Taylor Mountain 2.0

Since we had flown in the day before, the whole family was still on major east coast time zone vibes and we were up at 6. So I had my procrastinators/last minute inspiration surge to start working on my  waterproof riding skirt.

Spoilers, I didn't get it done, also I apparently didn't buy enough fabric either AND i need to make other modifications since my waist measurements cause issues with this particular pattern and method. YAY FATTIES. 

Anyway, I came up with a basic solution and now just need to add some final details on prototype 2 for my riding skirt. I'm excited.

 Despite all of that, I still left the house early to get everything hooked up before heading down to Taylor to meet Cortney and company. It was raining fairly heavily as I drove down and we were all gritting our teeth and making sure we were as waterproofed as possible. It rained throughout tacking up.

I think I've finally dialed in the scoot boot fit! 

 And as soon as our butts were in the saddle, the rain disappeared. Much to our pleasure. It turned out to be wonderful riding weather and we were all stripping layers as the ride continued.

Cortney and baby Reign, who finally found her 'go' button

Robin joined us, as well as a mutual K who rode Splendid

We were waiting for another rider to cross the creek since this was the widest spot and we had a huge group. He, apparently, is a fearful rider and just wanted us to go by him. 

After 10 days with the in laws, I needed this, rain and all

 We stuck to a walk and trot. Robin's gelding is coming back from an injury and only just got approval for trotting and hills so we walked all the downhills so he wouldn't reinjure himself. But when we were trotting, it was a great conditioning pace!

Cortney had to move a gate. Shhhh, don't tell.

Look! Shadows! The sun came out!

 We even got blue sky. What a reward when we were all expecting to be soaking all day.

 Gwyn got very sweaty on this ride and her face got very very itchy. She kept trying to rub her face on everyone, much to the displeasure of the horses around her, as you can see Reign telling her off. In the future I need a whip, crop or spurs AND I need to clip her face, I think.

Robin got off and walked the last mile in.

And Cortney's husband met us as he had borrowed Cortney's truck and was exchanging their other car with her so she could get home.

Scoot Boot success! My last time on the trails saw one of the boots twisting frequently enough that I just pulled it off in frustration. The rep I've been working with recommended adding a shim, which I did DIY'd by sticking a piece of EVA foam onto Gwyn's hoof before she even left her stall (so her hooves were dry)

That seems to have done the trick! These boots stuck on through mud, water and a big power trot. I'm pretty pleased! Enough so that I went ahead and ordered another pair as well as extra straps because these suckers need to have purple accents.

Sweaty mare at the end

My big takeaways are that I need some kind of encouragement, even if it's Gwyn being mindful because it's in my hand, I need it. She was a bit of a brat, and would try and surge ahead  of the group only to immediately put on the brakes. Theories thrown out were that she's in heat. So she got relegated to being in the back due to that behavior.

She's fitter than I think, and LDs should be easily achievable if I keep up with riding regularly and getting out on the trail.

We've got hoof protection dialed in and that's good given how some of the trails are out here for competition (protection is almost always required)

Otherwise, it was a great day with friends, meeting new friends, and getting rewarded for our perseverance by weather that was NOT in the weather report.

Taylor Mountain Hill Work 9/8/19

Now it's been over a week ago, but Cortney and I planned a weekend outing to give Gwyn's butt a nice workout. Taylor Mountain is Tiger Mountain's neighbor with far FAR less mountain bikes and much friendlier to horses in general.

It almost felt like getting together to ride wasn't going to happen. For some reason one of my truck tires was low on air and Cortney had hit a pothole the previous day and the entire frame of her trailer broke from the impact. Thankfully, adding air to the tire was the solution though I've been keeping an eye on my pressures ever since. I loaded Gwyn then drove to Cortney's house to pick her up.

Good news too, Cortney now has a brand new trailer and it's so pretty :D

It was a beautifully cool day with on/off drizzling rain. The colors were just starting to turn and really it was the start of the PNW fall season, I think. Perfect to kick off.

This is a popular spot for local endurance riders to condition. Cortney recognized trailers, lol. By the time we returned, these three trailers were gone and three more had arrived. 

Today was my Scoot Boot stress test. We were planning on a lot of elevation and about the length of an LD loop. We weren't necessarily aiming for speed either. The goal was to get Gwyn just climbing and Taylor offers several options depending on how gradual you want your climb to be. We took an easier route. Haha.

Stress testing did not go as smoothly as I hoped it would. The previous rides didn't show any issues but this was both longer and harder. Plus Gwyn now has scratches from standing in bog water all day (I'm looking for a new spot to board her which is a whole other post) and her pasterns are a fungusy mess.

The first section where we opened up into a ground eating trot I lost a boot and never knew. We crossed a stream not long after, I looked down to check feet and boom, needed to backtrack. We did find the boot and lost the second as we were heading back. I stuck her boots back on and snugged the pastern straps up a bit more. They proceeded to mostly stay on the rest of the ride but I was paranoid.

Gwyn's appy nature shines through a lot on rides like these. We started with the hill climb pretty much off the bat and she will take breaks when she gets tired. Amira is pretty much 100 mile fit, and easily 50 mile fit and couldn't understand the breaks. She got her comeuppance a week later when Cortney went camping and rode the PCT. Amira had to take breaks, haha.

"Why Mom, why?"

The trails were gorgeous though, and as we climbed we entered the cloud ceiling so everything was softly lit, misty and green. It felt like we were riding through a fantasy novel. It's my favorite kind of trail riding weather.

Must outrun the Nazgul and bring the ringbearer to Rivendell! 

It was funny because Amira has Opinions about what trail rides are like. They are either lots of trotting at speed (her favorite) or slow poke walking with quarter horses. Gwyn fit neither. We were doing good speedy trotting but also needing walk breaks. That picture is her confused face.

Beaver Pond and sneak peeks of fall color through the clouds

We opened up and had a nice canter on a slower gradient and when I asked for a half halt I lost a boot again. When I went to put them back on I noticed some HUGE rub wounds from the heel straps. After that I was torn on getting Gwyn back to the trailer (we still had several miles to go) or going slow to minimize further injury to her heel bulbs. We theorize that she clips herself during half halts and pulls the boots off. They fully came off, with everything still attached. It was weird.

"Mom.. really, WHY?"

The day started to warm up and the sun even made a bit of an appearance. We tied up our rain coats with glee.

Then back to the trailer where I could make more assessments on the feet situation.

She's since healed completely and I've ordered gaiters and am talking to a rep about the fit.

Amira was perplexed by the GIANT trailer she had so much room in. 😂

As we drove back to Cortney's house, the skies opened up and it POURED on us as we unloaded. Fun weather for the day! As I was driving back to the farm the classical radio station was playing music from the Goonies and paired with the weather, it was just... perfect. Definitely have your sound on ;)