Back on the trail at Bar H

Bar H

The ride ended as it had begun, with the sun hitting me hard in the face. But now, I was literally riding into the sunset. We had been out on the trail for eleven hours, minus one for the lunch hour hold. Now six o’clock in the evening, we were coming in on the same road we had left on at seven that morning.

Me the day before the ride, prepping for our preride.

I knew we were going to complete. Ozzie looked great all day. It was the final mile and we were hand walking in. No need to rush. Walking helps the horse cool down, and helps the rider come down too. I had loosened the cinch, taken the bit out of his mouth, and we were trekking along, at a strong walking pace.

I felt the exhale push its way up my throat and release into the air with a gasp. A sob of joy. A few streams of tears fell down my cheeks and I was thankful my riding partner Brooke and her horse Spirit had dropped back a bit. I had the privacy to let the reins loose on my emotions a bit. A year before riding on the trail with Brooke I told her that one day I’d have a good joyful cry with my horse. This was it.

After a year off following our first 50 (Eastern Mojave 2014) together – my first endurance ride and Ozzie’s first 50 – because of a radial fracture I had some emotion to let go of. Once I knew his leg would heal I dove into the hand walking and watching his leg. But now, nearly a full year later we had come back to being fit to complete a 50, and not just any 50, but a tough, hot, rocky, canyon-climbing 50.

The night before the ride I slept very little. I had parked my van so I could open up the back and literally just open my eyes to see Ozzie. At the ride a year ago he got loose in the middle of the night (lead rope unclipped from halter) and got kicked, he was not getting loose this time. So I was opening my eyes at every sound. I did see the gorgeous stars, and hear the coyotes hunting a few times. But for reference, being hyper vigilant has a downside - lack of sleep. 

Ozzie enjoying being able to eat constantly the day before
the ride

The morning went smoothly, it was calm mellow start. Only the long horn cattle gave Ozzie pause. He is used to the black Angus (I think) cows where he lives, but those long horns surely looked alien.

Much of the day was a blur. In the way a mother will quickly forget the details of giving birth – natures insurance that she will want to do it again – a lot of the ride quickly faded from memory. One thing that remains clear is our riding team of two was well matched. Spirit and Ozzie (from the same breeder in Canada – Sturgeon Creek Arabians and related through the Crabbat/Polish/Russian Stallion Pyatigorsk – and both trained for endurance by Charlene Lewis) Our four being team went well down the trail together. Brooke has become my un-official mentor on my newbie journey into endurance. We haven't actually talked about it, it just sort of fell into place that way. I'm a pretty do it myself sort of learner, I need to do it to learn it properly, need to feel it, integrate into my muscle memory. So having a casual mentor relationship works well. Someone to bounce ideas off of, remind me of certain things, and gently point things out. But mostly to keep me on pace on the trail. Thank you Brooke! 

I remember I liked the first 25-mile loop best. At the pre-ride meeting, the night before the ride, we decided that I would be the navigator and Brooke would keep us on pace. I’m pretty good at directions and map reading and I know nothing about staying on pace in a ride. This worked out perfectly. I earned my keep when I caught a sharp left turn in the trail.  We trekked along, Brooke telling me when we needed to move out when Ozzie and I were in front and lolly gagging a bit. I did find I had to push through my comfort zone a bit in some single-track trails weaving among large rocks and through trees. But this horse took it all in stride.

The fabulous shot of me and Ozzie in the morning, by Lynne Glazer.
This was fairly early in the ride, hence the great morning light. And it was
before the 15 mile pulse and go vet check. We are well warmed up at this point

We had one little episode where the group of riders behind me got a great show. We were trotting through a single track trail winding between some large rocks, and my stirrup scrapped against a rock. It might a loud snap sound and Ozzie spooked. I screamed. Sidebar comment - I have to remind folks I'm riding with that I'm a vocal rider. Meaning that when spooks happen I scream or sometimes loudly laugh. BUT if I'm making noise it means I'm ok. It's when I'm really quiet that the 'you know what' is hitting the fan and I'm really having to focus. So when Ozzie spooked he squirted forward, I wasn't quite prepared and I dropped my reins. Somehow I guided him to the side, off trail (I did not want to run into Spirit or foul up any of the riders behind us), but among the rocks. One of the riders ahead of us called back "Is everything OK back there?"I shouted back "Yes, we are all good." Just seconds later I got Ozzie stopped, standing among the rocks. And we calmly rejoined the line up on the trail. One rider behind us was chuckling and commented on the good show. And we were off once again. 

There was great footing, light sand, nice climbs, flat spots to move out and Ozzie kept trying to get me to let him out… out into his big trot. On this ride I learned that both Ozzie and I like being in front on single track trails. Not just because, well being in front is fun, but I have more confidence to let him out a bit since I can see the trail. 

 

Just Ozzie eating more.

There was a pulse and go vet check at 15 miles. One of the veterinarians there was the same vet who treated Ozzie at the ride a year ago when he got kicked. She remembered us, and was so happy to see him looking so good. And when we trotted out for her, she smiled big and confirmed she saw no indication of any injury.

We finished that 25-mile loop a little after noon, and quickly got the horses squared away so we could put our feet up and cool ourselves out. While it wasn’t in the 90’s as predicted, it was still flippin hot.  I also had to take some pain meds for my knee. That is something I’m going to be fixing as it continued to bother me throughout the ride, luckily there were plenty of places  where it made sense to get off and walk, and my knee only hurt when I was in the saddle (yes, I’ll be looking at changing stirrup leathers, position, knee brace, strengthening my knee etc.)

I knew there was a big canyon in the second loop. At the meeting they told us if anything happened in that canyon they would not be able to get to us out, there was no vehicle access. We would have to figure out a way to walk ourselves out. Oh, and they warned us about the illegal shooters likely to be along one portion of the trail.

 

PHoto by:  Kate Mylroie she lived along the trail
and cheered us all on. That's us in the middle, I think Ozzie is looking at a pig.
And Brooke and Spirit out in front.

So we went through some nice bridle path trails, people put out signs welcoming us. Then we started to leave civilization and head into no mans land. Well that’s not entirely true, you could hear the dirt bike riders zooming around. And then we heard the gunshots. As we crested over a hill we saw two guys shooting into a hillside. The sound echoed up the canyon to us. While Ozzie didn’t spook, I could tell the sound made him nervous, and I just didn’t want them shooting. I warned Brooke I was gonna start hollering at them. I shouted at the top of my lungs (and some folks will know I can make my voice carry a bit) and with help from the acoustics of the canyon they heard me, and we saw them put down their guns in the back of their truck. As we approached them, we thanked them and actually they were very nice. I told them a few more riders were coming behind us, and they said they would wait till they passed before doing any more shooting. We moved off and into a tiny little trail along the bottom of a ditch with good soft dirt footing, I think it would be the last good footing for several miles.

We got to a spot with a really rocky, steep down hill, and got off. Now Ozzie does not like to walk behind me. Yes, this is a thing we are constantly working on and will continue to do so. But in this case it was a bit helpful. He walked next to me, shoulder to shoulder, I held onto his breast collar with my right hand to keep from slipping down the hill and held the reins  in my left. We shimmied down the steep hill, navigating the very very rocky footing. Every time we thought we were done with the rocky down hill, we would reach a crest and there would me more sharp rocks. We just had to keep at it. Down, down we went. It was hot. And we kept going down, into a narrow canyon. The thought of the cool creek at the bottom helped. We reached it, Ozzie stood in the creek in the shade and I used a water bottle to rinse him off. Then Brooke did the same for Spirit. I got back on, and now we climbed up and up and up out of the canyon.

We had 12 hours to complete the ride. At this point we were a tad worried that we wouldn’t make it because of all the slow going. But we ran into a pair of riders who knew the trail and told us the last loop was only an hour and a half. That was heartening. But we still didn’t know exactly how much was left of loop two. So we just kept trekking, moving out whenever we could.

If you haven't seen the recent Coen Brother Movie
"True Grit" with Jeff Bridges I highly recommend it.
Keep an eye out for the horse called
Little Blacky. The book by Charles Portis is exquisite.
Watch the trailer HERE.
and some great riding stunt scenes too
See one HERE

There was a lot of water put out on the trail for us. A god send each time we saw those buckets along the trail. At one point we were plugging away up a road, a hot black asphalt road in a residential neighborhood, it was after the canyon. I was hand walking Ozzie up a hill and working hard to keep a good walking pace. WE got to the water buckets and I was splashing the cold water on my face, on my neck, wetting my handkerchief and pouring some water on Ozzie (I knew only a few riders were behind us, and there was plenty of water). I had just been telling Brooke that I was almost out of drinking water for me, and when we came in for the last loop I would need to refill my bottles. It would take a couple minutes, not ideal, but I would need that water on the last loop.

As I was splashing my face, I heard a mans voice. “Do you want some cold bottles of water?” He was like an angel. At the house just up the hill from us a man and his two dogs had brought out some water. He took my empty plastic bottles and I took the ones he offered with gratitude. He asked if the water buckets were still full for the horses, I guess he had been helping to keep them filled. He said while he was not a horse person, he loved seeing the horses at these events. Hurray for Endurance riders!

And on we went. Not long later we crested another hill and there was base camp. Hurray! We were much closer than we thought. I almost cried at that point, cause I was worried that I would need to go very slow in the final loop – not for Ozzie (he was kicking butt) but for me. I was pooped. But Brooke and I both were on the same page, at this point we had – if I remember correctly almost three hours if we took all the time we had. And knowing the loop took the other rider (who was still behind us) an hour and a half we were in good shape. This helped us relax a bit.

Ozzie headed out on the same road now for the third time. He kept turning his head as if to say, “Are you sure?” But then off we went. On the last loop I remember seeing the horny toad lizard (we also saw a big ole jack rabbit at some point on the trail). I remember the very wide, hard road (or was that earlier in the ride too?) where we let the horses open up and we found Ozzie’s big trot – Brooke estimated it was around 12 miles per hour, she asked me if I knew he could do that. Nope.

I was comfortable enough to let the reins totally loose, give him his full head, he lowered his head, stretched out and the bouncing trot changed to a gliding, ground covering pace. I had to just stay up off the saddle and out of his way, no posting on this trot. Man that felt good. It was a totally different rhythm. I think we sort of found each other in that moment. He asked for his head and I gave it to him and Ozzie gave me this gift.

I wish I had been able to take a photo of Brooke and Spirit in front of us at one point on that road. Brooke dropping the reins and letting Spirit choose the pace, moving out, with Brooke’s arms out to the side. Flying on her horses back.

We enjoyed this tough ride.

 

Ozzie back home after the ride. 

I knew we were going to complete. After the vet confirmed we were all good, we headed back to the trailer. Gave them their mash, more orchard and alfalfa. Once he was cool I took off the saddle, brushed him out. Sponged his legs.

After dinner I was the walking dead. I set my phone alarm for an hour and a half so I could pass out and then get up and check on Ozzie. I couldn’t take off my chaps or my shoes; I just laid down in my van (so thankful for my comfy bed in the VW Vanagon) with my shoes sticking off the bed. And I slept for an hour and a half. When I got up Ozzie was still munching. It was now after 10:00. The stars were bright, camp was quiet. I topped off Ozzie’s hay bag and went back to bed.

The trailer ride on Sunday was quick, no traffic. When we unloaded into the turn out pasture Ozzie rolled and trotted. Five days later he's still enjoying his week off, turn out time and playing with his horsey friends. The photos below are from Friday, six days after the ride. I love the shot of his standing still, looking good and fit. (You can click on any photo to view it larger). And the video is of him playing with that same quarter horse. Enjoy.

 Its several days later and my body is still recovering. I have soreness in my feet, hands and shoulders.
Ozzie’s back baby! (And we’re registered for Lost Padres).  

Sidebar: A HUGE Thank you to XPRides - The Duck & Annie, the veterinarians, and all their crew for continuing to put on all these rides. Thank you to all the property owners who allow us to ride across their land and see these wonderful places. I feel so very lucky to live in this area with all these varied rides taking place throughout the year - from the desert rides, to ranch rides among oak grove valleys. I hope the American Endurance Ride Conference (AERC) and all US endurance riders thank their ride managers. From my view as a total newbie I think everyone should be doing all we can to support the ride managers, make things easier and simpler on them. Without the rides there would be no AERC, and without the ride managers, there would be no rides. 

Something I learned last week - Newbie tip - TIME OFF IS GOOD

So my horse and I had a lot of time off last year due to an injury (Read about it here). It was upsetting and tough. But we got through it, learned a lot and were getting back on track when my silly horse stuck is rear left leg through the fence not once, but twice.

So he's in a fancy stall now, as close to padded as they come (larger paddock just not a workable option at this point) and we are feeling good.

We had a great ride last week after three weeks of no riding. The first week off was due to family issues going on that needed me to stay home, namely chicken pox. The second week off was some rain and another bout of sickness. The third week off was the second and last time he stuck that foot through a fence. I waited a week, he was sound and we went for a hard ride.

And something clicked.

In a good way.

We had a stretch of trail, I think about half a mile, a slight incline where he stretched out into a gorgeous floating trot. The kind of trot I see him do in the big turn out pasture. Well he did it with me on his back. Everything must have aligned cause I felt like we were floating. No bouncing at all, just gliding. I was balanced, in good position. He was trekking along. I released enough to let him stretch out, covering lots of ground with each stride. It took my breath away.

That whole ride he didn't do thing wrong, and was feeling good and fresh. The next day we went on a tough, faster ride with more hill climbs (the photo below). He rocked that one too.

It is nearly one year since I bought Ozzie. It has been one year since we both did our first 50 mile ride together. My first endurance ride ever and his first 50 (Click here to read that story). Despite the injuries, I could not be happier with my horse.

AT the top ridge where we board. This ride was about 14 miles, but we joke
about adding miles cause of our crazy hill climbs. Yes, that is the Pacific
Ocean in the background. Click on photo for larger version. 

This tidbit of knowledge, about time off is really going to help me in the week to ten days (or more) prior to a ride.

I have to remember that it's ok for him to have time off. It's good for his body, his energy and his mind. Just like me.

We have put the 50 at Bar H on Calendar. Ozzie back baby!

This is a video I took of Ozzie in the turn out pasture 8 days after his hoof went through a metal fence (nearly 3 weeks ago). He was pretty lame for 2-3 days after it, sore and tight in the rear end. He got a bunch of massages and wrapping. He is one tough horse. Must be that Russian blood, or so I'm told.

Prepping for Sesenta Anos

Well after the radial fracture in April, nearly 6 months off, then a mild mishap with a hoof through the fence about 3 weeks ago - about the residual swelling from that the vet says - if he's sound the more work the better, so that is what we are doing. And Ozzie is in good form.

Went on a fabulous ride yesterday, for a good sweat out, and right at the start of our ride saw a gorgeous young bobcat sprint across the trail maybe about 50 feet in front of us, and go hide up a tree. We approached slowly and were able to see the amazing creature hanging out up in the tree, looking down at us. We said a little thanks for letting us see him, and off we went.

At first Ozzie was a bit sluggish, but part way in he seemed to remember his job. That he can drop manure while trotting, walk at a proper pace, and deal with his itchy face.

We are a go folks, looking good. He gets just turn out today after our ride yesterday, oh and a little spa day, of clipping his neck and belly.

See you next weekend out on the trail. Cheers.

After our great ride yesterday, after his wet, mash bucket and after a roll and a bath. 

Hitting the trail

So we have been cleared to ride at the walk now for 30 days.
It has been fabulous, and while at first I thought Ozzie would be a bit feisty on the trail after five months off, he has been such a good boy. We've been doing one hour walks out on the trail, mostly flat. In the past week adding gradual hills.

And today we are trotting. Just in the arena to start. Here's the video:

He's a tad fuzzy with his winter coat, I think he's preparing for a Canadian winter. And he's got a few extra pounds on his belly. But here we go folks, we are back in business. Now to our one hour walks we will add a bit of trotting, just a bit to begin with. And just keep building, and adding.

Almost there & the Slow Feed Net

Oh my stars.

Just a few weeks away to when I think we can start working and riding again.
September 7 is the date. Need to get clearance from final x-ray, then we are off.

The video above is from this week, just one of our hot walks. But as you can see, he is ready to rock and roll.

We've ironed out the slow feed net (see below) and added a salt rock on a rope to one end of his stall for a sort of boredom killer.

After an all clear x-ray I plan on a week or so of round pen work, trotting a bit, building up, with and without the saddle on. I expect him to have a bit of spit in him. He'll be feeling good. I wanna do some ponying and so on.

Honestly, I'm a tad nervous about the first ride. It will have been five months that he's not been ridden. He's got a great mind, and is not a wacky horse at all, but I'm just building up some questions in my mind. Yes, we will do some arena riding first, but both of us are chomping at the bit to get out on the trail.

The slow feed net: So I should I have done this way earlier. BUT am glad I did it now, especially after we cut back his feed cause of the belly he is developing. So the fabulous manager where we board let me rig up a slow feed net in his stall. I'm not able to get out there every morning and evening before feeding time to bag the hay, so I found this solution online, and it's ok with the guy who throw the feed. It's easy, and doesn't make more work for them. You can see in the one photo I tied half of the net to a pipe on the top, and the rest of the net to the bottom pipe, that creates an opening for the guys to stuff the hay in.
Click any of the photos to see them larger.

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Just out on our walks, going farther and farther, only limited by how far I can walk in the heat.

A Taste of Tevis : A Newbies First Tevis

So this was my first time at Tevis. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is the Tevis Cup or the Westeran States Trail Foundation 100 mile ride. Horse and rider teams traverse challenging trails in the High Sierras, from a spot near Squaw Vally to the town of Auburn. They must finish in 24 hours. The ride is always set during a full moon because the riders ride at night. The ride starts at 5:15 a.m. The front runners generally finish around 9:30 p.m., while the majority of riders finish between the hours of 2:30 to 5:00 a.m.

I went up to crew for a fabulous team, and while things did not go as  planned for our team, it is a blessing horse and rider made it safely back. So while I did not get the full crewing experience, I got the full spectator experience.

I left my home in southern California at 5 a.m. on Friday. And made it to Robie Park - the start - at about 2:30 in the afternoon. Driving in I could not believe the gorgeous forest. One of the draws for me to endurance riding is the incredible places I get to go. Robie Park is an equestrian park, about 10 or so miles from the highway. You have to drive on a partly dirt road and in my Honda Accord I took it slow and enjoyed the scenery. When ever I wondered if I missed a turn, I would spot a yellow Tevis sign, and then when I saw a couple riders out for their pre-ride to the start I knew I was in the right spot.

The camp was busy on Friday. Folks riding, hand walking and tending to their horses. Riders came from thirteen countries, and from all over the U.S. My rider has a couple buckles (from completing Tevis) so they have their routine down, and my goal is just to ease the work load, remember some of the details. We have a gorgeous dinner, attend the crew meeting, the riders meeting, and then hit the hay early. I slept in the back cab of the truck, with the window open so I could see the full moon and stars. It was a lovely night.

Up at about 3:30. The camp comes alive. The sound of horses walking through the woods. Stretching their legs, preparing for the long ride. We get up, have a lovely cup of coffee, and tack up. We put the cold electrolyte drinks in the saddle for the rider. Make sure everything is squared away, and they are off. Pretty low key, just heading off into the darkness and down the road a bit to the official start.

Everyone else waits a bit, we are not allowed to start our engines until 5:30. You see, all the crews, rigs and spectators now will be bustling to make an hour and a half drive to end up at the first vet check in Robinson Flat. But for those with rigs, they need to drop them off at Forest Hill. Ok, so we are on the road. I'm in my Honda, and Crew Chief Juan is behind me in the rig. We jostle for position on the highway with other rigs - one driving way too fast and I see the trailer fish tail behind me. Once we settle in and let the speed demons pass us I get a call from Juan. He just got a call from Nina, she can't find Cheeky. This is an alarming call on any ride, but in the Tevis, with thousands if not millions of acres of wilderness, a lost horse can set a rider into a panic. So we knew she came off, we knew that she couldn't find Cheeky. We did not know if she was hurt, or if the horse was hurt. We just had to stick to the plan, We headed to Forest Hill, dropped off the rig and jumped into my Honda (which we packed the night before with all the crew supplies) for the drive out to Robinson Flat. When we arrived we were told that our rider, #53 had found her horse, and they were on their way via trailer to Forest Hiill. Whew, Cheeky was ok. Nina was ok. They were reunited. But their Tevis ride was done for this year.

We made our way back to Forest Hill, had a bit of breakfast, and more coffee. And waited for the horse transport trailer to arrive. They arrived, and Cheeky just had a few superficial scraps. I heard the full story, which is not mine to tell here. But wow. Things can just turn on a dime. Horse and rider were very lucky to be fine. They decided to head home.

So there I was. Alone at Forest Hill. I had some friends who were volunteers at Robinson who would meet up with me later, and my fabulous farrier Ed who would soon be to Forest Hill. But I took my cooler full of ice for the horses, one beer and picked a spot on Bath Road to watch the horses come in. I gave away the ice - since Cheeky wasn't going to be needing it and settled in.

Here is my photo journal from the next 24 hours - (click on any photo to see them larger)
all photos c. K. Rivers 2014. If you want to use one, just let me know in the comments here).

Mt. Watson Road, heading into Robie Park

Must be on the right road

Cheeky all ready the night before. 

a great dinner, in a gorgeous spot

Sunset at Robie Park the night before Tevis

Cheeky after his adventure back at Forest Hill. 

To the vet check at Forest Hill

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the crews line up along the road to wait for their team. The tack is taken off and the horse is cooled.

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a future endurance rider ? 

Barbara White at Forest Hill. She completed her 30th Tevis.

This may have been my favorite part. THis is Overlook. The timed finish. 

I got to watch horses cross no hands bridge by moon light, and watch these horses finish at Overlook. Had a great dinner with Ed, who showed me where the fair ground showers were. I then basically crashed in my car till 8:00 am. I did hear the announcer bringing in Barbara White at 2:42. I snapped a photo of friends sleeping in the bleachers to watch all the riders come in.

In the morning I walked the barns. The resting horses, and also the treatment barn. Some horses need some support in their recovery and there is extensive vet care available on site. One woman who I had met at Robie Park was with her horse, needing some IV Fluids. I saw a sleep deprived horse having REM sleep, running in his sleep. And the cute Appy who didn't have a stall but made herself perfectly comfortable on some shavings next to the barn.

One stall set up with fabulous cot, where the rider slept to monitor their horse after the ride.

Heather Reynolds, the Tevis Winner showing her horse for the Haggins Cup, the Tevis Best Condition award.
The top ten horses are eligible to show for this prestigious award. This year, a 15 year old won the award - Barrak Blakely, who has been doing endurance for 10 years (you do the math) who placed 7th overall.

Photographer Lynn Glazer

Dedicated Spectators

Enduring the Lay Up

So, short story is 60 more days (maybe longer)

The vet came out for an X-ray yesterday - just a week shy of 90 days rest after Ozzie's kick the friday night before Lost Padres and while he commented on the great healing, and "good bone" being laid down (I actually saw it too, and since I've had a lot of time to read about this I knew what he was talking about) we actually saw something that wasn't visible in the early X-ray (just about 72 hours after the injury).

We saw what appears to be a spot that IS healing well, but it is a little horizontal fracture. So back in March the first x-ray clearly showed a vertical line, creating a sort of "bullet" shape of bone that had separated. That is no longer visible, and you can see all the bone cells grouping in that area, and above and below it, laying down layers of new bone - strong bone. But we also see a grouping of cells along a short horizontal line - that was not visible in the first set of images. The vet told me that when x-rays are taken shortly after an injury the bone cells damaged have not died off yet. It's the dead bone cells that will reveal where other fractures are, that are not showing on the early x-rays. He believes there was a small, horizontal fracture that IF we took the time (and money) to take many photos at many angles we would eventually catch the right angle to see the line.

So the vet likes what he sees in terms of healing. We are doing the right thing. But at least 60 more days of small stall, hand walking only. And we are cutting back his feed. I of course took him off all supplements, beet pulp etc since the injury, but he's put on some weight and he's getting calories far exceeding his energy output. So we're cutting it in half. Oh he did not like me carrying away that second flake at dinnertime.

Ozzie is also acting as a case study for a friend who is learning about flower essences. Ok all you horsefolk, before you roll your eyes at the kooky Californian, think about all the old tales of remedies from back in the day. It can do no harm, and hey if it helps calm him a bit (one of the essences he's getting helps improve patience) I'll take it. So he gets a couple of spritzes over the muzzle when I take him out of the stall and just before I put him back. He already seems to enjoy the refreshing spritz (I'm told the substances are created in high quality brandy, hummmm)

I'm also going aggressively after the splint that has lingered for nearly 60 days. I'm applying the gnarly steroid cream twice a day, and using an ice boot twice a day. For two weeks. Sounds easy enough, but Ozzie doesn't live at my house, and negotiating with my dear hubby for two trips out to the ranch every day for two weeks will be a feat of endurance in itself.

Building a bit of a belly, we've opted to cut back his hay a bit. 

On the flip side I am learning a ton. Chalking all of this up to a learning experience, bone growth, reading x-rays, helping a horse cope with confinement, patience (I'm taking some flower essences as well - nearly the same potion as Ozzie), splints and hand walking an energetic horse who wants to get back to exploring the canyons. It also gives me time to dial in a few things - change the pads on my stirrups, track down the longer cinch straps for the center fire rigging, and I'm happy I found a $25 clip on headstall that matches the used breast collar (Thanks again Laura!) that was handed down to me.

Oh and his feet - I'm pulling his shoes next week. Before all my barefoot friends get all excited I'm just giving them a chance to develop some callus, let the hoof stretch out a bit. No, I'm not having him go barefoot. I'm one of those folks that dreads dealing with boots at a ride (maybe one day in the future) but shoes with the BEST farrier ever!!! were working great for Ozzie. But during this layup a breather from shoes for his feet just makes sense.

So we're back to one day at a time, and the vet suggested the LONGEST walks possible - hard during the summer time when my 8, almost 9 year old son is out of school - and eyeing the NATRC ride in October with Vicky, and then the Sesenta Anos ride in November as still doable. Gotta have a goal to look forward to.

Just you wait, we are gonna be the HAPPIEST team on the trail!