Topaz Dreams

There was a local QSER club meeting/ride this weekend, and I am very pleased with Fetti.
Five mile ride over: generally uneventful, not quite a 5mph pace but I let her choose a lazy forwards speed and didn’t ask for much.
Five-ish mile with another club member on her green horse: not logged, but Fetti was excellent and polite and mellow, winning herself a few more fans.  It wasn’t a hard or a fast ride, but given the plan to ride to the meeting and then home again after, I was happy enough to have a socializing ride while helping someone else’s training.

The ride home got a bit more interesting.

We headed out around 7, much to the pony’s dismay as we were leaving all the other horses and that couldn’t possibly be right.  She got over it; we’ve had worse discussions when leaving.  We stayed lazily slow through the steep downhill steps to the river, then trucked along at a consistent-but-not-fast trot — and it was quiet enough in the park we sustained that pace for the next 0.7 miles on a gradual uphill.  Very pleased.  We can’t normally do that!  Looking at the logs after, that ‘not-fast’ trot was a solid 7mph.  Gooood mare.

Partway out, I got a text from a friend that she’d meet me partway home, and here’s where she was now.  Yay!  We picked up the pace, flying up one hill, walking the really steep stuff down, and trotting most of the downhills towards her location.  Good news: totally rideable, though I wouldn’t want to make a habit of doing that all the time.  Bad news: my iMessages never went through to her, and I got another Text that she was heading up the trail.. the other fork, not the one I’d just come down.  Drat!  She can’t be that far away though, right?  We’re hauling ass, she’s bareback and solo, she was *just* here I think.. so we turned around and flew a bit more sedately back up the other trail away from home.

Several missed calls and failed messages later, she finally got my ‘turn around!’ text message, but at that point was nearly to the center point; she called and said she’d wait there.  Poor Confetti was not pleased with her human, but was still politely trotting along most of the time when asked.  Mostly all uphill, and I kept thinking we’d catch up to them soon.. well.. no.  We did not.  Fetti was very happy to see her mother at the midway point, and I was very apologetic to my poor horse.

Off we headed for home, down the same trail Fetti and I had gone earlier heading home.  I can’t blame her for thinking badly of the humans!  It was mostly downhill, with sunlight fading fast.  We’ve ridden in the dark before and I figured we’d probably be fine.  We did opt to take the (no horses allowed) main road through the park since slightly more light comes through and there are slightly fewer cliffs, rocks, and terrain changes to deal with.  Confetti led through most of the unfamiliar road, her tail acting as a navigational beacon for our riding partner.

It was pretty freakin’ dark by the time we got back onto our trails.  We’d walked nearly all of the road – unfamiliar asphalt in the dark going downhill does not exactly scream ‘trottable terrain’.  The moon wasn’t deigning to show itself.  (And now that I’ve looked it up, gee, that makes sense: new moon tomorrow night.  There was no moon this weekend.)

So Confetti stayed in front, and we just kept on walking.  I pointed out landmarks periodically to reassure the four of us that we were in fact making progress towards home.  The last mile home has a fair bit of tree cover and not an awful lot of clear spots.  We hit our first ‘totally dark’ spot and Confetti promptly spooked in place, then carried on walking.  Thank goodness.  I don’t know what it was, but I didn’t fall off and she got herself over it with no help from me.  Good pony!  Our second spook came a few minutes later, as I slowed down her walk so our riding partners could stick right by her tail for visibility.  The bushes by my left foot moved all of a sudden, and poor Fetti nearly jumped out of her skin going sideways to get away from.. whatever it was, perhaps a lizard?  I couldn’t fault her for that, either, and she got over it and carried on forwards right after.

My night vision is pretty good, and I know the trails well.  It’s not often that we hit areas of total darkness where I can’t even see her mane in front of me.  We did that a few times during this ride.  I couldn’t drop contact for fear she’d spook, but I rode a lot of it with one hand on the reins and one on the saddle.  A glowstick on my crupper would have been very helpful for our partner.  A few times I pulled my phone out and just let the ambient light hit her tail as we went through sections of dark, just to give her something to orient to.  When we hit our usual ‘very dark’ spot almost all the way home, I gave in and used the flashlight ahead of us.  I couldn’t see anything, I was worried about deer, and I couldn’t keep turning on the screen and holding it behind me.

I apologized profusely to the pony, thanked her, and gave her an extra flake of hay.

The first topic in question is actually a spin off of L’s final hop. I want to know about what you ride in and why? Show us your Equestrian Fashion choices and tell us why you wear them!

 Fashion?  Ha!

As an English rider, I rode nearly always in tall boots and breeches.  That’s just how things were! (TBT post exemplifies that nicely.)

As an endurance rider.. well.

Is that not the best saddle pad?

I rode in jeans for a while.  Jeans, Ariat half-chaps, Ariat paddock boots, and your standard t-shirt and Troxel helmet.  Remember, folks:  I’m in California.  We don’t get much real weather around here.

I was still getting back into horses, my breeches hadn’t made it to my apartment, and jeans seemed comfortable enough.  Then I gained some weight, wore holes in jeans, decided they weren’t flexible enough…

Breeches, light jacket, half-chaps.

I started wearing breeches again.  I had them, it meant I didn’t have to buy too many more pairs of jeans, they were pretty comfortable.  I was riding 6-7 days a week through mid-2012.

I added a lightweight jacket because it was a bit chilly out and we weren’t going fast.  This was.. um.. March 2013.  You wish your March looked like this.

I switched to Ariat Terrain boots.  They were more comfortable than paddock boots, and I needed new boots anyway, so… why not?  I loved those boots.  They run big – full size big on me, half-size big on most folks.

Red breeches and white winter boots.

I periodically ride in winter boots, too.  They’re warm.  My feet get cold in the winter, but the bigger problem is that my feet get wet in the winter, so I try for waterproof winter boots.

I have two pairs of red breeches, full-seat, that I really hate how they fit but can’t bring myself to get rid of them since they do, in fact, work as riding breeches.

Sometime last year I got tired of beige breeches, plus they started wearing out.  I bought a few pairs of TuffRiders off a used tack Facebook group, and I am so very pleased with them even as I’m still not a fan of full seats.  They manage to fit me surprisingly well and hold up nicely so far.

Horze winter boots – not visible against breeches!

This past March, I got decked out in Serious Rain Gear.  Well, actually, I did two days of serious rain gear around the ACTHA ride, and got absolutely soaked the first day and dry (no rain!) the second.  I have Horze winter boots that are a size too big, but fit my calf and allow for wool socks, so sometimes they get pulled out in the winter. 

So, in a more current what-do-I-wear and why, here we go:

1. Troxel helmet with helmet cover.  It fits, it’s comfortable, and it’s adjustable in the back so I can opt to braid my hair, or not.

2. T-shirt, mostly.  I wore a lightweight long-sleeve cotton shirt to Fireworks and that actually worked really well for me (less sunburn, lightweight enough I wasn’t overheating).  I have Irideon technical t-shirts of some sort, and another pretty pink technical shirt, and I wear those on the really hot days.  Mostly I just don’t ride when it’s really hot.

3. Occasional jacket, mostly lightweight.  Once we’re trotting I warm up pretty quickly.  I worry more about getting wet in the winter than getting cold, and I need to buy some waterproofing spray for my jackets!

4. TuffRider breeches.  They’re comfortable and they fit.  Knee patch preferred since I don’t like the full seat.  I wear these pretty much year round.. but again, no real weather to speak of.

5. Boots or running/hiking shoes – currently, Ariat Tiogas are my boot of choice, but I have no particular ties to a brand as long as they’re comfortable.  I wear out the inside of the right shoe at the back of the heel within 9-12 months, regardless of brand, so inexpensive is a major plus.

6. Half-chaps.  I am so far very pleased with the Ariat Terrain II half-chaps. I was actually really happy with my All-Around half-chaps too, and I think I’ve mentioned previously that I’m keeping those forever and ever and ever since they’re not wearing out and still fit.

7. Knee socks from Target.  Yes, I wear knee socks under my breeches and half-chaps over.  For years I hated the feeling of the seams on my legs, and knee socks fixed that; now I’m just used to having lots of layers there.  It works for me.

8. Heritage gloves.  I wear the hell out of these in about a year, and for $20-something that’s good enough for me.  I wear them year-round unless it’s raining – and even then, sometimes – because my hands don’t get cold while riding.  My feet get cold sometimes, but not my hands.

I still pull out my 10+ year old Ariat tall boots from time to time, mostly when doing Proper English Riding.  They’re still awesome.  They’re just not trail-awesome, or hiking-awesome, and that’s most of what I need these days.

My riding wardrobe is based around stuff that keeps me comfortable for hours on end.  I want to be able to trot for hours, jog down hills, and clean stalls in the same outfit.  All you folks that talk about heat and humidity and cold gear.. I don’t really have any of that.  We get wet in the winter/spring, if we’re lucky, and this past winter it got cold for a few weeks: I think it stayed below 65 for multiple days at a time.  I actually pulled out a pair of silk leggings for the first time ever and wore those under my breeches.  It gets hot in the late summer/early fall; I pull out technical riding shirts and wear those, or I wait til the evenings to ride.  Either way, once in the forest, it’s not usually that bad.  I have to be actively trying to get heat training in our routine.

Also?  Based around pink.  Color coordination is important, after all.

I do most of my serious endurance training alone. It’s not that I don’t like company, but I am the only endurance rider at my barn. (There is one gal who I’m getting into it, so I ride weekly with her doing whatever the four of us feel up to doing.)  I don’t have a truck or trailer, and no very-local folks who I know well enough to do conditioning rides with.

All that said, I find it very helpful to 1. Find a mentor and 2. Ride with a mentor or experienced endurance rider occasionally.  If they manage to be the same person, even better!

I first rode with Funder and Dixie two years ago.  I learned all sorts of little things.
– We weren’t actually going as fast as I thought.
– Confetti needed to up her trot-speed..
– .. and I needed to improve my posting so I could ride it (aka: shorter stirrups).
– Crupper is totally necessary.
– Hills are to be expected. Use the ones I have and expect them at rides.
Minor, y’know?  But very needed, too.

Funder was then kind enough to go on our first LD with us, and that was really excellent, to get on-trail advice and chatter and reassurance that we weren’t totally failing and going to die.  We finished!  Sure, I screwed some stuff up, but I learned a lot and it helps to have a good example to follow.

So – two years later – back out on the trail with Funder, and the biggest difference for me is that the pace felt totally reasonable even on my non-forwards horse.  This was undoubtedly due in part to Dixie being decidedly not-forwards as well, but still!  I wasn’t feeling like we had a major pace problem this time around, and that was awesome, to have that direct comparison to work with.

Water crossing #2.  We paused at a lot of water crossings.  We paused for slightly less time at the water crossing with Naked Meditating Stoner Dude.

Other notes!
– Trust the horse.  Which I do, most of the time, but not so much when it really matters and there’s actual pressure.  Trust the horse.  She’ll drink if she wants (and she did!  early!), and if she doesn’t, trust her on that.
– Try it.  You’ll be fine.  (Noted!  And I will.)  The horse is not broken.

Other lessons from Funder include ‘yes, it is totally normal to run/hike down hills with your horse.’

Mentors let you ask all the ridiculous questions that come up. ‘Can I do a ride right after I get back from a week-long vacation?’  ‘Sure you can.’   —  ‘My horse is broken! again!’ ‘Give it a few weeks before you panic, there’s plenty of time.’ 

There’s also the whole ‘feel like you fit in and have support’ sort of thing, that’s hard to put into words but so very important to me anyway.  Blogging helps with that.  Mentors help with that – it’s always good to have advice from experienced riders, whether or not it validates your current ideas!  Confidence can be hard to come by.  I’ve been very lucky that we’re slowly but surely inching our way forwards with (knock on wood) so far, no major disasters.

So.  I am totally convinced that one should find a mentor.. and that if/when the opportunity arises, one should be willing to step up and mentor those newer/less experienced than you.  I had such an excellent first ride with Funder that I’m hoping to get my barn friend through her first 25 later this year, and get her addicted to the sport too!