Mountain Moonshine

When my new friend, Dale, invited me to ride Friday morning I abandoned my very important plans of house cleaning and said YES!  (and yes the house is still dirty, LOL!) When I woke up to 1" of fresh snow and blizzard-like conditions I double checked to make sure everyone was still meeting up to ride in the mountains and YES they were; I am not the only semi-sane rider around!  Thankfully it was just a short period of wind and snow and then the day cleared up.  However, I had not previously been to this meet-up point so after passing through a promising looking cul-de-sac I skeptically continued on a small private, barely cleared of snow, forest path optimistically looking for other horse trailers.

Unfortunately I only came across a very helpful woman driving towards me (the road only had room for 1 vehicle) and I explained I was hoping that there was a parking area for horse trailers at the end of the road. Most unfortunately she explained that only her house was at the end with a small plowed out area only suitable for small cars.  She backed up the 200 yards to her home and I followed her and she was able to squeeze past me while I spent then next 20 minutes trying to figure out how to turn the trailer around.  The other resident of the home had a free, fairly entertaining, show watching me try to maneuver the truck and trailer around the cars, trees, large snow banks without backing down the steep embankment into the creek.   Ultimately, I backed the trailer into a snowbank and unhitched then drove the truck forward and re-hitched from a completely different angle and was able to pull out!  I then proceeded back to the previously promising cul-de-sac appearing to everyone's amazement from the backwoods forest road rather than the main entrance. Of course they were all tacked and ready-to-go at this point but were very nice about waiting for me to unload and get ready.

Dale then took us on absolutely stunning ride through the mountains!  I am starting to call my rides with Dale "Trust-Building Rides" because his sense of adventure is limitless and every ride expands my trust and confidence in Poptart.  After almost 2 hours of climbing through the snow-filled mountains we stopped for lunch, enjoying some homemade moonshine and a warming campfire.  I think it was like a scene from a movie, the sun glinting off the fresh snow, a crackling fire, the horses standing relaxed, a little moonshine...

The moonshine came in handy for the 2nd part of the ride, as I was a little relaxed and didn't fret too much when we were riding on the steep snow-covered slope of mountain with no visible trail (or slightly flat spot of trail to walk) and a significant drop down the creek at the bottom. Poptart never faltered and kept both of us safe and sound. We then picked our way down the holler adjacent to a creek. Poptart never hesitated stepping over trees or going through the creeks, and in fact chose to drink at every single creek crossing (Yay!).  Our only spook was on the way in when we stepped on a puddle of snow-covered ice and it cracked underneath of him, again next to a fairly steep slope/drop-off. He jumped a bit, but kept his head and listened when I  urged him forward.  It scared me more than him --I was bit shaky and light-headed for the next few minutes.  On the back he stepped on the same ice, but just twitched his ears noticing it but kept on going and didn't miss a step.

What a fantastic and exhilarating day! I am already to head out again :)

Yet another unplanned dismount!

My ride... 30" of snow, 1.93 miles,  48 minutes, Snow drifts coming in through the stirrups :). I overestimated what my little Poptart could do when I asked him to plow through a snow bank back to the road.  He fell forward all the way down onto his side, I slid down his neck and off his head onto our snowy road.  He then promptly galloped the 1/4 mile back to the barn... Another unplanned dismount and no injuries! We are improving :)  After reuniting we proceeded to ride to our friend's house (which was the original goal..) and snow tubed for a few hours. Poptart chilled eating hay in the run-in with her horses. When I got him out for the ride home he had about 1"  of his upper lip hanging off.  I think the horses had too much fun playing "lip-bitey" with each other.   Luckily he was a good boy and with some sedation we got it cleaned up and skin-stapled back together.  May it heal fast without infection :)

Cold and alone

Poptart and I were cold and alone for 7.41 miles and 2 hr 18 min at a temperature of 17 degrees with nicely consistent wind today.  This was his 3rd ride out by himself and he was great, I am so glad we suffered through negative with wind chill temperatures together!  Last time he was on a bit of adrenaline as he was nervous about being without other horses and he clocked an average 3.7 mph walk for almost 3hrs. This time, however, he was quite content to mosey about 3 mph, eat some grass, and calmly make his way down the trail.  He tackled a short steep climb, lots of deadfall and practiced 'grab-and-go' eating.  The deadfall is a big deal because one of his trouble areas is limbs (or objects) around his legs, especially when he steps on a piece and it shakes in the woods off to the side. Today no big deal, last June it was an ER visit for me.  We also started trotting on the trail a bit earlier than planned as I was trying for 48 hrs of total trail walking time, but it was ENTIRELY TOO COLD to only walk -- the trotting helped me regain circulation to my toes :)  He was very obedient, but we certainly need to practice a slow, relaxed, rhythmic, ground covering trot using his back end and lifting his back.  His current tendency is to raise his head/neck, hollow his back, and rush with fast short little steps, but even today after a few transitions and practice he offered a few moments of much more relaxed trot, yay!  Also, after today, we are down to 3 out 4 easy boots, soon I will be posting my thoughts about renegade hoof boots...  And coming up this weekend --playing in snow!

Flash! Bang!

Last weekend Poptart, Graham, and I attended a self-defense, and trail safety clinic by previous
Mounted Police Officer Lillian Moore hosted by Joe London Training. We headed over to Culpeper, Virginia on Friday evening after work. What should have been a 2 hr drive turned into a painstaking 3hr crawl due to continuous drizzle and very heavy fog driving on tiny 2 lane roads over unknown mountains. Upon arrival (according to the GPS) we were at the end of a drive facing a home with some parked cars, a school bus, and a horse trailer. Unfortunately we were expecting a large training stable....

A quick call to Sue had us turning around (to the amusement of the unsuspecting homeowners watching a horse trailer perform a 5-point turn-around, in the rain, in their personal driveway) and heading back up the road to where the wonderful stable hand now had the lights on and was waiting to help us unload.  We quickly unloaded Poptart to a luxurious fully bedded stall already prepared with a fresh pile of fluffy hay and clean water.  What service! I could have quickly gotten used to this Central Virginian lifestyle!  We then headed to dinner in Culpeper hoping to make it to a restaurant before they all closed, and luckily Ruby Tuesday's was still open.

The day of the clinic dawned with more heavy fog and drizzle.  We made our way to Joe's brand new indoor arena where we started out learning about basic drill work including standing boot-to-boot in line, counting off, stepping out in two's, and riding in columns of both two and four.  Poptart thought the indoor arena was quite nice, especially since he could share it with a nice herd of new friends. However, he thought squeezing in line and in columns between his new friends was a little too close for comfort.  He practiced making his "PISSY POP" face to make sure those strange horses didn't come any closer, but by the end of the day he had many new best friends and was happy to be with them.

The other very interesting portion of the morning session included how to defend yourself from an attack/molestation by a person.  I thought this was very useful (or hopefully not useful!).  If someone grabs you and tries to pull you off your horse then you basically disengage (or 1-rein stop) the hindquarters of the horse into them with some extra oomph.  You do not turn the front of the horse towards them as they can just follow and keep pulling you off.  However, if someone grabs your reins you turn the horse into them and then beat them with everything you've got!  We practiced this several times and the horses seemed to get the hang of it-- some even wanted to chase after their 'attacker'.

After lunch we practiced with sensory stimuli.  At first this included a large 6' play ball.  Poptart was happy to gaze upon it from afar and had no problem staying behind all the other horses when they approached.  We had two or three "pusher" horses who seemed to think the ball was the best invention they had ever seen. Lillian paired the less confident horses with a pusher and the less sure ones gained confidence as they followed the pusher and ball around the arena.  By the next bathroom break Poptart was happy to sniff and touch the ball while being lead.

After bathroom break we were quietly informed to expect unexpected sensory stimuli and to be sure to have shorter reins, etc.  Then we started with some drill work and everyone promptly forgot about anything unexpected. Until BANG!! Lillian had lit firecrackers! Surprisingly, all the horses handled it very well. Poptart just flinched in place, then proceeded to flinch with every horse snort, tack noise, etc for the next 1/2 hour!  Next was colorful smoke bombs-- think of the smoke monster from the TV show 'Lost'.   Poptart was never comfortable with the smoke bombs, but he kept his head and stayed rideable/handleable while we maneuvered around the arena and various smoke. He was a little keyed up fromr all the stimulus by the time we had the end of the clinic line up, where we went over what we learned, liked, etc., but he settled down after a few minutes. Thank you Lillian Moore and Joe London and Sue Fanelli for putting on this great clinic!

Overall, I was very pleased with the learning and experience. I learned that even though some situations may scare Poptart, I can generally handle him (at least long enough to get past it or safely dismount). I am less worried about unexpected gun shots in the woods and I plan on leaving very quickly should I see a large amount of smoke in the woods, LOL!  I would love to practice all of this more, but I am very proud of Poptart once again :)

Proud of Poptart

Poptart and I had an awesome 2nd ride of the New Year today!  We rode the Bucktail/Capon trail with our new riding partner, Wendy and her wonderful Rocky Mountain Horse, Tivo. Each trail ride I have been seeing noticeable improvements in Poptart and today was no exception.  He is loading better in the trailer, or should I say staying in the trailer better!  He goes in fine routinely but has a small habit of zooming out backwards. He mainly does this when he is by himself, with a buddy in the trailer he is much more confident.  We have been playing with staying in for a slow count of 5-10 seconds (and building up from there) and not backing out until asked! It is working quite well and he is learning to be more relaxed while trailering by himself, maybe someday he will even be able to eat his alfalfa hay when by himself too!

When we arrived at Bucktail, Wendy was already parked and starting to tack up.  I happened to park and unload Poptart where he was not able to see that there was another horse nearby.  This is the first time I have trailered him out and tacked him up without a riding buddy in sight.  He was alert but very well behaved for saddling (and girthing!)  And when returning from the trail Poptart was very content to leave his Tivo, his new best friend, and untack at his own trailer, he also loaded (and stayed loaded) very well.  These small steps of progress are starting to add up and I am getting excited about my future endurance partner!!

I am also so proud of how he behaved on the trail.  Large parts of the trail were very washed out from a recent hard rain and he handled difficult ascents, descents, boulder climbs, downed trees, and slick, challenging footing like an experienced and confident trail horse.  Poptart even lead down a steep 3' slope into a rocky stream when Tivo thought a different route might be more appropriate. Once again I am so proud of Poptart today and so excited about our future :)

Happy New Year!

Poptart is continuing his mountain walking conditioning program and we had a absolutely wonderful New Year's Day ride yesterday. We are following Perseverance Endurance's Conditioning Program and Poptart is becoming more confident and reliable with every ride! He is starting to take the lead at times and even lead across a stream or two! The walking program seems to be very effective, when we started Pop's walk was about 2.5 - 3 mph, now we are developing a 3.5-4 mph walk regularly and he even got to 4.5 mph at one time! I am proud of him for doing so well, keeping his head during new situations and starting to become a great partner. I am starting to see a potential endurance horse in the making finally!

This was also our first point-to-point ride. We parked at Bucktail and mid-trail decided it would be great to head to fellow rider Patrice's home nearby.  12 miles and 4 hr 20 min later we arrived after a such a wonderful ride.  What a great way to bring in the New Year!

: