Birthday Weekend Trail Ride

JA and I chatted about meeting up for a long ride since Day 1 when I moved in and we finally got it done this past weekend. I had just spent an entire week on the road for work and was really looking forward to being back in NJ and kicking off my birthday weekend celebrations with a low-key trail ride. Our destination for the ride was Hawk Watch, a popular spot for…well, hawk watching. JA was eager to show me the trails and claimed the views were well worth the long ride over. Quest and I need long slow distance. It was a good plan.

Originally it was supposed to be just the two of us, but last minute I found out that there were four other riders who wanted to join our outing. I didn’t think much of it at first since Quest has never had huge issues with new horses apart from making angrymare ears from time to time (probably a huge reason why she failed at being a western pleasure show horse).

The ride to Hawk Watch was uneventful and our group kept a walk-only pace. Quest and Lucy were the fastest walkers in the group and so we took turns leading the way. I was really impressed that despite the fact mareface is the newest horse at the barn and was totally new to the trails we covered, she had zero issues leading the group a good 60% of the time that entire day. Of course she still spooks from time to time when she spots something that takes her by surprise but they are shudder-in-place spooks- The stuff I can deal with.

We took our time, enjoying the perfect fall weather, laughing, taking pictures and eventually arrived at our destination. True to JA’s claim, the view was absolutely breathtaking.

I wish we could have spent more time there but the great weather enticed a lot of hikers and birdwatchers out of the woodwork. The small area started getting crowded rather quickly and I could sense Quest’s nerves getting amped up. I mounted back up and we walked a little distance into the woods working on trail skills to keep her mind busy on me while we waited for the rest of the group to rejoin. While heading back M, one of the ladies in the group, said she knew of a trail that was “easy, flat, level and safe” that would still take us back home. Since we didn’t know the way to this new trail, JA and I let her horse and everyone else take the lead and we continued on our way. M led us down a section of trail that opened up into a grass path running alongside a small lake. The view was very pretty and I was just thinking to grab my phone for a picture when M suddenly, without warning, took off at a canter with the rest of the group hot on her heels. JA and a girl named S hung back but Quest was not happy about the sudden rapid departure of her other trail buddies and started jigging to try and catch up.

Though Quest was keeping to the trail and not hauling on my hands, the trail was also NOT flat or level as M said it was. I really didn’t want to risk injury to anyone and decided it was safer to dismount and work Quest from the ground to get her brain back on me. It took about 10 minutes (which felt like an eternity) but after firm reminders of the emergency stop to chill and stand, we walked back out to the parking lot and I was able to mount back up. After discussion, we decided to go back the way we came and not risk doing M's suggested route.

The three other riders eventually figured out we had stopped but decided to not to wait and headed back home without JA, S, and me. In the end, it was much better that our group had split up because Quest was much better without the other horses around her. She even led the way home a few times and we returned back to barn sane and quiet as we had left.

While no one was hurt and everyone was fine in the end, I can’t help but be annoyed by the lack of consideration the other riders exhibited- especially when JA and I both went into the ride telling everyone we were doing walk-only. It's been awhile since I did a large group ride and maybe I took some things for granted.

This experience does remind me that I need to continue working on Quest’s “stand and wait” on the trail.  It’s been her weakness from the beginning and I really should be addressing that more proactively. She does it just fine in an arena where there is no stimuli around her whatsoever so this will have to be a "on the trail" training thing. We did lose almost a year to her injury though so naturally trail training things have been on the backburner. I’m not fazed by the setback though; it just means we have to just go out more. We’ll get better with time and practice.

Back on the Trail

It's been a little over two weeks since the barn move and things are still going swimmingly. I will admit that I was little tense for the first few days after we arrived and had to refrain from constantly checking my phone for updates. Some readers may recall our welcome gift from the last barn move was an emergency vet call and stifle radiographs...So I don't think my concern was unwarranted!

Fortunately Quest and Harley have complete run of two private pastures so there is plenty of space for either to escape unwanted attentions. However I don't think that will be necessary because they are still absolutely IN LOVE with each other.

I'm certainly not as experienced as some others when it comes to boarding at different barns but from what I have noticed, I am satisfied with my decision to move to OF so far. The BO is friendly, attentive, and has been prompt with addressing my questions. I have already met a handful of boarders that love to trail ride and are eager to show Quest and me the trails directly accessible from the property.

The facilities are pretty nice. With the shorter daylight hours, I appreciate having access to a nice indoor with lights and non-dust footing. I do tack up Quest in the dark pasture, which is not as nice, but I'm becoming quite the pro at efficiently grooming and tacking up using only my headlamp for light.

However none of that puts a damper on the simple joy of being able to see my mareface more often than not. Keeping Quest close has been instrumental for her rehab as well. We're making steady progress with undersaddle walks and handwalking, doing one vs. the other depending on what time allows. While the arena still bores us both utterly to death, we have been keeping our minds busy playing with basic walk dressage movements (thanks Liz for the suggestion!) and I have been doing a tune up/self-evaluation of my own riding and painstakingly working to improve my 2ptober time (4:30 as of last night).

When good weather allows though, we have been venturing out on the trail and this past weekend Quest and I hit the trails undersaddle for the first time in almost half a year. A couple days before the trail ride, I had taken Quest out on trail once on a handwalk. She was relaxed and attentive the entire time- she genuinely seemed pleased to be back out exploring again.

The success of that walk made me very curious to see how she would fare undersaddle on the trail. It had been quite awhile since we last did this and she was going out solo.

Well, she was simply awesome. No antics, no arm pulling, just a nice forward walking march.

We did have one sticky moment where we had to pass by two motocross bike riders. Quest has seen ATVs and motocross bikes on trail back when we boarded at KBTC but it had been awhile and we were on unfamiliar/new-to-her trails. The motocross riders were very courteous and seeing us coming from a distance away, they stopped their bikes, got off, and even took off their helmets.

Quest was fine approaching the bikes to a certain distance but did not want to go forward after that. When I asked her for forward, she decided to back up instead. I did not want to risk doing any tight turns because of her suspensory so if she wanted to back up, she'll have to do it past the obstacle. I stopped Quest right next to the bikes and gave her time to process before we went on our way. I profusely thanked the bike riders for being patient enough to give us the time and space to figure it out. They were even kind enough to wait until we had walked out of sight and were far enough on the trail before starting their engines back up.

My parents joined us for the fun trail walk

Six months ago I would not have dared to let myself think about trail riding but here we are now. I've got my adventure mareface back and I couldn't be any happier.

Saddle Up

Quest and I ride again!

Autumn brings the best riding weather but also the curse of shorter daylight hours. I arrived at the barn on Monday night to rapidly fading daylight. Since we pasture board, our tack up area is in the pasture itself which has limited/no lighting. A bit of hustling was needed to get tack out and fortunately I had organized my stuff the day before (in daylight) so it wasn’t hard figuring out a working system again.

Quest was hanging out with Harley by the hay feeders next to the gate so it was quick easy grooming and tacking up. Despite my mad awesome speed tacking skills, the first hours of nightfall had set in by the time I was finished- the roads were dark and the wind was gusting strong; I immediately scratched any thought of riding on the road and opted to handwalk to the indoor arena.

There were two boarders in the arena when we arrived. After introductions, I told them that we had just arrived the day before. They were very friendly and gave us the room to work on the ground. Since mareface has never been in the indoor arena before, I led her around for the first couple minutes so she could inspect and touch noses with everything. I love how curious she is and how quickly she figures things out. Some horses you look at and just know they have a fun personality.

With curiosity satiated, it was time to ride. We re-discovered what a mounting block was (Quest insisted at first that wasn’t necessary for her stand anywhere close to it), and I hopped on. Complete non-event. It was like not a day had passed since our last ride together in six months.

As tempting as it is to trot and canter, we are sticking to strict walk-only routine for this month. So we walked and walked…and walked. She got a little sticky at the beginning, one of the arena bay doors were open with stuff piled up outside, and she tried giving it a 20-foot passing berth at first. We had a talk, smart mare figured it out and it was not a problem again. We called it a day after about 15-20 minutes. I palpated her legs when I hopped off, no reaction and RF was cold and tight. It was a very good first ride back. Quest seemed happy to work a little, though just as happy to return to her boyfriend in pasture. 

Our second ride was last night. When I arrived, Quest was standing in the middle of the pasture, gave the cutest whinny and trotted over to me by the fence. I didn’t see Harley anywhere and guessed that S had pulled him out for a ride (according to his owner, he hasn’t been ridden in almost half a year so NOT seeing him in pasture is unusual).

In the past, lonely Quest means pacing Quest. While still anxious, the mareface wasn’t running the fence though (at least when I arrived). I’m really hoping she has started to figure out that being alone for a couple hours is not the end of the world. And she does have friends over the fence line to visit with, so there. Tonight Quest did want company though and she tracked my every move as I grabbed tack and grooming things. She can be rather aloof at times so seeing her stick to me like glue was a nice change.

I got her tacked up and we headed back into the indoor arena. S was there riding with Harley and talking to a girl, who introduced herself as A. I hopped on Quest and we got back to our walking. Two more people came into the arena shortly after, one of them was taking a lesson so I made sure to get in my 2ptober baseline time (2:20!) before finishing up our walk to stand and watch from the middle of the arena. The trainer J didn’t remember me from when I leased Rori and had his hands full with his student and later on helping S with Harley (he was bucking at the canter). It was interesting to watch and good for Quest’s brain to get used to working around and standing still with other horses trotting and cantering (and bucking).

All in all, two great rides so far. Back in the saddle for the first time in six months and it was a complete non-event. I never thought otherwise but there is always that 0.00001% chance. I'm so happy I got my mareface back <3

New Place

Quest and I said goodbye to WSS this past weekend. A barn move has been in the works for awhile but I didn't want to say much until things actually happened. As with most things in life, a LOT of things really needed to fall into place first for everything to have worked out...and some how, it did.

During my month long hiatus from blogging, I took a hard look at what I wanted to do with Quest in the future. My first and foremost reason for moving to WSS was so that mareface and I could get a safe start to endurance riding by boarding with experienced mentors to help us train, condition, and transport us to rides. I was never happy only being able to see my horse once/twice a week...but it had to be done.

When Quest got injured, there was no hesitation in my mind to give her all the time she needed to recover. As I suspected though, I grew very restless from the lack of saddle time and thought I'd be okay borrowing horses from J and B. Despite all good intentions, there were times I showed up at the barn all dressed for a trail ride only to discover that everyone (rideable horses included) were away for the weekend. It was a sad reminder that everyone was out having fun on the trail and my horse was still broken and unable to compete. It really sucked on the days I just needed to grab some saddle time to get lost in my thoughts.

A few months ago, I found out from my friend T (not the Icelandic-owning T) that there was an open pasture board spot at OF, a barn I used to ride at. Readers who have followed this blog when it started back in 2014 might remember this is where I leased an OTT Standardbred mare named Rori for a few months before finding Quest. During my time there, I networked with some awesome people and we stayed in touch after I left. After a year of "weekend warrior-ing", the thought of actually being able to see my horse during the week sounded like a dream come true. There was an enclosed indoor arena, an outdoor arena, long grades for hill sprints, and trails to help us get back into long slow distance conditioning. I would pay for the convenience of course, but it would be worth it IF Quest stayed quiet/continued recovering/adjusted well to the change. I stopped by the barn for a quick visit, talked to the BO, met the barn management staff, and left feeling it was the right decision for us. It was worth a try at the very least.

My biggest worry going into the move was keeping the stress level low for BOTH of us. I need not have stressed though.

I arrived at the barn after church and took my time. After fetching Quest from pasture, we did a  groundwork refresher. Walk, whoa, backup, and yield hindquarters. Smart mare remembered it all- lots of licking and chewing, I rewarded her and we called it a day. I allowed her to graze while I got her groomed up and we waited in the small paddock for T to arrive. T's trailer was a 2-horse ramp, straight load. I wasn't sure if Quest had ever been on one of those but whatever, we deal. Mareface followed me right up and we were ready to roll out in less than a minute. 

The drive over was uneventful and Quest unloaded just was well when we arrived at OF. While she was still anxious about trailering, mareface was far from over-the-top losing it and barely sweat at all.  J and C, the barn management staff who live on-site met us shortly after we pulled up and they went to go fetch Harley, Quest's new gelding pasture buddy. While we waited, a lady named J led her POA mare Lacy over to were we were hand-grazing and started chatting. I found out J loves riding the trails and has explored most of the places directly accessible for riding so that was very good to know! After taking stock of her new surroundings, Quest also went for a big roll- something she has never done before after unloading at a new place.

J and C came back and led us over to Quest's new home. First off was a lead line tour of the pasture boundaries starting from the lower field with the run-in shed, salt block, and the water trough- the important stuff. Harley was in the upper field and came cantering over when he saw Quest appear with us. The introduction went without a hitch. Harley immediately fell in love with Quest and actually started blocking other geldings from across the fence line that tried to "steal" his mare away. Despite being in season, which definitely didn't help calm the poor geldings lol, Quest was totally unmoved by all the boy attention and kept following me politely on the lead line while we continued our pasture tour with J. I was so impressed with how chill she was the entire time. No stupid spinning or rearing, just healthy and sane curiosity.

At the end of the tour, Quest was so calm that I felt satisfied enough to let her off lead to hang out with Harley. The two of them hit it off immediately and even started mutually grooming each other- it was pretty stinking adorable. J, C, and I stood by the paddock gate and after awhile Harley's owner, a young girl named S, showed up and we were formally introduced. I then learned that Harley, like Quest, was also an auction horse pulled from Camelot. Auction horse rescue buds.

Good ponies sharing the hay together

I hung out at the barn for awhile to unload/organize my tack area and stuck around long enough to watch Quest get her first dinner. She had a great appetite and finished every bite. C texted me last night and again this morning with updates- Quest is still eating great and all is well. Hopefully this "not stressing about moving thing" keeps up because I can totally get used to it.

 And so here we are. New place, new adventures.