK GOODNESS for HELMETS!) And my lower neck and all across the top of my shoulders really HURT! (Now that I am home, I have noticed that my whole inner right arm is bruised)

Well maybe he did come down on me...I don't know, I never FELT a thing! Must have hit my HEAD first!

Ok, so anyway, I hollered for Falcon again, then heard thundering hooves. He screeched to a stop when he saw me and I walked up to him and rubbed his neck for coming when called.

He was all twitter-pated. I calmed him some, then tried to remount. He wasn't interested, so Back, BACK, Back! Then he let me mount and up the trail we went. Some trotting and more walking. I wasn't feeling too good. I thought, I wasn't even a mile from home. Maybe I should turn around and go back home.

Naaah, can't reward him for bucking, even if it was because that nasty branch grabbed him.

On to the radio tower and down the east side of Piney Mt, walk the paved road, remount on Summers. Same old thing, but Falcon kept spooking at everything. He would dance sideways whenever Cola or Gemma came panting up beside him. This he did numerous times.

His respirations were up after the climb to the radio tower and he was soaking wet from the humidity. By the time we reached Summers, his respirs had dropped and we started trotting again...but spook, spook, spook. GRRRRR. I pulled him up to a walk.

I didn't have the where-with-all to stay on if he dumped me again. But he didn't want to walk and finally I let him out and he trotted right on past Moyers Lot with all of the big trucks.

Over the bridge and a gallop up the hill where we met up with a noisy diesal truck. Falcon danced. I put up my hand to stop the truck, he obliged and we noodled past without mishap.

We reached the Jacobsons driveway and I let him out again until we reached their grassy path. As we dropped back down on to the woods trail, Falcon finally relaxed and gave up on the spooking nonsense.

Back at the barn I hosed him and noticed a big scratch down his hind let where the branch must have gotten him. He was happy to have his electrolytes and grub and I was happy to be WALKING!

I can't say that I enjoyed the ride, Being bumped off in rocks doesn't feel very good, I am just thankful that I have hard bones that don't crack easily. The heat was miserable and I wish the humidity would let up...but I better hush, WINTER is on its way, and then I will be whining about the COLD!

Alone Again

2008-09-07T09:05:00.000-07:00

The morning dawned cool and bright...not that I was all that excited to be awake at 7a.m. (Betsy had invited me over to celebrate my LD completion and I had celebrated a little too much and didn't get home until 12:30 a.m.!)

I savored my coffee and emailed Karen to see if she would go riding with me. We haven't been riding together in several months.

She emailed back and said that she was having back issues from too much cleaning/moving furniture around and the Doc had told her no hard riding....man, she always has some excuse....

Ok, well forget that, Betsy was leaving for another Inn Sitting Job and Peg goes to church and spends time with her family on Sundays...ALONE AGAIN! SIGHHH.

I went and got Falcon and brought him up to the horse trailer. Today we would use the saddle that FITS him and DOESNT give me knee pain. All I had to do was adjust one of the stirrups that had given me a fit on the LD....easily done.

Saddled up, I went to the house to get my water, I came out to the sound of thundering hooves....WHATTTTTTTTTT?????

It wasnt Falcon, it was Red and Dakota who had escaped through a stall door that I hadnt latched securely.

Falcon was surprised, but didnt act too crazy. Red and Dakota trotted over to him and started munching grass, but as soon as I arrived they went tearing all around the yard and then tore down to the barn lot and in to the barn.

I raced down there and shut the barn lot gate as they came charging back out of the barn. This time I opened the gate to the pasture, and out they went, snorting and tossing their held high heads....silly boys. I secured all doors/gates and went back to Falcon.

Once I was mounted, he was happy to take off down the trail at a speedy pace...He was frisky in the cool weather and zipped up the 1.3 mile trail to the radio tower at a canter. I think we made it in 7 min.

After that, we had to walk slowly down the other side on the slippery loose shale, but Falcon did a little better today.
At the paved road,(where he handled the traffic very well without spooking at all) I hand walked him to Summers Rd, tightened the girth while the Maremmas laid in the creek gulping water, remounted and took off again.

Falcon wanted to canter, but I kept pulling him back to the extended trot as we zoomed down towards Moyers Farm. No big trucks moving today. All were parked and the scary BULLDOZER was parked further from the road.

Onward we went and zipped around to Phil and Bob's (my neighbors)driveway. (instead of cutting through the field which was wet and full of tall unmown grasses.)

Falcon cantered up their driveway before I turned him onto one of their mown trails at the edge of their woods that skirts their garden and orchard. At the top of the hill, we turned right, down through the woods, back up to Ruth's house and then back home from the north side of my property, adding almost another mile to the ride.

It was a WONDERFUL ride 4.7 miles in 33 min.

Then I listened to Falcons heart rate and gut sounds with a stethascope. He stood stock still for me...what a TURKEY! But I will keep practicing with him, so that hopefully he will behave himself at the Fort Valley Ride in Oct.

After a good hosing, I trotted him out for more education for the ride, Electrolyted him and put him back out with his buddies.

What a great way to start the day! Yeahhhhhh!

Swollen Knees

2008-09-04T20:46:00.000-07:00

Well DARN AGAIN!

I woke up the morning after my ride on Falcon, brushed my teeth and headed downstairs to let Griffin the labradoodle out.

ERRRRRRRR well, I TRIED to head downstairs. My knees were stiff and painful, but I managed to hobble on down, and seeminly worked out the kinks.

But going back upstairs, produced pain again...I proceeded on to work, but by the end of the day, I was really hobbling and favoring my right knee.

My right knee is the one that has nerve damage from my fall from Sinwaan many years ago...and by the end of my work day it was swollen quite a bit.

Friend Peg had asked me to go to the fitness center with her, so I went, thinking that the Elliptical would be easy on my joints, but still provide exercices.

My knee did not bother me at all during the exercises, but I found that I could not go up and down steps without grimacing.

Ok, ADVIL for dessert again!

Then today, the same occurance with the right knee, only instead of being swollen over the knee cap, I just had pain, and then swelling in the BACK of my knee and also my left knee.

So, home I limped. Fed my critters, and propped my feet up for half an hour, but then I had to work the Concession stand during the JV volleyball game...TWO HOURS on my FEET.

Oh that should do WONDERS for my knees.

This is redicules. I might have to give up doing LD's and I certainly may never make it through a 50 mile ride at this rate.

Then the STRANGEST thing occurred. I worked the concession stand and did NOT have ANY knee pain or swelling. In fact the swelling behind my knee had subsided. HOW WEIRD!

Well, stormy cool weather is on its way to Luray tomorrow, so I won't be able to ride anyway and the boys get ANOTHER break.....sheessh...

Setting Sights on the Fort Valley LD

2008-09-02T20:01:00.000-07:00

Time has really flown by...the heat and humidity returned to Virginia...and no more time for RESTING!

The "boys" have had more than a week off since the Virginia Highlands LD and it was time to get back on the trail regardless of the heat! It was only 92 degrees with heat index around 98, but I had already grown accustomed to cooler weather and was not excited about the heat.

Arriving home from work, I waited until almost 6 pm, hoping that it would cool down a tad...it didnt, but I dutifully grabbed a bottle of frozen Gatorade, topped it off with water (I have learned to ALWAYS take drinking fluids with me!)and headed to the barn.

DARN, the chest plate and tack box was still in the horse trailer on the hill. So, after giving the boys a snack of grain to keep them busy, I trudged back to the trailer and grabbed some more supplies...

Falcon stood well for tacking up, but really blew out his stomach and I couldnt get that darn endurance rigging buckled tight enough...note to self: change rigging to latigo!

Oh and DARN, I had forgotten that this saddle was missing the pad in the left stirrup...oh bother, I would deal with it for 4 miles! another note to self: GET ANOTHER PAD FOR STIRRUP!

I hand walked Falcon down the trail to the corner post of the pasture and there, was able to finally cinch him up properly and mount.

Falcon took off at a lovely extended trot and zoomed on to Ruth's house .5 mile away.
Then up the mile long ridge trail at a canter/extended trot/canter. I always thought this ridge trail had a good grade to it, but after the VH LD's MILE LONG hill, my hill was in comparison, NOTHING!

We made the turn to the East and then North to the radio tower. Falcon decided to be spooky at this point and "noodled" slowly down the trail. At the next turn to the East to go down the other side of Piney Mt, Falcon balked.

I had seen numerous sign of bear....scat, overturned stumps and at one point in the trail, a HUGE rock had been dug out of the earth and moved aside leaving a large gaping horse leg eating hole.

With minimal urging, Falcon started down the slippery rocky road, stumbling now and again, not being used to my weight in this area since I usually hand walk him...but as his saddle slid up on his neck, I hopped off and led him to a more level area and remounted.

I decided that if a bear happened along, I would rather be on his back then on the ground if he decided to whirl around and take off.

But when we reached the paved road, I hopped off again and walked him to the gravel Summers road...here, I readjusted his saddle, but he was so lathered up from the heat and the the leather was so slippery, I had a time regirthing him....

Another mental note to self: SELL THIS STUPID SADDLE!

Back on top, we flew down the road, Falcon noodling some from side to side. Almost a mile down the road, I noticed a huge tractor trailer barreling up the road towards us...OH CRAP! NO WHERE TO GO! Falcon jammed on the breaks....hhhhmmmm. if I could get him going forward we could go in to the Moyers farm off the road....but where we were....NOT, no place to go...barb wire fencing on both sides.

Falcon remained stock still in the middle of the road. So I took in some deep breaths and sat back.

The truck slowed, dust billowing up behind it for half a mile...then he put on his blinker and turned in to the Moyers lot. OH praise be! Only problem was, he pulled up parrellel to the rode and we still had to pass him.

We did so at sideways walk, then out of the lot pulled 2 men in a pickup truck. They were courteous and moved slowly....sssshhhh, that obstacle passed then suddenly Falcon started dashing to the left away from the Moyers lot.

He was out of control and all I could see was that barb wire fence getting closer and closer. I pulled firmly on the right rein and kicked hard with my left heel.

Falcons butt swung to the left and his left hind leg landed in a ditch that was hidden by the tall grass. He took a flying leap out of it and terrorized he tried to race down the road.

Somehow, I managed a hard turn to the right to make him face his PREDATOR! The Predator turned out to be a STATIONARY, HORSE EATING, BULLDOZER! OH for PETES SAKE!

Sheeesh! But hey, I am still in the saddle, so we headed at a trot on down the road and I prayed that we would not encounter anymore gigantic horse eating trucks or bulldozers.

Today, the Maremmas had not come along....they have figured out that when it is hot, they better stay home.

I took this opportunity to expose Falcon to more horse eating boogers. I hopped off of him at the end of Summers Road and turned right on to Stony Man Road. This is a busy paved road with very little shoulder.

Thankfully, at first in this area, there was NOT any traffic at all. Amazing, so we walked and then I jogged along while he trotted.

As we neared the old Peach Canning Factory, the traffic suddenly appeared and cars and trucks zoomed by. At this area there is a large gravel lot and also grass and so it was safe for me to take some swigs of my gatorade.

I dumped some gatorade in my hand for Falcon to slurp. Up until this point, ever since the bulldozer event, his head had been extremely high in the air and from the ground, I could not even reach up to the top of him to make him drop his head.

Man, he was stressed! But seeing my outstretched hand, he thought I had a snack and dropped his head....He was delighted with the gatorade and ended up drinking almost half of it.

From the lot we could cross the road and go right on to Brookstone Road, the gravel road home.

Mounted up, we took off flying for home and he was VERY happy to see Dakota and Red waiting for him.

I was drenched with sweat as was Falcon and the cool hosing benefited both of us.

It was a great ride (except for the heat and "boogers"), but all in all a great learning experience/exposure for for Falcon.

The ride continues

2008-08-23T13:19:00.000-07:00

The wonderful trail was soon to end. We arrived at the highway 94 crossing...crossed over and found a big tank of water. I hopped off in to the mud and quickly sponged both horses.

Shana worried because Red refused to drink...soon we went up the trail again. Here it turned Rocky and steep in places. The footing of Rocks intermixed with sand made for some treacherous footing for our "un-padded" horses feet.

Falcon took the word "ROCKS" to the extreme and would slow to a walk everytime I said it...which was frequent, but I wanted our horses to come out of this ride UNINJURED!

There were more water stops...still Red would not drink, while Falcon slurped every chance that he got.

Soon we topped the ridge and were able to trot and canter again. Prior to 94 we had made very good time, but now I was worried...But we made it into the vet check around 1120. We were a little confused as to where the vet check was and we wasted some time figuring out what to do at that point.

But Shana had me grab our bag from the side of the road and we yanked the horses saddles off and walked down to P & R. Falcon was at 60....yeahhhhhhh!

So then I went to vet him in. He did not want to trot out and he did NOT want the vet to listen to his gut sounds. He kept charging around and being a BAD BOY!
They told me that he was earning a trailer ride back to base camp.

I almost cried! They felt sorry for me I guess, gave him a C and told me to come back 10 min before our 40 min hold time was up. This time he trotted out better and a nice person fed him horsey snacks while they finally gave him an A- for gut sounds.

Usually I can tack up in no time flat. Now, after 14 miles, my arms felt like lead as I hoisted the saddle up on Falcon then helped Shana with hers while she held the horses.

I crawled up on Falcons back and wished that the PB & J sandwhich and fresh cold gatorade would give me some energy.

Out of camp we went at a walk. The horses thought that they were done for the day and just plodded along. In several places we werent sure whether we were going the right way or not, but decided to follow the numerous horse tracks.

It was difficult to motivate the horses to move on down the trail. It seemed like the hills were longer and more frequent and when we arrived at the base of the "mile long hill" both of the horses STOPPED dead in their tracks along with another gal and her horse.

It was redicules, none of them wanted to budge, but finally Falcon took on the hill and the other two horses followed. That was the longest hill in my mind of the day.

Wonderful water tanks were at the top and Falcon slurped...I don't know if Red did or not. I was too tired to care. After that hill remained more ups and downs and ups and downs and when we reached the narrow switchback trail, I was encouraged that we were close to home...but still worried that we wouldnt make it back in time.

I stopped at the creek to let Falcon slurp again, but then urged him onward. We then heard voices, 2 55 milers were blowing down the trail and took off at a canter past us on the jeep road.

Red pulled out and took off behind them leaving billows of dust....Falcon picked up the pace and we zoomed after them. I yelled at Shana to slow down, but only because I couldnt see or breath from all of the dust...but we cantered most of the way until I suggested that we walk. the FINISH line was in sight! YEAHHHHHHHHHH

I choked up again, not from the dust, but with the emotion of it all. We had made it!

Well not really, we had 20 min left to vet in the horses and have a pules of 60. We walked the horses to the trailer and ripped off their saddles, then walked back to the P&R.

Red the "wild card, no good pony clubber, non gaiting Missouri Fox Trotter" went straight through P&R with a pulse of like 48 or something crazy like that and vetted right through.

Falcon on the other hand was 86 and all excited with the commotion of the 55 milers racing in, diesal trucks and golf carts motoring about. P&R checked him again and said NO WAY he is 74. Then he told me to keep his head up, sponge him and not let him eat....This time he gave him a pulse of 60 with ONE MINUTE to spare....sheesh that was CLOSE!

Then to the vets, Trot Out, then pulse again, 64. Then cripes, they pulled US AGAIN for the second time that day for the CRI....trot out again, pulse at 60....YEAHHHHH! and THANK YOU FALCON for standing STILL for the GUT SOUNDS....I LOVE YOU HORSEY!

WE FINISHED-if there had been a turtle award, we would have won it for sure!

Suddenly I felt hungry....

RIDE DAY! YEAHHHHHHH!!!!

2008-08-23T13:04:00.000-07:00

6 a.m.! FINALLY the night was OVER! Time for another long walk to the porta-potty...
The horses had consumed a good bit of hay in the night and Shana had gotten them fresh water, lugging it from the water tank a good bit away, I think, not realizing that I had a 25 gallon tank and hose in the tack room on the trailer.

We had a healthy breakfast of cereal with blueberries, strawberries and banana's.
Truthfully, I was not hungry, but knew I HAD to eat. Suddenly it seemed like it was 7 and time to start tacking up.

I grabbed icy bottles of water and gatorade and stuffed them in to my saddle packs...one last nervous trip to the port-a-potty and it was time to mount up.

MAN that time went way too fast. Falcon was feeling frisky and did not want to wait for Shana to mount Red. He was difficult to control as he started backing or getting light on his front feet...no way buddy....WALK~!

We walked the horses down to the Trot Out, but they werent ready for us to go. I could feel Falcon getting nervous under me and he refused to stand still. I asked Shana to move on and get out of the gathering crowd of horses.

So we walked the horses toward the base camp check in. When we turned around, I peered over the trucks and cars and saw helmets bobbing up the trail and knew that the trail was open.

I approached the Trot Out and called out my letters. ALL of the other horses were GONE! The vet motioned me on and said that the trail was open! YEAHHHHHHH!

Shana and Red were close behind and I let them pass us at some point. They took off at a very fast trot and the emotion welled up within me. WE HAD STARTED! WE HAD STARTED OUR VERY FIRST RIDE!

We were close behind a pair of other riders, trotting and cantering along the cool shady jeep trail above the New River. Soon one of the riders moved on ahead, while the other pulled off and let us pass.

Oh what a RIDE! and fairly fast. Soon we crossed a creek and headed up up up a narrow trail with sharp switchbacks. But the horses charged up that while we tried to avoid having our knees whacked.

The trail turned into double track again and flew by. We came to a meadow and paused for a breather and to let the horses munch on some grass. Then we were off again, cantering, cantering....oh what a wonderful ride.

Virginia Highlands, our first LD

2008-08-22T12:38:00.000-07:00

Aug 22nd, 1030 a.m. found me impatiently waiting for my neice to arrive so that we could load the horses and GO!

I felt like I had the trailer all packed and ready...nothing else to do but wait...

It turns out that I could have done a few more things to organize myself, but oh well, lessons learned.

Shana arrived and we went to the barn so that she could meet "Red". I was in a hurry to get going and so I grabbed Falcon and we all tromped up the hill to the trailer.

The horses loaded nicely and we were on our way lickety split. I opted to take the country roads to avoid crossing the Masanutten Mountain and also to avoid all of the truck traffic on 81.

The 4.5 hour drive went quickly for me. I was in good company and good thoughts about the ride. I think we pulled in to Ride Camp around 4:30 or 5. We had been told that someone would park us, but "someone" was no where to be found.

We followed a sign to overflow parking and Shana hopped out and walked almost 2/10 of a mile to see if there was a space for us. Yeahhh, way at the end, nice and quiet.

We unloaded the horses and Shana held them, while I finished parking. I felt disorganized and distracted and didnt know what to do first, wasting time before I decided that I better get the portable corral set up.

This went fairly quickly and Shana suggested that we use the truck and trailer as a wall to make the corral bigger, thus both horses could hang out in it. We used a goat halter/leash compination, bungee cords and a lead rope to attach it all to the trailer and truck.

Then we tromped almost .38 mile to the ride camp desk. The nice ladies there found our packets...there wasnt much to look through, we were almost the last ones to check in. UGggggggggh, They then said that they needed our AERC cards. OH BOTHER!

Tromp tromp back to the truck, get our cards, tromp tromp, back to the table....tromp tromp, back for the horses, tromp tromp to Vet in the horses and tromp tromp back to the trailer....good grief...we were getting some exercise!

I was exhausted by then, all of that driving and then all of that walking and setting up camp, and then ALAS I couldnt find the "STUFF" for my new porta-potty that neutralizes odors.

Also, I decided, that since it was getting dark by now and the horses corral was attached to the truck, that the Truck Tent would not work out and Shana HAD volunteered to sleep IN the back seat of the truck, so I blew up a mattress for the tack room of the trailer and made my bed there.

I had my tack room PACKED with STUFF and we had to haul ALL of it out, including the spare tire, so that the mattress would fit. Our camp looked like a JUNK YARD!

I started to pack my saddle bag for the next day, but then got distracted doing something else, Oh, we had to mark our own Horses because there didn't seem to be anyone around doing THAT after the vet check. So Shana, dutifully took on that difficult task.

Then Shana said "I don't see ANYONE, it is too quiet, EVERYONE MUST be at the ride meeting! Oh good grief, I still had a TON of stuff to do. So we tromped off 30 min early to the meeting, but everyone was just eating.

I was SOOOO tired and remembered our chairs AFTER we had walked all the way to base camp again. So Shana, being SO much younger than I volunteered to go back and get the chairs and managed to hitch a ride back in a truck with a friendly lady.

After the ride meeting we went to the "newbies" meeting with Stagg Newman. It was good, but mostly repetitive info for me. Then we trudged back to camp.

I was so tired that I told Shana good night and crashed onto my bed. My sleep was short lived. Red kept chasing Falcon around in the corral, so I got up and gave them big piles of hay to munch on and more water.

This allowed me some sleep, but then I was awakened again by the noisy horses and the need to go visit the porta potty....man I wished I had found my STUFF for mine.

The night seemed to never end and my body craved rest.

Time to Go

2008-08-22T06:03:00.000-07:00

Friday-the truck and trailer are packed to the hilt. I think I have overpacked.

Oh well, better to have more than less! Now I just have to put the cooler, the horses and myself in the vehicle and go.

I have to pick up Alison from volleyball practice at 10, Shana is scheduled to arrive between 10 & 11...and then down the road we goooooo..

yikes! my chest is tight! I better go make myself busy to distract the jutters!

Trot Outs

2008-08-18T15:29:00.000-07:00

I was happily surprised today, when Red quickly took off at a trot when I asked.

It was short lived....As we reached the gate out of the barn lot, he veered to the left at full speed and then immediately put his head down and started ripping up some lovely green grass and clover....

Ok now, NONE OF THAT! I yanked on his lead and put him back on the path to the goat pasture. That completed, we turned with him attempting to yank at more grass, but he then came along very willing and at a steady fast trot to the barn. YEAHHH!

Falcon was next and at first he balked and lifted his head high, but with in a few steps he was trotting nicely to the gate, turn and back to the barn at a steady slow trot. YEAHHHHHHH!

With three more days of practice under their cinches, both boys should be in good shape for their "trot outs" on Friday.

Bling-a-ling

2008-08-17T14:00:00.001-07:00

Wow, too much time to relax! The kids are at work or at their papa's house and I am enjoying a wonderful peace and quiet.

Feeling a little creative, I decided to add some BLING to the bridles. I hope that I don't regret it.

I also put my blue helmet cover on the helmet, but you will have to wait for ride photos to see that I suppose, since I am too lazy to tromp out to my horse trailer with the camera!

The picture is not really accurate. I am concerned that all of the beads will start unraveling off of their little string. Any ideas?

Gettin' Ready!

2008-08-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

The days are disappearing quickly! Only 6 more days until my first Limited Distance ride in the Virginia Highlands.

I have slight anxiety. Not really for myself or Falcon, but more for Red. He is just such a wild card...

Red is not very comfortable in the woods, but one thing is for sure, that if he makes it through the initial Vet Check and then also through the Vet stop, he will take off for "home" at a LOVELY pace. I am hoping that I will be pleasantly surprised with both Red and Falcon.

Falcon's longest distance was a grueling 12 miles to Kennedy's peak. He finished bright eyed and ears perked...That has been months ago now and I feel like he is in better condition both mentally and physically now.

Oh so anyway....gettin ready!

The last of the WATER BOTTLES are in the dishwasher...

The saddle pads are washed and on their 3rd rinse cycle....

Red carried his saddle and both bridles and breast collars and two helmets up to the horse trailer for me, and patiently waited while I punched some extra holes in his latigo.....

Still a lot left to do, but will have to wait until Wed. night and Thurs.

The weather is so lovely...but it is rest time now, conserve our energy. I am plagued at present with inflammed hip, elbow and knee joints for some reason....hhhhmmmmm must be all of the ice cream or tomatoes I have been eating.

I plan on deleting both items from my menu for the next few days to see if there is any improvement.

The plan is to practice trot outs with Falcon and Red every day this week. Both did fairly well on their second try, but Red can WALK faster then I can RUN!

I expect to see marked improvement by Friday a.m.

Change of Pace

2008-08-12T19:12:00.000-07:00

Quite a change of pace tonight after last nights slow adventure with Red.

Falcon was sleepy during saddling, but as soon as I mounted him, he began briskly walking down the trail. No balking from him and we reached the top of the ridge trail in good time...with Falcon trotting or cantering nicely.

We turned to the East and headed down in to the hollow. Sundays rain storm had left the "tire track" puddles full. Falcon never wants to walk in these puddles. It must be the oily film on them, but regardless, there wasn't much room on the "shoulder" for us to pass by them to the right today.

We then headed up out of the hollow. The trail is rocky with steep embankment upwards to the left and steep drop off to the right. At this point, a pheasant fluttered noisly up and out to the left.

Falcon made a giant leap to the right...but I hung on and nudged him hard with my right leg to get back over. He quickly did and continued on up the trail. I was thankfull for the trees in that area which discouraged him from going down over the side.

We then galloped full speed for the radio tower. Usually, I dismount before we reach the top and I then lead Falcon down over the East side of Piney Mt., but tonight I took him on up to the top to the radio tower, which is really, only about 1 tenth of a mile further.

Here, I dismounted, checked my girth, had some water, and remounted. Falcon was "ready to roll", so I circled and backed him before allowing him to go forward.

He almost seemed puzzled when we went by the trail to the East. He hesitated and flicked his ear as he looked in that direction, but it didn't take much cajoling to keep him going south and then back East towards home.

Half way down the ridge trail, he had a major "dipping" spook at a "HORSE EATING STUMP", but other than that we arrived back at the barn with out further ado.

We only did 3.5 miles, but I was tired and my knees screamed "pain" when my feet hit the ground. Too much time in the kitchen canning and freezing.

Mental note to self "NO CANNING or FREEZING fruits and Vegies after Sunday" I plan on resting for a full week (other than my job) before the ride and taking a stash of Advil with me in my saddle pack.

The weather was hotter and sticker than yesterday too...thank goodness for a horse that likes to GOOOOOOOOO!

Clipppp.......Clopppppp.........

2008-08-11T18:50:00.000-07:00

Ok, I bet you don't know how SLOW a horse can WALK!

Red, my "Missouri Fox Trotter" showed me just how SLOW he could walk tonight! MFT's are known for their high powered walk....HAH!

Any bets? Alright then, I will tell ya...1.3 mph! Now that is SLOW, HECK, EVEN I can walk 4 miles an hour!

But let's be positive! At least he was MOVING! This was going to be a longggggggg ride!

We took the usual trail throught the woods and down to the road...no Piney Mountain tonight, it was late and it would be too dark in the woods and too risky as far as bear and mountain lion go.

At the mail boxes, we turned left and headed down Brookstone. Clip Clop, Clip Clop, clip clop...geeezzz I was tired of trying to make him go faster.

Might as well relax and settle in and keep on truckin! We are sure to get the
"turtle award" at some Endurance Ride!

1.5 miles later and we make it to the end of the gravel road...after that the road is paved and there isn't any shoulder. I turned him around and YAHOOOO, Red decides to trot, but it is rough...choppy...no fun at all and he refused to stretch out and go faster. BLAH! but hey, at least we weren't WALKING!

Into the field we went, more choppy trotting and even worse cantering alternating with some sort of choppy jig and a hop or two....man is he LAME?

Half way around we frightened a doe with her twins. The does tail flagged and she took off to the right as the twins went left. Red dipped a little at this occurance, but no major shy.

I kept him moving at what ever gait he was doing...hopping, that is what is was, yea, hopping.

To the gate and in to the big cow pasture. Here, Red really took off, but still he did not have his usual smooth canter. Around the field we went giving wide Berth to Mr Bull who was off in a corner to himself.

On to the other side of the field...oh boo hiss the WHOLE HERD is grazing right on the hill that I love to run Red up. So we walk some more, Red warily eyeing cows and calves on either side of him.

The cows are starting to get used to us and don't run crazy anymore when they see us. Maybe I will be able to bring Falcon out here again soon.

Soon we are wide open again and choppy cantering. UGH what a gait. What has happened to my smooth gaited Red...is it his shoes?

We reached another gate on the South End of Brookstone. Here I turn Red to the right since he has been bad everytime that I try and mount. All 5 of my attempted remounts tonight had been met with him trying to run for home. Harumph, I will FIX him!

Yep, so south we went, all the way to the other end of Brookstone. Red hadn't a clue where he was, musta thought he was heading for home because FINALLY he settled in to a nice steady trot.

Once again, we reached paved road and I turned Red around in the Turners driveway and waited for a vehicle to pass. Then off we went at a steady gait for home.
Red trotted the whole mile home and almost trotted right past our driveway...boy he WAS lost.

But he realized it quickly and tried to balk, but I made him go a few steps further to Ruth's drive and headed him that way so we could go through the woods and end up at the back side of the barn. That would add another mile to the ride.

Man did Red fly for the next half of a mile...he was flying at a 14mph trot and he was so smooth. Gone was all of the choppiness....hhhhhm, and I thought Falcon was the trickster...turns out Red is more of a trickster then Falcon!

Unfortunately, when I pulled Red's saddle off there was a big dry spot over one shoulder. This is the first that I have noticed this. I had just put on a new Roper Cinch and am thinking that is why Red bucked Peg on Saturday and then also had the choppy gaits for most of tonights 6.3 mile ride.

So, out with the new and back in with the old staight cinch. I am glad I figured this out before the ride! I will flip back to the old cinch on Thursdays ride and look for an improvement in the saddle fit.

The weather, by the way, was GORGEOUS 72 at the start of the ride and had probably dropped in to the 60's by the end. The sky was clear and the sun was setting as we sauntered in to the barn lot. What a LOVELY way to end the day....

BUT...oh shoot, I have 6 dozen ears of corn to get in the freezer....

Water Bottles

2008-08-10T15:49:00.000-07:00

The story goes like this...

Two years ago, I sent my beloved Sinwaan to my neice Shana, to have and to "hold on to". In the midst of divorce, I decided to sell my other horses and was so happy when Shana said that she would take Sinwaan.

I sent along a big trunk with him-various tack, an english saddle, and above all else, apparently at least one WATER BOTTLE...maybe there were more, I don't know.

Other than many Thanks, I didn't hear anything at all about the water bottle(s).

Until......now!

Shana is planning on flying East in a week and a half and will be attempting to get a barely conditioned Red through a 31 mile Limited Distance ride.

Off and on, we have discussed various necessities for the ride....one of them being THE WATER BOTTLE. Shana emailed me a comment about the fact that she hoped the water bottles were "clean"...and then I heard the story of the nasty water bottle that I had sent in the tack trunk.

My retort was "AH, now you REALLY ARE looking that gift horse in the mouth"!

It is all in good humor of course...but today, it made me think that it was about time I took a close look at MY water bottles for the ride.

I went out to the horse trailer and pulled two water bottles out of my saddle pack.
One just had some dust on it and the other....well, the other, was er, uh, well, uhm, green mold or something growing out drops of left over Gatorade!

Needless to say (SHANA) all 5 water bottles are soaking in a bleach solution and then will be promptly put in the dishwasher! NO WORRIES GIRLIE and a lesson learned!

Saturday Ride

2008-08-09T14:31:00.000-07:00

Today was absolutely BEAUTIFLY. Clear, breezy, little humidity. A WONDERFUL day for a ride...but alas, Karen couldnt go with me, so I rang up Peggy and she was willing, but had to finish up some chores at home first.

Around noon, I got Falcon and Red brushed and fly sprayed and even took time to comb their ratty manes today. Poor Dakota is really getting neglected these days. Maybe I will take him for a spin tomorrow.

Peggy arrived as I was saddling the horses. So, after minor adjustments to the stirrups, we were mounted and heading down the trail.

When we reached the small hill, I asked Peg if she wanted to move out. She said she was ready. Falcon started cantering and Red started BUCKING BUCKING BUCKING....oh my goodness.

Peg was hollering and fearful since she rarely rides and has already broken her tailbone when an "X" horse of hers dumped her off.

I slowed Falcon and Red stopped bucking. Peg was quite shaken, but said to "go on".

Ok Shana-first warning....Red likes to give a buck or two, so be ready!

From there we walked to Ruths, where Red had to PEE!

Ok Shana-second warning-Red likes to stop and pee alot!

Up Piney Moutain we went, trotting and cantering and Red did not buck anymore. We made our way to the radio tower. Hopped off, had our water and proceeded to walk down the loose shale on the east side.

Then we turned right because I wanted to canter up the sandy road to get the horses butts in shape a little. We tried, but the rain had washed out the road, so we didn't go as fast as I wanted to. So back down we went over to Valleyburg Road then on to Summers Road.

The horse were lazy and there was a nice breeze, so we sauntered along at an easy pace of about 2.8 miles an hour. We alternated that with some trotting until we reached the old church and cut through the Moyers pasture.

Peg was not too impressed with this part of the ride, especially when we turned back on to the mountain trail. I was hoping to find another 4-wheeler short cut home but all of them ended up being too steep and we did a lot of back tracking since Peg was wearing some mules that WEREN'T made for walking.

Back to the Moyers pasture. As we started up the hill, far off in the distance, a HUGE piece of equipment barreled in our direction and dumped some stumps on a big pile.

Now this equip. was at a good distance, but it freaked Falcon out and he tore up that steep hillside. Red followed suit and both of them were trying to be "RUNAWAYS"!

Peggy got really scared and was saying..."OHHHHHHHHHHH, OHHHHHHHHH!"
We reached the top and the boys settled down. Peg wanted to get off, but I told her not to since the grass was tall and it would be hard to walk in.

She was NOT very happy after that occurance and just wanted to get home...Well, from there, we were less than a mile from home since I decided to cut through the neighbors property.

I heard Dakota hollering and told Peg to take a deep breath, relax and get a good hold on Red in case Dakota came tearing through the woods. Dakota came fast, but I kept Falcon under control and we made it back to the barn at a walk.

Both of us were very stiff when we got off. The ride had been too slow for one thing, plus stressful for me worrying about Peg and stressful for Peg to have that tough of a ride.

7.53 miles in all we had gone. We had been out for 2 hours, but total time stopped was 50 min, so actual moving time was an hour and ten min. Really, not too bad I suppose.

I will have to do speed work alone or when I am riding with Karen or Betsy...but it was good LSD conditioning with all of the hills that we had to maneuver. Also, Red is getting better about paying attention to those ROCKS, ROCKS, ROCKS!

The horses enjoyed their hosing and bucket of grain with electrolytes. As soon as Falcon was done eating, he nickered for his treats. He is such a SWEET boy.

It was 4 pm by the time we got to the house and Peg was a nervous wreck, because she thought her husband would be mad at her, but it turned out that he was still at work, so all was well....hhhhhhhhmmmmm, wonder if she will EVER ride with me again!

Ready to GO

2008-08-08T19:55:00.000-07:00

No Riding tonight. OH but the weather is BEAUTIFUL! 82, breezy, no humidity...but I had work to do to start getting ready for the LD ride in 2 weeks.

First I hauled all of the STUFF out of the tack room part of the horse trailer.
I was hoping to limit what I put back IN there....hhhmmm, no such luck. I felt like I was going to NEED everything.

Spare Tire 25 gallon water tank, 2- 10 gallon water tanks, 2 folding chairs, jumper cables
Potty Chair!!!! (oh and toilet paper)
Buckets and scoops
Tool Box
Engine coolant-two jugs of that...

Truck Tent
Truck Mattress
Sleeping Bag
Queen mattress

Oh, and so I decided that now would be a good time to try and set up that dumb tent again on my truck. I couldnt quite figure it out, so I set it up on the pavement then lifted it on to the truck and adjusted the tie downs. That worked out ok.
Just hope there arent any strong winds....OR SHANA, I'm gonna be crawling into the tack room with you!

Then I blew up the Truck mattress and checked that out...seems to be pretty comfy. Then I blew up the queen mattress...uh, it is TOO BIG for the tack room, so I squashed it up some on one side and rolled on to it....Well...Shana, let me know how it does for ya!

Ok, everything checked out, so I deflated the mattresses and the tent and got everything rolled up and back in to the tack room.

Yikes, I still need to make room for feed and a cooler of grub for me and Shana.

Ok so I am countin' down the days to the ride now. I need to get air in the truck tires, but other than that I am READY to GO!

Red Takes Piney Mountain!

2008-08-07T20:28:00.000-07:00

The day was warm and somewhat humid. My energy level was waning due to being up until 1 a.m.

I had only had 4 hours of sleep. The previous evening the farmers came to bale the hay....4 bales later and the baler broke. They struggled to fix it and then finally drove away....presumably to have some supper.

My two boys decided to make their escape and took off with their friends. By 7:30 pm the farmers were back with a working baler...which actually was working too well as it was shooting the bales clear over the back of the tow wagon and they were landing on the ground and breaking apart again...but they soon reset the shooter and all was well.

I phoned my boys to come home, they brought 2 friends and the 5 of us spent two hours getting the hay in to the barn. I should have taken pictures...what is wrong with me!...my boys were actually WORKING!

Eric is the bug magnet and promptly got stung by a bee after only unloading 2 bales of hay, and so he had to go get ice and spray etc.....while we unloaded 50...

Then at 10 pm I got in to the house and realized that my spaghetti sauce was still simmering on the stove....so I stayed up half the night canning the 11 quarts....

Ok, back to riding eh?

So Today, Thursday, I wasn't very motivated to ride. But at 5:30, I dutifully pulled on my riding boots, tromped to the barn, fed the "boys" and then saddled Red up.

I was happy to see that Falcon's hock was looking MUCH better...not so swollen.

I hand walked Red down the trail to the corner and mounted. He made one attempt to turn for home, but one snap with the crop and he turned and took off at a nice fast walk.

He walked and trotted slowly up the hill, spooking at every log again. I was having to put out a lot of energy to keep him moving, but at least he WAS moving.

At the entrance to the Radio Tower trail, he balked for the first time. Then acted as if he had to pee...and then did pee. I am finding that he always has to stop and pee shortly after leaving home. Maybe it is his nerves. I don't know.

Soon I had him moving though very slowly. It took us 20 min to go 1.4 miles. Falcon can do it in under 10 min. I tried willing him with my mind, but that didn't work very well.

Amazingly though, we made it to the Radio Tower, which is where I hop off and handwalk down the East side of Piney Mountain. This was the furthest I had ever been with Red alone.

Also when I jumped off, I felt so close to the ground and realized that Falcon is so much bigger than Red.

The east side road was worse than when I had taken Falcon down it on Sunday. The shale type rock was very loose and slippery and I about fell at least 3 times.
Red was not impressed with the unstable footing and balked several times.

Gemma and Cola trotted happily along with us as we made the turn on to the paved Valleyburg Road. Red was very steady with all of the zooming cars and barely flicked an ear at a motorcycle...and I was glad it was Red and not Falcon tonight.

When we reached Summers Road, I tightened Reds girth and stepped in to the stirrup, he took off trotting as I swung up on in...What a nice fast trot for home! I wished that I had brought my GPS to check his speed.

He trotted nicely for 1.5 miles until I slowed him down due to Gemma and Cola, who's tongues were dragging the ground!

Then we trotted some more to my neighbors property. I didn't want to ride through their back yard and looked for a way through the woods. I dismounted and led Red under some branches, but there were just too many briars and we couldnt get through.

I brought him back to their mown trail at the bottom of a short steep hill. As I started to mount, he took off at a canter up the hill and I hung on to his mane and saddle and managed to get my butt in the saddle as he reached the top of the hill.

Good gracious, he sounds like Sinwaan, pokey mokey leaving home and a burst of energy when headed back.

Anyway, I made him walk on their trail, so we wouldnt tear it up and when we reached our woods trail I let him have his final canter for home.

As I have said before, I don't like letting my boys RUN home, but he is so much fun at the canter, I let him go...bad me!

I guess it was about a 4 mile ride. One of this days I might check that mileage too.

No Excuses!

2008-08-03T18:32:00.000-07:00

No Excuses:

#1 No Excuse NOT to RIDE!

Beautiful 80 degree day and very low humidity. After the past month, this is a wonderful change. So at 11 a.m. I headed down to the barn and whistled for the boys who were out munching grass.

They came at a happy canter to the barn, wondering why I was there so early calling them for grain. I pulled Falcon out and after a quick brushing, had him saddled up and ready to go.

I turned on my GPS and we were off at a fine rate of speed of about 6.5 mph trot and a 12mph canter. Falcon kept the pace all the way to the top of the ridge, making sharp turns around fallen trees and hopping over a few others. I slowed him as we neared the fire trail, only because the footing is very rocky and I havent trimmed the trees yet.

Unfortunately, Gemma and Cola, the Maremmas had taken some short cuts through the woods and caught up with us. I didn't want them along today, because I had "plans". The dogs sensed this and refused to be caught and penned up, instead slinking off in to the high grass and pretending to be disinterested until Falcon and I were out of sight.

Ok, on the fire trail, Falcon decided to plod along and I let him since he had made record time coming up the mile long grade to the top of the ridge.

At the Radio Tower, as I have done before, I dismounted and led Falcon down the East side of Piney Mt. The road was worse than ever and was washed out in several places, causing both Falcon and I to slip and slide.

Towards the bottom, I chose a trail to the left. Earlier in the a.m. Alison and I had driven the car around to the east side of Piney Mt via paved road and found a sign that said "Lot 13" There was a dirt road, so we turned up it and followed it up and "WAH LAH" YEAHHHHH it ended on the fire trail. FINALLY, I had found road access that was not blocked by a LOCKED GATE!

So Falcon and I and the Maremmas turned right on to the paved road. A noisy truck came along and Falcon spooked slightly and Gemma dashed back up on to the dirt road.

We continued on, Gemma caught up, only to have another noisy truck zoom by....back to the woods she ran. Silly dog.

The next truck slowed for us, but just as he passed us he sped up and Falcon zoomed ahead and sideways on that move and almost knocked me over....dumb people!

Thankfully we had reached Summers Road to the right which is gravel and has little traffic. As a matter of fact we didnt see ANY traffic today...YEAH! At one corner, a little dog ran out from a house and Falcon spooked a little, but Gemma, 10 times the size of the little dog was frightened to death and ran back to the woods.

It was the last time I saw her.

#2 No excuse NOT to have brought a WATER BOTTLE!

The sun was getting warm on Summers Road, and I was getting VERY thirsty, Well, only 2.5 miles or so to home. Falcon was trotting right along at that 6.5-7 mph trot. Very nice.

We made another right hand turn up a steep gravel drive to an OLD church that is no longer in use, but is kept neatly mowed and they also have a paddock for when people used to ride their horses to church.

Through the grassy church yard we went, to a gate. The Joe Pye Weeds were taller than both me AND Falcon. I was able to open the gate enough for us to squeeze through and Cola was close on our heels.

In amongst the weeds was a ramshackle
outhouse....hhhhhmmmm....nahhhhhhhhh....probably snakes and blackwidow spiders in THERE!

After we waded through the weeds we followed the fenceline which borders my neighbors property and also mine. There USED to be a gate at the corner boundry...but alas, the fencing had been recently "fixed" and the gate did not exist...So we walked the fence line and we walked and walked for about .6 mile. I knew that there was another makeshift gate at the bottom of the steep hill, down in a meadow. But I hadn't been there in about 6 years after a mini tornado ripped up trees on our property and blocked the trail...then we sold that section of land.

(I really need to call the neighbors and make sure that is ok that I ride in their cow pasture. Most of the farmers don't care as long as I make sure the gates are closed tight)

We found the gate and passed through that without trouble. At this point Falcon balked a little because the briars were 5 feet tall. I broke down some and then mounted and he plowed on through. Also, we were now heading AWAY from home and my "2 miles to home" was now unknown distance.

We traveled north on a nice 4 wheeler trail. Several trails led west towards home, but didnt look very inviting...so I urged Falcon on and he took off trotting and cantering again, but the trail was somewhat overgrown and I have plenty of briar scratches to show for the effort.

The trail started climbing again. I had NO CLUE where I was, but I know that Piney Mt is ONLY so big and I could always turn back around. Falcon saw the HILL and started cantering, only to suddenly come to a stop, HEAVING< HEAVING< HEAVING.
We were almost vertical. YIKES. I hopped off and let him rest and then saw a slightly level place and encouraged him to stop there instead.

Man, those 4 wheelin people sure to like the "STRAIGHT DROPS".

#3 and have I said it yet? NO REASON not to have BROUGHT WATER!

Man, I was dying for some liquid. No breeze, 10 steps rest, 10 steps rest, 10 steps rest. I started getting sick, dizzy, nauseated. I found a tree and leaned on it.
Cola found a cool shady spot and plopped down, his tongue hanging out 5 feet. Poor pup.

Falcon was heaving still. Oh shoot, I couldnt close my eyes without getting all swimmy headed. So rest and rest we did. I looked up, "how much further UP" can this trail GO?!

I could see a break in the trees, we MUST be almost THERE! Sure enough, 10 more steps and we were. OH, but there was a BIG CABLE ACROSS THE TRAIL. OH SURELY NOT, NO, WE WERE NOT going to TURN AROUND and go back DOWN that rocky mountain!

Thankfully, I could see a way around the cable and we plowed through fallen logs and rocks and holes and YEAHHHHH we were on the trail to the Radio Tower again! OH YEAHHHHHH.....I could barely crawl up on to Falcons back and he took off as soon as my butt hit the saddle.

I slowed him to a walk, I was so weak, I could barely hang on...But by the time we reached OUR ridge trail I felt better and let him go trotting and cantering down....Wow I am getting brave doing THAT! We both just wanted to get home.

It was a great feeling to reach the bottom and turn onto the trail for the barn.

#4-No REASON NOT to turn the hose on and spray both of us down.
Cola had headed for the swampy pond and returned to the barn with his bottom half all black and stinky!

Falcon got a serving of soaked grain with a dose of electrolytes. The poor boy probably needed some ADVIL! But as soon as he joined up with the other two horses, he took off at a canter for the front field and some nice green grass.

#5 NO REASON NOT to have a big glass of iced TANG....I don't like tang much, but it was cold and it was GOOD! I sat and pondered what we had just done....Me, Falcon and Cola-6.4 miles in about 50 min on a highly technical trail.

I never would have dreamed a year ago, that Falcon and I would have come this far. He was sent to be trained last Aug. and he REARED everytime he was introduced to anything new. Also, after 3 months of training, he promptly bucked me off twice. I was already struggling with fear after a previous riding accident with Sinwaan, the rearing and bucking didnt help.

#6 NO REASON NOT to be THANKFUL for finding Judie Ricci of Meadow Spring Training Center and working miracles with Falcon. Now Falcon is working miracles with me, helping me to regain my trust and love of horses.

#7 No REASON NOT to END this long epistle before I get all sappy....and for a post note, Gemma arrived home several hours later and was last seen sacked out under the truck! Happy TRAILS!

Lower Humidity?

2008-07-30T06:57:00.000-07:00

I heard tell that the Humidity was lower today! Oh, is THAT SO????
Can't prove it by me!

Red's turn again today...Falcon's too. I decided to ride Red first and get that troublesome fella's workout out of the way.

He stood nicely for saddling and then I hand walked him down the hill and along the fenceline. But as we were going down the hill, I noticed him charging up along side of me and almost knocked me over...what in de world? Turns out the Maremmas had come dashing around the corner and scared the wits out of him.

I mounted at the corner. He thought about turning around, but soon stepped out nicely for half a mile to Ruths house.

There, at the opening to the mountain trail he stopped and wouldn't budge. Then he eyed the split rail fence and started backing up, thinking that he could pin me on it. Well, sorry buddy, that just won't work. The fence is only about 2 feet high.

So, he kept backing in to her yard. I smacked him with my crop...the usual response....none...still backing up into Ruth's nicely mown grass.

Ok then, I am stubborn too, I am NOT going to get off this time. I pulled straight back on the right rein and made him circle 3 times and as we lined up with the mountain trail on the 3rd turn, I nudge strongly with my heels and whacked him hard on the butt with the crop.

I hate whacking him, but hey, it WORKED! he was confused as to which direction he was going and took off nicely at a trot up the mountain for another half a mile and then I turned him left and headed west so we could access the trail across the road from the house. When we reached the alfalfa field, he tried to run away with me towards the pasture.

So, I decided to not deal with that and halted him and hand walked him again across the road and into the woods. Once again he tried to run away as I was mounting. I quickly gained control and had to circle him again 4 times to get him headed in MY direction. This happened again at a crossroads in the trail, but then he was off moving at a fast walk and when we reached the large open field he started off with a crazy bouncy trot that throws me in to the air...I nudged him and we had a nice canter.

This time, instead of turning around after a mile, I made him go at a trot or canter around the whole perimeter of the field. He did nicely and for once actually Fox Trotted for about a half mile...then broke in to a canter, than back into a trot. But that crazy change over feels really weird, like he is lame, until he gets back in to something more normal.

Back on the woods trail he really took off smoothly until we reached the road. Crossing it, we retraced our steps and ended up with at least a 4.5-5 mile ride...slow yes, but at least we were going.

It was after 7 when we got back to the barn, and really, just too late and too sticky hot to go and ride Falcon. So Falcon gets another break. Hope to post some pictures soon with Mr Red in his new tack.

Sometimes it's just a struggle

2008-07-29T05:56:00.000-07:00

I love riding, but sometimes it is just a struggle to get the motivation to "get back out there".

Yesterday, there was a big box in my mailbox, and yippee, it was tack for Red.
Beautiful biothane turquoise bridle, black/turquoise rope reins and a black/turquoise breast plate.

THAT was enough to motivate me and so I attached a bit, got Red, and started trying to fit it on him. It took awhile to adjust everything.

I love Biothane except that it is a pain to do the initial adjustments.

Finally I had everything basically rigged pretty well. I had also put the back cinch on the Plantation saddle and will have to make some more holes in the "keeper".

Aaah, time to ride! ah hemmmm. Red wouldnt budge, not even hand led. But in a few min. he changed his mind and walked along with me up to the top of the hill behind the house. I mounted, and he stood there, but soon he started walking nicely.

When we reached the alfalfa field, I let him have a bite, big mistake, he used that to whirl around and try and head for his buddies in the nearby pasture.

Once again, refusal, refusal, backing, backing, refusals. I had a crop with me and made myself totally relax and started wacking his butt as he backed. It didn't make any differance to him. We circled, backed, circled, whirled, etc. Nope, I was gonna win again tonight.

So off I went and led him across the road and back in to the woods, remounted and fought off another whirl. Soon he was walking nicely. My plan was to have a good ride-albeit a short one, so that he COULD have a GOOD time and KNOW that he would get back home at the end.

We reached the field and he attempted one buck and then took off at a nice gait. The 4 big white dogs cut across the field, but Gypsy, the Boston Terrier raced along behind us. I wish some one could have filmed it. It was hilarious to see that little fat dog racing full speed.

After we had gone a mile, I turned Red back around. Same picture, Gypsy RACING behind us and the big white dogs cutting back across the field. At the woods, I stopped Red to let him have grass, but he tried to get back on the trail for home. So I made him stand and wait for Gypsy.

Back on the home trail we headed for home with a couple of "turn arounds" to get at least a little bit of up-hill work in. We managed to do 3.36 miles in about 25 min. So not bad. We were out there for 50 min, so that shows you how much time it took me to get the boy "movin on".

But all in all we ended on a good note...not great for improving our conditioning for 25 miles, but at least we are keeping him from getting "soft".

On the trail again

2008-07-27T08:53:00.000-07:00

Wow, I hadn't realized that I haven't been on Falcon in more than a week. AND he is getting fat munching on all of that grass.

But last night he had the other boys galloping around the pasture, up the hill, down and then back up again, so at least they are getting some exercise on the hills.

I did ride Red one day last week, and he plumb wore me out with more refusals than I can count...don't EVEN want to go there. He is barn sour it seems and thinks that if he pins me up against a tree or backs in to the woods he won't have to go anywhere, but in the end, I won.

Enough on him. Falcon is my endurance boy, although, I do want to do some with Red as well if he can get over his barn sourness.

I decided to go out to ride this a.m. because it was calling for storms in the afternoon. The morn was warm, but not too bad and I was saddled up by 9 a.m.

Falcon freaked slightly over the Tucker endurance saddle creaking as well as the different rigging. Usually I ride him in my Tucker Cheyenne, but that was up the hill in the horse trailer and I didn't feel like dragging it around. The endurance saddle is the one that he has bucked me in before, but he is going to have to get over THAT because, it does fit him AND me.

So I walked him around the barn lot a few times and tightened up the girth, then walked him down the fenceline to the corner before I mounted. He never showed another concern about the saddle.

Already the deer flies were messin' with his head...poor boy, and just as I went to mount a big ole horse fly landed on him....ugh.

He was very willing to go and we walked the first half mile then started off at a nice trot up the mountain trail...he broke in to an easy canter and I let him set his own pace.

We reached the radio tower in record time, but at the top, there wasn't a breath of air and Falcon was already soaked with sweat with sweat running down his face as well...man the heat index musta been 110 degrees again.

I dismounted and walked him down the rocky east side of the mountain (by the way, it is called Piney Mt) This time I walked all the way to the bottom hoping to get around the gate. We had come 1.7 miles.

No luck, steep embankment on either side of the padlocked gate. We turned around and walked back a little ways and then climbed up in to the woods and followed a deer trail. But once again we came to a steep embankment and thick brush. I could see the road below, but didn't want to try and get through the mess OR try and get down that VERTICAL hill.

Back through the woods. HOT HOT HOT. Falcon is such a good willing boy, just manuevers on through the mess with out complaint.

On the fire road again, Falcon took off at a fast trot and veered left onto the sandy road that I knew dead ended, but I let him go to get more of a workout in. He took off cantering until the trail started up again and I turned him back around and cantered back to the fire road.

He started off walking for most of the climb, but that is tough, so he started trotting and cantering again. He always spooks at the same stump on the way up, so I was ready today, so guess what, he didn't spook!

Soon he was really laboring and slowed down to a walk again. Sweat was pouring off and we stopped at the top to give him a breather.

On the way down the other side more cantering and flying trot. Wonderful, the boy can move, but I hate trotting down hill, oh well, good practice for competition.

He knows to walk when we reach our fenceline and he didnt struggle to race home even though the other boys were hollering for him from their stalls.

While hosing him off, I noticed that he had clipped his left front leg, either with a rock or his hoof. I hosed it off good and he was a little sore, so will have to keep an eye on that.

I put a dose of electrolytes in his feed made sloppy with water and he gladly slurped it up.

Even with all of the walking we had done 3.8 miles in 30 min, with our fastest speed being around 16 mph.

The plan then was to saddle up Dakota and Red and pony one of them, just to see if Red would go out with out balking that way....but geeeeezzzzz it was so hot and the haze had settled in so thick that I couldnt even see the mountains. Not a good day for the respiratory system to be out.

Will have to see what tonight or tomorrow evening bring.

Lookin for trails

2008-07-24T10:15:00.000-07:00

Ok, I live in Luray, SURROUNDED by mountains, but where to ride? where to ride?
The only trails going up to the Skyline Drive are just that, up up up and then turn around and come back home, down downd down. Really no circular trails

So, on Tuesday night, Betsy returned my call, saying that she could ride with me on Wed. We started talking about a new place to ride....where oh where. I dug out my Shenandoah map and Wayyyyyyyy over on the far right side of it, it did show the Masanutten range to the west.

So Betsy sped over and picked me up at 7 pm and we headed 15 min down the road to Catherines Furnace and started driving up the State Forestry Road. It did show a horse trail that parralleled it, but how to get there from here?

So we drove and drove and found some 4 wheeler trails and then also one that looked cleared high enough to ride a horse through.

The gravel road had a gradual grade and plenty of creeks (Cub Run) along the way so we figured that we would park at Catherines Furnace, ride up the state road to the next county and return on the horse trail and we might get an 8 to 10 mile ride in.

Ok, so that was a fun outing, with the top down on her car and the hair blowing wild in the wind.......

Wednesday I was awake at 7 as usual. We had planned to leave at 9:30 BUT ALAS it was pouring down rain.....grrrr. Neither of us felt the need to condition in the rain...plus there was a lot of dangerous thunder and lightening....oh shoot and now Betsy is gone on one of her "Inn Sitting" jobs and won't be back for 3 or 4 weeks. So I guess we won't get to ride together before the Virginia Highlands Challange.

Oh well, guess I will go it alone around the home trails this evening....DARN

More heat More challanges

2008-07-19T19:46:00.000-07:00

Temperature-86 degrees at 7 pm. That actually felt balmy with the slight breeze after yesterday.

Red Dawg wasn't too happy when he saw me with a halter in hand. But, I ignored him and took him out to the post and tied him...of course he gots some snacks.

It didn't take long to saddle up and go. He took off at a nice walk and I thought, this is going to be a nice ride. We circled down through the woods and past Gregs house and Ruths house then back up the lane towards Brookstone Road. That is a mile loop.

Then we headed right out of the driveway on the gravel road. Right now the road has very little gravel and I figured that Red could tolerate it with his bare feet.

Red had other ideas. He flat out refused to budge so I started turning him in circles trying to make him go right. It was hot now, no breeze. Cola and Gemma the Maremmas, flopped in the weeds and waited to see what would happen.

Finally I was able to encourage Red to move on out at the trot up the gravel road to the north.

He balked again when we came to some houses with dogs on both sides...after that he inched along, cautiously checking out every weed, bug, etc.

Aah finally we reached the gate to go through the corn fields. The edge of which has a pretty decent trail to trot on. Red was happy because he thought he was heading for home and we had a nice trot and canter going on.

Then we reached a gate that goes in to the big pasture. Red wanted to go left towards home, I wanted to go right and canter on the flat. Red totally refused to cross the creek today. It HAD dried up alot except that instead of water there was deep mud. So I let him slide and turned left.

Red took off at a canter and then suddenly was in a full blown gallop heading south west for home. BAD BAD BAD. It took me a bit to slow him down. Once again he tried to refuse to go West and I had to get after him. Finally we were going again, nice canter along the fence line for about half a mile.

Then the pond. Red wasn't interested in drinking, but did check out a frog or two. Gemma and Cola caught up and sunk in to the water to cool off.

Now we were headed north east towards home. The cows were all close here with the bull the closest. Hhhhhm, I pulled Red into a walk and stuck close to the fence line.

The Bull ignored us and watched the dogs. We passed safely and took off at a canter again along the fence line. I heard swishing and turned my head to look and saw that half of the cow/calf herd was racing after us....OHHHHHH lovely! But it was hot, Red was fast and the cows quit.

I circled around over the hill and cantered Red up and down and around it 3 times to make up for his balking earlier. He was soaked with sweat now so we headed at a trot towards the "woods" gate. Then I heard barking and figured that the cows werent letting the dogs get through.

I hollered for the dogs, but they didnt come in to sight. It was getting dark and I still had to go through the dark woods to get home....so home I headed. No more refusals from Red and we ended up doing 5 miles in 50 min.

Red was happy to get hosed down and the dogs did find a hole in the fenceline somewhere and came trucking on home 30 min later.

Jeremys Run

2008-07-18T18:27:00.000-07:00

I had been depressed all day for some reason and just couldn't shake it but I scrambled home a tad early to get the trailer and Falcon ready for another ride. It was really supposed to be Falcons day off, but Red still doesn't have his shoes, and I didn't know what Betsy's "surprise" ride would be.

I met Betsy at 4 as planned. She and her Honey were in the barn grooming Tristana. Ed walked Tris to the trailer and loaded her. That seemed weird to me, but anyway, I tossed Betsy's saddle in the trailer and Betsy struggled to lock the door on the trailer.

Betsy clambored up in to the truck and was obviously in a very bad mood. She said she had had a HORRIBLE day and nuthin was going right. Oh wow, weren't we a PAIR, ANGRY and DEPRESSED!

Mary Ann, a friend in White Post (an hour away), was supposed to be meeting us and then after the ride would be taking Tristana to her place to be boarded and conditioned for a possible endurance ride-maybe as a ride for Shana, maybe not.

I had already decided "not" since it seemed so iffy. Anyway, MaryAnn decided she couldnt meet us after all and well, this had just upset Betsy since she had been prepared to move Tris.

Ok, so Betsy said "LETS GO" I said "uhhhh where" Betsy said "I DON'T KNOW, go somewhere, to your place or to Jeremy's Run or anywhere".

Oh and did I mention that it was 96 degrees and about heat index of 110 at 5 pm?

Well, I ride at my place all of the time, how exciting is that? So I opted for Jeremy's Run which is 15 min away or so and I had wanted to do that trail with Sinwaan, but never had a riding partner to go with.

There isn't any parking at Jeremys Run. We just had to park on the side of the road...no shoulder either, so mainly I parked IN the road.

We took turns tying the horses to the trailer and saddling up. MAN IT WAS HOT! I was exhausted just after saddling.

Then we walked into the coolness of the trees and the Creek-Jeremys Run.
Betsy had to find a place to mount. So we walked a little ways and she found a big rock to climb up on, but even with that her saddle slipped and she had to hop down and regirth.

I hopped aboard only to find that my right stirrup was completely flipped around inside out or something. So we stopped while I hopped off and realized that all I had to do was flip it around!

Ugh, were we ever gonna get started? I sucked down half a bottle of gatorade.

The path was smooth packed at first, but then turned into a big rocky creek bed which was quite technical for the horses to move along on.

Then more smooth pack, more creek bed more smooth pack. After that first half mile the trail footing was all good. We climbed a hill and came to a SHARP switch back which was another technical spot because of the embankment and I didn't want to be the "man from snowy river".

The "hill" then dropped steeply to the east. I heard Betsy behind me call out frantically, "DAMN, STOP, DAMN, I'm on her neck!" Falcon behaved and Betsy slid off of Tris and called her a BLESSED horse for not bucking her off.

Betsy, in all of the saddle readjustments had forgotten to buckle the crupper and the saddle had slid forward right up on to Tris's neck on the steep incline. Tris trusted her momma enuf to stop. Tris's saddle always slides up even with a crupper and most of the time Betsy walks down the steep hills.

Ok, that fixed, we were off at a fast trot....but MAN IT WAS HOT. I slurped up the rest of my gatorade.

Soon the trail started climbing, up up up, technical sharp switchbacks everywhere. Falcon kept looking up the embankment and his right hind foot kept slipping off of the trail and Betsy told me to make him stop before he fell off the edge...well there would have been trees to catch us I guess...but, I got after him and he did better at paying attention to my leg pressure.

It wasn't long before Tristana flat out stopped and wouldnt budge. Her sides were heaving and nostrils flaring.

We rested and poked on upward, Tris refused again. But by this time we were almost to the ridge top of Neighbor Mountain, part of the "Three Sisters". I told Betsy that so we made it to the top, rested and then turned back around.

It was just too stinkin hot for man or beast! I guzzled another half of a bottle of water.

When we got to the steep hill, this time going up, Tris took off at a 19 mph gallop. Yikes! Falcon was close behind! Sheesh, survived that un!
Ok back to the last bad switchback and then the CREEK! YEAHHHHHH Falcon plunged in and started digging, digging digging. I didnt get off since he was doing such a good job of splashing himself. But I did dump the contents of one of my water bottles on his neck.

Tris just stood there with her head drooping looking pretty puny. That last gallop had really done her in. She was really sweating. Falcon was not near as hot as she was and actually still had dry spots on him.

Betsy started dumping water on her and also some on Falcon. Betsy just really loves Falcon.

Anyway, refreshed we continued on down the trail to the trailer. Tris perked up and did a nice wet poop, so she wasn't dehydrated. We had only done 3.67 miles in an hour. But it WAS a TECHNICAL trail and the HEAT....well did I say that it was MISERABLY HOT-NOT FIT FOR MAN NOR BEAST?

Betsy shook her head, Tris has done endurance, but she hadn't been ridden since we went to Front Royal. She had done nuthin but eat grass for 3 weeks and looked like she was 9 months pregnant with her grass belly. The weight, lack of condition and heat index had really done her in.

But then Betsy said "Falcon won't have ANY problem doing 25 miles, he is in GREAT shape!" I felt tons encouraged by THAT and the depression had lifted somewhere during the ride.

We loaded our ponies and clambored into the coolness of the A.C.'d truck. Betsy thanked me over and over for dragging her out in the heat. Her mood was grrrrrreat too and she said her Honey would greatly appreciate it. Wonderful....wish I had a honey to go home to, but it is ok, I have my painted pony. And he is an alright boy.

He has come so far since spring. I am sure he will still give me some scares, but he knows how to take care of himself on the trail....even down to munching moss and lichens off of downed trees if there isn't a blade of grass in sight....silly horse!

More Rocks

2008-07-17T07:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I took Falcon back up the mountain trail to the radio tower. This time I made a right hand turn and headed East down the Fire Road, handwalking Falcon because of the numerous small rocks on the trail. The footing is very unstable most of the way down.

Once again, I did not go all the way to the gate to see if I could get around it. I hope to do that on a day that someone is riding with me since from there I would be on a well used gravel state road.

Anyway, we checked out a graded road to the left. I have never seen so much natural gravel. Anyway there are numerous posts with pink tape on them like the place is being divided up in to lots for sale or building. That trail dead ended. I was hoping that it would end on the road.

So we turned around and headed back to the fire road...crossed it and checked out the opposite graded road which, instead of gravel was all sand. Very interesting change in the soil. But it was great for cantering and so off we went at a nice pace, around several bends and seeminly back up the mountain, but once again, dead end.

Back down we came and turned up the Fire Road. The Maremma's, Cola and Gemma had trotted right along with us the whole way, several times dashing through the woods and barking. Could have been deer, but there was plenty of bear scat on the trails...so it could have been a bear they were chasing as well.

The heat was almost intolerable. Not even a breath of air in the woods and I was thankful for the tree cover.

Another problem for Falcon was tiny little flying insects that tormented his head. So he was constantly shaking, shaking, shaking his head. I felt like I was being "shaken and not stirred"

On the way home the maremma's were really panting hard and I was afraid they were going to have heat stroke, but they soon found a puddle and flopped in it and wouldnt even move out of the way for Falcon.

Later the dogs also found a "three trunked" tree. They ran to it and started lapping up water that had pooled there from Sundays rain storm.

Ok, so we did 4.65 miles in about 50 min. Not bad, once again completed with plenty of graded elevation climbs and unmerciful heat. Falcon just LOVED his cold shower back at the barn, and the dogs flopped out flat in the cool shaded grass and looked to be half dead.

New Kid on the block

2008-07-17T05:09:00.000-07:00

The plan was for neice Shana to ride with me at the Virginia Highlands Endurance Challange while she was on the East coast in Aug.

Great plan, no horse. Both of us contacted people who might be willing to share a horse. Dead Ends everywhere.

Finally, I was able to follow up on two leads. One woman with a black arab G. Sounded great at first until she blurted out that the horse was afraid of most adults and also small spaces....NOT!

Candidate # 2 was a Missouri Fox Trotter being pony clubbed, but not working out in that dept and owner was willing to let me have him on a trial or lease basis, but they also wanted to sell him to the "right" home.

I linked them to my web site and also talked with them and on Sat. 7/12 they brought "RED DOG DAN" out to my place.

He is a handsome boy....and uh, well now I am the owner.

I took him out for a ride on Sat. night and he handled very well. Beautiful Canter but all mixed up with his trot gaits.

On Monday and Tues. we went out again. LSD work up the small mountain and also 5 miles out around a pasture across the street and through the woods.

He is a very nice boy. Goes right along nicely through water, tall grass etc.

Looks like I will be riding everyday trying to get both he and Falcon in to shape for the Mountains of the New River Valley.

On the trail again

2008-07-13T11:11:00.000-07:00

I arrived home from MT at 2:30 a.m. on 7/10. Cows were mooing, and I freaked out thinking that they were loose. Son David emerged and said that the cows and horses had escaped twice while I was gone. I really didnt care much about the cows, but tore off to the barn to look for the horses.

Both were in the barn lot with Dakota munching on dogfood. Falcon seemed glad to see me and came over and nuzzled and snarfed me. Then Dakota gave up the dog food and did the same while I shooed them out in to the pasture and secured the gate.

(Turns out that the cows had been caught and penned up in the goat pasture)

Falcon had his new shoes put on on 7/10 as well. He had lost both of his hind shoes while I was in Montana and had completly overgrown his fronts which were hanging on with just a couple of nails each.

On Sunday, I decided to brave the heat and humidity and hopped aboard Falcon for a "short" ride up to the radio tower and back.

I had spent the morning clearing the trail and so we had a pleasant ride up...except that as I made the turn on to the fire road, I heard 4 wheelers revving around somewhere in the woods.

I nudged Falcon in to a trot and we headed on down the trail. The revving got louder and so I halted Falcon and flew off of him and quickly rehooked his rein to the chin ring so that I would have some length to work with in case he got excited.

The 4 wheelers rounded the corner and slowed to a stop when they saw Falcon hogging the whole trail. I asked them to wait while I climbed up the steep trail to a wider area. Falcon was visibly nervous, but controlable.

To the right of this trail, it drops off pretty steeply and I didnt want to end up rolling down the mountain.

When we reached the top, another 4 wheeler appeared from the other direction and slowly creeped past then stopped to talk for a few min. Soon they all came past and zoomed on towards the tower.

I gave them some space and then hopped on and we took off. Reaching the top, I saw that the 4 wheelers had taken the trail to the right and were sitting in a clearing.

I decided to explore a trail off to the left that I had never been on before....to be continued......

Ok, so the trail was level for a short while and then dropped down over the mountain. It was definetly a hunters/4wheelers trail as the overhead was low and there were plenty of deer stands in the trees. I had to break branches as we went, but soon got off and hand walked Falcon as the grade was so steep.

soon we reached High Power Lines which had tall grasses and across from that on further down I could see a camping trailer and a red truck, on beyond that I could see Lake Arrowhead Road and Griffiths Butchering. So I knew where I was, but wasnt sure whether I wanted to take a paved road back home and expose Falcon to fast moving cars on this day.

Also, looking at the sky....YIKES, it was a menacing dark gray. The sky was so dark and Thunder was booming all around....ooooooooh we were gonna get wet regardless of the way we went.

Finally, I decided to turn around and go back UP the mountain, because at least the tree cover might keep me from getting totally soaked and I could get in a "Holler" if the the lightening got bad.

Trudge trudge trude, Falcon was really laboring and panting and dripping buckets of sweat from the heat. So I got off and hand walked him up. The wind was whipping all around. Trees were creaking and it was DARK in them thar woods.

At one point, I walked under a half fallen tree, Falcon stepped left and got the saddle horn stuck on the tree. He half reared, hopped sideways and all was well, except for me saying "oh crap, I'm dead if he lands on me"

Thunder kept booming and Falcons ears kept twitching back and forth. Then, grrr, I heard the 4 wheelers again and they were coming our way. At this point the trail was VERY steep but I was able to get off trail for them to pass. They turned their engines off and squeaked on by... but stopped to ask if we were ok and then said "yer gonna git wet"

Yeah, well, not much I could do about it now unless they had room in their camper for Falcon!

So onward we went, 10 steps, heave heave, rest, 10 steps, heave heave, rest...I was nauseated from the heat and the grade. I squirted some of my water on Falcon, but I doubt it helped any. At one point I sat down, but Falcon freaked out about that, so I got back up and leaned on a tree until my heart rate dropped.

When we reached the top, Falcon perked up, so I hopped aboard and he took off. Fine with me and when we reached the lower trail, it started to rain lightly which cooled us off, but the wind was really getting strong, the thunder louder and lightening strikes all around.

I kicked Falcon in to high gear and we raced for home. I never let him run home....ever! But this day, yes sirreeeee. Just as we reached the corner for the barn he saw a dogfood bag in the corner of the pasture and freaked out. Lurching sideways and stopping at the same time. GRRRRRRRR...how did I stay on board THIS time!

Yikes more lightening. It made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. I jumped off and yanked Falcon to run behind me and we made the mad dash for the barn.

As we got in the barn, the sky let loose with torrents of rain. We got an inch in half of an hour!

I undressed Falcon and he was glad to get in to his stall. I stood in the barn for the duration of the storm. It was horrendous, all of that hammering rain on the metal roof. The roar was so loud that I couldnt hear myself think. The Great Pyrenees were all piled in the tack room and when they saw me they piled on top of me...yes, the dummies are afraid of Thunder.

The lightening was scary and zzzzzzzzting. In fact, Dakota, cribber that he is, was knawing on his stall door and I heard zzzzzzzzzt and looked around and Dakota was going crazy and I think the lightening must have zapped him a little. Serves him right, but I am glad he is ok and it DIDNT stop him from cribbing yesterday!

Shoot, I forgot to take my GPS with me, but regardless of the length of the ride it was a real workout with the climbs and the heat and humidity. Falcon did great and I am giving him 2 days off so I can work Red Dog Dan, the newcomer, which I will write about soon.

4H/Skyline Drive ride

2008-06-25T10:34:00.000-07:00

Betsy called today. Hallaleujia! Did I want to ride? Well I kinda didnt want to due to emotional upset over my "man" wanting to break up with me or something to that affect.

But regardless, Falcon was on the trailer by 4:30 pm and I was on my way to Front Royal to meet Betsy and Christie.

Then Betsy called and said they were running 20 min behind due to realizing that there were wasps in the their trailer with the horses and they had to stop and rememdy that situation.

The 4H center was alive and buzzing with campers, ponies, horses etc. Falcon was interested, but well behaved and more concerned with munching on clover. The boy sure does like to EAT!

Betsy and Chris arrived and were saddled up lickety split. But then Betsy couldnt find her helmet. I had an extra on with cobwebs in the trailer. It fit her, so We took off at a walk and a van pulled through the gate. A little girl hopped out and partially closed the gate, but left it wide enough for us to get through....NICE, except that Falcon decided to SPOOK when he got to the van and hopped sideways which landed us in a BIG ditch with a metal culvert.

Wow, How did either of us survive that one?

Ok, on up the road, to the trail which leads to the top of the ridge. It was slower going because Christies horse is 20+ and not in that good of shape.

At the top, through a subdivision and then the ridge trail that I love. Falcon and I were in the lead and took off at a fast flying trot, then a canter. It was GREATTTTTT!

Then Falcon came to a jarring stop, head up, ears pricked. hhhhhhmmm, I didnt have my glasses on, but then saw a "form" walking towards us. It was a black man with a back pack and he was really hoofing it up the trail towards us. I said hello and when he caught his breath he said that there was a "big ass bear" right around the corner.

So we talked to him for a few min. then took off up the trail and never once saw a bear. But we did see plenty of bear scat.

As we headed down the trail, we all got off and walked to stretch our legs some. Falcon put his head down to grab some grass and stepped on his rein. He yanked his head up and snapped the brass snap in half. GREAT! LESSON LEARNED. Always carry extra snaps!

Not only that the rein was stuck between his SHOE and his HOOF. Now, HOW did THAT happen? So I dug that out and before remounting at the creek, Betsy rooted around in her pack and found an xtra snap so I wouldnt have to tie the rein on.

As we reached the backside of the 4H Center the sun was setting and there was a herd of 25 deer in the soccer field. Quite a sight to be hold as their white tails flashed up and off they took.

My GPS stated that we had gone 7.86 miles with our fastest speed at 12.6 mph and an average of 4.6mph. Not a bad ride. And the only reason we had gone that slow was due to Old Sashshey.

Falcon is back on vacation because his shoes are getting loose and since I am heading for Montana. Falcon will be reshod on July 10 and then we will be putting in the miles getting ready for the Virginia Highlands ride in August.

Another ride through the gauntlet

2008-06-19T10:21:00.000-07:00

Back to Karens tonight. Sam wasn't home and so Karen had to fix her own wine. I had Falcon saddled up in a jiffy because we were starting much later tonight. Not so with Karen. Grrr, I like her, but this is driving me crazy. Too much wine going on.

I waited for 45 min for her to saddle up and eventually get on Slick. Same ride this time as last only it was hotter with more humidity. The horses were poking along, not interested at all in stepping out.

No wet noodling from Falcon tonight. He had "been there and done that" two nights ago. But the Stallion caused excitement for a few min. and then we were on the mountain trail again.

This time we decided to keep going. The trail was one track with lots of briars and thorny trees along the way. Karen and SLick were in the lead as the path became steeper and rockeier.

Halfway up to the top, Karen stopped, trying to decide whether to turn around or keep going. I yelled, "I dont know, make up YOUR MIND, Im sliding off Falcons back!"
I nudged Falcon and he charged past Slick. I grabbed a branch to prevent it from smacking me in the face-it turned out to have thorns that drove into my hand and stuck there. OUCH!

We reached the top and found that the trail continued to worsen. I hopped off and led Falcon as we started down the other side. It was a great relief when we reached a large level,grassy area. This is where we had started initially and had come full circle.

I hopped off to fix my stirrup because my leg was cramping. Karen had a "smoke" which actually is great for keeping the knats away, while the horses munched grass.

Then darn, my cushion in my stirrup had come unglued! It just wouldnt stick, so I stuck in in my saddle bag and hiked the stirrup up two notches to match my other one with the pad.

The ride down was a pain, with my foot that kept sticking to the remaining glue that wasnt enough to hold the pad but enough to throw my balance off.

Back through the gauntlet, where we stopped to talk to the Stallion's owner. A nice man, but a definite junk collector.
This time we just head to the trailer since it was almost dark. I was glad to be home and decided that I am not making much conditioning progress riding with Karen.

spooks and bucks

2008-06-17T10:01:00.000-07:00

Karen called while I was at work and asked if I wanted to go for a ride that evening. I was game and arrived in Stanley at 5:30 pm.
Sam, Karen's daughter came out to say hi and to see if I needed help with Falcon-NOT He is a good boy about loading and unloading.

Karen had just arrived home from work and wasn't ready to ride, so Falcon munched on grass for a spell. Sam brought her mother a glass of wine and the two of them walked off to the barn to get Slick ready.

Two glasses of wine later, Karen was trying to mount Slick, who doesnt stand still and they twirl around in circles until finally Sam grabbed a hold on him and Karen was on and we were off down the road at a walk.

There was a crossroad 0.5 mile away and when we reached that area there road turned to gravel and stated that the state road ended 1.0 mile.

Karen warned, "ok, we are going to trot ok? the whole mile ok? are you ready?" Slick was still walking, Falcon KNOW's what the word "TROT" means and he took off and we soon left them in the dust.

I don't know what Karen was thinking. She must think that I don't ride much, when in reality I ride much more AND longer than she does. Ok, musta been the wine talking!

Falcon was like a wet noodle going down the road. Spooking at every rock and black stump, sign and fence. I gave him stiff nudges with my heels and kept him going at his fast trot.

Karen then hollered, "THERE IS A STALLION at the the end of this road" A Stallion was an understatement.
The residence at the end of the road had JUNK, JUNK, and MORE JUNK on BOTH sides of the road.
The Stallion was hollering on one side and running up and down the sagging fence line.

On the other side of the road the Donkeys brayed and trotted up their sagging fence line, all three animals were dodging rusting trailers and farm equipment.

The Stallion is 29 and a GORGEOUS gray arabian. Falcon wanted to visit and slowed down despite my prompting to keep him moving. Slick and Karen moved ahead and Falcon soon followed.

From there we were on a fire road up the mountain. We went about halfway up (maybe another half of a mile) and Karen decided that Slick was tired (uhhhhmmm not! Karen was tired!)

So we turned around and came back down, back through the rusted animal gauntlet towards Karens place. But then she gained her second wind and took me on another gravel road in her subdivision.

It was a gradual climb up a long hill and Slick took off at a canter (yeah he was tired! haha!) Falcon bunched up and Buck, Buck Bucked! What in the heck???? Took me by surprise. I yanked his head up and yelled. After that we trotted to the top and I hopped off and readjusted his girth. I think the saddle had slipped back and he is sensitive to THAT! grrrr.

Then we faced another hill and this time, Falcon was a good boy and did a nice canter, but then acted up again and attempted to rear a little and buck some more.
We were in a FLOCK of big deer flies and they were really messing with him. No amount of shaking and tossing got rid of them, so we took off cantering for the horse trailer and thankfully arrived unscathed.

Sam met Karen with another glass of wine, while I unsaddled and loaded Falcon and took off for home.

Vacation time

2008-06-06T07:30:00.000-07:00

Falcon is on vacation! We have had turbulent weather here in the East and a tornado of sorts ripped a path through the valley. Berrystone Farm (Falcons home) sustained some damage. A beautiful Young maple tree was snapped at its base, the top landing on my car.

The miracle was: only minor scratches to the car, and IF the Truck and horse trailer HAD been parked in their USUAL spot, they would have been SMASHED. But it so happened that I had scheduled for them to be serviced that day and had driven them to work.

Needless to say, I had to cancel my appointment for them in Harrisonburg due to the storms.
Thunderstorms have been frequenting the afternoons and evenings. For the next FOUR days, Temps are to be in the high 90's with a heat index of 110.

The horses are sweating just standing around in the shade. I need to get some electrolytes soon and plan on giving Falcon a vacation until late next week.

Endurance Training Ride

2008-05-31T06:42:00.000-07:00

Old Dominion Rides hosted a training ride for newbie members or newbie horses today at Judy Riccis place in Sumerduck VA.

Her place backs up to the Phelps preserve which has thousands of acres and nice two track trails and creeks. Alot of people go there to train their bird dogs.

Falcon did excellant with the trailering and was very interested in all of the other horses being unloaded in the parking lot. He was very alert, but not out of control at all, so saddling and mounting went extremely well.

He wouldn't stand still though, so we walked in large circles waiting for and meeting some of the other people. From the parking area, we had a short jaunt through the woods to Judies place.

Unfortunately, there were tons of people there either just as or more inexperienced then me and some of them were combined with crazy young horses. The majority of us were riding 5 year old horses that had never been in a large group of other horses as such.

The one lady, Becky, leading the group I went in was leading with a horse that had just been gelded and had only been on the trail ONCE! Needless to say Falcon had no trouble soon taking the lead on the trail.

But, backing up. We were told to go in the ring and work some steam off of our horses, but I didnt. Falcon was already trying to bunch up to buck, so I led him in wide circles, then used Judies big circular driveway to work some bugs out of him.

Some horses in the ring were trying to rear, or were rearing. Finally I had to go in the ring for the pre-ride info. There were ribbons flying from the gate in to the ring. Falcon has seem them before when he was there for training, but this day he was silly and ran sideways in to the gate. dumby.

After getting in the ring, I attempted to trot him over a black plastic tube and he decided to be afraid of that too, hit it with his hind leg and started bucking. BAD BOY. After three bucks I regained control and had him walking in circles again.

I yelled at Judie and blamed her because prior to this she had come over to say hello and Falcon had been very happy to see her. Then when she left is when he started acting ornery.

Finally, Falcon and most of the other horses were happy to stand still. The temperature was rising fast and the sun was hot. They reviewed "Vet Stops" and then we divided in to two groups. One faster and one for people who wanted to go slower.

I picked the slower smaller group of 8. Harumph, I think that was a mistake. Once on the trail, Falcon quickly fell in to line and one heavy set lady on an appaloosa joined up with us. Falcon was pushing to get in the lead and the lady on "Hawk" wanted to keep in the back, so we soon left the Appaloosa's company.

Soon we were behind Becky on her newly "cut" stallion/gelding boy an Alkel Teke 16 hands lanky horse who gave Falcon the "stink eye" everytime we got close!

Behind me was a girl on a cute little red arabian that seemed to be going along nicely, but the girl was WHINING, NO don't trot, my stirrups are too short. So we stopped, she fixed her stirrups.

After some trotting she whined "ohhhhhhh no are we TROTTING the whole time? Oh NO I don't wannnnnnnnt to trot, this is a new saddddddddle, he has a bit in in his mouth....whine whine whine.....I forgot his easy boots, he doesn't have shoes on.......whine whine whine.

Then "oh I am so sorry boy, I will NEVER put a bit in your mouth again" on and on. I sped up to Becky and asked her to check on the Whiner. Becky told her to keep moving, that her horse would toughen up and that her horse only had front shoes and she would take it easy on the big gravel, but KEEP MOVING!" grrrrrrrr! hee haw

Then she told the girl to that her helmet was too big. I turned to look and sure enuf, her helmet was way to big, lop sided and turned half sideways. SOME PEOPLE!

After that we came to a HUGE fallen tree in the trail. I dismounted, gave Falcon a long lead and he sprang straight up in the air and hopped over it. Man I was glad I wasn't on his back for that LEAP!
The whiner said, ohhhh oh, I can't do THAT! but she lept off of her horse who came over the tree nicely.

Then we were off trotting again. The Alkle Teke (or however you spell it) was tired of being in the lead brainwise, so Becky let Falcon and I take the lead and off we went at a wonderful pace of 6 mph.

At about the 3 1/2 mile mark I heard behind me "TROT TROT TROT" and a horse was really fighting his rider. The lady on Hawk the appaloosa, asked to pass and off they took at a canter with Becky yelling, slow down, wait for us at the creek, but Hawk was long gone.

We arrived at the creek and Hawks rider was sitting on the edge, dark red in color and not feeling well. I offered her water (she had NONE) and the temperature was 95 in the shade with about 100% humidity.
But she did dowse her head and thought that she might lay in the creek. Becky rode up then and forced her to drink some of her gatorade.

I sponged Falcon for the first time from the saddle. he spooked slightly the first time at the sponge. After that he was happy to be sponged repeatedly and dug and splashed in the creek.

The other riders did the same and then we let them munch on grass while Becky and the other experienced endurance rider, Bonnie evaluated Hawks rider. It was decided that Bonnie would ride on with the rest of us, while Becky stayed at the creek.

From there Falcon led again and we cantered up the hill at about 9.5 mph, then trotted, then walked the last 3/10 of a mile back to the barn. More sponging and then Judie checked Falcons heartrate which was 58. I considered that wonderful. Even though we had only done 5 miles, the heat and humidity were just rediculous. So I feel like his recovery was indeed fantastic.

I decided to go on home after that. Thunderstorms were moving in. When I left Sumerduck it was 94 in the shade, by the time I reached the Blue Ridge/Skyline drive 45 miles away, it was 77 and then in Luray it was 76 degrees. A welcome 18 degree drop. Rain came as I walked Falcon in to his pasture.

Another great ride (except for the Whiner and the Hawks rider who did end up coming back to the barn 30 min after us in much better condition then when she had started.)

I just couldnt believe the number of unprepared riders that either did not bring water for themselves or sponges for their horses and had to borrow. Just redicules. Hopefully they learned something about checking the weather before a ride!

I am learning to trust Falcon more and more, but still tense up and yank on his reins too much when he is being ornery, So I have to get past that. Other than that I am now planning to ride the 30 mile Virginia Highlands ride in August, pending conditioning. YEEE HAW

exploring

2008-05-29T06:31:00.000-07:00

Today, I took Falcon out with the plan to head over to the other side of my small mountain and head back on the gravel "Summers Road" which is a 4 mile loop....or at least I think it is.

I took my GPS with me to check it out.

Falcon balked twice upon leaving the barn, but then perked up and took off up the trail with out further ado. I was riding him in my Plantation Saddle, which really doesn't fit his body, but I used the Skito pad with it for extra protection to his back.

Our first obstacle was a shiny red bicycle in the neighbors yard, semi blocking the trail to radio tower hill. He shied slightly and then after minimal encouragement walked up to the bike and then tried to walk OVER it. SILLY BOY!

We had a nice trot/canter up the "Hill" towards the radio tower. At the top, the road drops down the other side pretty steeply. Normally I would not be afraid to ride down a hill with this grade, but there is a lot of gravel on this one, so I dismounted and we walked all of the way down.

But alas, the road was gated off and I couldnt get through. Mounting again, I turned around and took some cleared side trails. One dead ended in thick brush, but I could see the road ahead.
There was no way that I was going to tackle the brush and briars bare handed so we turned around again, and this time headed for home.

Falcon galloped up the road until he was short of breath and then slowed to a trot/walk.

Back at the barn, his sweat marks from the saddle were even with no dry spots, so I suppose the saddle does fit pretty well but seems a little tight at his shoulders. I am comfortable in my Cheyenne, which fits Falcon well, so I guess I will keep that for my endurance treks.

GPS stated that I had gone about 4 miles with all of my backtracking. So that was a good work out with the two hills. Average speed was only 2.9 miles and hour though, with Falcons fasted at 12.3 mph during the gallop uphill.

It was a fun ride.

On Top O' the World

2008-05-28T07:56:00.000-07:00

I SHOULD have been cleaning and cooking.....but Betsy phoned and said "lets ride".
I called Karen to see if she wanted to go. She did, but didn't know if her new horse "Slick" had ever been on a horse trailer. So we agreed that I would come an hour early and we would attempt to load Slick.

At 3 pm, I headed to her place about 15 min. away. She brought Slick out and let him meet Falcon through the trailer window. (a neighbor down the road had given Slick to her, Slick is a quarter horse/arab)

Then, around to the back and attempted to load. Slick was pretty calm, but refused to load. Karen encouraged him with snacks and soon he had one foot on the trailer. After the 4th try of stepping on and rushing back off, he walked right on and stood there quietly.

More snacks and then we were off. Up the road about 3 miles to park property. We unloaded and walked the horses around and let them munch on some grass and did some "trotting in hand" work with them.

By then Betsy and Christa had arrived with Tristana and Sashshey. Tris is 10 and Shey is 20+
Slick 8 and Falcon 5. So we had quite the range of horses.

Falcon was a gem for saddling and mounting, then up the trail we went. "Red Gate Road" is a well maintained fire road that heads up out of Lucas Hollow (er I think it was Lucas, there are a ton of "Hollows" in this area) out of Stanley, VA and up to Skyline Drive to Big Meadows.

There are few level areas, mostly uphill and lots of switchbacks. We had a marvelous time walking and trotting.
Then we decided to canter. Falcon and Tris were in the lead cantering nicely when there appeared a very sharp switchback.

Falcon did marvelous and made the turn on a dime (I even STAYED ON!) Tris wasn't as lucky and headed straight for the trees. Betsy had to pull her up to a walk.
The grade was steeper then anyway and Falcon was happy to walk again.

Along the way, creeks were flowing and Mountain laurel was blooming, just a perfect 70 degree day.
The other horses spooked at rocks, but once again, Falcon showed them all up and continued merrily up the trail.

At the top, we got off and walked due to numerous tourists parking off of skyline drive for the views at the lookouts.

Several were saying "oooooooh loook HORSES" and snapping pictures. Christa pulled out her camera and snapped a couple of the 3 of us, then asked a tourist to take a picture of all 4.

It was 62 and breezy on top of the mountain and the VIEWS.....WOWWWWWWWW!
The air was fairly fresh, other than the other 3 girls were smoking. All of the horses except Falcon peeed. He needs to learn that on the trail.

We relaxed on top of the world for about 20 min while the horses munched grass and then we headed back for home.

On the way down a Black Bear scampered across the road in front of us. I don't think Falcon even saw it. We stopped to make sure there wasn't another bear around.

Betsy, in all of her YEARS of riding had never seen a bear while out on the trail, so it was a first for her. Karen never did see it because she was fiddling with a cigarette.

We trotted a good part of the way down, maybe 2 miles worth at least. I HATE trotting downhill and Falcon tends to go sideways since he hasn't built up a lot of muscle yet. It was difficult keeping him straight.

It was a WONDERFUL afternoon/evening. We had started the ride around 4:30 and ended back at the trailers around 7:30 in the eve. WHAT fun...and so much better than cooking and cleaning!

Setback

2008-05-13T05:38:00.000-07:00

Oh shoot.......I just found out that my son is graduating from highschool on the same day as the Old Dominion 25! Ohhhh well. Really, Falcon and I need more conditioning anyway and the latest setback has been RAIN

5 inches of rain over the weekend....when I SHOULD HAVE, COULD HAVE been riding.

BUT the sun is out today....now I have to motivate myself to get back on the trickster horse.

He has been quite happy being a pasture potato again. I have been working on suppling and stretching his neck for treats. He is getting very good at reaching wayyyyyyyy back on the left for a treat and pretty good on the right.

Last night I had him stretch out low and long to the front. At some point maybe he would be good to teach to kneel down, so that I can board him with out ME stretching!

I think that he would be a GOOD candidate to be an official TRICK horse!

The trickster

2008-05-06T08:53:00.000-07:00

My niece suggested that I start a blog on my adventures of my quest to do an endurance ride.

This is like keeping a diary, I suppose, and might give me a good laugh after I get to the "been there, done that" stage!

Falcon is a Paint/Arab cross, 15.2 horse. He will reach the ripe old age of 5 on June the 1rst.

Falcon came to live at Berrystone Farm when he was a year old and basically just had fun playing in the fields and harrassing the calves for 4 years.

When I realized that he was a pasture potato, I decided to sell him...but, I didnt get any interest in him since he wasn't trained to ride.

Thus began the quest to train him for endurance. His initial training session of 3 months was fair, but then he bucked me off the second time I attempted to mount him at home.

I am too old to be eating dirt, so I found another trainer-Judie Ricci of Meadowsprings Training Center in Sumerduck VA. She is an avid endurance rider/trainer and has trained several of the Asgard Arabians.

She did a marvelous job with Falcon...I needed someone to work miracles on me. I had panic attacks when I started riding again and became very tense. This stemmed from being thrown and being knocked unconcious a few years back.

After 3 months with Judie, she decided that Falcon was ready for me to bring home. From here (Feb 2008) our story will begin in future posts. Pics will be added soon.

Kennnedy's Peak-Fort Valley Virginia

2008-05-01T08:18:00.000-07:00

Ok, well anyway, Betsy and I went riding again today. Every time that we have been riding, we keep meaning to bring a camera, but then neither of us ever doooo.

Betsy's choice for a ride (she knows ZILLIONS of trails) was to take me to Kennedy's Peak, which is a major climb in the OLD old dominion ride. The NEW ride will be two mountain ranges away and is supposedly much easier. The rain was sprinkling down as we left Luray and headed over to Fort Valley, which is about a 20 min. drive up a narrow windee mountain road. T

hen down the other side of the mountain. I tried to melt the brakes...so on the way home I let Betsy drive and we were able to adjust the trailer brakes better to assist us. Betsy started whining about the rain, her coat was not water repellant (nor was mine) she had "been there and done that", she was too old and well, we could just sit in the truck to see if the rain would stop. So much for whining, she was, I think, having regrets about taking me to KP because she said it was a HARD ride and that I needed to see what a real endurance ride was like... I think she forgot that I told her I used to ride with Betty Baird and Frank Farmer.

Anyway, the rain stopped as we pulled into our parking area (uhmmm after much maneuvering to get the truck and trailer around a SHARP back turn into the driveway of the parking area, and having to squeeze through trees that were only an inch from the trailer.

So, we saddled up with out further ado. Falcon likes Tristiana. I started to mount but Falcon decided that would NOT be the case, so as soon as I tightened up his rein and said ATTTT, he started backing up and then stood nicely, pretending to be interested in a weed while I mounted. Then he acted like he had never had anyone on his back and tried to bunch up, but I nudged him and he started striding out and put his mind to the trail. Initially, he really took off, but promptly, not paying attention to his feet, stumbled on a rock and went halfway down on his front legs. But he was right back up and I was no worse for the wear.

He kept wanting to canter or trot very fast, but we had so many stops and starts because of ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS. He soon learned to pick his way a little more carefully.

We did have to either climb or go around a few fallen trees, through creeks and a boggy area. Once again Betsy was impressed with his sensibility. But she said several times, that I really shouldnt be doing the OD 25 unless I could get riding 3-4 days a week and 5 miles each of those days. She has been discouraging me from it since she first emailed me and said I should try another ride first. But I am stubborn, but didnt say much accept that the O.D. is really advertising the 25 for beginners and I was hoping to not start with the crazy fast peoples.

Betsy told me that the crazy people trot their horses through those rocks. I could not believe that. I would not want to risk serious injuries to me or my horse on them. After a fairly easy, but rocky rolling terrain, we started the Climb to Kennedy's Peak...Too many rocks to move very fast. I was enjoying my self when Bets asked what I thought....I just said, hhhmmm, lots of rocks.... The Peak was about 6 miles from our starting point.

At the top, we were able to get some good trotting in across the top of the ridge on a double track trail. It was a circular trail and on the way down the backside the trail was TREACHEROUS! I thought coming up that the rocks were bad....well at least one mile of the down side was ROCKS and more Rocks on barely a single track trail. Betsy said that it wasnt even the WORST trail on the OD that there were two other ones that were way worse....I can't imagine that. To the left was Rock/Tree steep embankment, and to the Right was Rock TRee drop off down the mountain. Falcon picked his way through carefully then up came his head and he stopped stock still....MOUNTAIN BIKERS.

Oh my lands, they were biking UP on those Rocks! Man I wished I had had my camera fer sure. Betsy asked them to make lots of noise, because Falcon had spooked early on at a camaflouged Turkey hunter that looked like a tree, then spoke. The bikers kindly climbed up on the rocks and sat and laughed and talked as we walked by, (I had dismounted because I didnt want Falcon to spook and dump me in the rocks) The bikers said "isnt it a bit hard on those animals?" I said, "isnt it a bit hard on you guys?" hee ho.

Betsy retorted that the horses had 4 legs and did just fine. By the time we reached the trailer, Betsy was saying, "Be sure and email me and let me know how you do at the OD" I think Falcon and I changed her mind. Falcon came through the rocks totally unscathed and she watched him alot from behind to make sure he was handling the rocks ok. Her horse unfortunately, got skinned on her back leg down to raw meat...about 6 inches long....but it was really only a minor injury after 12 miles of rocks.

So we got her home, got Falcon hosed off and turned out, then I went to potty, let dogs potty and scarfed up my two peanutbutter/apple butter sandwhiches from my saddle pack that I didnt eat earlier. An hour later, I loaded Dakota on the trailer....Man he was a pain, acted all wild and screaming for Falcon and squashed me in the trailer....blah. I was exhausted by the time I got him loaded and drove to Karen's Place. She was boring to ride with after my earlier ride, but neither of our horses were shod and we were on gravel road, both Dakota and her horse are out of shape and broke out into a frothy sweat just walking and light trotting up and down hill for 3 miles.

Arriving back home at 7:30 pm Dakota decided that he did not know how to back off of the slant load. Took me about 15 min. to unload him and he finally just folded himself in half and turned around and walked off. Dumbbbby! But he is decent to ride. So oh dear it is 11:20. I have to git some sleep and my bones are aching after 15 miles of riding.I even took 600mg of advil this a.m. and also when I got home,,,guess I need more AND a strong drink! But my brain is FREE! Riding just takes away all of my mental crappy stress!....so back to work tomorrow. A short ride on Falcon on Sat a.m. and then to Waynesboro to see my "man"

saddles! grrrrrrr

2008-04-30T11:43:00.000-07:00

Falcon was laying flat out in the field this a.m. and Dakota was curled up beside him. I thought Falcon was dead, but as I drove down the driveway, he lifted his head and then got up....shoooo wheee.
Tonight, I just brushed the boys and picked out their feets, combed manes and tails and got them respectable looking so that they could go out in the mud and git dirty again! hee haw.

I figured out that the Tucker Endurance saddle that I bought off of EBAY is just too big for me.So I bought a Tucker Plantation Saddle off of ebay for $650. I was excited to get it for that price. It looks like it is in very good condition.Now I am trying to decide whether or not to sell the Endurance saddle, or save it in case I ever can coax Ed to hop aboard a horse.

Yup, I have ridden Falcon about 18 hours now. and he STILL acts like he wants to dump me off when I first git on. Don't know what to do about it. I am going to email Judie I guess. But first I need to try my western saddle on him and see if he balks at that. If he doesnt, mebbe I will just chalk it up to a saddle that doesnt fit neither me nor him.

Blaahhhh....send me back Sinwaan. I will trade horses with ya. yeee ha! NOT< I LOVE MY FALCON!!!!

Crazy weather crazy unmountable horse

2008-04-30T11:13:00.000-07:00

My friend Peggy and I went riding on Sat. for a two hour amble around some fields and through the woods. Falcon was well behaved and gave me no trouble atall.

Then today my "Craigs List" aquaintance came over today to meet and to ride. Falcon was good for saddling but got ornery when I went to mount, so I brought him around and started over, but Karen held him for me, so I don't know if he would have stood still or not, then he bunched up and acted agayne like he might buck, and he backed up and tried to get light on his front feet when I tried to make him stand still after mounting.

Karen had a new saddle and had to do all kinds of adjustments and Falcon was out of control not standing still, so I had to keep circling him. After we got moving he was fine while walking and ornery while trotting, so we mainly walked.

I took Karen up a new trail that I had never been on and it was STRAIGHT UP the mountain and Falcon wanted to turn around midstream, but I encouraged him to go and he did and followed the dogs right up to the the ridge where the trail was not so stressful.

After that he was well behaved and stood still when asked. It started SLEETING. IT was a COLD COLD day. yesterday it was 50. This weather is nuts. Anyway, we rode for about an hour and stopped at Gregs and talked with him for a spell while he was out seeding grass.

Karen said she hadn't ridden since last may and was so excited to get off and not be stiff. (She did have a difficult time getting on though and it served her right, cause she said I was "cheating", because I led falcon to where I can stand on the hill and he is lower where I can more easily board him! ) hee oh ho.So Karen said that Dakota was great to ride, but seemed stiff in his left rear. So maybe he has other joint issues, dunno. The "boys" will get a break for at least a day.

Runaway!

2008-04-26T08:13:00.000-07:00

Now here be my tale.....My friend Peggy wanted to go riding today and I am glad she did. She doesn't really ride other than at a walk, but that was fine since I hadnt ridden Falcon since the 10 mile ride over a week ago.

I had the horses groomed by the time she arrived and then we walked the horses from the barn up to the house/horse trailer to saddle them.They stood well for that. The sun was HOT and flies abuzzing, but my 3 y/o fly spray seemed to work pretty well.I let Peggy mount to make sure we wouldnt need to adjust the strirrups etc.

Then I tried to mount Falcon, but he kept swinging his butt away and wouldnt let me.So Peggy rode and I walked down to the mailbox after which, on the second try, was able to mount up.

It is a short jaunt through the woods to a gate that opens in to a large pasture where Sinwaan threw me and knocked me out a few years back.I dismounted and opened the gate, the horses passed through and I latched the gate. Then attempted to mount agayne. Falcon acted up so I Swacked him pretty hard on the chest...only problem was, I wasn't holding on to the reins, so he backed up, turned and away he trotted, up the big hill about 2/10 of a mile away.He snarfed around the pond there and looked at us when we called him, then turned and cantered happily away.

Peggy was afraid that Dakota might buck to get away with Falcon, so she got off and we walked after Falcon. He kept right on agoin.

By the way, the pasture is GIGANTIC. About half a mile or so away is an old house and a big barn. We saw that Falcon was trotting to the barn and then I saw him go in the barn lot. I hoped that the gate in to the yard was not open.He then entered another lot where they gather up the cattle. As he snarfed around, we reached the barn lot gate and Peggy and Dakota blocked the gate, while I went into the smaller lot.

Falcon walked away from me, but stopped at the fence and just calmly looked at me. TURKEY! So I walked over and took his rein and patted him on the neck and let him back in to the grass.Again he wouldnt let me mount and tried to get away for sure this time. But I had a tight grasp on the reins and shouted BACK, BACK BACk. I made him keep backing up, then stopped and tried to mount....no luck.After at least 6 or 7 rounds of BACK BACK BACK method, he decided that he would stand still and let me mount.

We then had a VERY pleasant ride, walked through 3 creeks and upon reaching the next gate, I let Peggy do the honors! We strolled through the woods and back to the barn. I dismounted and tried to remount, no luck, so BACK BACK BACK, he then let me mount.So I did that about 6 times, but each time when I attempted to get on, he would swing his butt away and I had to do the BACK BACK BACK thing! grrr, well, I will persist and if he is still being bad with mounting by May 31 I will have Judy work with him as I am going over there for a "introduction to Endurance" ride that day.If need be, I will leave him there for a couple of days and pay her to ride him that week. That is two weeks before the Old Dominion.

Riding Partner

2008-04-24T11:11:00.000-07:00

As far as a riding partner, I think I may have found one. It is ironic that two of the people that emailed me have names of each of my sisters. Ms 300# woman was a Wendy and now this other lady is a "Karen" Karen Wickens is her name and for the last 4 years she has helped out with the Old Dominion Rides and knows all about timing.

This year she is heading up organizing all of the staff for the OD. So I think I might have gotten lucky.

She used to teach riding lessons and rode hunter Jumpers for years, but now has the endurance bug, but hasnt raced herself yet.

She is purchasing an out of shape quarter/arab to condition for the Fort Valley ride. So we will be at the same level as far as training goes and she lives less than 10 miles away from me.

She doesnt have a horse trailer though, but I figured we could trade services. She can teach me a thing or two and I can trailer her, but she has access to tons of great trails from her house, so I can trailer down there a couple of times a week and do that.

Will be good experience for falcon to trailer short distances on a regular basis. So hopefully this will work out. But I kinda hate trailering out when I have places to train here at home.

oh well such is life.

Another great ride

2008-04-17T08:01:00.000-07:00

Well, I had ANOTHER GREAT RIDE today. Yesterday, I discovered that there wasn't any work in the O.R. for today. I did not want to spend another day emptying bedpans and giving demented people bed baths on the Med/Surg Unit, so I requested the day off.Then I promptly called up Betsy to see if she could ride....she could.This a.m. I slept in until 7, then realized that the "goat kids" must be hungry, so I drug meeself out of bed and went and fed them.

I scarfed up some oatmeal, threw some water in a jug and put some other stuff in the truck and put the dogs outside in kennels since it was like 75 degrees. Then I went and fed Falcon and Dakota. When done, I turned Dakota out and walked Falcon up to the trailer.He was calm and loaded nicely when I led him on. He looked out of the window at Dakota who was already having a panic attack and was racing up and down the pasture fence and screaming.Falcon didnt say a word at all back to Dakota.

Then down the road 3 miles to pick up Betsy and Tristana. I asked Betsy to drive, because on the last ride she told me I was braking too hard. She was glad to drive.

We drove up to Front Royal to the 4H center-that is the actual place apparently that the US calvary would trade out horses at one time. It also used to be the Start and End point of the OD, but now the OD has moved to a completely different Mountain Range this year.

The horses unloaded nicely and Falcon had to step away when I went to saddle him. He is getting bad about doing that. I try and make him come back to where he starts, but it doesn't last long. But he IS getting LESS "cinchey"So then I tried to mount. Betsy was proud of me for putting him up against the trailer, but uh, that didnt work atall. He has learned my trick and now he just goes forward to get away from me. grrrrr. So after numerous tries, we decided to walk them a little ways until Betsy could find a rock or stump to help her self mount.

There was still fencing at that point, but Falcon still would not allow me to mount...so I placed him next to the fence and Betsy grabbed hold of him and I swung on with one foot in the stirrup as he took off at a brisk walk....true endurance horse indeed.Anyway, Betsy has friends up there and told me not to tell anyone about the trail that we were about to ride on which was on private land. I swore that I would only tell my niec Shana who lives in WA! hee hee.

She had asked her friend if the trail was open....apparently so as we went through a few briars at first, but then up a steep hill on a cleared trail.Oh, but then alas, halfway up we ran in to a HUGE downed tree across the trail and BRIARS EVERYWHERE. Ouchey Ouchey. We couldnt go OVER the tree and I poked around in the briars and thought I saw a clearing, so Betsy had me hold the horses, while she went to find a way. that probably took 20 min, and I had dismounted.You couldnt ride through the mess anyway. The branches and vines were too low and rocks galore. So we walked the horses till we got to the trail again.

Falcon tried not to let me mount again...but Tristana was in Front, with trees and vines on both sides and behind, so he didn't give me too much trouble.The trail then was uphill, but rocky. Betsy said it was ok to trot so we did and reached a Sub-Division then and walked through that...while Betsy jogged her memory as to which road to turn on, as there were a few to choose from.Falcon led the way and wasn't afraid of anything atall. He just thought he was somethin!

Thankfully the trucks and cars moved slowly in that area and were respectful of us...then we were in the National Park. The trail was smooth, but there were tons of downed trees that had been sawed to allow for the trail. At first Falcon would sorta spook a little at each one, but there must have been hundreds of them and Betsy yelled at me to give him "LEG" everytime he tried to stop trotting to look at a log. Soon he was trotting at an even pace, and Betsy said her butt was sore and that we needed to move faster than walk or trot.

So he easliy nudged in to a canter and we cantered all across the Blue Ridge.Betsy could tell when his muscles were tiring and would tell me to pull him up and trot or walk awhile. It was SOOOOOOOOO much fun.Betsy kept telling her horse to stop looking at Falcons big white butt! hee hee. She also shouted encouragements to me that I and Falcon were both doing great. That is the most cantering I have done in a lonngggggggg time.After that she told me to work with Falcon on listening better to transitioning from trot to walk etc. Well, everytime he started trotting, he then would try and canter and it was fight fight fight with him, so I made him walk, but by that time we were heading down the other side of the mountain and the trail was narrow and very rocky.

Some places on the right just dropped off and it wouldnt have been a good place for Falcon to spook at the big Rocks on the left, but the trail was too narrow for Tristana to pass, so Falcon just kept leading.When we came out of the park, we had to go down another trail to get back to the backside of the 4H center. I could have just gone down the Rocky hill, but Betsy was off and walking her horse by hand right down the steps...she said it was easier.So I rode Falcon down the steps....about 7 of them, wide gravel and logs. He did very well and didnt balk or hop at all.Then I got off, because it was all down hill and rocky. Man my knees/legs hurt for about 20 steps until I worked the kinks out.

We hand walked the horses for about a half mile I spose and then got back on....er only after Falcon tried to misbehave agayne and I snapped his reins real hard and made him back up two steps while I yelled at him then I quick hopped aboard while he stood still. grrr what a beast.

The trail ended on a dirt road with FABULOUS rock walls and 2 remodeled old farm houses. There was a long rectangular pasture-all fenced by a thick and low rock wall. 2 horses were in the pasture and trotted over to see us, but they didnt act all crazy and Falcon just took a look. Tristana knew the one arab in the pasture, so they had a quick visit and snorts.After that we were on paved road. Some lady (who looked like a man) was putting balloons on a sign, Falcon didn't even look twice at them.We came to a second creek and Falcon and Tristana took a few swallows and then we passed a herd of children on a school trip in the woods. Falcon danced sideways and forward quickly past them and then we were back at the 4H center.So we took about a 3 hour ride with 2.5 of it approx in the saddle. I think it was 9-10 miles. We just got delayed by the Briar Patch.

Back home, I gave Falcon a bath and scrubbed him with shampoo. He was so nice and clean....but you know how that goes....the min. he was in the pasture, he headed for the biggest area of dry manure and dirt and got a good roll him, so now he is a black horse....He peeed and then trotted off with Dakota to munch on some grass.

Betsy thinks that he is a great sensible horse and that after many more miles and working with a few of his "bugs" like mounting, that he will be a great steed for endurance. We haven't checked a heart rate on him, but he seemed to not breathe as hard as Tristana going up the hills.We are at "21 hours" on the AHA web site FRP. I have ridden him a little more than that, but before I joined the AHA thingy, so by next week I will earn my 25 hour pin I spose.

Monster Hill at Andy Guest State Park

2008-04-13T11:00:00.000-07:00

At first, Karen, Betsy, Christa, and I had planned on going riding...but then Karen had 500 excuses why she couldnt go, one of which she had been helping with the O.D. No Frills ride all day on Sat. and she was tired.
Christa has little kids and couldnt go so it was just Betsy and Me.

Falcon would not load by himself, but he did walk on nicely with me and stood quietly which was a relief. Despite that my legs turned to jello and shook so hard I could barely get off of the trailer. I felt a panic attack coming on and had to re-focus.

Ok, so then I went to pick up Betsy and Tristana. When I arrived, they were in the pasture, but walking up the fenceline. Christa had just pulled in and got out of her car as I was pulling in. Betsy opened the gate and Tristana wheeled around and ran right over the top of Betsy, knocking her face in to the dirt.

Off she went at a full gallop to her pasture mates on the other side of the fenceline.Then she would not be caught, kicking up her heels and racing all around.Finally she stopped at the fence and attempted to go over it, but thankfully, it was more of a thought on her part and not a lot of action and she stood, sides heaving while Betsy got a hold on her.

Man, I thought we wouldnt go riding, but Betsy said her ankle was just grazed and she was fine....although beat red in the face. She said that Tristana has NEVER done anything like that in 10 years. Well, guess there is a first time for averything eh?

We drove to Andy Guest State Park about 15 miles north. It was very cloudy, 50 and looked like it was going to drop buckets of rain at any time. Betsy said, well, even if we don't ride, it was good trailering experience for Falcon....I think she was wishing that it WOULD rain, so she could just go crawl in to bed and grab a cigarette and a glass of wine! heee hee.

The park has great trails, down a long hill, up to a ridge, ride the ridge, down again and then a lot of floodplain trail and gravel road to trot on. Creeks to cross and two bridges. The worst part is a trail that goes STRAIGHT up, or at least it feels like it and Falcon tried to gallop up it. NOT. My coat got hung up on the saddle horn (which is why I HATE saddles with horns) and ripped yet another button off my coat. So I now am left with 2 buttons!

Falcon just wants to go at full speed instead of a nice steady trot, but we did finally get him to trot along side of Tristana without extending.I only got nervous when a whole club of about 15 riders came up behind us. Falcon was all over the place, very antsy and not listening atall, so when they went right, we went left , only to find that they were just doing a small loop and were gaining on us again, so that is when we took off at a full trot down the river road and got far enough away so that Falcon didnt turn and look for them constantly.
Try trotting or cantering forward with your horse looking at whats back behind him....no fun atall!
Betsy kept asking if I was ok and did I want to trot more, because when she rode with me last week, I mainly kept it at a walk and she was quite bored with the ride and told me that "you really need to trot down hills" and "trot more than THIS" if you are going to endurance ride.So I proved to her today that I could indeed trot down a hill if I had control of my horse and that I could trot longer than one minute.

It did a lot to boost my confidence and I could have ridden longer. Both Falcon and I had plenty of energy left when we were done.I think we rode about 10 miles. We looped back once or twice, so I need to look at the trail map and see if I can figure it out.I have no clue what his heart rate is and need to see what it is now before he ever gets muscled up. He broke a sweat going up A.J.'s Drop hill but he powered up it pretty well for being soft.

When we got home, he was really cute. Didnt holler at all for Dakota, Just looked and hung by me for a min. Pee"d and then walked to the lower field looking for Dakota, When he saw him, he trotted to the lower field gate and Hollered out to Dakota.Still standing at the gate, he waited for Dakota to scream and run FULL GALLOP down and then up the hills from the far pasture. When Dakota arrived, he walked over to some dirt and had a good roll, and then both went about munching grass.I have never seen one of my horses do that when I turn them out. Normally they are tearing out of the halter and racing for their pasture buddies. So it was interesting that Falcon seemed to say "Hey, I had to ride on that horrible trailer and took a trail ride with MONSTER hills, now YOU come to ME!"

2008-04-11T11:09:00.000-07:00

The vet came today and did Coggins, gave shots and checked teeth.
Falcon needed his floated, he was also bad to get his coggins and tried to rear once and kept swinging around to crowd the vet or kick her.

She is little, but whammed him good with her elbow a few times.She got a chain and put over his nose, that helped only minimally, so we went back in side of the barn and put him in cross ties. he tried crowding agayne, but knew he couldnt get away from the cross ties, so he finally gave in, but wasnt happy about it atall.

While there she gave him some sleepy medicine before giving the remainder of his shots and we put him in the stall, placed the mouth gag and started filing. Now he doesnt have any sharp points.

2008-04-10T11:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I decided to go for a ride on Falcon. He bitted and saddled nicely, but then swung his body away from me and would not let me mount. grrrr, I kept bringing him back in to position and he would do the same thing.

He is like a kid, always seeing what he can get away with. But then he is also mainly very sweet natured. So I said, ok buddy, we are going for a walk. So I led him up by the house where Oriel was hurling herself at the window trying to get out and attack Falcon to protect me. So that freaked Falcon out, but we kept walking and he was all spooky til we got past the chicken house and started walking down gregs driveway back in to the woods.

Halfway back, he seemed calmer, so I checked the girth and then mounted right up wilst he stood stock still.He was well behaved and interested as we took off up the mountain at a walk and trotted some too. the 4 big white dogs galloped along behind us or off into the woods now and agayne. He also tried to jump two logs instead of walking over them. I guess I should have jumped, but I am not ready for that and never did like jumping. Also too many rocks./ We did some cantering, but there are so many rocks up on the mountain that I had to make him walk mostly.
On the way there is an incline that is all rock and he plowed right up it. Coming down he tried to TROT over it. And also tried to trot halfway down the mountain. I had to keep making him stop, turn around , whoah etc. After awhile he decided he would listen. At one point he tried to head right and go home the way we had come, but I had other plans for him and turned him back left and went by Gregs house, just to make sure Falcon wasn't going to get the better of me. So, all in all we had a good ride and he was all nuzzely and rubbing on me when we got back.