First training ride on my new, someday endurance horse, I hope

I'm happy to say we did what I consider to be our first real training ride today. It was 9 miles in 2.5 hours.



The first third my man was with me and Mara was being so bad, so nasty, we had her on the leadline almost the entire time. The horseflies were being vicious and Mara was head flinging and twitching and kicking, it was awful. We were both fully chemical-coated but horseflies are evil, they come in and seek out any area that is not covered in chemical. Like my neck today.

I was uncomfortable in the bareback pad going down hills, I hate that feeling of sliding forward and Mara knows I'm insecure, and she takes advantage of that by fussing and trying to unnerve me. But my man had the rope and she couldn't do much. At one point my man made her stand still and she flung her head around several minutes, trying to intimidate both of us. There were no flies at that moment. Twice I thought she'd break my man's glasses with her head flinging. Finally she sighed and just stood there, realizing it wasn't working, we were not going to just give up and go home due to insects and hot weather.

I asked my man if he could please lead us down this steep technical trail, the one I've blogged about. It was awful, and I wondered how that chick who always rides CMO bareback manages that on our hills. Once at the bottom as usual my man wanted to push me to go further and he took us to that scary bridge. I said, "NO, I'm not riding across that bridge!" and he said, "I wouldn't either, it looks unsafe. Would you like to navigate around the bridge, down the cliffs on either side?" I said NO WAY, I'm not nearly comfortable enough to do that, I have no idea if she'll even go down such a crevise. I'd like to try on foot first. He said, "I AM on foot." hehe, no, not today.

On the way up Mara was on a mission as usual and it's fun, but trying to get her to stop and wait for my man was really hard. She insisted we continue. So I did little stops and continued, over and over, and then when he caught up, he said, "Just go all the way up and then come back down to meet me." OK then. It felt good to have directives.

We went all the way up, and then came back. But coming back was in slow motion cuz Mara didn't see why we should back track. Then my man sat on a stump and said, "Why don't you go back to that hairpin turn and then come back up." Ugh, that's far down. OK I'll try. She meandered willfully, in slow motion, back and forth not committing, but grudgingly descending.

I got halfway down to that switchback and decided I'd had enough. She likes to pretend spook at things there even though were were just there. Agh. I have no saddle, and she's got my number, as Eryn says. Back up again to my man, he was a bit put off when I asked him to carry my sweaty hairy saddle bag cuz it just doesn't work with the bareback pad, but I needed water today, it's freaking hot out. 28C.

My poor man carried the icky thing on his shoulder, and only complained a little. Nearly home, Herr S was driving toward us on our little street in his grey BMW, and he pulled over and waited a long time, politely. He opened his window and said, "Need to accomodate a young horse" or something, at which we thanked him, and my man said, "She's not really YOUNG. And I said, "I'm glad he thinks of her like that, cuz she sure acts like it."

As soon as we got home, big surprise Mara, I'm gonna switch tack and we're going out again. I switched out the slippery biothane reins for the disintegrating-rubber grip reins (my hands are black now), for purchase sake. You know those beta biothane reins are perfect until your hands start to sweat. I need reins! (It's been so long since I've *needed* horsey supplies, it makes me happy to be a consumer again!)

I put my saddle on, fully aware that it rolls and I might not be any more secure than in that bareback pad, but I had to try.

*** RIDE 2, Same Day (Sunday) ***

Mara wasn't astonished at this turn of events, going out a second time, she had kind of a defeated look on her face. Yah, it's hot out. But if this Seattleite can go out again, you, horse, can too.

This time I left our place the opposite direction down hill. I wanted to test her on the trail that C and I took a while back, because C offered to ride with me again with her Appy mare May on Tuesday afterwork.

For the first time, I mounted up on my street. The scary street with all the scary neighbors doing scary things in their horror-gardens! Then I learned something about Mara. If I speak sternly and put my heels into her, forcing her to jog/trot when she's nervous, she'll just spring forward and deal with it. When she's nervous about neighbor kids, if we trot, she deals. OK then. Let's go! Walking gives her too much time for her to think about her "stories" as Eryn puts it, the stories in her head that tell her the world is a dangerous place, but somehow she must live here.

You know that barbed-wire-wrapped post down there? We didn't even notice it today cuz there was an entire family down there in the creek, with little boys with buckets and nets. Obviously they were doing some sort of Bill Nye Science Guy experiments. Mara was almost unglued when she saw those little boys and their nets. The parents greeted me cordially and heard me speaking stern English to my horse, "IT'S PEOPLE! PEOPLE!"

As soon as we were by them I told her to trot and things looked up. We trotted by all her fears and even out of the woods, next to the cornfield that always worries her - you can see so far here! - I just pressed her out-of-shape body forward into a jog, and she slipped along that bumpy grooved road. On the street again, she was huffing and I could tell her attitude was "Whatever you say, yes, it's all good." It's like jog-trotting through scary things exhausts her physically and mentally. I proudly praised her and we continued on, but things got bad on that street cuz there is this one scary freaking house with garbage sacks in the yard, and stuff everywhere, yes, garden gnomes and last easter's eggs still hanging from trees. These people have no idea how their lacaidaisical yard status affects young horses.
 
I was getting pretty annoyed, that we were out in the street even and she couldn't take the pressure, when we finally got to the turnoff back into the woods. She still acted nervous but I felt so much more secure in a saddle I didn't care. I spoke to her a lot and praised her and encouraged her and slapped her neck and she managed.

Then I wanted to try the "hairpin" trail alone and it was so much better, but still she spooked and looked at all the same scary things she'd seen just.....45 minutes ago. I told her that. "You were here one hour ago. Everything is exactly the same except the sunlight pools on the forest floor have somewhat relocated."

We made it down, then up the big hill, where again, jog/trotting helped her courage level. It's like she thinks, "If she's telling me to trot, it must be safe!" At the top I wanted to try a trail we'd never been on, something I'd done with Baasha but had forgotten about. As soon as we turned onto it, she was hyperalert, "Oh no, new!" and I said, "Right, continue." Until the sun hit this pile of gravel just right, and she said, "OMGOSH I CANNOT!" and started to whirl away. I jumped off, yelled at her (actually angrily) and started jogging toward that gravel with her. Yah, she had to jog right by the scary thing. Then we just kept going. I was curious about practicing trot-outs and she seems to really love trotting by me as I jog. I started running down that hill, confident in my Keen hiking boots, and almost bowled over an elderly couple panting their way up. I said Guten Tag. They smiled at me and the man said "Aufsetzen!" or something, which means, "Sit on the horse!" I apologetically smiled, "She's scared of something here. Who knows what!" and kept jogging by.

At the bottom was a huge gate, - NO ENTRY: Watershed - Aah, yah, that. Right. I need to learn my own area again. I found a stump, got on her, and said "Let's go back up, no whining" She was sweaty already, with black crusts dripping down her sides, and I found that appropriate and it comforted me that my horse is actually learning to work.

Hardcore Mara, I know you're in there! Let's find her!

Then it should have been all easy the rest of the way home, and we did practice halting and standing as long as I thought she could, but then there were these horses that live in the woods.... You know cuz I've blogged before about people who just put up an electric fence in the woods somewhere and let their horses graze the sunny grassy areas. Totally out of sight of any human, I always feel these horses are at risk for criminal intent, but *SIGH* this is Nordrhein Westfalen Germany, the way things are. Problem was, as soon as that Haflinger and pony saw Mara, for the first time they were intrigued. I have to say that we have been through here 4 times with no issue. But today, as that sweet-faced Haflinger decided that Mara was interesting on his boring Sunday, he started trotting toward us.

That did it. Mara saw these horses trotting toward her and she just froze. OMGOSH, I cannot! We'd even seen them all from above, 2 minutes ago. But this was too much. She was light on her forehand, threatening. I was pissed. I jumped off, yelled at her, and started running toward the horses. She had to trot with me. As soon as we'd trotted a long ways I got back on and looked forward to an easy ride back up the hill to home.

Anytime she was nervous, I trotted her. She huffed her way up the hairpin trail (I'm gonna call it that now). She even walked by the Kraemer's scary chickens and sheep and CURTAINS ON BLUEBERRY BUSHES for me, well, ok, she was kind of in the field and not right up against their fenceline of horrors.

For the first time ever, I rode my horse home. I rode her down our street, past tents set up for summer parties, past kids kicking balls around, past people who insist on gardening on weekends, and those awful dogs.

The sense of progress is so intense, even though I see it backsliding at moments out there. I actually rode her on the buckle (literally, I'm serious) and had a great time today when I did. I thought how if any other riders would have encountered us, they would have thought, "Oh, relaxed, calm horse and rider approaching." Next time I will bring the Garmin, cuz I really wanna know how far we go. When we got home, I sprayed her fully with the hose after confirming that her sweat pattern was even, whew, that's nice. She seemed to enjoy the soaking. Baasha NEVER enjoyed any watery thing. Just like Twilight Bella, "I don't like any COLD, WET thing."

 I feel hope. That is the best thing ever when being separated from a childhood dream for so long. Next year, we will be there.

Like the ladies across the street who took their horses to Benelux yesterday for their first 15 mile endurance ride. No heart rate monitors allowed? WTH!? OK, whatever.

I will be there someday. Abiding by these rules. We had our first real training ride today. I imagine what it will be like with a saddle that makes us both comfortable.