The Roaming Rider

Facebook reminded me that yesterday marked 1 year since bringing Doofus home. Its been one heck of a year full of ups, downs, sideways, doubts and moments of redemption. Typical when talking about a year with horses.

I had had Gem for so long that most of our time together was predictable. We were so in sync by the end of our partnership that I could think something and, as long as she agreed with the something I was thinking, she would do it.

Bringing in a new horse was…well…new to me. I sorta expected to pick right up where I had been with Gem only a whole lot farther because I chose a much better trained and more advanced horse. Ha! HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA. Everyone done laughing yet??? Me neither.

Flash forward to today and we are both much changed. I’m not where I expected nor wanted to be at this point, but I think I am where I need to be with him right now given the rest of my life. Today I want to celebrate the changes in myself that have occurred thanks to the Big Orange Butthead over the last 365 days.

Let’s start with fear. With Gem there was always, no matter if it was riding down the same trail I’d been down a million times or riding at home in the arena, a steel ball in my stomach. She was never bad in the way of bolting, bucking, rearing shenanigans, but that mare could twist her body in a way that would make a contortionist envious. She was athletic enough to do it at the last second too which made fully trusting her pretty hard.

Now H’Appy isn’t a perfect saint. He has his opinions and has a naughty streak in him that Gem lacked. He isn’t afraid to pop those front feet off the ground in protest of real work. Yet, looking back now I can’t recall the last time I felt that steel ball in my stomach. I don’t 100% trust him yet, but I am also not fearful when I ride and am more apt to be aggressive with him in getting my way than I ever was before.

Which leads me into my style of riding. Gem taught me to be defensive. See above regarding her contortionist ways and add on the fact that she held a grudge like no other. I tended to be a bit passive with her in order to not escalate things. With H’Appy, I am learning how to apply pressure fairly and consistently and how to demand that we do the thing now and not when he decides to comply. It isn’t always pretty and my timing isn’t always perfect, but it is getting better and better all the time. The mere fact that I am willing to dig in a force the issue when I have already asked nicely a time or two is a big, big step for me. In the past I’d sorta wimp out and decide to do something else instead. Now, when I want a 20 m circle over there I do it even if it takes 3 times to get it done.

I’m also starting to really hone in and focus on my own riding. With Gem, it was often times a task of mere survival and compromising certain things (like leg on which she never learned to tolerate) to get through. With H’Appy, while some days he comes out a piss ant for no reason, I still can calm him down within 10-15 minutes of working and then start focusing on my hands, my elbows, where my legs on, am I breathing, can I soften?

Last, I’m finally in a place where I feel adventurous again. My youth was spent exploring the country side on horse back riding over mountains, swimming across rivers, and galloping through fields. No place and no task was met with a no from me. With Gem I learned to pick what activities would suit us and was more than happy to attend certain events, like a xc school, and watch from the sidelines or focus on tasks on our own. It was ok at the time, but now I’m finding that with H’Appy even though I’m not quite sure how he will react in certain situations. I want to do the things and figure them out as we go. This may change as I start taking him out and figure out his behavior but for now I have the urge to do all the things and see where we land once again.

Overall, even with all the blips and speed bumps we have encountered this past year, I’m really excited to see the changes I’ve made to my riding and my mental space while riding. It has been a fun ride, most of the time, and I feel ready to jump back into lessons and get this party started for real!

I’m about to give up on wordpress and move the blog elsewhere. I write all posts on my cell phone through the app and now it is having some mid life crises with my images not letting me center some of them and not allowing me to edit. I’m frustrated and blogging is supposed to be an outlet for me. UGH! Sorry for the rant, but this is ridiculous and I can’t spend any more time trying to fix this post so sorry in advance for the wonky look. 

Or… How I Can Justify Anything If I Want It Badly Enough

Or…How Consumerism Helps With The Stress Of Medical Boards

Or… The Husband Needs To Run More Often

Ha!!!

Friday morning started off innocently enough. The alarm went off at 6:30 am, I stumbled to the shower mumbling something about early retirement looking good these days, and turned the water to “melt your skin off” levels.

And that is when the day stopped being innocent.

As the water was warming up I glanced at my phone and saw that someone I didn’t know had messaged me around midnight. Who does that? Aren’t most people old like me and asleep? I opened it and stared for a while:

Uh….

I mean, not really. I have a lovely Bates saddle that I bought brand spanking new in December. It fits us both well enough. Though truth be told I’ve been a bit worried about some dry patches after our hot rides of late and sitting the canter has been exceptionally difficult and well….

Being a responsible and proudly frugal adult….I asked for pictures, about a possible trial and where she was located.

No harm in asking plus I figured with the late hour of the message she was likely a west coaster. I had zero interest in paying exorbitant shipping fees on a saddle I don’t need. She’d respond with a CA address and that would be that. I could carry on with life as normal.

Except….

She was in GA. And the pictures looked good.

Well darn.

Still though. It was a 3 hour drive to her and let me repeat this again: I don’t need another jump saddle. I have 3 already.

I got around for work, sent the kiddo off to school and tried to go about my morning.

Something kept bothering me though. I had been looking for 6 months for this saddle. New it would cost over double the asking price used. Even if it didn’t work I could resell it.

I didn’t last long before I texted the Hubby

You see, we just so happened to be going to Atlanta for the weekend so someone…not me I assure you…could run his first 100 mile race. The seller was only 20 minutes from our hotel.

Fate. Destiny. I don’t know what you all believe but I could not pass this up.

Somehow I got stuck in the new block editor and can’t caption anything, so all the pictures of Pete not tacked up were taken last week to celebrate his 30th birthday. He is looking amazing this spring!!! The others are from Dusty and Pete’s riding time together from 2010 – 2015.

“10 year old Haflinger gelding. 16H $800”

Moments before Dusty had been sitting next to me on the couch and leaned over asking “When are you finding me a haflinger?” He had fallen for one at the barn Gem was in training at and wanted one of his own.

Mere minutes later I found that ad on Craigslist and had contacted the seller. Two days later we went to meet him. It was obvious from the moment we saw him that he was a) not a haflinger and b) not 10 years old, but it was also obvious we weren’t going to leave him in the dark and damp 8×8 stall with overgrown hooves and ribs showing.

So we brought him to Gem’s barn and quickly got to know him.

We still have no idea what his real breeding is. Likely a Belgian cross or some such draft breed with his coloring. Doesn’t really matter in the end. His exact birthday is also unknown but Gem’s is May 10th, so we chose to celebrate his then as well.

Pete has been an amazing horse to have around. He is scared to death on the ground and Wyatt still has to move very slowly and quietly around him and there are days where he shies even from me if I have a different hat on or a rain coat. I don’t know if that’s inherent to him or if someone beat the snot out of him, but nearly a decade later it hasn’t changed.

Under saddle though is a different story. The only other time Dusty had even ridden was 5 years earlier on our honeymoon trip in France. He got Pete and the world opened up for him. The two were a great pair together as Dusty is naturally athletic, doesn’t scare easily and has a great sense of humor. He goes with the flow even when that flow was Pete cantering sideways into a tree or nearly off a cliff. Pete needed someone who would laugh off his antics and Dusty provided that for him. Dusty needed a partner who was up for anything and always ready to go and that was Pete. I don’t think Dusty will ever find a better horse.

Pete is a trail boss and will go over, under and through anything without a second thought. He loves a good gallop and never puts a hoof wrong. What always really lit him up was jumping. Our barn in WI had a small xc course and those two would do banks, ditches and corners without batting an eye. Had we known Eventing was a thing back then (we were at a dressage barn and everything else within 2 hours was western) those two would have eaten it up. Had they been able to stay in the dressage court.

Dusty mostly retired Pete once Wyatt came around. He was 24 at the time and there just wanted enough hours with work and Wyatt. He stayed mostly retired until we moved to the rental farm in 2017 and Dusty tried bringing him out again. We trailered to Trainer’s facility for a fun ride and he went but then refused to be caught or come near us in the pasture for a week after.

He was done being a riding horse and that was fine with us. He was 28 after all and deserved to be retired if he wanted to be.

Now he gets to enjoy life with no pressures. He grazes and naps in the sun and gets his balancer twice a day in his stall. Two years ago I switched to Tribute feed and he has really blossomed on it. This is the best he has ever looked coming out of winter.

Summer makes me worry a bit as he doesn’t handle the heat well, but evening cool down showers and access to plenty of shade helps.

Happy Birthday Old Man Winter!! I have we have another 10 years with you.

For this I need all you bloggers to chime in please!

H’Appy needs a new bridle. The PS of Sweden I bought off Michele was meant for Gem and fits him ok enough. I love the dark chocolate color and the padded monocrown but otherwise it’s a bit meh for me. Plus, the throat latch snapped so I’ve been riding without one. No real big deal, I’m not sure that strap serves much of a purpose but still. I’d like a fully intact bridle for him.

I looked at every single bridle that both my local tack stores had and didn’t really like any of them enough to buy. He has a sorta wonky shaped head too. The PSoS is a cob but the noseband is on the last hole and the brow band/crown is a bit tighter than I’d like. The cheeks though – those fit perfectly. I think maybe a horse size would be a bit better and more adjustable.

Here’s what I’m looking for:

• True dark chocolate brown. He is so orange and his saddle is a dark brown that any hint of orange in the bridle would be awful looking.
• Removable flash or none at all. I don’t use it and won’t until I get with a trainer I love and they suggest I do. The less the better when I’m on my own and that little tab sticking out annoys me.
• Padded nose and crown
• Anatomic crown. He has massive freaking donkey ears and needs room.
• No patent, no loud stitching, not insanely wide. Plain, dark and simple for his already highly chromed out face.

If I’m buying new it needs to be $250 or less (what I currently have saved from my Color Street sales!) but I’m perfectly fine with used. I’ve never actually bought a bridle new outside of Gem’s endurance side pull, so used is great with me.

Any suggestions? I’ve seen Lund thrown around a lot in blog land. Anyone have a bridle that would suit and is for sale? I love buying from bloggers!

While I don’t mind covering my horse’s flesh in chemicals to keep them from spending hours on end stomping and shaking and being irritated, I do like a good natural alternative when possible.

My go to since my days in WI, circa 2010, has been Belly Balm. I love that stuff. Aloe based and greasy as all get out, it was perfect to rub on ears, noses, chins and legs. It stayed through rain and sweat like nothing I’ve seen before and smelled amazing. If you like citronella. I stumbled on it when Pete reacted to the bugs in WI with massive welts all over his stomach and it not only kept the bugs off, but healed those welts and sores over night. I loved that stuff. Can I repeat that again?

So you can imagine my immense disappointment when I went to the local tack shop to pick up a new jar to find the shelf void of Belly Balm. The owner told me that Professional Choice bought the mom and pop company that made it and discontinued the product. Thank you Professional Choice. I hate you now.

I wandered the shop hoping to find an equivalent. She is into natural products so I figured she’d have something. I’ve tried the non chemical sprays but they don’t touch the SC bugs at all. Might as well spray water on the horses.

Tack shop lady pointed me to Clac which she ordered to try in its place. It’s an all natural cream meant to rub on in place of sprays and the jar is a bit silly stating that it is helpful to avoid the spooky spray noise. Sorry company but I’m not sponging fly deterrent all over my horse. I don’t have 10 hours. Still, if it could be used on sensitive areas that I don’t want to spray it, it was worth a shot.

I’ve used it  in place of my beloved Belly Balm and it seems to work about the same at keeping the flies off. I actually really like the sponge application as it keeps my hands from getting gross and it also spreads a lot nicer, covering more surface area with less product.

All three horses got it rubbed around ears, under eyes, along the chin and I put a stripe down the center of their back from wither to tail and barely made a dent in the jar. It should last a good long while.

It smells great, is easy to apply and kept the bugs away just as well as my old faithful. I applied it Sunday late afternoon and it then decided to pour in the evening. By Monday night, through two rains and a long sweaty day outside, I could still see and smell it around their ears and along their back where I put it on the heaviest.

I’m not completely appeased from the loss of my trusty green goo, but early results are promising. For now I’m happy to have any alternative available and the horses are happy to not be bothered with flies where I can’t safely spray harmful chemicals. The Big Orange Butthead still needs a leg protection solution though since I don’t really want to rub this all over his legs. The other two are in Shoo Fly Leggings which I’m a big fan of, but he wears bell boots up front and eh…I’m not sure I like the idea of using both together. I’ll figure something out soon as the bugs are back in town and he ditches shoes too easily without the added stomping.

New tights shouldn’t be hard to find but ugh. They were.

The Irideon Issential tight has been my go to since I bought them at Rolex in 2012. They have stood the test of 7 years hard riding and still look brand new. Even after all that wear and all the washing they still fit perfectly. They don’t make them any longer which is a real shame.

While they are my go to favorite riding pants, they do lack a couple key features I’ve found myself needing of late: pockets and belt loops. I’ve also been curious to try a silicone full seat, so I started a journey to find a new pair of tights that had all the features I need.

My heart was set on the new Horsewear Tech Tight. They look really cool and have some neat features plus they come in red and orange horse be damned, I’ll be an eye sore for red pants. Farmhouse Tack has them in stock so I wandered up there to try them out last weekend.

It was a bust.

They fit pretty great and I loved the mesh waist band but they lacked belt loops and only came in silicone knee patches. Also, while they had a big pocket it was placed on the front of the thigh which just felt awkward walking around. 

I tried on a ton of other brands including the Kerrits Ice Fill but none were hitting the mark.

Then I found FITS.

Wow. They were perfect.

Belt loops: check! Pocket: check! Silicone full seat: check! Light weight yet felt durable: check!

Really the only two issues I had were that they only had a single pocket and I was between sizes. I’ve lost enough weight that medium is now a bit big but I’m still too large for a small. I hate feeling stuffed in my clothes so I went with a medium in hopes they don’t stretch out with time.

I then also grabbed a new Kerrits Ice Fill tank and let me tell you this. If you want to feel like you are riding naked get one of these. It feels like there is nothing on. A glorious feeling as the weather really begins to heat up down here. Love love love this tank and want to go buy a bunch more.

Not sure any of you like tights. After riding endurance for so long I can’t stand most materials that breeches are made out of. That plastic feeling crap makes my skin crawl and so many are stiff. I’m slowly converting to wearing a belt though so who knows. Maybe I’ll convert all the way some day. Doubtful though when tights are so darn comfortable. If you are in the market for a summer tight to get you through the hot months, I’d take a look at these and give them a try. I rode last night instead of studying (oops!) and never wanted to take them off. 

Nothing earth shattering happening over here. I have ridden several times since last posting all focusing on the one lingering fear that haunts my riding: running off.

Now, H’Appy is not going to really ever run off. Maybe to the next patch of clover or to the in gate but let’s be real here. Fat Boy ain’t going nowhere. But…I really dislike the feeling that I’m not actually in charge. It makes me very defensive and defensive riding is not the best.

So my rides of late have been all about making sure Mister knows who says what. To that effect I set up a very simple line of two verticals set at 60′. While I had the tape measure in my hand I went ahead and measured the height and then scolded myself for jumping so low and moved them up a hole. To a whopping 20″. I told you nothing earth shattering happening.

Anyway. The first night I started off trotting in and letting him canter out, then moved to cantering in and out but Homeboy decided he was going to decide how fast and where his feet went, so he got to canter in and then immediately return to the trot after the in jump and trot over the out. Then he got to jump the in, perform a 20 m circle and go over the out. I liked that it made him have to pay attention to me, but I worried that I was teaching him not to go through the line so I only did that a couple of times before returning to going straight through.

Overall that ride was pretty darn fantastic.

The next ride I added a third jump on the diagonal to give me something to focus on after the line instead of letting him sneak in a celebratory gallop lap before coming back to me.  I started off wanting to really work on the bend on the flat before getting to the jumps hoping it wouldn’t take very long. I’ve been a little slack on that lately, letting him go around too straight.

Well, let me tell you Doofus was highly offended that I actually wanted real work and not just fun jumpies. He let me know it too. Lots of tantrums and lots of OPINIONS being thrown around.

You know what though? This was the worst he has been in months and it was still way better than his good behavior last fall. I remained calm, ignored him and carried on as if he was being the good boy I know he can be.

It took a while. Longer than I’d like, but he eventually got the memo that moving our rib cage is a thing we can do nicely and without giving me the bird in the process. It was hot that night, pushing 90F already, and humid with incoming storms so after he finally chilled out and gave me the flat ride I wanted, I popped him over the new three jump course once each direction and called it a night.

Phew boy but that ride was a lot of hard work.

I’m into the final push before my test so I’m not sure he will get ridden at all the next 10 days unless any local blogger wants to come down and hop on him. Free fun for everyone!!! I joke, but I’m also serious.

Last night I had a pounding head, the humidity was at 8,000%, and I was exhausted after seeing a double booked day of patients.

But Fat Boy needs exercise and I know that if I don’t ride regularly it will bite me in the butt in the form of a tantrum on his end, so despite all of that I changed and tacked up. Some days you just have to put the work in.

Dusty was hanging around so I asked if he would grab some new media for me. I wasn’t feeling jumping so I left the ground poles down and worked on the flat adding in canter work as well.

It’s always amazing to me how I can feel like I’m doing something but then I see a picture or video and it is quite obvious that I am most definitely doing the exact opposite. Sigh. I guess that’s what video is for?

The biggest thing I am going to fix is my gosh darn arms. If you were to ask me, I’d tell you that my elbows were super relaxed and bent.

Yeah. If by relaxed I mean rigid as a steel beam and by bent I mean straight out, then ok. I’m going to really have to work on over exaggerating it for a while to get the feel of when they are actually bent and relaxed.

But anyway. Other than seeing all my flaws I’m actually very happy with where we are. Outside of that one single lesson, we have gotten to this point all on our own and that’s not too shabby for my level of education and time in the arena. Especially from where we started back to work in December.

He is relaxed, probably a bit too pokey and slow but rhythmic and even so I’ll take a bit slow for now. His steering is on point too these days.

What really blows me away is his canter transition. It’s nice, we don’t go charging off into outer space and he remains with power steering engaged. All things that were not possible a few months ago. This is a canter I enjoy riding and can feel safe and in control with.

All in all a good ride even with neither of us feeling up for it. Once boards are over and done with mid May it will be on to some heavy lessons with an eye towards course work and a late summer HT!!

Thankfully I have the Best Farrier Ever* and he was able to come out last Friday to fix H’Appy back up. Since it was only a week before they were all due anyway, I told him to go ahead and do all three. This time of year they grow insane amounts of hoof so I knew there would be plenty of work.

This four week schedule is killing my bank account, but it keeps them happy and sound.

*He is the BFE because a) he comes when I am at work and doesn’t mind me not being there and then also always offers to put them back in whatever field I want when he is done, b) he texts me info and doesn’t mind my million questions and c) he takes pay pal so I can just send him the money once he texts that he is done. I love him. He is never allows to retire, get hurt or move.

It took until last night to ride though. Friday it poured. Like can’t see anything, flash flooding levels of pouring. Saturday was freezing cold and rainy and the Hubby was off running a 100k for funsies, then Sunday was Easter and we had family stuff to do and Monday Hubby didn’t even get home from work until after 7pm due to an onslaught of emergencies and we had stuff to do.

Last night though was the night. Finally.

There is a nice open show going on at a nearby facility and I had it on my calendar to attend and do the cross rails and 2′ divisions except I can’t now due to something else that we need to do on Saturday instead. I’m pretty bummed about not going as it is a facility I know really well. They did however post their courses on FB and I took that as an opportunity to set it up at home.

Or at least half of it anyway. I only have enough supplies to make 4 jumps. Having not ridden in a week, I decided to lay out the exercise as ground poles for the night and start back slowly with my plan being to turn them into verticals tonight or tomorrow. I hemmed and hawed as to which four I wanted to do and eventually settled on the left half with the two on the long side and a diagonal line from upper left to lower right.

H’Appy really tried to hold it together. Really he did. Not only had he had a week off, but Dusty was by the gate raking up grass from me dragging it before I rode and Wyatt was taking up the near end making a hot wheel race track that I was not allowed to ride over. It was a lot to drag his nosy little attention away and I was so very proud of him for holding it together as much as he did.

There was some flailing. There was some head tossing. There was some cantering. There was some flying leaps over the poles. There was a whole lot of drift to their end of the arena. Going over the poles heading towards them was an exercise in slowing my posting and using my core to contain him. Going over the poles away from them was an exercise in leg on.

But honestly? There was also a whole lot of listening to my half halts. And a whole lot of trotting nicely away from the boys. And a whole lot of reasons to tell him he was being a good boy and give him all the pats.

He had every reason to fall apart and he didn’t.

Once they left he settled right down to the task at hand and got over himself. I asked him to trot nicely going over the long side poles set at 60′, turn right and keep the same tempo all the way back to the gate and over the diagonal poles set at 72′ going away then we circled back and went over the long side poles towards the gate, left turn and out the diagonal line.

Once he did that entire exercise calmly and with an even pace (with properly timed half halts and leg from me where I knew he’d either speed up, heading to the gate, or slow down, heading away, which I got better at as we went along) I walked him out of the arena to cool down in the pasture. It’s a new habit I’m trying to do at the end of every ride to get him used to riding out there.

It wasn’t perfect and there were a lot of self reminders to lower my hands, quit rushing to my hands and use my leg more, tighten that core and for the love of all things shiny have a damn plan woman, but it also had a lot of moments of relaxation, thoughtful paths and nice pace.

For the first ride back after a week off due to the lost shoe and weather, it wasn’t half bad.

A month ago KC had posted about Pilgrim’s epic hoof hole. It was gross. A few days later my farrier came out to trim and shoe the herd and I was left with my own hoof hole to deal with.

I texted KC jokingly saying that Eeyore wants to be like Pilgrim. Ha ha ha.

Life moved on, I got into the routine of treating the hoof nightly with Wunderhoof and every other day with No Thrush, and he stayed sound and happy allowing me to continue to ride him.

Then KC went and posted her latest post about Pilgrim pulling his shoe and going into the hoof boot.

Wouldn’t you know that yesterday afternoon after I left work early to get home and ride I pull the Orange Butthead out of the pasture and….

He hasn’t lost a shoe in 3 cycles now (15 weeks!) and the very day I read her post he throws his shoe?

Coincidence?

I think not.