Friday, August 29, 2014

Just what I needed

I'm not going to lie, I was pretty bummed after yesterday's lesson. But, Ruby has never shown any signs of back soreness and I've never been as unbalanced on her as I was on Rita so I decided to go for a ride today.

First, I pulled out and checked the foam in the body of the saddle.  The foam looks to still be in very good shape from what I can tell, but it can't hurt to replace it.  I haven't heard back on whether the saddlery can change my rigging, or even if they think it might help the issue.  I'm still considering a crupper.

We went to Tenoroc for a short ride.  The original plan was to ride the north loop, which is only 3.5 miles long.  The problem is that I have only ridden part of the loop once, and we followed it back to the trailer - we didn't start out on it.  So, I took a wrong turn.  It was a nice trail, with small hills and turns on the trail.  About 1/2 mile out, I saw a black lump on the trail as we were about to come around one of those turns.  It looked to be 2-2.5 feet tall.  I stopped Ruby behind a tree while I tried to determine if it was a hog or a small black bear.   It was a lone hog so I started calling out to it and it eventually moved off the trail.  About a half mile later another, smaller hog came out onto the trail.  Again, I started calling (Hey, hog! Hey, hog!).  Yes, I probably sounded dumb but seriously, these hogs seemed completely oblivious to the fact that Ruby and I were even there.  When they did see us, they thought about whether or not to give way before they actually did. The last hog stood her ground, then grunted at her piglets and took off across the trail.  Ruby liked that the hogs ran from her, lol.  It definitely gave her a confidence boost.  It wasn't much longer until we came to a trail marker, and a dead end.  It was so weird - the trail marker was a horse and '1 Mile', and then a tiny clearing with no trail....Whatever.  We turned around and called it a day.  I didn't want to ride too long because I'm now paranoid about how I ride and it was screaming hot.

When we got back to the trailer, I stripped her tack then brought out her beet pulp/hay cubes mash.  She does not like beet pulp alone, grrr.  We didn't ride long enough for her to need a mash when she'd been noshing on hay all morning, but I'd like to have a way to get water into her when she won't drink after a hot ride - I'm glad she'll eat this, picky mare!

Ruby approves.




She loaded onto the trailer with no issue.  We rode only 2.6 miles at 3.9 mph but it was worth it to get my head back on straight.  I'm going to do what I can to fix myself but I'm not going to stop riding in the meantime.

Easyboot update: they came earlier this week and we tried them on Wednesday.  I should have recorded her first few steps - she was, let's say, unsure of this new pony torture device.  They seemed to fit ok except there was gapping at the top of the boots.  I lunged her and they stayed on through sand, even when cantering.  I rode a bit down the road and they were ok but I'll need to watch the fitting videos and possibly order a fit kit to be sure.

Looks like we need power straps
I'm still looking for some used Renegades. 



Thursday, August 28, 2014

Crooked

Back story: Before my riding lesson today, I knew that I was 'crooked'.  I know this because I was injured many moons ago while in the military.  A well-meaning but clueless military doctor took that a step further by performing a surgery that ultimately failed - I later discovered one study found that this particular surgery failed 100% of the time.  Yeah, too bad I didn't think to do that research before the surgery.  The ultimate culmination is that both of my feet are shot, with my left being much worse.  The toes on my left foot go from tingly but mostly numb to on fire and everything in between.  I have no normal feeling in them anymore.  This affects my walking, which affects my hips and back on both sides, but again the left side is worse by far.  It is something that I deal with, and honestly, I'm not missing any body parts so I feel like I got off easy.

Last year's riding instructor, Marie, knew this and was attempting to help me correct it in her treed saddle.  Then I had 7-8 months with no lessons, Marie moved, and I started taking lessons with Claudia.  I didn't tell Claudia anything about my history before the first lesson but she mentioned that there was something going on with my left side within the first few minutes of our lesson.  I explained the situation and she said it wasn't too bad and that I was definitely fixable.  After our second lesson, I asked her if I could bring my own saddle to the next lesson.  My saddle is treeless and I feel much more unorganized riding in it; secure but unorganized.  She agreed.  Today was that lesson.

And it was horrible.  The entire time I felt like I was falling to the left.  The cantle of the saddle would not stay centered over Rita's (2nd level dressage lesson pony) spine.  To counteract this, I was trying to put more weight on my right leg, which apparently was only exacerbating the problem.  Basic premise - my left leg doesn't do shit so my right leg does it all.  This causes me to actually push the cantle of my saddle to the left with my right leg.  To verify this, Claudia had me take my right foot out of the stirrup and go into a posting trot around the arena in both directions - wonder of wonders, the saddle was fine then.  Yikes.  Claudia went over my saddle and she said it's even broken in crooked, ugh!  So, what to do?

Luckily Nickers Saddlery has replacement foam panels for the inside of the saddle.  I'm also hoping that they will be able to upgrade my saddle rigging to the multipurpose to perhaps give more stability to the cantle.  Maybe even a crupper, but then I wonder about how it would affect Ruby while I'm trying to learn to ride straight.  Speaking of - I have never felt like I'm going to fall of Ruby like that so she must be seriously overcompensating for me.  

In the meantime, therapeutic yoga for me and possibly more physical therapy, though I can tell you that the crap physical therapy allowed by my insurance has never helped in the past.  I need to start lifting weights and doing whole body strength training.  Running is out of the question, hence the reason I am no longer in the military.  I'm probably going to be riding without the right stirrup for a while, in an attempt to stop pushing my pony to left and causing her to develop back and other soundness issues.  I hope I can get this resolved - Claudia was looking at me a little wild-eyed, wondering what in the hell she's gotten herself into.  Next lesson, she wants to come out and watch me ride Ruby, but due to the higher lesson fee plus travel (she's over an hour a way) and my budget constraints, that's not going to happen right away.  C'est la vie. 

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Trailer loading

Poor Ruby should not have balked when asked to load yesterday.  Before unloading after our ride yesterday, I knew that we were going to do some training today.  Gotta nip this in the bud before it turns into a huge problem.

We practiced sending again before approaching the trailer.  When I attempted to send her into the trailer, she tried some minor evading but nothing too bad - definitely not crazy or dangerous.  I started tapping her left hip when she was lined up with the trailer, and she popped her front feet up there.  She paused so I started tapping again and she loaded right up.  I didn't need the crop again.  I unloaded her, loaded her, unloaded her, loaded her - you get the picture. After a few repetitions, I tied her in the trailer with her hay net and went to clean her stall.  She took turns tied to the barn with no hay or tied in the trailer with hay while I did chores.  By the time we were done, there was no hesitation at all when asked to load.  I think we'll do this once a week for a while to make sure that we have no more issues.

Monday, August 25, 2014

Tenoroc Trail Ride

I got an email last week stating the FSHC was planning a ride at Tenoroc this morning.  Their ride start times for Monday morning are 9 am, which is difficult for me due to other obligations but I figured I'd attempt to make it. If they left before I got there, we would ride anyways and maybe run into them on the trail.

Wouldn't you know that the morning I don't have any extra time is the time that Ruby decides she doesn't want to load.  For the first time, ever...I retrieved my crop and we did some refreshing on 'sending' and then went to the trailer again.  She tried to evade a few times but did eventually load herself in the trailer and stand there quietly while I climbed in, tied her, put on her fly mask, and closed the divider. I don't know what got into her.  I always drive very carefully knowing full well that some horses don't like to load because they don't enjoy being thrown around in the trailer. Anyways, we arrived at Tenoroc ten minutes before ride time.

It was just Jerre (actual spelling, pronounced Jerry) and Karen riding this morning and they were gracious enough to wait while I unloaded, groomed, and tacked Ruby.  Before I mounted up, Jerre asked if Karen or I were in any hurry.  When we replied that we had until this afternoon, he said he wanted to ride out, come back to the trailers for a quick break, and then ride another 3-4 miles before calling it a day.  A perfect training opportunity for Ruby. 

One of the main reasons I wanted to make this ride is because the weather was supposed to be 8-10 degrees cooler than normal today, but back to killer heat by Friday.  It was absolutely blissful - partly cloudy with a steady breeze.  It almost felt cool a couple times. 

Ruby was obviously happy to have company, I could almost feel the relief that all the responsibility of watching for monsters was not on her overburdened shoulders.  We started out on the usual wide, grassy path but it wasn't long before Jerre had us all off-roading onto some mostly unused trails.

My favorite view in Tenoroc so far.  We were about 20 feet over the water, though that's hard to see in the pic.  

Cypress trees, spanish moss


After a mile or so, Jerre led us down a steep, 20 foot embankment.  Ruby handled it like a pro.  We circled around and rode by the many different ponds and waterways.  We only saw a few parked trucks with empty boat trailers, and not one alligator.  Jerre took us down to the end of a boat ramp to let the horses drink but Ruby was more interested in eating the plants at the edge of the water. On our way back to the trailer, I saw my first indigo snake cross the trail ahead of us, very cool!  Ruby led or followed depending on what the other horses were doing.  At one point, she did not want to let Cash (Karen's horse) pass but Ruby backed off when I asked.

Jerre and Karen had a lot questions about Ruby, as far as how she became mine.  I told them that I contacted the local mustang rescue late last year and let them know that I was looking for an endurance prospect - and how excited they were that they had an Araloosa mare.  I told them about how Ruby tried to run me down the first time I met her.  I explained what I know (or have been told) about her past, and how I restarted her myself this past January so whatever bad habits she has at this point are my fault and no one else's. 

Another nice view.  We must have been a whole 30 feet above sea level here.
Two hours and eight miles later, we made it back to the trailer for a short break.  I offered Ruby water (no go) then took her to the trailer to eat her hay.  Before I walked away, she peed, good girl!  Though I wish she wouldn't hold it on the trail.  At least this explained why she was dragging during the first part of the ride. 

The second part of the ride was very interesting.  Jerre led the way again, this time down a twisty, single track trail that he himself made.  The problem - the spiders...I have an irrational fear of spiders.  It has gotten better in my old age, so that now I can (kind of) handle being around them as long as they aren't on me.  Lucky for me, Jerre was leading the way and taking out the webs but seriously there were times that he had 3-4 large banana spiders crawling across his shoulders *shudder*.  In an effort to miss the spiders still hanging from their webs and tree branches, I was doing crazy contortionist moves in the saddle.  It truly was a great little trail but it's one that I won't be using again until winter.  After a mile and a half or so, it popped us back out onto the north loop, much to my relief.  I was trying hard not to have an anxiety attack by this point - at least I'll know why if I suddenly stop getting FSHC ride emails.

Happy to lead the way
By this time we were getting close to the gun range.  It was very loud which is probably how we got close enough to startle the coyote.  He jumped out of the brush on the right side of the trail about 30 feet in front of us, ran down the trail a bit, then ducked back into the woods on our left. Ruby was leading when it happened.  She paused for a second mid-step, then continued on.  She's getting so brave!

Back at the trailers I offered Ruby water again, and she refused again.  Silly mare.  I stripped her tack and hosed her off.  Jerre made a point to tell me that I have a nice little mare and I have to agree.  Not one spook, and she was happy to go back out again after our break earlier in the day.  We did have more loading problems when it was time to go home (!!!!!!) and so we'll be working on that tomorrow.  We rode 11.7 miles and averaged 3.7 mph.  That brings Ruby's trail riding total to only 82.5 miles according to Strava.  I'm so proud of her - she's turning into quite the little trail horse.  I can hardly wait to start adding a little speed. 

Saturday, August 23, 2014

On knuckleheads

Ruby, Ruby, Ruby.  I discovered this on her right hip this morning.

Honestly mare, what have you done to yourself now????  As evidenced by the one flap of skin, the scratches start at the bottom left and angle to the upper right.  Bizarre. 

And on her left front:

Two little scratches, obviously not as deep as the ones on her hip.
Both areas were covered with dirt and had to be rinsed.  The only possibility that I can come up with is that she rolled on something sharp. But what?  Our pastures are not fenced with barb wire.  I walked to all of the sandy roll spots in her pasture, drug my boots through the sand, and didn't find anything but, well, sand.  I let Heather know so she can thoroughly check the other horses for marks and wrack her brain for what might have happened. 

Ruby did not seem to be sore, and neither spot could be rubbed by tack, so I decided to be evil and ride this morning anyways.  Ruby was a knucklehead from the get-go.  First, she tried to balk a few times when being led down the road. Now this could be because she does not like to walk on the soft edge of the road if there are (monster-hiding) trees on either side of said road.  I trimmed her yesterday so she may have been a little tender-footed on the pavement, but mare, honestly, if that is the problem why not just walk on the soft stuff?  She definitely walked faster when finally encouraged that the edge is the place to be.  When I got down to the corner to mount up, she attempted to graze instead of standing still, grrr.  When asked to move off, she took that as a cue to TROT ON.  No, mare, that is not what we're doing.  When she slowed to a walk, she decided I must want her to graze. No. Mare. 

We continued on and she was mostly good (other than the occasional trying to trot) until we turned around for home.  One day very soon, I'm going to have to ride Ruby out, and then round pen the tar out of her upon returning home.  But not today, it was waaaaay too hot.  The journey home was turning into a battle of sorts.  We did one-rein stops, we did stopping and backing, we did stopping and standing still, etc.  It wasn't like this every step of the way but still enough that I was getting pissed.  When we were approaching the barnyard gate, I could feel Ruby warring with herself again.  She knew what would happen if she picked up a trot or turned towards the gate without being asked, but her excitement again won out over her will power.  So, we trotted on down the road a ways, then we turned around and walked quietly back to the gate.  This was one of those rides where the horse and the rider really have a hard time getting in sync with each other but it was still a good training ride.  And I know I can't complain.  Not once was I in fear that she was going to do something dangerous that would get us hurt.  I'll take it. 

Friday, August 22, 2014

End of the week update

Road riding yesterday did not go well, mostly due to people speeding up behind us.  Actually Ruby did very well, it was me who was having the problem.  I just don't trust people not to hit us.  Hell, in this area you can't trust people to not run red lights (unless you want to die, you look both ways before going on green, no lie).  I attempted to ride on a different road yesterday but we'll be sticking to our little road from now on.

Afterwards, though, I did find a way to the park behind us, woohoo!  It will require a little bush-whacking but I can handle that.

Today I trimmed Ruby's feet.  I'm going to have to start taking her heels down more because they are becoming under run.  It makes me nervous because it doesn't look like there's any extra to take off.  Her white lines are showing great improvement, and all of those little toe cracks shown in the last photo set are now gone so I feel like we're making progress.  I'll post more pics soon.

ETA: I should have some Easyboot Gloves on the way, now I just have to find some used Renegades. 


Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Circle, circle, circle

Today I dared to tack Ruby up for a short arena ride.  Short because at 8:30 this morning, she was sweating while standing still.  Now that we have the new bridle, it's time to work on our outstandingly atrocious circles.

I have been ashamed to mention this on the blog because it's kind of embarrassing (especially considering how long Ruby and I have been together) but our circles aren't, well, circular.  On a good day, we would be able to make a relatively smooth oval.  On our bad days, our circles were generally diamonds or, if Ruby was feeling cheeky, a shape that on a kid's cartoon would resemble a lumpy pile of vomit.

I wondered if this issue was being exacerbated by the side pull. It's difficult to have any kind of 'supporting rein' when your horse is wearing a rawhide nose band.  This is also one reason why I haven't yet asked for a canter from Ruby - I have steering at the trot, but not smooth, steady steering. It was almost as if we were turning a second or two late which sometimes caused over-correcting on my part.

Let's just say that we made actual circles today, both at the walk and at the trot (with bend, holy cow!).  We did figure eight's that actually looked like eights. We were doing so well that for the first time ever, we attempted spiraling in and out.  They will obviously need improvement but WE DID IT.  ACTUAL CIRCLES.

Ok, I'm done now.  



Tuesday, August 19, 2014

HEAT

All last weekend, we were being warned that this week is going to be the hottest so far this year.  Ugh, I thought, I don't want to miss an entire week of riding but I also don't want to pass out in the woods from heat stroke.  The forecast is only 3-4 degrees above what we have had for the last month or so, but the heat is already oppressive.  Hello, dog days of summer.

I did not ride yesterday but this morning wasn't so bad so we rode through the pastures.  I'm just going to play it by ear.  If I wake up one morning to a nice breeze, maybe Ruby and I will go for a real trail ride.  Fingers crossed.

Friday, August 15, 2014

No trail ride for me...

Gloomy skies
It was sunny at my apartment but had just stopped raining when I got to the barn this morning.  I even saw lightening on the drive, so I was pretty bummed out.  When I parked at the barn, I went ahead and checked the weather radar.  It looked like the barn was in a pocket between storms, and it was possible that it would stay that way but there was no way to be sure.  I decided to tack Ruby up and listen for thunder.  If there was no thunder or lightening during that time, I would ride around the neighborhood but the risk of having to bail out on my planned ride was too high to bother hooking up the trailer and hauling out. 

Ruby was being a bit of a prima donna about the wet and the mud.  This is her trying to keep her tootsies dry.


All tacked up, my girl is starting look like an endurance horse!  Hopefully we'll be able to trade in our 'wannabe' status for 'endurance team' next fall. 

She looks so spiffy in blue.
Chipmunk cheek in horse form:


Reminding me of a hamster
I did things a little differently this morning and mounted up right after leaving the property, instead of walking her for a bit first.  She was a little full of herself, and started striding out immediately.  We were booking - not one short stride on the pavement today, so our recent road rides may have made her feet a bit tougher.  Instead of turning left on the main road, we turned right.  There are more horses and a lot more activity on this side, but Ruby was handling it very well.  Until.  I will admit that I have gotten a bit complacent and so was completely unprepared when Ruby spooked. What did she spook at?  A little girl sitting on her own porch. But anyways, Ruby started scooting to the right, off the road, down into a shallow ditch.  I was pretty unconcerned and didn't take up the reins fast enough...When Ruby realized that nothing was stopping her, she decided to try to take off at a fast trot, straight away from the noise she spooked at.  Lesson learned.  She didn't get more than a stride in, but I now know that if I don't shut her down immediately, she will not choose to stick around after a spook.  All of the commotion actually caused the girl to give out a little shriek, which I'm sure validated Ruby's reaction in her own mind.  Anyway, now she was totally worked up.  Not bad but quickly turning into reacting freight train mode (hard to turn, hard to stop, FORWARD, FORWARD, FORWARD).  I asked her to turn around and cross the ditch again, which she did beautifully.  She did eventually see the little girl but did not make the connection to the noise that scared her.  We continued down the road until the next dead end street, which we have never explored.  Looking back now, it was probably a bad idea to ask her to turn down a completely new street when she was worked up, but I wanted to get off the main road in case there were any more shenanigans.  On the left side of this new road, there were two fenced yards with barking dogs, on the right side another dog came running out from his hiding spot.  Ruby is not afraid of dogs but all of the commotion was not helping her nerves.  We rode down to the end of this road, turned around and came back without incidence other than Ruby having ants in her pants.  At this point, I decided to head back to the barn - she was all for that plan.  We had two episodes of her trying to break into a trot on the way home.  This is what usually happens: I can feel Ruby just on the verge of trotting.  I usually say something along the lines of, "Don't do it." She wrestles internally with herself but generally her excitement wins out over her will power.  I ask nicely for her to come back to a walk (slight squeeze of my fingers, lean back a bit).  Sometimes she will ignore that, in which case I ask her to turn around and have her trot a forward, straight line in the opposite direction.  This usually cements my point for the next 20 yards or so and we have to do it again.  On our second episode, she actually tossed her head a bit and stomped her foot when I asked for that trot away from home.  Instead of laughing (the usual when she's being ridiculous), I yelled that she better not try that crap with me.  She considered for a second, let out a huge sigh, and when I asked I got a very nice trot.  We continued on and everything was roses until we got to our turn and she tried to pull towards it.  Instead, we walked by, turned around and walked back by, then took our turn.  I rode her past the barn gate before dismounting.  It was a short but very good - and thankfully dry - ride. 

Thursday, August 14, 2014

So far this week

Note: Multi-day posts are written on the day referenced, so will say today, tomorrow, etc. even if posted days later. 

Sunday: I trimmed Ruby's hooves and measured her front feet for boots.  They are 4.75" long and 4.75" wide.  I've put up an ad or two looking for used boots, either Renegades or Easyboot Gloves.  I would like to try out both types to see which fit Ruby best before spending the money for new.  Buying the wrong boots would be an expensive mistake. 

Monday: I finally got to see why there were so many road maintenance vehicles parked on the barn road - they were getting set up to re-pave it this morning.  I debated riding along the road today but I had one last hope for finding a back way into the park, so I saddled up.  I had to walk between some parked vehicles and the 'crazy horse' pasture - there was just enough room.  Ruby was much more concerned about the horses than the moving, beeping, steaming equipment a few feet away on the road.  I walked her down to the first corner before mounting up and rode to the area in question.  It looks like it needs to be explored on foot before asking a horse to follow - I might do that tomorrow.  On the way back, during one of Ruby's 'we're not going fast enough' episodes, I heard the distinct clink-clink of glass.  Luckily she didn't get cut, or even seem to notice but I'll feel much better when we've got boots! I dismounted after the next curve and walked her back home with no issues.  Oh, and my Evolution bridle from Rock Moss Endurance came in the mail! 

Tuesday: I got to try out my new bridle from Moss Rock.  I was very worried going into this - the last bitless bridle that I tried was horribly designed and has been sent back.  I should have trusted though; Lisa knows her stuff and designed this bridle herself.  First, I went to fit it as a halter:

I ended up taking the throat latch up a hole or two after this picture; but it fits!  Ruby is trying not to fall asleep.

So far, so good.  I finished tacking up and decided to try it as a side pull first.  I took her for a spin around the barnyard and she was doing very well - a huge improvement over the last bridle, in which she acted like she had no idea when I was asking for a stop.  Now I was really starting to look forward to trying it as a cross-under bitless bridle.  Ruby was fantastic while I finagled my way through getting the reins on properly.  I decided to stay in the barnyard while she got used to it.  Again, she was very responsive; barely a squeeze of my fingers was enough to get a turn or stop.  I was very happy to see that this particular bitless does not have the release issue that some have.  She was doing so well that I decided to put it through the ultimate on-property test: riding in the larger arena with the gate open.  Ruby has two main bad habits. The first is that, in this arena in particular, she will try to go towards the gate.  She doesn't head towards the gate, she will turn her head in the direction you are asking, but she will bend her body towards it and before you know it, you're doing a half pass towards the gate.  Her second bad habit is that walking is not always fast enough in her eyes - she wants to trot All. The. Time.  Generally speaking she was respectful of the side pull, but there were times that I had to be much harsher than I wanted.  Occasionally at the end of a trail ride, she would have a small rubbed spot on her nose from the rawhide nose band.  I was very happy to see that she cannot blow through this bridle.  Whereas it would sometimes take me 6-7 strides of trot to bring her back to a walk, I was able to do it in 1-2.  She was also unable to blow through my cues and drift towards the gate.   I am more than pleased with this bridle, I'm ecstatic! 

'Cookie?'
Things I like about the design: the part of the reins that cross under the jaw are a thinner width, which seems to ensure that there are no hang-ups when giving the horse their release.  The throat latch lays flat (does it bug anyone else when they twist awkwardly?).  There is only one piece of beta over the poll, so there is no chance that the horse's skin will be pinched or mane/forelock will be pulled.  The browband is long enough that the cheek pieces aren't too close to the eyes, and there will be no pinching near the ears.  Lisa really did a great job designing this bridle.  Heather is going to try it out on Candy tomorrow; she may be putting in an order of her own soon. 

And a quick little side note - Ruby threw in two strides of canter on Tuesday when we were supposed to be trotting.  This is the first time we've done anything over a trot as I wanted to get some other issues straightened out first (including my own!).  She was very balanced but I brought her back down to a trot immediately because I hadn't asked for a canter.  Soon, my dear!

Wednesday: Ruby got a day off while Heather tried out the new bitless on Candy.  Not sure yet that this bridle will work on a more stubborn, less sensitive horse.  She only had a few minutes to try it out so wasn't able to get a good feel for it.

Thursday: a busy day! My kids had their school orientation this morning and the hubby is taking me to a concert tonight.  I have plans (that hopefully won't need to be cancelled again!) to go trail riding tomorrow.  So, no riding for me today; Ruby's starting to look at me like I'm forgetting something :)

Saturday, August 9, 2014

Phobias

I thought I would mention that Ruby believes that boogie men live in A/C units.  There is something about noises coming from a box that gives her the heebie jeebies.  I find this to be very amusing.  That is all.

Another road riding adventure

Yesterday evening, I spent time on Google Maps attempting to find a back way into the park that borders some of the properties near the barn.  I found a trail that looked very promising, so I checked the street view.

Snippet of Google Maps view showing the trail, woohoo!
To get to the trail, I would have to ride maybe 3/4 of a mile on the busy 45 mph road near the barn, only one short stretch of which would have skinny shoulders.  Originally, I was going to wait until next week to check it out but the trail ride scheduled for this morning was cancelled, so went today instead.  It looked like the trail into the park was a good 3-4 miles long, so Ruby got to eat from her hay bag while tacking up - it made her morning, lol.  Same as yesterday, I led her down to the first corner then mounted up.  The road maintenance equipment was still parked on the barn road.


I saw several people out in their yards today, all of which seemed to be happy and surprised to see someone out riding.  I was passed by a few polite drivers and two speeding knuckleheads, but Ruby was was unfazed.  We made it to the yard with the black and white dog much sooner than yesterday but I was very happy to see that the gate was closed this morning.  B&W's side kick is an ancient yellow Lab, who is LOUD and made the first dog much bolder but we made it by that property with Ruby barely acknowledging their antics.  Next up was an old Arabian in a pasture that wanted to visit, but again, Ruby had better things to do.  We made it all the way down to the main road without incident, where I hopped off to determine our next steps.  I let Ruby graze beside me while I gazed down the road...and reconsidered.

I tried to see how I could get us safely to the place where the shoulders widen out again but I couldn't find a good way to make it happen.  My original plan was to dismount, wait for a break in the traffic, and jog her on the shoulder to the 'safe zone', starting at the next street over.  The connection that I didn't make before standing there is that the traffic was coming towards us around a small curve.  The speed limit here is 45 but right before the curve, the road slims down from four lanes to two.  A LOT of people speed up to pass before the road narrows and are still speeding when they come around the curve.  There's no way for them to see (assuming they would care) a horse and person right beside the road before the curve.  I let Ruby graze while I thought, and looked, and thought again but let's face it - I don't want either of us to ever become hood ornaments, so we turned around.

On the left (the part I was thinking of jogging) you can see the thin strip of grass that is the shoulder. It dips down into a 3-4 foot deep ditch.  The farthest car has just come around the curve I mentioned.  This picture was taken near noon and this area is much more shaded in the morning when I was riding.  I may be able to travel down the shoulder on the right though, hmm.
A few minutes after we turned back, a guy brought his little girl out to pet the pony.  The poor child was very excited to meet Ruby until she realized just how big she was, lol (big being relative, Ruby's only 14.2).  We parted ways and I decided to let Ruby graze for a minute when the shoulder widened out again.  I was sitting there, watching for cars and dogs when I saw movement.  The black and white dog was out, and maybe 60-70 feet away on the other side of the road.  Ruby continued to graze while I figured out what to do.  I'd just determined that it was not safe for us to ride down the main road, so this was our only known path home.  I knew that yesterday he was fairly non-confrontational but he was much more bold with his buddy.  I didn't see any sign of the Lab so I decided to dismount and lead Ruby past the property.  It was about this time that the dog saw us and started slowing trotting our way.  He kept looking over his shoulder for back up and the Lab started barking. With relief, I saw that the gate was still closed and the Lab was still in the yard.  B&W gave us a wide berth, occasionally barking at us as he trotted by.  He went to stand by his yard and watched, but didn't make any move to follow us.  About this time, someone came out of his house to yell at the barking dogs so I told her that one of her dogs was out.  She said, 'Oh, that's not my dog.  He just hangs around here - he was dropped off by someone.'  But she did come and get him off the street.  Thinking back, this may be the same dog I saw at another property weeks ago.  Anyway, I hope she decides to give the guy an official home, that or take him to the shelter where he won't die a painful death on the side of the road.  Ruby was glad to be heading home - a little too glad and was trying to break into a trot, silly mare.  When she did, I'd turn her around and make her trot the other way for a bit, then we'd turn around and try again.

The most blind of the blind curves, and the one closest to the barn. This is the good side, with wide shoulders, heading back to the barn. Immediately after this turn, the shoulders become deep ditches.  The only place to get off the road safely are the two driveways on the right (can't see in pic).  I apologize for the blinding quality of my photographs - iPhone cameras suck and I'm no picture-editing genius. 
We didn't see any more dogs or cars, but Ruby had one more mini-antic up her sleeve. As we got closer to the barn, she tried to trot to the barnyard gate without me asking, so she was forced to trot all the way to the end of the street and had to walk quietly back.   This is the worst of her acting up - I'll take it gladly!

'Where is my cookie, human?!'

Last on the agenda for this morning was measuring for boots.  Ruby is sometimes slightly ouchy when riding on pavement, so I'd at least like to get a used pair for her fronts.  Unfortunately, the only measuring tape I could find was marked in inches only, so that was a bust.  Besides that, to get a truly accurate measure, I'll probably need another set of hands as well.  I hope to accomplish this tomorrow.

Friday, August 8, 2014

Two short rides

Thursday - another short arena ride, though I almost chickened out because it was so hot.  With the new girth, Ruby tends to settle into a steady trot after half a circle or so.  She's not collected but it's nice that she doesn't feel like she could fall on her face at any moment.  We only rode for 15 minutes but it was enough that we were both drenched.

Unenthused before our ride on Thursday
Before I tell about Friday's ride, I should probably describe the roads around the barn.  The barn itself is on a dead-end, one-lane, 15 mph road.  There are wide, flat shoulders on both sides of this road.  The barn road meets a 25 mph, two-lane road shaped like a long rectangle.  One of the rectangle's short sides is a very busy, 45 mph road.  The corners of the other short side are very sharp, blind corners.  The entire rectangle is 2.5 miles long.  On this road, there are sometimes wide shoulders, sometimes deep ditches beside the road. 

Friday - it felt much cooler than usual so I drove to the barn with designs to talk Heather into going on a trail ride with me.  Unfortunately, she was already done with her barn chores before I made it out.   Instead of hauling Ruby, I decided to ride in the arenas and down the road a bit.  We rode in the small arena for 15 minutes or so, then went to the larger arena.  We rarely ride in this arena, and Ruby is more prone to pull back towards the gate for this reason.  When I got a straight, steady trot away from the gate in both directions, we headed off property.  I lead her for the first part of the ride, partially because there were several pieces of road maintenance equipment parked on the barn road, partially because we were going to go by a yard that had a loose dog last time.  The dog was no where to be seen today so I mounted up after the first corner.  Ruby was loose and swingy, relaxed but still alert.  I spotted a pile of tires on our left but she was unconcerned about them.  We trotted a bit on this short side, until Ruby tripped in the tall grass on the shoulder.  I originally planned to ride her all the way to the busy road, but things didn't quite go as planned.  About half way down the long side, I heard a dog bark.  With a sigh of relief, I realized that this dog was behind a fence, so Ruby and I kept going.  Then I noticed that the gate to the dog's yard was wide open. This dog was not behaving aggressively (not charging or biting the fence, he wouldn't even look at us if we were looking at him) but I decided not to tempt fate and we turned around.

Pretty orange grove we rode by
The ride back to the barn was calm and easy (love my mare!).  I let her graze for 5 minutes or so after we left the dog property behind; she acted like she could happily stay there all day.  When we were close to our turn-off for the barn, I heard a truck speeding around the blind corner behind us.  Luckily we were in a spot where we could get off the road and Ruby took me seriously when I asked her to move it.  The driver slowed down after seeing us, which was nicer than you can usually expect around here, but it still irked me a bit.  Anyway, we had a really great ride.  I have no idea if the yard with the dog usually has the gate open or if it was a fluke, but I'll probably be finding out soon.

PS.  Google Maps now shows trails and property lines!  VERY helpful for those looking for new trails. 

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

New addition

Unfortunately, last Friday's trail ride fell apart.  Heather and I did ride yesterday, but it was just through the pastures and down the road a bit.  The intense humidity makes every ride a little daunting, but I have hopes to go on a trail ride before the end of the week.

I have been up to something else as well.  My family adopted a pound puppy last week.  Her name is Stella.  She was obviously an outside dog but she's figuring things out.  Our Jack Russell, Cooper, goes from being ecstatic that there's another dog around to being bummed that he now has to share: dog beds, toys, people, etc.  Things are crazy, but good.