endurance

Quality time with Mojo

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Since Anna and the kids are out of town, I went out for a solo ride on Mojo today.  WGHA was having a full camping weekend at Escoheag with rides yesterday and today, so Mojo and I went for a day ride.  I had plans of getting there early to have lots of time to ride.  Those plans didn’t work out.  We finally left the house just after 9 and hit the trails at 10.

Today’s ride was all about working on riding without his best friends and trying out some new gear.  I ordered some new riding tights from Saddlebums and wore them today.  I was very pleased with them overall, however, I did forget my half chaps and my calves paid the price.  I have decided that I prefer to do my distance riding with a biking jersey top.  The elastic around the sleeves and waist keep the shirt from flapping around and the pockets on the back come in handy for snacks, cell phone, trash, etc.  I also got a new hackamore for Mojo and I love it.  He isn’t a heavy horse in the first place and the hackamore lets him eat whenever I offer a stop without getting grass all stuck in his bit.  We also did some tweaking of existing gear such as how the saddlebag was attached.  There are little things that add up to annoyances or actual rubs/problems over longer distances, so it’s important to get it right.

It was hot out there (mid 80s with high humidity).  The humidity definitely impacted our speed.  In the end, we rode 16 miles at a 5.3 mph average; just a hair over 3 hours of saddle time.

Mojo definitely enjoyed the 3 stops where I let him wade into the water (2 creeks and a lake).  I have no doubt this horse will swim with me if I give him the chance.  We did a lot of trotting, but I did let him run a couple of times.  He gave me a new top end speed of 23.3 mph!  Overall, we had a great ride and we are looking forward to our next endurance ride in 10 days.

 

 

endurance, horse, Uncategorized

Teddy hits the trail

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It’s been a long day.  I did some trimming this morning while Anna and the kids did chores.  After lunch, we had a swim with some friends, then back home to ride some horses.  Vicki spent some time riding Devil bareback, including jumping him to get ready for the show tomorrow.  Of course, tomorrow she will likely be using a saddle.  Alex and Vicki both rode Nike for a short session.  After that, Vicki rode Dakota (her third ride for the day), Amanda rode Huey, and Alexis rode Ace.  Anna and I were able to go for a short trail ride to evaluate Teddy on the trails.  Teddy is making great progress with he fear of ears being handled.  We are able to halter him reliably and bridle him, although it requires disassembling the bridle.  He is not ready to have a bridle passed over his ears and it requires patience to put the brow band back across his head.  Anna has been working on this with him every day, and he is showing a lot of improvement.  I am confident he will continue to get better and we will get past the problems eventually.

On our trail ride, I was on Mojo and Anna was on Teddy.  We just did a 5 mile ride because it was late and the deer flies were ridiculously bad.  I had a few that made it into my mouth, my ears, and swarmed my eyes.  Teddy is definitely an Arab.  He has a nice solid trot, but does have that Arab mindset that large rocks and logs could be a hiding place for a mountain lion.  Nothing too dramatic, but just enough to keep the ride interesting.  We have introduced Teddy to Glove boots.  He wasn’t too fond of them on his hind feet, but once we got moving, he didn’t have time to worry about it.

I did manage to take a short video while we trotted through the corn fields.  Anna thinks maybe we should invest in a GoPro to mount on my helmet.  Teddy walked through water, has a nice ground covering trot, and Anna looks good on him.  His first trail ride was an overwhelming success.  The only thing he is lacking is conditioning, but we know how to fix that.

 

 

 

endurance, horse

Introducing Teddy!

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This morning we left on a short trip to check out a new horse.  This afternoon, we arrived at home to a herd that was anxious to find out who was on the trailer since the seven of them were all in the pasture.

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Teddy is the newest member of the herd.  He is a 15.1hh, 9-year-old, bay Arabian gelding.

The rest of the boys are hoping he gets to come out and play with them soon.

Teddy has been acquired because Alex is ready to move back onto Dakota for his primary mount.  Nike has been awesome for Alex for the past two years, but Alex will always have a stronger love for Dakota.  The two of them have an amazing bond.  With that in mind, we have consented which meant Anna needed a different horse.  We were expecting that Teddy was a 14.2hh Arabian, but he felt bigger when we rode him.  Once we got him home and saw him standing across the fence from the others, we grabbed the tape and checked.  Sure enough, he is a solid 15.1hh.  The plan is for Anna to ride him through the fall and into next year.  At some point, we will decide if Vicki gets him for her next mount (which she is convinced is absolutely the case) or if we need something different.  If these kids would stop outgrowing their ponies, life would be much easier.

We have a few things to work on with Teddy.  He has some serious head shyness around his ears (worse than Dakota was when we bought him) which makes it difficult to put on a bridle.  He also needs work on his trot-canter transitions.  Since the kids will be at 4-H camp next week (including Amanda at day camp), she will have 5 days of nothing else to do, so she should have everything fixed before next weekend.  Or not.  Either way, he is in good condition, barefoot, and a good size, so we have a solid starting point.  The million dollar question is, will he be ready for his first 25 mile ride in 4.5 weeks?  Stayed tuned for updates!

horse, kids

TSHA Dressage Show 2016-2

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For Father’s Day, Vicki and I rode in a dressage and 2 phase horse show.  Alex and Amanda didn’t want to show and we decided that was fine.  This was my first show (other than some fairs) since 2010 when I was still on King.  This was also the first time I have ever actually entered a jumping class.  While I was not necessarily totally ready and refined, I wanted to take Mojo to the show and see how he behaved.

King was always a great horse at home, and still is, but about 3 times as much horse once you got to the show grounds.  “High energy” would be an accurate description.  I was extremely pleased to find Mojo was the same horse on the show grounds as at home.  I think he was actually more focused and ready to work than schooling at home.  Mojo and I entered the 18″ cross-rail 2 phase division which includes dressage test Intro B.  We separately rode dressage test Intro C.  To get ready for the show, I did ride Mojo through the Intro B test twice in the weeks before the show.  We never tried Intro C.  As for jumping, I think I jumped Mojo 3 times in the month we have had him.  We never actually jumped a full course.  In fact, I don’t think we ever put more than 4 jumps together in a set.  Anna’s opinion was I was crazy to go so under-trained and having no idea what would happen on the jump course.  I figured why not give it a shot.

Let’s be honest.  Dressage is boring.  I’ll just summarize the 2 dressage tests with we have areas to improve on but I wasn’t last in my divisions.  But Vicki did get higher dressage scores on Devil, riding the same tests with the same judges.

The jumping was much more fun.  When we got out into the warm-up area, Mojo and I started working over the practice fences and it was awesome.  He was ready to go, so we headed on the course and jumped a clear round.  He didn’t give me any hesitation and we had a blast.  Anna would not that my form requires improvement, I look down at the jumps, I sometimes catch him in the mouth, and Mojo doesn’t always get the correct lead coming off the jump.  That’s why she is a better rider.  I just know we had fun and he can definitely jump higher!  Vicki and Devil also jumped a clear round and had a blast doing it.  We want to find a jumping only show…

I would also like to note that Mojo has now been with us for 5 weeks and has been out of shoes for 5 weeks after many years in front shoes.  He has been tender on his front feet (to be expected for the transition) so we normally ride him in boots.  However, for the dressage show, I couldn’t ride him with boots.  Last week I gave him a trim and applied Hoof Armor.  The Hoof Armor worked like a champ and he didn’t take a tender step all day.  I will be continuing to experiment with the Hoof Armor on my own horses before offering it to clients, but so far, I’m happy with it!  The next step is to put it on the ponies and see how they do on the rocky trails without any boots.

fitness

Tri Again – Mystic YMCA Sprint Triathlon 2016

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This morning I finally returned to a triathlon after 3 seasons of no races.  I chose the Mystic YMCA Sprint for my return since that is where I did my first Tri in 2010.  The weather predictions for today were rain and storms, so I almost decided yesterday not to go.  However, Anna said “you paid for the entry, you better get up and do the race.”

When I got up at 5 this morning, the weather looked like we would have a nice clearing in the rain.  In fact, there was only a 10% chance of rain during the racing time frame.  When I last did the race in 2012, there were 169 people at the race.  Not large, but the venue is small so it can get crowded and parking is tight.   When I arrived just after 6, it was definitely not crowded.

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Transition area at about 6:15

I got a great surprise this morning that my friend Natalie Edwards decided that she would come and race as well.  Natalie and I used to do a lot of cycling together and ran tris together in the past.  Yesterday, Natalie did an Olympic distance race at the Rev3 Quassy and placed 11/46 in her age group.  That race had 799 racers.

Natalie surprised me by deciding to join the race this morning!
Natalie surprised me by deciding to join the race this morning!

The water was calm and probably in the mid 60s.

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My entire goal for the day was to complete the race.  I knew I was not nearly as fit as in years past, but I was sure I could complete the 867m swim, 14 mile bike, and 3 mile run.  It did start to lightly rain during the swim and continued through  the bike, but with air temperature in the upper 60s, it was a great morning to race.  In the end, the much smaller field of only 106 competitors meant my overall time of 1:34 was sufficient for 3rd place in my age group and I got a gift certificate to Mystic Cycle Center.

3rd place in my age group
3rd place in my age group

I am really glad that I signed up for the race and I am looking forward to spending more time on my bike this summer (my weakest performance of the three phases today).  Natalie ended up finishing as the 5th overall female and 2nd in her age group!

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horse, kids

Eventing and trails

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Now that May is coming to an end, our schedule is calming down a little.  Things have been non-stop with music concerts and horse activities.  This weekend, Alex and Vicki participated in the local Pony Club eventing rally at Mystic Valley Hunt Club.  At a Pony Club rally, the parents can help set up the area first thing in the morning, and then the rest of the day is up to the kids.  We arrived at MVHC at 7 and didn’t leave until about 5:45 that evening.  The kids had horse management inspections (including verifying all required equipment was present and labeled), a written test, formal inspections of rider and mount, dressage tests, stadium jumping, and cross country jumping.  Parents are not allowed in the areas at all, so it is all up to the kids.

Eventing Rally Team L-R Alex, Nina, Vicki, Christina, Alexis
Eventing Rally Team
L-R Alex, Nina, Vicki, Christina, Alexis

It was a long and hot day, but the team managed to keep their spirits up and had some good rides.  Alex and Nike had great jumping rounds.  The jumping Steward (keeping track of which rider was next and sending them into the arena) turned to me after their first jumping round and said “Is he your son?”  I said yes.  She replied, “I was not prepared for how well he would ride.  They are a really good team.”  It perfectly captured Alex.  He was moping around during the course walk and acting like he hated everything.  But as soon as they enter the jumping course, it’s pure business and Alex had a huge smile on his face.

As good as Alex’s day was, Vicki’s was even better.  She rode the best dressage test I have ever seen her ride and it was reflected in her 69 score.  Then on the stadium and cross country courses, she had clear rounds and loved every minute of it.

At the end of the day, the team won 1st place in Horse Management and 5th overall.

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Yesterday was wet and still hot, so we gave the horses a break.  This evening, we decided to head out for a trail ride.  Alex really didn’t want to go, so he got a pass (I’m sure Nike didn’t mind).  For those who have been following, King had EPM over the winter.  We have been bringing him back into work slowly and are cautiously optimistic that he might actually make it back to competitions this summer.  This evening, Anna rode King, I rode Mojo, Vicki rode Dakota, and Amanda rode Huey.

Amanda is becoming quite the trail rider.  We only rode 5 miles over 1:15, but Amanda was constantly announcing when we needed to trot or walk based on the terrain, although her default is always more speed.  They did plenty of trotting and cantering.  She and Huey are a great team.  Mojo was great.  I love his trail demeanor and he is very level headed.  He is definitely powerful and loves to race, which makes him a great match for me.

Hands down, the best part of the ride tonight was watching King back in work.  King was the first horse that was “my horse”.  We bought him in 2002 for me and he has been a rock star.  The last 2 years have been rough with injuries and illness, but tonight he had every bit of his power back and was moving great.  I look forward to his return to hunter paces.

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Anna and King enjoying the sunset in Pachaug
horse, kids, Uncategorized

TSHA Dressage Show 2016-1

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After a couple of cups of coffee yesterday afternoon, we completed unloading the trailer from the NEATO ride and started prepping ponies for the TriState Horseman’s Association Dressage Show today.  We were taking 4 ponies (Nike for Alex, Devil for Vicki, Ace for Alexis, and Huey for Amanda).  Amanda was very excited that she was finally allowed to wash her pony too.  She also kept reminding us that she needed to clean her saddle, bridle, and polish her boots.  Who am I to argue with such motivation?

A couple of weeks ago, the kids all ordered new sleezies for their ponies from Just for Ponies using allowance money.  For you non-horsey readers, a sleezy is a stretchy hood that covered the horse’s mane and neck.  The primary purpose is to keep the mane clean and all the braids intact once a pony is prepped for a show.  Amanda had chosen one for Huey and was very excited to get to use it.

Once all 4 ponies were prepped and tucked into stalls, the trailer was loaded, and kids were washed, we were ready to crash.  5am came awful early, but we had to hit the ground running.  We were at the show grounds by about 7:40 and discovered we were the first to arrive, which was fine since we also had the second ride time in one of the rings.   We got our crew set up, ponies tacked up, and headed to the warm up field.  Amanda was doing a lead-line dressage test, which means she is responsible for directing Huey and following the preset pattern, but I got to keep a line on his halter to make sure he didn’t try any funny business.  After about 5 laps around the warm up field, I wasn’t sure about Huey, but I was definitely warmed up.

Alex and Vicki each did a dressage test (Introductory C) and competed in the 18″ 2 phase class which included jumping and the Introductory B dressage test.  Neither of them had their best performances in the dressage ring, however, they both did very well jumping.  Vicki did have 2 good rides without Devil trying to leave the dressage ring.

I was able to shoot video of the kids riding their jumping rounds.

In the end, the kids brought home a few ribbons and had a good day on their ponies.  It was another busy horsey weekend for the farm.  Luckily, next weekend only has 1 horse event.

 

 

endurance

NEATO 25 2016

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This morning, Anna and I rode the NEATO 25 mile Limited Distance Endurance ride at Arcadia in RI.  Anna rode Dakota and I rode on Mojo.  Since Mojo only arrived on Sunday, this was a bit of a gamble.  He has experience in LD rides, but the longest I had previously sat on him was about 45 minutes.  We took the horses over yesterday afternoon and vetted them in.  We set up some corral panels that were tied to the side of our trailer and the horses shared the space (Dakota and Mojo get along great).  Alex hung out with me at horse camp while Anna took Vicki and Amanda to their music concert.  The girls stopped by on the way home to drop off a few things forgotten in the barn and to pick up Alex; I really like the 15 minutes from home rides.  I camped over with the horses.

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This morning, we had a sitter at the house at 6 so Anna could get back to the ride.  We tacked up and waited a few minutes to head out after the ride started at 7:15.  I had been warned that Mojo tends to be strong and hot for the first few miles.  I was pleasantly surprised that he wasn’t crazy, he just wanted to go.  We held back some and worked on patience and listening.  After the first 4 miles, we had been averaging a 7 mph pace which was faster than we planned.  We slowed the horses and made sure we didn’t overdo it.  Anna was concerned that Dakota was not as fit as at the GMHA ride last fall.  We also had some technology issues.  While we love our Garmin 310XTs for tracking distance and speed, we also use them for watching the heart rates on the horses.  Today, we didn’t have good connections and Dakota’s heart rate reading was running about 35-40 bpm higher than it should have.  There was a lot of discussion during the ride about whether or not Dakota was in distress.  Of course, every time Anna put him in front and let go of the reins, he started trotting at 12+ mph.  I voted that he was fine.

When we came in from the first 15 mile loop, Dakota actually pulsed down to under 64 bpm (the required level) faster than Mojo.  That ended the concerns about his fitness and proved that technology isn’t always great.  I ended up riding the second loop without the heart rate monitor recording on Mojo because of the bad data.  It is just a distraction that isn’t needed and I think Anna and I are both going to shift to using heart rate as an occasional training tool, but compete without it.  Maybe.

NEATO 25

After our 45 minute hold we headed back out.  We ended up averaging about 6.2 mph on the first loop which was fine.  We took it easy on the second loop of 10 miles.  In the end, we completed the 25 miles with a ride time of about 4:15 and averaged just over 6 mph.  Both horses cleared the vet check at the end and were deemed fit to continue, which is the criteria to be awarded a completion.

NEATO 25 Mojo

Mojo and I had a good ride together.  We have a few things to work on, such as personal space.  Mojo likes to be in my space and stood on my feet more than once.  He also likes to use me (and Dakota) as a scratching post for his head.  Despite these minor things, he moves out very nicely on the trail and has a powerful trot.  He had no problem holding a trot up to 12+mph.

I do have a few things I want to change before another distance ride.  Anna and I have both been somewhat unhappy with the halter/bridle combos we bought last year.  She has recently switched to using a rope halter and adding a basic trail bridle.  I think I’ll be making the same change.  Also, I got a few rubs from my clothing (like sock tops on my calf where the calf and saddle touch) that require fine tuning before going up to any longer distances.

In the end, it was a good ride, but now we have to get ponies ready for the kids to show tomorrow!

 

Uncategorized

Amanda turns 6!

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May 18 is Amanda’s birthday. This year she turned 6. She is still a petite little girl at a whopping 35 pounds, but she certainly holds her own.

Wednesday morning Amanda opened up her presents from mormor and morfar. She got a Breyer winged horse and story, some riding pants, a shirt from us, and a doll riding outfit.  Then we told her we were going on a field trip to the American Girl doll store in Boston. There she would get to pick out her own doll and an accessory from grandma and grandpa. She was very excited!

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After chores we all headed out. Amanda is not very patient in the car, too say the least, and I believe she asked every ten minutes if we were there yet. An hour and a half later we finally arrived.

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Alex sat down on a bench and started reading. He finished two books during the day!

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The girls explored the store and made plans of what to bring home. They brought McKenna and Saige and I treated the girls to hair styles for their dolls at the doll salon.

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Then we headed to the bistro for lunch. The dolls get to sit at the table in their own hang-on-the-table chairs. The dolls got their own tea cups. The food was kid-friendly.
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After lunch we picked up the doll Amanda picked out- a truly me doll with long wavy red hair and green eyes. I guess she secretly wants to be a redhead! She also used her money from grandma and grandpa and some allowance money to get a new doll horse (the girls play horse with their dolls-duh), It’s an appaloosa.

Vicki used some of her allowance money to purchase a few new things for her dolls.

I had promised Alex a trip to the LEGO store inside the Natick mall, a whopping two minute walk from The American Girl Doll store. He had been patient all day while the girls browsed and quickly set his eyes on a big LEGO Technic truck. Lucky for him, his allowance account still had enough funds in it. He was happy. He started building it the minute we got home. The instruction book has 471 pages. It might take him a day or two to complete.

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Vicki made Amanda some cupcakes and decorated them with Rarity, Amanda’s favorite My Little Pony. It was supposed to be a cake, but Amanda agreed Vicki could make the real cake for her “friend” party.

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Amanda was tired and happy at the end of the day…

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endurance, horse

Got some Mojo!

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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!

 

 

The story of our lives with horses. And goats.