2012 in Review

I tend to get quiet and reflective as the year draws to an end.  I pause and take stock, appreciate what I have and give thanks.   This year, 2012, has been a great year.  One of the best years of my life actually.  So many things to be thankful for and on so many levels.

To begin with, I am a Canadian citizen; not something to be taken lightly.  I am married to a wonderful man who not only puts up with me, but actually loves me, and I love him.   I have my health.  My family has their health.  The raw beauty of the landscape on the Kempt Shore fills me with peace and humbles me every time I look out my window.  My job takes me away from the farm more than I would like but the work is worthwhile and I work with good people.

All this contributed to a good 2012.  What took it over the edge and turned it into one of the best years of my life....was the Tidal Treasure Crew,  the other distance riders I have had the opportunity to spend time with, and all the assorted riding I was able to do this year!  What a great year!

Gary and I put the following video together especially for the Tidal Treasure Crew and our distance riding friends.  We cannot put into words how much you all have touched our lives, so we thought we'd try to do it with pictures!  Thanks for sharing the farm with us; we are blessed to have you.


Happy New Year

Blog Gets a Face Lift!

 As you can see, the blog has received a face lift.  We've tried to compile all the videos in the top two categories on the right side of the blog...so they can be easily retrieved, and we are trying to accumulate the "picture" stories that don't relate to any specific horse in the category "Trails and Tails"  So, if you think you might have missed a video or two, take a quick look.

In 2013, we are going to use the "side categories" more regularly to collect various stories as they accumulate about our trust steads, and over the next few days we'll be make a few more minor changes.

Winter is here in full force.  Already I'm resorting to watching videos of rides...and can't wait for the season to get going in the United States, just so there will be new video to watch.  If you happen to catch a new one, please share!  

We have a ton of video and pictures left over from this last season and will try to post something regularly.  Also, there is some motivation brewing at the barn to start training up full tilt for 2013....so should be lots of stories coming up!  Stay tuned. 

Live Nativity Play in Summerville

Gary and I went to the annual Live Nativity Play down in Summerville last weekend, just before Christmas and I've been meaning to share a few pictures.  This is a wonderful event, and a lot of the community comes out to witness it.  It starts with everyone gathered at the Inn, and Joseph and a very pregnant Mary show up, looking for a room.....Joseph is very upset, trying to find shelter for his very pregnant wife.  (Joseph is a great actor....Neptune Theatre material.) 

Doris doesn't have any rooms but offers them the barn, fetches them a few blankets and takes them outside. The rest of the community sitting in the cafe, follow them outside...

There are candles to mark the way for the crowd,  bales of hay arranged in a formation for everyone to sit on, a beautiful sounding choir off to the side, a narrator to tell the story, and live animals. (Yes that is Ginger...she's been a regular for a decade now)  By the time we all get outside and settled, Mary has had her baby - every year that I am aware of there is real baby for the Play (this year's actor was a 4 month old little girl!).

The Play is over in about half an hour, the kids hang around with the animals for abit afterwards (yes, there were even sheep), then everyone goes inside for cookies and a hot drink.  I heard one little boy as we were finishing up..."Mommy, I didn't know it was going to be sooo magical."  Well, little boy, I don't even know your name, but that was one of the best lines of the night!

Christmas Tags GONE!

Came home from work this afternoon (Christmas eve) and found about 6 gifts along the edge of the tree missing their name tags.  Oh, I KNEW who was responsible, but I could not find them.  So, I just kept my eye on that tree as I went about my Christmas preparations and sure enough.....RADAR scoffed another tag right off the gift!  I watch her play with it....patiently waiting (grabbed my camera in the process) and sure enough, she led me right to her little "nest" of tags!  Merry Christmas everyone - cat for sale real cheap.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTVpzNOtimU

Housework on the Farm

Well, I asked the Good Shepherd (Gary) to help out with some housework to prepare for Christmas.  Small as the house is, there is lots of work to be done!  Once he started helping, I remembered why I don't ask him unless I'm desperate.  He tends to get..umm...distracted and the chore not exactly accomplished, sort of maybe.  Oh just take a look and you'll see what I mean-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9SHGCv9nF0

Marie Eddy One year older; one year blonder??!

Just a note Marie Eddy put on facebook tonight that I thought was funny:

I  waz out in the barn filling up the horses water buckets and i thought it would be easter to take an empty bucket and fill it up then pore the water from that into the other bucket so there was a bucket on a shelf and i did not realize it waz full of water and pulled it down and socked myself in water such a blond moment! Lol

MERRY CHRISTMAS - Reindeer in Training!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx45yrAaVdY

Last Saturday, we took a little video of some of our trusty steads enjoying a day with their buddies.  We also captured  a few candidates trying out reindeer training;  some willing, some "not" so willing!

Merry Christmas all!

First Snow this Winter at Tidal Treasures!

We had our first snow today for this winter.  I'm home sick with a nasty cold and so I decided to play around with some new software Santa is bringing me (relax Santa, I just did some test driving..it's back under the tree)  
Radar, our cat, was sitting home with me, listening to me moan about my stuffy nose and sore throat. She did not like the snow.  Now that it's colder, she goes out into the porch and sits on top of the old organ.  There are three empty baskets on top of the organ and she likes to nestle into the middle one.  Always the middle one.  She had her eye on that snow and was not impressed, so I took out my new phone and took some video, then I tried to put it together on my new computer.  Now I'm playing around with a new blogger software , so it's pot lock as to whether or not it will actually get posted.  Hope it does; it's cute! Now, back to my hot magic bag and pillow.
https://www.youtube.com/my_videos_edit?ns=1&video_id=LP2a7nvLLwg

test

Happy Birthday Marie!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXq77ddMwEY


11 years old.....imagine!!  Love the new jacket!

Shhhh Christmas gift for Todd and one for Troy!

• 

I know, I know.....considering the "naughty and nice" list, Troy and Todd should probably get coal!  (Just joking!)  But hey....I figured they were each worth a $1.99 lapel button!  We are having a Tidal Treasures Christmas get together on Friday, so shhhhhh till then!

It will be great to see the Tidal Treasures Crew.  We have all been doing a lot of nonhorsey things this month, getting caught up, but miss each other.   Going down to the barn this afternoon and may see a couple of stragglers.  It will be nice to see everyone next week and get back to the playing with our equine buddies!

Hi all - I just posted an update about Adios on my page. Still getting used to blogging - I thought it was going to show up here! Check out: "Pam's New Horse - Adios Tiki" (Right-hand list)

Beach in November

Spirit and I took a ride on the beach with Max and Ducky.  Beautiful day.  We trotted and cantered along the beach then went for a good old gallop up that great field by Max's that overlooks the ocean...breathtaking views.  Riders and horses were rejuvenated! Here's a very short little video clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Szsi9YWeZVM&feature=plcp

PARIS' Perspective - Remembrance Day Weekend.

Well, this is the  second Remembrance Day Weekend in a row that Lynn has taken me down to the beach.  It's kinda turned into a tradition.  Except last year, Aziim and his person Troy come with us, but this year, she brought the two new kids with her...Ali and Adios.

Here's me and Lynn.  Beautiful weather for November in Nova Scotia.  I'm a pretty good looking 4 year old, I'd say.  Lynn's got me in a western saddle today.  She keeps changing up saddles.

I'm not too sure about this new  kid - Adios.  I mean look at him...he's trying to drink salt water. This guy came from Virginia.  Not sure what that says about horses from Virginia.

Okay, okay I will admit he's only 3 so I should cut him some slack.  Also, I have to admit he seems quite brave.  He didn't seem to mind the water at all. 

Ali just came to the barn about a month ago.  He is a straight Egyptian Arabian - 1/2 brother to Aziim! Kathleen is really  happy with him. We are finding out new things about him every day.  He seems to like the beach!

He is definitely very curious.

The tide was coming in.  These two "newbies" are not sure just what to think about the water level changing!

The footing down on the beach is changing constantly so it keeps the boys' minds busy.  Come to think of it, Lynn says it keeps my mind busy too. 

Here's a picture of me and Ali out on the tide with our Chief Security Officer (Dozer).  What a beautiful Remembrance Day Weekend!

Today was also the first day Lynn put me in a hack more.  I liked it!

W

LOOP 3- THE FINAL LOOP!

This is the loop I’ve been dying to tell you about!

But before I do, there is one little tidbit I forgot to mention about the 2nd hold that is just too cute to hang onto.... Do you remember the story about how my Chief Pit Person (Shelley) decided to pick up a bucket at the first hold and pour it all over Spirit...only to more or less miss him and totally soak me?  Well, at the 2nd hold, Janie was helping Chief Pit Person and doing a marvelous job.  Before I knew what was happening....I saw Shelley pick up a bucket....I got out of the way FAST....poor Janie, she didn't stand a chance.  The water came flying over and splish...splash...Janie was taking a bath!  Man that Shelley is deadly with a bucket of water!

To set this up:  The last loop is 13 miles.  It starts at Anthony Lake, goes through medium size roads for most of the ride, then at " 4 miles left to go " sign, we pick up the same route as the way we came into Stanley.  The last 2 miles are on county back roads, two way traffic, and then onto the railroad tracks.  We were told that there should be no racing on the railroad tracks; basically that the first person on the tracks (unless they went down into a walk or something silly) should be considered the “winner”

                                

OK back to the story - Do you remember back at the first hold when I said that I was trying to be more aggressive about calling  pulse first because there wasn’t much of a consequence if you didn’t pulse down and had to go to the “end of the line” (since there was only three of us there...it turns out there was about a half hour or more between us and the rest of the riders) .  Well, this strategy did not work in my favour at this hold.

I called pulse and just missed being within the parameters.  As Spirit was being checked, Betty called pulse, and then Susan called pulse.  Because Spirit didn’t pulse down, that put us at the back of the line.  As a result, we went out on the last loop 2 minutes behind Betty and one minute behind Susan.  Doesn’t sound like much does it!  Well, the last loop was a 13 mile RACE and 2 minutes almost did us in…but wait a minute, I’m getting ahead of my story…

As Betty mounted to go out first on the last loop, I noticed she took a stick about the size of a crop and put it in her hand.  I think I have a picture somewhere to add…  This should have been a warning to me as to what was coming!  She left the hold,  and since there was a fairly long stretch ahead, I could see her for quite some time.

Susan left next.  She left at a trot and soon after that picked up a canter.  I could see Betty canter out of sight and Susan hot on her trail.  When it was time for Spirit and I to leave, I could just catch a glimpse of Susan.  Oh well, I thought, no worries.  We’ll have lots of time to catch up.   I trotted Spirit through the first 100 feet or so (it was muddy) just to make sure I had control of him and to warm him up a bit before taking off. 

We went up into a canter, and as we turned the corner, I expected to catch a glimpse of Susan….nothing.  Spirit looked up, also expecting to catch a glimpse and I could feel the tension increase in his body when he didn’t see anyone.  So we cantered a little faster, hit the next turn, took a look and.... nothing.  So we cantered a little faster, went along for about a mile before we hit a hill or  and finally came to an area where I was sure that once we hit the top of the hill we would see them.  Got to the top of the hill, could see quite a distance in front of us…and there was no sign of them!???

All of a sudden, my horse and I felt very alone and I felt really tired.  Fatigue was setting in.  Muscles were getting sore.   Mentally I was drained.  As we crested each hill…still no one in sight…I became more and more tired.  Almost depressed – sort of a physical/mental “in the moment” depression.  I think Spirit was feeling it too.  We had ridden a lot of miles, most of it in a real high and obviously our mood and competitive spirit had been bolstered by our companions. 

Then I thought, “holy crap” am I on the wrong trail.  Troy will kill me if I end up losing out in placing in the top 3  because I’m on the wrong stupid trail.  I know it.  I bet I am.”  I frantically looked for a ribbon as I tried to steer Spirit through huge puddles and mud, still going at a steady canter.  In a short matter of time, a ribbon appeared!  OK, I thought, well maybe they are on the wrong trail…so I looked for horse tracks ahead of me.  Sounds easy enough to do but try it after you've ridden 40 miles and you are in a canter/half gallop.  It took me a minute, but I did start to identify other tracks.  So…we were not on the wrong track and neither were they.  However, we had been steadily cantering since we left the hold and I realized at that point, that they must be galloping…because we were not making headway.  Then…I remembered Betty’s stick!  I laughed right out loud and I said out loud “That bitc_  (meant with love!) she is trying to dump me!!!”

So, then I let Spirit open wide and we flew for the next 10-15 minutes (18-20 mph is my guess).  THEN all of a sudden ….there they were!!!! When Spirit saw them, he went into warp speed (thought he as at warp speed until then).  Betty looked behind her and I heard her utter some kind of shocked expression! 

So now, here is an interesting part….as we got closer to Betty and Susan, Spirit pushed with everything he had, passed them and flew by as if to say “Screw you guys, you are not getting ahead of me again.”  I swear to God that was what his body posture was suggesting. (I think he gave them the equine "finger"!)  I thought once we caught up, he’d lighten up and settle in behind them.  NO WAY.  He kept up the speed and he flew.  Every time he heard a horse foot come close behind him, he went as fast as he could go to keep the lead.  It was amazing!  I’ve never seen him so competitive.   Now, I understand what Jeannie Waldron meant when she said “it’s no fun winning if you are on a horse that you have to push the whole way.”  I totally get it.  What an amazing experience to be on a horse that is determined to win!  Loved it.

For those of you who know the trail, at this point we are about halfway down the back road that runs parallel to Straight Road.  We still have to make the left turn on Anthony, go all the way up Anthony and then start hitting the “x miles to go sign”  My guess at this point is that we were about half way through the last 13 (might have been 14) miles.

At this point, my horse has not come out of the canter/gallop since we picked it up at the beginning of the loop.  Seriously.

As we were racing along I smiled at Betty and hollered out, “You tried to dump me!” (have to holler loud because the bells make a lot of noise).   She looked at me with a big smile and hollered back something like, “Yes I did, but damn it,  I can’t believe you caught up.  That’s quite a horse you’ve got there.!!!”

My mood had lightened up now that we were back with the front of the pack but my body was getting tired.  We were turning up Anthony Road by this point, and there were a lot of puddles to maneuver through.  Spirit usually slows up for a puddle, he may not transition into a slower gait, but he usually rebalances and slows – not on this loop.  On this loop, between the desire to give his buddies the “finger” and probably from getting “muscle tired,” there was no re-adjusting for puddles.  I could have “made” him rock back a bit at each puddle, but there were so many and I was pretty tired too.  So, I steered towards the least messy looking part and let him fly through everything. 

So let’s examine Spirit’s canter for a moment.  He has two canter gaits…a nice “rocking horse dressage canter that he was in during the beginning of the ride when he was full of energy and light on his feet.  Then he has his “fast” hit hard canter– it  is like working out on an epileptic machine.  It is an aerobic adventure  that utilizes every core muscle in your body.  I cannot sit this gait – the bounce and whip lash would kill me – so I ride it two point.   So, I’ve been riding an epileptic machine, two point, for about 7 miles straight at this point.  OMG my muscles are soo tired.  My body is sooo sore.  I am totally winded…I have never canter/galloped this long before and my lungs are exploding.  I start to try to breath in unison with my horse…just to get my breath back to something “normal.” At this point, even with all the adrenalin, I really want this to be over.  I consider bringing Spirit down for a trot…just until I can catch my breath and give my legs a break but I know that if I do… that's it.  The race is won and not by us.

Here’s what you need to know about me…I hate it when my horse is limited because of “me.”  It has happened to me a few times when I have slowed him in training or in competition because of “me” not him.  This really, really bothers me and it is one of the best motivators I have ever had for trying to keep in shape.  So I dug deep on that day…deeper than I have ever dug and I made a conscious decision.  If Spirit did not win this race, it would not be because of me. 

I can also tell you that I was not totally sure that I should let him continue to canter/gallop.  He’s a great horse and I don’t want him hurt.  I wasn’t sure what to do.  I know this…if he was younger or less experienced, I would not have allowed it.  But he felt…confident….He’s being doing this a long time and he knew what he wanted.  I knew we were pushing the envelope, but decided that as long as he had it in him, he could go.  At this point, I had not kicked or urged him on once – the speed was all him.

Finally we flew passed the "5 miles to go sign"  This was not an exciting feeling.  It reminded me of when I first started doing distance riding. Five miles?  Are you kidding.  There is no way I can go through this for another 5 miles.  I could tell Susan was feeling this way too.  Betty was silent on the matter.

We turned onto the main artery - Straight Road and by this time we only had 4 miles to go!  The pace was the same, if not faster, and I could not stay in two point any longer.  I had to sit on Spirit's back.  I figured when I did, he'd slow down for sure.  I was heart broken.  I was so sure that when I sat down, he'd slow down with the extra weight and it would be my fault.  I figured he wouldn't be able to keep up.  I had no choice. A girl can dig deep, but I was at the bottom of the well.  So...I sat.  It was painful.  The first few steps were like my body was at the end of big ol lunge crop.  Each step whiplashed my entire body. So I leaned forward and grabbed the mane to take some weight out of my seat and distribute it through my arms.    Spirit didn't care...he did not slow down...not one bit!!!! God I love this horse. He has so much heart.

As we were speeding up Straight Road, the three of us still neck-in-neck, Shelley took some video with her phone.  It's not the best quality, but I have it here anyway....even if you can't see much, you can hear the hooves...and you can hear those damn jingle bells!  (Imagine listening to them for 5 hours!)  I'm so glad Shelley got a bit of video, it brings it all back!  

.  Enjoy the video (it's only 13 seconds long!)
Story to be continued tomorrow  (sorry, a lot happens over 50 miles of riding!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAZZPA6V5r4&feature=g-upl

Nova Scotia's Autumn Run. LOOP 2

Loop 2 .... The Orange Loop

Have been having computer trouble since my last blog. Think it is sorted out now...

Loop 2 took us through a narrow trail and then into a ravine. My plan (about to be altered for the 100th time) was to get off Spirit, and walk beside him down the ravine to save any strain on his legs, walk through the river, up the other side and them get back on Spirit, and then catch up on the other side. I told Betty and Susan this but when we got there Betty said "Lynn this is nothing" and she was right, and I really didn't want to deal with wet feet, so I stayed on. Spirit was fine and my feet stayed dry.

The next five to seven miles (don't remember distances anymore) were in a remote area on really good roads. We cantered, took turns sharing the lead. Sometimes we "flew" and other times we just cantered. Anytime Spirit started to get too close to the horse in front, I just put him in the lead for a while. We often rode 2 abreast and I the three riders really bonded over this stretch of road.

At one point we were cantering three abreast. I was in the middle and hollered out ( totally used to hollering to each other at this point so that we could hear over all the jingling bells) LADIES, IS THERE ANYWHERE ELSE YOU WOULD RATHER BE THAN RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW?". I looked over at them. It is a beautiful feeling when three people recognize, at the same time, the wonder within a moment. It is a great feeling and I will hold onto it in my heart for a long time.

The truth is, it was Pat Ritcy who first said those exact words to me once during one of the Mud Run rides and I've never forgotten it.

I got Betty and Susan to ride side-by-side so I could take some video of them, but it didn't work (total technical malfunction day) Instead of video, the go pro took pictures and I will try to post one here. Take a look at the back of Susan's saddle and you can see the row of sleigh bells.

There are a few additional small stories associated with this loop but in the interst of getting this story through loop 2 and into the story of the finish (loop 3), iam going to tuck those little stories away for another time.

As we were finishing loop 2 and coming into the hold, not one of us had a functioning heart rate monitor and although we were all three saying that we should slow down and that the horses "will not come down as fast this time" not one amongst us would cave in and walk, so we trotted into the second hold, similar to the first!

Something's Not Right...

As we look toward the barn from our house, we can see Mister & Willow standing in the barn each morning. They have enough room to stand width-wise in the aisle but we can see the "whole horse" when they stand that way. Sunday morning, hubby looked out and could see only see Mister's tail - hmmmm, hubby thought. This meant the rest of Mister was in the hay stall.
Heeheehee! Lucky for Mister that Willow is an expert at undoing latches and hooks. They'd pulled a couple of bales down and got enough out to keep Willow happy while Mister kept his face in the stall, munching away.
We usually tie a piece of twine around the hook after latching - that's been enough to keep her out - but on hubby's list now are a couple of those hooks with springs. Let's see how long it takes Willow to figure that one out!!

AUTUMN RUN. Loop One, Continued

Before I continue on with the story of loop one, I need to add an important disclaimer..this is MY story...MY memory .... Whether or not it is completely accurate, I have no idea. As a matter of fact, I am sure the facts become even more inaccurate as each day passes. That's just the way it is!

Also, before we saunter further into loop 1,I'd like to post a few pictures of the start that I found on Facebook. There will be better quality pictures coming when we get Cathy's photos but these do a great job of capturing the essence of an early dawn start:

Ok, so on with loop one. As Susan and I are running (well our horses actually) up Anthony Road, (should have marked the map better...somewhere mist past the #4) Spirit and I settle into a nice pace and once again I realize that I am really thirsty. I had tried to get at my camelpak before this but the pace was just too fast. This time though I managed to reach the mouthpiece and tried to suck back a big drink only to realize that the darn thing wasn't working. Seriously? 50 miles to go and no camelpak? All of a sudden I was also starting to realize that I was feeling really warm...too warm. I had on a raincoat but it wasnt raining, it was hot! So I devised a plan and tried to remove camelpak and jacket so I could throw it to Shelley as I trotted by. I got everything off but couldn't hang on to it, so I eventually dropped it. Why are all these details so important? Because, if you remember from the first post, my rider card was in the pocket...I had forgot about that little detail and did not remember until about two miles before hitting the first hold. I grabbed a gateraid out of my saddle pack and worked st drinking it down so I could get a fresh, full one as I passed Shelley at the only spot I was going to see her for the first 20 mile....Pick Road.

As I approached Pick Road, I could see two or three trucks and people all about. I needed to get Shelley's attention and I didn't want to stop ( we had decided that I would only stop at the "fly by" if there was a tack issue), so I started hollering as loud as I could "WATER, WATER". I could see lots of quizzical faces and body postures, then the next thing I knew there was someone jogging beside me as I was trotting along, It was Shelley! A water in one hand and a gateraid in the other. I slowed Spirit down just a notch, and Shelley passed me that gateraid like a professional relay racer passing along the baton!

Left hand turn for Spirit and I onto Pick Road and right back up into the canter again! Now, according to the pre-ride plan nestled snug in my brain, I was going to bring Spirit down to a strong trot along Pick road. That was the plan. However, it was clear to me that Susan was not planning on coming down to anything closely resembling a trot. Oh oh, here I was about 6 miles into the race, neck-in-neck for first place. I knew if I trotted, I would be kissing first place goodbye. But what about the old argument "ride your own ride"? Well, I realized at that moment that "ride your own ride" does not necessarily mean "ride the ride you planned." I checked into the situation....I had total control of my horse....my horse felt fit as a fiddle...the canter was extremely comfortable (at this point) and seemed effortless for both horse and rider. Was I willing to give up any chance of winning only six miles in with a scenario like this? No, non, No Way.

A few minutes went by and then Susan pointed to my GPS watch and asked me "what is that contraption saying. Can you tell how far we've gone?" I looked down at the watch but couldn't understand the data...looked like it was saying four miles? "No, I can't quite read it", I replied. I looked over at her as I spoke, and she gave me this "look". (liar). Oh oh I thought, we don't know each other very well and she thinks I'm lying! Oh dear. Eventually, we came upon a big mess of mud. "Oh Susan, I said, I remember from marking trails with Troy, that this mud is at about mile seven". I think she believed me and eventually realized that I really could not read that damn GPS. Troy and I had taken a picture of the mud a few days earlier as one of our examples of varying road conditions so I will try to find it and stick it in here.

Another few miles flew by and then we took a sharp right hand turn off of Pick Road and onto Tomcod Road. This "road" is even more rustic than Pick and I love it. We were cantering along and all was lovely. Still smiling that big ol smile, sky's were threatening rain, but so far, nothing. Susan rides with a strap of sleigh bells attached to her saddle (scare away bears) and we were rhythmical moving along to the loud but pleasant jingle, jingle of the bells.

All of a sudden, there was the sound of another jingle bell and it did not match the same pitch or rhythm as Susan's. What could that be? We were 10 miles into the ride, in the middle of nowhere, far ahead of the rest of the pack....or so I thought. "jingle, jingle....here comes Betty riding Hooley! Seriously? Damn! This is not the first time Betty has shown up from nowhere behind me. The last time was our distance ride in Prince Edward Island (not an endurance ride) and that time, after a few miles, she left me in her dust. Grrrrr.

I could hear her saying something to Susan but with all the jingling and now the odd little "jangle" from Betty's lone little bell, I could not hear what they were saying. I told them what I knew about the trail, that there was a part coming up where we would have to walk and a good water hole on the other side of Beazley Hollow" where I planned on stopping to offer Spirit a drink. We cantered on, it seemed longer than I thought it would before I began to recognize trail markings and realized we would soon be walking our horses through the section of trail blazed by Troy just a few days earlier.

As the road ended and the entrance to the woods (ie Beazley Hollow) approached, Spirt and I were leading the pack. How appropriate, I thought to myself, the first horse to ever step into the trail through Beazley Hollow will be a Beazley! (Kindred Spirit Beazley-Parsons!).

The woods trail was lovely on horseback and well marked. Betty and Susan both complimented the barn for a great job. Gary Parsons and Gary Bottomly were both at the bridge waiting. (they came at it from the road on the other side) in case any rider had trouble on the bridge. We were fine and in no time, we were out of the woods and cantering up the other road towards the first hold.

The next six miles or so to the first hold went along beautifully. I was smiling that big ol smile all the way. Who wouldn't be? For another six lovely miles we cantered along and we trotted along. We tried to get our horses to drink water. None of them seemed to be drinking a lot, but they stood around in the puddles and caught their breath. The riders were enjoying each others company and we were commenting a lot on the weather; the skies suggested rain at any second, but yet..no rain! Before we knew it, we could see the trucks and pit crew for THE FIRST HOLD!!!

FIRST HOLD

As we approached the first hold, I thought to myself, "we have settled into the easiest 19 miles I have ever ridden" and in hindsight it still feels that way. I looked down at my gps just before entering the hold and it said that our average was 10 miles per hour. Even with the walking and stopping for water I thought to myself that the gps could actually be accurate. The heart rate monitor was registering sporadically but according to what it was telling me, Spirit's heart rate was 44 ; I don't believe that for a minute, but it might have been 88. Sometimes when he is moving, the monitor gives me a "half read". (just my observation, but it has happened quite frequently)

I have read in a lot of endurance articles that say you should walk your horse into a hold or even get off your horse and walk into the hold. However, when Gary and I were helping at the US national endurance ride last month, no one walked in; everyone trotted in. What to do? In this instance I decided to follow my fellow competitors. Both of them..trotted in, so I did too!

I hit the hold, got off Spirit. We whipped the saddle off of him and started sponging him with water. In a fairly short amount of time, I approached for pulse but as soon as I did I knew it was too soon. I saw his heart rate spike up to 70 just before he was checked. I am usually very conservative when asking for pulse but decided to be more aggressive at this ride. There is no penalty for having a high pulse, except that you have to get to the back of the line. Seeing how there was just three of us, I didn't think the risk was too serious. Spirit pulsed down to the required "60" a minute or two later.

I managed to complicate things unnecessarily by not having my rider card with me, and got a little turned around with the process ...this being my first ever endurance hold and all!! But the volunteers got me sorted out and my first official 30 minute mandatory hold began. Todd and Kathleen were there to help Shelley. Shelley had everything set up and organized. The Schaffers took good care of the Boy and I. Shelley was especially enthusiastic. She decided, at one point, that sponging Spirit was just too slow a process, so she decided to throw a bucket of water over him. And that's just what she did; literally. Yep, the water went right over Spirit and landed ......on me! I was soaked! Not from the rain; from my friend! In no time flat I was really cold and so ducked behind the truck, stripped off the top half and put on dry clothes. Shelley had parked the truck in a manner that allowed me some privacy to do this (although I was suppose to be wet from rain water!)that girl thought of everything.

Shelley and I had a plan regarding when we would tack Spirit up again (with15 minutes remaining) and when I would get back in the saddled again (with 5 minutes left in the hold) and our plan worked like clockwork.

Betty and I were scheduled to leave the hold at the same time and I think Susan was too. If not, she was only seconds behind us. With a few minutes remaining in the hold, we were saddled on our trusty steeds, staring each other down, waiting for the timer to give the go ahead so we could tear on out onto Loop 2. The count down began, 10, 9,8, ...2,1...and away we went! Seventeen miles of glorious trail ahead of us before we would once again have to atone to pulse takers and veterinarian examination. LOOP 2 HERE WE COME!!! .... To be continued!

AUTUMN RUN . Part One - Preamble, The Start, Loop One

PREAMBLE -THE ROUTE

OK. It's time to get to work and write down the details of riding our first endurance race! I'd like to start by explaining the set up of the trail a little bit. Most of the ride took place on the property of a logging company. This property known by us as "Stanley" consists of hundreds of miles of rideable trail and roads. The roads vary in size from one large, long road that is wide enough for two-way traffic and can usually be driven by cars, down to narrow snowmobile-type trails.

The ride site is about two miles from "Stanley", so we have to go about 2 miles into the ride to get to Stanley. We leave the ride site, cross the street, duck into the woods and ride the first mile or so on an old railroad bed. The 2nd mile to get into Stanley is on an old county dirt road with an old steel bridge and a big horse farm. This road takes us to the entrance into Stanley. This is the same route when we leave Stanley to get back to the ride site. The finish line was at the end of the railroad bed.

The ride consisted of 3 loops. The first loop (burgundy colour in the picture) took you into Stanley, around a loop to the left, and then deeper into Stanley. This loop was about 19 miles long. The 2nd loop (red loop in the picture)went to "the top" of Stanley and then back again almost to the hold of the first loop. The 3rd loop (green in the picture but hard to see because it overlaps with other loops) wove its way back to the bottom of Stanley and then back to the railroad bed (ie the finish line).

THE START

I started tacking Spirit up, in the dark with a flashlight, at 6am. When I went around the trailer to greet him, he nickeled a very low, long nicker to me. Right away Shelley decided that he was saying. "All right, let 's do this". I concur with Shelley's interpretation. Spirit knows the drill and he enjoys the run.

Shelley, by the way, was my "pit crew". That is a story all in itself! For now, all I will say is that she was amazing, worked like a dog, was brilliant at the task, and if you ever want to solidify a friendship ( or end it!) just pit crew 50 miles for someone!

It was suppose to rain 15 - 25 cm of rain and I could see the mist, and feel a few drops now and then. I hate tacking up in the rain so I worked as fast as I could to get the job done before the downpour began. The ride was scheduled to begin at 7:15 am. I was in the saddle and at the start gate at 7am sharp. I had my helmet light on. It wasn't too dark at the ride site but you could tell it was going to be dark in the woods along the railroad bed At about 7:05 am ride management decided to delay the ride for 15 minutes because it was so dark in the woods, but the riders would not hear of it, so the ride would continue as planned at 7:15 am. All of a sudden I realized I did not have my ride card!. Oh my poor pit crew, it was starting all ready. Shelley was frantically searching the trailer for it, found it at the last second, I shoved it in my raincoat pocket just a I heard TRAIL IS OPEN! Holy smokes what a rush. Nine horses and riders, all trotting/cantering off into the early dawn with sprays of mist framing our exit.

LOOP ONE. (burgundy loop)

Across the road and deep into the darkness we flew. Spirit and I were at about the 4th spot going along the railroad bed (single file only). The helmet light was useful in helping me judge the distance between us and the next horse. As we were cantering along in the excitement ...9 horses in a column...I could see Susan Hovey's mare (can't think of her name) spooking now and again off to the side. Oh god I thought, I hope we don't have a train wreck on the railroad tracks (did not realize the humour in that thought at the time). My heart was pounding. I'm sure I did not even blink my eyes once the entire time we were on the rail bed and man was my mouth dry. It felt like only a few seconds later and we were on the wider road. Horses were now running two and three abreast, passing each other and picking up speed. All of a sudden a lot of the horses started to notice things around them...like the herd of 20 trail horses on the farm beside the road all running to meet us. Out of the corner of my eyes (still haven't blinked) I could see horses in our group, here and there spooking or shying from things along the road. I had no idea how Spirit would react to strange horses spooking. I decided to look straight ahead, keep him looking and riding straight between my hands and legs and to ignore everything else around me. I focused on this like I have never focused on anything in my life before and it seemed to help. Once we turned into the entrance of Stanley, I could feel myself relax, ever so slightly and I think I might have finally blinked. We rode onto a tiny trail, once again single file. We knew there were a few obstacles on this trail and I wasn't comfortable with the speed the riders in front of me were at, so I slowed spirit's canter down and at a few places I even brought him down to a trot. At this point, I knew those new reins were going to be a godsend...even at the beginning of the ride with horses cantering away from him, he was manageable.

I didn't worry too much about horses getting ahead of us because when we came out of the trail I knew we were going to be on Phinney Road. Here's the thing about Phinney...we don't train on it but we ride it in competition in the Mud Run. For as long as I can remember, Spirit has tried to run at top, top speed on Phinney. I have never let him, but there were a few times, early on in our partnership, when he got away from me and until i got things back under control, we blasted up Phinney. So today was going to be Spirit's lucky day: I had it all planned out. I was going to do nothing except ride whatever speed he chose to run up Phinney. Well, it was so funny. He immediately went into gallop mode the second his feet left the ditch and hit Phinney. I could tell he was waiting to be told to slow down and I could feel the pure joy of freedom building and building as he ran faster and faster up that road with no one holding him back! Oh yeah, My Boy had just found his own special little piece of heaven and I was right there with him! The faster he ran, the bigger the smile on my face. This was going to be an amazing day! Oh the smile on my face! It was as huge and as authentic as any smile has ever been!

As we turned left off Phinny and out onto Straight Road, I slowed the boy down to a more manageable speed...didnt want him to wear himself out before we even got started. It didn't take too long and we had passed everyone (maybe not Susan, can't remember). Eventually as we turned up Anthony Road it was just me and Susan. (somewhere around the 4 mile mark on the map). I figured Betty and Rusty had to be somewhere close by, along with the rest of the pack. Oh my, I was having so much fun!

The route took as along Anthony Road and then a sharp left down Pick Road. Before I go too much further into the race, let me tell you about Pick Road. It's a BEAUTIFUL little side road that gets increasingly rustic the further in you go, but it ends at around the bottom of the loop in the picture of the map. You see, up until a week or so ago, there was no loop. There were two trails that were not joined. There was over a quarter of a mile of woods and a brook with really deep banks along it separating the two roads. So how did it end up being a loop? Give Troy Beazley a week's vacation, and anything can happen! He worked his derrière off, 12 hour days on the trail and then well into the wee hours of the morning doing other chores, and he pulled it off! With the help of Todd, Gary, and myself, there is now a beautiful trail through the woods where there was NOTHING. The guys actually cut it wide enough that they were able to drive the ATV through the newly cut trail and push it down even more. Gary and Todd built a bridge over the brook, and eventually...."Beazley Hollow" came to life!

This is a warning....if Troy Beazley ever says to you "we just need to build a little trail to connect...". Run and don't look back! Even better, pry that GPS from his hands and then run!!!

I'm a bit off track here as far as the story of the race goes so I think we will end here for tonight and continue on with loop one in the next story. Happy Trails Everyone!

The Big Stuff

How to write a "note"about a weekend that is the pinnacle of so many things? Focus on the big stuff and provide details later. The Big Stuff:

I am now recognized as an endurance rider. My horse and I, after five years of training, have completed our first endurance ride. A day after the ride, Spirit looks to be in better shape than he does sometimes after a training ride. We rode a sub-five hour, fifty mile endurance ride, competed against stiff competition, and having luck on our side, on this particular day, we actually won. I feel a profound emotional mix of accomplishment, pride, and gratitude. A defining moment in my life accomplished. The end of a beginning and the beginning of something that could be endless

This weekend was also a defining moment for the Tidal Treasures Crew. A group of kindred spirits knitted together though our love of distance riding and shared "salt of the earth" personality. The characteristics of this personality include the natural desire to do the right thing for the right reason and the desire to encourage ourselves and encourage others. A harder working group of people you will not find. Well, all of this was capsulated in this past weekend as the ACTRA community was provided with a full blown dose of tidal treasures hospitality. From this experience as well, I feel a profound emotional mix of accomplishment, pride and gratitude. Another defining moment in my life, as a member of the Tidal Treasures Crew, accomplished. Another end of a beginning, and the beginning of something that could be endless.

In conclusion, for tonight, I can't help but think how my feelings for ACTRA as a whole are also a similar mix of accomplishment, pride and gratitude. It was a weekend that was defined by camaraderie and empathy.

All in all, if you took part in this weekend, or in any part of this journey, you will understand the pride that goes into this signing off:
Sincerely

Lynn Beazley, Endurance Rider
Tidal Treasures Crew, ACTRA

ENDURANCE IN 0 DAYS (today!!!! )

The ride is over and now I can finally, finally, say, I AM AN ENDURANCE RIDER!!!!!!
(the rest is all details....to be provided later!)

ENDURANCE IN TWO DAYS

The words that best describe my feelings at this time. Hmmm lets try " controlled chaos" or "exhaustion". I think the whole team is feeling this way. Take a look at the pic below. There are 4 pots of food cooking (some just started and it's 9pm!) there are horse socks on the kitchen counter sitting next to a pie! Yes there is a counter there somewhere From the conversations I've been having, the whole tidal treasure crew has similar circumstances of "controlled chaos". So multiply my kitchen by 12 more houses and you get the idea of what is involved with hosting a ride! Everyone is tired, exhausted really, but everyone is also in great spirits.

Tacked Spirit up today, checked out the tack and the new reins. Rode for about 10 minutes! Gave him electrolytes. Had a "pit crew" meeting with Shelley. This is new to both of us so there are a lot of details to work out. Have his food packed. Have my clothes packed (bringing extra set of clothes in case it rains) Todd and Troy finished the trail today. Carrilee, Lucy and Pam are ironing out a hundred little details. My back is really sore from all the trail marking on the ATV so hoping a good doses of something tonight will help straighten it out a bit. Would like to give more details about preparing a horse for a fifty mile ride, but I'm too tired! Tomorrow is a big day....we. Vet in tomorrow night in Stanley!

ENDURANCE IN THREE DAYS!!

Let me tell you 50 miles is a LONG, LONG trail ride. I know because we have been fixing and marking trail since Sunday. Today Troy and I left the driveway at 8am and never got back until almost 8 pm. Yesterday Troy and Todd put in a similar day. Come to think of it, Troy has pretty much living in Stanley since Saturday. The good news...it is all done except for the first mile (which is also the last mile). I am going to bed, getting up in the morning and getting my horse, gear, tack etc ready. I hope Spirit remembers what I look like. I hope I can ride 50 miles. The reality of the distance really sunk in today.

Profile of an Endurance Rider

IRMGARD LIPP AND HOOFPRINT

IRMGARD will be the last rider we will have a chance to profile until after the race on October 20th

How many years have you been riding Limited Distance rides?
I joined ACTRA in 2000

How many endurance rides have you participated in?
I have participated in two 50 mile rides. One in NS; the other in NB hosted by the Amigos

Tell us about Hoofprint's background.
I have his mother and I have raised him since he was born. He is 13 years old now. He is truly a "mixed" breed. His mother is a mixture or Arab, saddlebred, Morgan and quarter horse, I think.

What are your favorite moments in distance riding?
The 50s because they are so challenging. I also loved riding in PEI. Really, there are so, sooo many great rides

Tell us what you love about HOOFPRINT
He is a very sensible trail horse. Not too crazy when things get a little hot. He will go over, under or through anything I ask him to. He is also very helpful to others (horses) when they are first learning to go over, under or through obstacles.

Thank you Irmgard for this quick little snapshot of your riding and your horse. Best of luck on Saturday!

Horsekeeping Blunder

I hesitated to blog about this for two reasons: 1. It has nothing to do with our Endurance/Limited Distance ride which is foremost on our minds and 2. I was pretty sure I didn't want ANYone to know. But it's part of my experience so here goes.
  Last Wednesday morning I went out as usual to feed Mister & Willow their hay and breakfast. When I went to open the the freezer holding their breakfast I found it was NOT chained. We spent a lot of time talking about whether or not to have the freezer inside the barn. Hubby chained it shut so they couldn't open the lid and then he chained it to the wall so they couldn't tip it over. But I left it open by mistake.
GULP! Heart beating super fast now as I turn to look at them. They hadn't crowded each other when I came into the paddock and were quietly munching their hay I'd just tossed them after carefully smelling it to make sure it wasn't moldy. I open the freezer to find their dishes empty, feed bag shredded and top knocked off the vitamins. Some Flax and Soy beans tossed about.
  I lock the freezer and I'm shaking. I look at them again as I walk towards the house, "HUN!!" I yell in an unmistakable tone to hubby holding the dog. "Put Lilly inside & come help me please!" I say to him. He knows the tone well and just does it without asking.
I tell him, we look again at the freezer and I tell him we have to move it. He sees I'm trying not to cry and we just do it. Move a bunch of hay out of the hay building and drag that freezer to the new spot. He says they'll be fine, they hardly got any - they probably couldn't keep the lid open to eat much.
  I canNOT stop thinking that I may well have killed both my horse and my daughter's horse. He leaves me alone, wise hubby.
  I go back over to Mister & Willow and take their hay away and I lock the pasture gate so they're stuck with only an appetizer portion of grass that's hardly worth the effort. I'm frantically going over colic symptoms while trying to stay calm. I look for fresh manure and can't find any. I have no idea when they were eating out of that freezer. I listen for gut sounds and when I don't hear any I listen with the stethoscope and think I hear some. They don't feel warm anywhere, I run my hands over their legs and they feel fine. Feet do not feel hot. Breathing is same as always. They look Ok, but definitely look "full" and lazy. Lethargic. Lethargy! Ohmygosh! They DO look lethargic! Thing is, they always look lethargic after breakfast. Really, they're potatoes after breakfast.
  I'm looking at them looking at me. There is no obvious sign to call a vet, or Gary. What to do? Coffee and internet to investigate colic. I look at them out the window and they're looking more lethargic every second.
  I can't stand to stay in and wait so I go back out and move them. Grab a stick & say "Walk!" - Willow goes right away and Mister just looks annoyed. I move them for five minutes and step back. Nothing - they just look at me. I pick the paddock so I can see right away any fresh manure. I'm keeping busy, that's all. I move them again for another five minutes. Mister gets a drink and Willow deposits a neat little pile of manure that looks perfectly normal. She is aghast at the profuse praise she receives for this small act. I listen again for gut sounds and think I hear some. For Mister, I can hear plenty, but no manure and he's still looks "off" to me. I tell him what a good boy he is for taking a drink.
  I leave them alone for twenty minutes and come back to do the same thing. Still no manure from Mister but both are drinking water and looking for bits of hay from this morning. I move them two more times before he gives me manure. Whew! I start to calm down. Maybe I didn't kill them after all. Maybe. They doze more than usual throughout the day but otherwise seem fine.
  All day I watch them and they get no supper, just hay. They are annoyed but I tell them that's what they get for stealing. Normal manure and normal attitudes the next day.
Perfect. I didn't kill them. And they didn't kill me. But it sure felt close.

ENDURANCE in 6 Days!!

Well, I've been trying to chronicle our (myself and Kindred Spirit's) journey leading up to our first endurance ride, but in the past few days my focus has shifted to helping with the ride. Everyone at Tidal Treasures, along with our adopted couple (Lucy and Elwood!) has been very busy tending to paperwork, cooking/baking, and trail blazing. I' was out for hours today on the ATV with Troy checking trails. (troy is practically living in Stanley these days.) The trails look great believe it or not. Much dryer than last week. And very pretty. We will be really busy tomrrow blazing a path through the woods to connect two small ATv trails so we will have a nice "rustic " loop to throw into the mix. Hope to have pics of the trail and maybe even some video soon. Meanwhile here's a picture of some yummies Shelley is baking up for Saturday. Yum!

Profile of an endurance rider

DEANNA JOHNSTON AND AZZI

Our series of interviews featuring the upcoming riders in the Autumn Run continues. Today's profile is about a wonderful lady in ACTRA, Deanna Johnston.

How many years have you been riding limited distance rides?
"Seven years." (However she's actually been riding since she was "knee high to a grasshopper!)

How many endurance rides have you ridden in?
"Zero! This will be my first. I want to to try it, just so I can say that I've ridden one!"

Tell us about Azzi's background.
I purchased him here in the maritimes as a 7 year old, but he was still very green. You know, he'd gallop but not canter, that type of behaviour. He's an Arabian and he is 13 years old now.

What are your favorite moments of distance riding?
"I enjoy it all. All the types of trail. I love the experience of riding long distances with Azzi. It's a wonderful opportunity to ride for hours upon hours, and to do so in the company of so many good people. I'm happy just to be able to experience this at this time in my life.".

Tell us what you love about Azzi
He is my Pal. I have so much faith in him. He will do whatever I ask of him We have jumped together, done dressage, and eventing. He looks after me. He does his job and he enjoys doing it.

Thanks Deanna for a quick snapshot of your riding and your horse. Best of luck on Saturday October 20th,

Pics fom Maple Ridge Ride-JP