Tidal Treasures at Maple Ridge Ride, October 12, 2013.

This ride was such a fitting end to our competitive season. It was a day all of us had worked hard to reach. It was a day of many firsts for our group as well. 
 Lynn and Paris rode their first 50 miles together.
I rode my first 50 miles, first Endurance ride.
 Kathleen rode her first ride without Lynn's guidance, and she and Ali rode their first LD.
Tammy and Troy got to compete together, and Tammy rode Wind on the first day of competition when he was fresh and ready.
Troy and Aziim rode their first competitive ride-and I know it won't be their last.
 Carrilee and Marie happily and efficiently crewed for 3 people, and made it look effortless.
And Todd crewed for 2 women, Lynn and myself-brave soul that he is, and he also made it look easy, when I know it wasn't.


This was a ride we all anticipated for our own reasons, it was a ride where we all found ourselves supporting each other, in an effort to see everyone succeed. When the day had come and we "were doing it-" as I said to Lynn a few times that day, it was full of ups and downs-smiles and a few tears that went with some scraps and scratches, and  tired bodies that had been pushed to their limits- but despite those ups and downs, it was a day where every single person on the TT team chose to shine, realize new things about themselves, and see goals achieved and dreams reached smiling as we watched each other with love and pride-

And Pam, although you were not able to be there with us, we missed you and knew that you were there with us every mile of the journey in spirit-thank you for your part in making this day happen!

 Congratulations to everyone- from riders to behind the scene people, kitchen ladies,  and crew!   Thank you to EVERYONE who helped make this day a reality!


It quite simply was for me, one of the best days ever, a day I felt thankful to be part of, a day that will forever be etched in my memory.   
Enjoy the video-

Aziim's Big Adventure - AKA - Maple Ridge LD

So the day finally arrives and it is time for Aziim's first competitive ride and like all things at Tidal Treasures, there is nothing individual about it.  The team gathered at the stables Friday morning for the weekend adventure.

Gary discreetly roamed from person to person softly offering advice and assistance as he always does, reminding us of the little things we may have forgotten or helping us through the uncertainty of the moment with the calming presence of our guardian.  The only way to truly explain the selflessness of a person like is Gary is to note that he says, "You're welcome" approximately fifty times for every time he says, "thank you" and he never forgets to thank you if you do something for him.  You can't understand how inspiring he is until you have him in your life.

Lynn is running about preparing Paris for her first 50 mile endurance and as always she is confident and focused.  Lynn's goals are simple, do the best you can do, she does not think you always have to be first, but you should always be working towards that.  In her world improvement at any level is a win and as long as you are trying, you are winning.  Like a teacher, mentor, sister or friend, she wins with every one of us and pushes us to reach our potential.

Shelley is also doing the 50 mile endurance, but in this combo it is the rider who will be enjoying her first time as Spirit has been here before and is a proven competitor.  Months of hard training and preparing have come down to this weekend and she is ready.  She has literally changed her life to get ready for this ride; her fitness, riding skills, horse knowledge and mind set have all come together to make her ready and honestly, she has already won on a level that no ride will change.

Todd will be the pit crew for Lynn and Shelley and at this point I feel for him as there is a tremendous amount of information flying at him and as fast as he can absorb it, more would come flying his way.  Despite all the teasing and carrying on I do with Todd, if I was not going to be there to help my little sister through this day, I knew I could trust him to take care of business and with no surprise, he was awesome.
That concludes the list for the 50 milers and although I have heard the stories of their adventures, I will leave them to tell them.  Suffice it to say they did well and as always, I am proud of their accomplishments and the great example they set for those around them.  Congratulations to Lynn, Shelley, Todd, Paris and Spirit, you were a great team.
The 25 mile LD was myself on Aziim, Tammy on Wind and Kathleen on Ali.  We leave the farm for an uneventful drive to New Glasgow where Betty Dwyer and her husband Eric host this ride.  Unfortunately, Eric is currently deployed and was not able to attend, but I am sure he was not surprised to hear his beautiful wife did an amazing job.  She welcomed us and made sure everyone had what they needed and calmly went about what was a massive undertaking to face without her loving partner there to help.  She handled it with grace and made it look easy with the strong support of Roy and her team of volunteers, but this group is pretty familiar to strong women, they surround us at every ride and those long distance phone calls through the day from hubby overseas were the finishing touch that made it all run smoothly.
So let the adventure begin, we unload the trailer and somehow Aziim has managed to break his hay net down and tangle it in his back legs, let the stress begin... we get the net out and the horses off and into their paddocks and the getting ready starts.  Filling water buckets, planning pit stops, checking trails, feed and hay and the list goes on and on.  It is at this point that you realize how lucky you are if you have some help.  For us that help came in the form of two small and mighty packages known as Carrilee and Marie, the Eddy family duo who are such an important part of our little family. 
Carrilee helped all of us, she was running around from spot to spot assisting as required and her presence made the entire process so much easier.  She knows horses and she knows people so she was able to help "do things", but more importantly, she added direction, encouragement and support in just the right amounts and just the right places.  Having her there to share the experience and join us in the adventure made it an all round better weekend and we sincerely thank her for that. 
Marie was my savior; she somehow seemed to be there every time I needed her and she did a thousand little tasks, but the real help came from the bond between her and Aziim.  He trusts her and she understands him and that is something special.  When he was excited, she calmed him, when he was scared, she calmed him, when he was evasive, she caught him and when I was a mess she focused me.  Running back and forth across the field all day, grab this, pass that, can you please do this and not one word of complaint...did I mention she is 11.  This young lady has the confidence and understanding of an adult with a work ethic that exceeds most adults and for her I am thankful. 
Ride time, we mount, we circle, a couple of pops and we are off.  We get out on the first dirt road and take our formation; Tammy and Wind leading, me and Aziim in the middle and Kathleen on Ali in back.  Tammy has been riding Wind for a while now, but this is her first big ride in the lead and she is focused on taking care of me and that means that she has to keep total control of Wind, no easy task when he is excited in a competition.  A year at the Gym and countless laps around the outdoor arena are paying off because she handles him like a professional and Aziim trots calmly behind as I watch her posture constantly changing to slow him down, speed him up and move him around.  It is clear to me that he is challenging her every command, but she makes no exception to who is in charge and I sit back busting with pride as I watch her, "handle" what I know from experience is a hard situation to handle. 
Behind me I hear Kathleen and Ali having their own conversations about his boundaries and like Tam, she suffers through trying to hold him back so that I can move Aziim along at the right speed for him.  Every few minutes she calls out a few words of encouragement, "he is doing great Troy", "you look good Troy", etc... And then she goes back to quietly fighting him to give Aziim space and protect me.  15, the girl is 15 years old.  I know they are both suffering silently and as we ride along I can only think of how lucky I am to have this kind of support and hope they both know how proud and thankful I am. 
I knew there would be a lot of firsts for Aziim; roads, bridges, huge hills, water and mud, but what I didn't expect was a deer to come flying out of the woods and jump across the road right in front of Wind.  All three horses spooked, but Wind reared and spun and then dropped and spun back and despite a display of outstanding riding for the worst of the event, the last spin and drop left Tam falling to the pavement.    I could tell she was hurt and started trying to think of where we were so I could get a trailer for the horses and get her back to the ride site.  After a couple of minutes she starts trying to walk and although limping, she was mobile enough to get back on the horse and continue the ride, who was this woman in front of me, so determined to get me and Aziim through this ride, she refused to quit and I was impressed almost to tears with how hard she was trying to protect me. 
We moved on a few more miles and a killer dog came leaping down on us from the side of a cliff, Aziim lost his mind and started spinning, by the third spin he was in the ditch and shortly thereafter I was picking dirt out of my teeth.   Well if Tam can do it, I guess I better man up, wipe the blood off my face, straighten up the old bones and get back on.  OK, so maybe it was a little fluffy white dog running down the side of a small hill, but who notices these little details, that over sized white rat was terrifying to Aziim.  I had to laugh when Kathleen realized me and Tam had hit the ground and this meek voice comes from behind me and says, "every time we get moving something happens and I don't like the way this is going".  Fortunately for us that was the end of the falling and we were soon at the first check point where a very concerned Carrilee and Marie waited for us.  They helped us get situated, offered some support and sent us off on our merry way. 
We made it to the half way point and the horses all pulsed down quickly and passed the vet checks without any trouble.  We gave them food and water and then sat quietly for a few minutes until it was time to go out for the second half.  We were all pretty much exhausted from the morning's ordeals and the stress of the day, but we climbed back on and had a wonderful second half.  Kathleen led the second loop and was amazing, constantly checking on me and adjusting for what I needed, but what was truly amazing was a conversation about time.  I explained to them that we had not passed a two mile to go sign and only had forty minutes to complete or we would be disqualified and would not receive our completion.  I told them this because if Kathleen wanted to speed up or even leave us behind, she could potentially make it even if we couldn't.  She didn't speed up or leave us or display any dissatisfaction whatsoever about the fact that she may have done all of this only to be disqualified and instead reassured me that even if we didn't get a completion that me and Aziim had done a great job.  We made it to the finish with no time to spare and all successfully completed.  I was proud of the entire team and although I felt great satisfaction with having completed on Aziim, Tam's ride in pain, Kathleen's constant battle, Carrilee's exhaustless efforts and Marie's unwavering dedication were much more impressive than my completion.  

Kathleen and Marie's support and help made it possible for me to complete my first competition on Aziim and for that I thank you, but a ride is a ride and more will follow.  The exceptional young ladies they are becoming is the real story, for an 11 year old girl to come to a ride and be that supportive with no horse to ride or a 15 year old to stay completely focused on the team when she knows the team needs her, but she doesn't need the team are the real wins here.  I hope you both know how lucky you are to be surrounded by such strong and determined women as role models and how proud you should be of yourselves.  It is not the things you own, the way look or who you hang out with that make you special it is your actions, how you treat others and your character that make you special and you are two very special girls and for that I am very proud of you both.

Love Ya

Paris and Lynn - First Endurance Race

Well, our distance riding season is over for another year and it ended on a great note yesterday when 5 of us competed in a Limited Distance and Endurance Race.  Team members in the Limited Distance Race were Troy/Aziim, Tammy/Wind and Kathleen/Ali.  Crewing for them was Carrilee and Marie.  In the endurance race was Shelley/Spirit and me/Paris. Todd was crewing for Shelley and I.  Everyone completed and it was a good day.
There is lots to write about and I am sure stories will trickle in in the next week or two.  For now I just wanted to share a few thoughts about my very first ride on an Arabian!
Not just any Arabian.  I bought Paris as a baby, raised her on our farm with the love and support of Gary and all the Tidal Treasures Crew, backed her myself, trained her myself, including all the necessary hours and hours of ground work (yech, yech) and conditioned her myself.  She is 5 years old now and this was her first competitive season.  So, yesterday was her first endurance ride.
I was so proud of her yesterday - of us - as we easily covered mile after mile.  She is everything I ever could have dreamed of.  Purchasing Evening in Paris was the beginning of a new chapter....a "real" endurance horse, and yesterday was the end of that particular chapter, with a lot more new chapters coming up. I love it when a chapter ends on a good note!
Shelley and I have been training for this endurance ride together.  She was riding Spirit and it was her first endurance race.  (Her story is so inspiring...and I will leave it for her to tell).    We went into the ride with a pre-determined pace in mind.  Based on our training and the horse's experience/parameters, we made our final decision about two weeks ago, to ride the first two loops at about 8 miles per hour, if the terrain allowed.  We would decide on the third loop after we had ridden the first two -  whether or not she would go out alone and I would ride Paris a little slower, or if we would go out together.  I did not want to ride Paris any faster than around 8 miles per hour in total.  In the end, we decided to go out together for the final loop - Our overall average was around 8.2 mph!  That average happened to put Shelley and Spirit in 2nd place and me and Paris in 3rd place, with Spirit winning Best Condition.  But I would like to think that regardless of whether it put us in first place or last place, that we would have stuck to our original plan, baring any unforeseen circumstances.
I was certainly tempted to go faster....Shelley and I had the lead early in the race and kept it till about mile 25.  Halfway through  the last loop,  we could see the first place rider ahead of us on the pipe line... we could have caught up to him...(NOT saying we could have beat him), but my plan for Paris was 8 miles per hour...so I told Shelley to go ahead if she wanted, but Paris and I were staying at the pace we were going.  Shelley decided to stay with us and it was a good decision...she still ended up with 2nd place and Best Condition! I was proud of myself....it is easy to have a "plan" - keeping it on race day is a whole different story!
Paris has never ridden in a Limited Distance ride, so yesterday was her FIRST experience with a mass start.  I debated about hiding her behind the trailer until everyone was gone, but I've been able to manage her well all season and I had confidence that we would be ok, so I went with it.  When the Ride Manager shouted "Trail is Open," Spirit was the first to take off...(of course!), followed in hot pursuit by Jim/Tango and Russlyn/Addy.  Paris and I were cantering behind the three of them and although Paris wanted to be up front with Spirit, she was willing to compromise with me.  After only a minute or two the three riders ahead of us went straight past the first bend in the road, so I slowed Paris down...hollered to the other riders that they were going the wrong way and for a brief second or two, Paris and I had the lead!  Spirit caught up with us and we put him in front.  However,  in no time at all, Jim and Russlyn were quite a ways ahead of Shelley and I.  Paris was certainly "aware" of everything going on, but remained willing to negotiate!

The first loop was 20 miles and a lot of it was pipeline.  The footing was pretty good, lots of smaller, steep hills with little gullys and brooks/streams where the downhill turned into uphill.  You could also see a fair distance ahead of you.  We watched ahead of us and saw Russlyn and Jim turning right off the pipeline.  When we got to where they were, we turned as well.  But once we got going, Shelley noticed that the colour of the ribbons had changed and so we went back to check and sure enough, we were not supposed to turn.  By this time Russlyn and Jim were long gone and we took advantage of the opportunity to garner the lead and make some good time on the great trail in front of us.  Yippee  such fun!  Paris was all for it.  She loves to run simply for the sake of running and she moves so efficiently when she moves out at the canter;  it is such a joy to ride her!   However, she decided that at canter speed, puddles were for jumping, not stepping in.  After months of training, she picks her first endurance ride to start jumping with me on her back.  OMG.   Thankfully, she jumped long and low, and so I tried figure out some type of posture that was relatively accurate and just went with it.  We disagreed about her jumping the larger puddles so I tried to rein her in a bit when I felt her curling up for the larger puddles which resulted in one incident where she managed a bit of a jump but landed hard almost in the middle of the puddle and her head went down, down, down (soft mud underneath?) and I thought oh oh... thankfully she recovered before we went ass-over-teakettle.  After that, she only jumped the shorter puddles and decided to agree with me and  canter properly through the larger ones.  Some of the puddles had unforeseen hazards in them ( like hidden logs) but Shelley had a good eye and managed to spot the hazards and get Spirit down to a slower pace when it was needed.

We "flew" where we could because we knew there was a lot of down hill and rougher going ahead that would slow us down.  It was soo exciting to put the horses into a controllable but relatively fast canter and just go for it.  Shelley hollered back to me "We're doing it Lynn!  We're doing it!"  Yes we were.

The first loop ended well, and we started on the 2nd loop.  The going got a lot tougher and Paris' balance on the downhills, especially the downhills in the woods that were mucky amazed me.  She rocks that little butt of hers back and weighs down on her hind end every single time.  Love it.  Love it. Love it.  Jim caught up to  us on the 2nd loop.  I didn't hear him coming.  We were just trotting along on a narrow, mucky part of the trail and the next thing I knew, Paris had me in the woods at a canter, running away from something and heading STRAIGHT FOR A TREE.  Oh wait a second, just as I was wondering which one of us  was going to get hit in the head by the tree first, she ducks to the left...another tree...ducks to the right....balance Lynn....b.a.l.a.n.c.e  Whew, endurance just turned into survival.  I finally got her stopped just as Jim roared up behind us.
At the next pit stop, Jim passed us, and then Paris surprised me.  As we left the hold, Paris and I were closer to the trail so we took the "lead" until Spirit could catch up and pass us.   I put Paris up into a trot,  which she immediately turned into a canter and made it very clear that if Jim and Tango could race, so could she!  I tried to slow her down and was successful but her earlier willingness to negotiate and compromise was gone.  By the time Shelley took over the lead, Paris was determined to catch up to Jim.  In Paris' opinion, Spirit was not going fast enough and I watched in amazement as she stretched her neck as far as she could and bit at Spirit's ass two or three times to get him to go faster!  I thought to myself, What just happened?   I had flashbacks to when Spirit was younger.  He was so strong and we spent the first couple years of distance riding in a constant battle of him wanting to do nothing but catch  up to the rider in front.  With him, it was more like he desperately needed to catch up, sort of a survival instinct with  her it felt more like she was saying "oh yeah buddy...game on"  She is not as physically strong as Spirit was, but I have a feeling she has a few more surprises for me in this area....to be continued next year.
I smiled a lot yesterday as I reaped the benefits of years of training,  and enjoyed the efficient movement and narrow structure of a lovely Arabian mare, while enjoying the great outdoors in the lovely company of Shelley and Kindred Spirit, taking advantage of miles and miles of marked trail offered up selflessly by numerous volunteers, thinking of the crew waiting to help us back at the hold, giving up their weekends so we could ride, thinking of everyone that has given their time just to make events like this possible.  Honestly, just about every mile was marked in gratitude and love.
Yes, Shelley and I "did it" and even better, we did it while continually sharing with each other the gratitude we feel for the privilege of "doing it" (chuckle).  What an appropriate attitude to carry with us on Thanksgiving weekend.  Happy Thanksgiving All.  Happy Trails.

A Good Sailor Always keeps The Wind at his Back!

                             

                                                                     Troy and Wind

Tidal Treasures Had A Good Day.

Simply put, it was one of those days that you will always remember with a smile. A No Frills Judged Pleasure Ride that was being held only an hour's drive away.  An opportunity to see if all our hard work with Tiki and Khol (and Todd!) was paying off.  So away we went with two 4 year old horses who had never been anywhere except to Stanley and with Todd, who has watched us compete for two seasons and has finally taken the time this summer to practice for his own riding experiences.  Spirit and Shelley came along to lead us through the experience and to add some "calm" to the mix.

It was a beautiful day.  The weather was amazing.  The trails were perfect; a huge percentage of the ride was in the woods with lots of things for the horses to think about ...roots, rocks, changes in terrain. Kept those busy young minds focused.  The horses (and Todd!) were amazing.  For all of us at Tidal Treasures, it was a day to feel proud of our horses and satisfied that hard work pays off.  We put together a little slide show of the three newbies to celebrate......