Cuneo Creek 2015

It's been radio silence around here for a little bit.  Work has been crazy, and I had a few pony plans in the works that I didn't want to jinx.

The TL;DR version: Confetti and I went north to Cuneo Creek, rode our first 50, and completed in fine spirits.

This really was a "it takes a village" sort of ride.  It took three different trailers and four trailer rides (one of which I wasn't even there for - my boyfriend is thankfully very supportive!) to get Confetti there and back.  I could not have even gotten to the ride were it not for the kindness of a semi-local rider who was willing to haul us up and back, someone I'd met only in passing prior to this ride.

Horse Preparation
I didn't ride very much the week prior to hauling up.  It's not that I wasn't planning to ride, but between ride prep and work I simply ran out of time to ride more than a few minutes once or twice.  Taper: unintentionally accomplished.

Confetti got her fall ride clip the weekend before we left.  It's been hot here, she's got a lot of hair, and I know she can be tough to pulse down at checks.  I took off more from her neck than I have in years past and feel absolutely no guilt about it.  She'll grow plenty back by the time it gets even remotely cold.

Clipped pony and tested boots prior to ride.

I rasped all four feet, with extra focus on the right front, slightly less than a week before the ride.  At the ride, she was about six weeks out from her last farrier-trim, if I'm remembering correctly.

Tack Preparation
I have been saying for how long now that I won't ride a 50 in my Thorowgood?  Well.  The Eurolight has still not shown up on my doorstep.  Three (fixable) things bothered me at Wild West: the seat wasn't quite cushy enough, the stirrups had no give and no relief, and the Webbers rubbed my calf just a bit.  In the interest of not spending too many fortunes, and being awfully short on time, I ordered new stirrups a week and a half prior to the ride and rigged up my little-used endurance seat cover to go on the dressage saddle.  First test: one moderate-speed short ride Saturday after they arrived.  Second test: one short but fast ride the Tuesday before we left.  At least I rode in it first!

I nearly borrowed stirrup leather covers, but then decided not to risk adding additional bulk under my legs without a really good test.  The last time I added leather covers to the Specialized and did a long ride, I flared up my knee.  It could be made workable eventually, but whether it would work on the first try felt like too much of a risk.

Rider Preparation
New helmet was purchased and tested once or twice prior to the ride.  New Salamander visor was attached to helmet the night before we hauled north to the ride and completely untested.

At Camp, Pre-Ride
Per usual, Confetti hopped off the trailer and dove for the nearest pile of hay.  That's my pony!  We hand-walked around camp, checked in, chatted with folks, and were suitably demoralized by a rider camped near to us who kept reiterating what a tough ride it is and how hard it would be.  Folks: this is not how you encourage new riders, new 50 riders, or riders trying to make a comeback to the sport.  The attitude was along the lines of 'you're going to have an awfully hard time and probably fail, but enjoy the scenery!' If I did not have several years of successful near-turtle LDs, that would have been super depressing.  As it was, it was just mind-boggling and we finally wrote it off as someone a bit crazy.

Haflingers spend all their time in camp eating.

I managed to not forget anything important (actually I'm not sure I forgot anything at all), unpacked, settled in, and finally went to put the Renegades on to vet in.  Right to left, per usual.. three boots went on well, the left front didn't fit quite right but with a little adjusting it seemed OK, if not as good as usual.  I decided that since it was the boot that always stays on, it would be fine.

Confetti vetted in with all As and a 44 pulse.  Good mare!  We chatted more with various positive folks, handed off donations for the Valley Fire, and managed to talk my way into riding with Cyd and Bugsy the next day.  One of my big concerns with doing a 50 was finding someone else to do a nice, slow, turtle-type ride, and knowing the night before that we found a new friend to ride with at least at the start was incredibly reassuring.  I opted not to pre-ride, but lunged her in a few circles to knock off a bit of excess energy.  I knew my nerves would just amp her up more and it would take 6-8 miles to make any noticeable difference in her sanity level, something I wasn't willing to do before a 50.

The Ride
It was surprisingly and refreshingly uneventful.  We started a few minutes after most of the 50-milers (a nice leisurely 7am start!), hand-walked our way out, and convinced Fetti we were just going for a leisurely trail ride.  The biggest problem I had was my mounting anxiety flared right back up, I haven't practiced much lately, and it took a half-mile of hand-walking and a creek crossing before I actually made it up on the pony.  Things to work on, indeed.  Halfway through the first loop or so, the front left boot came off.  I swore, hopped off, retrieved it, and stuck all the parts in the saddlebag.  I opted to leave the front right on mostly as an exercise in seeing how long that blasted right boot would remain on the hoof.  We moseyed our way through the rest of the first loop, trotting some, walking some, and casually wandered our way into the vet check.

Singletrack through the trees. Gorgeous, but lighting was tough on the phone.

Wider downhill non-forest trail.

Fetti pulsed down in all of three minutes despite me not walking her in the last half-mile.  Good mare!  We zipped off to the trailer across camp.  I swapped out my water, had some Gatorade and a sandwich, replaced her front left boot with my old spare, vetted the pony through, tacked her up, rushed to the portapotty, and managed to be only five minutes late for my out time.  Sorry Cyd!  (And thank you Cyd for waiting!!)  Things to work on, again.  That hour goes by quick, especially with no crew and a trailer all the way across camp.

Loop two started out with some repeat-trail: a most miserable uphill section that we trudged in the truest sense of the word.  Poor ponies.  Poor humans.  Yuck!  Eventually it ended, thank goodness, and we got to go downhill on some hardpack road.  I thought it was beautiful despite being downhill and hardpack.  It also claimed my front left boot - I suspect she overstepped trotting downhill.  I'd intentionally put on an old spare that I wouldn't feel obligated to retrieve, so I consciously chose not to turn around and go looking for it.  Farewell, old boot: you served us well.  The captivator stayed on and I left it there, knowing it doesn't bother Fetti, and knowing I didn't want to have to get back on.

Then uphill some more, and downhill some more, and redwoods, and trees!  and it was gorgeous.  It would have been quite excellent for photos had we not been behind other riders. I was using both hands to ride and did not have a spare to take photos with.  Back up and before we knew it, into the finish.

Almost home!

We walk/trotted our way into the finish and true to form, Confetti wasn't down yet.  Which is fine!  She didn't need to be, I hadn't handwalked a ways in, it's the furthest she's ever gone.  We hung out for a minute or two sponging and scooping to see if she'd drop to criteria.  Nope.  ("Don't you want me to check?" said one very kind volunteer.  Nope, no point wasting their time, I trust my HRM and if the human thinks she's down when the HRM is still reading upper 70s.. well, it wouldn't be the first time.  But it didn't need to happen.)  Back to the trailer, where she stuck her face in the haybag and I sponged some more, but left tack on entirely so I could see when she dropped.  Fig's personal timing: 13 minutes until she reliably dropped under 60.  It was another 10 before we got the 'official' time, but since we had 30 minutes total to pulse down, it was very zen and non-stressful.

More leftover not-our-hay.

When I took Fetti back across camp to vet, she dragged a bit.  She wasn't done resting and wasn't sure she wanted to go out again.  Even so, she managed to pass the final vet check with just about all As and I could not have been more pleased.

Post-ride, she looked good, felt good, ate well, drank well.  She dragged me around camp at a brisk walk after the awards.  Per typical form, she even demonstrated how to roll on a line for our trailer-buddy horse.  Cuneo has a nifty little spot by a water trough that's clearly designed as a spot for horses to roll, and she thought it was great.

Post-ride, I did not have a headache.  Exciting!


Upcoming posts:
- takeaways from our first 50, things to work on
- Garmin comparison/review
- long vs short rides

The not-pretty ride

We needed a long ride last week.  I knew it was supposed to be warm, so we headed out mid-morning, figuring a brisk 15-18 miles with boots should be doable.

- The ride did not start well.  Fetti decided there was something terrifying in the woods and I walked her down to the river, then got back on.  I think she was serious, not making it up, but it did not set a good tone.
- She was behind my leg very consistently and I was pony-kicking her into a 6mph trot.  Ugh.
- in fact, I'm not sure we ever got to our proper 8mph trail-trot.  If we did, it was a fluke.
- Did not balk hard going into the river, only a little bit; that was acceptable.  Did throw the brakes on at the usual spot in Pogonip.  I was unimpressed.  It lasted not as long as usual, so that does show progress, I guess.
- Faked me out through the entire Pogonip section pretending that she needed to pee.  She just wanted to turn around and quit early.  I have got to remember that she does this through here on her lazy days.
- Nice canter even up in Pogonip, but RF boot twisted and we stuck to trotting after that.

Hoof is straight. Boot is not.

- Portable phone battery charger decided it was dead.
- Garmin started throwing low battery warnings around mile 10.
- Pony drank from the major river crossing!  This is super exciting, since I've never had her drink here before.  It's reassuring that she'll drink here if/when she's thirsty.
- A big tree fell down and she spooked two steps, very politely.  I stopped telling her how awful she was for being slow and lazy and started telling her how happy I was with slow and lazy.

The offending tree is horizontal. Trees ought to be vertical.

- It was really, really hot.  My car said 97 when I left the barn shortly after we got back.
- My tall boots rubbed behind my knee.  Lesson learned: tall boots will not work for long rides.

So: we did do fifteen miles, but they were pretty miserable and ugly.  I think it took something like four hours, maybe a bit more with the tree falling down bit.

For bonus miserable and ugly, I had about two hours of relaxing at home before a migraine kicked in, and then I slept on and off from 4 until about midnight, complete with asking a very kind soul at the barn to please feed my horse because I can't get out of bed.  Mostly they're not that bad!  Thankfully this one subsided by midnight, I slept some more, and returned to being human by the next morning.


End results?
- I ordered a new Garmin model with a longer lifespan.  I'll review after my first competitive ride with it, later this month or early next month.  This was a fixable problem I could throw a reasonable amount of money at to resolve a re-occurring headache, and I was sufficiently frustrated I was willing to do it.  It had been on my 'maybe eventually' list for a while.
- I ordered two new battery packs, so I don't have to borrow my boyfriend's spare at when I want a second one at rides.  This was a problem I felt needed to be fixed immediately.  I feel a lot better having a backup phone charger with me on long rides, just in case.  They're also not very expensive.
- Tall boots went back in the closet for at least a week for my knee to heal.
- Hoof rasping is high on the priority list, and another test will need to occur before our next ride.

Product Review: Higher Standards Leather Care

This is not even remotely sponsored, not even requested, product purchased at full price.

I'm going to be brutally honest here: I am really, really awful about cleaning my tack.  One of the huge perks about endurance and beta tack is that you dump some water on it, maybe scrub a little, and you're good to go.  Leather, though.. ugh, that's real work.

I had some Horseman's One Step cleaner/conditioner for a while.  It wasn't terrible or anything, but the last time I saw it, the heat pretty well destroyed it and it had separated into oily/not oily sections.  Ugh.  I suspect that was probably last summer when I finally tossed the whole thing.  Also known as.. I hadn't touched any of my leather tack with cleaner or conditioner for at least a year, probably more.  Oops?

Mostly, I don't care.  I should, but I really don't.  I couldn't be bothered to go out and buy more saddle soap, find more rags, and condition my tiny collection of leather tack.  Two bridles, stirrup leathers, two saddles (one sitting at home, one Eurolight).

It would not do, however, to list a dirty saddle for sale.  I could not bring myself to do that.  So: off to Higher Standards' shop I went, and purchased two, and lo, they arrived quickly and with bonus peppermint!  Ponies always like bonus peppermints.

Before.

Mostly the saddle didn't look too bad, with one exception: behind the crupper ring.  The brass snaps on my cruppers rub the saddle no matter what I do.  It looked pretty awful, and previous half-hearted attempts with water and a rag went absolutely nowhere.

After.

It was surprisingly effective at removing the accumulation of dirt and grime, although the most concentrated areas still took some serious scrubbing.  The after photo was taken when the leather was still slightly damp.  The saddle did end up slightly darker in that section, so I can't recommend spending 20+ minutes scrubbing/removing soap/scrubbing/removing soap in the same several-inch section - but I doubt anyone else is likely to try that.  In areas where I used a normal to perhaps double-normal amount of soap and cleaning effort, the leather color was completely unaffected.

Also, it smells amazing and isn't difficult to use. Sponge on, rinse, sponge again and don't stress too much if a bit is still on there.  Again: would be easier if I cleaned my tack more than once a year, but the reality is that I don't.

Even so: I think I like this soap enough that I might make it up to three or four times a year.  Novel!

Non-riding weekend

Things I did not do this weekend: trail ride.

Things I actually did this weekend:

1. Rasped both front hooves in the morning fog

pony was unimpressed.

2. Played with Fetti in the arena

must run!

zoooom

accelerating through the corner

takeoff!

polite zooming

a more sedate canter

2b. Failed to capture faceoff between pony and buck - silly deer leaped the fence before I could snap a photo

2c. Reassured pony that she was fine and the deer wasn't coming back.

Worried pony.

Fetti doesn't actually mind deer on the trail, but getting unintentionally within 10 feet of one in the arena broke her brain. Deer aren't supposed to be in the arena.

easing her closer to the fence; still worried

Human exists to shield pony.

3. Sorted boots and pieced one back together. Current count: one full set of two fronts, two hinds. One Viper front spare. One Renegade front spare, now back together. One Renegade front spare, needs a cable before it's usable. One Renegade hind spare, all pieces intact but I ran out of energy.

Yes, three front spares and one hind. No regrets.

Needs more shelf.

4. Lunged 'Fetti in the arena on a line, walk-trot-canter.  Also over the barrel-jump a few times.  She only bolted and got away once - big progress! - and it came across as a genuine fear bolt rather than a 'because I can' shoulder drop and run.  We managed a canter on the line again afterwards without further dramatics.  (No photos: my hands were full!)

5. Sunday I went to a semi-local show to watch Olivia and Nilla, and for extra bonus ran into a few other folks I used to ride with back in my hunter days. Sometimes I contemplate showing again. Halfway through a hot afternoon, though? I don't feel like we're missing out on much.

Back at the barn overheating and migrained, kind friends cleaned my stall for me and turned the mares out. I chased them around for a bit - more cavorting as she did on Saturday, I definitely did not want to ride that bareback with a migraine! - then put Fetti away for the day and headed home to sleep. Tuesday, we'll ride.

Saddle fitting, again

Despite all my saddle-fitting posts and the small fortunes I've spent on fitters this year, I don't actually like throwing lots of money at saddle fitting.  I want things to fit, and the saddles seemed NQR.

To recap where things were at:
Thorowgood dressage - rode 2 days at Wild West.  Noted white patch/slight hair loss where I placed the electrodes under the saddle (right side).
Specialized Eurolight - have not felt appropriately balanced in this saddle all spring and worry that it's imbalanced for Fetti also.

I finally connected with some saddle fitters who not only came highly recommended, but have experience fitting the Specialized saddles, something I haven't been able to manage previously.  We set a date and I was thrilled to finally get some answers.  (I should add, since I apparently managed to not put it in the original draft: the fitters in question are Susan and David of Saddles that Fit, and I too would happily recommend them to anyone even sort-of local.  They aren't particularly close, but they're willing to travel!)

Best conformation shot I was able to send off. Photogenic mare does not like to stand square.

Confetti's back
The fitter noted only a bit of soreness, mainly towards the back of the saddle if I'm recalling correctly.  Her back looks generally good.  She affirmed my belief that the pony has big shoulders, no withers, and needs a relatively narrow tree but with appropriate flare.  She also confirmed that a crupper is likely always going to be necessary: it's just how she's built, there's nothing to hold the saddle back.

Usual Thorowgood setup.

Thorowgood
The flocking on the right side was uneven.  While some of it might be attributed to the saddle rack (oops, my bad, I haven't been as careful with the flocked saddle!), it looked like a bigger issue than that.  When we put it on Fetti and had her walk forwards, the saddle consistently shifted slightly to the left, consistent with the flocking being uneven on the right.  Oddly enough, this is not something I've noticed at all while in the saddle - but then I'm not entirely even and I compensate for that, too.
Flocking issues are fixable.  It might be worth trying a narrower gullet plate.  However, on further examination, they did not have any narrower ones with them - so we opted to ignore that option for right now. 
Eurolight
I learned things about my saddle from the fitters.  Crazy how that works out!  My Eurolight looks to be one of the first Eurolight models, with absolutely no seat padding.  The seat, however, can be shimmed to influence rider-fit.  I thought shims were only for horse-fit!  It has more of an endurance seat than a trail seat, but doesn't completely match to the current endurance seats.  This saddle consistently shifted slightly to the lft when walking, too, but I think that was less so than the Thorowgood?  The fitter noted that we'll want to adjust the angle on the left shoulder.
The billets and the girth didn't fall quite in the right place; I should consider a contoured girth to help set it in the right place.  For the record: inexpensive 24" contoured girths are tough to find, especially once you rule out any mohair/string girths and prefer to avoid leather!

winter Specialized photo

I've had a tough time pinning down what exactly it was that made me feel off-balanced, but once I hopped up, it was clear to all of us involved that I was not-balanced in the Eurolight as-is.  We did some shimming with my Eurolight to see if it might fix things.  I pointed out that I have a difficult time getting my thighs on the horse, and thus my toes tend to point out; this is exacerbated when I have pommel bags attached, as my knees run into the bags.  Given that, they pulled out a 16" Eurolight demo (this is why I wanted a Specialized dealer, too!), shimmed it up, and had me give it a try.   Wow.  What a difference!  The seat didn't make me feel trapped, my thighs went on (reasonably) well, and the seat was way more comfortable.  Hey, it's the little things.  The demo model had a trail seat rather than the more-popular endurance seat.

My position
I absolutely loved this: not only are they saddle fitters with Specialized experience, they have a centered riding background and I got a mini-lesson to go with the saddle fitting.  I am, unfortunately, a large part of the issue here, though my saddles haven't made it easier.
I really struggle with body awareness.  This is not new.  I know this.  I don't know where straight is; I don't always know quite how to do something that my brain understands but my body can't piece together.  Mostly, I tend to arch my back too much and not lead with my seatbones or anything.  Let's face it: I grew up riding hunters and getting the job done, but I never made it look pretty and I was never super-effective.
The lightbulb moment: use one of Fetti's lower braids to physically pull myself forwards into a posting trot.  This motion has eluded me for years.  Using that braid connects all the dots and has entirely changed how I post.
I do a better job finding neutral/correct position at the sitting trot; if in doubt, return to sitting, then try posting again. We could have put me back in my Eurolight for proof-of-concept, but it was pretty clear mine wasn't helping me in the battle to fix my position, so we opted to skip that.
The fitter also had me drop my stirrups a hole in the dressage saddle.  It's been two weeks and I'm still riding with it at that length.  Combined with the new posting mechanics, it's working fine.

End conclusions
1. Adjust flocking in Thorowgood dressage saddle to help with lateral shifting of saddle & white hairs
2. Relearn proper posting mechanics and true neutral, use braids to help acquire muscle memory
3. Acquire 16" Eurolight with a trail seat

#1 the fitters did for me.  Yay!  #2 is my homework and I'm continuing to work on it.  #3 rapidly became challenging.  I have been casually watching for 16" Eurolights or Internationals ever since May.  They do occasionally show up, but often at more than new-Eurolight price, and frequently with a wide tree.  Fetti does not need a wide tree.  I do not need to pay more than new.  I hadn't even thought about what seat I needed the saddle to have, and already I knew my options were limited.  Adding the trail seat parameter took my used options down to zero.

Funny how things work: it was two years exactly from when I first set the Eurolight on Confetti to when I listed it for sale. 

It's not in me to buy new very often, but to buy used, there have to be appropriate saddles out there.  I put my 15" Eurolight up for sale on Facebook at what I thought was a reasonable-to-high price.  The market disagreed: within 24 hours, and before it even made it up on two of the three groups I listed it to, I had a buyer at my asking price.  I sent an email off to the fitters, made my decisions, and placed an order for a new 16" Eurolight.  There's a 3-4 week wait time for new saddles right now, so this should get it to me before our early October ride if all goes well.

I'm happy to have answers, and I'm excited to see where this takes us.  Fewer saddle fitting headaches, yes please!

Too hot; 5 years; DIY Horse Ownership's giveaway

I had great plans of working on heat training, taking Fetti out for more mid-afternoon rides, maybe going out for a long ride one day this weekend.  Then I stepped out of the house around 2 to move my car, walked back in, and turned up the fan.  Stiflingly, miserably hot: I have lived here for four years and this is the first time I've ever wished for air conditioning, blasting a fan and sweating while sitting inside my house.

So instead of heat training, I made it out to the barn near-dark, worked her in the round pen, and went for a lazy moseying mile ride with a friend.  Sunday I didn't even bother getting on; we turned the mares out, chased them a bit, and went home again.  It was just that kind of weekend.

I'll do competitive rides in 90-degree weather because unfortunately that's how it happens sometimes.  I won't go out and train in 100-degree weather in the middle of the day.  Today, we'll ride!


Also: five years now since I first met 'Fetti.  Where did the time go?

DIY Horse Ownership hit 200 posts last week, and she has a giveaway running!  Nilla is just as adorable in person - and totally memorable, given I discovered the blog via the contest and after seeing them at Fireworks this year.

Oops. An update!

I have been a bad blogger, totally and completely failing to update about anything.  Rather than try to do coherent, well-written posts about the past month, it's all going here or it will never get written.

July: burnout
Fetti and I had a spectacular May/June where we worked on stuff and rode hard and conditioned.  We kept that up through the first week in July.  When it was determined she wasn't going to Fireworks, we rather abruptly quit with the Serious Work.
- She felt burned out.  I didn't have my high-energy, enthusiastic trail pony.
- We were fighting about forwards in a big way.
- I had concerns about saddles.
- Friends were off work and available to do mellow trail rides with a new horse.
Two weeks of generally pokey rides, no big trots, some turnout.  She was content to go slow.

So.. slow it was.  We walked a lot.  We jogged some.  I did a fair bit of bareback riding and stayed tuned in to how she felt (answer: content to follow the new young-pony on trails).

Toward the end of July, I hopped on for what I had come to think would be a polite, mellow walk around the barn.  Instead, she had a big walk and leaped/flounced her way into the trot.  Vacation was over.  She was ready to go back to work.

Oh, but there was one eventful ride.

You will have to embiggen and maybe squint to find it, but there is a helicopter in this photo.

Eep.

Pony was Not Impressed: this was not our usual helicopter that lands-sticks around-leaves.  There were, evidently, two, and they were landing-leaving-landing-leaving-repeat perhaps indefinitely.

I evaluated the (rapidly dwindling) number of cookies I had, and the (not very rapidly dwindling) amount of helicopter we were likely to continue to encounter, and we politely turned around and walked our way back home.


Upcoming posts:
- saddle fitting and the results
- product review: leather cleaner/conditioner