You would think that taking a week or so off to let your horse's foot heal and grow some bars (which I am happy to report he has done in record time) would not cause the rider to lose both stamina and strength.
I feel so old.
It's not the years . . . it's the mileage.
I went out late this afternoon and rode in the outdoor arena. We set out two barrels for us to work with, but mostly it was supposed to be about the canter. We worked for about 45 minutes and most of the work was cantering.
We had to stop alot so I could catch my breath. And one time to let the very painful stitch in my right side subside. I was panting, sweating and huffing like a nymphomanic in a room full of naked people.
It was very sad.
As an aside, you should google or search on YouTube for the video of the song "I don't look good naked any more". It is riotous.
I really don't know why cantering is so much more work now. It was the only gait I ever rode in when I was a kid. And I was riding bareback. I know I am relearning the gait, just like I had to do the walk and the trot, plus this is the gait we have ridden the least so far, hence the need for the winter of the canter. All of that aside, I feel like I am struggling with the pace and rhythm of Ashke's stride. It feels very short. It doesn't look short in the videos though. So, again, I refer you to the above: I feel old.
I can feel an improvement, though. I can see my stamina growing. I have found the zone a couple of times and have exulted in the harmony and fluid movement with Ashke. Hopefully, come spring we will be owning the canter.
At the very end of the last video, we were cantering away from the barrels and I used the neck rein to turn him to the left. He turned so fast that I almost biffed it. He just stepped out from underneath me. I snatched at the reins and caught myself in the outside stirrup, but it was close.
It has been a long time since I did a ten things post.
1. Consistent Riding Time - I am really good at consistently getting five rides a week on Ashke. Typically, this means Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. It sounds like a lot, but I manage to combine my ride times on Saturday and Sunday with some sort of activity with the fam. Mondays, for right now, J is taking lessons, so we do the barn together, which leaves the Freshman at home with his Xbox. That's right, T is now a Freshman and well on his way to making his goal of entering the Colorado School of Mines in the Fall of 2019.
Ashke is really good about accepting five rides a week. It has been months since I needed to lunge him or do anything other than tighten the saddle and step on. Sometimes he is a little up, but if I walk him around the arena in both directions while asking him to use his back, he settles right into work. If we are on the trail, he's perfect. He likes to go. He seems to like the work. He is always eager to see me and happy to be out of his stall.
2. Walk and Trot - These gaits are very solid. Ashke has a free-swinging walk and he can really cover ground when he wants. His transitions to trotting are solid when we are working in the arena and his extended trot is big enough he can keep up with Cali when we are on trail. (I can't, however. I need more stamina.) Six months ago, when he anticipated the shift into a canter, the trot was difficult to steady and he would lose his rhythm, becoming choppy and rough. That has gotten so much better as we have cantered more.
3. Back Pain - This is a thing of the past. The Alta Escuela was the best purchase I have ever made and I am so glad I was introduced to this saddle by Saiph. We are both incredibly comfortable and Ashke is very receptive to leg pressure and seat aids in it. My confidence is bolstered by the knowledge that 1) he's not going to deliberately try to get me off, and 2) I can ride out a major spook or temper tantrum.
4. Cantering - Both in the arena and on trail, this gait has become so much more balanced. Ashke has gained strength in his back and hips, so much so, that the cross-cantering is much more of a habit now than a necessity. I really believe his resting his LH and the cross-cantering (always to the left now, when his hip becomes tired and he doesn't want to push off on the right hind leg) is do to habit. He doesn't do it on trail, unless we are cantering and I neck rein him to the right and he switches in the front.
The other thing that has gotten so much better is cantering on trail with someone in front of us. The ride I had after dark with Michelle, she took off in front of us at a canter. For the first two strides Ashke wanted to gallop off after her, but when I asked him to slow and listen to me, he did. I rewarded that wait by allowing him to hand gallop up behind Voodoo once we were in the clear. He is beginning to understand that I am not holding him back out of fear, so much as I am holding him back for safety reasons. He is so much more rate able than he was three months ago.
In the arena, we have been working on balanced circles, balanced on the long sides of the arena, and canter transitions. I bounce between "canter for long periods of time" and "do lots of trot-canter transitions". I figure both work. We have started adding in the smaller (10m) circles we will need to be able to do if we want to compete in L2. We are doing the first circle to the right, then a simple change and a circle to the left. He has figured out the size, we are just struggling to keep our impulsion without rushing, because when you rush a small circle, it becomes decidedly bigger.
Winter is coming . . . this will be the winter of canter.
5. Wash Stall - This is no longer a deal at all. He walks in behind me like he's been doing it for years. There is no hesitation (except when the horse that was just in there has peed a river or there is standing water over the drain). Even with a slight hesitation, he still follows me in and stands comfortably to be rinsed off.
6. Hoofs - Ashke got ten days off with no riding and he is back to not being ouchy on his front feet. I ordered new blue boots from his hinds and I can tell you he is so much more comfortable in them. J says he is breaking over much more quicker and not landing flat when he strides forward. He is tracking up very nicely. We did a long ride last Saturday and he played in the arena on Sunday with no issues.
7. Trailering - Saiph was right. Ashke figured out that trailering was fun (although he is always happier to ride with Cali than alone) and walks on the trailer like nothing. Walks off without panic. Seems to enjoy our little adventures.
8. Body Condition - Despite the dip in his overall appearance earlier this summer, Ashke has responded well to the adjustment in his feed. He is working hard when we ride and just needed more groceries. I hope to be able to keep the pace of his work outs up, so he remains the ripped beast he is today. Although he could do to fill in behind his left shoulder.
9. On Trail - Ashke has improved so much in his ability to traverse trail, whether it is singletrack or mountain draw, that many rides we don't even have a single stumble or trip. He is very sure footed and although I am not confident enough to trot down a steep, rocky trail, I am sure he would be fine. He has proven over and over again this summer that he wants to take care of both of us. He knows now that I will let him take care of us on the trail, and I know he will listen and let me decide the speed we should go.
He still spooks at the same things though - rocks and strange bushes. I have gotten really good at feeling the strain come up through his body and I just tighten my outside leg, sometimes adding a little heel, to let him know I have "heard" his concern and he can just keep going forward. I keep my focus on what is in front of us, instead of looking at whatever he is looking at. The amazing thing is, he does. Especially at the canter. We just breeze by and look for the next thing.
10. Him
Can we just take a moment and appreciate how good he looks?
Okay, when I first decided to do the RMIHC show in September (now three weeks away) I thought I would have two opportunities to practice my mad skillz before the show. There was a fun day with obstacles and a schooling show scheduled in August that would give me the opportunity to figure out if we would or should be entering a real show in September.
Then VSV happened and both of the above events got cancelled.
I'm terrified of looking like a fool. There are obstacles that we have never tried that could be part of the event on Saturday. The only redeeming thing I can look forward to is the obstacle clinic that's offered on Friday night with TJ. Yeah, the trainer I really want to work with but TMR won't allow her to train me at the barn. (Still a bit bitter about that, actually.) She is doing a training clinic for anyone who is interested.
I have the opportunity to work Ashke through all of the obstacles in the event on Friday night. I hope it will be enough.
I also got my dressage cones today and J said she would help me measure and mark where they go in the dressage arena, so I can practice my pattern in a 40 x 20 space. I'm not too worried about the dressage part, since Ashke has been doing the different parts of it really well.
I really am more worried about the obstacle phase for the Level 2 class. Ashke did great in the practice phase of the only schooling show we have been to, but then kind of lost his focus and part of his mind the next day.
We have been cantering a lot. Tonight we did circles around the indoor arena in both directions trying to maintain rhythm and tempo. Then I pulled out two cones and practiced the two barrel obstacle at the canter. It still needs work but we are miles ahead of where we were four weeks ago. Ashke is able to maintain the tighter circle we need for the obstacle and our simple lead change is coming along. If I can continue to practice those elements, maybe we can do the obstacle at a Level 2.
Scared though. Seems like a much bigger venue. That's how we learn and grow, right?
It is the browband I made for Elizabeth Lord. We traded the browband for a photo session with Ashke. We finally made it happen this last Sunday.
All photos are copyrighted by Elizabeth Lord. They are to look at and not touch, please.
Lot's of Ashke. A few of me.
I shaved his mane again, since Pico had eaten the bottom six inches and left massive bites on his crest. This way there is nothing for him to grab onto.
My horse has got a purty head
I lurvs him
We have learned to leviatate
Fancy foot work
He is moving much better. The Magic Cushion seems to have done it's job.
He is not shaved or oiled. Just turns naturally black in the late summer.
Best picture of me all day.
This one is going to be printed and framed.
After we got some pics of Ashke, we brought the other two grey Arabian geldings into the arena.
They are all SE Arabians and related.
Ibn and Ashke have met before. There was no squeeling or kicking.
A fav
Ashke and Ibn
Ibn, Amaar and Ashke
Ashke, Ibn and Amaar
It's amazing to see them in stride when they are running next to each other.
Amaar is very fleabitten so he looks a darker grey - it is due to the multitude of large chestnut flecks all over him
Getting jiggy with it
Another Fav
It's choreographed
There is a very famous picture of four white Arabians.
This is not that picture.
Hiding
There were jumps in the arena so we made a chute to see if we could get them to free jump. Ibn went over the small crossrail.
Ashke had a different idea
Why do something easy when . . .
you can be a deer instead?
His ears say it all. I do not have a jumping horse.
Our house, in case you missed it, has a huge neon sign hanging right out front, with big spot lights and flashing lights and spinning lights and buzzers and horns and whistles. It says "Please leave all unwanted, or uncared for, unneutered cats HERE!!!" Only people with unwanted, unneutered cats can see this sign, which is kind of annoying, but they can see it from miles away and drive here to drop their cats on our porch.
I kid you not.
First, there was Siska, who came to us at about nine months old. Unneutered but obviously an indoor cat. He has white feet with black pads and he LOVES my son. He also has the soul of a dead Indian. He used to hunt the mice in our basement until he got fat and lazy. Now, he wanders around saying "bless you" every time you sneeze and knocking stuff off of the table for the dogs to chew up. We had him dropped on our doorstep in 2009.
Then there was Stazi. She was dropped into an empty dumpster at about two weeks old. Our neighbor heard her meowing, climbed into the dumpster and rescued her. She is J's heart cat and barely tolerates the rest of us. T, she hides from, unless he is very slow and calm (not my son's forte). She lives under our bed, sleeps on our dresser and rarely ventures down from the upstairs. Sometimes she plays racer kitten in the upstairs by herself, sounding like a herd of elephants as she races up and down the hall. This is quite the feat, considering she weighs about 2 pounds. We got her in 2010.
Then there was Mia. She was about six months old when she showed up on our doorstep. I think there is a very good possibility she and Stazi are half-sisters. We forced gave Mia to Tia (see, they were meant to be together). Having two young female cats didn't seem like a good idea at the time and considering we had four dogs, four cats and two bearded dragons in a 1000 square foot house (plus three people) just seemed like too much. That was in 2011.
We asked the universe to stop giving us cats. Instead the universe gave me another rescue - Ashke. That was 2012. Then in December of 2012 we lost Joey. Three weeks later, Spike, my heart dog, went to the Rainbow Bridge. The house felt so lonely without our pack, so we added two: Lily and Skittle. They weren't rescues, but it was darn close. We got them at 10 weeks and they had never been out of the house. They are a mixture of fear-aggressive and timid and have taken a lot of work to comfort and support. They have turned into great dogs, but we are very careful about the situations we put them in. And I would not recommend walking into our house uninvited. That was 2013.
This year we lost my Preacher. And we rehomed the dragons. Our colony of dubia roaches became infected with a colony of small gnats. The gnats killed the male roaches and the colony died. (The gnats came from some pelleted beet pulp I put in their box.) After the fiasco of losing the colony, plus the increased heat in our house from the lights and heat bulbs, we decided to rehome them. Hopefully, our electric bill will drop significantly and all of the annoying little gnats are gone.
The universe must have decided we were open to taking in another stray. He showed up a couple of months ago and after finding him outside our door a couple weeks running, I put out some food. Gradually, over the past couple of months, he has gotten friendlier and more affectionate.
At first he laid on the sidewalk just out of reach. Then he began to seek our attention, coming up for scratches and pets and belly rubs. J started calling him Peaches, until I informed her that he was a he. Then she called him Mr Peaches. He never responded to that though. We tried to bring him inside, which resulted in a huge fight between him and Stazi, in which blood happened and Stazi was less than pleased. We booted him outside, but committed to getting him fixed and feeding him. We talked about constructing a small cubbyhole for him to hide/sleep in so he would have shelter during the winter.
Then it rained. For three days we had gloomy skies and pretty consistent rain coming down. Peaches, as we were calling him, asked to come inside. J got him situated in the basement storage room, with crunchy food, a clean litter box (which he uses without any issue) and soft food twice a day. We got him fixed through a spay/neuter clinic put on by the Denver Dumb Friends league for free. Then we waited to see what he would do.
Meet Squeaker (he named himself and the dogs call him Squeaker, so . . . ). He has decided it might be okay being an indoor cat. He still goes out in the morning and the evening for 20 minutes or so at a time, but he always comes back in meowing for attention. (He squeaks).
He lives in the basement and haunts the living room for now. We have always had easy integrations, but this time it is going to be more difficult. For one, he has lived on his own for a while. Two, he is a lot more territorial than our other cats. Three, he likes to bait the dog.
Lily has a fascination with cats. She is learning but it is a difficult process. It is not helped by the fact that the cat will chase toward her, hissing and spitting and doing that wailing cat sound that is worse than chalk on a chalkboard. Lily responds by snapping and barking at this wonderful new play toy that fights back. Since she is Malinios, and you have to be super careful to not let them chase cats, this is a trial for me. (Lily really only listens to me. And she doesn't listen to me when there is a cat around).
He is a sweetly affectionate cat. His fur is the softest I have ever felt - more like down than hair. He loves being pet and held. Our integration is progressing but we are keeping him away from the other cats until his aggression settles a bit. This morning he was on the pool table when Lily came in from outside. Squeaker pinned his ears and went after her. I really hope we can get past this. He's such a lovely cat. And yes, he is locked away in the downstairs storage room (lots of places to explore and the possibility of mice to eat) while we are gone. Last night we had him, us, all three dogs and Siska within a 300 sq foot space for several hours without any issues. It can be done.
I have told the universe we are closed to rescues again.
J and I decided a while ago that Saturday would be our day to explore and try to find new trails, that we could then ride with T and N. I love to explore and so does J, but it's not T's thing, at all. I don't get it. I would think he is a changeling, except he was like three before I left him alone (not really, but pretty darn close.) Attachment parenting is not for the faint of heart. (T, in his defense, does not do well with ambiguity. Just part and parcel of who he is.)
J got on her bike and I got Ashke saddled up with the 12 mm pads from Easyboot in the front and 0's (in blue) on his rears. He did really well walking barefoot to the car and back, but I wasn't about to ride him without boots. Overall, I think we had a great ride. He had a couple of missteps but I think that was due more to the footing than his tootsies. We have a trim appt on the 25th, so we will see how he is doing at that point.
Crossing the field between the barn and the street, heading toward the subdivision.
Crossing first bridge
We trotted and cantered every place we could, but some of the trail needed to be walked. The rutting in front of Ashke is due to the flooding that happened last year and continued this year with the heavy rain.
It started out in the low 80's, but we reached the 90's before we made it back. J had heat stroke nine years ago and is very sensitive to the heat. We were both pretty sun tired by the time we were done.
A dressage rider I met at the barn, who boards at her own house, told me we could reach the open space by going up this sidewalk to the housing development, behind the houses and then North along the fence line to the open space. We tried it.
By the time we got to the fence bordering the park, there was no trail. Ashke and I could have ridden practically any where, but there wasn't so much as a deer track for J to ride.
Indian Paintbrush (red plant in background), Sage, Wild Daisy and Lupine.
Indian Paintbrush is my very favorite.
The last hints of trail. We had to back track and try another way.
We went through a pretty fancy housing development. There were human made ponds in between the houses that stretched a couple of blocks, complete with little waterfalls, cattails and bridges. It was pretty fancy.
I was hoping this sidewalk would take us to 1) Leyden Creek Open Space and 2) around in a circle back to Tucker Lake. My deepest desire is to find a ride that is 15 miles in a loop from the barn back to the barn. We were somewhat successful. (I am a strong believer in a different trail home.)
Lots of prairie land to ride across. Alas, it was easier for J to stay on the trail. She had a pocket full of peppermint treats and I told Ashke that if he caught up to her she would feed him one. Everytime we stopped, Ashke reached out and asked for a peppermint. Such a smart horse.
The trail in Leyden Creek Open Space was very nice. I would love to ride there some more, but it was straight down the valley and then back up. Poor J. It was a lot of work.
We could have ridden for a much longer time, but it was finally getting hot. One of the things Ashke is learning is that he is allowed to take mouthfuls of grass if he continues walking. This, I have on good authority, is a necessary part of being an endurance horse. Ashke likes that.
We cantered most of this in both directions. We ended up stopping for lunch right across from the big, bushy, green tree on the right. There was a pond there with fish in it. J lamented not having a fishing pole. Lunch was PB&J.
Ashke got peppermints.
This was what we did before we stopped for lunch.
We were so close to making a loop, but honestly, I don't think it can be done in that direction. We will try again on another day. It was a good thing we turned around. J was pretty much done.
Heading home.
Tucker Lake in the distance on the left.
That's J, coming up behind us. She's a rockstar!!!
A brief glimpse of our canter
And the canter from a distance (And sometimes not in the frame)
Second loop. Did better on the speed.
And the trail home.
I let Ashke canter whenever he wanted. We trotted when we couldn't canter, with the exception of a couple of downhills that were too steep to trot. Or where the trail was angled on the side and we had to be on the sidewalk. For the ride, we did 12.2 miles in two hours and 44 minutes or thereabout. I figure 4.4 or 4.5 mph.
When we hit the last open space, we cantered. We trotted through the neighborhood and then cantered across the open field in front of the property. When we got to the barn, we walked. I took Ashke inside and stood him in the crossties. Even before I stripped tack, I grabbed my stethoscope and took a heart rate. He was at 48 bpm. We stripped off the tack, rinsed and scrapped him and took another twenty minutes later. He was at 39 bpm.
I know, based on those numbers that he is very well conditioned and his feet weren't hurting him. I can begin to push both the speed and the distance. On thing that is a concern is that he would rather canter than trot. I'm not sure I can do the canter - walk combination and still complete.
Ashke back in the cross ties. He's finally put on weight again.
He's not standing square, but I wanted to take a picture of his withers, since I was staring at them today. I'm hoping to see improvement in the symmetry between the two as we go on. His left is so under developed due to his compensating for his right hip, which is also smaller. Diagonal, dude!
