Early morning at the barn

I've spent the last week hacking Gina out in the hay field in preparation for this weekend's hunter pace. I usually like to spend lots of time hacking out and not a lot of time in the arena; this just isn't possible when I arrived at the barn around 7 PM after work.

Sometimes, when my bed is warm and it's pitch black outside, I don't feel very motivated to go ride my horses. When my alarm goes off, I want to roll over and ignore it, and snuggle against Johnny's warm back. But most of the time, I lay awake, quietly calculating time in my head. If I leave by 6, I'll be there by 7, even if the traffic is stupid in Owasso. Figure 30 minutes to groom and tack up, 45 minutes to ride, an hour to get to work...Ugh, I might as well get up now.

The sunrises almost make up for leaving my warm bed.

It's quiet at the barn when I arrive. Some horses are napping. Some are beginning to nicker for breakfast. The barn dogs bark and whine a little when I get there but settle down once they realize it's just me. I check all the usual places to see where Richal's hidden the tack room key; a couple of months ago, I had to text her to ask. Now I know.

It's cold, so I leave my car running with the heat set on defrost. I grab Gina's bridle and toss it in my car, making sure the bit is on the dashboard so it'll get warm while I groom her. 

As I pass his stall, Moe greets me with bright eyes and a whicker. I can't resist giving him a few treats. I step into his stall and make sure his blanket is straight and smooth. I slip my hand underneath it; he's warm and has no rub marks. I pat him, reassuring him that breakfast will be here soon, that I will ride him next time. He watches me, alert and happy as always.

Gina greets me at the gate; she's been out all night with another mare, Dee. Gina seems glad to come in, or at least to eat a few cookies. I take off her blanket, give her a cursory curry and brush and pick her hooves. I retrieve her bridle from my car and hang it on a gate while I saddle her. I like to think she appreciates the warm bit, but I'll never really know.

Gina's unimpressed by the half-frozen pond.

I hand-walk her to the hay field, opening and closing gates as we go. I mount clumsily and we're off. I set my watch for six minutes. For six minutes, we walk. Then it's ten minutes of trotting. Back to the walk for three minutes, then on to the canter for five. Three more minutes of walking. Five more minutes of cantering. Ten minutes of walking to cool out.

Just loping along.

When we're out in the field, just ourselves, I can't help but smile and laugh for the sheer joy that comes with the freedom of hacking out. I marvel at Gina's behavior: perfectly calm and beautifully forward at the requested gait. No anxiousness at being alone. No ugliness about wanting to return to the barn. No over-excitement at being out of the arena.

I dismount and loosen Gina's girth and noseband. I walk her back to the barn, where I feed her several cookies before she's even untacked. As I remove her saddle and bridle, I keep up a nonsensical chatter, assuring her she's the best mare there's ever been. I curry her and brush her; I take care to carefully brush out all the saddle and bridle marks. She stands quietly, ears flicking back and forth while I talk. I put her blanket back on and turn her back out with Dee. She takes a big drink of water and wanders off into her paddock, ignoring my admiring stare.

Moe whinnies at me again as I pass by his stall on my way out. I pat his nose and fish around in my pocket. There's an uneaten treat. I feed it to him, and he munches it gratefully. 

I am not a morning person, but early mornings spent at the barn are enough to make me wish I was. 

An early winter

After an extremely mild summer and a very nice fall, Oklahoma has decided it's done playing nice.

Temperatures plummeted Tuesday; the high was around 40F. Yesterday and today, the high temperature was only in the 30s! Combined with the wind chill from Oklahoma's never-ending breeze, it feels like it's in the 20s.

Oh, yeah, and there was an earthquake yesterday afternoon! (Technically, the earthquake was just across the border in Kansas, but it was felt across the Northeastern OK area!)

I spent Sunday evening patching the horses' blankets in preparation for the cold front; I snuck them into the local laundromat on Monday, so by Tuesday, they were clean, repaired, and ready for ponies!

Gina's blanket drying on the deck.

I rode Gina before work on Tuesday. The Harvard Fox Hounds hunter pace is coming up next Saturday and I wanted to take Gina on some longer conditioning rides before asking her to go on a two-hour trail ride with jumps.

She was superb. Gina is such a nice horse to hack in a field. Unlike Moe, Gina doesn't equate riding in the open with going as fast as possible. (I totally realize I probably taught Moe to be bonkers.) She's content to walk quietly on a loose rein, doesn't spook at much, will go faster when asked, and will come back easily to a walk or halt.

We went on another ride this morning, alternating between walking, trotting, and cantering. It was cold and windy, but Princess Pony seemed happy to work. I'll admit I was happy too- it's nice to go on long rides in the open at some speed after being cooped up in the small indoor at night!

Such majestic. So wow. Very clip.

What the horses do when they're tired of posing for pictures.

I'm very excited about next weekend's hunter pace! Gina and I are heading up what's been dubbed the "Balls to the Wall" team (the other team from the barn is "Slow Pregnant Team", as one of the members is a couple months pregnant and won't be doing much galloping or jumping). My reputation as a crazy eventer is firmly fixed in everyone's mind, I guess!

Training the overweight Quarter Horse

I'm approaching week two of riding Cutty, Johnny's coworker's 7 year old overweight Quarter Horse. The horse has been a real treat to work with, as he's reasonably intelligent without being devious or evasive. He's also sensible and while he doesn't try as hard as I'd like him to, he seems to enjoy getting things right (and the lavish praise that comes with it).

However.

He is really fat. I'm aware that Quarter Horses are rounder, wider animals than the lanky and lean Thoroughbreds I'm used to. I'm also aware that it's not good when a horse has fat deposits on his neck. On the Henneke scale, I'd say he's a solid 7 (fleshy): "Crease down spine; ribs have fat filling between them; tail head spongy; fat deposits along withers and neck and behind shoulders."

Cutty's people want simple things for him. They want him to learn to neck rein, understand moving away from leg pressure, and get fitter.

I've been hired to ride him 5 days per week. Here's the weekly schedule I've developed for him:

Day 1: ~40 minutes flatwork (10 minute walk warm up, 5 minutes walk up and down steep hill, 6 minutes trot work, 5 minute walk break focusing on lateral work, 5 minutes trot work, 10 minutes cool down)
Day 2: ~45 minutes flatwork (10 minute walk warm up, 10 minutes walk up and down steep hill, 5 minutes trot work, 5 minute walk break focusing on lateral work, 5 minutes trot/canter transitions, 10 minutes cool down)
Day 3: ~50 minutes flatwork (10 minute walk warm up, 5 minutes walk up and down steep hill, 10 minutes trot work, 10 minute walk break focusing on lateral work, 5 minutes trot work, 10 minutes cool down)
Day 4: Off
Day 5: ~45 minute trail ride down the road and back to the barn
Day 6: ~45 minutes conditioning work (10 minute walk warm up, 5 minutes walk up and down steep hill, 5 minutes trotting, 3 minutes walking, 5 minutes trotting up and down steep hill, 3 minutes walking, 5 minutes trotting, 10 minutes cool down)
Day 7: Off

As you can see, Cutty is doing lots of walking. I like walking. It helps him become fitter without stressing his legs and feet. I can communicate more clearly with him at the walk, because I'm not busy trying to keep a regular rhythm (like at the trot) or help him not fall on his face (like at the canter/flail). I especially like walking him up and down the very steep hill in his pasture, because he really has to use his muscles on the way up and his brain on the way down.

I incorporate neck reining into every single turn at the walk; he pretty much has the concept down and only needs a gentle reminder now and then. Lateral work at this point is leg yielding from the quarter line toward the rail. He is reluctant to really move his hindquarters over much, but grudgingly does so when I give him a kick.

Cutty is feeling better already- his trot work is slightly more energetic and he appears to be less exhausted at the end of our rides.

He was very brave on our trail ride. He lives down a very quiet road in a rural place, which is ideal for getting him away from home. Cutty was excellent while I opened and closed the property gate from his back, and some of the leg yielding and neck reining came in handy. He handled a couple of cars, a person on a lawnmower, and several loose dogs with aplomb. He gave an above-ground swimming pool kind of a funny look, but without any silly behavior. What I was most pleased about was his attitude: he didn't rush toward home or spend the ride calling to his pasture mate or the neighborhood horses. Cutty just went down the road like he's done it a hundred times.

I'm happy with how he's doing- I think his people will be very happy with their horse in a few weeks! 

Riding Playlist

Confession time: I have never ridden my horse while wearing a pair of headphones and listening to music.

I keep meaning to bring a pair out to the barn, but inevitably forget. Solution? I found a second pair, stuffed them in my barn tote, and am going to keep them there.

So here's where I need some help from my fellow equestrians: What songs are you jamming to when you're doing long trot sets or working on establishing a rhythmic canter? What helps you warm up? Cool down?

I've put together a tentative playlist, most of it borrowing heavily from my jogging playlist.




In case you can't see the embedded playlist, here's a text list:

• "A Hard Lesson To Learn" by Shooter Jennings
• "Jah No Partial" by Major Lazer (featuring Flux Pavilion)
• "Celeste" by Ezra Vine
• "F%#k You (I'm Famous)" by Shooter Jennings
• "Oceans & Streams" by The Black Keys
• "Tennessee Waltz" by Sam Cooke
• "Spirit In The Sky" by Norman Greenbaum
• "Amidinine" by Bombino
• "Oklahoma Hills" by Hank Thompson
• "Core And Ride" by Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire
• "Go To Sleep" by The Avett Brothers
• "Heavy metal drummer" by Wilco
• "Generals" by The Mynabirds
• "What You Know" by T.I.
• "Bring Em Home (Gold Jacket Remix)" by D.Veloped
• "Money Maker" by Young Jeezy
• "Easy" by Deer Tick
• "Supermassive Black Hole" by Muse

Most of the songs range from 90-150 beats per minute. I'm going to try the playlist out this afternoon- I'll be sure to let you know how it works!

Fatty Lumpkin

Moe has always lived up to one OTTB stereotype: being a hard keeper. He was always difficult to keep weight on, especially in the winter months. In college, at the ripe old age of 12, Moe was eating senior feed, beet pulp, a weight gainer supplement, corn oil, and a variety of other things in an attempt to keep him fat and happy. He was also being ridden very regularly and somewhat strenuously. (Long trail rides, jump schools, racing through soybean fields with friends.) Moe was always the skinny horse in the barn; I posted my feed chart on the front of his stall and made sure I was always around at dinnertime, because people accused me of starving him. He was never dangerously thin- he just wasn't as fat as the Quarter Horses that made up the majority of the other boarders. My friends and I joked that he was the Anorexic Thoroughbred.

Fast forward six or so years, and Moe has turned into a regular Chubasaurus Rex. The horse that caused me such worry and consternation is subsisting on good quality pasture and a handful of sweet feed twice a day.

Seriously.

He's fatter now. For real.

Moe's gone from Anorexic Thoroughbred to Inexplicably Overweight Thoroughbred. I don't know if it's all the donuts he ate while living at my dad's farm, or a slowing metabolism as he ages, or what. 

My goal is take him to the hunter pace in November, so I climbed aboard last weekend and headed to the arena to do some work. I rode for about 25 minutes. We had a 10 minute walk warm up, then started trot sets. Two minutes of trotting, five minutes of walking. Rinse. Repeat. Moe was sweating and breathing heavily by the end of our ride, but his cheerful attitude was still intact. I cooled him out, rinsed him off, and turned him out. 

Work's picking up again (our riders return next week), but I'm hoping to get out to ride Moe 3-4 times per week to get him back in shape. We'll continue with the trot sets and progress to the canter when we're ready. 

It's nice to be back.

Moe Is Not A Morning Person

Like a truly dedicated professional, I wrenched myself from my cozy bed at 5:15 AM, slithered into my breeches, and headed out the door at 5:25 AM. I reached the barn by 6 AM, just when the sun was rising. I thoroughly confused poor old Minnie, who started frantically nickering in expectation of breakfast. My most favorite little chestnut Thoroughbred greeted me at the gate, surprised to see me so early. I think he was expecting an early breakfast. Instead, he was rudely caught, brushed, saddled, and unjustly taken out for a hack in the newly-mowed hay field.

My normally fearless, cheerful horse was very cranky. He chewed at his bit and danced sideways in frustration, spooking at the manure pile, singing birds, bushes, and who knows what else. Instead of spending the beautifully cool morning doing gallop sets, Moe and I spent it doing ten meter circles and the tiniest of serpentines. At a walk. For half an hour. In a giant hay field.

This is not why I got up at dark o'clock.

Two Point Challenge

Thanks to SprinklerBandit and her challenge to the horse bloggers of the world, I took the time to clock myself in two-point today. 

Four minutes. That's all I could last. Yikes! I absolutely know my college coach would be deeply disappointed in me. I'm also fairly sure that all of my instructors from my Pony Club years would be disappointed, too. I'm not terribly disappointed in myself; I took nearly two years off (I don't count polo- it was riding, for sure, but it wasn't at all concerned with how I looked/how well I rode), and have focused on dressage with Gina for the last year or so. Sure, there's been some attempts at jumping and plenty of galloping, but no training-for-an-event happening.

Gina was a total beast today. She trotted and cantered around like it wasn't even a thing; she felt alert, confident, and happy. I think we're going to have a great time at the hunter pace next Saturday.

In less stellar news, baby Cal is lame. His abscess returned, so he's been poulticed, wrapped, and living in a stall/dry lot since last week. The vet was out yesterday to check him out; I haven't talked to Kyla, so I don't know what baby Cal's status is. Fingers crossed he'll be able to make it to the hunter pace; otherwise, Kyla's on our friend Will's Quarter Horse mare, Misty. While Misty is incredibly cute and very pleasant, she is not, um, on Cal's speed/endurance level. 

In absolutely fantastic news, Levi and I are officially making the trip to pick up Moe NEXT WEEK! While I'm sort of bummed I won't have time to visit with any friends (we are driving down, sleeping, and driving back), I am over the moon that my sweet boy and I will be reunited!! Yay!

Trail Ride Extravaganza!

It's exactly 20 days until the glorious 19th of May- also known as Spring Hunter Pace Day! Kyla and I have been working Cal and Gina regularly to get them fit for the ride. Our third team member, Levi, tells us he's been working his horse Bubba, too. We're all pretty excited- after all, Kyla and I have our third-place finish to defend!

Levi's trailering us to the event, but wasn't sure if all three horses would fit into his stock trailer. He assured me that it fits six calves, but since we weren't sure what the ratio of calves to horses is, we decided to load everyone up and take them on the trails at the local lake. 

Kyla and I hit the trails a few weeks ago with our friend Will and his horse Misty. The horses were good then, so we were really looking forward getting out again. The horses loaded up in Levi's trailer without too much fuss and fit totally fine. Once we arrived at the lake, we tacked up our guys and got ready to set off. 

Gina was totally fine until we set off toward the trail. She immediately zoomed backwards at maximum speed, shaking her head and flailing around. I jumped off, removed her flash noseband, and got back on. She was quieter. We headed down the trail, with Cal and Bubba in front of us. About 100 feet into the narrow, slippery trail, a plastic bag lay. Gina was not having the plastic bag. She reared. I clung to her neck. She spun. I ducked to avoid tree branches. She galloped out of the dense wooded trail and back into the parking area. I stopped her. After that, we decided to take an alternate, slightly wider and less tree-filled route. 

Kyla and baby Cal

Gina calmed down after that and we ended up having a great ride. We let the horses gallop on a long, flat stretch. Bubba, who's a sturdy little Quarter Horse used for ranch work, smoked both Cal and Gina (two race-bred TBs!). We're planning a rematch, though, since Cal wasn't feeling his best and was recovering from an abscess. 

Me (left) and Levi (right) after galloping.

We spent about 2.5 hours riding and traveled about 8 miles. We wove through forests, across streams, over rocks, and ended up right on top of the lake. I suggested we swim across the lake to make for home, but somehow, no one was with me on that suggestion. It would have ruined my tack anyway...

This was the least-dense area we rode through. The lake is beyond the trees.

The horses were tired and soaked with sweat when we got back to the trailer, and we (and our tack) were covered in mud, sweat, and bug bites. No pain, no gain, though, right? We're definitely ready to smoke the competition at the hunter pace!

Maybe G Does Like Jumping

Last Tuesday was the most successful day of jumping we've had yet. I'm just so pleased. Anne set up three jumps on a serpentine for us- the first was a set of standards with three poles set carefully on the standards' bases (we don't have any jump cups), the second was hay bales, and the third a legitimate crossrail propped up by two muck buckets (sometimes you have to get creative). I'm lucky the outdoor arena is so big; it really facilities great jumping exercises! Gina was a doll over all of the jumps- there was a strange moment over the hay where I just couldn't get her attention and she decided it was a good idea to start pooping one stride out. It was an awkward jump, but I was extremely pleased she took it at all! This was the horse that wouldn't jump anything two months ago, and now she's taking fences even when she's in a less-than-idea spot! Hooray! The best part: at no point did I feel like peeing myself! Progress.

After our third round of the serpentine, G started to feel a little tense. She was sucking back and doing this weird, pogo-stick sort of canter. Anne encouraged me to let her hand gallop around the arena without taking any jumps, and I tried. Gina had apparently had enough for one day and refused to canter or gallop on, deciding instead to do weird stuff like dive through corners and look at the sky.

Anne stopped us and had me pick up a collected canter. We continued with several minutes of canter work, doing a lot of transitions. Gina chilled out and did a nice job of holding herself together during the exercises. I was really pleased with how she came back so quickly after jump work. Lots of horses I've ridden just sort of those their minds and get super excited over fences- not my sensible girl!

This Tuesday included a bit of jumping. G and I set out at the crack of dawn (6:30 AM) for some gallop sets in the hay field. After warming up, we did three gallop sets of 5 minutes each. She felt strong and solid, despite swapping leads every two or three minutes. I think she's figured out how to avoid getting too tired during these activities. Clever mare. We finished up with three jumps over the little log fence, which went beautifully. She didn't hesitate at all and I felt very good about our ride. 

So has Princess G gotten over her thing with jumps? Maybe. I'm planning to get some jump cups soon so we can put a real stadium fence up and see what happens. And of course, cross-country schooling is something I'd like to do soon. But for now, I'm going to take these successes and run.

Gina Is Bored...And A Pinto?

As I headed out to ride yesterday, I was certain G would enjoy a very pleasant morning of conditioning work. After all, we weren't going to be in the arena, I wasn't going to do anything to mess with her mind (e.g. counter cantering), and she's always seemed to enjoy cruising around at a moderate speed. 

Well, that was last week. This week, she was apparently bored to death with trotting, cantering, and hand galloping in a big loop next to the back barn. Sure, I incorporated circles and serpentines and lead changes. But  big mare was totally done with this. I could just hear her thinking, Serpentines? Really? Like I don't know how to do this. So much for a fun day! My coworkers commented to me about how nice she looked, so at least there's that.

I came home after my ride and promptly took a very cool shower (we're in the midst of a permanent heat wave) and readied myself for the Pinto World Championships. They hold a leadline class for challenged riders- which I think is just fantastic- and, of course, we took a dozen students. It was a great, great experience. I can't say enough good things about the gorgeous horses our students rode or the pleasant horse handlers leading those mounts. The crowd cheered for each and every rider. The students rode away with huge belt buckles, a poster, a t-shirt, a DVD of their ride, and a hat. It was amazing, and every one of those riders was more excited than I'd ever seen them before. Super. 

Though all of the horses I saw last night were very Quarter Horse-y stock types, I found out a couple of weeks ago that nearly any registered horse can be registered as breeding stock Pinto. Seriously. Look. Gina, in fact, is doubly qualified, thanks to her registration with both Jockey Club and Oldenburg. (Thought: register G with every possible organization, then advertise her as "OCTUPLE REGISTERED!!!" Yes, excellent plan!!) So while Miss G's white markings are limited to those two hind socks, I could register her as a Pinto, compete at Pinto shows, and win belt buckles all over the place.

Lest you think all Pintos are the stock types seen last night, Pinto has actually organized their horses into four categories: hunter, stock, gaited, and pleasure. That means if I competed with G in the hunter-type division, she would be up against other Thoroughbred/Warmblood-looking horses. I don't know if all Pinto shows are as diverse as the World Championships (I would guess not, but I don't know.), but they have things like dressage classes and discipline rail (for when we get the counter canter mastered). No, really.

So perhaps next year, when G and I have mastered First Level and jumping quietly and counter cantering, I'll register her as a breeding stock Pinto and win myself a gigantic belt buckle at the World Championships. Hey, you never know!

Conditioning, Ground Poles, and Heat

View from the top. :)

After Monday's blow up, I thought it best to give G a positive ride before attempting anything remotely resembling a jump. I saddled her up Wednesday evening and set off for a nice, long conditioning ride. The equestrian center has a huge hayfield where I frequently school a couple of cross-country jumps, but it's currently waist-high. It's also full of holes. Not the best combination. We settled for a large, flat grassy area behind one of the barns and had a lovely ride. G felt strong and energetic and eager to work. We did a five-minute walking warm up, staying nice and loose before moving to seven minutes of trotting. We took a two minute walk break and then picked.up a canter for seven minutes.

This is where I must briefly digress into a discussion on G's awesomeness. Most horses I've competed on are total psychos when it comes to cantering around in a grassy area with a rider in two point. Darling Moe (my TB gelding), for example, gets more and more excited and as a result, gets faster and faster until he's having flashbacks of the track. G, on the other hand, picks a nice forward pace and sticks with it. I can settle into two point, give her a loose rein, and enjoy a nice ride. It's pretty deluxe.

We cooled out after our canter work because the heat index was in the 100s. G had a nice hose down and a good roll. She cooled out nicely, so it seems she's getting in better shape. Hooray!

I got up at the crack of dawn Thursday to ride before the sun heated things up too much. Anne met me at 7:30, and after a beautiful warmup, we got going on some trot poles. G walked over them in a very relaxed way, but fell apart at the trot. She was anxious and unhappy, but went over them a few times. She finally relaxed a little bit by the fifth or sixth time trotting. I'm taking this as a good sign. We still have a long way to go, though.

G's had the weekend off since it's been wretchedly hot. I'll drag myself out of bed early a few times this week to beat the heat for sure; oh, summer. How I hate you.

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