Riding in West Bowdoin with the Upper Pond Ladies

Today I took a few of my friends from Upper Pond riding over in West Bowdoin. It was quite a dreary day and sprinkling in the morning. But, we planned for an afternoon ride when the weather was supposed to be the best for riding. Mary-Jo, Cierra, and Brooke came to ride with me. Mary-Jo hauled Cierra's horse, Tinkerbell over with her own horse Arthur. Brooke was riding my horse Marie. Mary-Jo met me at my house and then followed me over to where we park in West Bowdoin. They told me they'd had a bit of trouble loading Tinkerbell but nothing too serious. As I was unloading Luke and Marie, I hear some commotion at Mary-Jo's trailer. They were having a bit of trouble unloading Tinkerbell. She had come almost all the way out of the trailer and then suddenly bolted back in and Cierra got her arm caught between Tinkerbell and the chest bar. After a few minutes and a bit of wiggling her wrist around, she declared she was ok to ride. Though you could immediately see the start of a bruise. Brooke and Mary-Jo pulled the divider aside to let Tinkerbell turn around and walk out of the trailer. Once off the trailer Tinkerbell settled right down. Arthur was tied on the far side of Mary-Jo's trailer and couldn't see the other horses or Luke very well and this concerned him but he didn't do anything bad. Marie spotted Arthur and instantly went into heat! Hussy!

Once we were saddled up, we headed out down the pipe line. Just a short distance down the pipe line there are several ways to go to get over a stream crossing. If you stay on the pipe line, you do a very steep descent to the stream, and a very steep climb back out. It's kind of fun but I decided it would't be the best idea since we had two horses that were fairly green to trail riding. I took the trail to the left that still goes down a good hill but not super steep. It still got Arthur and Tinkerbell excited and they both wanted to rush down it but Cierra and Mary-Jo handled their horses well. Then we quickly came to the stream crossing. It is quite wide but not deep. Mary-Jo was concerned that Arthur would not cross as it is running water. Cierra had no doubt at all that Tinkerbell would do it. I told Mary-Jo to just tuck Arthur behind Luke and follow me right in. Arthur barely hesitated and went in with no trouble at all. Tinkerbell was just fine also.

The rest of the ride was fairly easy trail. Luke and I started out in the lead but then Arthur wanted to be up front. He did very well leading. He stayed in the front for quite a while and was very steady. Marie was walking very fast for her as she was trying to stay near her new found love. Tinkerbell was ambling along quietly behind us all really not too concerned about anything. We did a little bit of trotting in a few spots and let Mary-Jo take the lead. Arthur did spook at something on one of the trots and bucked up a few times throwing Mary-Jo off balance. Arthur was definitely not trying to buck her off and after the initial startle of having Mary-Jo suddenly hanging off the side of him, he stopped and stood still. Mary-Jo was just far enough off to the side that she couldn't quite pull herself back up and had to drop to the ground. I have to say it was some impressive riding. I don't think I could have held on as long as she did. Mary-Jo was not hurt and she was soon back in the saddle and leading the way again. We heard ATV's a number of times going up and down the pipe line but managed to miss them every time we were riding along it. I was happy about that. I know Luke and Marie are fine with ATV's but didn't know how Arthur and Tinkerbell would react to them though most likely they would be just fine.

As we were coming back to the trailer, every one felt up to doing the steep climb up the sand back from the gravel pit up to the pipe line. So, up we went and all the equines did great. Luke and Marie have done it many times. Arthur and Tinkerbell didn't know quite what to think about it but did a great job . It was a fun ride!

The Pine Tree 50 Endurance Ride 2013

Photos by Wanda Clowater of Clowater Art and Photography

I was so excited to be going to the Pine Tree ride! It has been several years since I've done a 50 mile ride. The Pine Tree ride is based at the Waterford Fairgrounds. This is the same place where the Crooked River 30 CTR was held just 4 weeks ago. Luke had done so well at that ride and finished very strong so I felt he would be ready to move up to a 50 mile ride.

I tortured myself for weeks about trying the ride with Luke barefoot. I'd only put shoes on him for the month of May this year to do the 3 CTR's that I did with him. Prior to that he had been barefoot and I'd had his shoes pulled right after the Crooked River ride and he's been just fine. I really wanted to get him some boots but mule feet can be hard to fit because they are quite different in shape than a horses foot being long and narrow rather than round as well as having a larger heel bulb that sit back further than the heel buttress. I ordered an Easy Boot  fit kit. They send 3 sizes of boot shells that they feel is most likely to fit by the hoof measurements given. It seemed the boots would work and I ordered a set for front and back and when they came they would not work. The shell fit well enough but the gaiter that goes around the pastern was much too small. Darn mule feet! So, I had to send them back. I got out Marie's old Easy Boots, they are the original style with no gaiter. After playing around with them my smallest pair seemed to fit Luke's front feet. I had nothing small enough for his back feet. I did one good ride with the boots on his front feet and they seemed to work. Ok, that would take care of the front feet. I then ordered a pair one size smaller for his rear feet. When they came they were far too small. The sizing system had changed since I got the boots I already had! I did not have time to send them back and get the new ones before the ride. I did have my farrier come over on Friday, the day I left for the ride and shape up a set of shoes so they would be all ready in case I needed the farrier at the ride to put them on.

I had to work at Upper Pond Stable Friday Morning. As soon as I was done there I had to go pick up my truck at the mechanics. Just a week ago I'd been getting ready to pull out of my yard with the trailer and blew my front brake lines. All the brake lines had to be replaced. And when replacing the brake lines, they found that where the power steering units is bolted to the frame of the truck was all rusted and cracked. That had to be welded and reinforced, so, $800 later....... Then it was back home and wait for my farrier, who due to my waffling on what to do with Luke's feet is thinking I'm crazy but he's willing to humor me.

I had been hoping to get a much earlier start for the ride but it was not to be. Still, I managed to head out sometime around 12:30 or 1:00 pm. After giving Luke a quick bath as he was so covered in dust that even after being brushed you couldn't tell what color he really was. When I got to the fairgrounds, I was pleased to see so many trailers. It looked like the ride had a very good turn out. But, where to park.....I pulled to the side parked my truck temporarily to look around for a spot. I lowered Luke's window on the trailer so he could look out. He bugled happily to everyone in camp announcing his presence.....repeatedly. I found there was a stall available in one of the barns. In fact, the same stall he'd had last fall for the Maine CTR ride. I quickly set the stall up with hay and water and settled Luke in. The mare in the stall next to him seemed to like him just fine which was good as there is not much separating the stalls. I did throw up a rope between them to discourage any thoughts of getting too friendly. Luke was very quite and relaxed so I hunted down Adam Jack who was in charge of parking. He told me that since I didn't need space to set up a pen, I could park my trailer in the lower arena. It's a slightly tight turn to get in there so any trailers larger than mine can't park there anyway. I was happy with this as it was near the barn Luke was in. I quickly got camp set up. As I was heading to the office to register, I spotted  my good friend Ival standing in line for vetting and quickly said hello. She had come up from NJ with her friend Wendy. I was SO happy to see her. Once registered, I checked on Luke again, put his number on his hindquarters and took him to be vetted in. All went well and we were good to go in the morning. I settled Luke back in his stall and went to visit with Ival and Wendy.

My friend Bonnie had planned to crew for me but both of her dogs had gotten sick and she'd had to stay home to take care of them. So, another friend, Margaret, generously volunteered to crew for me but could not come until Saturday morning. She would not make it before the ride started but was sure she could get to the first hold before I did. So, I was now fretting about how to get my things to the hold. I decided I should just take my truck over and leave it there. Ival, Wendy and I were going to eat at Melby's that evening so they said they'd follow me over to the hold so I could drop my truck off and then we'd go out to eat. We did this and once at the hold, I wasn't sure where would be a good place to park my truck. After a bit of hemming and hawing I just pulled the truck off the side of the road as far as I could. The hold was at a farm on a dead end road. but, it's not the last farm on the road and the road is quite narrow. So, I was hoping the truck was ok where I parked it. Wendy and Ival helped me to set my thing up near where they were set up. I had forgotten to put the crew instruction in with my stuff for Margaret, sigh.

When we got to Melby's restaurant, it was already very crowded and we had to wait for a while to get a table. This was when I realized I had left my cell phone in my truck, sigh.....Soon after we were seated, Stephanie Buckley and her daughter Sarah came in and we invited them to sit with us. We had a nice time visiting over supper. When we got back to camp, I checked on Luke again filling his water bucket and hay bag and fed him his grain. He seemed very content in his stall hanging out with the horses. At the riders meeting a short time later, it was mentioned that they didn't want people parking vehicles just where I had parked my truck. It just figured. I spotted Wanda Clowater, the ride photographer, and asked her if she would run me down to the hold so I could move my truck and kind woman that she is, she took me down. I remembered to take the crew instructions for Margaret to leave with my things. Once back at the hold, I decided to just put all my stuff out as it was not going to rain and I drove my truck back to camp. By now it was getting dark and everyone was heading to bed as we all had to be up early. The 100 mile riders were starting at 5:00 am, the 50 mile riders at 5:30 am and the 30 mile riders at 7:00 am. I checked on Luke one last time, topped off his water and quickly picked out his stall and headed to bed myself. There was a full moon and a clear sky and it was a beautiful night. It didn't take me long to fall asleep. I woke up once around 1:00 am and as I lay there listening to the sounds of the night, it amazed me how quiet it was. There were over 70 horses in camp and yet I didn't hear any sounds that indicated there was a single horse there.

4:00 am came all too soon and I was up and getting ready to ride. I fed Luke and went to get some coffee and had a donut, breakfast of champions you know. I was going to ride with Wendy and Ival. Ival's horse Clover has done quite a few rides already and even came in 8th place at a 50 mile ride out of over 30 rides with a time of 5 hrs. 9 min just a few months previously. Wendy's horses Fleuron is younger and this was his first 50 mile ride. Wendy wanted to stay up in the fairground and wait until everyone left so her horse wouldn't get too excited. This was fine with me since I was not planning to race and was just hoping for a finish. Ival went down to the start and checked us in. She came back and we got mounted up and just rode around the grounds until about 5:35 and we were quite sure all the other 50 mile riders had gone. We then wandered out of the fairground and headed left up the dirt road. We picked up a nice trot and Luke took the lead. Fleuron would pass me occasionally and fall back. Luke didn't mind and just moved along steadily. When we passed the first turn off the main road we see a group of trail marker plates marked with all the loop numbers for the trails and I see L4, L45, L6, L.....whatever. What I don't see is L1.......I mention this to Wendy and Ival but they feel quite sure we are fine and this is the direction the ride usually starts out so I didn't think to much more about it right then. We also know we are supposed to be following white trail ribbons and we do see them but they are on the wrong side of the road. Well, if we are returning the same way, the ribbons might be only on one side. But then again...... and then I did start to worry a little but this WAS the way the trail usually goes. 4 mile up this road, a long slow climb, we come to another turn off and this one has a plate with a big "W" on it meaning WRONG way. And a sign that says "No Horses". This is where we expected we'd be turning off the dirt road. Now we know something is wrong and I am now quite sure that right from the fairground we were supposed to turn right NOT left. There is nothing to do now but turn around and go back until we find a marker plate with L1 on it. Sure enough, right at the end of the driveway of the fairground, in plain sight where it could not be missed was the marker for L1 and an arrow pointing to the RIGHT. We had just ridden 8 miles before even officially starting the ride. This was quite demoralizing to us all. We all pretended that it wasn't knowing full well that each of us knew it was. We put on our best smiles and continued riding joking about this now being the 58 mile Pine Tree pleasure ride. Luke continued to lead for the most part and he was happy to do so. Fleuron could have moved faster but he is still young and a little green and he was happy following Luke. Ival's  horse Clover could have trotted much faster then either of them but Ival didn't want to set a pace too fast for Luke and Fleuron so stayed behind us. This was not easy for poor Clover as she is just naturally a much faster trotter. After all, she is an off the track Standardbred! On the first loop we had to go over French Hill. It's a  long steep climb to the top. Wendy and Ival, being from NJ, don't have a lot of hills where they live to condition on. I don't either for that matter so this was a lot of work for Luke and the horses. Luke and Fleruon climbed pretty steadily. Clover had to stop a couple times to catch her breath. The descent is even steeper so we all got off and walked Luke and the horses down letting them grab grass here and there along the way. The black flies were brutal on the walk down French Hill. There were a few other places along the trail where they were bad and you didn't want to go to slow. Thankfully, it was not like this everywhere.

Wendy on Flueron,  Cindy on Luke and Ival on Clover

By the time we got to the first hold, we had done 25 miles already. Luke has never gone so far at once without a break. Margaret was there and we quickly stripped off Luke's saddle. First thing Luke did was take a big drink. Then as I was pulling his saddle off he got his face into someone else's food dish and I could NOT pull it out. Even Margaret pulled on the lead rope with me and we couldn't get his face out of the dish. Margaret had to pull the dish off his face! Luke was hungry and he wanted to eat IMMEDIATELY! I had to take him down to have his pulse taken and trot out for the vet. Luke did NOT want to leave the area where the food was to do a stupid trot out. There was a bit of dragging involved in getting him to the vet. It was slightly embarrassing but provided some entertainment for everyone else. Luke's pulse was fine, his trot out was less than spectacular but it was acceptable and we passed to continue the ride. Luke looked plenty lively heading back to where the food was. And as hungry as he was, do you think he would eat any of the things I brought for him! NO! His beloved Safe Choice grain that I have to go to a different feed store to get.... and hay stretcher that he normally likes and some nice alfalfa mix Dengie. Nope, that is not what he wanted. He turned his nose up at all I had to offer him and he commenced to dragging us around the hold to check out what everyone else had. We finally led him across the road where the grass was really nice and he was happy to munch on that. He also accepted offerings of carrots and an apple. I think Luke does this stuff just to mess with my head. I decided to put on his front boots. He seemed to be doing fine barefoot but I didn't want to press my luck.

When we headed out of the hold, all three of our equines were moving slower. We had to do a loop that would bring us around and through the hold area that we would repeat. The 2nd time through would be our 2nd hold. We didn't make the best time on the first circuit. Luke really slowed down quite a bit. Wendy pushed Fleuron ahead of Luke and I and Clover was traveling a little behind me. Luke was drinking very well now and he was eating everything he could get his lips on. But, he was really slowing down and I didn't push him too hard. I have not found Luke to be a lazy mule so I had to trust him on this one. We passed through the hold area and on our 2nd loop Luke actually perked up a bit. His head came back up and there was a little bounce to his step again though I can't say our speed increased much. And somewhere on this loop one of his boots came off. Darn boots! But, he seemed to be doing fine without it. When we got into the hold, Luke was immediately searching for food. Because of our 8 mile detour, we were way behind everyone else so there was no one else in the hold. I quickly stripped Luke's saddle off and took him down to get his pulse taken. He did not in any way want to go down to the vetting area but he did go. His pulse was 64. Right at the cut off.  And his gut sounds were present but slightly diminished. He was VERY reluctantly to do his trot out and just barely passed the vetting. I was given an "out time" but the vet asked that I bring Luke back for a re evaluation before heading out. Ival had already decided to pull from the ride. Clover's pulse was not coming down quite as it should. She looked fine though and was eating and drinking well. Luke was snarfing up all the left overs from everyone else that had been left behind. A regular buffet and he was loving it. I put a lot of cold water on him to cool him down. I checked his pulse after 30 minutes and it was still in the 60's. At this point I knew the only way we could complete the ride in the time allowed was to pick up the pace and I just was not comfortable doing that with Luke. He was truly very tired and it was time to call it a day. We had done nearly 40 miles so not a bad day all in all. And it was 40 tough miles. And though the temperature was not extremely high being around 80, it was quite humid. I still had to take Luke back down to the be reevaluated even though I had decided to pull from the ride. Again, Luke was not happy about being taken from his food to see the vet. As we were approaching the vet, Luke was taking one step toward the grass then one step in the other direction attempting to turn around then a step towards the grass. It scared the vet for a minute as they thought he was staggering. After checking him over, the vet agreed it was best to pull him from the ride. His gut sounds were now very good so he was fine but he truly was very tired. Wendy was going to attempt to finish the ride but she too had Fleuron reevaluated and his gut sounds were slightly diminished so Wendy decided it was best to pull from the ride also. None of us wanted to risk doing any harm to our animals. All three were eating and drinking well so would be fine if we pulled now. Margaret packed up all my stuff into her car and helped Ival and Wendy pack up their stuff. Fleuron and Luke were trailered back to camp first and the trailer was sent back to get Ival and Clover.

Once back at camp I let Luke graze for a few minutes as he was still sure he was about to starve to death. Then I settled him into his stall with lots of hay and water. Margaret helped me put all my stuff away into my trailer. After packing up and making sure Luke was fine, Margaret and I went down and sat and visited with Ival and Wendy for a while. We then enjoyed a nice dinner provided by the ride. After eating, I said my good-byes to everyone, loaded up Luke and headed home. When I got home Luke was looking great. He vigorously rolled 3 or 4 times and then trotted out to the pasture to eat.

While it was disappointing to not have completed the ride, there were some good lessons learned. Luke needs a bit more conditioning especially on hills. He needs more water used on him to cool him down. He wants different food then his usual fare at the holds apparently. We'll be better prepared for the next try for 50 miles!


Pine Tree 50 June 22, 2013 43 start - 35 finish Winner - Sammy ridden by Kyle Gibbon 5:52 hrs. BC - Sammy ridden by Kyle Gibbon 1. 5:52 Kyle Gibbon on Sammy 2. 6:22 India Orino on Tektonic 3. 6:23 Suzette Fegan on SB Socrates 3. 6:23 Carrie Therrien on AKA Alluring 5. 6:33 Gene Limlaw on Richly Kept 6. 6:34 Sarah Disque on Shyrocco Rabia 7. 6:34 Meg Sleeper on Shyrocco Rimbaud 8. 6:52 Lynn Hartmann on Shyrocco Melody 9. 7:13 Heather Hoyns on Just Bill 10. 7:14 Meghan Delph on Fourmiles Kuna 14 10. 7:14 Sarah Jack on QH Endeavor 12. 7:17 Sydney Meeker on Mecca Bey 12. 7:17 Wendy Bejarano on Zambizy's Red Comet 12. 7:17 Constance Walker on VSF Otis +/ 15. 8:12 Lory Walsh on Midnight Rain Cloud 16. 8:22 Kelley Bentley on Anthentika 16. 8:22 Kayla White on Locust Hills Jeri 18. 8:26 Melissa Lenter on French Fyr 18. 8:26 Lauren DiOrio on Getcha Good PW 20. 8:29 Patricia Stedman on Supreem Aviator 20. 8:29 Rachel Lodder on El Dakaragorn Bey 22. 8:30 Bill Rice on RC Neon 22. 8:30 Jay Brunjes on Emblematic 24. 8:40 Mindy Vienneau on Movette 24. 8:40 Blaine Jack on Wyns Moon Tyme Rebel 24. 8:40 Kelsey Brown on Tonkakola Gold 27. 8:50 Sandra Stavens on The Bachelor Z 28. 9:04 Roxanne Winslow on Ali Kazem 29. 9:29 Kristey Wilson on Brigadier D+/ 29. 9:29 Tim Farquhar on Ali Naadir 31. 9:40 Kay Bond on RL Oracle 31. 9:40 Jodi Rowlands on Ramegwa Maggy 33. 9:50 Jean Audet on Espoire 33. 9:50 Michelle Rice on Rubys Tuesday 33. 9:50 Liz Tallberg on Dare To Dream RO Wendy Mancini on Fleuron RO Cynthia Ross on Luke RO Ival McDermott on Extra Virgin RO Katelyn Heath on Reign Era RO Rachel Tarnauskas on II Damb Much Lame Kelley-Anne Jack on Jahya Jamlin Lame Debra Fisk on Nick Of Tyme Lame Pamela Karner on Surprenant

Riding at Upper Pond with Mary-Jo, Brooke and Meagan

Mary-Jo wanted to go trail riding again and our schedules happened to work out that we could ride together this afternoon. She called me in the morning and said Brooke and Meagan wanted to ride also if my mare Marie was available for Brooke to use. I was thrilled to have someone to ride Marie so Mary-Jo said she would come and pick up Luke and Marie and we would ride from Upper Pond. Mary-Joe is now boarding (self care) her gelding Arthur there. 

Mary-Jo picked me up around.......... well.....I'm not quite sure what time she got to my house...... around 2:00 I think. We put Marie and Luke's tack in her truck then wrangled up Luke and Marie and loaded them up. Marie was so happy to be going and not getting left behind again. I saddled Luke and Marie while Brooked got Ljoma ready for Meagan who had not arrived yet. I just bought a custom made mohair girth for Luke made by my friend Amy Beem. It is so nice and I got to try it out today. I wanted a better girth then the one I've been using for the 50 mile ride. Meagan arrived before we finished tacking up so we were soon ready to go. Mary-Jo's Mustang gelding Arthur is new to trail riding so she wanted to ride in the outdoor arena for a few minutes first before heading out on the trail. We all got on in the arena, made sure stirrups were properly adjusted and girths tightened. Arthur was good so Mary-Jo was soon ready to head out on the trail. We were all determined to open the arena gate from our equines. Meagan tried first on Ljoma and didn't make it. The gate was not latched but it had to be lifted up a little before it would swing open. Brooke then tried with Marie and didn't make it either. Mostly because you had to lean over a bit to lift the gate and she didn't want Marie's saddle to slide sideways. I then tried with Luke. It took us a few tries but I finally did manage it. 

We made quite a few circuits of the trails behind Upper Pond. Arthur was very, very good. He followed for a while, then he went up front and led. He didn't fuss at all about walking through water. We kept it to mostly a walk but did do some trotting also. We even walked them into the pond and Arthur seemed to enjoy it. Marie was walking out better than usual today and we just all had a very nice relaxing ride. Luke, Marie and Ljoma (an Icelandic) were very good mentors for Arthur. 

Failed Brakes

The Pine Tree 50 mile endurance ride is coming up fast. This was the last weekend that I wanted to do a long conditioning ride with Luke as I wanted him to have the rest of the week off to rest up for the ride. I had planned to go ride with my friend Vicki in Hartford last weekend and wimped out due to a weather forecast of rain. Which didn't happen until late in the day. So, we rescheduled for this Friday. We wanted to get an early start so we could get in a good long ride. Thunder storms were predicted for later in the day, not that we trusted the forecast..... but still thought an early ride would be best. It is a little over an hours drive for me to get to Vicki's house so I got the morning off work at Upper Pond Stable. I planned to leave my house by 7:30 am.

I was up early and took care of Luke and Marie, had a quick breakfast and then got Luke and loaded him up. I just started to pull out of my parking spot and remembered I had not raised my jack all the way. I put my foot on the break pedal and it went all the way to the floor! ACK, no breaks! I knew right away I'd blown a break line. I promptly backed back into my parking spot, unloaded Luke and put him back out in the pasture and called Vicki and let her know that once again, I was not going to be able to ride with her. Bummer! Praise God I was not out on the road when it happened! I know there are more other ways to stop a truck such as the emergency brake and the brake controller unit for the trailer. But out on the road you might realize too late that you have a problem. I called my mechanic and he told me to bring the truck right in and he'd get to it as soon as he could. I called my dad and he followed me as I carefully drove it over to the garage.

Once back home, after a quick stop at Enterprise Farm for special mule food (Luke insists he can only eat Safe Choice grain) and dog food, I gave Susie a call to see if she was planning to ride today. It turned out she and Linda were planning to ride. They had no solid plan on where they were riding so were kind enough to come over to my house to ride since I was now grounded. They arrived a little after 10:30.

We headed out in the direction of Tarr's Mill but on the way decided to ride out to the John Tarr Rd. and around that loop. Just before the beaver pond we came upon a snapping turtle in the trail. Luke kept a close ear on that when it started moving out of our way. "Rocks" aren't supposed to walk around you know! We got out to the tar road and rode up that a short way and then back onto the trail. They have been logging in the area of this trail and things looked so different. An old trail that had been blocked by logging years ago, looked to now be passable and we decided to explore it and see if we could now get through. There were a few minor wet spots but overall it was pretty good going. When we were nearly to the end and out to the main trail, we came to a very funky looking wet spot. I got off Luke to explore on foot to see if the ground was solid enough for the equines. It turned out to be just fine and we made it thorough with no problem. One of those weird spots that looks bad but isn't.

From there we rode the main trail straight down to the Dead  River Rd. On this trail there is a metal grate bridge that the equines do NOT like crossing. Susie and Linda got off and led Bayzen and Gus across. I stayed on Luke and followed them across. Luke tippy toed across. I don't know how its' possible for an equine to tippy toe but Luke did. I was just pleased he went across with no big fuss and didn't try to lay down on the bridge like he did the first time we crossed it! (I don't know what he was thinking...) We crossed Dead River and went up the South Adams road to the trail that comes out behind my house. On this trail they are also logging and the trail was a bit of a mess and a little hard to follow. It was passable and we made it though the logged area.

When we got back from the ride we checked Luke and the horses heart rate with Susie's new hand held heart rate monitor. We did it as soon as we got back and got tack off. Luke was at 56, Gus 54. I can't remember what Bayzen was but he had more time to pulse down as we had to get a bit of water to put on him first. So, while I was disappointed at not having been able to ride with Vicki, I did end up having a very good ride after all.

Lorax, Boots and Exploring

My friend Linda was available to ride today so we decided to go riding over on the Lorax trails in Pittston. I wanted to get in a decent ride to see if my Easyboots will work and stay on Luke. I only have two that will fit his front feet but that's a start. I don't have any small enough for his back feet.

I got up a bit later then I planned so I had to scurry around to get ready. We had planned to meet at 9:00 am over at the Exit 43 truck stop and would trailer pool from there. I knew I wasn't going to make it quite at 9:00 am and sent a text message to Linda. Turned out she was running a little late also. I quickly groomed Luke and put on the Easyboots. I don't know why they call them Easyboots..... there is nothing easy about putting them on...... but I managed. And I managed to get to the truck stop by 9:15 am. Linda was just a few minutes ahead of me getting there. I put my stuff in her truck, loaded Luke up into her trailer and off we went.

It didn't take long to unload Luke and Gus and get them tacked up once we were at Lorax. We sprayed them both down good as the Lorax trails seem to be tick haven! We started out walking to warm them up. when we passed Ann's house, she was outside and we stopped to chat with her for a few minutes. Both Gus and Luke took full advantage of this to trim the grass at the end of Ann's driveway for her. Such thoughtful boys. When we continued, we walked just a little more then we picked up the pace and did quite a bit of trotting and some cantering. I needed to know if the boots would stay on at all paces. The boots stayed on very well. After going around the trails a few times, we had time and decided to make more of an adventure of it. We rode up the trail that come out on the Warren Rd. and took a side trail to the left. We had noticed this trail on a previous ride and wanted to see where it went. We were hoping it would come out on a camp road down by the lake. The first trail we took was a dead end. but, we found another and tried that. The trail was quite rough. There was a bit of water and mud but nothing to bad. We had to make our way around multiple blown down trees and a few times we lost the trail and then picked it back up. We came down to the lake so knew we were going in the right direction. Then the trail took us away from the lake up a hill. This was not the direction we wanted to go but we didn't see any other way to go. After a little bit, we came to an intersection just as we though we were losing the trail again and we headed back down towards the lake. Just when we lost sight of any signs of a trail again Linda spotted a house through the trees. So, we bush whacked the last few feet out onto the camp road. Luke and Gus are such good sports about this kind of stuff. We rode up the camp road which is a nice long uphill climb. Then we went down the Warren Rd and back to the trail that goes back to the Lorax trails. Luke's boots were still on his feet! One of the cable clamps had come undone but the boot was on and looked to be snug so I left it alone.

Once back on the Lorax trails, we did a bit more trotting on the way back to the trailer. At this point we suddenly were swarmed by very big horse flies as well as a few deer fly. So, we untacked and got them into the trailer as quickly as we could. Both boys were very good today and it was a lovely ride. We made the swap back to my trailer at the truck stop, filled up with gas and then home. Luke is so good when we do "musical trailers" He just loads in and out and in and out with no fuss. He's quiet about leaving whoever his buddy for the day is. Well, he's just such a good boy.

Riding Before the Rain

Well, my plan had originally been to ride with my friend Vicki in Hartford today. But, the weather forecast was so dismal that I decided not to go and figured I just would not ride today. I got home from working at Upper Pond stable a little before 10 am. I puttered around the barn for a while, then went in and did some house work. I was sitting having a cup of coffee at 1:00 and still no rain. I decided I was going to go for it and see if I could sneak a ride in before the rain came. I wanted to check the mileage of the loop I often ride behind my house so I'd take my GPS and check. I got Luke and tacked him up quickly. I mounted up and tried to get the GPS going. And I tried to get the GPS going, and I tried again and again, while Luke is wandering slowing away from my house onto the trail munching happily on all the greenery. After much grumbling and a whole lot of button pushing, I decided I was not going to get it working so I put it away and Luke and I got down to the business of riding. I decided that since today I would not be riding a lot of miles as I did not want to get too far from the house in case it started to rain, I'd pick up the pace and make it a fast ride. Well, as fast as the trails would safely allow.

Luke was eager to go today. And he's such a good boy to ride alone. He doesn't fuss at all about leaving the farm. Even when I'm distracted with trying to get a GPS working. We kept up as steady a trot as we could and Luke quickly got into the spirit of the kind of ride I wanted to do today and gave up making a lot of effort to eat along the way. He could not resist any greenery that was right in front of his face of course but he kept up the pace and stayed on the trail without any effort on my part. I only had to push him going by the alpaca farm. We did a little bit of cantering on the way home and arrived back at the farm just as it was starting to sprinkle. Good timing. We did the loop in 1 hr. and it was such a fun ride.

Arthur Hits the Trails!

Today I was fortunate enough to have the pleasure of taking my friend Mary-Jo and her horse Arthur out trail riding. Arthur is a young Mustang that has not been exposed to much trail riding in his life. He's a dressage "Prince". We decided to ride from my house and Mary-Jo arrived just a little after 10:00 am. It was a lovely day out being sunny and in the 70's with a nice breeze. Perfect for riding. Before unloading Arthur, I gave Mary-Jo a tour of my new barn as she's never been to my house before. We then tacked up and headed out. Luke took the lead being the big brave experienced trail mule that he is. He would be a good mentor to Arthur. About 1/2 mile out from my house we came to our first water crossing. It is a good crossing in that there is no mud and it is a level approach and exit. But, the stream is just narrow enough for the equine reluctant to wet their feet to think about jumping. And it's just wide enough to make that jump a big one. Arthur was not happy about crossing at all. There are no stream crossings in a dressage arena! Mary-Jo got off and led him across. Arthur was still not impressed but he did follow Mary-Jo across.

Mary-Jo getting Arthur ready to ride



Marie not happy about being left behind

We then went up a longish hill and Arthur really thought that was a bit much. He stopped a few times and then he decided that being out in the woods was an all you can eat buffet and started trying to wander off the trail to sample all the delightful greenery. Once he realized that Luke was going straight down the trail, he thought maybe he should follow. Not that Luke isn't pretty dedicated to defoliating the forest, we have simply come to the compromise that he can only grab was presents itself in front of his face ON the trail. We went through many more water spots on the trail and Arthur continued to think this was a ridiculous thing for a dressage horse to be asked to do but he gradually got better about it. Mary-Jo did get off a couple more times to lead him through a few troublesome spots.



Mary-Jo telling Arthur he's a good boy

We came to a scary looking stream crossing. It is very safe as the footing is very firm and good. But, there is a short steep drop into the stream and a short steep climb out on the other side. Luke, having done it many times trooped right through. Mary-Jo was already dismounted so decided to just lead Arthur through. He did look it all over carefully but then negotiated his way across very nicely. We came up onto the Academy road which is a paved road. We had to ride approximately 1/2 mile down this road to get back onto the trail. This road leads us right by an alpaca farm. A very scary spot for equines that are not used to it as the alpaca are on both sides of the road and the fencing comes very close to the road. Mary-Jo decided to lead Arthur through this spot as she did not know if he's ever seen alpaca before. And don't you know that today, the alpaca were very interested in us and jumped up and ran to the fence to check us out. Arthur did great. We was slightly concerned but more curious. After taking a good look at them and deciding they would not eat a horse, he was ready to move on.



Approaching the aliens





Arthur wondering what kind of aliens he's looking at

 

The aliens, aka alpacas



When we went back onto trail off the paved road, we had to go through a spot that is meadow-like and the ground is a bit soft. Arthur had a bit of a temper tantrum here but Mary-Jo did a great job and pushed him through both the tantrum and the area he didn't want to go through and it was then that something seemed to click with Arthur. He suddenly seemed to decide maybe he could be a trail horse after all and maybe it was fun! From then on for the rest of the ride he did just wonderful. He crossed water and mud with little hesitation and on a loose rein. We did a little bit of trotting. Once Arthur got a little too enthusiastic about it but nothing serious. Towards the end of the ride, he even took the lead, and even lead the way across a stream like a pro! I think the ride was a little longer and harder than Mary-Jo expected but in the end I think she was glad of the challenges and lessons learned for Arthur. I was proud of Mary-Jo and her wonderful boy Arthur! And I was proud of Luke for setting a good example and being a good mentor!



Wild Iris I spotted along the trail





Mary-Jo on Arthur coming through the tall grass



Hoof pics

Here is a series of pictures of Luke's feet about 1 week after a trim. They are not as I'd like to see them look yet as his overall hoof height is too tall in my opinion. Luke has been barefoot most of his life. I had shoes on him for about 5 months last year. And for just 4 weeks this year for the month of May. I've ridden him a lot of miles this year barefoot with no trouble at all over any terrain. He's had a chronic problem with thrush for many years. It seems to be cleared up at this time but it's made a mess of the frogs on his two left feet. The frogs on his two right feet, which cleared up first, are looking good now.







Dresden-Pittston Ride With Tracy and Nancy

It was another hot day today. Not as hot as Friday or Saturday though. Only in the 80's today rather than the 90's of the previous two days. My friend Tracy had invited me to ride with her and her friend Nancy. They were riding from Tracy's house over to the Lorax trails and back. I quickly accepted the invitation. On Saturday, Tracy emailed me that both her horse, Coal and her mule Ellie Mae were out of commition for riding. Nothing serious but still a little cog in our plan. I quickly offered the services of Marie and the offer was just as quickly accepted.



Oh NO! One of Luke's ears have collapsed!



Marie was very happy this morning at being able to join in the fun and happily jumped on the trailer with Luke. I arrived at Tracy's house around a little early at 8:15 am. The plan was for 8:30 am. I groomed both Luke and Marie and had Marie saddled when Nancy arrived. We had a very nice ride. We did have a little trouble at the start of the ride as it went through some lovely hay fields. It was hard keeping the equine's heads up and keeping them moving! Kind of like asking me to walk across a giant chocolate bar and telling me I couldn't take a bite......... Tracy's horse Fanny went into heat as soon as she saw Luke. I don't blame her, he's a handsome guy. Then my horse went in heat over Fanny. I can't explain that. Fanny was not impressed with that. They were all doing fine though until we stopped to talk to someone on the way home. It was a fellow horse owner and they had brought out some water for us which Luke took full advantage of. Neither mare wanted to drink so were just standing close to each other as everyone chatted. Nancy had gotten off Marie as she'd been scratching her head on her legs and unhooked one side of her reins and Nancy was putting them back on. Suddenly Fannie decided she didn't want Marie so close to her and kicked at her. Marie jumped and knocked poor Nancy down but then Marie froze obviously trying not to hurt Nancy. Tracy quickly got Fanny away from Marie. Thankfully, no one was hurt. That was the only incident we had between the ponies so they were all very good overall. In the woods not far from Tracy's house, we did have a wild Partridge attack! A momma Partridge came out at us doing the whole puffed up scare us away routine. We quickly spotted baby chicks running everywhere. Luke and the horses just stopped and watched for a moment but none of them were spooked by it. When we got back to Tracy's, Nancy hosed Marie off as she was quite sweaty. Luke, once again, had barely broken a sweat so I didn't hose him off but just let him graze for a bit.

Another great ride with good friend on good equines.