Waterton Canyon

I've been obsessively watching the weather this past week. Today, it dawned bright and clear, with moderate wind (which we determined was not blowing so hard at to deter J from going out) and a predicted high temp of 72. We headed to the barn by nine, loaded my gear, and then grabbed Ashke. He loaded on our second attempt and we were off to get K and Eddy. This week, K and Eddy were calmly waiting for us and it took only a few minutes to load K's gear. K was determined to work through the issues of two weeks ago (when Eddy plowed her down and ran over her) and took three attempts before he walked on the trailer. However, Eddy was calm, never stepped past her shoulder, and the three attempts were K's choice. Loaded up, we headed out for Chatfield, as I figured that area would give us the greatest opportunity to find dry, decent trails.

At the trailer, Ashke plowed into some alfalfa as I tried to clean the pee stains from his left side. He was almost a palomino on that side. I wrapped his legs with the BOT exercise boots, then saddled him up. His feet have been very good and I expected that we could do the ride today sans the boots. My goal is to get him to the point where we can ride pretty much anywhere and not have to use boots. The way he is growing out his hooves, I'm struggling to get the boots on him any way and he has been very sound. The boot on his RF has been  twisting, due to how his breakover is occuring. I plan on taking pics of his feet tomorrow to post, so I can get Saiph's expert opinion on how the look and how they are growing.

Once we were all ready to go, K and I swung up and headed for the South Platte. I had noticed a horse crossing/fjord just south of the bridge we crossed coming into the parking lot, and I thought it would be fun to cross. And good practice for water crossings in the future.

Neither of them offered to lay down

We headed up the far side of the river, opting to stay away from the road after Eddy spooked hard, spun and thought about bolting. K stopped his spook and we moved away from the road. At that point I looked over and realized that Eddy had cockleburrs in his tail, including under his tail by his tail dock. I think he had brought his tail down against his rump and stuck himself with the burrs, resulting in goosing himself. We stopped and K removed the burrs, finding a couple of handfuls up under his tail. Poor boy. Once they were gone, we got back on and headed out. 

 I loved the ride today. It was such an incredible day.

K was pretty happy too, except when she was fighting with Eddy about pulling on her.

J wasn't feeling good when she first woke up, but the sunshine and easy exercise made all the difference.

We rode south along the South Platte (to the left - can't see it) by a series of lakes created to encourage wildlife to habitate.

Eddy was very happy and K had very few issues with him all day. He had a lot of energy but listened well and took care of K.

Such incredible blue sky

At the southern end of Chatfield State Park the trail winds through the trees to a parking lot across the street from the entrance to Waterton Canyon. We had to cross the road (which the horses did without blinking an eye) and then followed the South Platte south into the mountains. Waterton Canyon is known for several things, but the really big thing is the herd of Big Horn Sheep that live on the canyon walls. 

Guess what we found?

See the people in the distance?

This was the point where we stopped and dismounted. Before things got crazy.

 The sheeps saw the horses and headed toward us. Ashke flipped his shit.

Seriously. Snorting ensued. And a fairly serious attempt to run.

A whole flock of Big Horn Sheep Ladies.

J was fairly close.

They seemed pretty scared of us and bolted past us in a stream of bounding bodies.

Ashke was not impressed. Eddy didn't seem to notice.

Maybe two miles up the canyon was a place where we could get the horses down to the water to drink.

Neither of them did. 

I explained to Ashke that proper endurance horses need to drink whenever they are offered water.

After about two hours on trail (an hour and a half of actual riding) we stopped for lunch at a small picnic table on the canyon wall side of the canyon. We had all carried a lunch in. Ashke begged my PBJ out of my hands, stole some of J's apples and pretty much disregarded any of the dried grass in the area. He even tried to tip over Coyote. Eddy spent his time eating whatever he could find and then trying to take K's meat sandwich out of her hand, which he managed to do before she could shove the last bite in her mouth. She didn't want to finish it with horse slobber and grass and leaves on it. Not that I blame her. Then Eddy grabbed a dorito. Crunched it up. Then realized what he had and did the horse version of spitting it out and scraping his tongue. I swear he dragged his tongue in the dirt, coughing the little pieces out of his mouth. Then curled his lip and flehmen'd for a good five minutes. Funniest thing ever.

We turned around after lunch, still a couple of miles away from the dam. We plan on going back on a day when we aren't running under a time constraint. The footing was packed dirt, few rocks and mostly flat. It was a great trail and I look forward to doing the ride all the way to the dam.

On the way back. K and I completely missed them. J did not.

The canyon is unbelievable. There are Ospreys too. We didn't see one, though.

I kept telling J I was so happy. It was that kind of day.

On our way back to the trailer, we turned onto the Audubon trails that lead down to the river. 

The trails were incredible.

The landscape was wonderful and sooo much fun.

We rode through an area of beaver activity, with downed trees on either side of us.

The beavers had actually created a dam across the river. I wonder if the Forest Service will allow it to remain, or if they will remove it.

I can't wait to ride this trail in the spring, full of green and growing things.

There were a few muddy spots but J did not brick her bike.

River crossing from the other side. 

At the trailer we pulled tack. Both horses were pretty sweaty, although Ashke was only sweaty under his tack. Eddy was pretty wet. It didn't hurt that both horses got pretty wet at the river when Eddy started to splash. This time they both loaded without any hesitation. We took Eddy to TMR, where Ashke was surprised by Cali walking up to the trailer and nuzzling his nose. That was hard. Ashke was so unhappy when we left and I am sure Cali wasn't happy either. Then we went home.

Overall, the ride was awesome. It was slower than our average, mostly because of the hairy beasts and getting Eddy in condition to do the kind of miles we are doing. Both horses had plenty in the tank when we got back to the trailer and it is a great start to the miles we will be able to ride this summer, especially once they shed out. This was a great trail, and I look forward to taking T on it.

Sore

I thin one of the biggest strides I've made in the past couple of months is being able to ride without using my back brace. This is a huge step for me and one I wasn't sure I would ever accomplish.

 Not me, but the brace I've been using

See, you have to understand that I was told I should NEVER ride a horse again. Ever. That if I rode I risked hurting my back badly enough I would have to have surgery. I was also told not to exercise. All of those things were dangerous and could result in surgery. I was in so much pain the first two years after the disc slipped (my chiro could not administer drugs so I managed the pain with advil) I didn't want to do anything. But as the inflammation receded, I began to be frustrated with my weight and lack of energy. These two things were directly related to my lack of movement due to back pain.

Then, one day, I had an epiphany. I asked J if I could get a horse when we were out of debt. She said yes, in part because she had been saddened by the idea I would never ride again, and in part, because it gave me a goal to focus on. Then Ashke happened. (Let's not talk about what that meant for our debt). One of the things I was most worried about when I brought him home was the potential damage to my back. It took a couple of months to be able to ride at the walk comfortably and any sudden shift in balance (like a startle or spook on his part) caused sharp and immediate pain.

Then I learned about Back on Track. I realized after riding with a hydration pack that the support against my lower back reduced the amount of pain I was experiencing and that led me to looking into the BOT back brace. It was a life saver. Literally. it gave me the support I needed to be able to ride, which in turn, allowed me the time and exercise to develop my core muscle group again. I am still very limited in what I can do. No running. No bending at the waist. No pushing forward or pulling back motion - like when vacuuming. All of those things still aggravate the disc. No skiing. No snowshoeing. No backpacking. I can ride though and camp. So, we are making progress.

So, that brings us back to the point of this post.

I got to the barn and got Ashke groomed. He has been scratching his tail again, so I treated it some with MTG, then brushed it vigorously with the stiff brush, which he seemed to enjoy. The hair is definitely growing in and his tail dock does not seem so ratty, but I can't for the life of me figure out why he's itching it so bad. He's on a high fat supplement, plus he's getting the Omega Max, and the itching has decreased (not itching his mane any more) but he still loves to rub his tail dock. His mane, however, has gotten long enough it is now falling completely to the side. We might actually have a flowing mane and tail by summer.

I received the second pair (hinds) of BOT exercise boots and tried them on him for the first time last night. The last time I tried to put exercise boots on his back legs was a couple of months after I brought him home and his freak out was epic. I was a little concerned about how he was going to react, so I put my helmet on first. I started on the left and picked his feet then putting the boots on him. After I had the back left one on I stepped back to see how he was going to react, half expecting an explosion from him. He lifted his hind leg out and turned his head to look at his leg, then turned back to me with this look of worry, confusion and WTF mom. I had to laugh. I unhooked him from the crossties and led him out of the stall. By the time he had taken three steps he was no longer worried and was striding out nicely, while trying to touch noses with the other horses in the barn, We went back in the stall and I put the right boot on, which he still wasn't happy about, but tolerated because he loves me. We did the walk up and down the aisle, letting him get used to the feel, before I took him back in and got him saddled up.

I must tell you that feeding Ashke a half flake of alfalfa before saddling him has made a world of difference in his attitude. I no longer have a hump backed, pissed off horse as I am tightening the girth. He still reacts a little bit when I lift the girth up, but that reaction is less and less every time. Once saddled, we headed for the indoor.

We were the only ones there, so I pulled out two barrels before getting on. We started with 10 mins of free walk, where he really settled in and moved out. Then we started our trot work. I am focusing on a comfortable trot where he isn't moving out too fast and is flicking his toes (as Saiph says). We did that in both directions. He wants to rush that gait to the right, so we worked on slowing, without stopping, his trot. We did several stopping, backing and then moving out at the trot again, until he was moving comfortably at a slower trot. Then we moved into the canter.

The canter is still a work in progress, but we are both getting so much better. Ashke does have a tendency to be more  spooky at the canter, which meant we stopped a couple of times to mess with the green wall of death at the back of the arena, but for the most part he was very good. He was able to maintain a correct lead in both directions for the duration of the canter. Once he realized we were cantering circles, instead of doing the stop and walk the corners square exercise, he stopped trying to bounce and just relaxed into the gait. We would canter, then stop quickly, back, then canter forward again. To the right, he got really anxious about the second canter, so we went back to the trot until he stopped anticipating the request.

To finish up, we worked the two barrels. He kept peeking at them during the earlier part of our ride (he knows what they are for) and when I finally turned him to work on them, he was very excited. We started at the walk, then the trot and finally at the canter with a simple lead change in between. he did really well. We are exiting the barrels on a straight line (I used to do figure eights around them, but the actual obstacle exits on the straight away) and then asking him to walk in between sets. He is so focused and eager that there is no fighting or bouncing when approaching the obstacle. I definitely need to work on getting him set up to make the simple change better, maybe coming down to the walk and then back up to the canter. That seems easier for him then doing it at the trot. That will be our exercise next time we are riding in the arena.

We finished by walking until he was cool and dry. I picked up poop and put the barrels away. Then untacked him and picked his stall while he half-hooded his eyes and ate his mash.

I rode for an hour, most of it at the canter. My body is sore today, but I can already feel the muscles getting stronger. My lower back pain is muscle pain, not nerve pain, and I have discovered an abdominal muscle. Maybe two.

Progress, people. Definite progress.

Pet Portraits by Nicole

I received a wonderful present from Saiph of Wait for the Jump over the Holidays and have been meaning to share it with you all.

It is a hand drawn picture of my pup, Lily. The thing that is the most amazing about this photo, is that it captures the essence of Lily, completely. It is so completely HER that I have no words.

If you have a beloved animal you would love to immortalize, I would highly recommend Nicole. She can take several photos of your beastie and amalgamate them into an image that encompasses all that they are. Her website is Pet Protraits by Nicole. Her prices are more than reasonable and you will love the finished project!!

Weather

Friday night I headed to the barn to ride after work. Due to an awesome work place, I was at the barn by 4:20 and made short work of getting Ashke ready. It has been a life saver to follow Saiph's suggestion to feed Ashke a half flake or flake of alfalfa while getting him saddled to help settle his stomach. His reaction to my lifting the girth has diminished significantly since I started this. I lead him out to the mounting block, tightened my girth, and then swung up. He was snorty and bouncy to start, but by the time we reached the park across the street, Ashke was swinging at the walk and willing.

We rode 45 minutes, covered 3.15 miles at 4.2 mph and got back to the barn before dark.

Saturday was supposed to be the bummer day of the weekend, with highs in the upper 30's and a 70% chance of snow. It was grey and a bit windy and cold. I decided to be a wimp and opt out of riding. Instead, J and I and Tia (T's godmom came up for the weekend) decided to go to the hardward store to buy stuff to make a Quintain for Working Equitation. One of the people here in the area is making bull based quintains and I was inspired to build one of my own, paint it blue and call it Babe.

 This is the silhouette image I have picked. We are going to set up the ball at his horns, then the post for the quintain and the rings will rise above the shoulder.

Two and a half hours later, we came home with this pile and were too exhausted to do anything with it.

I wandered around Lowe's with my diagram in my hand, searching for all of the things we needed to make this project a reality. Since we have no place to store the Quintain, we need to create an obstacle we can take apart to move and store, but that is easy to set up and use. In the middle of finding our items (we forgot the paint and are still working on targets for the spinning part of the quintain) we stopped and picked out a storm door for the condo to replace the one that is held together with spit and duct tape. The number one thing on my list, the garroucha pole, was impossible to find. Lowe's doesn't carry a wooden pole (curtain or shower rod) that is between 10 and 12 feet long. The only thing we found was an aluminum flag pole that screwed to another flag pole to make a 12 foot aluminum garroucha pole that was on sale for $14, total. It is bright blue. I figure it will be good enough to practice with, even if it isn't practical in a schooling show. The final item we were looking for was a way to hold the ball on the pedestal, which I believe I solved with an item at home. 

Then we went to Best Buy, Krogers and Chilis. By the time we got home we were too exhausted to do anything. 

This morning we had planned on doing a ride. Sunday was supposed to be 50+ with sun and no wind. I figured starting February with a 10+ mile ride would be perfect. Ha! I woke up to eight inches of snow, which wasn't in the forecast AT ALL. And that completely derailed any idea of riding today at all. So instead, we did another photo shoot, complete with videos. Ashke was a little shivery when I pulled the blanket off (he luvs his blanket) but was very flirtatious, snorty and spooky in the outdoor.

His floaty trot is just amazing.

He absolutely takes my breath away.

He kept coming right at me.

He thinks he's a race horse.

So much there.

Look at his back!!!

He was flirting with Tia, too.

He loves to race back.

As if demons are chasing him.

Taunting me.

Really playing with me.

Left lead here. He cross cantered to the left a lot. I need to work on the left lead more.

The Last Unicorn can levitate.

I love this picture. I love the rippling muscles and the attitude.

This is going to be our Christmas card need year.

The dark spot on his shoulder is a bit of mud from where the snow blew in under his blanket last night WHILE HE WAS STANDING IN THE SNOW!!!

Tracking up on the right

In B & W

Snow mustache

The next week is supposed to be in the upper 50's to low 60's. This snow storm was definitely a spring snow, heavy, wet and deep. It dumped plenty of water in the form of snow on the front range. Next Saturday is supposed to be 67 and Sunday is supposed to be warmer than that. Saturday is a riding day for sure.