Earlier this week, we said goodbye to Duchess as she went back to her previous owner. We had her with us for 2 years and 5 months. During that time, Vicki grew as a rider (and physically). Duchess and Vicki were a great team as they did jumping, dressage, mounted games, 4-H horse shows, and hundreds of miles on the trails; we will always appreciate the time Duchess spent with us. Vicki has a strong passion for distance riding and came to terms with the fact that Duchess wasn’t the horse that would achieve her goals. So, it was time for Duchess to move on, and we were happy to know that her previous owner was interested in welcoming her back.
Riding with the kids
Vicki and Duchess
Vicki on Duchess
Recently, we posted about the fact that we were looking for a new distance horse for Vicki. We were bombarded with all kinds of horses from all over the country (and Canada). Some even met our criteria. We wanted to stick to our list of priorities and we also didn’t want to just choose the first thing that came along. That’s why the second horse Vicki test rode came home on a trial! Introducing Eli!
Eli is a 7yo, 15hh, bay Arabian gelding. We found him through an endurance rider we met at Pine Tree. When the word got back to her that we were in the market, she contacted us. We went to Massachusetts on Monday and did a 1 hr trail ride with me on Mojo and Vicki on Eli. About 20 minutes into the ride, it was clear that Vicki really liked Eli as she became a complete chatter box talking about endurance riding and her plans; she was very comfortable on Eli. We have him on a trial period, but so far, everything is going well. We really like the fact that Eli was started properly (100 hours of walking) and hasn’t been raced at a young age. He is confident on the trails, has a powerful walk, and moves at the trot. We will give it a few more weeks to make a final decision, but Vicki really likes him.
First ride on Eli
Walking around the arena to introduce the new environment
First ride in the arena
First ride in the arena
He looks good in purple
An easy 5 mile ride to see how he is in a new place
Sunday, we went to WGHA’s third Country Pace. It was a new type of ride this year, similar to a hunter pace, but there are no jumps. Also, instead of riding against an (unknown) ideal time, the ride times are averaged according to the division you enter and whomever is closest to the average, wins. It’s an interesting twist because there is no requirement to ride at any particular speed and the average can fall anywhere. In reality, the ride is a fun social gathering with a chance to win some prizes.
The ride went pretty well. Anna did get dumped when Amira spooked a little. It would have been fine if Anna had let go of the reins, but she decided to hold on and got drug a few feet. Luckily, she only lost a little skin on an elbow; her concussion from Maine wasn’t made any worse.
At the end of the ride, we enjoyed lunch until the awards. At the awards, we were pleased to find out the kids got 1st in the Junior division, I got 2nd in the Open division, and Anna got 1st in the Open division.
All year, we knew the Pine Tree endurance ride in Fryeburg, Maine would be our big summer vacation. After all the problems around our kitchen fire in July, we needed a getaway. The week before we left was spent putting new shoes on all the horses and packing. In addition, Gem, the palomino 1/2 Arabian we got in April was sold because she wasn’t working out in our herd. My parents left from Alabama on Friday evening and were meeting us in Maine on Sunday. So, on Sunday, 8/4, we left for Maine with 5 horses (Mojo, Amira, Teddy, Duchess, and Huey) on the trailer, 3 dogs in the trucks, and the travel trailer loaded for a week of camping and riding.
Pine Tree is a special ride. It has 5 consecutive days of competition at the Fryeburg fairgrounds. There are stalls available for horses, electric and water hookups for trailers, a dump station on-site, showers and even a laundromat. This was our 3rd time at Pine Tree in the past 4 years, and it is a family favorite. The people are great (especially Sue, the ride manager) and there are plenty of things to do outside riding for the week.
When we arrive around 3:30 Sunday afternoon, you could tell it was going to be a busy week. Ride camp already was filling up fast and the first rides weren’t until Tuesday! We blocked out our area next to our CT friends, Rob and Mary Palumbo, and 2 down from the Coffey family. Everyone got to work setting up camp. I’m sure most of the people knew we had arrived, because 5 people configuring electric fences doesn’t always go smoothly and it’s possible, there was some yelling. A mere 3 hours later, the horses were settled into their pens happily munching on hay.
Horses settled in at ride camp
Anna taking a break from cleaning to give Amira a good scratch
Monday morning we had a leisurely time around camp and went out to Walmart to pick up a few things for the week. Amanda got to find a friend for the week; Laney was another 9 yo who had driven up with her Dad, Jesse, from North Carolina. Laney and Jesse were in first place for the AERC family award with over 1100 miles already ridden this year. In the first 3 days, Laney rode 2 50 mile rides and 1 25 mile ride. It definitely inspired Amanda to step up her game and train Huey for more riding next season.
Amanda and Laney hanging out
Monday afternoon, we saddled up the horses for a tack ride (a short test ride to make sure all the tack was set and ready for competition) and to check the river crossing. This is when things started to go awry. During the tack ride, Amira was HOT and giving Anna lots of attitude. All the horses were spunky and ready to run. There may have been some more elevated volume conversations (aka yelling) as we disagreed on how to handle the situation. Crossing back through the river, Vicki decided to work on sponging Duchess with a sponge on a rope. When the sponge floated in front of Duchess with a line trailing, I’m pretty sure Duchess thought it was a snake and promptly ditched Vicki in the river. She didn’t run off, and other than getting a little wet, Vicki was fine.
Headed out on the tack ride – calm before the storm
Crossing the river the first time
A much lower river than last year
Crossing the river the first time
Coming up out of the river back to the trail, Amira decided to jump a log instead of going around it like the rest of the herd. Anna wasn’t expecting this and lost her balance in the fray. She got dumped and I’m pretty sure she hit her head on the log. This resulted in a minor concussion that ended Anna’s riding for the week. As we all jumped off our horses to help Anna and grab Amira, Teddy got scared from the commotion and threw Alex into the brush. We recovered all the horses headed back to camp. Needless to say, it wasn’t the successful ride we hoped for the day before competition.
That evening, we decided that we would not send 5 horses out on the trail together for competition. We have consistently attempted to obtain the goal of all 5 riding together, and it just hasn’t worked. There are too many demands of individual riders and horses to manage 5 in a competition. It does work if the 5 are split into separate distances, but we didn’t plan to ride any 50 milers during our week.
So, on Tuesday morning at 7:30, we started the 25 mile ride with me on Mojo, Alex on Teddy, and Vicki on Duchess.
Waiting for the start
Headed out for 25 miles
Headed out for 25 miles
Not a bad way to start the day
Riding with the kids
River crossing on Mojo
The 25 mile course at Pine Tree goes out to a covered bridge that is about 11 miles from camp. The riders then go through a loop into what is known as “Fern Gully” before returning the to the covered bridge for the 45 minute hold and vet check. We did some cantering on the first loop as all the horses were feeling good. Here is a short video.
Covered bridge
Covered bridge
Old Saco River from the covered bridge
All 3 horses, Mojo, Teddy, and Duchess, made the 64 bpm pulse criteria with no problems and then we headed back on the return 11 miles. When we arrived back a base camp, Duchess was in 5th place and Mojo was 6th. Unfortunately, Teddy was lame on his right hind and didn’t get a completion. Teddy has been having problems on his right hind for a number of rides. This time, an extended discussion with one of the ride vets who assessed Teddy’s issue to be a hock problem. It looks like some hock radiographs and injections are in his future, because Alex and Teddy are a great team.
Once the ride ended, things went South for Duchess. We got her back to camp and she wouldn’t drink any water or eat any food. We offered her grain, carrots, and apples. She wanted to drop and roll. She wouldn’t eat fresh grass. It was clear we were dealing with a colic, likely from being dehydrated. During the hold we gave Duchess more senior feed and beet pulp than she normally gets. Our theory is, we didn’t have the feed wet enough and it sucked the water out of her gut, leading to dehydration, despite the fact that she kept drinking during the ride. So, 5 hours after completing, Duchess was checked in to an equine hospital and hour and a half from ride camp where she got a full colic exam to check for impaction or other problems, and 10L of fluid overnight.
Duchess at the equine hospital
Anna and I got back to camp about 9:30 pm, showered, took care of horses, and climbed into bed. Hauling Duchess to the vet wrecked our plan to do anything on Wednesday. Around 11:30 pm, as we were just climbing into bed, we heard a commotion outside followed by the sounds of a herd running – not what you want to hear in ride camp. It turns out, a stallion camping 2 spots down broke out, went running through some of our electric fence and into the next one over. That resulted in at least 3 more loose horses which then went back through our fencing and took down 4 of our 5 pens. In the end, Teddy and Mojo were still in camp and too scared to leave their electric fence (despite it being on the ground). Amira and Huey were running loose in camp with at least 3 other horses. Needless to say, many people were awakened by the commotion and lots jumped into action to help catch the loose horses. A little after 1 am, we had the fencing back into place and horses back in bed. At this point, I was definitely not having fun.
On Wednesday, Duchess got the all-clear at the equine hospital, so I made the drive back to get her. My Dad joined me for the ride and we had the chance to spend some quality time talking. When we got to the clinic, Duchess pinned her ears at me and spun her butt towards me. I could tell she was feeling much better. Vicki was happy to have her back in camp.
Vicki happy to have Duchess back in camp
So, by Wednesday evening, Anna had a concussion, Teddy had been pulled for lameness and wasn’t going to ride again, and Duchess had spent the night in an equine hospital. We strongly considered packing it up and heading home. After a family conversation about the options, we decided to stay a little longer and hope that things got better.
On Thursday morning, there were heavy thunderstorms which delayed the ride start to 8 am. Alex, Amanda, and I went to the hold to help crew for Jesse and Laney. When we got back, we had a quick lunch and then headed out to go tubing on the Saco River. Each year, we think we will go tubing, but it never seems to work out so we made it happen. It turns out, tubing down the river is exactly what the family needed to relax. We got back to camp and vetted in the horses for Friday’s ride.
Since Anna had finally come to terms with a minor concussion, Vicki rode Amira, Amanda rode Huey, and I rode Mojo on Friday morning when we started the 25 miles at 6:30 am.
Waiting for the start
Headed out for 25 miles
Crossing the river with other horses
Crossing the river
Riding through the fields
The first 15 miles of the ride went well. Vicki really enjoyed riding Amira and it brought her to terms with the fact that Duchess isn’t her long term endurance mount. When we rolled into the hold and vet check, Amira and Huey passed just fine. However, Mojo had some back soreness, which has been another recurring problem. We gave him some massage work and food and he cleared the vet, but I was concerned about him passing at the end of the ride. I made the quick decision to ditch my tack and do the 11 miles back to camp on foot.
Headed out on foot for 11 miles back to camp
Running and riding back to camp
Running and riding back to camp
It turns out, running in Ariat Terrain boots and long pants is challenging. The footing in the fields was deep soil with a wet top layer, which is hard to run on. Additionally, Mojo likes to invade my personal space when we run; he managed to step on my heel once and the side of my foot twice. It was hot and I consumed 2L of water in the first 10 miles. Before the hold, we were in last place and only had 2.5 hours to cover the 11 miles back to camp, which basically meant I needed to maintain at least 13:00 min/mile.
Running in the fields with Mojo
The kids riding while I ran with Mojo
We made it back to camp with 7 minutes to spare and all 3 horses passed the final vet check. The vets agreed that Mojo’s back was better at the finish than the mid-ride vet check.
Friday evening was the traditional Pine Tree lobster dinner. We decided to head home on Saturday and give us a day to recover before starting the work week.
One of the reasons we switched to endurance was after a ride, the family was always excited about the next event. Even after our rough week, at dinner on Sunday the whole family was talking about what we learned during our week at Pine Tree 2019. We talked about what we learned about our horses and what we needed to changed before the next ride. We talked about modifying our training for future rides. But in general, we talked about the next rides. You know you are doing something the family loves when everyone is looking forward to the next event, even if that last one wasn’t perfect.
So, thank you to the ride management (especially you Sue) and all the volunteers at Pine Tree. We look forward to next year!
This past weekend we participated in the New London County 4H Fair.
The kids brought horses to the horse EXPO Saturday morning. The State 4H horse show is the actual points competition for the horse kids of New London county based on previous years lack of participation at the local fair show, so this is just for fun. There was jumping, trail obstacles, costume class and gymkhana.
Amanda also did some rabbit hopping with Pretty Paw and Winter Rose first thing Saturday morning.
We had our travel trailer on the grounds and Rob and Amanda stayed there all weekend.
Vicki and Amanda showed rabbits on Saturday afternoon, Vicki as a senior, and Amanda as a junior. They both got third place in showmanship.
Sunday was spent practicing for robotics (Alex) and actually competing in robotics. Alex got 2nd in the senior competition.
The girls helped with the ice cream social,did a pet costume class ( Vicki) and 4H Olympics on Sunday. And ate fair food.
Last weekend the kids spent some time at Barbara Kil’s house participating in the annual “Around 4th of July” Mystic pony club camp. While we decided last fall not to renew with pony club this year (for a lot of reasons-ask us if you want to know), the kids have done this camp for 6 years so we decided to send them this year as well. The each had 7 lessons, lots of pool time and sunshine over the course of 4 days.
Amanda and Huey rode all 7 lessons together and Huey was, well Huey, sometimes he is great, other times he is stubborn and difficult. I came away with the realization that Amanda is becoming quite strong in her riding and knowledge, and her ability to handle Huey’s antics has definitely improved.
Vicki took two horses to camp, Duchess and Amira. Amira came to expose her to more situations, let Vicki lesson on her and to allow Duchess a break since she had a lameness pull at the endurance ride. Vicki rode Amira on the flat and did her jumping on Duchess. It was evident that Vicki’s swim team time this winter has helped her become a stronger rider and Amira helped show Vicki how riding with softer elbows is good.
Alex took both Mojo and Teddy to camp. The horses both completed a 50 two weeks prior, so we decided Alex could use lesson time on both of them and neither would be idle or overused. Alex rode Teddy on the flat and in the field, learning about pacing and he jumped with Mojo.
Prior to coming to camp we took the kids to the Horsepower Farm derby and Vicki got a 2nd and Alex a 6th in the pre-elementary division. Alex had an unfortunate refusal when Mojo looked at the “Flag Jump”.
Thank you to the Kil’s for hosting and for keeping Amanda a few extra days.
May and early June is always a wee bit crazy…and this year was no exception. After our trip to New Hampshire for Mother’s Day weekend, there has been no shortage of events on our calendar. Here’s a quick catch up post or highlight reel if you wish.
Amanda turned 9 on May 18. We had a skating birthday with her school friends that weekend and she had a blast.
At the end of May Alex was awarded an academic excellence award for his work in AP/ECE Environmental Science this past school year. Alex took two college level classes with ECE (Early College Education) credit, two honors classes, and still stayed on the high honors list all year. In addition, he participated all year in the 4H group “Teen Ambassadors” that focuses on citizenship, community service and leadership. The group went on a week long trip to Washington DC last week, and Alex had a blast.
Our new project pony Gem has a knack for getting hurt. With no horse sense to speak of, she had to learn what being in a herd is all about. She has so far been kicked by Mojo, stepped on a nail, and been bit by one of the mares, with all injuries requiring some level pf vet care. She has had her teeth done and her feet are improving, but she is definitely still a work in progress. Gem is very defensive of her food and requires us to be careful around feeding time. Unfortunately, I was not cautious enough and got kicked by her on June 1, causing me to be unable to ride for a week. She did go on her first short trail walk under saddle this week. No pics because I was leading Amanda, who was riding Amira.
June 2, most of the family rode in the first WGHA cross country pace (no jumps). I (Anna) did not as I was hurting too much from being kicked the day before. Rob recruited a client of his to ride Amira because she needed to be worked for the upcoming endurance ride. The kids placed second in the junior division, and Rob placed third in the open division. Good day.
Vicki promoted from 8th grade and is headed to the Marine Science Magnet High School in the fall. At the Griswold Middle School awards night, she received four awards: the VFW award for dependability, a creative writing award, a departmental math award for highest average in math (3 way tie), and an award for her expo project “Horses in Therapy”. We are very proud of her. She has also remained on the high honors list all year and was a member of the National Junior Honor Society. She attended the 8th grade dance and then there was promotion night. Her individuality is starting to show for sure.
Amanda is headed to fourth grade in the fall and doing just fine. She makes friends easily and does well at school. I went to field day for half the day and here are some pics.
Rob raced the Patriot Half Ironman on June 15. I went with him to the race to cheer him on and take pics. We camped in the travel trailer the night before. He finished in 6 hours and 38 minutes. I had a relaxing day of reading while waiting for Rob to return to transition between the different events.
Last but not least, Alex had a birthday. HE TURNED 16!!! Five guys for dinner and late night cupcakes for dessert because we were packing for an endurance ride. But we squeezed it in. He will go to get his driver’s permit on July 11 and his license when he is ready and has completed all the requirements (you can not actually get your license at 16 in CT it’s more like 16 and a half, if you are lucky).
Phew, I think that was all. Maybe. Until next time.
June 22 was the 2019 NEATO Endurance ride held in Arcadia WMA (Exeter, RI). Since the ride is less than 10 miles from our house, we always plan to attend. This year we had 3 entries for the 50 mile ride and 2 for the 25 mile ride. The weather was a little wet on Friday so I headed over to set up camp around lunch with Alex and Vicki and Anna and Amanda brought the horses a little later in the afternoon. Everyone vetted in just fine and we enjoyed the group dinner and ride brief. Since this ride is close to home, Anna went home for the night to take care of the horses who didn’t attend the ride, plus the dogs, rabbits, and chickens. She joined us again at 5:30 Saturday morning.
Mojo enjoying some grass before vetting in
Amira and Huey having a snack
Huey and Duchess waiting their turn
This ride has a very gentlemanly start time of 7am for the 50 mile riders which had 27 entries. Anna had Amira and Huey tacked up just in case they got upset when the other 3 left. The temperature at the start was in the 60s and the weather was clear. I was a little concerned about Mojo having race brain and wanting to just run the entire first loop, but he was actually very manageable compared to last year.
Pre-ride pic
Waiting for the start
You can lead a horse to water…
Headed out for the first 20 miles
Headed out to log some miles
The purple pair
Moving along the road
No, she’s not texting. She is eating a snack
The first loop for Alex, Vicki, and I was 20 miles. There was a mandatory 10 minute stop at about the 9 mile point, which we used to give the horses some grain and water (and people got a bathroom break). There was one section of trail that goes down into a low elevation and heavy forest area. As the temperatures were rising and the previous day’s rain was baking off, the humidity spiked. There was also a lot of mountain laurel on the first loop that was in full bloom and very pretty, but I didn’t take a picture. Since it was a first 50 for both kid pairs, Alex on Teddy and Vicki on Duchess, we were riding conservatively to try and get completions for everyone. Unfortunately, as we were trotting along about mile 15, I noticed Duchess was a little off on her right hind. We have been working on the kids continuously eating in order to avoid meltdowns from lack of fuel. Each kid has figured out what fuels work for them and things went well on the first 20 miles.
Meanwhile, Amanda and Anna started their 25 mile ride at 7:45 with a 15 mile loop. Everything went well and both horses got along fine without the rest of the herd. Amira has really gotten strong as a leader on the trail and doesn’t rely on the other horses for confidence. Amanda kept asking to canter in order to pick up the pace (and apparently the cantering sections were the best part). Throughout the ride, Amira didn’t balk at any bridge crossing or trail entrances. Both Huey and Amira did a great job of eating consistently and drinking at the water stops. Anna and Amanda made it back to the vet check and 45 minute hold about 20 minutes before those of us on the other loop.
Huey getting his pulse checked at the hold
Amanda does her own trot-outs with Huey
Alex and Teddy at the vet check
Unfortunately, the lameness we noticed on the trails caused Duchess to get pulled from the ride after the first 20 miles. Vicki was disappointed but took it well. She took care of Duchess at our camping area while the rest of us were out for our next loop. Anna and Amanda had 10 miles to go while Alex and I had 2 more 15 mile loops to do. I’m proud of the fact that we have kids who know enough about their horses that they can take care of them in ride camp even if Anna and I are not available. Of course, there are plenty of other adults around that will help out if needed, but Vicki had everything under control with her pony.
Second loop
Rain on the horizon
The second (and last loop) for Anna and Amanda went well. Amanda did start to run out of steam towards the end and they spent some time walking because her legs “felt like Jello.” They made it back to camp and passed the final vet check. Their ride time of 4:52 was good enough for a 12th place tie and got the Turtle award. In endurance, the Turtle is the last finisher who still gets a completion. It’s important to manage your horse so they pass the final vet check as “fit to continue”. If you fail the final vet check, you are disqualified and don’t get credit for the miles. In the end, only 1 horse in the 25 mile ride was pulled, 13 of 14 completed.
The second and third loops for Alex and I were fairly uneventful. We knew a number of riders had been pulled at the first vet check (including Vicki) and we were bringing up the rear of the ride. That didn’t bother us in the least. Alex in particular doesn’t have a competitive drive and just loves to spend time on the trails with Teddy. Mojo started to lose some steam around 40 miles, so Teddy would take the lead. At mile 45, Teddy picked up a strong canter like he was fresh out of the barn. Throughout the day, Teddy did great and I love to watch Alex with him. We made our way back into camp only about 5 minutes behind the next rider ahead of us. Both horses passed their vet check and we got our Turtle awards for the 50 miles with a ride time of 9:39. 20 of 27 riders completed the 50 mile ride. At this point, I can’t imagine doing a 100 mile ride, because I was wiped out after about 10 hours in the saddle. We took a break to eat some food and then packed up camp to head home.
Finished!
Do you know how to tell if the kids are legitimately enjoying the rides and endurance events? After riding all day, with some chaffing, sore muscles, and just plain exhaustion, the ride home still includes discussions (prompted by the kids) about the next event on the schedule. Not only that, there were conversations about altering training plans and what needs to improve for the next ride. To finish is to win.
Some of you who read about our adventure in NH last weekend may have noticed we only had 4 horses with us. This is the story of why Amira didn’t make the trip.
In early April, our good friend Vikki Fortier shared a post for a 7yo, 14.2hh, QH/Arab mare that was available for sale. Of course, Anna commented and Vikki and Anna agreed what a great horse this would be for our girls. So you see, this is at least partially Vikki’s fault, after all, she is an enabler. We called and talked to the owner. Gem was very green and in Vermont. We didn’t really need another horse. So we decided to pass.
3 weeks later, Vikki gave us a call that the owner was desperate and needed to rehome Gem right away. So, the next day at 6am I found myself starting a 500 mile round trip to pick up a little mare in VT. When I got there, Gem was in worse condition than expected; I got her loaded and headed home. She attacked the hay in the trailer. Whenever she ran out, she would start kicking and I would know it was time to stop and give her some more. She was underweight at a body condition of about 3, her hooves hadn’t been trimmed in probably 4-5 months, and she had clay/mud caked on her legs and belly.
Gem was even more of a project than we expected. Her behavior was semi-feral in nature. While she clearly didn’t trust people, she also doesn’t fully understand herd dynamics. Anna made the decision to put Gem out with the other mares (how did we end up with 3 mares?) in order to provide her some companionship. She gets nervous when her friends are out of sight. As a result of her already higher stress level from the move, we decided to leave Amira at home with Gem for last weekend.
Gem has been with us for 2.5 weeks. She is gaining weight steadily, her hooves have been trimmed (and will get trimmed every 4 weeks for rehab), and she is getting better about being handled regularly. Tonight, Vicki rode her for the first time. They did some walking and a little trotting. When asked to walk over ground poles, Gem lay down. Throughout the summer, Vicki will be working with Gem to improve her saddle work and introducing her to trails.
By the way, yesterday Vicki had her hair dyed purple.
Last weekend was the opening of our distance riding competitions for the season. This year we tried out the VERDA Brown Bag and Bare Bones events held at the Cornish, NH fairgrounds. Brown Bag is a Competitive Trail competition and Bare Bones is an Endurance Ride. The rules vary a little between the two. Competitive trail events have an ideal time and there is more emphasis placed on the before/after comparison for vet evaluations. On the other hand, endurance rides are a true race where the horse has to be fit to continue and pass a vet exam. This particular ride has a reputation as being low-cost, low perks.
On Friday, we picked the kids up from school a little early so we could get to the ride camp. We only took 4 horses: Mojo, Teddy, Duchess, and Huey. Anna drove the horse trailer and I took the travel trailer. The drive was only about 3.5 hours and we arrived in camp before 5:00. When we got there, the only other riders already there were also from CT. We joined our local friends and set up camp with electric fence paddocks for the horses. Once camp was set, the horses were vetted in for the Saturday ride.
The Brown Bag trophy
hand grazing ponies
home for the weekend
ready to head to the vet-in
On Saturday morning, the ride didn’t start until about 9:00, so it would have been a very casual start to the day, however, at 5, there was a knock on the trailer door with the message “Rob, your horses are loose!” It appeared that Duchess knocked down some fencing for some reason and the herd, minus Mojo, decided to get some early morning grass. Luckily, they were not hard to catch, but we were up and the day was started.
It was in the low 30s Friday night and temps on Saturday only made it to about 54F. Anna saddled up Mojo, Alex saddled up Teddy, and Vicki saddled up Duchess as they got ready to head out for a 15 mile ride.
Vicki and Duchess getting ready to ride
Anna prepping Mojo
Alex and Teddy, waiting on the others
headed out for 15 miles
Anna selfie on Mojo
Anna’s view on Saturday
While they were out on trail, Amanda and I took turns hanging out with Huey who wasn’t exactly happy that all his friends left without him.
Amanda grazing Huey
Amanda falling asleep instead of watching Huey
It turns out the horses are in pretty good shape for a 2.5 hr/15 mile ride. Competitive trail rides are scored out of 100 points and penalties are assessed for things like missing the ideal time (30 minute window), loss of impulsion from start to finish, injuries/tack galls, dehydration, elevated heart rate, etc. At the end of the ride, Mojo had 97.5 pts and got 4th place with Anna, Teddy had 98 pts and got 2nd place in the Jr division, and Duchess had 98.5 pts for the win in the Jr Division.
Alex vetting Teddy after the ride
Ribbons!
Saturday afternoon was pretty easy going hanging around camp. Amanda was a social butterfly visiting with friends (new and old). Her friend Autumn brought over some hoof paint and they gave Huey some twinkly toes.
Huey’s twinkle toes
Saturday evening was a ride briefing for Sunday and big dinner in the town hall building, also located on the fairgrounds.
Vicki and Autumn waiting for the ride meeting
Alex and Amanda waiting for the ride meeting
Sunday morning also started at 5 to get the horses and family fed. We were riding a 30 mile ride that started at 8 with Rob on Mojo, Alex on Teddy, Vicki on Duchess, and Amanda on Huey. Temps were in the 40s at the start and peaked around 50F. It was great weather for a distance riding competition. Our 30 mile ride consisted of two looped on a 15 mile course (the same one Anna and the kids did the day before). It was mostly a dirt/gravel road with some trails mixed in. My GPS came up with about 1500′ of elevation per loop, so 3000′ of elevation for the day. There was a covered bridge we went through twice and a stream to water the horses (along with some troughs and buckets along the course).
ready to ride on Mojo
the family waiting on the start
trotting out Mojo for a vet check
Amanda and Huey headed out
Vicki and Duchess
Alex and Teddy
Vicki and Duchess
Amanda and Huey
Getting water in a stream
riding through the covered bridge
Alex and Teddy
The view through Mojo’s ears
riding through the covered bridge
riding through the covered bridge
fueled by Honey Stinger
Overall, the ride went very well. There was one issue with Huey constantly bucking and he eventually threw Amanda. Once we removed Huey’s crupper, he stopped complaining and Amanda didn’t have any more problems. All 4 horses did great on the ride. Mojo’s CRIs (cardiac recovery index) for the day were 40/40 and Teddy’s were 44/44. None of the horses had anything other than A’s and +’s on their vet cards and we completed in a 4-way tie for 8th place.
Alex and Vicki did 15 miles on Saturday and 30 on Sunday with their mounts. It was a stepping stone to get ready for their first 50 miler planned for June. Both riders and both horses passed the test. While we didn’t get home until about 9:30 on Sunday night, the whole family had a great weekend. One of the reasons we enjoy distance riding is everyone has fun (even if everything isn’t perfect). At dinner tonight, there was talk of sore muscles and what went right/wrong. But there was also talk about the next ride. You are doing it right when the completion of one event leaves riders looking forward to the next.
The kids and I took Mojo and Duchess over to Ann Bowie’s Horsepower Farm to participate in her derby this afternoon. We have not done much jumping this year, maybe one or two rides over a few cross rails in the arena so we played it safe and the kids rode in the pre-elementary division. Horses were good and the rain held off. Alex was a little closer to the ideal time than Vicki, but both rode the course without any penalties.
