Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Making a Comeback
Alright, I'll be honest....dropped off the radar here for a bit. So I'm trying to make a comeback and get better about updating this thing. My cousin started his own blog recently (pretty much about his random thoughts), so I figure if HE can do it, I can do it.
General updates: This season, my focus has been on a few things. I bought my first horse, Fine Ali Bey, in February 2012. She is adorable and has been super-easy to bring along. Her breeding is a mix of Crabbit, Polish, Spanish, and Egyptian. She's very small, maybe 14'2'' and delicate so I've been bringing her along very slowly so as not to hurt her growth or cause an injury. Recently we've put her and Helo on rice bran along with their normal food to try and bulk them up a bit. She carries me no problem, would just like to see a little more on her especially as the weather cools off. My first ride with her will hopefully be Fort Valley in October.
Helo has had a bit of a trying year. He started very well, but also began to get nervous traveling to rides and not holding weight well. Pretty sure he was developing some ulcers. He also came up off of Foxcatcher with a Fistulous Wither, so he's been pretty much left alone these past 6 months. Sarah (his owner) has been slowly bringing him back. His back needs to build up some muscle again and we've got him on rice bran with Ali. He seems very relaxed and happy to be back out on trail with a job again. She and I have both switched to Specialized Saddles; it's the only treed saddle out there that you can adjust with your horses back as it changes. Helo has a weirdly prominent wither that comes back very far; Sarah tried a multitude of different saddles and liked this one the best. Of the other saddles, she felt closest and most secure in this one, and we knew for a FACT that it would stay off his spine (you can see down the entire channel from butt to wither). For my switch, Helo wasn't the only horse I had problems with. I also had pressure points with Kricket (Farah's Testamony) and Ali also got a bad wither rub, even after I purchased an Equipedic pad to help bolster support for them. So I went Specialized, having used it before and loved it. I'm very happy I made the switch; these saddles are great and I will be able to change and customize the fit as she grows and changes fairly easily. For anyone that's interested, their website is www.specializedsaddles.com. You can also order them through Global Endurance (www.globalendurance.com); Christoph and Dian are dealers and can help answer any questions you have.
Kricket has been having an awesome year! Amy is still focusing a lot on Remington, so she let me bring Kricket along for her to get her mileage for National Championships at Biltmore next week. Then in a surprise move back in February, Amy said I could take her! So I'll be racing down in Asheville in TEN DAYS!!!! So excited, and stressed. We're going to be letting Kricket put some speed on and just see where she places; not going to be pushing for a top spot but would like to be in the upper end of the pack. Amy has told me that if I go faster than 6:30 she will kill me. Of course, she also said if I lose in a race-off she'll kill me (we practiced, I clocked Kricket at 27MPH and she still had a gear or two left). So we'll just have to see how the day goes.
Speaking of Champions...Heather and Jeremy both went to the World Championships in London this year! Not to be confused with the Olympics (endurance is not yet an Olympic Sport), the WEC is definitely a big deal. The US Team placed 4th, finishing 4 out of 5 starters. This is a great showing for them and they went super-fast! We are all very proud of our team. You can read about their experience on Heather's blog here.
That's all I have for now. Tonight is Sandy Point night with what I am informally calling the Central Southeastern Virginia Endurance Team (ie pretty much all of us not up in the mountains). Sarah and I are going with Helo and Ali, and we'll be bringing Sarah's daughters on their ponies Aleah and Silver. Will be posting some Garmin Reports on training routes here. I'm registering Ali with AHA and am going to be looking at the different types of competitions they have (one is recording training mileage so I have to be better about that habit). Stay tuned.
Alright, I'll be honest....dropped off the radar here for a bit. So I'm trying to make a comeback and get better about updating this thing. My cousin started his own blog recently (pretty much about his random thoughts), so I figure if HE can do it, I can do it.
General updates: This season, my focus has been on a few things. I bought my first horse, Fine Ali Bey, in February 2012. She is adorable and has been super-easy to bring along. Her breeding is a mix of Crabbit, Polish, Spanish, and Egyptian. She's very small, maybe 14'2'' and delicate so I've been bringing her along very slowly so as not to hurt her growth or cause an injury. Recently we've put her and Helo on rice bran along with their normal food to try and bulk them up a bit. She carries me no problem, would just like to see a little more on her especially as the weather cools off. My first ride with her will hopefully be Fort Valley in October.
Helo has had a bit of a trying year. He started very well, but also began to get nervous traveling to rides and not holding weight well. Pretty sure he was developing some ulcers. He also came up off of Foxcatcher with a Fistulous Wither, so he's been pretty much left alone these past 6 months. Sarah (his owner) has been slowly bringing him back. His back needs to build up some muscle again and we've got him on rice bran with Ali. He seems very relaxed and happy to be back out on trail with a job again. She and I have both switched to Specialized Saddles; it's the only treed saddle out there that you can adjust with your horses back as it changes. Helo has a weirdly prominent wither that comes back very far; Sarah tried a multitude of different saddles and liked this one the best. Of the other saddles, she felt closest and most secure in this one, and we knew for a FACT that it would stay off his spine (you can see down the entire channel from butt to wither). For my switch, Helo wasn't the only horse I had problems with. I also had pressure points with Kricket (Farah's Testamony) and Ali also got a bad wither rub, even after I purchased an Equipedic pad to help bolster support for them. So I went Specialized, having used it before and loved it. I'm very happy I made the switch; these saddles are great and I will be able to change and customize the fit as she grows and changes fairly easily. For anyone that's interested, their website is www.specializedsaddles.com. You can also order them through Global Endurance (www.globalendurance.com); Christoph and Dian are dealers and can help answer any questions you have.
Kricket has been having an awesome year! Amy is still focusing a lot on Remington, so she let me bring Kricket along for her to get her mileage for National Championships at Biltmore next week. Then in a surprise move back in February, Amy said I could take her! So I'll be racing down in Asheville in TEN DAYS!!!! So excited, and stressed. We're going to be letting Kricket put some speed on and just see where she places; not going to be pushing for a top spot but would like to be in the upper end of the pack. Amy has told me that if I go faster than 6:30 she will kill me. Of course, she also said if I lose in a race-off she'll kill me (we practiced, I clocked Kricket at 27MPH and she still had a gear or two left). So we'll just have to see how the day goes.
Speaking of Champions...Heather and Jeremy both went to the World Championships in London this year! Not to be confused with the Olympics (endurance is not yet an Olympic Sport), the WEC is definitely a big deal. The US Team placed 4th, finishing 4 out of 5 starters. This is a great showing for them and they went super-fast! We are all very proud of our team. You can read about their experience on Heather's blog here.
That's all I have for now. Tonight is Sandy Point night with what I am informally calling the Central Southeastern Virginia Endurance Team (ie pretty much all of us not up in the mountains). Sarah and I are going with Helo and Ali, and we'll be bringing Sarah's daughters on their ponies Aleah and Silver. Will be posting some Garmin Reports on training routes here. I'm registering Ali with AHA and am going to be looking at the different types of competitions they have (one is recording training mileage so I have to be better about that habit). Stay tuned.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Rabbit Run Recap
Hey guys, this one won't be too long I promise.....
Went to the New Jersey ride Rabbit Run with Amy Smoot and Carolyn Vavala. I took Helo, Amy took Remington and Carolyn was on her mare, Becca. Amy and I planned to ride together and go easy, just trying to get Remington through his first successful 50 in a long time and also get Helo conditioned. I wasn't too concerned because the ride is flat and supposedly easy.
We got to camp with no problems and parked on Friday. Immediately I had concern because the sand on the road in and in the vet area was pretty deep; Carolyn's rig was losing some major traction. This was scary, as we had not prepared or conditioned for deep sand (yikes!). Helo was unfamiliar with using a ramp and bonked his ankle unloading; he was sound it was just a little ouchie to the touch. He also was a little dehydrated; I ended up hitting him with a few doses of electrolytes while we rested on Friday. Everyone vetted through fine, and we had a great ride dinner and fast meeting.
Saturday morning, Amy and I waited until the main pack was out of sight before we headed out to trail. Kelly Lane (riding her horses, Dinero) decided to head out and pace with us. It ended up working out great! Remington calmed down much faster then normal, Helo was energetic but very well-behaved, and it was great experience for everyone. For the first two loops we held about 9-10mph trot, except for on the moguls and deep sand (we slowed down for all of that). Unfortunately, there was a LOT of deep sand. Apparently this is not common for this ride, but because they didn't get a lot of rain the trail wasn't as compressed as normal. Good to know if we come back in future years. There also is almost zero food and very little water on trail, so it's good to bring some horse snacks on the saddle and not take too long out there.
Helo and Remy started to get tired around mile 30, so we backed them off to make sure they finished. Unfortunately Dinero pulled at mile 35 (hind end lameness). Amy and I went VERY slow on the last loop; we were all kind of dead brained and sore from the very flat ride and Helo wasn't eating or drinking as well as I wanted him too. I hit him with Probios and some Balance at the vet check and he perked right back up again, and his vet checks were good all day. Good experience for both of us now, I'll definitely have that handy for future rides!
Amy, Carolyn and I all finished successfully and headed home Saturday night (again a note for this ride, they make you leave Saturday night unless you want to pay extra to stay). Next year, we'll pay the extra. Since we were all very tired it took us a lot of extra time to get home, and the horses took longer to recover over the next few days. Lesson learned.
Next up, Foxcatcher!
Went to the New Jersey ride Rabbit Run with Amy Smoot and Carolyn Vavala. I took Helo, Amy took Remington and Carolyn was on her mare, Becca. Amy and I planned to ride together and go easy, just trying to get Remington through his first successful 50 in a long time and also get Helo conditioned. I wasn't too concerned because the ride is flat and supposedly easy.
We got to camp with no problems and parked on Friday. Immediately I had concern because the sand on the road in and in the vet area was pretty deep; Carolyn's rig was losing some major traction. This was scary, as we had not prepared or conditioned for deep sand (yikes!). Helo was unfamiliar with using a ramp and bonked his ankle unloading; he was sound it was just a little ouchie to the touch. He also was a little dehydrated; I ended up hitting him with a few doses of electrolytes while we rested on Friday. Everyone vetted through fine, and we had a great ride dinner and fast meeting.
Saturday morning, Amy and I waited until the main pack was out of sight before we headed out to trail. Kelly Lane (riding her horses, Dinero) decided to head out and pace with us. It ended up working out great! Remington calmed down much faster then normal, Helo was energetic but very well-behaved, and it was great experience for everyone. For the first two loops we held about 9-10mph trot, except for on the moguls and deep sand (we slowed down for all of that). Unfortunately, there was a LOT of deep sand. Apparently this is not common for this ride, but because they didn't get a lot of rain the trail wasn't as compressed as normal. Good to know if we come back in future years. There also is almost zero food and very little water on trail, so it's good to bring some horse snacks on the saddle and not take too long out there.
Helo and Remy started to get tired around mile 30, so we backed them off to make sure they finished. Unfortunately Dinero pulled at mile 35 (hind end lameness). Amy and I went VERY slow on the last loop; we were all kind of dead brained and sore from the very flat ride and Helo wasn't eating or drinking as well as I wanted him too. I hit him with Probios and some Balance at the vet check and he perked right back up again, and his vet checks were good all day. Good experience for both of us now, I'll definitely have that handy for future rides!
Amy, Carolyn and I all finished successfully and headed home Saturday night (again a note for this ride, they make you leave Saturday night unless you want to pay extra to stay). Next year, we'll pay the extra. Since we were all very tired it took us a lot of extra time to get home, and the horses took longer to recover over the next few days. Lesson learned.
Next up, Foxcatcher!
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