There was a question about your first endurance ride on the Green Bean page and while I documented this on my old journal back in the day, 1. it's not public and 2. photobucket is poopy and none of the images can be seen embedded in the post anymore because of their new third party hosting rules.
But I pay for extra storage on google so to this blog I go! The entry will be posted in its entirety here along with probably more pictures than I put in the original entry, LOL.
So here we go. Cue up the Doctor Who theme and jump in the way back machine!
Day 0 - Thursday
I sent Kaylee to the babysitter as usual and went to the barn to pack up my stuff. Trudy arrived to pick up Gwyn and we took her to Duvall for a sleepover. I had to go home to get all my clothes packed, then I came back to sleep over as well. It was hilarious having Gwyn deal with being in a pasture with a cow and a bull. She didn't know what to think.
Day 1 - Friday
We got up early to feed horses and pack up everything onto the truck and trailer. It was rainy, that barely raining drizzle that's so typical of fall out here. There were five people working on packing everything up and it didn't take long.
Gwyn was an idiot loading but once on was fine. The other three horses loaded just fine, with Splendid riding next to Gwyn and Snoopy and Tiger behind them. We stopped for breakfast before we hit the pass. The trip through the pass itself was nice and smooth. Despite being the start of the holiday weekend we were taking a less used route east over the Cascades.
Steven's Pass
Recent wildfires in Leavenworth
Eastern Washington is flat. And boring. Once you're over the Cascades you have a bit of apple orchards and then it's just wheat as far as the eye can see with the occasional boulder the size of a house that got dropped during the last glacial period.
Apple Orchards in Wenatchee!
Note: All of these photos were taken from the window of a moving truck, lol.
Giant, and I mean GIANT, rock.
The tiny towns we stopped in for bathroom breaks or just drove slowly through were pretty though!
But there was a lot of this.
And this.
Splendid.
We reached Spokane around 3:30 and headed north of the city to just climb up up up Mount Spokane. The temperature dropped significantly from the base, it was cool and windy, but pleasant, when we arrived. Our spot that we had reserved next to the friends Cortney was meeting was taken, which was frustrating. We ended up setting up camp a quarter mile down the road, which meant we had to hike up for ride meeting and vet checks and ride start. Thankfully they had set up water by us and we had pit toilets, which were definitely better than the portapotties up at the main camp. In the end, our camp ended up being so spread out we wouldn't have fit into the spot reserved anyway.
Driving out into the mountains again.
Camp. The camper is actually the one thing that's level. Our camp was entirely on a sloped surface. L-R Jack, Tiger, Snoopy, Splendid, Gwyn.
I signed up for the 15 mile trail ride on Saturday and had to vet in, even though there was no competitive component to the trail ride. Gwyn got all As except for one B on wounds because she and Splendid apparently had it out the night before figuring out who was boss mare. We're still not sure who won.
Cortney and Splendid vetting in
Intro/Trail riders got letters
Competitors got numbers
Our first vet card!
The ride meeting was good, if boring and confusing. This was the first time the ride was being put on, so there was definitely an element of confusion and lack of organization. I have no other ride to compare to, but I was told constantly that it could be way better.
We were meeting Cortney's riding partner, Randy. His horse, Asaad, colic'd the day they arrived and the vets that were there gave him banamine. AERC rules state that a horse cannot compete for 96 hours after receiving banamine so he wasn't able to participate in the 25s on Saturday and Sunday like he wanted. He was there with Shari and Brent, who were riding Blackjack and Diablo. Randy also had his younger horse, Major, who Cortney was planning to ride in the trail ride after her 25 on Saturday.
Back at camp we had burgers and the rest of our group arrived. So there was me, Cortney, Cortney's siblings Jack and Alexis, their mom and dad, Trudy and Bill, and Cortney's husband, who were all camping. For the evening, we also had their family friends who live in the area join us for dinner.
Gwyn settled well into horse camping with pvc pipe pen wrapped with electric tape. I got the bed in the camper that used to be the dining area. Trudy and Bill had the actual bed. Everyone else was in a tent. Day 2 - Saturday
Getting ready for the start.
Totally chill camper pro horse now and then!
I woke up early with Cortney and Trudy. Trudy made homemade egg mcmuffins while Cortney and I took care of the horses. We trudged up the hill and sent Cortney off with Shari and Brent on their first leg of the 25, the 10 mile loop. The 10 mile, while short, was very technical and had lots of steep climb.
I miss this lady.
The derp still makes me giggle when I see this.
Cortney and Splendid already a mile or so in on the first loop, with the lovely backdrop of our bathrooms we used, lol
While she was out, I picked out the pens and refilled waters back at camp. Then as more people woke up, we headed back up to the main camp in anticipation of riders returning for their 45 min hold.
At the first hold.
Splendid is weird. She was itching her teats.
On the trot out with the vet, Splendid was lame. Cortney was really disappointed. The Vet said he found a splint below her ankle but we were seeing lameness on the opposite leg. It was weird, but she was definitely off at the trot and VERY confused when she didn't go back out. Poor horse, loves endurance.
TO BE CONTINUED....
And because my internet is ridiculously slow uploading all this imagery, I'm gonna call it there for tonight so I can go to sleep.
Despite having to work this past weekend I was able to get out during Hazel's nap and go ride! It was snowing but the wind wasn't blowing so the mid 20sF temperatures didn't feel horridly bitter. I was VERY bundled up and despite chattering the whole time about everything while I rode so the video would record it, I just sped everything up to keep it short and sweet.
But to summarize, I had leggings on, then my fleece riding pants, and then the riding skirt. Long sleeve shirt, fleece vest and Columbia jacket, plus balaclava for my head and gloves. I did stick toe warmers on my socks and they stayed decently warm in my muck boots. I didn't really get cold until near the end of the ride when I had cooled off from the debacle of trying to get on Gwyn. She had decided that standing still at the mounting block was optional and we had some discussion regarding her participation.
This was also my trial run of my grab strap that I made SUPER quickly right before riding. Since I've chopped her mane off I needed something to hang onto. This will do! It's just nylon strapping and a plastic buckle. It's adjustable and in a nice bright green.
We are playing the "stand the FUCK still" game.
Amusingly, I had brought cookies with me this time for some reinforcement of good behavior and it came in handy with our standing still game. If she kept her feet on the ground, I would give her a cookie. Once out on the trail we practiced halting and just standing, no dancing and I would give her a cookie. It definitely reminded her to relax and she caught on fast enough that when I halted her to look around and then asked for forward, she bent around to look for her cookie.
Smart mare. Spoiled. Rotten. But smart. The next time we halted I definitely didn't give her a cookie. Gonna break that habit right quick.
On this ride I opted to go into a field I haven't before, because I was emboldened by the talk of the applicability of the No Trespassing signs to horseback riding. I'm not hunting, which is what they specifically forbid. It did allow me to see that there's not a good pass through to the next field that I can see until the snow melts. There's a real possibility that where I think is good, will be instead very treacherous because I can't see fencing that might be down on the ground under the snow. And no thanks, I don't want to walk over that and risk Gwyn's legs. But getting to the Polly Ann without a trailer ride is so tantalizingly close. Gah!
I honestly thought the video captured the whole ride because I really wanted to screen grab how our evergreens looked with all the snow on them. It was so pretty. But it didn't. It cut out right in the middle of the new field.
Gwyn was pretty good for this ride otherwise. We had to have additional conversations about only picking one foot off the ground at a time (i.e. stay in a damn walk, please). She really wanted to jig but I don't trust the ground under the snow to do anything above a walk.
This is my second most favorite view, just as I'm about to get on.
Screen grab. We went counter clockwise to start this time!
On the road. The field to the right is the new one I did.
It was very quiet and pretty. The snow was starting to taper off.
Happy after the ride.
"NO MOAR SELFIES" We're both making bitch mare faces
There was also a brief meet and greet with the neighbor's grandkids.
2.91 miles. Not too bad. I'm comparing especially to this time last year when I hadn't ridden at all. So this is a big improvement.
This is my view when I get home from work. I pull into the driveway, stop by the road and grab the mail. The left and the right pastures are currently resting and waiting for summer. Also, keep getting longer days, keep it going!
What you can't see though, maybe in this picture, is now zoomed in below...
We see you.
I was watched. The whole time. So after dinner I went out to feed before the kids were ready for bed. Because they had seen me come home.
I still want to get Saffron at full blast when she's impatient about food. But this is her "I'm excited I'm about to be fed" sounds. It's so much softer than the typical donkey bray. It's kind of sweet. I've really fallen in love with donkeys because of her. It's a soft, breathy thing.
I like my nights in the barn. It's peaceful. And Gwyn checked in with me, just a nose to my hand as I said good night, but she stepped away from alfalfa to do it, so that's a pretty big thing in my book, lol
Saffron's kind of aloof, but she doesn't jump under my touch anymore. And I try and work it into the normal routine whenever I go into her stall. A rub on the neck, patting her back. A soft pressure to move her out of my way when I come in to fill her water because she's an ass like that. (har har)
Organizing the media for this post has taken a bit of time. I had almost an hour of video footage that I cut down to 11.5 minutes. I probably could have cut it down more but, meh...
Last Tuesday I had the day off from work in my new part time/4 day schedule. I am a member of a plus sized rider facebook group and one of the members lives extremely nearby! We decided to schedule a time to ride together since she works from home and has some flexibility mid week.
Her parents are landowners in the Metamora Hunt Club and she grew up here so she knows all the MHC trails like the back of her hand AND has permission to ride on them whenever.
Score. For. Me.
Gwyn loaded reasonably well. I did make my temporary fence around the trailer again, anticipating that the cold weather and wearing a cooler and generally being not normal conditions that I load her in would cause issues. She did try and spin and tear away but the fence was a good enough barrier and she self loaded after that.
Goober.
Honestly I think once she decides to get on she likes self loading because she doesn't have to worry about where I am in relation to the relative small space of the trailer. Once she's on if I feel her weight shift backwards I just have to put some pressure on her butt and she rocks forward and just stands. It's the "I'm gonna give you shit to see if you REALLY want me to load" crap that's the problem. And only at home. Otherwise? Self loader.
The roads were snowy and not the best so I took it slow with the truck. Right after I finished recording that first bit in the video I slowed down to turn into the friend's driveway and a fucking asshole went ZOOMING by me on the left as I was turning. So I'm braking, the trailer is still going because snow and I'm starting to jackknife thanks to the bastard who couldn't wait a minute for me to get off the road.
It's been almost a week and I'm still pissed off about that. I've got a video compilation of clips and then some screen grabs. It all looks the same because it's fucking winter and there's snow. But New Friend has the most floooooofy icelandic gelding and he was just fucking adorable. He's for sale, btw, if you're looking for a great, stout little horse. I can get you in touch. He was a solid equine citizen the whole time.
Some road riding, which Gwyn was great for. Yay more good experiences!
FLOOFY
We were right by Kaylee's school at this point
Gwyn liked the Floof.
We rode through the Shenanigans Farms property to get to a pipeline that's partial trail and runs through New Friend's property too. Super icy on their private roads.
The corner of Hosner and Oakwood is where Kaylee's school is.
I really had a great time with her and I'm hoping we can get a few more rides in together before she leaves (She's moving to Germany at the end of April!) I may have convinced her to try the endurance ride in April before she goes :D
While it's super nice to be 'in the know' with someone about the MHC trails, it's even better to have a peer (she's just about my age) who's so close that I mesh well with. I was positively glowing all day Tuesday. I was fucking freezing cold but it was so nice to be out and about. I've already done more riding than this time last year and that's wonderful. I can keep this up and I won't feel so ill prepared for the first ride of the season.
I wanted to ride today (Sunday 2/4) but my body had other plans when I came down with a sudden stomach virus on Saturday into today. The temperature got up to 30F and it was just snowing and would have been amazing to ride in! Curse you, stomach virus!
