The Great Horsetrailriders Distance Derby



Friday's temps at 30 wasn't as cold as Thursday's 20 degrees!  I rode both days.  I had 5 layers on Thursday and was almost too warm.  Friday, I didn't layer as heavily, with only a sweatshirt, hoodie and winter coat on, and I was warm.  Even Shaggy was sweaty.

I'm riding more due to The Great Horsetrailriders Distance Derby.  Tammy of Horsetrailriders, with a friend Christine, has started this fun competition.  We are to GPS our rides and record our distances.  There is no big prize, just the satisfaction of riding your horse as ofter as you can and recording the miles you ride your horse.

I rode Thursday when it was 20 degrees, mostly due to my Hubby.  He called me a weenie, and to put on those winter clothes I have, and saddle up. So I did. I was almost 2 warm, as I had many layers on.  Fleece line jeans, winter boots, 2 sock, 2 gloves, 3 sweatshirts, 2 jackets, orange fleece head band and a beanie.  My helmet wouldn't fit.  This was the first time in almost 5 years that I didn't wear my helmet when I rode.  I had a lot of fleece layers on, but next time, I'll make sure my helmet will go on too.

Friday was warmer.  I didn't wear as many layers and I was still overdressed.  Tha's good, as I don't like being cold.

So cold that...

I bundled up and rode today! I thought the wind wasn't bad, until I walked
outside. I put on layers, 2 socks, 2 gloves, 2 headbands, 1 hoody over my head,
winter boots, fleece lined pants, 5 sweatshirts and jackets. I was almost too
warm. I had a fleece lined head band over my head and down over my neck. I
rode 6 miles in an hour. We didn't stand still, but walked in so Shaggy wasn't
sweaty. It actually wasn't too bad.

I'm not sure how many days I'll ride if it gets below 20 though!

So Windy I Tasted Dirt

Horses have their backs to the wind.

            Today was a complete opposite from yesterday.  Sunny, no wind, 60’s, versus a windy, then more wind, 30’s that drop to low 20’s degree day.  When I did chores, I could taste the dirt in my mouth.  Not just a dusty taste, but actually dirt.  The fields around here are being disked.  Even though most farmers practice the no-till farming practice, this year, they seem to be disking up the soybean fields.  So there seems to be more loose dirt that can blow around.  I guess it would be different if there was snow on the ground.

            Tonight’s weather showed Omaha, less than 45 minutes away, with icy roads and snow/white out conditions, with less than 2” of snow.  We had none of that, just the wind.  It was strange to see cars in the ditch, on the news, knowing that we had just wind here.
I'm glad we didn't have this weather,

only 45 minutes north of us, the wind was blowing, with light snow, that gave white out conditons.

            Needless to say, I didn’t ride.  With the wind, the horses would have been either alert or just tired out from the wind.  Horses need a day out from riding, to rest their legs, and their bodies.  We can’t ride long and hard without conditioning.  We need long, slow rides, then add speed and distance, but not at the same time.

            I had a long, slow day on Shaggy yesterday.  I had a short, slow day on Duke as that is all he can handle right now.  Tomorrow, even though the temps will be low, I hope to have a good ride on Shag.  Long or short, it will be good. I hope there is no wind!

Great Ride with a Friend

           Tuesday was a beautiful day out.  Today was sunny, no wind, with a high in the 60’s.  I posted on Facebook that today was going to be a great day to ride.  I had a friend who texted me back and wanted to meet to ride.  But I still had racks and boxes, from the store, in the horse trailer. I told her that I would be riding the fields around my home and I would love to have her ride with me.  It gets lonely riding alone!

            She came by noon, we were saddled and in the fields by 12:20!  We rode 11 miles in 3 hours, with the time flying by.  Within the first hour, we kicked out a herd of 5 deer, than about ½ mile away and across a road, we kicked out 12 more!  Then about a ½ hour later, we saw 2 deer that seemed to be struggling to get through brush, and we wondered if they had been injured during hunting season.  We also saw some hawks.  Hawks do seem to be plentiful this year.

            Normally, I trot a lot.  But I knew Shaggy wasn’t conditioned and would not last, for over 10 miles that we had planned, if I did too much trotting.  3 hours of walking and some trotting was just fine.  We traveled around the fields, and we visited. It was nice to get to know someone, who I have known for years, better.

            I did some extended trotting and some loping circles while Cindy walked or trotted on.  We rode some areas that I haven’t ridden before, exploring some new fields while we had the time.

            We had a wonderful time.  Chatting like old friends.  Topics moved easily from one to another.  And before we knew it, we had only 20 minutes left to our ride.  I decided to go the long way, and get one more ½ mile of trotting in then finishing our ride in an easy walk back to the barn.

            By the time we arrived back to the trailers, the horses were cooled down.  I put Shag back into his lot and Cindy un-tacked and left.  I got a cup of coffee and a snack, than unpacked some boxes from the horse trailer.  I didn’t want some books and clothes to draw damp over the next 2 wintery months.  After that, I still had time to ride Duke, and took him to the field for an hour.  I didn’t lunge him first, and it showed.  It’s amazing what 5 or 10 minutes on a lunge line will do for the attitude of a recently gelded stud.

            I finished my day with riding while the sun was setting.  What a beautifully orange sky, spreading horizontally across the prairie landscape.  The sun was bright until it set low enough that I could just watch the sky.  I had that setting the whole time I was riding Duke. 

            This was a wonderful way to end a wonderful day.  I wonder how many more of these days we will have until spring.

Shaggy's 1st Ride of the Season

Shaggy, Wed, Jan 5th. 60 degrees!

Temps were in the low 60’s, I think.

What a great first ride of the season!

            I know I was going to talk about Duke today, but I didn’t get any riding photos of him, so I’ll do him tomorrow.  But I did get photos of Shaggy at the trailer.  I took a few field shots.  Even though everything is so brown, it was nice to be out. It really did feel like a spring day.  It was very warm here in NE for January, with almost no wind. I was down to a long sleeve T and a hoody, and was almost too warm.  My fleece lined jeans didn’t help, but I’m not wearing those today.

            I groomed Shaggy, saddled, moved him around a few minutes to breathe so I could tighten the girth and got on.  We went right to the field.  With being so busy at the store, and no ride time since maybe late Oct/early Nov, he was a good boy.  He put on some weight though, and it made me appreciate the feeling of “draping your leg” around the horse, as it’s so much easier to do on a fat horse!

            We went to the fields.  He wanted to trot so I left him. He was ears perked and going.  I rode in 2 point most of his trotting. In a few harvested bean fields, I asked for slower speed to work on posting, thinking of my Center floating up and out, lightly and easily. He makes posting easy, with his long, deep strides.  His momentum pushes you out of the saddle effortlessly.

I did work on a few things for a very short time.  I realized, while trotting down the rows of a harvested corn field, that the corn stubble helps to keep the horse straight. If he doesn’t stay straight, then he’s catching himself on stubble.  Shag has a natural straight way of going, so it is easy to work him on a straight away. 

            In the bean fields, you can see the rows, but there is none of the stubble restrictions or hazards, so traveling through these fields, the rider needs to stay more active.  Then I thought that the same feeling should be true for the corn stubble field. Stay active and stay straight.  Shag did pretty well staying light and straight at the trot through the beans.

            Then we were in an open bean field, and the rows weren’t quite so defined.  We were also trotting parallel to a tree line. Shag was a little focused on the tree line and birds fluttering around in there then going straight.  Now I was more involved, posting with my Center and being light, but concentrating on his head and shoulders staying straight while maintaining light contact with elbows bending as I posted.  We were in work mode for that field.  His trot needs to be a little slower and we need work on the extension, and that will come.

            The rest of the ride was just a “let’s just ride” mode.  Trot, loped some, and walked when he got winded or starting to sweat. I did canter one short grassy area and was a little over 19 mph.  A little while later, on top of a grassy hill, I left him run another short distance, and I think we were at 22 or 23 mph.

 I’m having a hard time getting my Garmin to download on Garmin Connect, as I have other rides that weren’t downloaded previously, and it is taking forever to load.  I tried to download just that ride, but for some reason, can’t find how to select just that 1 ride. The program wants me to select all of the past rides that haven’t been downloaded.  I’m going to delete everything out of the GPS and start over.  I’ll try to ride the same way today and post what I get.  I know I rode him for 6.1 miles in 1 hour 20 min.

          

  I rode Duke after and I’ll post about his ride and todays ride next.

            Have a great ride and I hope the sun is shining for you, too!