Had a really GREAT ride this past weekend at the McDowell Lead Follow or Get Out of My Way Endurance Rides.
Many of the skills we’ve been working on (below) for the last six months came together nicely at this ride and overall, it was a really enjoyable event. Sandman came out at the start calm and focused, and after starting somewhere in the middle of the pack riding with Leonard and Aillen, we moved along nicely for almost 30 miles, we rode together, seamlessly switching leads and rotating thru our three-horse line up so that each horse could have time at each position as we smoothly trotted the trails thru this beautiful park.
At one point, about four miles from the finish, Sandman and I led out alone up a big deep sand wash while Aillen and Leonard dropped back to attend to some hoof boot issues and as we exited the wash, we picked up with Chrystina and her riding partner Shari and Debi who were all riding mid pack as well and this was again, presented as another great learning opportunity for Sandman so he could practice leaving, leading, and marrying up with other horses and calmly settling in for the most part (with just a few rodeo antics thrown in here) with a new group and leading or tailing new horses.
We finished where we started which was about mid pack but I’ll take this as a WIN as he finished with great VET scores, straight A’s and a pulse of 44 and along the way, he barely broke a sweat thru the almost 30 miles, while tailing, leading, and riding alone and in middle position as well and he traveled to and from camp calmly and ate and drank like a champ along the trail.
This is not news to my riding friends but for those of you who aren’t in our riding community, but who are following Sandman and I, over the prior year, we did some 50 mile races and we also did the 75 mile ride at this same event a year ago and from the outside looking in we were finishing well and making really great progress, while at the same time, I knew though under that success, we were blowing past some important bubbling holes in his (our) skill set, skills that were sorely missing from our repertoire and skills that we really needed to master to make sustainable “real” progress.
So instead of ignoring the holes, I consciously decided to take a few steps back and take advantage of the intermittent downtime and bring in some additional training for us both so that we could install a stronger base of skills and along the way, strengthen our relationship as well.
These skills included, 1) night riding, 2) crossing bridges, 3) standing calmly for his hoof trimming, 4) moving thru water obstacles, 5) trailering to and from rides and camping at events calmly, 6) managing his interaction with cattle along the trails, and finally, 7) calmly interacting with other horses and and finding a way to start each race without being fractious and jiggy.
It seems like a lot, and it is a lot for a horse who was already doing 50s and had a 75 miler as well under his belt, but these seven seemingly small skills are critical basic skills he (we) needed to master to succeed and to compete consistently at a higher level.
So where are we now?
I’ve included a few videos of his mastery of some of the above skills that we’ve been working on daily and diligently and as you can see in the videos, I think we’ve made some strides forward.
He is good with cows now, he has two night rides now, doing 25 miles in the dark at this same ride a year ago and then doing another ride at night (narrated video below) in jet black ink darkness at a ride in Flagstaff.
As you can see in the videos, he did amazingly well with only one spook and one stumble along the way. In terms of his hoof trims, after weeks of working daily with his feet, and thought-provoking feedback from our trimmer Ashley and body worker Mary Jane, you can see in the video, hurrah, his trimming sessions are now a sleep fest.
In terms of trailering, we practice three times weekly and he also gets clay before and after every trailer ride for his tummy and he now rides calmly and arrives at rides now no longer sweaty and anxious.
His bridge work is still underway but we are making progress as seen in this video, and recently his start at this last ride was calm and focused.
He’s mastered the cow interaction, thanks to our work with Amy Wilms and Jeffrey Wilms at their ranch but we still need to work on the water obstacles and we need more bridge work as well.
In closing, I want to thank Stephanie and Taylor Jane who did an amazing job and put on another fun and safe event, with plenty of water and hay and who are appreciated greatly by the riding community they serve and this effort coupled with great volunteers and amazing Vet’s led by Mark Anderson and Debra Freiberg who were always available and helpful and who put our horses first always and I might add do it with a much needed sense of humor.
All in all it was another great ride weekend with great friends and great horses.
Finally, I’m learning, in endurance like in life, it’s really your ride to ride, and your choice on how you ride it, it’s like, as we look around at our friends and family, everyone’s riding a different ride and that’s really okay and it’s all good and actually we just gotta appreciate the varying paths we are all on and at the end of the day, this is the way it should be, ya know, we just gotta smile, relax, and enjoy our ride, we only get one and this one was a good one. 🙂