Monday, January 8, 2018

Incremental Progress

So one of the things I'd like to do better in 2018 is track my workouts with the horses and write about them. I half-heartedly started and stopped doing that a few times in 2017 (and of course I tried to semi-regularly chronicle them here), so I'm trying again. I bought a dedicated notebook for this purpose, but it won't be here for a minute, so I decided I can just use the blog for the handful of workouts I manage to squeeze in this month, between weather and traveling.
If it's pretty maybe I'll be more apt to write in it?
After I rode Ruby last week, temps dropped again, so my Thursday and Friday were quiet -- relatively speaking that is, because Friday one of the dachshunds gave us another health scare, although all seems to be fine now (knock on wood).
I initially had high hopes for Saturday, because early last week they were forecasting it to be over freezing. As the week went on, the forecasted temp got lower and lower.... Boo. Saturday morning I had some errands to run, so I was hoping by the time I got home it would have warmed up enough to ride. Tragically it only got to 25, but I tried to make it work anyway.
Apparently 20 was still warm enough to sunbathe!
I opted to work Cinna, since I figured she needed it more. I caught her and headed over to the grooming area, which set off a chain reaction -- the geldings crowded the fence behind the grooming area, which is like the 10 square feet of turnout that puts them out of Ruby's sight in her turnout, so naturally she needed to start running the fence line and screaming. Because, horses.
I finally realized the quickest way to make that stop would be to just start working Cinna, because then Ruby would be able to see her. I was on the fence about riding (the wind was pretty biting) so I tacked her up in the western saddle (with a dressage bridle, because #identitycrisis), grabbed a lunge line and my helmet (just in case), and headed into the arena.
It was freezing so I took like 5 walk photos, and that's it... Haha.
Things started off relatively fine, and Cinna gave me some stellar, cadenced and quiet trotwork to the left (I distinctly remember thinking I should video it, but my fingers were still recovering). Then we changed directions and the wheels came off. She had several explosive buck-and-bolts, and got pretty agitated about something (imaginary) that she saw in the back pasture. I really wanted to prevent her from turning into a sweaty mess, so I reeled her in on the line a bit and we worked walk-whoa-change directions quite a bit. She's not as solid as Ruby on the whoa/switch yet, but she's definitely making progress! After watching some of her athletics on the line, I opted not to get on -- DH was working and wouldn't be home until well after dark, so it seemed smarter to just wait. Self preservation?
A chain on our handwalk was another example of self preservation... Haha.
I wanted to accomplish a little more with the workout, so I stripped the tack and threw a cooler on her and we hand walked the trail. She gave the hairy eyeball to the neighbors goats and sheep, and then attempted a bolt when some jerk was hotrodding down our road and she could hear but not see him. But by the end of the walk she had majorly chilled out, and I opened the back gate so I can access the trail from the back pasture next time, instead of walking around by the road. I think if I reverse the direction next time we work it, she can get all her dumb out in the field/isolated trail section, and then be calm by the time we walk by the goats and the road. Maybe?
At any rate, even though it wasn't necessarily what I wanted, it was still a productive session, and I'm glad I layered up and made myself do it. Especially since Sunday was literally nothing but buckets and buckets of rain (we have standing water on probably 60% of our property). The good news is we needed the rain (although maybe not all of it at once?) and the forecasted temps this week look super nice (above freezing, hooray!). I'm hoping the arena dries out in a reasonable amount of time so maybe I can ride more this week, and cajole DH into some new media!

18 comments:

  1. I can't imagine how much the weather and ground effects what can be accomplished in the winter, but you seem to always have a great mindset about it.

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    1. It's one of those things I can't control so I might whine about it from time to time (okay all the time haha), but ultimately I have the play the cards I was dealt. Too poor for an indoor or to live somewhere warm? Better get used to riding in the snow! 😂

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  2. ugh all that rain is heading our way soon (it's freezing rain today, joy joy) - but so are the warmer temps. i legit can't wait haha. glad you got some productive work out of the session even if Cinna still had some dumbs to work through lol

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    1. I heard you guys are getting it too, ick! I'm grateful ours was on a weekend when I didn't have to be on the roads. Hopefully you guys warm up quick and keep the rain from becoming freezing rain!

      Yeah the baby dumbs are still real. But that's okay, she'll grow out of them eventually. I think? 😂

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  3. Ugh, rain when it's frozen is the worst! Glad you got some work in.

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    1. At least the warmer weather this week should let the ground absorb some of it -- it would be 100x worse if temps dropped again and everything froze!

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  4. If it makes you feel better we are rainy and gross too. You can stop wanting to stab me over the weather now 😛

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  5. What is this rain you speak of? I think I vaguely remember it... it's like snow but more wet right?
    Nice job getting some work done in this misery. I don't think it got above nine here this weekend and with the wind chills it was mostly in the negatives. I'm perplexed because I don't recall moving to Canada?

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    1. I should have posted the photo of the lake that was my backyard, haha.

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  6. So far I'm failing at writing down spending. Can't imagine trying to track every ride. Good luck!

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    1. I also ride significantly less than most people 😂

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  7. Smart call on the not riding. There's no point if you don't think you can accomplish something (like living and being in one piece). It's warming up a bit here and we're all happier but my ring is still not rideable.

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    1. Every once in a while, I make smart choices, haha.

      Well, at least it's warming up? Hopefully your ring will be rideable soon! I hope mine will be getting dragged today, so maybe I'll be able to accomplish something this week.

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  8. Oooh, I hope you find a habit of writing down the horse time. It's a great tool! I started writing down my horse visits/workouts 3-4 years ago. I Don't write a ton unless I really want to note something special. Usually my posts are, "Q, 35 minutes w/t in back field; G, 40 min jump session; Stan 5.3 miles, 6.8 avg mph" if I have a big "first" or something notable (no spooks) I add that, too, but usually I don't need to share more than I do. It's great to be able to tell when they were worked last and to see that I do ride with greater frequency (or less frequency) than it seemed like I did. Or if its badddddd weather i note that as the reason for NOT doing things with them haha. Or if someone chokes or has a mild colic etc. Pretty cool to look back.

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    1. I'm gradually getting better about writing things down in general -- I started using a paper planner a few years ago and it's becoming ingrained. If I can note horse workouts on there and then write more details in the notebook, I feel like that would be a good, workable system! Let's see if I manage to stick with it haha. I am not known for my follow through 😂

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  9. I wish I knew how to make apps, because I know just what I want in a riding tracker app and have never been able to find a good one. I’ve tried keeping written journals, but they become unwieldy over time. I do keep a written journal about my gardening, but gardening is much less labor intensive than riding.

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    1. You need to make an app-savvy friend to help you design it! I'd probably be more apt to track rides better in an app than on paper -- guess we'll see!

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