I’m going to start with the most recent events first – Breeze and I made it to Fort Valley!
If you are an endurance rider, that is just the Step 1 win 🙂
Step 2 win – We got to the starting line and out of camp 🙂
Then we move on to so many other little wins for the weekend, despite it not turning out quite to plan, but that was NOT at all the fault of the horse and his mental or physical capabilities. That in itself is a major win for us.
These accomplishments may not seem like much, but they are things I’ve been working over 3 years with him to sort out enough to feel confident enough to attempt a competitive ride together again:
*He stayed calm and chill upon arriving to ride camp, even when horses around us walked about.
*We had a great vet in with no drama (I had my flag on hand just in case but was not needed).
*He stayed chill all evening and did not test the pen electric even with a sheet on, huge wind gusts and rain.
*He barely noticed the 50s leave and was easy to tack up.
*He took his elytes and CMPK without issue.
*We left camp AT A WALK! A spritely one, but a walk.
*He didn’t lose his marbles over the other horses leaving us at the start, and his canter burst because of it was containable and he came back to me mentally.
*We got an awesome Becky ride pic.
*We cantered a bunch.
*He trots like a beast on a mission.
*He drank and ate well.
*He was able to pass horses and get his mind back on the trail ahead vs. on them behind.
*At the hold/vet check he was just as awesome and well behaved, and looked ‘great and happy’ per the vet.
Unfortunately, I had to end our quest for completion due to an unplanned dismount that left me in a bit more pain than I could endure on the 2nd loop. But, it was not his fault, and we could have finished! Knowing that and all the small wins we had, makes me confident to keep moving him forward when I have doubted myself many times over the past 2 years in particular on being able to get this far.
It was one of the ‘absolutely crazy nobody can plan for this’ things that happened and resulted in unplanned dismount and hard land on my right side. How do you plan for a tree to fall, nearly next you, as you are cantering along and at the same time had just asked him to not be so on the inside edge? Thankfully he stayed close and Jaime and K were able to grab him and come back to me maybe 50′ away. He never left mentally from me either.
I powered through the rest of the loop but once in the hold it was quite a bit harder to breathe comfortably and his head snags side to side or dives on occasion were just not doable for me at that point. The Aleve didn’t touch it and we decided to call a day, with an overall great ride we could have finished if not for the pain. I did get checked on Sunday and managed to break Rib #7, but not a displaced fracture so they aren’t worried about puncturing a lung as long as I behave and don’t get hit there while it heals. I do have to use a breathing “toy” to keep me taking deeper breathes to avoid pneumonia. I will say, this not a fun injury. Nearly every move hurts.
Our ride number – 360 – definitely had meaning.
Coming Full Circle.
Both for Breeze and me…
The last time I competed for real, was at FV in Oct 2021 with Sully. I rider optioned, as Sully just didn’t seem right. The winter seemed relatively uneventful, but coming into spring nothing seemed right and I was chasing bloodwork, diet, meds and pulling at strings trying to get things sorted. Sadly, I found him passed in the pasture a Monday morning 4 years ago to the day (10/17/22) of this ride.
Breeze came into my life in early 2023, and like most pen pull situations he needed weight, and was a train wreck mentally and full of anxiety … it just wasn’t blatantly apparent to me until we had a “run-off with me” event later that spring that shook my confidence in him and myself. We attempted two drag rides and an intro ride with limited success. We had some success at a CTR after happenstance joining a patient riding buddy that kept him grounded and help lead Skyler and Scooby alongside. Any type of large group trail rides were a mess. He just wasn’t with me mentally. So, we slowed way down… and took the long road … 3.5 years later, we finally went to a large group competitive ride with a babysitter BFF just in case, and I had a horse that was WITH ME. And when he wasn’t, it was brief moments and he was able to come back to me. Totally different than before. Not only did I address any physical ailments over these years (weight gain, farrier, then osteopathy and nutritional deficiencies – including gut biome) but I addressed his mental state and kept proving and instilling in him that we do this TOGETHER, or not at all.
Did I have to get off to deal with some things?, yes. After the fall I could not ‘correct’ him as easily and just felt better on the ground for steeper terrain. But, I always got back on and continued onward!
Additionally I had 3 “fears” about this ride that my nerves were all bundled up about since the moment I signed us up:
1. Riding on the edge of the cliff, as I didn’t trust him to keep us safe.
2. Coming off of him and getting hurt badly.
3. Passing horses going the opposite way on said cliffside trails.
Un?Fortunately, I had to conquer all 3 of those! He did show some anxieties when #3 happened on the way back up the mountain, but wasn’t crazy per se… he was just unsure I think and would scoot on the inside edge, not the ledge thankfully!
I can’t thank Jaime enough for coming with me and helping us get to this point and helping me pack up after the injury. Our work with her, Tom Moates, and Harry Whitney has been key to getting him to a point where we could attempt a ride. So no, I didn’t finish my first ride back, but we could have and we will be at that the finish line soon!
Jaime made several Video Shorts of our weekend here: https://www.youtube.com/@hopehorsemanship8185/shorts
Now, stepping back in time…
Since the last update we had the Tom clinic at the end of September to which we brought Daisy and Breeze.
We did practice loading of her and Breeze leading up to the clinic but never got to go for a drive. So, when we got them loaded together and closed the door, she flipped big body self around and decided to ride backwards. Breeze was also loose in case he needed to adjust, but never moved from his “spot.” They unloaded in the just turned dark well and were set up with hay and water for the night.
Day 1 –
Daisy had been very difficult at home to focus in the ground work once distracted and had taken to turning her head and run, including to jump out of the smaller pen we had to the tune of over 2′ high and 2′ wide obstacles. But of course, that did not present itself there! Skyler worked her a bit then started in on mounting block patience. They got to a good place on the first day, but she didn’t get on.
Breeze and I continued working to free up his right side… Nothing new right? We actually spent a bit on the ground too, which led to a very forward thought movement under saddle and even a few canter steps with me on him in the pen!
Day 2
Breeze and I were up first this time, and didn’t spend as much time on the ground which actually showed up later in the fact that he called a lot, and didn’t have as free of a forward thought when asked to trot. Tom taught me some new ways to free up his shoulder and get the right rein activated working on our rigamaroles.
Daisy and Skyler did a quick check in on the ground and went straight to working on the mounting block. Skyler even got to hop on her bareback like she’s been dying to do since getting her home.
Then the four of us (Jaime, Skyler, Me, and Matt from a new family that attended) tacked up horses and went on a “mental training trail ride”. We were OK, until we did a 180 to head back at a gate and then Breeze lost his marbles and wouldn’t listen heading downhill. So, I hand walked. He did better than he used to and remained mostly respectful. Eventually I mounted again, but then Skyler had to get off Daisy to get through a sticky spot she was worried she wanted to just jump, and couldn’t get back on. It took a bit longer than we had hoped to do the 5 miles, so we were a little later heading home than I had thought, but the loading went without issue – this time she stayed facing forward to eat hay with Breeze until we got home and was waiting on us to get the gate and all situated.
Jaime and I decided to do another training ride in that 1 spot that is halfway between us the following weekend and picked a different route this time. While Breeze was not phenomenal for the clinic trail ride, he was great for this one! We did some nasty rocky stuff to prep for Fort Valley and he did really well – I only got off once due to him questioning the terrain, and we both got off later to gives our seat bones a break and hike some. It was about a 16mile trek and he led the way home through the forest road – trotting and cantering with delight and in control 🙂 We knew he was ready to go to FV!
The next day, Skyler and I had entered a horse show! A smaller low key local one that she took Drum to a few times to get exposure. She was entered in like 7 classes for W/T/C and possibly Jump + a few Open classes she was going to do bareback and she convinced me to do the Open with Breeze too. We didn’t have to get up at the butt-crack of dawn to get practice time as we used the secondary spot instead for warm up. Unfortunately, it was barely 60 out and raining that day —and they heavy starting much earlier than we expected. We almost turned around on the way out (45min drive) but decided to see if it was lighter rain there. It was… but only to start with!
Being their last show of the series the classes were taking longer to do year end calculations and the costume class to start the day had 5 sub-groups… so we spent quite a while out in the rain waiting. Saddles covered, but everything else about us getting soaked. While Daisy was great for mounting in the warm up, and Skyler practiced lining her up while we were waiting at the mounting block ring-side, it took 20min to get on her for their class. In the end, Skyler did just her first two classes with Daisy, decided not to jump in the rain, and we all called it day soaking wet and shivering. Shows will pick back up in the spring! 🙂
We now finally have a riding area set aside in the pasture – 70’x35′ – for us to work in that can’t be jumped out of. So, once I get some lights out there, we can work horses in the evenings too when schedule and weather/footing allows through winter.
There is one more Tom clinic for the year, which I was planning on just Daisy – thankfully as I don’t think I’ll be back to riding yet by then 😦 We’ll pick back up when I’m healed and can begin looking at late winter/early spring rides to get to that finish line at!
