From Canada to Brazil- A Long Riders Story

Just heard that  the Brazilian journalist that rode his horse from Canada to Brazil  has completed his adventure . Long riders are always a fascinating lot to me. 

Here is a link to read his story and journal entries of the journey . 

What a way to wrap up his year. 

Stones Left Unturned

I turned 39 years old this past weekend... My parents always said that as you get older, the days and years pick up speed. I wasn't pleased about turning another year older.  Crap.. I am almost 40 now!! I remember my parents 40th birthday and thinking how old that sounded then... and here I am.  But my sour birthday mood wasn't really about that. It was  realizing that I had expected to have  accomplished more by now. Travel, compete in more distance rides, become a more accomplished rider over fences as an adult, start my own business, etc.

Of all the things on that list, there is one that stands out, never far from my mind. One that keeps moving just out of my reach for one reason or another.

It was only recently ( two springs ago) I took up jumping lessons again after a very long hiatus. I made pretty good progress.  Last winter I was back to jumping a course of 2'3 and even  2'6 a couple of times. Unfortunately the trainers lesson horse , who really wasn't ever a suitable  lesson horse , started giving me some issues.  Most of it,  I was able to handle, but when your still relearning all those things about jumping, like ( and this is nowhere near a complete list!)

• getting your strides between fences, (seeing the line)
• Keeping your center of gravity in the right place as the horse leaves the ground 
• adjusting your aids mid air so when you land you can pick up the correct lead to come into the next fence correctly
• Riding your corners
• staying balanced while riding into the corner 
• and ofcourse,  not getting launched

There is a lot going on all at once and its all happening quickly when your in the saddle. The last thing you want to deal with is a horse that gets chargey. I wasn't ready for that added issue.
Unfortunately, the bigger the trainer put the  fences,  the worse the horse got. He was already a  big scopey jumper , even over small fences , so it really started creating confidence issues for me.
The horse was way more horse than I was ready to handle at that point.

As the student, I wanted to take a step back and work on stabilizing my position, fix the little things because they were about to become big things, before moving forward. The trainer thought I just needed to be doing a lesson more than once a week, that I just needed to jump more to get more comfortable. I didn't agree.

My answer ? I stopped taking lessons last spring because I became discouraged. I didn't feel like I was getting what I needed and there was no sense in continuing because it wasn't fun anymore.

(Sigh)

My hope is that next spring, I will pick up again with either another trainer (if I can find one) or just start practicing at home on my own and figure it out. At the very least, I think (hope)I was able to grease the old jumping wheels  enough  through those lessons to be able to do it at home and feel like I generally know what I am doing. I have an pretty nice set of jumps and standards that a dear friend gave me that have been collecting dust in the hay barn.  While Otto grows, my best option is Brego. He has talent but he is inexperienced. If you recall I started him over fences last late winter/early spring but he wasn't ready. This  past summer he was worked steadily and came a long ways in his training. I think he will be much more prepared than he was. Only way to know is to give it a try and go at my own pace.

So what does all that have to do with anything about being 39? Well , nothing really but there is more to the story about this jumping thing for me. A page in my history , if you will.

Jumping is and always will be near and dear to my heart. I was a  young impressionable girl heavily involved in the local pony club but I was ready to move on from the Pony Club scene. I had gotten to my C-1 rating and wanted to advance but my horse was too old. I could only ride him lightly and jumping was out. I didn't have a horse that I could continue in competition with and my parents weren't interested in buying me another horse. There were also political things happening with the pony club that were making it difficult for members. About that same time, a horse trainer lady from Virginia blew into town. She was a very accomplished rider. I honestly don't even remember how I met her.  She happened to have a couple of horses and she gave lessons. Ofcourse, I latched onto her and my parents agreed to pay for me begin taking lessons with her. She was in her mid 20's and I was in middle school. I wanted to learn everything I possibly could from her. In my eyes, she pretty much walked on water. It seemed like there wasn't anything she couldn't do. She could work on cars, built houses, throw herself into  multiple back handsprings like a gymnast , but best of all, she rode like no one I had ever seen in my life.

One of my favorite photos of her that she sent me years ago

We rode in a Pairs class together.

She grew up on the fox hunting scene in Virginia from the time she was a small child and had already been able to train with some of the finest in the heart of Hunt Country. She could even jump ridiculously huge fences in sidesaddle. When I started training with her, it was such a high point for me. That was the beginning of a 3 year period. She pushed me and helped me gain confidence to jump bigger and ride better. She put me on green TB's that I probably had no business riding but somehow I managed to stay on most of the time and gradually improved. There were tough days, days when I hit the dirt hard , and  then there were days when it all came together. She wanted me to go back to VA for one summer to compete with her  but my parents weren't about to  agree to that.   Nonetheless, I kept riding with her and another year passed and we grew very close. She even lived with us for a short period of time .She became very much like a big sister to me.

And then,one day, she was gone. Like a thief in the night. I was crushed. It was like everything I had built my 13 year old world around had vanished.

We all have those people that show up in our lives that leave a lasting impression on us. She was one of those for me. Sometimes, those people come into our lives for a short period of time and then they are gone for reasons we don't always understand. At 14 years old, I couldn't  understand any of it. I just knew I felt a huge sense of loss.

She went back to VA and disappeared just as quickly as she had appeared 3 years before,  But life went on of course. We ended up keeping in touch through letters and about 6 months later she sent me photos of her new baby.

AND  there it was..

The reason she had left so suddenly. She had become pregnant.

After she left, I had stopped jumping or getting any official training for that matter.  I was now in highschool and went to work for an Arabian breeding farm where I was a groom, exercise rider, stall cleaner, evening chore person and whatever else needed doing around the farm. I did a little  jumping with one Arabian that was there but  he didn't seem to enjoy the jumping.  Besides, there was only jumps I could make with miscellaneous stuff laying around the place like haybales, logs, barrels.. etc. It  wasn't a really the focus of the facility so it didn't work out. I had my older gelding boarded there and I passed the days cleaning stalls, taking him for easy trail rides and learning  a whole new world of horses but it seemed my formal jumping training had come to an end.

Then came college. I decided to attend college out west, in Montana. A major life change was about to ensue. My family picked up and moved from Connecticut to Montana with me when I left for school. My trainer and I still traded letters once every so often.  She would send me photos of whatever horse shows she was competing at up and down the east coast circuit.  My heart ached when those photos came because I wanted to be riding and showing with her.

Then things went completely quiet for a long time and I didn't hear from her.  I was riding on the college Equestrian team (mostly Western) and pretty busy with college life. Then out of the blue, about a year later, I got another letter. I was already halfway through my sophmore year.

The photos came with more news. She sent pictures of her new husband . She had gotten married and was moving . She gave me her new name and address so we could continue to keep in touch. When I sent the next letter, a few weeks later, the letter got returned to me for incorrect address. I tried to call her, look her up , everything  I knew to do , but I could not find her. She was gone yet again..We lost touch completely at that point.

Pony Club annual fall horseshow..The last show I was ever in with my horse Lad. Yikes, look at that dropped right shoulder I had. We obviously didn't come into the fence very straight . 

Keeping in touch her eventually faded into the background of priorities as life trotted along and it seemed that it was the same for her as well. But I often thought about her.

 Over the years, I would occasionally try to do search for her,  but always came up short. It was like she just disappeared off the face of the earth or didn't want to be found.  I resigned to the fact that maybe she didn't want to remain in contact with me anymore, for whatever reason. She had my address so she could have reached out, if she wanted to. Atleast that is how I looked at it.

 I never heard from her anymore after the wedding photos.

When social media hit the scene several years ago, I thought I would try one last time. Everyone was on facebook, I was sure I would find her.... but once again no luck. I honestly wondered if maybe she had passed away or something. It just seemed like she was gone.  It wasn't until last year I tried a different approach. I remembered her daughters name. On a whim one day, I did a search for the daughter on Facebook.. I hesitantly entered into facebook stalk mode , thinking this was absolutely crazy. Well,  I found the daughter AND..her daughter had her mother on as a friend. And it was in fact my trainer. Right there, all along.

I think my heart did a back flip, maybe several. I didn't reach out right away.All those years and there she was. I was actually really mad about it for a while. I debated for weeks on whether I should bother because it seemed like she pretty much wrote me off years ago. Besides, I figured, the past was the past.. and maybe, it just didn't matter anymore. We were both different people now. It had been 20 years since I last heard from her.. that 's a long time. But I could not help but wonder.

Several weeks later, I did send a friend request. A day later, she accepted.  We have been corresponding on and off ever since.

At first I wasn't sure she even remembered who I was. She seemed pretty nonchalant about getting back in touch, like we had been in touch all along. It was not the reaction I expected and I definitely got the sense it was more important to me to be back in touch than it was to for her. I reminded myself it had been over 20 years since we last spoke.  A lifetime of events have happened.

 Until all of this happened, I honestly didn't realize the impact she had made on me so many years ago. I mean, I knew she was a key person in my life and I missed her over the years, but it was like I realized now that part of my psyche pressed the pause button at that 13 years old, and I was still waiting for her to miraculously show up, and pick up where we left off.  I know it sounds a little crazy.  Now that I am in contact with her again, its all so different. There is no going back. It's like now I have to release that pause button, but I already know that  the tape won't pick up where we left off because , lets face it, that would require a time machine..

Instead, it just fast forwarded to present day. Two people who once knew each other but no longer do. From a connection that felt like sisters to me 20 years ago is now just a connection that is no more than acquaintances.

Lad and I at WhiteTail Farm Horse Show 2"3 class.  In typical fashion, I am having to hold him in.. He was about 22 years old here. 

I get the impression that my memory of our relationship is very different than what hers was. I  guess it's natural , as humans that when we experience something good in life, we want it to stay that way, but nothing ever stays the same.  I think I expected more and maybe that isn't fair.

Recently, she asked me about doing a clinic here in  Montana next summer.  I am not involved in the local group so I would be an outsider trying to plan a clinic for another outsider.. not sure how that would work!  I know she could definitely bring something different  to the table.  The problem comes in with getting enough interest to pay for her  plane ticket and her daily rate to make it worth her time.
While I would love nothing more than to  have the opportunity to not just ride with her again but to get to know her again, as adults... more than 20 years later, I am not sure I can realistically make it happen.  At the same time, seeing her in person again would be scary as hell. On one level a huge part of me would expect that the connection we once had would still be there.  But what if it wasn't?  For her or me?  Or worse, if it is for me but not her?  As an adult, I might see her in a totally different light. Part of me wants her to know me for who I am today.  The reality is, I am not that little girl anymore. Many years have passed. My window of opportunity to show and make it to the top  closed a long time ago and that is okay. That isn't what I have been chasing all these years. In all honesty, I am not sure what I have been chasing.

Just maybe she was one of those people that came into my life at a certain time , for a certain reason and that time has been served.. end of story...

Just maybe the lesson here is that I should  accept that the time I did have was good enough, that I should be grateful for the opportunity I had so many years ago...

And maybe some stones really are better left unturned.










 

HAPPY HALLO-WHINNY!

It's Halloween. I have no exciting parties to attend, no waiting for little kids to arrive at the door  and no plans in general but if I did, I would go as this:

Is this not cool or what??

HAPPY HALLO-WHINNY!

Grain Inconsistencies

Otto has been on Mare and Foal since he got here. He loves it.. loves it so much that I have to hang a bucket for him to eat because he gets so excited about eating , he paws at his pan if fed on the ground and it ends up on the ground wasted.
 In the morning , he is usually waiting for for his breakfast. Tom feeds hay when he gets up and then later I go out and give him his grain. Yesterday morning, he was out in the pasture still (granted I was earlier than usual) laying down  I think. It was foggy and dark so I could only see shadows from the partial light I had on.  I waited and he did make his way over to the barn eventually . He took a couple of bites and then walked away from it.

UGH..OH..I thought..

I watched him for a bit and he wasn't at all interested in his grain. He didn't appear to be in any discomfort.  He had some dried grass in his mane but it didn't look like he had been rolling or anything. He just seemed sleepy and not hungry. But it was  definitely atypical for his norrmal voracious appetite.

I had about an hour before I had to leave for an appt so I pulled his bucket and watched him. He drank and wandered about. He definitely seemed like something was bothering him but nothing outwardly obvious. There was still plenty of hay and Cassidy was happily munching away. He had some gut noises but since I don't have a good idea of what is normal for him yet, I wasn't sure if it was quieter than it should have been. There was some pinging sounds and some distant gurgling but if it were any of my other horses, I would have said his gut sounds were a little quieter than they should have been. I decided to walk him around a bit and see. I ran in the house, changed clothes and came back out. He was standing at the fence and passes a small but of manure that looked normal. That was a good sign. I took him for a walk  and then did a little lungeing at a walk. I figured it was as good a time as any to start learning and I was tired of walking through grass and getting soaked. He aseemed fine. In fact he seemed kind of put off that I was making him work at this hour and had some attitude about the whole thing.  I did notice he was rather flatulent for a bit.. When time was up and I had to get going, I checked gut sounds again. They were definitely louder and much more distinct. I took the halter off, he went over and was interested in the hay. Gas bubble???

I knew I would be gone for only about an hour . He would have to wait. It wasn't something I could cancel and he wasn't really exhibiting any classic signs.  When I returned home, Cassidy and him were happily out grazing in the pasture and shortly after that, they were running laps and bucking and getting the other geldings all worked up. Clearly he was feeling better but I kept an eye on him all afternoon.

About 3:00 I decided to give the grain another try. He turned his nose up to it again..he took a bite and then started spitting it out ,like it tasted bad .. it was mixed with beet pulp so I thought maybe the beet pulp got sour, (although it should not have been because it had only been soaking since late the night before)
I tired giving him just some of the remaining beet pulp without any grain mixed in.. He ate that just fine..It wasn't the beet pulp.

This was a brand new bag of his Mare and Foal feed. The mornings feeding was the first  scoop out of it. I wondered if maybe it had gone bad. I didn't smell bad or look like it had gotten wet or anything but he was definitely not liking it.

I tried to give the other geldings a handful of it just to see their reaction. When it comes to grain, they won't turn down anything. They also did not care for it. They took one bite and began spitting it out.

I had purchased two bags at the same time so I opened the other bag . I gave Otto and the other horses a sample of that.. Same reaction.

How could a horse go from eating his grain perfectly fine to completely hating it overnight? The only thing that made sense was that something was wrong with hit.

I tried one last thing. I remembered that I had emptied out the rest of the old batch of grain that was in the bottom of the barrel into another bucket the night before .I am not sure why I did that but I had about a half a scoops worth of the previous bag of Mare and Foal, that he had been eating with no issue.

I went ahead and gave him a couple of handfuls of that. He dove into it and was looking for more.
It was pretty obvious I had ruled out that the two new bags , for whatever reason, were not tasting good to him or the other horses.

I called the supplier that I buy the grain from. They had not been made aware of any formula changes or had any other complaints.  They were nice about it and said to bring the bags in and maybe it was a bad lot.  They would check the lots and give me a bag from a new lot to see if it helped. When I got there, we discovered everything they had on hand was of the same lot #.

I wasn't going to bring another bag of that home only to have the same issue.


After alot of back and forth,  and comparing feed tags, I decided to keep with the same product line ( as opposed to switching to Purina or Omolene)  but go with  a slightly different formula. I chose the  Original Formula. The percentages of ingredients were almost identical (mostly less than what the M&F Formula had) . Additionally, everything in that line of grain has similar make up with the controlled starches , amino acids and pre/probiotics so this wasn't going to change at all.  Besides, Otto gets Equipride so any gaps in nutrition would be pretty much covered by that supplement.

I felt like this was the best decision considering that I was  now going to have to make a drastic grain change . I wanted to lower the risk of issues associated  drastic feed change as much as possible. If I switched products all together I would have to start at the beginning and slowly reintroduce grain.

Considering I want to minimize any period of time where I have to decrease his caloric intake, this was really my best option. I had not planned on having to switch grains.

Mare and Foal

Original

The good news is that the new formula meets Otto's approval . I gave him a sample yesterday afternoon.  He chowed down on it like a growing colt should.  He happily ate both his dinner and breakfast this morning so we are back in business.
I have never experienced something like this  before. One of the reason I chose this product is that they are supposed to be very good about cleaning out the hoppers between formula mixes.Their smart grain technology is supposed to make the feeds more consistent bag to bag. It seems something might have gone wrong.

I will be reaching out to the company to let them know what has occurred.  It's possible it was just a formula change that the distributor wasn't informed about.

Simon Says

My not so little longed legged wonder is turning into a bit of a monster. The weather has cooled and he is feeling quite full of himself. At times, the studliness shines through and he acts like he wants to nip.

Ah well...boys will be boys...

His attempts are half hearted but enough to keep me on my toes. The key is to not let him think its a game, which can happen quickly with studs. They go to nip, you get after them. Ideally, blocking the attempt just as the thought is crossing his mind is ideal. My timing is sometimes off but so far, he seems to respond with one strong correction and then he's done. It's just a playful thing but it's one of those habits that can become a big thing quickly. Just something to be aware of and not make a huge deal out of it.

He will occasionally do a "drive- by" with Cassidy , trying to establish himself or get Cassidy engaged in a game of some kind. Cassidy still looks at him mostly in disgust  or just gets after him and then Otto goes looking for something else to entertain himself with. Attention span of a nat..

If the dogs are in the back yard, he will purposely run back and forth the length of the fence , bucking, kicking, arched neck, thinking he is really something.
Ofcourse the dogs go nuts and play right into his "hooves" and run along side , barking their heads off.. then Otto goes blasting away.... only to make a circle and do it all again.. Meanwhile, I am trying to work in the house.. (how can I be expected to work in these conditions????)

When he isn't causing a raucus about the place, he is playing Simon says with Cassidy. If Cassidy is in the corral , he is in the corral. If Cassidy is eating on the hay piles, Otto is eating on the hay piles, if Cassidy is laying down, Otto takes a nap two, just far away from Cassidy as to not bother him much.. its like Simon Says..it's kinda cute but it's also a bit inconvenient.

Occasionally Otto does let Cassidy get out of site , sort of, but not for long. We took Cassidy last weekend for a trail ride and that left Otto alone for the first time. Well , he wasn't really alone  alone, because he was across the fence from the other horses but he was without his passifier for the first time since we had put them together. Its rare that a 1.5 year old colt isn't slightly insecure about being left alone. JB was the exception to that rule. Before we pulled out with the trailer, Otto took one big victory lap around the pasture and then I prayed he wouldn't do something to kill himself while we were gone..

We had a lovely ride and glad to report that we returned to find him upright on all fours....

This week the weather has been more cold and wet. Otto looks like a drowned rat and he doesn't appear to be smart enough to figure out that even though the woolly mammoth passifier isn't in the barn, he can go in there all by himself like a big boy  and get out of the weather.  No , he would rather get soaked and cold instead just so he can be near his buddy (who frankly could care less where Otto is) I have been trying to feed him his hay in the barn at night or if the weather is bad so he figures this concept out (knowing that he is going to need to stay in the barn when the real weather hits if he doesn't get a thicker coat, and soon!)

The concept is lost on him apparently.

Colts..... dumb colts...

If Cassidy goes to the barn, he doesn't really let Otto in the barn so that doesn't work either..

If push comes to shove, I will just have to take Cassidy out and put him in another corral so Otto will hopefully go in his barn and STAY there..

On a good note, he happily eats his grain ration in the barn now because he is a bucket stomper. This must be a TB thing because every TB I have ever owned or known seems to do this annoying habit. Otto  was getting more grain on the ground than down his throat . At $20/bag, we had to change the program.

Aside from all this, he is so fun to watch . He is changing, almost everyday it seems. My favorite thing is that I love to watch him canter. It's effortless. No rushiness, no short steps, just big long easy strides...I can't wait to ride that canter someday.

Last Glimpse of the Larch

Sundays weather was rain , wind , sun , repeated by rain , wind and a little more sun. It was changing every 10 minutes which is typical here in the fall, (and the spring). It looked a bit daunting to the west but we decided on a whim to load up the ponies and take our chances over at the state land to see if we could sneak in a ride. We arrived at the parking lot  to be greeted by a nasty little rain squall so we waited in the truck for about 10 minutes until it passed. Then , the weather was perfect the rest of the ride. No rain, no wind, just sun (even though it was only about 48 degrees). I did have to bundle up and break out the insulated riding pants, gloves and a hat. I hate that part !

The larches have been turning for a couple of weeks now. Its one of my favorite times of year to ride in the state land . The forest , interspersed with Pine and plenty of Larch,  is absolutely stunning this time of year. When the sun hits the yellow larch, it makes the forest seem like it's glowing against the backdrop of green pine trees. It's magical!

Fall trails... 

The horses are already pretty woolly. It didn't take much effort before they were getting warm underneath all that hair, even though we mostly walked. I was riding Cassidy . He is always such a pleasure to ride.

I heard rustling in your pocket.. snacks??

blaze orange because it was opening weekend of rifle season

A view from the top looking down into the valley

 My guess is we caught the last  of the larch before they are gone completely for the winter. Many already had. The ground was already coated with a thick layer so it won't be long before the trees are bare skeletons,  gone to sleep for the long winter ahead.

Lovely trail footing covered in Larch needles

Brego discovered that there were peppermint snacks in my vest pocket. He was doing his best to help himself to one.

Kill Pens-Why???

***Update- Both TB geldings are on Hold, which means they are paid for and holding for pick up by the new owner..




In the past I have dabbled from time to time in rescue and rehoming horses on a very , very small scale. Mostly locally. I have a limited budget and limited resources just like the next person  but I do what I can , when I can.  I used to follow a few auction sites as well  but I had to stop because it's just too hard.. I just cry, lose sleep and pretty much spend my days feeling sick over it because the reality is, there is very little I can do to help and I am torn.. because I want to be able to do more.

Somehow I have let myself fall back  into reviewing the auction  sites again like www.auctionhorseswa.proboards.com. I have done it in the past and always have to force myself to stop looking because..... well.... refer back to the first paragraph...

 There are SOOOO MANY horses... good horses.... that  end up there.

The Hermiston Oregon Auction was just this past weekend. Hundreds of  horses were run through. A large percentage of those were being bid on as a price per pound because the owners that dropped them off didn't put a reserve on them .. so ultimately the kill buyers end up with them.

There is an acquaintance of mine that was in attendance. Last year she , as a private owner, started going to the Washington and Oregon auctions to do what she can to rescue horses. She has an amazing network of people behind her who help support the cause  through donations for the bidding fuel money and money towards feed. She also invests alot of her own money and her own time but she has been able to save around 10 horses this year since May, and rehome them all.  Its a drop in the bucket , but its something. She mentioned she could not help but notice the lack of presence from horse rescue organizations at the auction. I have to wonder why?? Are they all just as tapped out because there are so many unwanted horses? Why are there so many unwanted horses?

This past weekend, through networking, there were over 40 horses saved from her efforts. Its truly amazing what she has been able to do, but it's never enough. There are always more. Young, old, lame, even pregnant and nursing.

 I was involved on the sidelines for a Morgan mare that was almost lost but was able to be saved last minute only  because alot of peole made alot of small donations, giving what ever small amount people could give.. it worked. The lady I mentioned above is picking the mare up.. I think she has already found a home for her.. If not, I was considering fostering her,  even though it's the LAST thing I need to be doing and risks a divorce (not really).

Then,  there are two Thoroughbred Geldings. Nice geldings.. Both were seven years old. Both were sound. One was previously shown in hunter /jumper. One has been saved as of today.  The other has not been. He could ship anytime for Canada to his final fate.  The best I can offer is to help network so that is what I do. And Hope.. and Pray.. I will be watching to see what happens to this other gelding and I am hoping some of the people I have talked to about him might be able to help.

The ongoing issue of horse slaughter is a hot topic with alot of emotion and no easy solution.  I see both sides of it. Here locally , when the recession hit so hard several years ago, people were turning horses loose or abandoning them to fend for themselves. It seems like there has to be a better solution. Maybe focusing on  Preventive measures of some kind. I am not a fan of increasing government regulations by any stretch but I have often wondered  if maybe some how people , who own stallions should be paying an annual fee for their stallions. Maybe it would eventually reduce the number of Irresponsible breeders out there?  Do people pay a fee to the auction when they drop a horse off? I don't believe they do. Maybe there should be a fee or maybe a bigger fee if there is already one. The best deterrant is one that hits the wallet in most cases. The racetracks are also contributing to the problem. They are pumping out foals as fast as they can. Horses are are just a commodity. If they run, great, if not, they are tossed away, loaded up on the trailer and sent to auction. Some of the tracks have kill buyers that show up once a month to haul horses away.

I certainly don't have the answers. I just know so many horses end up with a terrible fate and would like to be able to see that change.

If your interested or can help, here is some info
Got to this site:

http://auctionhorseswa.proboards.com/

The Yakima County KP folder is where the Hermiston horses are . This is where they wait for shipment,and while they wait, they can be bought.



Thanks for reading..