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Oct. 4th, 2005 07:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickI called Tash last night and inquired about horse trailers. Her guy does something with trailer sales and they frequently see horse trailers of the sort that might suit. I also mentioned that Sylvan Glen was this weekend and asked how the competitive ride had gone. She got first in her weight class and high point overall. Tash is really quite competent at the competive ride thing. Anyway, that all got me to thinking...
It's just that there are so damn many steps and lots of the steps require some bravery. *sigh*
I need a horse trailer. It's hard to drag the horse around the countryside without a horse trailer. A horse trailer would enable me to drag the IRH to my house and its traffic-free mountains whether or not anyone else wanted to go with me and regardless of the price of gas. If I had my own horse trailer, I would not have to worry about the state of its floorboards or tires or lights. I could fix them when they were suspect.
I need to devise options for securing the IRH overnight and PRACTICE those options in simulated camping-out events to make sure that they work and that the IRH does not kill herself. It's not a good idea to try these things out for the first time in public. Better to practice at home where failures are merely the occasion for mocking by one's friends instead of the occasion for lawsuits by one's non-friends. There are a lot of Friday nights in the spring and summer. If I got the IRH on a Friday night and hauled her to my house and set up "camp" (in the yard, not twenty feet from my house) and camped with her (so that I could save her in the event of extreme stupidity) overnight, then I could get up Saturday morning and ride the IRH all over the mountain and then haul the IRH home to her field on Saturday afternoon. If I got really, really gung-ho, I could camp out with the IRH *again* on Saturday night and take her home on Sunday. It would not take too damn many of those sorts of weekends for me to have an IRH who could camp without killing herself or me. It'd also be a good way to get some practice for me for setting up camp and getting things situated.
I need to learn to drive while pulling a horse trailer. I imagine this will be one of those learn-by-doing events that takes place in the process of practice camping.
I need to find a saddle I can live with. (Currently riding the IRH with a bareback pad, which will not work for ten miles at a solid trot.) I have one in mind and I've been shopping, but no luck yet. I'll keep after this through the winter and if it gets to be Feb. and I don't have anything, I'll order a new one despite the fact that it'll cost more.
I need to get stuff for ME to camp with. Working on this. I'm not looking for a top-notch camping experience, just enough to be going on with. I do think I might like a thing for making hot water, though. That might be handy. Also I will eventually need a bigger cooler. I will probably be able to figure out what I need by practice-camping with the IRH.
I need to ride the IRH alone (not in groups) so that she doesn't go ballistic at being abandoned. If I get the trailer thing organized, this will take care of itself.
I need to get to where I have a reasonable amount of control at all gaits. I don't know that there is any way to do this but to do it. Practice, practice, practice. I actually DO have control walking and trotting, fairly solid control. I don't think I'm shooting for beyond the realm of the feasible at this point.
Traffic-sane would be nice but is not actually necessary. Traffic-mildly-unstable is not the end of the world. We currently have traffic-moderately-unstable. We need to improve a bit.
Lots of steps.
It's just that there are so damn many steps and lots of the steps require some bravery. *sigh*
I need a horse trailer. It's hard to drag the horse around the countryside without a horse trailer. A horse trailer would enable me to drag the IRH to my house and its traffic-free mountains whether or not anyone else wanted to go with me and regardless of the price of gas. If I had my own horse trailer, I would not have to worry about the state of its floorboards or tires or lights. I could fix them when they were suspect.
I need to devise options for securing the IRH overnight and PRACTICE those options in simulated camping-out events to make sure that they work and that the IRH does not kill herself. It's not a good idea to try these things out for the first time in public. Better to practice at home where failures are merely the occasion for mocking by one's friends instead of the occasion for lawsuits by one's non-friends. There are a lot of Friday nights in the spring and summer. If I got the IRH on a Friday night and hauled her to my house and set up "camp" (in the yard, not twenty feet from my house) and camped with her (so that I could save her in the event of extreme stupidity) overnight, then I could get up Saturday morning and ride the IRH all over the mountain and then haul the IRH home to her field on Saturday afternoon. If I got really, really gung-ho, I could camp out with the IRH *again* on Saturday night and take her home on Sunday. It would not take too damn many of those sorts of weekends for me to have an IRH who could camp without killing herself or me. It'd also be a good way to get some practice for me for setting up camp and getting things situated.
I need to learn to drive while pulling a horse trailer. I imagine this will be one of those learn-by-doing events that takes place in the process of practice camping.
I need to find a saddle I can live with. (Currently riding the IRH with a bareback pad, which will not work for ten miles at a solid trot.) I have one in mind and I've been shopping, but no luck yet. I'll keep after this through the winter and if it gets to be Feb. and I don't have anything, I'll order a new one despite the fact that it'll cost more.
I need to get stuff for ME to camp with. Working on this. I'm not looking for a top-notch camping experience, just enough to be going on with. I do think I might like a thing for making hot water, though. That might be handy. Also I will eventually need a bigger cooler. I will probably be able to figure out what I need by practice-camping with the IRH.
I need to ride the IRH alone (not in groups) so that she doesn't go ballistic at being abandoned. If I get the trailer thing organized, this will take care of itself.
I need to get to where I have a reasonable amount of control at all gaits. I don't know that there is any way to do this but to do it. Practice, practice, practice. I actually DO have control walking and trotting, fairly solid control. I don't think I'm shooting for beyond the realm of the feasible at this point.
Traffic-sane would be nice but is not actually necessary. Traffic-mildly-unstable is not the end of the world. We currently have traffic-moderately-unstable. We need to improve a bit.
Lots of steps.
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no subject
Date: 2005-10-04 11:30 am (UTC)As for your camping needs, we have sleeping bags (definitely spring/summer *only*), under the sleeping bag pads, possibly a tent, a campstove (not used in years so it might want to be checked out before use, but it's a Coleman so it should be fine), a camp light (ditto) and, possibly, other stuff I've forgotten. You are welcome to borrow for an extended period (i.e. have with the option of us asking to use it if Abner and I ever get the urge to go camping) any or all of this. Well, maybe not the sleeping bags on indefinite loan though you can borrow them for a while--we might actually need those.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-04 02:02 pm (UTC)I won't need a tent or sleeping bags (I have stuff to sleep with.) but I may ask you for the coleman and camp light at a future date. What I need will also depend on who I am going with and what gear they already have.
Meatly is not a problem to take camping. She ties and pickets beautifully. She does not care if there are other horses or not. I'm not going to drag her out of the field and *make* her camp without good cause... the horses that get gratuitous camping experience are the ones that need it. :)
I do not, for what it's worth, actually LIKE camping. Camping is a necessary evil that accompanies going on competitive rides. If I thought for one minute that I could get away with NOT practicing camping, I would not be practicing it. I am, however, smart enough to know that we'd damn well better practice because the IRH is, well, the IRH.