Trail Blazer

It has been a long, long while.

2011-03-07T16:24:00.001-08:00

I have been out of the blogging scene for quite a while now, but in order to hold myself accountable I am back! I have only done a few rides in the last year, mainly due to my mare being young. She just turned 5 in January and she is now ready to really rock.

We did a 25 mile ride in October, with the goal to just finish. We ended up with 9th place, Top 5 and Top 10 best condition. I did not try to stay in the top group at all, and in fact I let a good 20 riders start ahead of me at the beginning. Needless to say, I was very proud of Vogue.

I will update with the ride story here shortly, and a few conditioning tales. I will probably wait until Thursday, as that is when my new laptop comes in. Right now I am posting from my phone, and it is tedious and a PITA.

My current Endurance-Prospect

2009-11-08T14:27:00.001-08:00

I think I have found "the one" that will take me to where I want to go [Tevis, 100's, XP rides, etc] but there is no way to tell until we are there! Her name is Fashion District aka Vogue and she is such a sweetie.

She will be four in January [actually vet thinks she's about 4.5, but the lady I bought her from said she was born in January, I'm thinking she might have been born earlier but the lady wanted her to be considered "younger" for showing. I'll never know..] and will be starting some LD's. I plan on doing the Warner Springs 25 mile LD, and I will probably go for the turtle placing because I want to take it very slow with her. :)

She's had about a month or so of light riding, and two months of intense ground work, lunging, long-lining, etc. She is amazing, and I'm beyond happy with her. She has her moments, but what young Arabian doesn't?

She is registered half arabian, however she is full. The lady had a bunch of horses, and is still trying to find papers on the dam. It's a long, complicated story I don't want to get into too much here.

Here are a few photos of the pain in the butt!

End to the Hiatus

2009-11-03T09:13:00.000-08:00

I have been completely neglectful to this blog, but with good reason. I've pretty much overhauled my "program", if you could even call it that.

I do not have any of the original horses I started with, which is kind of depressing. I don't remember if I had updated or not, but I had sold Porscha because she had something funky going on with her hip. She wasn't lame, but my friend seems to think she was perhaps uneven conformationally. Nothing that really affected her, but it made me uncomfortable so I decided not to use her as an endurance horse.

Kandee? Well, Kandee was an amazing mare and still is. I did the 2009 Descanso with her, and we FINISHED it this year in 13th place. Certainly nothing to sneeze at, but she just wasn't built to go like that. I got stuck in the group of front runners for about six miles or so, before I finally said screw it and pushed her over into the brush so I could get OUT of them. I couldn't stop, Kandee didn't WANT to stop, but I could feel her cramping up but pushing herself to go. Once we were passed, we moved to a crawling walk and eventually a stop for about five to six minutes. She was pretty crampy in the back end, so I got off and MADE her walk. We walked for a good 45 minutes or so, until she was cooled down and her muscles were relaxed. We slow trotted towards the vet check, and got in very late. My crew was worried about me because normally I am in a lot sooner, but I let them know what happened.

Kandee ate and drank at the vet check, and her pulse was down as soon as we walked into the check. The second loop she was feeling really good, and we went a lot faster and passed a few groups of riders which is how we ended up at 13th place. Kandee also knew the trail really well, and knew we were heading towards the trailer which gave her some more oomph.

Kandee's main issue is she did not drink. She was a water snob, and would only drink HER water and it really, really hindered us. I could e-lyte til the cows came home, but she would only take little sips of water to hold her over until we got back to the trailer.

As much as it broke my heart, I had to find her a new home where endurance riding wasn't what she was going to be doing. We couldn't get out of the LD's because of her water issue, and well...I'm sorry if it sounds selfish but I really, really want to do 50's and higher.

I did go and buy her half sister, though. Why I have no idea...I have horse issues.

I'll update later on my current horses, and current goals. :)

Adventures of Sweet Feed. Or...how to make a horse completely pyschotic.

2009-02-09T14:09:00.000-08:00

I have never really fed much sweet feed, to any of my horses. Mostly it was Senior Feed, and for a while I did feed OatMo, which I suppose you can consider a sweet feed since it's just oat-hay chopped up with molasses. So, I never really thought much of sweet feed either way, to be honest.

I came upon a coupon for $20 off two bags of Omolene. Any kind of Omolene, but I choose the 200 because it's for performance horses. What could be considered Performance more than Endurance?? Sounded good to me, and it was a great coupon. $21 for two fifty pounds bags of feed. Score!

So, get home and look at the back of the bag. For horses being conditioned, it said something like...seven pounds a day. WHAT? That is excessive to me, and Kandee wasn't completely back into training again so I decided on 3 pounds a day. So, she got her rice bran, flax, Omolene and Alfalfa twice a day.

Fast forward less than a week later [probably about three days at the most]. I have most of the afternoon off, don't have to be into work until 5, and it's absolutely gorgeous out. Sun is up, not too hot, not too cold. Perfect day for riding! Perfect day to start Kandee back up on an easy ride.

My horse is a monster.

Tacking her up, I should have known something was up because she was prancing in place, tossing her head and being just a jerk to work with. I made her flex to the left and right before I got on, because she didn't want to stand still, then I kept her flexed to my saddle while I got on.

Now, horses aren't supposed to really be able to move out/bolt/rear when you have them checked by the bridle. Well...you tell her that. I got my leg over her and she was GONE. She reared [what the hell is UP with that??], then took off. I was not impressed, and I immediately knew what the culprit was. I managed to get her under control, kind of. She was barely manageable, and felt like she was going to absolutely explode underneath me. She had so much energy, she had no idea what to do. Talk about one hot horse, I had no brains with me at all, she was just pure explosiveness.

Now, I don't like that feeling in a horse...not at all. What control I had was a complete facade, merely existing because there was a bit in her mouth and a rider on her back. If she really had wanted to do something, she would have done it and I would have had no say over it.

It took about four miles for her to cool her heels, and then she settled into the most beautiful canter I think she's ever given me. Barely touched the reins, sat back a bit and she stopped on a dime. Hrmm...nice to finally have a horse underneath me instead of a freight train!

The only thing new was the Omolene 200, which I will never be buying again once these bags are finished. I've dropped her to 2lbs a day, and she seems to have adjusted well to that amount.

However, it's been raining for four days now, with no plans of stopping in the next few days.

....Psycho Horse Take 2? We shall see.

Long, long time.

2009-01-29T21:03:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a long time since this thing has been thought of, let alone updated.

I apologize for the lack of updates, I really do. Life just kind of got in the way of updating and...well, that's just the truth of it.

Let's see, where do I begin?

I have three horses now. The only original horse I have left from the start of this blog is my mare, Keno's Cotton Candy. She is a nice horse, a little hot, but nice nonetheless. She is currently being feed leased by my trainer/friend, Lynn. She has picked up a nasty little habit of rearing that we are currently trying to break, but it's a long process. How do you stop a horse from rearing? Backing up, circles, etc isn't helping. I think she's fallen on her head a few too many times. [She doesn't crosstie and will flip over backwards. After three times of her doing so I gave up on her learning to cross tie and now I single-tie.]

I'd like to introduce you to my other two.

Amirah

Amirah is a 5 year old [in May] purebred Arabian mare. She is a gorgeous little [emphasis on little!] mare, and fast. I've clocked her at 39.8 MPH, with more to go in her. I ran out of trail, however, so I had to pull her up. She is my next endurance prospect, and I know she will kick ass. She's had about 4 months of consistent riding, and right now she is being used for my husband to take lessons on. Such an awesome little mare, so quiet and willing to do anything that I ask of her. Spooky lil' thing on the ground, but get on her back and she doesn't bat an eye at anything.

Did I mention that I really, really like this little mare? She has SO much personality! I'll let you guys know how her training progresses. Right now she is at Lynn's house, as well. Kandee is at home because we were going to try to use Kandee for my husband for lessons, but Kandee is too hot.

And now, my next addition:

FF Khemo Berry Bey

He is a 2001 Chestnut Arabian stallion. I picked him up January 10th, and I am glad that I purchased him. He was purchased as a horse for my husband, as he is wider and taller than Amirah and will be easier for him to ride. However, the CC&R's of the housing association we live in don't allow stallions so he will be gelded. I am tossing the idea of breeding him to Kandee, but haven't reached a decision yet.

He is so nice to ride undersaddle, yet he is very smart and has a tendency to test his riders. I finally got smart, and when he would just stop in the middle of the trail or working and refuse to move forward, I gave him motive to move forward. I have to be a bit cautious and not use too much force with him, but enough will make him realize that he has to listen. Since he finally realized that I am the boss, I haven't had to motivate him to move forward again and we have had a few happy rides.

His canter is so forward and comfortable, as well as his trot. He is going to be an awesome endurance horse, and I'm kind of jealous that he will be my husband's horse instead of mine. However, my husband deserves a nice horse as well so it'll work out in the end.

Plus, my horse is faster :P

I'll definitely be trying to update this as much as possible, but I cannot guarentee anything. I'll also try to put a few endurance articles up here, as well, so anyone who reads this can read them. =)

Saturday May 10th, 2008

2008-05-12T20:04:00.000-07:00

Porscha went down to the sand pits for the first time! :)

Porscha really hasn't been hauled out anywhere to go riding. She's been to my friends house once or twice, but this was a trip specifically down to a place, parking on the road, and riding from there.

She did well, except for wanting to turn herself around in the trailer [and managing it!] a few times. I tied her shorter, and that stopped. She about broke my toe coming out of the trailer. I backed her half way out, she decided she didn't want to come out, so she came back into the trailer, stood on my foot, and squashed me between her fat self and the divider.

Got that all sorted out, then tacked up and went out! She was very snorty and watching everything around her, and spooky. She spooked at a lizard, some concrete, a bush, and a squirrel. Not in any particular order, and sometimes more than once.

She seemed a bit sore [last time she was ridden we got stuck in a barbed wire fence, remeber?] so I didn't ask for more than she wanted to do. We did a lot of trotting because that was her speed of choose, and boy can that girl book it. She loves trotting, and is in her element when she does so.

There was some bright orange plastic construction "fence" [the kind with lots of holes in it] that was on the ground half way, so I decided to walk her over it. She had been very, very spooky at the black solid plastic little barriers that the construction people put up, but didn't seem to mind the BRIGHT orange stuff. So, she starts to step over it, then stops. Then backs up.

Well, as it's basically plastic grid, and has holes in it...it got stuck on her shoe. And well, when she backed up, it was stuck. So...she took off.

And the fence followed us....

I thought I was going to be done with, and on the ground. She just TOOK off, with that fence STUCK ON HER FRONT FOOT! *insert panicked horse here*

*snickers* Now that I look back, it was quite funny, and just adds to the drama that is riding with Porscha. But at the moment in time, it was very scary. It eventually fell off her hoof, and I brought her back down. After that, she decided the black AND orange construction plastic was something that deemed spook-worthy and she avoided it at all costs. *sigh* Silly horse...

We ended up going about 9 miles, not too bad. It was a slow pace, about 2 hours and 15 minutes. But it was all in the sand, so that was completely acceptable to me.

Look at that trot!

Friday May 1st, 2008

2008-05-04T13:42:00.000-07:00

We went for a night ride this evening! Kim picked Kandee and I up at around 6. Kandee got into the trailer with relatively little fuss, which is an improvement to last week where she refused to get in the trailer, and once she did she absolutely panicked and basically tore back out of it like a freight train.

We went with a few other people. I met a new lady, Rebecca, who I like a lot. She is nice and she knows how to ride really well, not to mention her little Paso/Quarter gelding Tony is the cutest! There was also a stallion along for the ride, which irritated me a little bit due to the lack of tact in asking if it was okay with the other horses. Kandee was in a raging heat, so I felt like she was going to explode beneath me. She wanted to get up there and invistage that horse, and I was having a hard time. She just wanted to throw her head up, brace again the bit, and run ahead.

So I finally said screw it, and I told everyone I needed to pass. My little rocket needed to get some steam out of her system. And did she! We hauled ass down in the sand pits [dry river bed] until she felt somewhat normal beneath me. I looked back during my run, and there was a coyote running behind us! It was awesome, and when I pulled up the coyote stopped as well and just looked at us. It was a rather large coyote, but he/she was so gorgeous.

It got really dark [no moon], so we cracked our glow sticks. I ended up going ahead again, because I wanted to trot and canter more. Kandee loved it. And it was so peaceful, the darkness around me, trotting along with just the green glow from the sticks. I loved it, and I think she did as well.

We were out for about three hours, didn't get home until about 11pm. Kandee was a trooper, and I now know that if I have any endurance rides at night, she will be perfect. It was her first time riding in a large group, and she did well and didn't put up a fuss when I asked her to leave the group.

We had to ride the main road in Lakeside to get back, and she didn't even flinch at all the traffic. Kandee is a great horse.

I couldn't get any pictures because well...it was dark and there was no moon. BUT, I did get two pictures before I put on her bridle and got on.

My Chunky Monkey

Pictures!

2008-05-03T12:22:00.001-07:00

Thought I would share some current pictures of the ponies:

Kandee

Porscha

Back to riding!

2008-05-03T12:11:00.001-07:00

Back to full time riding!

In all actuality, I've been back in California for almost a month now, but I just haven't updated this blog of mine. I'm slacking, and I promise I will get back into it.

Kandee when I arrived home, seemed happy to see me. Needed a lot more weight, but she had gained some while I was gone. So I started her on a ration balancer, along with rice bran and flax. She is off and on with beet pulp, so I fix it for her and if she doesn't eat it I just give it to Porscha.

Porscha is gorgeous, filled out, and sassy. She is going to be my 50+ miler, as she is a trotter. Kandee trots, too, but is more inclined to want to move out at a canter and gallop more than just trotting. Porscha's trot is huge, and we move out. Not to mention the knee action - she'd make a good park horse.

I had to get a new farrier, thanks to mine not calling me back. Kandee was such a hellion last time for shoes, but this time she stood calmly and feel asleep as he pulled her shoes and put on a new set. Porscha had to have a lip chain, but we're working on her and strangers around her feet.

Porscha and I got caught in a barb wire fence, here is the story copy and pasted from the forum I frequent:

We just cannot catch a break, or at least Porscha can't. I think I need to change her name to "Badluck Pony".

I was on my way home from a short trail ride [only 7 miles], and we were almost home, about 2 miles out. We were cantering [think western pleasure canter, it was nice and slow] up this wide trail. It has houses on the right, and an old barbed wire fence on the left. I've ridden this trail for over 15 years, and have never had a problem.

Something spooked Porscha, which is odd because Porscha usually doesn't spook at "natural" things like rabbits, birds, etc, she saves it for things like ballons and whatnot.

Anyways, I think a rabbit took off under her feet, and she jumped sideways. Into the fence. We crashed into the fence, which was more like it. We promptly went down, and Porscha was stuck.

She got her head and neck stuck and intertwined in the top and middle twines of wire, then her whole body slid and went under the last wire. And let me tell you - she was STRUGGLING. I was scared shitless, and I was STUCK on her because my leg was under her left side. There was nothing I could do except try to stay away from the wire, while she struggled. I asked her to WHOA, and she hesitated for a second or two, then just lost it again.

Finally, the top two wires broke [very very old, rusty barbed wire] and she managed to get up and only have her feet tangled up in it. She pulled away, and I just closed my eyes and prayed nothing was ripped clean through.

Finally got to her feet, and I jumped off. My heart was beating so loud, and I thought I was going to die. She had gotten the wire wrapped around her hocks, but it broke away when she really pulled. Then I looked at her front left and my heart sank because it took a big chunk out, and you could see white.

Porscha stood there panting, and I just sat in the middle of the trail and bawled. I had no service on my phone, and I didn't know what to do.

Finally got up and we walked very, very slowly home. Ran into a neighbor who used to be a vet, and he's been riding for over 65 years. He used to work at the King Ranch. But anyways, it was total luck he was in his yard. I was on the phone crying to my best friend, and he commented on my hot pink half chaps, and I got off the phone and told him what happened.

He picked up her leg and looked at it [Porscha actually let a stranger pick up her leg!!!!!!!!! ] and said it barely missed the important stuff. So he brought me up to his barn, and put Corona on it for me.

Her back legs didn't go deep, just a bunch of gouges but nothing near anything major. She ripped her muzzle pretty good, and I had blood all over me from that, but otherwise she's relatively okay...

I almost had a heart attack. I was crying the whole way home. And my poor horse was so good for everything, even the tetanus shot. She kept nuzzling me as we were walking, because I had my arm over her neck while I was walking, looking at me like,"What in the world are you crying about?"

*sniffles* I'm still upset. My poor horse. I'm just so lucky it was old wire, and broke so easily. We almost flipped over it, but she got tangled and pulled down.

Anyways, this is in health because I was wondering what else should I do. I put triple antibiotic ointment on all the other cuts and scrapes, corona on the bad leg.

Things are okay now. There is a bit of swelling on her leg, but I had her sit with an ice boot on this morning for 30 minutes, and it looks better. I'll probably ice it again tonight, and then sweat it out next week.

Kandee also came up "off" on Tuesday, so I sweated her leg out and she was fine on Wednesday morning. I'm not having the best of luck right now with the horses, hopefully that changes.

Kandee is officially entered in her first Endurance Ride. June 14th [or is it 9th?] Descanso 25 mile LD. I'm not sure how well we'll do, but we're going to try our hardest. =)

Hiatus

2008-03-02T19:27:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, I am back in North Carolina for a while. My husband is leaving to go back to Iraq for another deployment, and I must be here for him when he leaves. No doubt I'd love to have my horses here as well, but my husband comes first and foremost so they are in California.

I will be back in California sometime in April, hopefully the beginning. But leaning more towards the middle of April. And then I will have plenty of time to torture the ponies with more trail riding adventures.

Until then, I have to rely on my grandmother and Kim to keep me updated on the well-being of my horses. But this will be a well deserved break for them [Kandee at least, Porscha is the least traumatized as she was only ridden on the trail twice by me] and they should be refreshed and ready to go by the time I get back.

I wanted to do a chart on all my rides on Kandee, just to show how much I have ridden her. Keep in mind she was broke on the 26th of January, 2008. And this is what I have so far:

Total Hours Ridden: 29.5

2/25/08	KENOS COTTON CANDY	IAHA	349620	Alpine, CA	trail	2.8 hrs
2/23/08	KENOS COTTON CANDY	IAHA	349620	Alpine, CA	Trail	3.0 hrs
2/17/08	KENOS COTTON CANDY	IAHA	349620	Alpine, CA	trail	4.3 hrs
2/15/08	KENOS COTTON CANDY	IAHA	349620	Alpine, CA	Trail	2.5 hrs
2/13/08	KENOS COTTON CANDY	IAHA	349620	Alpine, CA	Trail	2.0 hrs
2/10/08	KENOS COTTON CANDY	IAHA	349620	Alpine, CA	trail	1.5 hrs
2/8/08	KENOS COTTON CANDY	IAHA	349620	Alpine, CA	Trail	2.0 hrs
2/7/08	KENOS COTTON CANDY	IAHA	349620	Alpine, CA	Trail	2.0 hrs
2/2/08	KENOS COTTON CANDY	IAHA	349620	Sloan Canyon back up to Alpine	Trail	4.5 hrs
1/26/08	KENOS COTTON CANDY	IAHA	349620	Alpine, CA	Trail Riding	4.0 hrs
1/25/08	KENOS COTTON CANDY	IAHA	349620	Alpine, CA	Trail Riding	1.0 hrs

And you want to know my MILEAGE? This is the kicker, right here, that shows you how much I ride my horses:

67.17 Miles since January 25th

Not too bad. *grin* And I do believe there was one ride I don't have in there, because I forgot to take my GPS with me, but it was probably about 5 miles.

And that was a good starting point for her. Some will argue and say I ride her too much, but she doesn't seem to mind. She walks right up to my in the pasture, she'll nicker at me - if she wasn't happy, she'd let me know.

Until April, my friends.

February 25th, 2008

2008-03-01T14:21:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday the 25th, since it was a weekday, I was on my own for riding. It was an absolute GORGEOUS day out, so I had to go riding.

So I tacked Kandee up, and off we went. She was doing well, nice and forward, limited stopping and staring, and little to no spooking. Nice way to start the ride, I hate having to fight my horses for any reason.

Had to cross over prior mentioned swollen creek, and did so with no problem. :o) Then we moved up to the california riding and hiking trail and I decded to go up to Bell's Bluff.

Bell's Bluff is a huge ass mountain er...bluff? And it's a great training ride. The last half of it is all rock, so it's great for teaching the horses to pick up their feet, and watch we they are going. Kandee did awesome, and picked her way across the rock at a trot and canter, finding the best possible way. It's amazing what some trust in your horse will do, they find the easiest way to get over the rock, and then go. Especially when I wouldn't have thought it was the best way, but at a canter she picked it and it worked out well. At a trot, she might have picked a different spot. I only had to pick up my reins and help her out a few times, which was nice.

I've decided to post pictures of the trail. So here they are, with links, because otherwise they will distort the blog's alignment.

First picture, I bring you from my house [the left side of the pic] down to the creek, and up and over to the California Riding and Hiking Trail.
Picture One

Second picture, I start where the other picture ended.
Picture Two

Third picture, is the whole trail from the house, to where I stop.
Third Picture

And the last picture, shows the whole trail with just start and end markers.
Last Picture

It's a wickedly fun trail. Kandee seemed to enjoy it, but half way home [probably about mile 7.5] she got really cranky with me, and when I asked for anything faster than a trot she'd pin her ears and squeal at me. She'll need to get over that, but she might have been sore, too. But alls well that ends well. =)

That was Kandee's last ride until April.

February 23rd, 2008

2008-03-01T14:09:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, the 23rd of February, I rode Porscha out on her first trail. Well, remember Porscha had been on the trail prior, but she had been ponied and I was on her for...not long. But this was a tack her up in my own yard, and ride her out type of trail.

Okay, I lied. I had Kim lead me on a lead rope for the first mile or so, until I felt good enough on her to be taken off. :o) Yes, I am a wussy these days.

We went to the creek, which was completely swollen and rushing, because of all the rain we have been having, plus the melting snow from the mountains. Kim's horse Rose didn't want to go in, and it was a huge fight just to get her into it. She refused to go out further, and I didn't want to try putting Porscha in it, so we turned around. We then went another way, and went over to what used to be the LAzy A Ranch. Now it's just property sitting there. What a waste. But, we went through water and we even cantered up a small hill. I had intially been afraid to canter her, because she had been getting oatmo the week before, but she didn't offer to buck at all. She did pop one, but she was getting worried and angry at me because I made her stay back off of Rose's ass and she wanted to get closer. Other than that, things went awesome.

Then Kim decided to ride Norman, so we went back to my house and I tacked up Kandee, Kim rode Norman, and Kim's son's girlfriend road Rose.

I brought Kandee down to the creek, and she walked right in. Rushing water past her belly and everything - just went in! She didn't fight me, she just wanted to play in it! Awesome.

Let's just say things didn't go as planned, and we parted ways about 30 minutes into the ride.

But this is where Kandee shone. I was emotionally stressed [read: crying] and I asked her to move out. Really, REALLY move out. Not only that, I asked her to move out in the opposite direction of the other horses. I had no crop [a lot of the time Kandee needs...encouragement] but she just...went. We completely hauled ass for at least 3/4's of a mile, and there were so many things she would have normally spooked at, but she didn't. [Probably because things were going by too fast for her to notice them ha!] I haven't asked for that much speed ever, but she gave it to me, and happily. And then, I asked for a stop. I sat down, put pressure on the reins, and she stopped. No whining, no 20-second delay, she felt the command and she stopped. <3 She was absolutely AWESOME.

I love Kandee. She will not be going anywhere for a good, long time unless it's absolutely imperative to my life that she be sold. Which I doubt will happen.

Is there anybody out there?

2008-02-18T20:29:00.001-08:00

I was wondering who was reading this thing, if anyone. =) Leave a comment.

Kandee got to wear the big girl pants today.

2008-02-17T21:58:00.000-08:00

...and she didn't like it.

Kim and I went on a trail ride with two acquaintances of ours this morning/afternoon. I rode Kandee, and ponied Porscha. Kim rode Rose, and ponied Norman.

Things started out okay, Kandee wasn't happy, and had her ears pinned, and was not liking the other horse following her. She kept trying to go faster, in hopes that the other horse would go away, but the horse didn't and it pissed her off even more. But, she didn't do anything except pin her ears, which I was happy about.

We were late, but the two people we were riding with were even later, so we got to give them a rest and whatnot. I got off, fixed Kandee's saddle, and Porscha just hung up there like it was nothing. Then we decided to go a little further up the trail to meet them, so we had to go over a riding and hiking trail gate, which had a pipe pole about 14 inches off the ground, if that. Kandee had been over it numerous times before, but decided today of all days to fight me, probably because she knew I didn't have any extra hands because I was holding Porscha's lead rope. I borrowed Kim's crop and let her know that Mommy was not to be defied, so she finally sighed and walked over nicely, followed by Porscha. We went over it again without any problems, as well.

Met up with them, then turned around and headed down to the creek crossing. The horses walked in with NO problems, even Kandee, who as you know hated water with a passion. She's gotten so good about just walking in, and going in first! Porscha loved it, and wanted to play, so we pulled them out and continued up the riding and hiking trail.

Things went well, without a hitch, even when we came on three other riders. We passed nice and quietly, and Kandee didn't pitch a bitch about leaving others behind.

We got to about mile 5.5 and Kim decided she was going to ride Norman, so she got off of Rose, put Rose's bridle on him, and got on. Of course, that meant no one was on Rose, but she followed on like a good pack horse/pony and wasn't bothered by the fact no one was on her. In fact, when we stopped because the other riders asked us to stop, she kept going!!! I had to give Porscha to Kim, and haul ass up to her and catch her. She didn't even know we were gone, she was just plodding along.

So, it gets to where it's my turn to get on Porscha. Kandee was the only one with a bridle on, and her's is a halter/bridle combo so the only way to ride Porscha was to switch everything. So I took Kandee's bridle off, and she just stood there, in the middle of the trail, with her head down looking content, with nothing on her head. I put the bridle on Porscha, then I put the halter on Kandee and tied her leadrope around her neck, and mounted up on Porscha. Porscha didn't buck, put her ears back - nothing. So Kim, who is back on Rose, starts up the trail and Kandee and Porscha just get in line and walk with them. Porscha is feeling great, nice and relaxed, which was wonderful.

And Kandee was just like...whatever. Big deal. I'll follow the others.

So, I eventually get off Porscha as we're heading home, but don't feel like switching all the gear so I just clipped the reins onto Kandee's halter and climbed aboard! She was phenomenal. She stopped when I asked, turned when I asked, and was actually really responsive to everything. [Keep in mind, this horse has been broke for less than a month].

So, things were going awesome. Just awesome.

About a mile away from home, Kandee just...lost it. We had just walked up a small hill, and I guess Porscha just got too close for the last time, and Kandee just snapped. She kicked out, double barrel, and then wouldn't stop. She put her head down and just throw out some massive, massive bucks as she was going forward. Kim yelled at me to let go, and I couldn't figure out what she meant, but somehow I guess I did so I let go of Porscha and held on for the ride. She wouldn't stop! I was trying to brace myself, but pulling on the reins just gave her something to brace against, and made it worse. She eventually stopped, and the only thing that I could say was,"What. The. Fuck."

And she acted like nothing had happened! I seriously couldn't believe it! Kandee has never, ever offered to do anything remotely that bad, but today she just had had it I think. I liken it to a 3 year old who has been trying so, so hard to behave but at last just cannot contain herself and misbehaves.

I was so proud of Kandee today, the way she was handling everything, and being so incredibly quiet, and then she goes and pulls this. =P She did it again, about five minutes later, too. Porscha got too close, so she went into her kicking/bucking fit. She's going to have to learn to love her, because she's going to be with us for a while!

No pictures, I didn't take my camera. Looking back, I should have. But...eh, I'll do it next time.

Edit - My friend took pictures, and I have permission to post them, so here they are.

Sitting on Porscha for the first time.

Kandee was confused.

We turned around and started home. I lean to the right, need to fix that.

Kandee and I watching Kim yell at Norman. I think. Haha.

Kandee all by herself.

Kandee leading everyone

New Addition

2008-02-17T21:26:00.000-08:00

I have added a new horse into my midst. I wasn't in the market, really, for a new horse. I always keep my feelers on for a good deal I could flip, or something for my grandmother, but otherwise I wasn't actively looking at all.

Kim called me on Tuesday the 12th and said she was going to buy three horses, all Arabians. I told her she was crazy, but that I'd ride up with her. The guy was selling them for all 3 for $500, or $200 each. I put $200 in my checking account, because I had this little nagging feeling in the back of my head, but I did not think I would get one.

We got up there just as it was getting dark, and found three very very dirty horses in a 24x24 corral, with leads on their halters so the guy could catch them. Kim was looking for a big[ger] Arabian, and the mom of one of them was indeed big, probably 15.3hh. But she was flighty as all get out, and didn't want to be caught at all. Kim didn't want a project, so she had to choose between the gelding and the bay mare.

The bay mare was the first one to walk up to me at the fence, and was curious. She let me pick up her front foot, and rub all over her head. I decided I wanted her, and hoped to hell that Kim decided between the big mare and the gelding, because I did not want her to choose the bay! Kim finally decided on the gelding, and I said I wanted to bay. She made a half-assed attempt to talk me out of it, but I had a feeling about the mare so I was pretty adamant about it.

The guy aced them [why, I don't know] and we loaded them up. They hopped right in, and started to eat. There was some mild kicking, but they settled down for the two hour drive home.

Got them home to Kim's, and took them off the trailer. The grey gelding, who I named Norman [much to Kim chagrin] leapt off the trailer and almost on top of me. My mare, however, was not so graceful and about fell flat on her face coming out.

We put them in the corral, then decided that at 8:00pm at night, we were going to put saddles on them. These are 4 year old, unbroke, hardly handled Arabians. And yet, we were determined to saddle and bridle their asses up that very night. So...we did. It was rather anti-climatic and really I don't need to elaborate because it went extremely well, and with no fuss.

The next night, however, was a nightmare. Complete, utter nightmare and I was ready to ship my mare off to the glue factory.

This is what happened...I went to Kim's Wednesday after she got off of work, with the plans of walking down the street, over a bridge, and over to the other street to lunge the two and work with them. Well, I saddled up my mare, she saddled up her boy, and off we went. First we had to walk through the gate into the driveway, and walk between two cars. My mare decided to spook, run into their truck [thank goodness it was a POS work truck], then proceed to kick it because it attacked her.

I had put the stud chain over her nose, to try to gain some control. At that point, she was rearing, spinning, SCREAMING her fool head off, and just being a pain because Norman, her buddy, had gotten too far ahead. Well, her head tossing with the chain was making things worse, so I grabbed her halter with one hand, and undid the chain and just as I was about the rehook the lead, she tore from me. I had no choice but to let go.

My mare went FLYING down Harbison Canyon road at a full on run, just as cars were coming, from both directions. She swung around when she saw the car, then came careening back like a bat out of hell. At this point, we had three cars stopped on the left side of the road, and two on the other. This is a main road, too, so the people aren't happy.

Anywhos, dumbass mare decides to run into the nieghbor's driveway. Well, the driveway is slick red concrete, and she ate shit. She slid, fell flat on her face, then fell three more times while trying to grab her footing. It was not pretty, and I was afraid that she was going to get seriously hurt. She didn't, got her footing, and stood there while Kim grabbed her and I ran over to reclip the lead. It was a scary few minutes, but we eventually got them under control.

With that drama done and over with, we continue on, this time with my mare in front because it seems to work better this way. We walk over the bridge, and start walking down the street towards the lunging spot. A dog scared Norman so badly he spooked sideways, slipped and fell f lat on his side. Yes, both horses fell and had terrifying moments. [I still think mine was scarier - she almost got ran over! Much worse than just falling over because you were scared by a dog ;)]

Norman lunges, and she doesn't. It was horrible, and I don't feel like going into details. But let's just say I was pretty much done at the end of the night, and didn't care where the hell she ended up. It was just...frustrating beyond everything and I was not happy. [To tell you the truth, she scared me a bit]

Kim brought her up Saturday morning, and things went a bit smoother. Still herd bound beyond belief, but we took them down to the arena and let them run until they were pooped. Then my best friend, Jess [yes, another Jess!], got on Norman for Kim and then she got on my mare! It was nice, and they really didn't even do much. But, she still doesn't view any person as her handler, as alpha, or leader. She just ignores them, and walks all over you. MUCH better now, though.

Fast forward to today, Kim and I ponied Norman and my mare with Kandee and Rose and we ended up riding them for a few minutes on the trail. =) I am much happier with her - much, much happier with her and she might be kept.

Since this is a lot longer than I expected it, I'll leave you with pictures. She finally has a name.

Introducing...

Porscha

Video post!

2008-02-11T21:46:00.000-08:00

Kim and I went riding on Sunday, it was absolutely GORGEOUS out! It was about 80, and just smashing.

We decided to go on a short ride, and I decided that the switchback was the trail that was for us. And I took some videos, because I wanted to do something quite different.

The first video is me getting Kandee into the first creek. =) She had been going through the water so nicely the past few rides, but she hesitated a bit, probably because I was one handed and she knew something was up.

Don't mind the video quality, it's pretty shitty. I used the "Youtube" capture option on my camera, and it's shit. I'll never use it again.

And then this is a video on why Kim hates riding with me. This trail is very, very high up and tends to be very, very narrow. It has eroded over the years due to the rain and the wind, but the trail conservists are trying to make sure it stays open, hence the black edging that was left there. It's not suppose to be there, but I'm not going to complain - it's good to get her used to unexpected stuff such as that.

Showing how high we are, and where we have to get to. That trail is extremely steep and narrow, as well. However, the trail we are on is the highest and the best, in my opinion. Haha.

The next is a series of 3 videos. Most people who ride are aware that a switchback is a trail that usually has two or three turns around the mountain, because it is too steep to go straight down. Well, one day I decided I didn't want to go winding around, so I veered off and went straight down. And that has how it has been ever since!

Most sane people go around and I wait at the bottom for them, but Kim is a trooper and follows me wherever I go!

First part! Kandee was like,"Oh! A road in the distance! Cars! Let's stare!" and wouldn't go.

So, Kim decided she'd gather her courage and go first! I told her "Wrong way!!" because it really is a straight off drop if you go too far to the right:

And the last part! We're pretty much 3/4's of the way down, but Kandee was paying more attention to the road and the fun, zippy cars and motorcycles than she was where she was putting her feet.

Like I said in one video, she doesn't neck rein yet and that's what I was doing.

First Solo Ride

2008-02-11T21:34:00.001-08:00

Kandee and I had our first Solo ride on Thursday, February 7th!

It did not start out too well. I had originally planned on going down the bank into our neighbor's yard, and up and around to the old ranch and back home. Well, the brakes where put on, squeals were heard, and the hind end even came up off the ground! Needless to say, I did a bad thing and let her win, and turned around and went down the gravel driveway instead.

Which is not what I wanted, because really going through the neighbor's would have been a nice, quiet ride without traffic, or anything else that was "scary". Instead, she got to deal with trucks whizzing past, dogs barking, and a fence that was half-way down in the middle of the trail.

In order to go on the trail, we had to ride on the road to the first part. It was not that bad, but we had to pass two separate houses that had horses. The first house was the worst, as the fence was right on the road, therefore the two horses ran straight up the fence and started talking. Kandee was very interested in them, very antsy, and not responding well to what I was asking.

She was still moving forward, but I had to have a very, very tight rein on her, and I felt her on her toes. But logic won over, and she decided to listen to me than go off and do what she wanted to do, which was flee in terror during some moments.

I'm not going to get into too much detail, but it was a great first ride for her, and after the first 3 miles or so she mellowed out enough to loosen my reins and actually enjoy the ride. =)

14.5 miles - 985.5 to go!

2008-02-06T12:41:00.000-08:00

Kidding, kidding. ;) The 1000 miles are going to be AERC sanctioned rides, so I have a long, long time to go. But the thought of slowly chipping away at it via training rides is entertaining, but alas not how it works.

Either way, Saturday February 2nd was Kandee and I's second trail ride. It was absolutely gorgeous, if not a bit nippy, and fun.

We started off with Kim picking me up promptly at 8:30am, and hauling down to Sloane Canyon, which is about a 15 minute drive from where I live, and only 5 from Kim. We unloaded, and proceeded to take up. Kandee wasn't very fond of being tied up on the other side of the trailer, away from Rose, and let her displeasure be known by kicking the trailer, pawing, and just making the whole trailer-tacking-up-tying experience miserable.

Once I tacked up, and managed to get my GPS signal up and going, we were on our way. The first thing we ran into was a small pack of Coyotes. They were absolutely gorgeous, and less than 20 feet away from Kandee and I. Of course I pulled my camera out as soon as I saw them, but Kandee was too engrossed with trying to go VISIT them, that I couldn't hold her with one hand and take pictures with the other. But, I did manage to get a shot or two with my zoom cranked up, but I really wish I could have gotten it when they were so close.

If you look closely, there are 3 there. But the other 2 are hard to find.

After that, we started up a hill which turned into an even steeper hill. Half way up, my saddle slipped back extremely far, far enough where that any horse I would have owned before [at least my non-Arabians] would have had a bucking fit to get it off. Kandee didn't, and just trundled up the hill until we could get to a flat spot to fix it. Upon fixing it, she decided the trail looked inviting enough to continue without me and thus I had to chase her down and convince her that I, too, would like to go on the rest of the ride.

After I caught her and remounted. Kandee and Rose

It went on well, winding through the hills, climbing gradually. Kandee was great, and was in the front for most of the time because that was where she was the happiest.

Pretty valley, taken from the tops of one of the hills.

We weren't sure exactly where we were going, but our general direction was towards where I lived, to see if the trail went through completely like it used to. So there were a few wrong turns, one in which we ran into an old abandoned van! Kandee's eyes were wide, but she just snorted a bit and we walked right on by, only to be met with a dead end so we had to turn around and go back towards the van. She decided she didn't want to go, and so Rose had to go first. :)

The creepy van.

Nothing much really happened, we came back around to the dirt road that is Sloane Canyon road and we cantered and trotted for a bit. Kandee was amazing, and only spooked a bit when she started cantering and for some reason I think she thought the roaring of the water below us was catching up on her, so she kept hunkering her ass down and trying to scurry forward faster. Pretty funny.

This was a hill that was right before we got back to Sloan Canyon Road. It was almost straight up and down at the top - crazy! I went up it.

Then, the problem started. We reached the end of Sloan Canyon road, where the riding and hiking trail picks up again. There is a wooden bridge there, that normally the horses wouldn't mind because it's never had water under it. This time, however, there was a rushing river. And I mean RUSHING. The water was white, and ROARING, and Rose was having no part of it whatsoever. Kandee had never even seen a wooden bridge in her life, let alone gone over one, but I asked her to go first and she did. =) She didn't even hesitate, and when Rose bolted forward and clattered up behind her she just tensed a bit, and flicked her ears back as if to ask her what the fuck she was doing.

So, one obstacle out of our way! Whew! I was worried about that.

Well, it seems there was yet another one, right in front of us.

...Water. Kandee hates water, as I'm sure you are all aware if you've been keeping up with this blog whatsoever.

It didn't look too bad, but we put Kandee on the lead rope anyways, so there would be no hesitation on her part, and we could walk right through. So, Kim is holding the lead rope that is attached to my horse's halter/bridle combo, and we walk forward. Splash splash, all is good then PLUNK! Rose steps into a hole, and decides she's done. She spins, Kim drops the rope, and I'm left stranded in the water, the lead swirling in the current around Kandee's legs.

We access the situation, and decide that we do indeed have to cross, otherwise we'll have to go all the way BACK the seven miles to the trailer, and we didn't want to do that. [Little did we know it was another 7.5 miles to where I live] So, we tried again. Kim tried going up a little, where it was narrower, and they really fell into a hole then. It was up around the base of Rose's tail, and Rose was not happy. She jumped up on some what she thought was dry bank, but it wasn't and she sank past her hocks and panicked, so they hurried out back to me, who was, still, stuck in the water with the lead swirling around Kandee's legs.

The evil water. You can see the wooden bridge in the back, we came from that end. It doesn't look deep, but it WAS, and it was running FAST

I was having a full on anxiety attack at this point. My vision was faded, my heart was going so fast I thought it was going to burst from my chest, and I felt weak all over. I had visions of Kandee and I being swept down the river, or of her rearing and fall on top and crushing me, or me drowning after being pinned under my lard ass horse. I told Kim we had to try, one more time. My heart was screaming, "NO! NO you frigging IDIOT! Don't TRY IT!" but my head ruled what the hell, what will one more time hurt?

So, Kim resorted to trying to back Rose up through this water. They went towards the middle this time, and got about 1/3rd of the way across, when Rose decided she was going to rear. Right in the middle of the friggin' RIVER! After two rears, she spun and they surged through the water [up at her belly, mind you] and up the other side where the trail was. Kandee, of course, saw Rose leaving and just went forward without a care, into the deep part of the water, up at my knees, and just right on through.

Gorgeous pic I snapped after we finally got through the deep water.

Now, you might not think it was so amazing feat, and to some it probably wasn't. However, Kandee is 14.2hh, and 900 pounds soaking wet on a good day. Also, remember her hatred for water? Yeah. It wasn't a good mix. Regardless of what she has done or did in the past, I suppose that day she realized she was going to get home faster if she went through the water, and so she did. I was very proud of her.

After that the rest was, as they say, history. We managed to get to the trail that leads to my house, and it only took us 4.5 hours for 14.54 miles. [I hope you can read the sarcasm in that sentence. 4.5 hours for only 14.54 miles is horrible for an endurance pace]

We also walked them quite a bit, which is just as well - I was getting pretty stiff up in the saddle and the walking helped me.

Kim walking Rose.

Before we move forward again...

2008-02-04T12:33:00.000-08:00

Before Kandee and I could do anymore riding, I had to have shoes put on her happy ass. Her feet were in dire need of a manicure, and the last man who did the job was a horrible farrier. He left her toes long, and just...made more of a mess than he did anything to help. She has under run heels, and long toes in the front, and it needs to be fixed.

So my farrier Danny came out, and the workout [for him] commenced. Kandee was not happy, at all, about someone handling her feet and telling her what to do so a fight broke out. She about cold cocked him right in the face, and then it was ON. He did get rough with her, but she deserved it. Well, maybe not all of it, but I don't really blame him. Eventually I twitched her, and she stood still for the rest of the procedure. [And thus I created a horse who is head shy, but we worked through that later on in the day.]

So, we got off as much toe as we could, and put shoes on to help correct her underrun heels. Her back feet were so short we didn't think we were going to be able to put shoes on, but he managed.

So here's to happy feet and happy riding!!

Fronts

Right Front

My camera ran out of batters, so I did not get any other pictures. They need work, but this will ensure that I am able to ride her and condition her, but also get growth to correct her feet.

Second Ride. Including Water.

2008-01-27T11:03:00.000-08:00

Kandee went for her second ride yesterday, on January 26th. Kim trailered her Missouri Fox Trotter mare, Rose, up to my house and we loaded Kandee in. She still is hesitant about the trailer, but if you start crowding her in with the door she'll hop in without a bat of her eye. Funny, as many horses once they start getting crowded panic and jump back out of the trailer.

We arrived down at the arena [which is only a mile from my house, but we didn't want to ride on the road] at about 8:10am and we tacked up. Or rather, tried. Kandee wanted nothing to do with the bit or bridle, and I fought with her for five minutes or so. I do admit I lost my calm about the third time she flung her head [there went the bridle] and pulled back and danced away. However I can admit I got too rough, and I will not do it again. I eventually pulled the bit off [it's a halter/bridle combo] and put the halter on, and patted her. Then she took the bit like it was nothing.

Figures.

She still didn't like being cinched up, but she did better than she did the day before. I did it in increments so it wasn't such a big, squeezing sensation. I nixed the crupper, as we didn't plan on going anywhere but the arena.

Kim held her as I clambered on for the second time, and adjusted everything. We slowly walked around the arena, with me being a complete and utter chicken and screeching at Kim every time she made a sudden move. After about 10 minutes of walking, working on whoa [I install breaks from the very very beginning, I hate horses who don't stop] Kim went and got Rose. Kandee was not happy that the security of the handler wasn't there, and felt quite confused under me because she was essentially "alone". I do believe she finally realized about 40 minutes in that she wasn't alone, and that the tub of lard on top of her was, indeed, in control.

I was feeling pretty good about myself, and about Kandee, so we decided to go on a short trail ride. The trail started right across the street from the arena, so we didn't have to go very far. Kandee did well on the street, didn't even falter, but then some birds took off behind her once we hit the trail and she scooted forward, and snorted. It wasn't bad at all.

Kandee, it turns out, loves being in front. She immediately gravitated towards the front as Kim and I were riding side by side, and stayed there. Her ears were perked, she was alert and looking around, and all over a picture of complete happiness.

...I have a tendency to press my luck when it comes to my horses, and training my horses. I really should have left well enough alone, and turned around once we hit the trail that heads to the California Riding and Hiking trail. But no, I am greedy and wanted more from her. I wanted to go through the water.

Now, Kandee hates water. With a passion. If there is a mud puddle in front of her waterer, she will go for days without drinking until that puddle is gone. You, of course, would probably have thought I would have realized that water, coupled with the fact she still wasn't sure about the dead weight on top of her, would have equaled disaster. But it didn't. In fact I was confident it'd be perfectly fine, and we would have no problems whatsoever.

Sometimes I wonder how I can be so delusional. . .

Going down to the creek bed, there is a bank with built in steps so it doesn't erode. Kandee thought the world was going to end, and almost went off the cliff on the side of us because she didn't think that it was possible to hop down them calmly like her friend Rose was doing. Eventually, with soothing words, she made her way down there and stood triumphantly, snorting. Then she shied sideways when she realized there was a tire next to her right foot. Recovering from that, we moved out on the sandy trail, her right ear wavering sideways, keeping track of the sound of the running water.

We finally get to the water, and Kandee balks. There is no way in hell is she putting her pretty little toes in that! Rose was happily playing in it, so I told Kim to ride her down the middle of the creek so that maybe Kandee will go. Well, Kandee neighed her fool head off, then LEAPT in.

[In order for you to fully appreciate this, I need to paint the scene for everyone. The creek has what used to be a bank on the other side. Over the years, it has eroded to pretty much a straight up and down cliff, with a slight incline at the very bottom. It's about 40 feet up, and the tree roots are showing through the bank/cliff because it's eroded so much. This, my friends, is what was waiting for me on the other side of the creek]

So, Kandee leapt in. All good, right? No. She then decides in the split second after she landed, to leap AGAIN and before I know if we're half way up the cliff! She had climbed it, and then got stuck half way up it. Of course, my eyes are as big as saucers and I'm going, "Kim. Kim. KIM!" and she's hissing at me,"Get. OFF."

"I can't!"

"Jessica..GET OFF!"

"If I get off, I'll pull her on me!" [Plus it was about a five and a half foot drop. Did I mention we were sideways on a cliff? She must be part mountain goat...]

"Jessica, get the FUCK OFF THE HORSE!"

"Okay."

So I managed to jump off without pulling her off, and I grab a protruding tree root so I don't topple into the water below. Kandee, by the way, was just standing there nice and calmly. However, at the time it happened all I could see in my mind was us going over backwards and her landing on me if she decided to try to go up the rest of the cliff.

I unclipped her reins, clip them to her halter, and throw them down to Kim so she could pull her down and into the creek. And of course, she goes in it like it was nothing. And of course, once I get back on her she doesn't want to go back in. And of course, we didn't have a lead rope with us, or a crop.

Eventually, she gets in. And eventually, we move on. Everything is great after that, she's happy, she's forward and she's not spooky. Even when two idiots came careening around the corner, hollaring, etc at a full gallop. Kim was screaming at them to stop, waving her arms, etc and they didn't pull up until they were right in front of us.

"Oh, but this is a great place to run. Didn't you get the memo?"

Hey, dumb asses. As soon as you pulled up we TOLD you it was this horses first ever trail ride! And I'm aware it's a great place to run, I've been running on that stretch for years. Then they proceeded to trot past. Kandee wanted to follow them, so it was a bit of a fight, and they laughed as they went past.

Blah blah blah, went a few more minutes, then headed home. Of course we had to cross the water again! She, like most horses are prone to, forgot that she had even gone through the water just a few minutes before so didn't want to get in. I got off and Kim led her through, then brought her back to me. I was trying to figure out how to get back on without getting wet [the water was about 2.5 feet deep] when Rose did a full body shake and Kim's cell phone fell out and went plop, right in the water. Kim's face was priceless as she screamed,"GET IT!" So since I was already off, I jumped into the middle of the cold ass freezing water, and grabbed her cell. So now Mr. Cell was safe, but I was soaked.

Got on Kandee, and realized after I sat down on her that that was the first time I had mounted without someone holding her! The things you do when you forget you're on a green horse!

All in all, it was an eventful day, but it was also a very productive day. I probably pushed her more than I should have, but she is 6 years old and I believe she can handle it.

My farrier is coming out tomorrow, the farrier who did her last completely screwed her feet up and she needs shoes, badly. She has no heel OR toe in the back, and in the front no heel [or really under slung heels] and too much toe! Argh.

So until the next time, adios.

Oh, I have pictures of me on the cliff, hanging from the tree roots [just my feet, as it was so high up], and of Kandee in the water and as well as climbing a small hill. I'll get those tomorrow.

The First Ride

2008-01-26T19:07:00.000-08:00

Kandee came to me completely unbroken. She had had a saddle and a bridle on her once prior to me purchasing her, and then once she was delivered to Kim's house she pretty much just sat. Kim had two other horses and no time, and I didn't really expect her to work my horse.

I was unable to get out to California until a few days ago, on January 24th. My husband was being sent to California for training for the corps, so I figured I would take that opportunity to fly back home to San Diego and start training my horse.

When I first set eyes on her - I was disappointed, to say in the least. She had lost a bunch of weight due to the stress of being moved from other horses, to being by herself. Add in the fact she was being fed only grass hay, and we had a disaster. She wasn't drinking due to the mud puddle in front of the waterer [can we say prissy?!] so she was sucked up, as well. But, I tried to look past that and I took her out of the corral to start working with her and see where I would need to start.

She bit me.

I guess having a carrot broken up in pieces in my pocket wasn't necessarily the best idea, especially with a horse who is used to her carrots, and used to them NOW. However, we get over the biting really quickly with a few bops to the nose every time she did it. She will now stand nicely, waiting, but still give me the googly eyes and go, "Mooooooom, feed me!"

So the first day was mainly messing around, brushing her, picking out her feet - getting to know her and her quirks. What made her tick, so to say.

The second day was the beginning of horsey boot camp. I am pretty sure she thought she had died and went to hell, because I really didn't hold back. She is six years old, so she's not a baby and can handle more stuff being thrown at her than a horse with a lower maturity level could. That being said, I'm not sure a horse who thinks pouting for carrots and stomping her feet in a manner that rivals a two year old toddler is up on the "very mature" level.

But I digress.

I saddled her up, and she did not like being cinched. At all. She went straight into the air. Pulled her down, and scolded her with a wag of my finger and a look in my eye. She rolled her eyes at me, and started to paw. Nice, so I have a horse with a sense of humor. Help me now.

She took the bit rather nicely, but proceeded to chomp on it with such vigor I swore she was going to hurt herself. I then fitted her breast collar, and her crupper. Yanno...horse tails can clamp down pretty damn hard when you're violating them by trying to shove a peice of rubbery plastic under them...

Worked her, lunged her a bit, and she did well. She is not a fan of standing still, and has a bad habit of slowing inching forward, until she's managed to start circling around you. That is going to have to stop, because I hate horses who cannot stand still. Not the mention that the vets at rides aren't very happy with horses that won't stand still for them.

Kim came up around 4:45, and we tacked her up again. I have a video of her first ride, ever.

[Side note: I had a really bad fall in October of 2007, and it shattered my confidence. I was having a hard time trying to psych myself up to mount up on Kandee. You can tell in the video that I have no confidence whatsoever, and that my stirrups need to go down a few holes. And my ass a few sizes. I never thought that I, the girl who would get on any crazy horse, would be afraid to get on a horse. But I was.]

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The second step of the journey - the horse.

2008-01-26T18:40:00.000-08:00

I bought my mare, Keno's Cotton Candy, at the end of November, in 2007. I had originally been looking for a buckskin Arabian cross closer to North Carolina, where I am living, but I expanded the equine.com search to all of the united states.

I saw the ad, for a buckskin pinto Arab cross, and I e-mailed on her for pictures. I had forgotten about it completely, until 2 days afterwards when her owners responded to my inquiry. They attached a few pictures, and she was stunning. She was priced at $2,000, though I was not ready to yet spend that much on a horse, especially one that was six years old and never been broke.

I had been dealing with an unruly, rather crazy quarter horse mare at the time [she was quite psychotic, really] and I didn't want to spend too much on something I hadn't even seen in person yet. Kandee was located in California, whereas I was in NC, like I said earlier.

But, they informed me that they lowered her price to $1,200. Something that was, in my eyes, a lot more affordable, especially since I took an $1,100 loss on the before mentioned quarter horse. Time to get the ball rolling.

I requested newer pictures, then called up my friend to let her know that I was looking for a horse, and if she wouldn't mind housing it until I moved back to California when my husband deployed again. She agreed, so I had full rein to barge ahead with trying to purchase this mare. I talked to her owners at length on the phone [I think they asked more questions than I did!] and then they sent me some short videos. I had pretty much already committed to purchasing her, but they felt better with sending the videos so I was aware of how she moved out, etc.

Money was sent in form of Money Orders, and all the paper work was signed. Originally my friend was going to go up to get her, which would have put me back about $250 for gas money alone, but they insisted on delivering her to where she would be staying. Saved me money, so I was all for it.

She arrived on December 2nd, and came off the trailer like a pro. She immediately fell in love with my Friend Kim's horse, Diamond.

The first step of the Journey - the rider.

2008-01-26T18:37:00.000-08:00

I have been around horses my entire life. There has been very few times when I've been off a horse for more than a few months. I was raised by my grandparents due to some unfortunate events, and it is the best thing that happened to me when I was little.

I grew up around all the horses my grandparents used to have. I'm not sure if I would have had the horsey-bug if it weren't for them. I was continuously around them, and before my grandpa stopped riding you could find me riding behind him, on long trail rides. He had a huge palomino gelding named Tank, who was gorgeous and a great horse. My grandpa always said he could have pointed him at a brick wall and he'd go through it.

I started riding on a mare named China. Actually, I didn't ride her by myself, but I was lead around on her. I remember old videos from when I was about 4, and my grandpa was leading me around on her. As soon as he removed me, I started to cry. I wanted back on that horse!

My grandmother and my cousin used to go out on the weekends for long rides, and my favorite part was waiting for them to come back, so I could ride. "Riding" was my grandma lunging me on my cousin's pony, Sugarfoot.

My grandpa stopped riding when I was about 5 or so, due to knee and shoulder surgeries. But I kept riding, and got my first horse when I was about 7, named Delight. She was an Arabian, Appy mix and I loved her. Unfortunately she died six days before Christmas, due to her bowels knotting and coming out of her [literally. I was devastated.

Shortly afterwards my grandma's cousin offered me her arabian mare, Zanessa. Bint Zonessa, was her registered name. We agreed to take her, and that's when I completely fell in love with the Arabian breed. Zanessa was feisty [she was 8, same age as I was!] but she also listened, as well. I joined 4-H with her, and the rest as they say...was history.

Zanessa and I competed in Gymkhana in 4-H for years. We were top of the top in our County, as well as the surrounding counties.

I dabbled in buying and selling during my teenage years, and had 11 horses come and go between my 14th year up to my 19th year. The only one that really sticks in my mind is, Anna, my Arabian filly I bought sight unseen as a two and a half year old.

Anna came to me emaciated. I paid $450 for her, and my future in-laws paid $450 for her full sister, Tank. Anna would come to be my baby, and my second favorite horse of all time.

I did one endurance ride on Zanessa, and conditioned religiously for two others. Neither panned out, as I couldn't get a sponsor due to some drama within the 4-H group. By the time I was old enough to ride a ride by myself, Zanessa was getting mild arthritis and I didn't want to put her through a whole ride.

So in stepped Anna. Once she turned 3.5 I started her under saddle - what a hellcat. She threw me the first time I got on her, and then did her damnedest to throw me again when I climbed back on. But, we persevered. She turned out to be the prissiest, moodiest, most personable mare I've ever had the pleasure of riding. We participated in the 2005 Manzanita 25 Limited Distance and came in 4th out of 85 riders. Not bad for a mare who refused any kind of food that didn't meet her "taste", who threw fits if you didn't talk to her as you walked past, and who had random melt downs over plastic bags.

Anna was sold in 2006 because my husband was transferred to NC as he is a Marine. I love my husband more than anything, and even though it broke my heart, I made the decision to sell her. Her new mom loves her very much, and if she ever had to sell her I would buy her back.

I have had a few horses after Anna, and before Kandee, but they didn't pan out. I had Anna's full sister, Tank, for a brief stint. My in-laws owed my husband money, so they gave me Tank. Tank and I went on to win in Gymkhanas, as well as 1st at the 2007 Descanso Limited Distance 25 miler. Despite the fact that Tank was a fantastic endurance horse, and would have gone far as one, our personalities did not click therefore she was sold.

I have a love for Endurance riding, and I want to incorporate more of it into my life.

Thus, the birth of this journal. I have a journey, and I plan on documenting it as much as possible to share with everyone who wants to read.

Anna and I, 2005 Manzanita 25 Miler.

Tank and I 2007 Descanso 25 Miler. Mile 6.

Tank and I 2007 Descanso 25 Miler. This is at Mile 14, right before the first vet check. The photographer thought I was a 50 miler because we came in so fast.