Trail rides as training

Normally, trail rides are our mental break from training, but every ride presents an opportunity for training, right? Yesterday was no exception, even though the location was definitely not on the physically-challenging side.

Not a physically challenging ride, no, but full of people, dogs, children (smaller versions of people) and other mentally stimulating terrors. Lena spooked sideways about 5 feet at a log. It wasn't even moving. Calabar started to follow her lead--though he spooked in place--then looked around to see what all the fuss was about. A log? He was nervous because Lena was still snorting, but we walked up to it and he proceeded to grab it with his teeth to prove he was bigger and stronger, I guess.

Big brave Thoroughbred.

However, because our horses are in such good shape, the flat oval was not doing much to let them blow off steam. It's kind of nice when he's up like he was because it gives him a great walk. Nice and forward, big swinging strides--almost as good as a trip to the chiropractor. However, it also meant distracted boy and that's not so good.

So we would side pass back and forth across the trail and that worked for awhile. I was practicing keeping my hands quiet and low and moving with his front feet, like Ellen taught us. Steve said I was sitting my horse much better than the last few times we went out, when I instead curled up like a fortune cookie in the saddle.

Near the end of the ride, Lena got a little pokey, so Calabar and I ended up in front by quite a ways. That being the case, it seemed that practicing our circles and turns at the walk was a good way to get his attention. Turns out (ha), it was. By the time we finished the ride he was relaxed enough that a busy parking lot didn't phase him, despite being surrounded by some rather poor driving. Someone actually pulled into a parking spot right behind us and that Steve and Lena were partially in--hello?? How do you miss a 1,200 pound spotty horse? Luckily, they did miss.

But back to the ride and the training opportunity. As I've said on many occasions, trail riding is what saved Calabar and me. As odd as it sounds, I feel safer with him on the trail, likely because that is not where our most serious accidents have occurred. Feeling safer translates to riding softer and more relaxed. That helps him mentally, but it also means I'm in a better space both mentally and physically to react to something he might do. Yesterday, instead of tensing up when Calabar got bouncy (inflated, larger, etc.), because of the work we've been doing, I was able to take that energy and gently redirect it and him back to me.

The cool thing is the arena work translated to the trail and I could use the trail to reinforce the arena work in a place that had much more going on around us than we normally face.

Of course, just being out on a sunny day with Steve and the horses is a beautiful thing for all of us, training or no training.

Out and about

We had a simple, not overly-taxing trail ride today. Calabar, Lena, Steve and  I went to Riverfront Park, thinking they had done some expansion. They hadn't but it was all good. It gave us a chance to work on turns and seat, and circles. Well, Calabar and I worked on those things. Lena Rey and Steve worked on not pulling Steve's arms out of the socket to eat grass.

This photo is post-ride, and Calabar is looking grumpy, but don't let him fool you. He had a good time and the loading and unloading--both coming and going--was amazingly good.

Glad to live in such a lovely part of the world.

Trail ride before hitting the road

We did manage to get a trail ride in yesterday before I embarked on my latest work adventure.

I won't say the horses were calm, quiet trail horses. Heck, if I said that you'd all wonder what horses we were riding!

No, they were both very bouncy and up. The blue tarp covering the pile of hay bales was fine one way, definitely not fine the other way. (Split horse brains, gotta love it.)

We went over bridges, maneuvered around dogs, pedestrians, strollers, etc., and had a wonderful ride--despite the bounciness and occasional Thoroughbred tantrum. Nothing in particular, just Bar wanting to try (or not try) something his way. Or be in front of Lena, or... well, maybe it's better not to guess.

And now I'm sitting in a hotel room in Arizona, waiting for the iron to heat up so I can de-wrinkle my supposedly wrinkle-free slacks. Yeah. And I have a bridge to sell you, too!

No horse sightings, yet, though I hear there is a team roping event the night we leave. Oh, well.

Coming to the End of the Trail -- my article

There are probably a few edits that were made before this made it to print, but this is the final text of the article submitted to the Sonoma County Horse Journal magazine and published in their Winter issue Just wanted to share it in a way that did not require scrolling through a PDF.

Hope you all enjoy, or at least think it is worth reading. As always, comments are welcome!

Coming to the End of the Trail

Retail business going from brick and mortar to online-only, or shutting their doors completely. Rising feed and board costs. The sad increase of abandoned and surrendered horses from owners at their financial limit. It’s all evidence of the toll the economy has taken on the horse community. Existing rail riding facilities are among the horse businesses struggling to stay afloat, and the opportunities for new facilities are few.

"If you are coming into this business fresh, having to pay for a facility, insurance, gear--all on top of normal overhead--you won't be able to cover your costs," says Jonathan Ayers, owner and operator of the Armstrong Woods Pack Station in Armstrong Woods State Park. He and his wife Laura have been leading trail rides through the Redwoods for 30 years. They have been getting through the latest downturn by cutting costs and continuing to do all the work—including shoeing the horses—themselves.

Even with low overhead, some businesses are looking at rising insurance costs and refocusing, welcoming people to come and stay—but bring their own horses. “What this could turn into is only rich people being able to experience horses,” says Ike Bunney, owner of Slide Mountain Ranch in Tuolumne City. Ike and Cheri have run a guest ranch for nearly 25 years, inviting people from all over the world to experience adventures on well trained cutting and trail horses. They decided this year to cut out lessons or trail rides on their horses when their insurance went up again, and are retooling their business to be a place for horse owners to vacation, trail ride, and learn to cut.

“We had a good thing with teaching cutting and running the trail rides on our horses, but the bring-your-own-horse focus seems like a good option for us for right now,” says Cheri. It will allow them to work with their newest batch of cutters and tend their two granddaughters as well, but non-horse owners have one less choice for grand horse adventures.

It comes down to costs and volume.

When Jonathan Ayers started, he charged $12 a ride and ran four trips a day. He says his horses told him that was a little much so he raised his prices and dropped the frequency until he got to where he is now, running two rides a day (10:30 a.m. – 1 p.m., and 2 – 4 p.m.) at $80 per rider. He’s making the same amount he always has, and it allows him to keep a smaller string of horses and manage his costs better. The Bunneys calculated the actual number of rides they’d have to do just to cover the insurance costs and decided the overhead was too much for now, especially with everything else on their plates. And many people thought $100 for a 2 hour trail ride was too high.

Horse owners understand is that even $80-100 per ride barely covers the monthly cost of keeping that horse trained, sheltered, and healthy, but that still puts the activity out of the budget for many folks right now. Non-horse people don't see how much it takes to run a successful trail riding business—suitable horse property, stock, tack, equipment, and insurance. Plus the time and staff to care for it all. Add a mortgage and taxes for said property and the costs spiral quickly.

Some costs, like a mortgage, stay fairly fixed, but insurance costs have increased as the carriers react to the soaring costs of litigation. A new business can get insurance, but, “If you don’t have a track record, it is exponentially more difficult to get coverage,” says Tom Sawyer, an insurance broker in Sebastopol. Existing businesses have the track record, but still get hit with increases. Slide’s insurance more than doubled this year, despite never having an accident. According to Sawyer, when the number of businesses within a specific risk “pool” shrinks, costs go up for those remaining to keep minimum reserves in place—required of the insurance companies by law. Sometimes, that's the straw that forces a change.

What is the big deal? What are we losing?

Like many, my first experiences with horses were pony rides and simple trail rides—sitting on a sturdy trail horse, taking in the sights and smells around me. Trail rides are a great way for non-horse owners to experience horses and enjoy the great outdoors without the daily commitment ownership requires. My family has taken rides over granite-pocked trails in the Sierras and pineapple-studded fields in Hawaii. We might have even stayed non-horse owners without Slide Mountain Ranch. Their well-trained and responsive horses offered a refreshing change from earlier trail riding excursions. Once we dove deep into horse-ownership, trail riding on vacation seemed silly, so until we went to Armstrong Woods to meet the Ayers, we hadn't been out on other horses.

That brought home what will be missing without these businesses.

The ride with Jonathan was completely different than one we would have taken on our own horses—more on the leisurely side. “I like to see what I’m riding past,” said Ayers. For the horse owner, it was an unexpected treat. For the experimental rider, it could open doors to a new journey—or a new perspective.

Losing businesses like these and not having replacements will change the horse landscape. All bias on the table? That's a real shame.

Making tracks and riding trails before winter arrives

We noticed blooms on our Christmas Cactus today, about two months earlier than last year. Since last winter was the longest in recent memory, we're understandably concerned that cold, rainy weather might be upon us sooner rather than later.

Might as well make hay--or tracks--while the sun is still shining, so we loaded up and headed out to Lake Sonoma to check out the trails Katie has been riding all summer.

I'd like to say the loading was a piece of cake, but it was not. Bar is still harboring childhood angst about it all, but once Lena's in behind him all goes well. We figure it will just take a few more times of the same routine before he figures things out and settles down. (She says hopefully.)

All in all, though, it's just good to be healed and back out on the trails. It's been quite a long year for both Steve and me, recovering from and being sidelined by our various injuries.

Bar, too for that matter--our rehab work has really helped and he was rock solid on the trail. He has really figured out the downhill thing and did better by far than he ever has at taking small steps and using his hind end.

Neither of them were sure about the water at the bottom, but both did finally stick a nose in and get a drink. Not salty was a nice switch, apparently, though swimming is still out of the question.

The trail was challenging--lots of up and down--but they both did really well and felt strong and steady the whole time.


The question is how many more rides before the rain starts. The answer? As many as possible.

Impromptu trail ride

When I got to the barn this afternoon, one of my barn-mates Colleen was loading up her two mares for a quickie trail ride in nearby Ragle Park.

She asked if we wanted to go, I decided not to think too hard about what might go wrong, saddled Bar, and loaded him in behind Maggie and Kya.

He was a little nervous at first but quickly settled down and rode quietly to the park.

Better with other horses, he says.

Ragle isn't very physically challenging, but as a nearby community park with lots of blackberries, we encountered lots of hikers and dogs--all rustling bushes and otherwise appearing in places the horses don't normally expect.

Bar also learned that not all horses will let you follow as closely as Lena lets him tailgate. Kya let fly a couple of good kicks before he figured out the proper following distance--her ears would lay back and he'd stop and let her get far enough ahead so everyone was safe and happy.

We had one challenging spot for him--a dry, narrow, and slightly steep creek bed. He would not follow the girls through, so I got off and led him through. Then led him back. Then hopped on and rode him through.

Colleen was great to ride with. She was patient, not in a hurry, and didn't push us. In fact, it was her suggestion to walk him through the creek bed and let him figure things out.

All in all, a great way to end the week--and start the holiday weekend.

Bar thought so, too.

Finally back out on the trail

Oh, it's been a long time.

So long, in fact, that my pre-trail ride anxieties were humming along at their funny little two-year ago buzz level until everyone was safely loaded and we were on our way.

For no reason, I might add.

Bar was first to load, since we've determined Lena rides better in back and he had graciously accepted the front compartment so long as we were getting away from the arena. Granted, it's been awhile, so when he didn't immediately into the trailer, I wasn't overly concerned. We did a couple circles, re-approaches, and I was still getting hesitation. Odd. I knew playing tug of war was not going to work, so I stepped to the side and pointed into the trailer.

He loaded. Stepped right up into the trailer, no hesitation, no dancing, nada.

I was reminded of Katie when she was little, wanting to do things herself: "My do it!!" Great. 1,200 pounds of toddler. But! He loaded, so it is hard to be grumpy about how it happened. In fact, I'm rather pleased.

Lena practically skipped in behind him and we were off.

We didn't go far, just to a local park that has hills and bridges, children, dogs, and fishing--good mental and physical challenges for both horses. In particular, we wanted to see where Bar is at physically with his knee and his stamina before trying some tougher rides.

He got tired and a little sore, but he was good and I could feel him starting to use his hind end, really get it underneath himself, as we went downhill. He reverted back to not wanting Lena to get too far away from him, like he was when we first took them out, but that seemed pretty normal. The only time it was an issue was when he would start to rush going downhill to keep up, but he paid attention to my body language and voice and settled out when he needed to.

Lena was less spooky than she has been in a long time--even going past dried out bushes of doom she barely batted an eye. She did kick back at Bar once, but he did have his nose way too close to her rear end so it was sort of deserved. And she missed--likely on purpose--so no harm, no foul. Being no dummy, Bar kept his distance after that.

It was a good outing after so long, both for Bar and for me. My arm is a little tired and his knees are a little sore, but I think both of us would rather be sore from the trail than from the arena any day.


Loading him back into the trailer we had the same issue--apparently I now have to stand to the side to get him to climb in. Maybe I've trained him to well not to come over the top of me? Who knows. Lena also regressed a little, acting nervous like we'd drive off without her, which set Bar off as I loaded him and closed the divider on his butt. Luckily, we got everyone in and settled before they shook the trailer apart.

After we go out a few more times, I expect they'll remember we always leave with both of them and we always come home, but it may take a few outings to get back there.

That's okay. Outings are a good thing. Just ask Bar and Lena.

An OTTB pack horse? Oh, yeah.

I follow a log of different blogs, some Thoroughbred related an some not.

You all know I love Thoroughbreds and will champion their off-the-track abilities as often as possible.

But a back-country horse? I think this is incredibly awesome and it inspires me. Check out Buckskins Rule's buddy's OTTB hanging out in the back-country. (Scroll down until you see him mention me, below the picture of the chestnut Thoroughbred carrying, yes, trail gear.)

Bar can do this, I know it. In fact, he would probably opt for this over the arena every single time.

Katie's first "solo" trail ride

Solo as in sans parental unit, that is, not completely on her own. She and Manna--the owner of Bar's nice twin--went out to Lake Sonoma today. When Katie stopped at my office to grab the camera and I told her I was trying not to worry, she said, "You're having a heart attack on the inside, aren't you?" Um. Yeah, a little bit.

As it turned out, I was actually too busy at work to do much worrying, which is probably a good thing. Everything went really well for them, and they had a great time, too. The horses trailered fine, the trail was in good shape, and many obstacles were conquered. Katie was really proud of Sammy, especially considering it was only her second trail trip ever.

Sammy and Romeo got along much better than Bar and Romeo do, possibly because Sammy is a) female and b) less bossy. Actually, Katie says they work together a lot like Bar and Lena do when we're out--when one gets nervous about something, the other will take the lead.

Now I really want Bar's knee to get better! (It's no worse, at least, and the vet is coming out tomorrow.)

Beach ride

Northern California got a break this weekend and Steve and I took the horses out to the beach to celebrate. Now, we haven't had our two at the beach together in over two years because our one and only beach attempt with Bar ended badly--though not as badly as it could have considering it was one bad decision after the other.

Bad decision one was going out to the beach for a first trail ride experience only a month after we brought Bar home. The beach is great place to ride, but it's better to know your horse a little more than we did at that particular time. For example, it's sort of important to know how they feel about wind blowing sand sideways into their face and how they react to bunches of other strange horses.

Bad decision two was the two (er, four) of us deciding to get off the trail to get out of the way of the lone horse and rider coming back from the beach.

Bad decision three was me taking Bar up a dune and too far away from Lena--who was then his safety anchor. (Luckily, it's me now.)

It escalated quite rapidly to me hanging onto his head too tightly, him rearing, me sliding off and landing underneath him, and Steve and Lena having to chase him back to the parking lot. Luckily, all ended well, but you can see why we've been a little hesitant to try the beach again.

As it was, we chose a different beach today, one that doesn't go through a maze of claustrophobic dunes first. Actually, we went to that one first, but there wasn't room to park the trailer, so we opted for Doran instead.

Even with the constant wind, Bar and Lena were calm and curious. Both were very glad this was not an arena day. "Finally!"


Doran isn't very long, but the waves aren't huge and crashing, either, so it's pretty easy to get close to the water onto the firmer sand. The wet, packed sand is great footing for letting horses go, so we did.

It was the first time I've let Bar really run in way too long and I'm happy to report we stayed under control--me guiding, him listening, me breathing. It was glorious. He and Lena do like to race, that's for sure.

We went up and down the beach a couple of times, with people snapping pictures and cheering at us. Bar always seemed to know when someone had a camera pointed at him because he would swing that big brown head towards them and prick up his ears. Ham.


Bar's first (as far as I know) encounter with salt water went pretty well, though he could not necessarily see the point of water that tasted that way. "What good is it if you can't drink it?" he said with a snort. Then the water had the audacity to chase him! It did not, however, stop him from being terribly curious about it and figuring out rather rapidly that it was much easier to work on the sand closer to the water.

Lena has met the ocean before, but had a tense-though-thankfully-brief encounter with a loose black lab puppy. It kept coming at her legs and Lena kept trying to dance away from it while the pup's owner struggled through the sand to get to them. Bar was very concerned and kept trying to head towards them to assist, but he listened and settled down when I told him no. Finally, the owner got to the puppy and apologized--she thought the pup had been tied. It's a good thing Lena (and Bar) are both so dog-savvy or that could have ended very badly.

We got back to the trailer tired and sweaty, but feeling good about a good ride on a glorious day. Such a gift to be able to let him run today, to feel his power and his joy in his own movement. Yeah, I was pretty proud of myself, too.

Of course, no day would be complete without one tiny non-horse-person annoyance. We have cones in our trailer to keep people from parking too close behind us but have really never had a problem. Apparently, the owner of this lovely BMW does not know that the big door back there is where one loads the horses into the horse trailer.


Oh, well. It wasn't nearly enough to destroy the glow of a great ride.

Sammy's first trail ride

Katie has been dying to get Sammy out on the trail since she got her, but the weather here in Northern California has not been as cooperative as one might hope. Not that we in the drought-stricken state are complaining, just noticing that the trail riding opportunities have not been as plentiful so far this year.

We decided to take Lena just because she is the more experienced horse. While Bar actually tends to be calmer, Lena is definitely more confident most of the time, and we thought that would be key for Sammy's first time out.

We were a little worried about too much mare in the mix, but they actually did quite well together. Lena is more dominant, but Sammy holds her own and isn't particularly herd-bound with Lena, which is good. Bar is extremely attached to Lena, and that has lead to him getting very stressed when she gets out of sight. Sammy was content to be by Lena, but didn't need to be. Of course, that backfired on us a little when we came across a terrifying trickle of water. Lena went across fine, but Sammy wanted nothing to do with this mud nonsense and it didn't matter that Lena and I were on the other side--not one little bit. Bar is more afraid of being separated from Lena than of almost any obstacle. Sammy wasn't sure that heading back up the hill away from the water--and Lena--wasn't the better plan but Katie convinced her that going through was way better than facing Katie's wrath.

The ride was only a little bit challenging for Sammy physically--since hills are not a part of arena life--but she wasn't too stressed and did great with both the uphill and downhill. She is definitely a good example of why Quarter Horses have that good, solid, golden retriever reputation--but she is not boring, which is good. Can't have Katie getting bored, after all. That would be bad.

Katie was very proud of Sammy, and we were all glad to get away from the arena today. Bar, on the other hand, was a bit miffed at being left behind. We got a loud whinny and a very sad, soulful look when we got back to the barn and came up the hill leading Sammy and Lena. Someone missed all his girls, but I promised him he'd get to go next time. He was only somewhat mollified, even after several carrots and some tasty grass, but hopefully he'll forgive me eventually. After the next outing, is my guess.

As it was, Valentine's Day appeared to be all about the ladies today and since it's an artificial event (in my opinion, anyway), that's probably okay.

Trail mapping software application

More on this later, as we actually start to use it, but we just discovered a cool tool that not only allows you to map out trail rides you take (using your GPS-enabled phone--like an iPhone--or other GPS device), but upload pictures along the way and share the trips you take. EveryTrail.com even has several horse folks mapping trails!

This will be a fun thing to experiment with this year!

Trail ride before the rain starts

Trail ride before the rain starts
Originally uploaded by spottyhorse67

I know I should be glad that the first big storm of the season is
bearing down on us, but I am sad to see the probable end to trail riding for the year.

It was a good day, with only a couple mishaps. We borrowed Phil and Carey's three-horse and put Lena in first. She did her scramble thing and now I need to replace Phil's front rubber mat. Sigh.

But both horses did a better-than-expected job tolerating a long-ish drive to pick up Karen's horse, a delay while we got Ellie loaded, and having to be good, calm role models since it was Ellie's first time out!

I'm happy to report that even Bar surpassed my wildest expectations!

What a great way to (hopefully not, but probably) end the season.

Trail riding adventures wherein Bar impresses Katie

Katie and I took the horses out to Armstrong Redwoods again and ended up having quite a bit more adventure and challenge than we anticipated. And at the end of it all, Katie admitted Bar had both impressed her and gained a level of trust with her none of us quite expected.

We headed up East Ridge trail, like Steve and I had before, but instead of turning around at the bridge and fire road, Katie and I kept heading up the trail. It was a beautiful day and the horses were feeling strong and healthy. We did stop to let Bar rest a little, but he seemed pretty happy and nothing seemed to be bothering him except not being in front.



We got to the top of the ridge and had a spectacular view all the way down to the coast. We kept going up the trail a little ways, found a nice redwood grove (which Lena fertilized), and Katie and I were enjoying the sun, the horses, and the trail immensely.



We got to a narrow spot on the trail that had a trickle of water and some mud and Lena balked a little bit over the scary mud, so Katie had to work with her to get her to go forward. All of a sudden, Bar dropped his head down and started rubbing his face on his front legs and tossing his head up and down. I looked down and saw a swarm of yellow jackets flying around his head, going for his eyes and nostrils. I looked up at Katie and Lena, still in front of us on the trail, and said "Go!!" Katie looked at me a little confused, hesitated for only a split second, then urged Lena up the trail. We kept moving, me talking to Bar the whole time, until we were well past the nest and I could get off and check him out. Katie said she saw him rubbing his head on a tree, then tossing his head, and thought he had gotten his bridle caught on something. When I told her to "go" she couldn't figure out what was going on--knowing Bar hates to have Lena too far away from him--but recognized the insistence in my tone of voice and responded.

It could have been a train wreck. Bar and Lena both could have taken off up that narrow trail at a gallop, not paying any attention to either of us. But they didn't. He heard me the whole time, reacting to both my voice and my body, and stopping as soon as Katie and I felt like we were a safe enough distance away to check him out and figure out what to do next. I'd gotten stung, too, but just once, and had watched one yellow jacket work its way out of Bar's mane as we trotted up the trail to safety. Ugh.

Going back the way we came wasn't really an option, so we headed up the trail and ended up at the Bullfrog Pond campground, with what looked like a paved road as our only way down again. So, as a ranger drove by, I stopped and asked if there was another way and she recommended East Pool Trail, so we headed down the road with me walking Bar and Katie riding Lena, until we found the trail head. Which was downhill off the road. With steep stairs and steep slopes next to the stairs. Not to mention horses and riders that were already pretty tired.

But, what goes up must come down, so down we headed, on one of the most challenging trails I've been on. This trail would have been tough for me as a seasoned hiker, let alone an ex-racehorse still working on his downhill trail skills. It was was steep, narrow, and slippery in places. There were waterbars across the trail with foot-high drops to negotiate. It might not have been so bad coming up the trail, especially when we were all fresher, but it is definitely not your run-of-the mill trail in either direction. Downhill being tougher for horses than up, however, the difficulty was definitely ratcheted up a few nerve-wracking levels. Maybe seven.

And it wasn't just physically challenging, there were mental hurdles to get past, too. We got to a switchback over what is probably a creek in the rainy season which not only had a bridge (well, planks over the gully), but also had yellow caution tape to keep you on the narrow bridge. Katie and I both took a deep breath. Lena hates yellow caution tape. Katie had to use a little extra encouragement to get Lena over it (spurs, that is), but over she went, snorting the whole way, with Bar right behind her.

Did Bar get grumpy? Did he rush or do anything that made our journey more dangerous? Nope. He carefully negotiated every obstacle and kept going, one foot in front of the other. Every now and then he'd slip--they both did--and he'd stop for a second to make sure his long legs were still firmly underneath him before moving forward again.

Finally, though, the length and strain of the ride started to take their toll on him and he started to stumble a little more than I was comfortable with so I got off and walked next to him the rest of the way down. I noticed he was favoring his right hind, too, like he had a hitch in his hip, so he and I took it nice and slow down to the picnic area. He got to see me slip and slide a couple of times, too. Definitely not an easy trail for horse or human.



But we made it. And both horses performed above and beyond what we've ever asked them to do before on one of the most challenging trails we've ever been on.

Best of all, Katie agreed that Bar is not as crazy as she thought he was. At least not on the trail. He impressed her, and that's hard to do.

I am just glad we all made it through--even if some of us are a little sore today-- and that I got to experience such an interesting adventure with my horses and my daughter.

Life is pretty good, I'd say.

Training and trail riding do go together

As I said last night, we had a great ride yesterday. It made up for a little frustration I had with Bar earlier in the week (which I will post about separately), and proved to us that the patience training we did the other day was a really good plan.

Ike sent me a training tip through Katie - "Go for 1% improvement every day and in 100 days, Bar will be perfect." I'm not sure about perfect, ever, but it's a good, realistic way to look at horses and their timelines--which may not always coincide with our timelines. Horses are an investment, and the financial part is really the minor piece of the pie. What I tell people when they ask about having horses is that it is a time and energy commitment you have to be willing to make if you want a good experience. Just showing up now and then to ride may work with some horses, but ours need a little more than that.

Yesterday gave us all some tangible results from the work we've been doing, though Lena made us wonder right after we loaded her yesterday. We got her in, then loaded Bar, and suddenly she was scrambling in her compartment. She had her right rear leg at a weird angle, presumably because she had begun to push her hip into the divider and lost her balance. It was loud and scary, and I started to back Bar out--who was being absolutely calm and wonderful, I might add--but Steve held the door closed behind us and told me to wait a second and be patient (!) and sure enough, she got herself steadied. Luckily, we had used the fly boots Cheri suggested and they kept Lena from banging up her fetlocks like she's done before. Those will become a permanent item in the trailer.



Then we were off! She pawed once or twice, but settled down as we got rolling. But we only rolled as far as the hardware store as you approach Guerneville before traffic stopped. Uh oh. Summer traffic through Guerneville is always bad and had we left earlier, we would probably have been okay. But at noon, it was stop and go for at least a half an hour. I started to get antsy, couldn't think that all this stillness was good with our two horses back there, but.. there was hardly a shuffle.

We got to the park, pulled in and parked in the picnic area and unloaded the horses, tacked them up, and headed up the trail. Bar was more nervous about Lena getting out of site than he has been recently, but it was a new place for him and there was a lot going on with picnickers, Frisbee games, and lots and lots of cars and humans. He actually mellowed quite a bit once we got on the trail. He took the lead going uphill, but preferred her in front going downhill.

We had hesitation from Lena going over the bridges, but she did eventually go, lifting up her big feet ever so daintily at the hollow sound underneath her. Then there was the scary turkey making rustling noises in the bushes. I assured them that if it really was a mountain lion, we wouldn't hear it. Both horses were really paying attention and being careful with their footing, through some very tricky terrain.

Then the big test. Stopping for lunch, which meant tying them up and not hovering. Bar was himself for a little while--my apologies to the tree:



Amazingly,he did eventually settle down:



Lena settled down almost immediately and just watched the hikers come down the hill. Even I settled down long enough to eat, which is a minor miracle.



So all in all, an awesome day. I even left Bar tied up alone to the truck and trailer while I took the saddles and tack back up to our barn after we got home. Not sure if that's a bigger milestone for him or for me, but I'll take it either way.

Might have even gotten 3% yesterday, if I were to call it.

Trail ride weather

It was a beautiful day out there yesterday, and even though we got a late start, we headed out anyway.

And I am so glad we did.

First off, getting the trailer out was good because there were 5 (five!) small wasp nests inside--one wasp each--and would have surely been larger wasp nests in a few more weeks. Steve took care of them quite handily, though, and we were on our way.

We went to a familiar spot--Shiloh Regional Park--and the horses seemed to recognize it.

Bar handled everything tossed at him--being separated from Lena (only briefly), little kids, other horses, Lena flirting with the other horses, and even Lena spooking at terrifying logs. He was much calmer and more responsive to me, and I think a lot of that has to do with the work I've been doing with him, so that feels pretty good.

Lena had the amusing prize of the day when she decided to try to cut geese. Yes, geese. She went into the flock looking a lot like she wanted to separate one of them from the others. We figured that counted as harassing the wildlife, though, and didn't let her get too carried away.

Sorry my picture isn't so great. I got the lighting and the camera setting not quite right. Oh, well. It was still a glorious day and a really great trail ride.

Escape from the arena

We took the horses out today on a long-awaited (by them, apparently) trail ride today and it went so well, I'm wishing I would have done this much, much sooner.

Neither horse was perfect, mind you. Lena snorted at logs and spooked at some ducks taking off, and Bar argued a little bit off and on over various things--particularly getting too far away from Lena--but overall, we had two happy, relaxed horses who listened and cooperated. A hiker even commented that we had such "calm horses, not like my horse," she said. We told her it was momentary at best, but I was still glad they were doing so well someone else noticed. Bar even went by two other horses and riders without even a single, solitary sidle or funky dance move! That was a first for him--he usually gets very agitated--and I heaped praise on his fuzzy brown head for acting like a grown up horse.

The only downside is that Bar lost a rear shoe somewhere on our way back, and now I'll have to hold off riding him again until Mike comes to remedy that.

They were so happy to be out on the trail again, I'm half afraid to ask either one of them to get back in the arena. Bar gets a reprieve until he gets a new shoe, but I'm not so sure that's a good thing either.

Fugly Horse of the Day posed a question today: What would you buy if you didn't have horses? Gosh, a lot of things, but none that would make my life as full and rich as time spent with my horses. Today was a nearly perfect day, a gift that goes beyond what it cost me in gas, feed, or even a lost shoe. I shared a blip in time with my horses and my friend as we moved together through our place in this universe at the rhythmic pace of hoof beats.

Notes to other drivers

We took the horses out yesterday and had a great ride, but--as often happens--I was witness to some driving that had me scratching my head, shaking my head, or wanting to hurl horse poop at the offending driver with as much force as possible. I got passed twice (!!) in double-yellow zones yesterday, and we were going the speed limit!

So on the way home, I started to think of things I wish people knew about those of us hauling horse trailers.

We have to put them in a horse trailer to get them away from the barn, something that I enjoy as much as you might be enjoying your drive through wine country (possibly more), and I have just as much right to be on the road as you do. I'm just not going to be in a hurry about it. I am carrying two 1,200 pound friends that I would really like to be in a good mood whenever I get to wherever it is we're going, so it is really important to drive with as much care as if I had my daughter in the back. Possibly more because it's 2,400 pounds that doesn't understand or care why you had to slam on the brakes, just that it's terrifying and they are tied into a metal box they can't escape.

So, here are some simple things I'd like people to know:

• I don't make any sudden changes if I can help it. I don't stop fast, I don't speed up fast, and I surely don't turn fast. My job when I'm hauling my horses is to keep things as smooth and consistent as I can.


• To accomplish bullet point one, I like to leave myself adequate following distances between me and the car in front of me so I have room to maneuver if necessary. Please think about that before you use it to weave around the guy in your lane you think is going too slow.


• I will try to go the speed limit as best I can, but sometimes I have to take things easier than you do in your sports car or motorcycle. I'm really not driving slowly just to piss you off or get in your way, so try to refrain from flipping me off as you pass me.


• If I feel like there is a safe place to pull over, I will. If there isn't, I'm not going to risk my horses, truck, or trailer to get out of your way. Riding my bumper and/or weaving back and forth right behind me will not change that. Not to mention I can't see you when you're drafting off my trailer. And you really (really) don't want to hit my trailer.


• When you are getting on the freeway and see me lumbering along in the slow lane coming up to your entrance, it's really okay to accelerate to freeway speed and get in front of me--as long as you don't cut me off. Don't be polite. Don't waffle. GO! See the first bullet point for why I don't want to slow my vehicle down while you figure out what to do.

I'm sure there are more things I could add, but if you all have other pet peeves, please feel free to share.

More trail riding

My daughter Katie and I took Bar and Lena back out to Shiloh on Sunday and had a great time. Bar did great and Lena was less spooky about branches and benches, though she was still a little snorty about the bridge. You can see how high she lifted those big feet of hers. Katie says she just likes to make noise. Bar paid attention as he went across, but with quite a bit less drama than Lena Rey.



Bar did a lot more trotting and even a tiny bit of loping this time to keep up with Lena, and even handled running into other horses and hikers with curiosity and calmness instead of being worried. (He even stuck his big, brown nose in someone's face - much to my embarrassment! "No, Bar, I'm sure he doesn't have treats for you.") He gets tired going downhill and sometimes tries to rush it, but he's working on it and I'm working on helping him and also trusting him to watch his feet. He still makes me (and Steve, too) a little nervous when he starts acting like he's in a hurry and not necessarily like he's really paying attention to where his feet are on the trail. Though the fact that he did trot more seems to indicate he's gaining confidence on the trail, so that's something to consider.


He and Lena did some dual sloshing in the water trough at the end of the ride and both of them got back in the trailer with much less resistance than last week. Bar likes to look out over the vineyards and would stop to stare out over the valley whenever we'd come to a place he could do that. I thought I'd take a picture of my handsome Thoroughbred looking regal and calm after our ride. Little did I know he was sticking his silly tongue out! That's kind of the epitome of Bar, though. Beautiful, curious, and totally goofy.



All in all, it was a really nice ride and I think it was good to go back there and face some of the same challenges. Katie called me a Bar-hog (we were supposed to switch horses), but she had fun with Lena, and Bar and I worked on challenging and trusting each other a little bit more.

Saving horses from the arena

After two weeks of boring (at least to them) arena work, we rescued the horses from one more day of big and small circles and took them out on the trail today.

Both horses loaded pretty easily, though as usual, Lena fussed a bit about being in front. We had decided to go out to Shiloh Regional Park--which is right by the barn Katie D. keeps Bee and Willoughby--just to try somewhere new. I'd called Katie to see if she wanted to go with us, but Bee hadn't been out for awhile, and she wasn't sure about Willoughby being ready, yet, so she said she'd just see us off on her way to the barn instead.

She got quite a show.

We got to the parking lot and there were several trucks and trailers already parked there, plus a kid's birthday party starting, complete with a big, blow-up Jumpy-Jump.

Oh, boy.

Bar started acting a lot like it was race day, dancing and looking around with big, wide eyes. I barely got him to stand still long enough to get on! Then, when we actually headed up the trail, neither he or Lena would go past who-knows-what they thought was going to eat them. Bar spun around several times, and we couldn't get Lena to take the lead, which usually gets him to settle out long enough to get us rolling.

I am pleased to say I kept my head--and my seat--and didn't panic. I just kept circling him and correcting him and trying again. Steve finally suggested we walk them around the parking lot a few times, though it was really more like dancing around the parking lot, and that finally got them calm enough to start up the trail.

About 100 feet up the trail, I heard voices coming down the trail towards us fast enough I was pretty sure it was mountain bikers. I shouted out a warning and the rider in front skidded to a stop a few feet in front of Lena. Some weird and unfathomable (at least by me) horse logic prevailed and neither horse budged an inch and we walked past the two bike riders without incident. Human head-scratching is still going on, however.



We traveled uphill and downhill, past scary tree limbs and truly terrifying park benches, on wide trails and narrow trails, and past a lake. We stopped at the top to have lunch and I noticed a lot of Yellow Starthistle, so wouldn't let them graze at all, much to their dismay. Steve and I switched horses after lunch, too, like we normally do. It seems to be good for both horses to work with different riders, and trail riding is no exception to that rule.



One of our biggest hurdles was the BRIDGE. Lena took one look at it and tried to turn around and go back the other way--about 4 times, actually. I nudged her forward and we clattered across it, her snorting and blowing the whole time. Steve, behind me on Bar, said she had her legs spread out and her head down, reminding him of a cat stepping in something unpleasant. Bar was acting a lot like he wished Lena would get out of the way so he could get across the darn bridge, already.



We ended the day with Lena slopping around in the trough and both horses refusing to get in the trailer. We obviously got them into the trailer again and all of us ended up at home, a little weary, but safe.

We did a lot of good work with ourselves and with the horses today, both training and trust-building. It was also a good day for me, dealing with Bar in a volatile situation, not having it escalate, and even working through it in a way that gained us a lot of ground.

In other words, as tired as I am after waking up at 4:30 a.m., running coffee up and down stairs for O'Reilly's annual Foo camp event, wrestling with horses and actually getting them to cooperate, I'm feelin' pretty darn good at the moment. Yahoo!