First solo ride

It went well, though not without its moments.  If you dare to look at the Strava link, you can see that the beginning of the ride had lots and lots (and lots) of circles.  Ruby was very up - she wanted to trot everywhere and (predictably) was not listening when asked to slow down so we did lots of one rein stops.  Even the one rein stops didn't stop her feet right away though; at one point, we circled so many times that I was actually getting dizzy!  When she was walking calmly, we headed to the trail *cue Jaws music*.  There was stopping, and ducking to the left or right in an attempt to get back to the trailer, but nothing too serious.  Even so, I was starting to feed off of her nerves so I turned on some tunes and started singing to calm myself.  There were moments of brilliance, when she was listening to slight cues and walking forward with impulsion like she knew what she was doing and maybe starting to enjoy herself a bit.  Then she was attacked by a monster horse fly, so I hopped down to lend my assistance.  That's when I heard the first peals of thunder, uh oh.  People and horses get struck by lightening all the time here in the Sunshine State so it was time to leave.   On the way back she was calm, forward, and rateable - a pleasant surprise, as I thought I was going to have a real fight on my hands with her trying to bolt back to the trailer.   When we got back to the trailer, I untacked and loaded her in record time.  Within two minutes of pulling out onto the road, I saw a lightning strike.  Somehow, the storm completely missed us during the drive and didn't hit the barn, phew!  Even though our ride was cut short, I feel like Ruby did very well - I am proud of my girl!  https://www.strava.com/activities/16125472

Ever-so-slightly worried about what her crazy human may have in store for her...

She passed!

One of the skills any good trail horse (not to mention a good endurance horse) has is the ability to go quietly down the trail alone.  In that vein, I have been slowly preparing Ruby for this skill.  In all honesty, this is something that she should have been exposed to by her fifth or sixth year at the latest, but with all of the other holes in her training I am sure it hasn't been done.  Today's ride was a test - I rode her by herself through the gelding pasture.  This is a pasture that she does not graze in and there are areas from which you can't see the barn, so she was definitely outside of her comfort zone.  She did try to duck back to the barn a few times but there were no spooks or hissy fits.  When we turned around she tried to rush back to the barn and was so adamant that I made her trot back AWAY from the barn - if there was going to be a fit, it should have been then.  Instead, Ruby did me proud so tomorrow will be our first attempt at trail riding completely alone.   I'm not going out there thinking that we are going to get down the trail without incident, instead I plan to ride her in the parking area to feel her out. If she has a meltdown, we'll do our usual arena workout close to the trailer.  If she seems good, we'll still do our usual workout but then we'll try the trail.  The place I'm going is small, completely fenced (including the parking area) and has no asphalt or gravel.  Fingers crossed that things go well!  In the meantime:

Ruby bran-mash-face...

and Bourbon bran-mash-face!

P.S.  Miss Anti-PDA now lets me hug her neck without pulling away.  And she comes to me when I call her, even if I'm not in sight.  Huge leaps of faith for her - I officially feel special. 

Another good day

Today was more of the same for Ruby and me.  We tacked up and went to the small arena.  After warming up, we trotted a pole a few times.  She still gets close to chickening out but when I keep posting, she will actually trot over it, funny girl.  At one point I asked her to trot a straight line in between a row of barrels and some poles...poor Ruby kept asking, 'Around the barrel?  No?  Then over the pole?  No?  Maybe around the next barrel?'  She really tries so hard.  And she's starting to respond to my seat when it comes to trot rhythm, yay! She has started collapsing her inside shoulder during sharper turns, so no more baby steering for her - I'm going to have to start supporting her through the turns with the outside rein and inside leg.  I haven't had any luck so far in finding a local dressage trainer for lessons so I might have to *shudder* haul Ruby.  I don't mind hauling other than the time it takes to hook up the trailer, pack all the stuff, load the horse, and repeat in reverse.  To do all of that for an hour-long lesson seems so wasteful.

After our time in the arena, we went for a walk down the road.  She was great, no spooking even when a truck and a four-wheeler drove by us. Mind you, I was on foot but I decided to swing up when we got back to our street.  She was rushy so I decided to keep going passed the gate back into the barnyard - she looked at the gate (on our left)  but kept going straight with just a tiny squeeze of my right hand.  No fussing, no drifting, awesome. 

On another note, Ruby is being bitten by something that is leaving huge welts and holes in her skin.  It caused the knot Ruby's face a month ago or so.  It also caused the welt that made Heather and I cancel our last trail ride before her vacation.  I've never seen anything like it, so bizarre.

And, I ordered Integri-Hoof supplement for Ruby.  I finally figured out that she hates her vitamin supplement (doh!) so it's time to figure something else out.  This is supposed to be a great vitamin and hoof supplement, so fingers crossed that she likes it!

Poker Ride

No one from the barn wanted to brave the heat (or get up at 4 am on a Sunday), so Ruby and I went to the ride solo.  Instead, I was supposed to meet a SEDRA mentor, but that didn't work either.  We still had a fabulous ride.

True to form, I nearly chickened out at the last minute.  Driving around here is not for the faint of heart, towing even less so, and towing in the (near) dark alone is something I was dreading.  I was going to have to hitch the trailer in the dark, load Ruby into a dark trailer, etc.  But you can always find reasons not to do things, huh?  Obviously, we went anyway.

I took a wrong turn and didn't make it in time to meet the mentor, so Ruby and I struck out on our own.  She was alert but not really nervous. It wasn't long before we caught up to a group of riders and I was having to hold Ruby back - have I mentioned that she has a ridiculously fast walk?  They offered to let us pass...and we just kept passing people.   We passed at least 30 horses - all by just out-walking them.  We trotted a few times but not for long stretches because she wasn't really watching her feet.  The trail changed from regular woods to grassy, open trail, to twisty single-track through thick, scrubby woods.

Ruby was fantastic.  She never got attached to any of the horses on the trail, and she was so brave.  The only time she got flustered is when we came up behind a horse-drawn buggy.  They were stuck when we came up on them and when they got unstuck she initially freaked when she thought the horse was being chased by the buggy, lol.  Her only real issue was watching her feet - I cannot always trust her not to trip over something, even if it's obvious.  I think she'll get over this as she gets more trail miles.  Oh, and my poor mare doesn't seem to have any sense of direction whatsoever - she always seems so surprised to find herself back at the trailer.  As we came out of the woods, a lady asked to take our picture so maybe we'll see it on the SEDRA website.  Unfortunately I didn't get any good pics today. 

We had a really good ride and I feel like we hit another milestone today.  No, we were not truly out there alone but Ruby and I were only out there with each other.  Oh, and this was the first trail ride that I haven't felt wiped out at the end - I know it's pathetic but also true.  https://www.strava.com/activities/159553482

Today's antics and other stuff

Today I thought we'd try some 10-10 transitions (ten walking strides, ten trot strides) and maybe start working on some baby roll backs in the arena.  Ruby was a good girl, especially considering all of the distractions she had to deal with - across the street, there were several large electric company trucks and a group of men (loudly) working.  I ended up moving the strides up to 20 with the idea that as she gets more responsive, we'll start cutting the number down.  As for the rollbacks, we really need to work on her backing.  She was doing very well with it before the trailer slip but we haven't done it much since.  Still, she did so well that I figured we'd take a trip down to the tack shop.

The tack shop is on a very busy road, though I don't have to ride down the busy road to get to it - the cross-street is our slow, country lane.  I've been thinking for a month or two that I need to start seriously working Ruby out and about on our own.  Heather is a great friend and I really enjoy riding with her but she has no endurance aspirations - after we start adding speed and distance, most of Ruby's rides are going to have to be solo.  With that in mind, I had to stop at the tack shop so thought, why not start today?  I left her halter on under the bridle, tied the lead rope around her neck and walked her out.  The plan was to walk past the crazy mares on the corner and the crazy geldings down the road a bit, then if she was calm, I'd mount up and ride down to the tack shop.

She was looky and worried about leaving the barnyard, and it wasn't long before she starting trying to lead me - not happening.  She had this same bad habit when I first brought her home, so I corrected it the same way.  When she walked ahead and wasn't paying attention, I stopped and made her circle around me.  This would have been much easier with a crop but I honestly didn't expect any problems today *sigh*.  She started getting lazy about moving her hindquarters so I began pushing into her with my fingertips.  Instead of moving out, she flinched her muscles then decided to kick out.  She intentionally did not kick me - she missed me by so much that I didn't feel the wind even though she kicked with enough force to easily break my leg and send me flying.  Amusingly, I saw her almost stop herself and then decide, what the hell, why not?  She's never done anything like this before, crazy mare!  Anyway, I started yelling and getting crazy, and backing her up.  When she lowered her head we continued on our walk.  Amazingly, I had no more respect issues.

Several vehicles passed us while we were out and all but one were extremely polite as they went by, hallelujah.   She started to get nervous again when we walked into the parking lot of the shop - understandable because the speed limit is such that the vehicles make a loud 'whoosh' sound as they go by.  I tied her, stood with her until she was settled, then walked to the door.  I was checking to see if they'd gotten something in, so didn't have to go into the store itself and we left a few minutes later.  She started getting nervous again when leaving - there was a large box making a strange noise (an A/C unit) and a dog barking.  She was much better heading back home and I thought about mounting up but decided not to push my luck any further today.  We're going to have to do things like this more often.

In other news, I found a new (to me) endurance website with a conditioning plan.  I really like that this one places so much emphasis on slowly building a solid foundation: Perseverance Endurance  I think we'll start this conditioning plan once I can get her riding solo consistently.  Depending on Ruby's fitness level, we will probably only do 4-6 weeks walking even though she is barefoot.  We will do the full three months for the trotting stage though.  That means that starting LDs this year is unlikely, especially if there are any breaks in training, say for hurricanes or other nonsense.  There are plenty of other things to do  - I may take her to the next distance riding clinic and the fun ride is still a go.

Unfortunately (or excellent training opportunity, depending on your view), it looks like I might be riding alone at the poker ride this weekend. That is, if I can scrounge up the nerve to haul for 2-3 hours by myself.

Nope, she's not that white - she's just that shiny.

Poker Ride this weekend

Members of the local distance riding club are holding a poker ride this weekend.  Why?  To benefit a young mare who was injected with gasoline...gasoline!  Another horse was also injected and, unfortunately, had to be put down.  Unbelievable and scary, and they'll probably never catch the sicko.  Ugh, I hate people sometimes!

Slacker!

At least when it comes to blogging (and homework).  Heather has been out of town, so I've been feeding the horses, turning them out and cleaning a few stalls in the morning.  I've also had no one to go trail riding with, so Ruby and I have been spending a lot of time in the arena.  I'm pleased to report that her arena-attitude is pretty much gone and she's trotting for longer periods, with some steering!  Oh, and in a snaffle bit.  Today was particularly tortuous....

First we did a few stretches.  She had no idea what I was doing, but she tried.  We started out on the lunge line in the small arena.  After she was warmed up a bit, she trotted three poles in both directions so we went back to the barn to tack up.  Now, generally speaking, when we go back to the barn that means work is over.  Ruby was very perky thinking that she was going to be diving into her hay at any moment.

Instead, I tied her up and brought the saddle out.  I could almost hear her say 'Damn' but she was a good girl and stood stock-still while I saddled her up.  Walked back to the small arena and mounted up.  Yesterday I was getting attitude when trotting to the left, but not so much today so I have no idea what was bugging her.  After a while, we walked over the poles a few times, then I decided to see how she would react to trotting over them.  Poor Ruby, she really tried for me but at the last minute lost her confidence and dropped to a walk.  That's ok, we'll just keep practicing.

After thirty minutes or so, I hopped down to open the arena gate, mounted up and rode to the larger arena.  She's never ridden in this arena alone before but she did well.  More circles, more transitions.  She's learning to leg-yield on these circles - progress!

Finally, I decided to ride her down the road a bit.  I have taken her for walks down the road, and ridden down the road with Heather, but I've never ridden her off property by herself before.  We rode down the road a bit, turned around and rode back past the gate a bit and did it again.  When riding by the gate, she would try to scoot over to it but there were no freak-outs or melt-downs.  For a first time, especially considering how little confidence she has, I think she did fabulously.  I'm going to try to make this a regular part of our routine.

Oh, and one more little tidbit.  Ruby does not like taking a bit.  The first time I tried to get her to accept a bit, it took me 45 minutes or so to get her to take it (yes, I had her teeth done before this because I'd seen Jenny try to bridle her once).  Today when I was removing the bridle, something caught it on the other side of her face.  I think the full-cheek snagged on the halter.  Anyway, Ruby went to pull her head away, then realized that she was still tied.  She got that crazy look in her eye and started to really pull back but stopped when I said 'easy'.  Made my day that she trusts me that much :D

I'm on pins and needles waiting for my Evolution bridle from Moss Rock Endurance. Hopefully it will arrive sometime next month, but I won't be surprised if it takes until August or longer.  Patience is not my strong suit!  In the meantime, I found another great blog to read: Wait for the Jump.