Last night about 9:15, I unloaded a new horse from the trailer into the barn. He had spent 6 hours getting hauled in from VT. Since we took this one sight unseen, Anna and I put him in the cross-ties and checked him over. At the end of the barn, there was a 10 year old girl sneaking around in the shadows trying to catch a glimpse of the new pony. When we spied her, she darted back into the house. I went inside and told Vicki it was ok for her to join us in the barn, so with a huge grin, she grabbed her jacket, slipped her boots back on, and happily followed me back out.
He was a little lonely today, turned out in a paddock alone, so Devil got to join him. They made fast friends and spent the afternoon mowing any new shoots of grass.
After work, I had a few trim appointments and then finally got home to get to know my new mount. His shoes were just pulled this weekend, so the first order of business was to get him fitted with boots. One benefit of being a dealer (and having 6 other horses on the farm using boots) is I can usually fit a horse with something we have on hand. Once that was taken care of, we tacked up and headed to the arena.
Introducing Mojo! He is a register Half Arabian (the other half is Dutch Harness Horse) and his registered name is Money Shot. Mojo is owned by a local farrier who has been following our story and thought we were the right match for her horse. Mojo is 10 years old, 15.3 hh, and 850 lbs. He has long legs, a long back, and a narrow barrel. He spent the early part of his life as an arena/show horse and has spent about the last 3 years as a trail, endurance, and CTR mount. He seems very well matched for our desire of a versatile horse for some dressage, eventing, and endurance. We are a little concerned that Vicki may try to claim him.
As the light was fading fast, I did manage to get about 30 minutes of saddle time on him tonight. This weekend we are doing a 25 mile Limited Distance endurance event with NEATO, so that will be a true test of our compatibility. We have him on an extended trial, so stay tuned for more Mojo!
Today, we joined a group ride with NEATO (New England Arabian Trail Organization) at Pattaconk State Forest, which was a new venue for us. We rode just the single 10 mile loop. We were originally planning to do 18 miles, but the day got started a little later than planned and we had 5 flat tires on the trail. A “Flat Tire” on the trail is our code word for a boot problem. We have been having a lot of boot problems lately, but we have some Renegade boots on order and hopefully, that will reduce the number of boot casualties.
This comic is such an amazingly accurate illustration of my relationship with Echo. Don’t get me wrong, Echo and I are getting along great. But out on the trail, he goes into full Arab mode. Last summer, Misti literally spooked at a Butterfly crossing the road ahead of us. It seems Echo is quite untrusting of rocks. In particular large rocks on the side of the trail, flat rocks in the road, and rocks that are a different color than other rocks. Throughout the ride today, as Echo would veer to the side, Anna would laugh and say “Perhaps a bush.” It was the scary mud puddle that caused a spook resulting in my forward somersault over Echo’s shoulder.
Even though we didn’t ride as far as originally planned, it was a good training ride and I think we are still on track for Alex and Vicki to do their first 25 mile ride in May. Echo, Dakota, Nike, and Devil all did great.
This morning we awoke to just under an inch of snow. This has been one of the weirdest winters (and now springs) since we moved to CT 10 years ago. By the time we went out for morning chores, it was still snowing, but the snow on the ground was melting. By lunch, the wind was blowing enough to drop the wind chill a fair amount and the snow on the trees was turning to ice. So we went for a trail ride.
Amanda came to breakfast in her mermaid wrap that was made for her at Christmas by a family friend.
Today’s trail ride featured 6 miles of an air temperature about 37F, wind chill in the 20s, and ice constantly hitting us (and the horses) as it blew out of the trees. There were only 4 of us on today’s ride: I was on Echo, Alexis on Ace, Vicki on Devil, and Alex on Dakota. The 3 ponies did great. Echo was great for the first half. When we hit the turnaround point, I moved him from lead horse to last horse. He didn’t care for that and it made the second half of the ride more interesting. He wasn’t bad, but he didn’t want to trot behind the others. It is definitely an area we will have to keep on working on. I did decide to run him out a little to burn off some of the energy (the ponies were all happy to keep trotting along quietly as we pulled away for a couple of minutes). Echo established a new top end speed today at 25.8 mph. He sustained higher than 20 mph for 1/4 mile, but we had to pull up when 3 of his 4 boots had come off and were holding on by the gaiters. I’m not really convinced the Gloves (hoof boot) are designed for speeds above 20 mph because that seems to be when we consistently have problems. I also rode Echo in an S Hack today for the first time. I was overall satisfied with the control and stopping power. The advantage of riding in a hackamore when doing trail/distance riding is it is easier for the horses to stop and eat/drink at breaks along the way. Next weekend we will do a longer conditioning ride with at least Dakota, Devil, and Echo as we continue to prepare for our first 25 miler of the season in May.
This morning the kids were up and hunting eggs at 7. There are no pictures, because like I said, the kids were up. They did follow the “rules for the egg hunt”. Vicki decided to make up rules for the Easter egg hunt and posted them on the fridge yesterday. Here are the rules:
No waking anybody ’till 7:00.
No starting to gather eggs ’till everybody is up and ready.
No opening eggs ’till you are inside (plastic eggs filled with candy).
No stealing eggs from other egg hunters. (Amanda’s rule)
No bikes. (Amanda’s rule to prevent the older siblings from having an advantage)
No candy before breakfast.
Have fun!
Apparently, it was also a competition (because Vicki is quite competitive) and there were pre-determined criteria for the winners.
1st place – Golden egg
2nd place – Silver egg or most eggs
3rd place – Least eggs
It took about 30 minutes for the egg hunt to be completed and judged. I know this, because at 7:30 Amanda showed up in our room crying because she lost. Actually, she got second, which was evident when Alex got upset because a 5-year-old beat him. Vicki collected 70 eggs including the golden egg (can you tell she is competitive). Amanda had 43. Alex had 39. There was no sympathy for the losers. We had a discussion about losing. Not everyone wins in this family.
Earlier in the week, we spent almost 6 hours (4 of which included all the kids) working on cleaning up the tack room in the barn. Saddles and bridles were cleaned. Tack was reorganized. Items were identified to be sold. This morning, we cleaned up the tack room in the horse trailer and then loaded the trailer to haul out for a trail ride.
Today was the first time we ever hauled 5 horses and ponies in our trailer so the whole family could ride off-site. We have a 4 horse slant load trailer, but the rear tack folds flat. Devil and Huey have no problem sharing that space. We left them loose like in a stock trailer and they had plenty of room to move and turn around. We hauled out to Arcadia, which is less than 20 minutes away. Amanda has been on many trail rides with Huey at home, but this was the first time she got to ride him at an away event. Anna still keeps a lead line from Dakota to Huey.
The weather was nice in the mid 50s by the time we were ready to ride and we opted to ride from the Midway parking area, which gives immediate access to nice open fields. The ride wasn’t as peaceful as some, because Amanda kept yelling “Faster!” “Canter Huey, Canter!” We knew her stamina wouldn’t be great with the trotting and cantering (and the temps). Huey was a rock star. He walked, trotted, and cantered at all the right times. Amanda had a blast. She is definitely a speed demon. While she probably isn’t ready for the hunter paces quite yet, she is light years ahead of where Alex and Vicki were at her age as far as trail experience and confidence goes.
Amanda was satisfied after 4.3 miles in 50 minutes (a 5.1 mph average). When we arrived back at the trailer, there was a quick change of Alex off Nike and onto Dakota. Nike and Huey stayed at the trailer with Anna and Amanda while Echo, Dakota, and Devil went back out with Alex, Vicki and I for another 5.7 miles. The second outing was almost all trotting except for short walk breaks and a little cantering at the end. Alex and Vicki have decided they plan to join me for a 25 mile ride in May and it’s time to get kids and ponies ready for the ride.
The second round was a good workout for all involved. Devil is the one we are most concerned about because his legs are so much shorter than Echo’s and Dakota’s. We determined that Devil was able to maintain a nice consistent trot up to almost 8 mph. We were able to average 6.3 mph on our second round, which is well above what we need to average to complete the ride in May. With the kids, faster is actually better because time in the saddle and keeping them fueled with calories will be the biggest challenges. Alex and Vicki tested out wearing their Camelbacks during the ride and that seemed to work. It eliminates them needing any kind of saddle bags and allows them to sip water continuously during the ride. We also bought both of them triathlon shorts to wear under their riding pants to reduce the risk of rubs from 4-5 hours of saddle time as we increase the distances.
By the time we wrapped things up, temps had dropped back into the 40s. Everyone was happy to get home, unload all the gear, do evening chores, and head inside for dinner. We enjoyed some Easter cupcakes for dessert made by Anna, Vicki, and Amanda.
Group selfie
Alex trying to get into the picture
Group selfie
Life through Echo’s ears
Vicki and Devil
Alex and Nike
Quick water break. It’s hard for Anna to drink and hold a lead line to Huey while moving.
Alex on Dakota in a pond. Just a quick water stop for the ponies.
This year has been one of the mildest winters we have ever experienced in CT. The nice weather means more time in the saddle on the trails. On Sunday, Anna, Alex, and I went out for a ride with some new friends (including Echo’s owner). We rode about 8 miles and the temps were in the upper 50s.
Our long time friends, Jeremiah and Tracy Minner have been in the area for a few weeks while Jeremiah is in school in Newport. Anna and Tracy have been getting together with the kids for activities a couple of times each week. Today, Anna took the kids to Newport where she and Tracy took them to The Breakers and spent time walking along the cliffs and shore. Then they headed back to the resort where the Minners are staying for some time in the pool.
When I got home from work and it was 70F outside! Anna and the kids were still in Newport, so I saddled up Echo for some solitude on the trails. This was my first time taking Echo out alone and it went great. We headed out without a specific agenda. I put some Gloves on him for the first time before we went out. It is quite rocky on the forest roads and I see it as cheap insurance. Echo has been ridden in Renegades in the past, but I prefer Gloves for jumping and wanted to see how he did in them. We didn’t have any issues with interference or boots coming off. It was a short sleeves day when I headed out, but I put a lightweight wind breaker in my pack just in case. By the time it was getting dark, temps had dropped to around 60 and there were a few drops of rain hitting me, so I put on the jacket. Echo kept on moving while I flapped a jacket around and got it on – it didn’t phase him in the least. The last mile and a half was a good 30 minutes after sunset. Echo didn’t have any problems continuing to trot down the trails in the dark. It was nice to do a ride on a horse that moves forward and isn’t afraid of every shadow. I a really enjoying his pace and I think we will be a good team. When it was all done, we had covered 9.5 miles – not bad for a weeknight.
I’m looking forward to more riding in the early spring weather!
The weather has been great and the horse activities are in full swing. Alex and Vicki participated in a Pony Club games clinic on Saturday afternoon and again Sunday morning. After a quick bite of lunch, Anna and I loaded Dakota in the trailer and headed out to meet “Oh Electric Echo”. We have been in conversation for a while with Echo’s owner, and today was out test ride. We joined up for a trail ride that was about 5 miles long. Everything seemed to go well, so our trailer returned home with 2 horses instead of 1.
It was after dark by the time we got home, so a couple of pictures in the barn was all we could grab. We did get a nice group photo from the ride. In the group photo, Anna is the second from left on Dakota and I am the right hand rider on Echo.
Echo is an 11-year-old (12 in May), 16.1hh, chestnut Arabian gelding. He did 3 limited distance endurance rides last year. From our test ride today, he has a serious go button, but was very confident and not nervous on the trails. We encountered a number of logs and small things to try as jumps, and I think he has a good mind for jumping (even) though he has no experience jumping. We have Echo on a 6 month lease to try him out, with a purchase option. This summer promises to be a very busy horse riding summer for the entire family!
Our first endurance ride is in 2 weeks. Tomorrow was planned for a good 15ish miles as our last prep ride. Was. This evening when the horses came in, it was discovered that Misti had a little cut on her shoulder. 6 staples and $260 later, I now have a horse that needs 10 days off. Luckily, we don’t leave for the ride until 13 days from now. So, I guess I’ll have A LOT of horse at the ride since she will be in a limited turnout and not riding for the next 10 days.
2.5″ cut on Misti’s shoulderMisti’s shoulder with 6 staples
It looks like I’ll be riding King for a family trail ride tomorrow. While we don’t think this will cause Misti to withdraw from our first ride, I hope Mr. Murphy doesn’t take that as a challenge to cause something worse!
As the endurance training continues, the rides get longer. Today, Anna (on Dakota) and I (on Mistique) knocked out 20 miles in Pachaug. There were no amazing discoveries or insights. No real challenges (other than a couple of new trails we tried that went to nowhere). Because it was the longest ride any of us had ever done, we didn’t push the pace. We planned our route ahead of time and made sure the horses had chances to stop and drink. It was about 56F when we got up this morning, but warmed up to low 80s by the time we finished. We stopped to let the horses drink and munch some grass at 5, 10, and 15 miles.
Our total mileage was 20.75 miles and it took 4:10 for an average speed of 5.0 mph. Once the rests breaks are removed, our average moving speed was 5.3 mph. Anna and I each probably burned about 1400 calories, so overall, a good training day.
Walking in a creek for the horses to get a drink
Mistique rocking her blue biothane tack from The Distance Depot
If you aren’t interested in the endurance training discussion, go ahead and jump to the end for the pony pictures.
First, through the support from her original breeder and others, we now have a registered Part-Shagya Arabian (and a slight correction to her name spelling). The North American Shagya Association has transferred Mistique Lady’s registration to me!
On Sunday, Anna and I each did our training rides alone. While we plan to ride our first endurance ride together in October, we need to be ready in case something happens and one horse can’t finish.
So, instead of using my Garmin 310XT to monitor Misti’s heart rate on our training ride, I decided to wear my HRM and see how many calories I burned. I keep a separate HRM/transmitter for my running and biking to make it easier to switch between events.
It was in the upper 70s here in CT and we rode 10.8 miles at a 5.8 mph average, which is a normal training pace for us.
I burned an average of 366 calories per hour.
My average heart rate was 112 bpm for 1:52. In comparison, my average running heart rate is usually around 150 for trail running 4-7 miles.
While 366 calories isn’t a big deal, riding for 5 or 6 hours changes things. Suddenly you have burned 1700-2000 hours during a 30 mile LD. While there are many people who can handle that without a problem, you need to know if YOU can. If you can’t handle that much of a calorie deficit, start eating a little snack every hour on your ride to reduce the deficit. It’s just like training for a human only endurance event. The goal isn’t to take in the same amount of calories you burned, but rather to reduce the deficit.
Figure out what works for you during your training rides, even if they are only an hour or so. That Slim Jim may taste good driving down the road, but the greasy chunks might give you an upset stomach trotting along the trail!
Sunday afternoon, Vicki and Devil joined others from Mystic Pony Club for some jumping lessons in preparation for an upcoming rally. Here are a few pictures of Vicki and Devil. She has a bad habit of looking down and right as she goes over the jumps.
When we got home, Anna grabbed a quick cup of coffee and at about 5:45, hit the trails with Dakota for her training ride of the day. She did about 10.2 miles on pace. She also had the added bonus of riding in the dark as she made it home about 30 minutes after sunset. All said, both horses did very well riding solo.
Recently, as I was listening to Vicki get told “Don’t look down when you go over the jumps!” it made me think about trail riding. Where do you look when trail riding. I frequently find myself looking at the ground right in front of the horse as we go along. So, during my ride, I did an experiment. I deliberately spent a long period of time focusing my eyes 15-20 yards down the trail. Then, I would shift my eyes to a point only about a horse length out in front. What I noticed (and expected) was Misti tended to stumble more when I was looking down. Just like a kid looking down causes a horse to be unbalanced over a jump, looking down on the trails interrupts your horse’s balance. So, whether you are jumping or just riding on the trails, keep your eyes up! By the way, it will also reduce the number of missed markers on when you are riding a hunter pace.
In other news, Amanda has been riding Huey a lot more recently. I think the increase in Vicki’s riding and jumping has peaked Amanda’s interest as well. As a result, she is working very hard at keeping Huey trotting on her own, working him over ground poles and small cross rails, and even asking to canter. By next summer, she will be ready to ride at the pony club activities too!
This evening, Amanda saddled up Huey and Vicki got to ride Misti. Vicki has a crush on my mare and is always asking to ride her. Of course, Amanda had to sponge down Huey when she was done. Enjoy the pictures!
This morning the weather was wonderful: mid 70s with a light breeze through the forest. Anna and I took Dakota and Mystique out for some training miles. One of the absolute best things about our farm is the direct access to Pachaug State Forest.
On Friday evening, we did 6.8 miles. It was hotter, humid, and the air quality was awful. Today was amazing in comparison. We rode 15.3 miles at a 5.8 mph average (2:40 total riding time). We have been slowly tweaking our tack for what we plan to use at the 30 miler in October. We recently purchased biothane halter/bridle/rein combos and breast collars for both Dakota and Mystique from The Distance Depot. I am very pleased with the quality and it is so nice to come back from a ride, hose off the tack, and hang it up to dry.
During today’s ride, both horses walked into some water for a drink on 2 occasions. Both horses were calm and level headed. Mystique even had a breakthrough when she was willing to continue trotting and pooping at the same time! It’s the little things that make me happy. The only problem we had was 1 flat tire (boot that came off Dakota) when Anna decided the horses needed to go faster so they could have fun. Dakota consistently over-reaches and strips a boot at about 16 mph (Dakota actually peaked at 18 mph and Mystique at 19.2 mph during that section). Luckily, there was no damage (thanks to a bell boot) and it was a quick fix to resume the ride.
Mystique with her biothane tack from The Distance Depot
Mytique taking a drink at the 10 mile rest break
Dakota wading in to cool off and drink at the 10 mile rest break.
Dakota wading in to cool off and drink at the 10 mile rest break.
Anna and I both ride with a Garmin 310XT and we have the V-Max heart rate kits that allow us to use the watch to monitor the horses’ heart rates during our training. Just like for people training for marathons or triathlons, the heart rate data is very valuable to evaluate the conditioning of the horses. It has been interesting to watch the changes in their average heart rate over the summer. For example, on June 7th we rode in the WGHA 1st hunter pace for 9.4 miles at a 5.7 mph average. The weather was similar and Mystique had an average heart rate of 119 bpm. Today, she did 15.3 miles at a 5.8 mph average with an average heart rate of 102 bpm. For the same 2 rides, Dakota had an average of 111 bpm in June and 101 bpm today. That’s a significant improvement in fitness. And even better, I have no doubt both could have handled another 15 mile loop. We still have 8 weeks until our first endurance ride, and everything is well on track!
