walking in between the raindrops

From crunch crunch to rain, thunder and lightening. We didn't get as warm as predicted or as much rain last weekend, but we got plenty. 

We had planned on riding inside. Brad even got the arena all ready. With sopping wet horses, riding just wasn't meant to be. Especially when we saw Nemo rolling in the mud. As if he wasn't dirty enough already. 

Brad in his happy place


view out the back of the arena

Our property ends after the sandy mud & ice stops. Right before the solid gold stretch of field grass. We take care of our neighbors portion by request. Not sure how we will best utilize this area. Our part might end up eventually becoming a small turnout pasture.

I was looking forward to taking an outdoor break and decided to take the labs walking between the raindrops. Even if that meant wet feet and dogs. What a pleasant surprise to find relatively dry footing for a rainy day. 

Our timing turned out great! I was equally happy to be back inside when the next round of storms hit with full force.

I was fascinated by this:

tiny raindrops cling to the end of pine needles
3/5/22

the marvel of rain drops

I wished for my camera, but my phone did okay

colors are so much more vibrant when wet

pine bark pattern is so interesting

We headed back to the woods the following day. Most of the ice on the paths had melted. Run off water from a neighboring field to the West left its mark. It appears our property gets run off from all directions but South. At least that I've noticed so far.

spooky tree trail
3/6/22

the water run had decreased on main trail

Tank doesn't usually go far from me, but I couldn't see the blondee anywhere in the pines. I asked Jameson, where did Tank go? Dogs may not use words, but they will tell you. As soon as I walked out of the pines I found him...

really, Tank…

See him now?

He was splashing around the ONE puddle left.
Waaay out in the middle of the field.

The very next day, we found Winter...

winter "just do it" rides

We are doing our bestest to get up to the barn twice a week to ride our horses. It makes us feel so much better to "just do it" even if in less then ideal conditions. Like Tuesday, when we were in the single digits. My winter comfort riding level typically stays above 20F, for both me and Koda. I feel frozen & guilty otherwise. With the sun shining, and no wind we decided to make the trip anyways. For some odd reason 7F felt warm earlier in the day. It was a balmy 11F by the time we got to the barn.

We never know what type of weather to expect up there, seems it's always slightly different then ours. The indoor can frequently feel colder then it is outside. Just depends. 

Koda and I don't really do much, or ride that long, but I think it makes a huge difference to just be together. Our cold winter rides go something like this: 

If it's not too slippery, Brad and I bring Koda and Nemo in from their turn out pasture. I like walking Koda in. It gives us more together time and an idea of what kinda horse I'll be working with. On icy days, I miss out to baby my shoulder...

Koda goes into his stall for a little while. For some reason, it makes me think he is warming up. I like the transition vs yanking him out of the pasture in the cold and tacking up.

On the days I've remembered to bring the Showsheen inside the house to thaw, I brush Koda's beautiful Fabio-like mane and tail. By this time, Brad is frequently already riding either Nemo or Cierra.

I awkwardly hoist the saddle up, and hope I get it close to right. Otherwise I have to ask for help... 

Once inside the arena, we walk in-hand both directions-ish and go down by the scary end. On Brads lesson days, I'm pretty sure our trainer thinks I'm nuts. Koda doesn't remotely need this, but I like how it feels. This gives us more warm-up in the winter, and allows me to tighten the saddle easier.

Depending on who is in the arena, we mostly walk, work on softening, do a little trotting, a couple turns, backs, sometimes figure 8's etc. I haven't loped Koda for a while. It's been too cold, and I like working up to it after spending more time with him. He honestly would be fine hitting the floor running, it's more for me.

Koda has been a good boy since my accident, altho I know he knows I'm weaker. It's more for my head to get out of my way, but I continue working on doing what I can.

When we just go ride, regardless of life circumstances, I am always so glad afterwards!! The big lug always leaves his hay and comes to greet us. It melts my heart, even in 11F.

Koda walking towards us
Nemo chose to stay at the feeder

don't let the sun fool ya

It was nice to see the sun, after such a rainy Christmas. Brad had the day off, so we were able to visit our horses in the daylight. I was really looking forward to seeing them, without the lingering stillness of the dark. 

Temps were in the low 40's (F) I thought we might end up peeling layers off and riding in sweatshirts. Silly me!! It was sooo windy and sooo wet! Someone knew it would be sloppy, and brought snow boots. I was thankful & got to keep my feet dry! 

Brad sledging through the wetness & wind

to bring in Koda & Nemo

We had an uneventful ride, just the kind I like. We haven't been working on anything in particular, just connecting. Our rides have been much shorter with very little loping, if any.

When I only ride once a week, I feel like we are starting at the beginning and it's not fair to ask a lot. I should probably rethink my rides, and get some type of plan of action going. If I am bored, you know Koda is too. It's harder to get motivated, when you don't know what conditions you'll be riding in. Guess a person could do two plans of action. One for more space, and the use cones if needed, and a back-up plan that can be done with restricted "shared" space. 

I am going to revisit my post with indoor riding ideas it's got some great links & ideas from readers in the linked comments.

It was surprising to see Koda's breath so visible near the end of our ride. Didn't think we really did that much. Must have been the figure 8 with extended trot on the cross. We did two 'er 16 if you are doing the math. Apparently Koda thought it was more like 64 ;)

horse eating end of the arena
requires listing ears

After our ride, the boys got to munch on yummy flavorful carrots from our garden. I dug the last of them before the ground froze. They last pretty good and taste much better then store bought. Just ask Koda & Nemo & Cierra what they thought of their Christmas carrots!!

app-solutely revealing

It was a busy weekend on the home front, unfortunately I have no colorful trail rides to share. Might be a good thing, considering all the rain we got during the week.

With a portion of the outdoor arena still under water, the one weekend ride we did squeak in was indoors. Sigh. Our inside rides feel different. The arena is smaller, sand deeper, obstacles are scarce, and barn distractions are but a short glance away for horse and rider. Both Nemo & Koda seem to be a little off the last couple arena rides. Could be one of many things, including a shift of the seasons. The fact that it is both horses, leads me to believe just that. Like it or not, the indoor riding season is rapidly approaching.

Instead of progressing, I feel like Koda & I are slipping backwards with our rides. Two steps forward, three steps back. Our technique is falling apart. Turns on the forehand were sloppy and our lope was back to hitchy. Brad decided to take a couple video clips, and I didn't like what I saw. It felt exactly like it looked. Not horrible, but Koda & I can ride together much better...time to refocus and rebuild our practice.

I decided to try starting up the Equitrack app again, and this time the GPS worked indoors. I started it at the far end of the arena, away from what I believe is "the dead" cell zone. What I learned was app-solutely revealing...

I only rode for 12:27 minutes...what?!! A couple things did factor in while I was in the saddle. I watched Brad & Nemo for extended stretches, trying to see if I could pick up on anything that looked off. I was also socializing with another rider. I find that when we share the arena with other riders, I don't focus as much on my own ride. I am preoccupied with not getting in peoples way, and being friendly.

As far as the overall elapsed/program time, in this case it doesn't reflect total time in the saddle. I forgot to turn the app off after dismounting. It includes picking up cones, untacking, chatting it up in the aisle, hand grazing, and even walking Koda back out to the pasture - whoops! All time was spent with Koda, and in-hand is as important (if not more) as riding. However the revealing thing here is, I only rode 12-ish minutes. That is pathetic. I wouldn't bat an eye if we lived nearby & rode frequently, but we travel 40 minutes one way - to ride. 

While I am a firm believer that it's not the amount of time a person spends - but the quality that counts - this still tells me a lot. I need to put much more effort into our ride, whatever that time ends up being, if I want Koda to do anything similar. Especially indoors.

According to the app (based on his weight and I assume speed & time) Koda only burned 108 units (calories?) of energy. Not an exact method of calculation, but still interesting. What is that, about a handful of hay? No wonder he isn't looking as fit. I can all but guarantee Koda isn't running around in the pasture, except maybe to get to the free-feed round bale of hay they recently added. I on the other hand am still burning up the energy charts at a big ol' zero - ha! 

I did notice the top circle speed filled into the tracking screen, for whatever that's worth. 

Below is the hybrid map for this ride. The yellow square is the indoor arena. I'm guessing the blue stuff outside the yellow square is a result of the GPS dropping, except for when it tracked our walk towards the pasture. The barn wing where I untack wasn't tracked at all, clearly a cell phone dead zone. 

Our riding stats from last weekends outdoor arena/pasture ride clocked me at 36:27 min riding time, for 1.51 miles, compared to this indoor rides paltry 12:27 min riding, for .57 miles. That pretty much says, we like to ride outside!! I think it would be valuable to continue viewing riding stats, but what I really need to work on is my lack of indoor riding enthusiasm!! I find the map tracking pointless in an arena. I wonder if the app will track a ride without the GPS on? Something appy to try next time!

change the mindset

Last time we rode, I was armed with a plan of sorts. I was looking forward to moving past the indoor arena funk we seem to find ourselves riding in. In the process of searching for "things" to do indoors, I realized that if I am bored riding indoors - it's on me. Boredom is a state of mind. Change the mindset, change the boredom. Simple solution.

I chose to begin with a butterfly pattern, adding an extra cone to the top. Which lends itself to other potential patterns. Not that I needed any more, one is plenty per ride.

Koda & I worked the butterfly pattern, first at a walk and then a trot. One side at a time. It was hard trying to make our passes between the cones flow smoothly. After the first full butterfly, Koda figured the pattern out and tried to hurry through any future attempts. Here I thought I was the one who got bored easily...I worked on asking Koda for continuous fluid movement, with an even lighter touch.

I found myself wondering, how can a person be soft with a horse that doesn't respond to it? The only answer I know of is gradually, by using the least amount of pressure. There are almost always improvements that could be made, but some horses just need more firmness then others. Koda has been this way since we bought him as a yearling. It's not something he learned, it's who he is. You may disagree with me, but when leading/working on the ground with Nemo (who is polar opposite) and Koda before all the formal training started - it was made crystal clear.

We didn't do the butterfly much, a lot of repetition just doesn't work well. Makes it more challenging, because that's exactly what I need. In fact, I will practice this pattern again next ride. There was a lot more I wanted to do with it, like work on quality of arcs, rating our speed, flowing through the entire pattern etc. Time just goes so fast. While working the pattern we would run into Brad & Nemo, get distracted by the evil service door aura, or my wandering mind. I tried to focus on what we were doing, and not Brad's struggles with Nemo - which incidentally are getting worse.

Before I mounted I drew a large box in the freshly raked sand, on the inside of the butterfly. I was really curious to try Shirley's, @ Ride a Good Horse, suggestion. The sand lines didn't last long, but they worked ok with just two riders in the arena. It was kinda humorous actually. At first Koda looked at the lines, then "looked" at me, then looked at the lines. It's really funny watching him think, he gets the cutest look on his face. He figured out I wasn't just inventing lines, and we side-passed/pivoted the perimeter. I had too much going on, and could have done much more with the box. Brad & Nemo enjoyed doing pivots, inside. I liked drawing lines in the sand & the best part was I didn't have to put anything away!

We also did a little loping. I must admit, I've been somewhat avoiding it. Which stinks, because it's my favorite gait. Just not in a good place with any of it right now. I am still second guessing myself. So I've resorted to working on loping smaller graduating into larger circles. What was I saying about changing mindsets? If only it was that easy.

indoor riding idea's

When my indoor winter riding motivation was fading, my blogger friends shared excellent thought's and idea's! Read them in their words, here.

I Googled "arena patterns and exercises" and found a link to an old Horse & Rider magazine article that I liked & saved for reference, called

Additional reminders to keep indoor rides interesting came up, as I sifted through online info:

• Desensitizing stuff (ex. hula hoop/dragging things/carrying things)

• Practicing Reining/Equitation/Dressage tests (some can be found online)

• Riding stirrup-less
• Lengthening strides
• Riding bareback 

I also liked some of the arena patterns the Icelandic riders do: http://iceryder.net/arena.html

An additional search of "equine cone patterns" led me to some Gymkhana images. I liked these a lot! I found ton's of idea's, and general riding skills to work on. Scroll down to see the pattern images:

http://lessonsintr.wordpress.com/2012/05/20/gymkhana-games-and-patterns/

This is where I stopped looking. With this plethora of new idea's & reminders, we'll never be bored riding indoors again!!

indoor riding motivation

Our indoor riding motivation is wearing thin. We skipped our typical Sunday - and even our Wednesday ride this week...not sure if I feel guilty, or relieved.

I deleted all most of my whine. It had words like frigid cold, sick of circles, constantly asking, and frustration in it. Leaving me with little to no equine fun to blog about. To be true to myself, this is what is going on in my horse world: I am bored. There, I said it. 

The small indoor arena has cones and three poles that can be added. We usually ride with a few cones, unless we have the arena to ourselves and more can be added. Random cone placement made things interesting for a while, but even those become mundane. We have an equine ball we haul, and occasionally add to the mix. 

I think Koda & Nemo are both tired of the whole indoor thing too. We can't expect them to look forward to riding, if we don't. They are starting to act up, and that leads to frustration. It probably doesn't help they are back to being turned out half days, because outdoor water is frozen. Nemo cannot get over the arena service door weirdness. Brad has to work on it with him every single ride, even Koda is buying into it. So much for deleting my whine!! 

I miss riding outside. It isn't really a winter option where we board, for several reasons. Altho if it ever warms up and isn't icy, I just might find a way to at least do a little outside riding on the ranch. 

I like winter, but this year the weather is making it harder to enjoy in general. It's the first winter we've had constant access to an indoor arena, and ridden regularly. I know we are lucky to have this opportunity, it won't last forever. I want to make the best of it. I'm planning on doing some Googling on indoor patterns/riding idea's. I'll let you know if I come up with anything interesting. 

What do you do to stay motivated when you are stuck riding indoors for endless months?

Koda