And Then There’s Days Like This

The day after my last ride, I headed out to ride in Cuyamaca. I didn't get far. While still on the dirt road, I encountered another vehicle on a very narrow part of the road. The driver initially stopped her car in a good location, so I proceeded to get by her. Unfortunately, it evidently occurred to her I wouldn't be able to get by. She was wrong, but this didn't stop her. She started to back up, turning the front end of her truck right into my path! I was forced to pull further to the right. The result was, I hooked the front trailer tire on a rock or something, bending the rim beyond repair and ruining the tire. That was the end of that. I turned around and limped the trailer home.

It was the beginning of a rather busy week that did not include riding.

Having learned to make a new type of shoe, the fishtail bar shoe, I needed to get a pair made up for a client's horse. I spent most of Monday afternoon doing that, after having gone to physical therapy and run errands. I got the fishtails done, and a pair of regular bars for the front feet of the same horse started. Worked Tuesday, finished the bar shoes in the evening.

Wednesday was yet another work day, longer than usual due to the complications that came with the fishtail bar shoes/bar shoes horse and one getting another labor-intensive service. Got home with just enough time to go over the books real quick, feed the animals, and head out for choir rehearsal.

Thursday I had yet another physical therapy appointment, then went out to trim a few horses before going to see my surgeon in the afternoon. Surgeon sprung me from any further physical therapy, and said I should expect a return to full strength by September. I will take a moment from this otherwise fast-moving post to say YAAAAAY! Hallejuia! About time. Unfortunately, the surgeon was late, and I didn't make it home in time to do the planned dump run with my kids. We decided to do it in the morning, and I'd ride in the afternoon.

On Friday morning, the kids and I got the dump run done. On our way out, I received a call from my client whose horse I'd put the fishtail bar shoes on. Her horse had pulled one off. Not entirely unexpected, but not exactly great timing. I know there'll be a learning curve on these shoes, but this horse is smart. In fact, I talked to the owner just recently, and she noted he's learned to get up without stepping on them. Anyway, the result was, I needed to head up to put that shoe back on. I found it easily enough – the corral cleaning crew and found it and placed it right where I'd see it – and used the grinder to improve the odds that it'd stay on before I tacked it back on. This was when I discovered I didn't have my trimming tools, my chaps, my hoof jack, or my hoof stand! I'd put them in the Jeep for the previous day's trims, since parking at the surgeon's office is frequently nearly impossible with my truck. I failed to transfer them back before heading out to put the shoe back on! So I wound up nailing the shoe on and finishing without a hoof stand. This horse is elderly and can be rather heavy, so it was not easy, but I got it done.

Finally done with everything else, I hooked the truck up to the trailer – now equipped with two brand new tires – loaded Hoss and the dogs, and we were on our way for a nice, late afternoon ride. We went to Hollenbeck again. I got Hoss tacked up while the dogs ran around like maniacs. A week without exercise beyond the morning walks does that to them. Ash could not keep himself from barking while I mounted up.

We headed out on the trail. Mac was leaping through the grasses, intent on some small critter. Ash and Jazz were ahead, following the trail. Then Mac came back out of the grass, head tilted, in obvious discomfort. This has happened before. There was no question. He'd gotten a foxtail in his ear. He laid down in the trail and looked utterly miserable. With a sigh, I turned Hoss around and we headed back to the trailer. We hadn't gotten half a mile down the trail.

I called the vet on my way back to the trailer to let them know I was coming in with the dog. There wasn't enough gas in the truck to head home, drop off the horse and the other dogs, and make it back down to a gas station. Interesting thing about having the Jeep back, I don't get my truck near gas stations nearly so often as I used to. The result is, I end up with perilously low amounts of fuel before I'm forced to go out of my way to fill the tank. I had to take Hoss and the other dogs with me to the vet's office.

Mac was very unhappy and uncomfortable. I took him in, and he just laid on the floor in misery. The vet came in, examined him, and found foxtails in both ears. They were pretty deep. She tried to get them without sedating him, but it was just too painful for him. She sedated him, and pulled out the foxtails. Both eardrums were punctured. She cleaned his ears, then gave a reversal drug to get him out of sedation.

We sat there watching him and talking, waiting for him to come around. It had been quite some time when she clearly started to feel a little nervous. She checked his pulse, then said she wanted to get her stethoscope. Obviously she felt he should have been awake by that time. She opened the exam room door, and Mac's eyes popped open. He looked all around without moving, checking where I was and where the vet was. The vet laughed, and walked away to get her stethoscope. As soon as she'd closed the door to the back of the hospital, Mac rolled to his feet and wobbled out the exam room door! Talk about your sandbaggers!

Mac walked out to the truck under his own power, and slept all the way home in the front seat.

I didn't ride Saturday, with the dog with painful ears. I spent much of the day cleaning the house and doing laundry. Sunday, it rained, but Sundays are usually bad for riding anyway, due to my church obligations.

After all my lovely little mishaps, I finally did get to ride, but that's for another blog entry.

Conditioning Ride 5-20-2011

HR: 36

HRR: 56

HR 10 Min: 44

Miles: 8.75

Moving Average: 4.1mph

Time: 2 hrs, 13 min

I really hate it when I get this far behind on the blog. I forget the details of what we did! This was a ride at Hollenbeck Canyon. That we ride there frequently lends to the tendency to forget what we did.

Since the loss of the Easyboot, Hoss has had little option but to go barefoot. Okay, I could shoe him. But I promised myself I'd give this a year before I re-evaluate. I still haven't been able to get him hind boots. That's been due to unexpected expenses that keep cropping up on us. He's getting less footsore, but I can tell he'd be happier with hoof protection.

The idea on this ride was to get some speed going. While we got some, Hoss didn't really want to move out very quickly. The ground is hard and there are a lot of rocks. Still, I pushed him enough to get some speed, but I mostly allowed him to walk.

It's getting close to the Descanso endurance ride. At this point, there's not a whole lot of conditioning we could gain. There's not a whole lot of point to pushing particularly hard. Keeping him going is a good thing, but pushing him won't gain us anything between now and Descanso.

One of my interesting observations is, as soon as we turn back toward the trailer, Hoss suddenly discovers his feet don't hurt quite as bad as he was telling me. Hoss has always been a bit of a sandbagger. His preferred avoidance is what I like to call, "anything but forward." Our motion may be primarily in a forward direction, but he's not moving in a forward manner. I've developed a strong ability to feel when he's on his forehand or otherwise doing the "anything but forward" thing. Now I've started correcting him immediately upon noting he's doing it. It's started to work. Of course, now he's starting to figure out "my feet hurt" may be just as good an avoidance!

It was a pleasant and uneventful ride. There was one incident toward the end of the ride. Three riders were heading the opposite direction. Once we were nearly passed them, Hoss spooked. I was a little exasperated, but I found it a little funny and laughed at him. Hoss is not a fan of being laughed at. He spent the rest of the ride (all one mile of it) actually behaving himself.

I’m Back!

This past Sunday at church was one of three rather special choir-related events that happen over the course of the church year. It was Festival of Music Sunday. I participate in the adult choir and one of the bell choirs. This means I was singing and ringing in both services. Most times we do this, it involves climbing up into the choir loft, then coming back down, and going back up at least two or three times. This Sunday the service was organized in such a way that I started out on the floor, and only had to climb up into the loft toward the end of service, eliminating the need to climb up and down several times. Kind of nice for a change.

The piece we rang for the service was the introit, the opening piece for the service. I ring the next-to-largest bells we have. About halfway through ringing, I realized I was doing full, "around the football" rings. (For those unfamiliar with handbell ringing, the generally accepted technique is to ring the bell and arch it out away from the body, then back toward the body as if one was circumscribing a football.) This particular piece most of my notes were malleted rather than rung, but it was a pleasant surprise. It surprised me enough I nearly lost my place in the piece. And, most of my rung notes were in my left hand.

Since getting out of the sling, my rate of improvement has increased significantly. My physical therapist told me I should expect to be able to bring a cup of coffee to my mouth at about twelve weeks. We won't get into the fact that I don't drink coffee; it's immaterial. I'm at just past ten weeks, and I've been able to lift the proverbial cup of coffee for two or three weeks now.

Between services on Sunday, my roommate was commenting on just how much improvement I've made. She seems to feel my physical therapist highly underestimated my powers of recovery and sheer cussedness. I know every time she found out how much more I was doing, my physical therapist cringed, but there wasn't much she could say, considering I was making such huge progress. And, huge confession time, I've pretty much only been doing the physical therapy exercises while at the physical therapist's office. I just feel like I don't have the time for it. There's way too much else that needs doing around here for me to take an hour out of the day to do some exercises. I do wonder how much more improvement I would have made if I were doing the exercises regularly, or if just doing them twice a week is working better for me.

Having the massages every week has a great deal to do with my improvement. My physical therapist is very pleased that I am not only able but willing to pay the extra money to get the massages. I figure it's worth it. Good health and well-being is important to me. Having just put together my information for taxes and learning I spent over $3000 on assistants, I realize this is cheap. It won't be long before I can work utterly alone, especially now that I've got a smaller anvil. For the moment, I'm keeping my son with me to make sure things go smoothly until I'm sure I can handle things on my own.

Hoss has lately been more like his old self, giving me more of his usual obstinate and silly behavior. I didn't think much of it until I mentioned it to my husband. My husband promptly said, "Hoss must realize you're better now, so he can behave more like his usual self." Wow, that hadn't occurred to me. I knew when I first got back on that he was taking extra care with me, but it didn't dawn on me that going back to his usual behavior was indicative that he knew I'd improved enough to handle him. Now that it's been pointed out to me, I realize that must be exactly what's going on. Hoss realizes I'm better, and he's going to be himself now, thank you very much.

Last week I needed to get my son home so he could head out for a panel he'd been invited to participate in, but I still had a couple more horses to see. My husband was home, and at least he could set up the truck, so I had him come along. We went and did the one elderly horse trim, for which it was nice to have him along. He was able to hold up a hind foot for me so I could trim it. This horse has a really hard time holding her hind feet up. One of her hinds we've taught her to just tip over on her toe for me to trim it. With my husband to hold the feet for me, I was able to get the leverage I needed to get the trim done better than I can on my own. After that, we went on to shoe the last horse of the day.

I haven't taught my husband to pull and finish. He has nailed a shoe back on and finished it for me, while I watched. I don't think I've ever seen him so nervous. So I had him set the truck up, and I went ahead and pulled the shoes, trimmed the feet, made new shoes, nailed them on, and finished myself. Not so much as a twinge from my shoulder. My shoulder felt stronger than it has in a very long time. It was my back that started to give me problems! It will be a while before my back is truly back in "shoeing shape."

It's been weeks since I've taken so much as an Aleve for shoulder pain. Sure, the shoulder aches, but it's not painful. The ache is of the muscular variety, a result of using the shoulder more. The physical therapy exercises make me sore, but not painful.

I said to my physical therapist today that, if this was as much improvement as I'd get, I'd be satisfied. She said that was quite a powerful statement and was pleased. I am much, much farther along than expected. It was supposed to be a four to six month rehabilitation after the six weeks in the sling. I think I've shaved some serious time off of that. I think I'm pretty close to 90% of normal now, at least in terms of range of motion. The strength part will take longer, but the rapidity with which I'm regaining strength seems to have spiked. I can carry things farther without really noticing it. I've carried a fifty pound bag of dog food across the property from my truck, and a forty pound bag of chicken chow half that distance. I've carried both my old and new saddles back and forth from the trailer to clean them, even using my left arm to do the carrying exclusively. Interesting factoid: I weighed the new saddle and found it is three pounds lighter than the old one!

We're supposed to get rain the next couple of days. Oh, well. I suppose Hoss could use a little break for his feet to improve some more. I don't think he's nearly as sore as he was a few days ago. He's stepping out quite nicely on our morning walks. Again, I really think giving him grain is the culprit. Since I pulled it out of his feed, he's steadily improved.

As a result of watching rain move in, I decided I'd better get the pasture clean. I could have foisted the job off on my son. Indeed, later, he said he'd been planning to do it. Instead, I went ahead and did it myself. Not so much as a twinge in the shoulder. In fact, I was able to rake stuff together, something I hadn't been able to do before. I brushed Hoss out before I put his blanket on. Despite it being May, we've evidently been mistaken for Seattle, and the storm coming in is a rather cold one.

All I can say is, I'M BACK, BABY!!!

Conditioning Ride 5-13-11

HR: 36

HRR: 48

HR 10 Min: 40

Distance: 9.8 miles

Time: 2 hours, 48 minutes

Average Speed: 3.5mph

I decided it was time to touch up Hoss's feet before riding. His left front was beginning to flare and point to the inside, a sure sign he was high to the inside. When I picked it up and checked it for level, sure enough, it was high from the inside toe to just in front of the inside heel. I addressed it with the rasp and cleaned up the walls. I checked level on all four feet, needing to slightly lower the inside walls on both hind feet, and dressed the outside walls on each before applying the boots. I'm learning it's best to put a "show finish" on the walls to reduce interference with putting the boots on.

"One of these things is not like the others"

Once the boots were on (still dealing with three Gloves and an Easyboot) it was time to load up and go. I was followed by three eager dogs on my way to the truck. I loaded them up and we went to the steel bridge for the day's ride.

Our new saddle!

When I saddled up, I took a little time to adjust the rigging on the new saddle. This saddle has a double D ring for the girth attachment. Rather than go through just one, I decided to use them both. I passed the latigo through the girth ring, back up through the back ring, back through the girth ring, and back up through the front ring. I did this on both sides of the saddle, making for a nice, even attachment. I also put the breast collar on.

I'd forgotten my carefully prepared drink bottles at the house. Fortunately it was a reasonably cool day, and after my husband stopped by to bring me some sweet tea in a new travel cup from 7-Eleven, I felt adequately hydrated.

Hoss really seems to like his boots, in spite of them being mismatched. The tread on the Easyboot is markedly different from the tread on the Gloves. However, having replaced a shoe on a horse with something completely different in traction, I'm not real worried about it. For the duration of a ride, the difference in tread is unlikely to create any problems.

Once we got past the small water crossing, Hoss wanted to step out a bit, so I set him into a trot. When we reached a trail junction, he wanted to go straight. That's the way we usually go to take a more challenging set of trails which I didn't intend to use. It doesn't require going that way, though, so I allowed Hoss to pick that particular trail. It's nice to do things a little differently sometimes, anyway.

It wasn't long before Hoss wanted to drop back to a walk. I decided to let him. This area is rocky and the trails aren't the greatest, so I wasn't looking for a really zippy ride, anyway. Additionally, with hind boots that don't stay on as well as I'd like, going faster was contraindicated.

At the top of the switchbacks, I heard the distinct sound of a tossed boot. I looked down and back, and sure enough, the hind Glove was off. I got us to a flat area, got off, and resituated boot. While I was off, I checked the other Gloves, and adjusted the gaiters. The Easyboot appeared to be on nicely, so I left it alone.

Hoss was being particularly obstinate on this ride. He kept snatching for food. He tried to turn around after I got back on from adjusting his boots. He tried to tell me which trail we were going to use. He's obviously feeling a bunch better with his boots on.

At one point along the trail, we came across a king snake sunning in the trail. I stopped Hoss and waited, but it didn't seem to realize we were there. Not wanting to accidentally hurt it, I got off and gently moved it off the trail. Once it had disappeared into the grass, it occurred to me I should have taken pictures. Despite having gone to keeping my camera in my saddle bag, I still forget to use it.

Once we reached the flat road, I kicked Hoss up into a trot. He was sandbagging me badly. I had to kick him forward with every stride. All of this in spite of his silly behavior when we were walking. It was clear he had plenty of energy, just not plenty of desire to go. After we crossed the cowboy gate, I let him drop back to a walk.

In spite of not seeming to want to trot, Hoss kept giving me silly behavior. He would pretend to startle and toss his head. He would look back at the dogs as if they had suddenly become horse-eating monsters. He seemed to particularly enjoy pretending he was afraid of the mountain bikers and hikers on the trail. Yeah, he had a case of the sillies.

On the climb up the hill to the gazebo, I felt the tell-tale stumble that meant he had lost a hind boot. Sure enough, the Easyboot was off. I turned Hoss around and we rode back down until we found it then rode back up. Once at the gazebo, I got off and put the boot back on. Fortunately I had had the presence of mind to put the nylon strap used to put the boot on in my saddle back. It's not easy to get it on, and without the gaiter, if it comes off it just lays on the trail, so I'm not real sure why people choose this particular boot.

I had originally planned to head out a little further after the gazebo, but I was tired. So we headed up the trail back toward the trailer. Hoss suddenly started stepping out much more lively. Yup, he'd been sandbagging me.

We made our way back around the hill and back to the cowboy gate. We crossed the gate, and I put Hoss into a trot. Now he wanted to actually go. It was pretty easy to keep him going. He started to want water, and at the next puddle stopped and took a drink. I decided I really didn't want him to drink at that puddle, it being stagnant, and knowing there was another puddle with running water. So I stopped him from drinking and pushed him onward. He didn't really understand the reasoning, of course, and objected, but when we got to the next water and I let him drink, he forgave me.

After a good drink, we continued on our way. I kept him at a good trot to try to raise our moving average some after all that slow walking. He's still a little concerned about going fast over big rocks. Not only do they hurt his feet when he's not booted, they roll under his feet. They're an unstable, untrustworthy surface. I have no problem allowing him to walk under those conditions.

I considered going back to the trailer on the same side of the river as we'd come. I don't really like doing that. The trails are hairball enough going the direction we use them in normally. But, the last time Hoss lost the Easyboot was in a river crossing. I thought, though, that this river crossing was less muddy and more stable than the last one, so I decided to risk the crossing.

Bad plan. The river is still quite deep, not quite reaching my feet at its deepest point. Once we got across, I stopped Hoss to check his boots. The Easyboot was gone! I rode him halfway back through the river in hopes of seeing it, but it was a faint hope. I did not find it. Well, I guess now I have to stop dithering and buy him a new pair of hind boots!

Once we were back on the road, Hoss really wanted to go. I gave him his head and we had a good gallop. Astonishingly, the remaining hind Glove stayed on.

At the bridge, for the first time Hoss did not give me trouble about crossing. He did, however, stop partway across as if he felt the need to view the scenery. I gave him a very short moment then pushed him on. Seriously he was being quite obstinate and silly on this ride!

After crossing the bridge, we headed through the meadow, now on the lower trail we hadn't used the first time through. There was a dog, a very nice-looking Weimerainer, running loose in the meadow. My dogs all headed off to run after it. Concerned it was lost, I pushed Hoss up into a canter. When we turned a corner, though, I saw a man standing on the trail, clearly waiting for the dog. I slowed Hoss back down. He had lost the hind Glove yet again. This time, I simply removed the gaiter and attached it to my stirrup. We were close enough to the trailer not to bother putting it back on.

Once back at the trailer, I untacked and checked Hoss's back. This time, after having readjusted the rigging, his sweat pattern was even better than it had been previously. For me, the leg hang will take a little getting used to. Despite being an improvement, and pretty much exactly like the hang I get off the dressage saddle, it does make my hip hurt. I can tell it will be fine once my muscles adapt. Yup, that saddle was an excellent purchase.

Conditioning Ride 5-10-11

HR: 40

HRR: 56

HR 10min: 40

Distance: 8 miles

Avg Speed: 4 mph

 

After my last ride, I realized that Hoss really needs to have boots on for riding, at least for now. I'm hoping eliminating the grain in his diet – which I added shortly before his last trim – will help keep him from being so foot sore. So I was contemplating this need to get him in four boots yesterday. Obviously just fronts are not enough. I thought about it for quite some time and came up with a solution I thought would work.

I still have size 1.5 Gloves. One of the size 1 Gloves is damaged. Although I was able to use it at Eastern Mojave, it's become clear it won't hold up as long as it should. I also have a size 1 Easyboot. Using all four Gloves wouldn't work. I only have three gaiters. So before riding, I gathered up the boots and went to work. I took the gaiter off the damaged size 1 Gloves and put it on the 1.5 that was missing a gaiter. I put power straps on both 1.5 Gloves. I put a power strap on the remaining size 1 Glove.

Once all this prep work was done (at the kitchen table; not a brilliant choice to work on dirty hoof boots), I took the three Gloves and one Easyboot outside. I got a rasp, hammer and a hoof pick, got Hoss out, and went to work. I put the 1.5s on Hoss's front feet. It wasn't easy, but they went on. I put the remaining size 1 Glove on his left hind. I put the Easyboot on his right hind. While I was doing this work, I kept hearing that song from Sesame Street, "one of these things is not like the others/one of these things just doesn't belong."

Booted up and ready to go, I loaded Hoss in the trailer and the dogs in the truck and off we went to try it out at Hollenbeck Canyon.

While saddling up, I started making adjustments to the new saddle. I removed the off side billet and put a latigo in its place. I put my front saddle pack on as well. With the latigo on the off side, it was easier to get the girth right.

Hoss started out on the trail a bit tentative. The tripping/limping I'd noticed on my last ride was gone, but he didn't seem to believe it would last. After we made the first water crossing, though, he started to perk up and wanted to go. I moved him into a trot, which he took up willingly. He wanted to slow down for the rocks, and I encouraged him to keep trotting. He was suspicious, but tried, and seemed to discover that it didn't hurt!

I kept pushing for trotting where it was possible. As we went, Hoss became more and more confident. When we hit our running hill, he took off pretty well, but then tripped pretty badly (hey, I got to test that I can stay in the saddle through some major stuff!), and I could hear a boot off behind. I dismounted and put the Glove back on him. I already knew the size 1s don't fit his hinds well, but it was better than nothing at all.

After getting the boot back on, we set back off at a trot. Evidently working uphill increases the odds he'll toss a size 1 Glove off a hind foot.

Hoss was still feeling more tentative than confident about his feet at this point, but when we turned down past the olive grove, he started to feel better. Of course, he's had a tendency to sand bag me a bit until we get to that point, where we've turned around and are headed back toward the trailer. Still, it was nice to feel him moving forward more confidently.

Halfway down the hill, I noticed the sound of metal flapping about. I didn't think it was likely to be anything on the saddle. In spite of having a fantastic array of clips, D-rings, and leather ties, I really didn't see any reason to think there was anything on the saddle to create this particular sound. I stopped Hoss and looked back at the single Easyboot. Sure enough, the clip had come loose of the cable. The only reason the boot was still on was that the cable had caught on the bottom edge of the mounting hardware, keeping the boot reasonably tight. I dismounted and fixed the problem.

When we reached the flat area, Hoss wanted to go. I pushed him forward into a canter, and he was really having a good time. He did want to slow down earlier than I would normally want him to. I let him slow down, concerned he'd popped a boot off. Once I established all his boots were on properly, I set him back into a trot. After we got through a rocky area, I put him back in a canter. When we slowed down again, I kept him at a trot to the top of the small rise before dropping back to a walk.

After we'd passed through the saddle between two hills, I set Hoss back to trotting on the slight downhill. He was really feeling good now. It helps that we were headed back toward the trailer. When we reached the steeper area, I slowed him to a walk. Once back on flatter ground, I pushed him back into a trot. We trotted all the way back to the water crossing.

Halfway through the water, Hoss stopped for a nice drink. While he was drinking, I could feel the mud under his feet causing him to slip around a bit. On our way out of the water, I felt him jerk a hind foot up. I stopped him once we were on solid ground, and sure enough, the Easyboot was off. I went back and fortunately found it easily. Rather than attempt to put it back on at that point, I put it in my saddle bag and rode back on three boots. It was time to walk, anyway.

When I pulled the saddle, I found Hoss had some dry spots, but they're better than what I've been seeing in the past. Additionally, this saddle sits significantly farther back, giving his shoulder blades more room to move freely. There were no sore spots. I'm thinking the old saddle had started to pinch his shoulders because it needed to be so far forward in order for the gullet not to sit on his withers.

For me, the new saddle is a good fit. The seat fits me nicely, and my legs hang down just right. Even the old saddle, which was a tolerable fit, didn't give me as nice a leg position as this one does.

All things being equal, I think this saddle is a keeper!

Trying Out a New Saddle

About a week ago, I stopped by a little tack store near my physical therapist's office. It's always a little fun to check out new places. This is a new/used/consignment shop.

While I was wandering around, I saw an endurance saddle. I checked the price. $200.00. Humm. It's a nice saddle, although not high-end. I thought it looked like it might fit Hoss, and I was already a little concerned his back had changed enough I needed to get him a different saddle. I didn't do anything about it that day, just tucked the information in the back of my head for future reference.

Fast forward to our ride in the Lagunas, and I was sure. We needed a new saddle. Sure, I could get by with the one we have for quite some time, if I were supremely careful with it. But the knowledge of a saddle sitting in a shop for $200 was there. I stopped back by after my next physical therapy appointment and picked it up.

I was driving my daughter's new-to-her car, due to mystery coolant loss. We had just had the head gasket replaced, and done quite a lot of work on it, so I wanted to be sure things were going well. After having all that work done, I was reluctant to rely on my daughter to know what was going on. When my husband's not home, I'm the designated grease monkey.

I took the car back to our mechanics, who were practically panicking about it. I assured them it hadn't overheated, although I had added nearly a gallon of coolant in the previous twenty-four hours. I hung out while they checked it out. It turned out to be a bad radiator cap. $8.00 later I was on my way.

My daughter needed her car back, and I wanted the Jeep back, so we met for lunch and performed the Great Vehicle Exchange. By the time all was said and done, I got home a little after 2:00pm.

I really wanted to try out the new saddle. I changed into a pair of riding tights, then got Hoss out to try the saddle on. It appeared to fit him quite nicely, but I needed to ride him in it.

I was thinking I had plenty of time. I needed to leave for bell choir rehearsal by 6:00pm, so that left me with a good two hours to ride. I got Hoss loaded up, and the dogs in the truck, and we headed down to Hollenbeck Canyon to try out the new saddle.

It took a little longer than usual to get saddled up. I had to set up the new saddle with a girth and fiddle with things. The stirrups are a bit on the long side for me, but they're as high as they go. If I commit to this saddle, I'll have to have more holes punched in the fenders. It is a little on the larger side for me, being a 17 inch seat, but it's comfortable.

We headed out on the trail, and the first thing I noticed was Hoss carrying his head lower than usual. That's a good sign. He felt relaxed and comfortable, aside from being a bit foot sore. He was really trippy on his left front, and I got off to check the foot. I didn't find anything obvious, but after clearing his frog, he walked better for a time.

We did some trotting, and it was the most relaxed and forward I've felt him in some time. Again, I could tell he was foot sore, but his head position told me a lot.

When we reached the top of the single track trail it dawned on me I'm an idiot. I need to be at bell choir at 6:00. Oh, dear. I didn't have enough time to go as far as I'd like!

With this realization, I headed Hoss along the ridge line trail to cut out much of the trails. I didn't have my GPS (it was just a saddle trial ride; I wasn't considering it a conditioning ride, so the data was irrelevant) so I don't know how many miles I cut out by making this choice, but it was enough to get us back to the trailer in just enough time for me to get home.

Along the ridge line trail, Hoss stepped out nicely. This trail is very soft and forgiving. On the downhill side, he went down much more aggressively and confidently than I've had him go in a long time. Recently it seemed like going downhill, he would use every evasion he could think of not to have to go straight down the hill. This is yet another clue that I had missed that the saddle was creating issues.

When we got back to the harder trails, Hoss slowed down and I felt him being touchy about his feet. I'm thinking he's getting too much grain. Carbohydrates and sugars can increase foot soreness. So I will be cutting back on his grain and see how that changes things.

We got back to the trailer and I untacked him. Aside of evidence of the saddle slipping forward, he had no sore or dry spots. The slipping forward can be easily explained by not being able to get the saddle as tight as I would have liked. The off-side billet is too long for Hoss, so I couldn't tighten the girth enough. Unlike the other saddle when not on tight enough, it did not roll on me, but stayed in the middle of his back.

I drove home as quickly as I could, and didn't bother to back the trailer in properly. After all, we need to do a nice long trail ride to test out that saddle, so I didn't need to unhitch the truck. And since I have the Jeep back, I don't need my truck to go to bell choir. After asking my roommate to feed the animals, I got in the Jeep and rushed to bells, where, while I was late, I wasn't as late as usual.

For our next trick, we'll take that saddle out for a nice long ride!

Conditioning Ride 5-5-11

I finally made it up to Laguna Mountain Recreational Area! It was the first time I've ever been there. I have always heard wonderful things about the area, but had never had the opportunity to get up there.

I loaded Hoss up early in the morning, along with his breakfast. Being a Thursday, I had to first go to my physical therapy appointment. Parking there is entertaining. There are several shady spaces, but they are highly sought after. On this particular day, there was but one shady area left. I had to pull in and back up to put Hoss under the tree.

I got through my physical therapy appointment. My physical therapist is very happy with my progress. She says I'm farther along than she would expect at this point. From my own perspective, if this is as far as I got in terms of range, it would be satisfactory. Yes, it would be great to get better than this, but I wouldn't be disappointed if I didn't get further.

The Laguna Mountain Recreation Area requires a pass. I stopped at a store to pick up a pass and a map. I'd been told the map for the area is pretty poor, but I figured a map with basic identifiers was better than nothing. I asked the guy running the store where was a good place to park, and he indicated a place on the map.

I parked in a turnout at the trail head for Penny Pines. Once I saddled up and put Hoss's front boots on, I led him across the highway and onto the trails.

We started on Noble Canyon Trail. My plan after looking over the map was to head down Noble Canyon to Big Laguna Trail. Unfortunately I missed the turnoff. I wound up riding quite a way down Noble Canyon before I realized I must have missed the turn. Looking at the map, I thought it must be far longer than it was. So I wound up turning around and heading back until I found the turnoff I was looking for.

While I was riding along, I was making a point of marking waypoints. I even remembered to mark the trailhead where the trailer was parked. It would certainly have made finding my way back had I gotten lost quite a bit easier. I really need to get in the habit of marking waypoints on the GPS.

We found the junction to a trail to Big Laguna. Coming along this trail, we came to a gate. What I would think usually would be a cowboy gate (a short gate at the top with a low bar across the bottom to prevent motorized vehicles from entering the trail) was placed a small bridge. It was obviously not suited to horses. Aside from being made from far to light wood, the planks were spaced, which would fool Hoss's eye into seeing a hole rather than a bridge. It's the same principle as cattle guards.

Next to the mini-bridge is a different type of gate. It is constructed of wire. This one uses a T-post to close the gate to the stud. There is a wire wrapped around the T-post at the bottom and top of the post. In order to open the gate, I have to squeeze the top end of the T-post to the stud to remove the top wire, then pull the post out of the bottom loop, releasing the post. Then I get to move the "gate" aside far enough to lead Hoss through. Once he's through, I had to reverse the procedure to close the gate.

We came around a corner into the meadow. What a spectacular area! The pictures really don't do it justice. Big Laguna Trail circumnavigates the two lakes and the meadow. I decided to ride around the meadow and back. I took the turn off to the right to head around the meadow.

The trail is largely flat and rock free, lending itself to good trotting. As much as possible, we trotted, but that darned tripping!

We made it around to a water crossing. Hoss had been in the trailer for some time, so I expected him to be thirsty. When we got to the water, he was being weird about it. Of course, the last water crossing he'd made probably felt a little threatening, having been at the steel bridge and quite deep that day. He stopped at the water's edge and dropped his head for a drink. What a ridiculous position he put himself in! He refused to step into the water before drinking, and the banks were quite steep. I tried to encourage him to step into the water to get a better position, but he wouldn't do it. I could feel one of his front legs shaking. Once he was done drinking, he crossed the water, but gave me a bit of a problem about it. He kept trying to step off into areas that were not good for crossing. He did finally do it my way.

Most of the trail was uneventful, other than trying to help Hoss through the tripping.

We reached another water crossing, and Hoss was giving me a particularly hard time about it. I knew he wasn't afraid of crossing the water, he just didn't want to. He would stand there and tell me he wanted a drink, then try for a bite of grass. I finally managed to boot him through the crossing. He's such a pill sometimes. I know he knows what is expected of him, he just chooses to sandbag me about it.

Once through that crossing, the trail was a little hard to discern. By watching for old bicycle tire tracks and hoofprints, I found our way through. It was clear it went along the fence line.

There were several places where trails headed off Big Laguna that were not on the map. I began to understand why I was told the map was poor. I didn't mark the turns, figuring I'll do it when I'm up there to check out where the trails go. The trails are reasonably well marked with posts identifying where they go. It's not much help considering they're not on the map. Makes it a bit difficult to determine where they are in relation to the trails that are marked. Still, it'll be fun to figure it out.

We arrived at another water crossing. Once again Hoss was being a pill about it. I spent quite some time convincing him to cross what is really a very straightforward water crossing.

After crossing, I got Hoss back up to a trot. The whole left hind tripping thing was really bothering me. The last time I'd ridden, he hadn't had the problem at all, despite being on the steel bridge trails, which are far rockier and trickier than what we were on. I noticed that he did okay if I sat the trot, but as soon as I started rising, he started tripping.

On our previous ride, I had slipped my fingers between the saddle gullet at Hoss's withers. While the gap wasn't awesome, it was enough. Even at the trot I wasn't getting my fingers pinched. It would be nice if the gap was larger, but it was acceptable. On a hunch, I tried to slip my fingers through again. I could barely slip a finger in there, and at the trot, there was no getting a finger in there.

Now I think I know what the problem is. If I don't get the saddle placement exactly right, every time I come down in the post, I'm slamming the gullet into Hoss's withers, causing him to trip on the hind. So next time I ride, I'll have to make sure I get the saddle farther forward and see if it makes a difference. If it does, I'll adjust my breast collar to fit, so I can't get the saddle too far back anymore.

We were headed back toward the trail head we'd entered on. The rest of the ride was uneventful. I did stop and let Hoss graze while I switched out my empty water bottles for full ones. I like to let him eat from time to time on a ride. After I let him rest and eat for about five minutes, I mounted back up and we made our way back to the trailer.

It was a nice ride. In the end we got just under 12 miles at an average 3.6mph. Considering the tripping problem, that's not a bad average. I was pleased with the ride.

Additionally, Hoss's boots stayed on throughout this ride. I had put them on opposite of how I had last time. These boots are supposed to be switched from side to side (end to end, if the horse's feet are all the same size) in order to extend their wear, much like tires on a car. It appears that won't be possible with Hoss. Considering how toed in he is on his fronts, I'm not surprised I can't switch them easily. If he were straighter, it would be easier. Because of the toe-in he has, though, he wears a heavy breakover to the outside. When I switch the boots, he has to wear them the opposite direction when they've already been worn. With the wear already in place in one direction, it makes it harder to wear in a different breakover. So it's really no surprise that his heels wanted to pop out. Due to the wear being in the "wrong" direction when I had the boots switched, the boots tried to force him to break over that way, resulting in his heels popping out. I now know he has distinct right and left front boots, and that's just all there is to it.