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Annual Trail Rides: 112/200 (5/12) Two days of rest and anti-inflammatories, and Im ready to get in the saddle again. It was a bit of a rush to cram in a ride and the drive time of 2 hours in my 3.5 hour window between conference calls ... but it's nice to know with Q that I can (usually) just tack up and ride. Such a relief. So we are playing a fun game with our local trail club ... horse bingo! So, today I have to go on the hunt for a 7 inch pinecone. I have a fabric tape to measure with, my phone to take the evidence picture, and this would give me three squares on my bingo card. My two other X's are for a picture and trail location of a picnic table, and a picture and location of a horse crossing sign. First ones to get four corners, straight line, or circumference win special prizes that include club gear, photo shoot, and a BEMER session. So something like a treasure hunt meets bingo, where a new clue/square is published on Facebook every 48 hours. A great way to get the

Annual Trail Rides: 111/200 (Bareback 5/12) "Can you take me out for a trail ride tomorrow? I really need it." said a fellow boarder to me. Her wife had a stroke a few weeks before, and she was struggling with the tension, anxiety and worry that comes with having your SO suddenly become ill. The morning of our ride I was in trouble. I had not slept, and had been packing a cocktail of anti-inflammatories and painkillers to dull the ache of my sciatica. I thought I would cancel, but I just thought I could power through. I almost cancelled five times that morning ... but eventually I found my way to the barn, tacked up and heading for the mounting block. Fellow boarder had invited another boarder to join us. We were three. When fellow boarder suggested she would like to canter today, I winced. I then fessed up that I was drugged and sleep deprived and I just didn't know what I was capable of. A few minutes of warm-up and I prompted us into a trot. A few minutes of that and I

Annual Trail Rides: 110/200 (Bareback 5/12) The forecast said rain all day. 😢 I got dressed anyway, looked at the downpour, and then got undressed. An hour later, there was but a drizzle, so I got dressed again. I drove out to the barn, and decided to just take a quick stroll bareback on my lovely Q. I felt really comfortable bareback for the first time, like I was stuck on him like velcro. Trotting is still rough and needs work, but there is definitely progress. The forest was marvellous, still sleeping after its rain-nap and just glistening with life. I got eaten by the mosquitoes, but it was just a lovely relaxing ride with my best boy! We practiced straightness through the many many puddles.

Annual Trail Rides: 109/200 (Bareback 4/12) In one of my latest Rashid books he mentions the old-timer saying "keep a leg on each side and your mind in the middle" and spoke on the challenge of riders to keep riding and not become a passenger, while we think of all the other things we have to do, or where we have to be. To stay focused on riding for the entire time is actually very difficult, and not at all natural. And yet, we sure don't like our horses minds to wander while we are riding. I do see a tremendous amount of passenger riding happen, on trail and in the arena. I see a lot of horses that are trained to execute on specific cues, and riders that rely on those cues to perform. But ask them to stay focused for an entire hour or two? Probably not. Most experienced riders go into a passive intuitive state when they ride (me too! Im very guilty of this) and plan the pattern of their work, and then cue the horse to execute. His suggestion is to focus on a quiet mind,

Annual Trail Rides: 106/200 (Bareback: 3/12) Its been a good week for weather and riding and we got some good mileage under our belt. A few showers and storms also made for a very lush forest. Our creek was full today and Q did not want to leave as he pushed his face into it several times, until he started playing and pawing and I cut his game short. Sometimes I wonder if he is thinking of dropping and rolling. 😱 I did two solo rides, and two accompanied rides where I have come to realize that I now trot longer and faster than anybody else wants to. On my first group ride with a bunch of QH types, we jogged a few km of trails and then I turned and asked if they were ready to do some long trots? They said yes, and I pushed Q to lengthen by 50% but certainly not max. We lost them within 10 strides. The next day I went with buddy B, and he either stopped or asked me to stop after every 2 minute stretch of trot. That is no longer my pace. Q, who I have now affectionately nicknamed “Trail

Annual Trail Rides: 102/200 One week off and cool temperatures make for one feisty Q! It was great though and he really made me laugh with how hard/strong his trot was and his neverending canter. Downward transitions were a struggle today. He was a bit obnoxious but the good kind. He definitely could have gone twice the speed and twice the distance today! I however was struggling with a massive headache/migraine. So we kept our ride to one hour. And then I slinked home to lie in the dark.  Met another rider on the trail. Her horse was jigging but not actually moving, so I asked to pass. She asked that I do it at a walk. Um, ok, I thought but you aren’t walking. So I passed at a walk (she never stopped) and it took forever. Once I was twenty feet past, I turned around and asked if it was ok for me to leave. She said yes, but only at a walk. So I shrugged, and dropped the reins and my feisty beast calmed right down and we walked. Well with all her jigging she was soon next to me and then

Annual Trail Rides: 101/200 (Bareback 3/12) I arrived at the barn to find Q buried in a big pile of fresh hay with his best buddy Chester. He was in no rush to see me as his pile of hay was being topped up by more hay ... but he came regardless and I felt like he was striding better in the driveway and the barn aisle. He had done a real number on himself, rolling in the heavy sand, and literally looked like Pig Pen with a cloud of dust everywhere. I decided to wash him first, fix his feet, ears, and bridal path ... and if he still looked good we might stroll out on a bareback ride. Well, it all turned out right. We manoeuvred around the hay wagons and piles, hopped on and took some tentative steps towards the trailhead. By the time we were on the trails, Qs natural walking stride was back. Thank goodness! We meandered around the trails and Q even gave me some big bold trotting. He was a bit tentative when roots were underfoot but I tried to navigate around those. Overall I was pleased

Annual Trail Rides: 100/200 (Bareback 2/12) Well we hit the halfway mark and my arm is feeling much better. But Q is not much better. His strides are short and he is walking like an old man, despite the painting of Venice Turpentine on his soles. I kept it short, just walking on our softest sandiest trails. I think its going to take a few more days before I attempt to ride again. He did enjoy some grazing afterwards and went straight for the green hill where the grass is long and the ticks are waiting. I was able to knock one off his face before it lodged itself. 

Annual Trail Rides: 99/200 (Bareback 2/12) Im so close to the midway mark for the year, I can almost feel it! But, poor Q had a trim this week that left him sore, and something strange happened to me where I can not move or lift my right arm and so Im stuck at home, alternating between NSAIDS and Codeine, trying to hurry up and get better. What really sucks is that the weather finally decided to play nice, and it's just gorgeous outside.  Over the last week we rode a few times, and got caught in a downpour, had a nice easygoing bareback ride and had a few social rides with fellow boarders.  I was really hoping to start cantering bareback, but I quickly realized during the trot that I have mucho work to do. My body needs to develop some muscle memory so that every slight imbalance can be adjusted. My fear is that I might clench my legs in the canter as an attempt to regain balance, and then end up setting Q into a bolting gallop as a result. So, I need to actively seek out more bare

Annual Trail Rides: 94/200 Lots of cool riding these days, as temperatures are below normal. Skies are blue, forests are green, but it is a daily challenge to figure out how many layers to put on. Temperatures shift 10C degrees between shade and sun, so in part in depends on where you plan to ride. Q has been acting a little weird in the backend. He started by pooping in his water bowl a few weeks ago. He did it again last week. And then he was observed sitting on the fence. Yes, sitting. Today, he was sitting in the water bowl in the outside paddock. So he got another tail bath, and I covered his tail in green listerine. It seems like the itchiness is coming from the base of his tail, and not the more common top of the tail. I scrubbed the tailbone quite thoroughly, and even washed it twice (and rinsed very thoroughly). However, Im wondering if perhaps the problem is actually not in his tail? Maybe he has a bean in his sheath? And his discomfort is having him behave unusually?