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Sep. 15th, 2008 10:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickAnother night out with the ponies. Riding at night is actually kind of fun. (La gets home from work at around 7:30 PM. Even if I have her horse pre-caught and we tack up promptly, we don't get home from riding until 9:00 PM.) When cars go by, you're blind for about three seconds afterwards. (Mom, don't worry. I'm not riding Nick the goofball. I'm riding Lute, Callie, or Casper, none of whom seems to mind cars in the dark or in the light or under any other circumstances. I could of course still die by being hit by an inattentive driver straying from the road, but the odds are good that my horse-n-vehicle death, should it occur, won't be the horse's fault.)
I'm currently washing a saddle blanket and girth in my washing machine. This probably isn't that good for my washing machine and it sure as shit will make the dryer smell like horse, but them's the breaks. There are worse things in this world.
I'm not getting shoes put on Callie for this outing of riding sweep. Sweep is noncompetitive, the purpose being to ride behind all the competitive people and pick up the dead bodies. It's a more sedate pace than the official ride, with conversation and stuff. The ride is 24 miles, give or take, and the sweep people ride that much, too. On blue forest-service gravel, 24 miles is enough to chew up whatever feet the horse has. So, some kind of foot protection is in order. However, after this coming weekend, I'm pretty much done** with Callie horse, so there's no point throwing seventy dollars away on shoes that I'll use for one ride. Instead, we're going to be using Not-So-Easyboots. I have two, well-used, that I have been putting on her front feet to keep from wearing them away completely during our conditioning rides. (The back feet take less wear and carry less weight. They're not as critical until you're racking up serious miles. I haven't done that much riding this year on Callie that the back feet have been an issue.) Turns out that I also have two, brand-new Not-So-Easyboots in 00 (This is a size of horse shoe and easyboot. It's pronounced "double aught". There's also a 000 -- "triple aught" and a 0 -- "aught".) that I apparently bought in advance of need and never put on a horse. The used ones are loose enough to put on a pony with a greater degree of Not-So-Ease than is typical for Not-So-Easyboots. They've also been cut down at the back to not rub low-heeled pony feet. I like 'em and am used to them and know how they work.
The new ones are stock, out of the box. I may have to cut them down at the heels (this is an approved after-market modification. The official instructions tell you about it, even.), will have to check on that tomorrow when I take Callie out for a spin. I'd also like the chance to see how she tracks with boots on all round, so definitely we'll be going out tomorrow. Experimental riding, yay! (Hope like hell she doesn't clip her freaking feet with boots on at the back. I don't know what they'll do to the breakover or anything, hence the experimental riding.) I also (note to self) need to replace a screw or two on my existing (beat-up) easyboots. I can steal one from my 0 size easyboots, I reckon.
**I will probably not ride Callie horse a whole lot after the competitive ride. At this point, she's broke. She's kind and gentle and a really sweet little mare. She has never done anything wrong and tolerates a wide variety of things. She goes alone or in groups. She ponies other horses. She leads or follows or trucks along in the middle. She walks, trots, and canters without getting hot and bothered. She has excellent brakes. She crosses creeks and climbs rather steep hills and generally goes where she is aimed, without complaint. She loads on trailers. She handles new things pretty easily and even her spooks are minimal and in-place. She is good with people handling her feet. (The Not-So-Easyboots are great for teaching horses to let you mess with their feet.) With a year or two of other people riding on her (so that she can get some experience under different riders), she will be ready to make some kid a wonderful pony. Thing is, Callie horse bores me to tears. I miss my Goofball. A lot.
Goofball, constant readers will recall, is GF Nile Kaia, aka "Nick", who is off having a baby this year. She will return from the mommy track next spring, random fluctuations in the space-time continuum willing, so that I can gun to win the competitive ride again. (I will have to round me up a kid to enter so that I get to go next year. I may also wind up conditioning the kid's pony for the kid. This is OK as long as I have a kid to enter so that I can go. I don't give a damn if the kid can actually finish the ride or if the kid quits at midpoint. I just have to have a kid to *start* the ride and a pony both fit enough to go the distance and kind enough not to kill the kid en route. I can do the pony part. I just need a kid to put ON the pony.)
I'm currently washing a saddle blanket and girth in my washing machine. This probably isn't that good for my washing machine and it sure as shit will make the dryer smell like horse, but them's the breaks. There are worse things in this world.
I'm not getting shoes put on Callie for this outing of riding sweep. Sweep is noncompetitive, the purpose being to ride behind all the competitive people and pick up the dead bodies. It's a more sedate pace than the official ride, with conversation and stuff. The ride is 24 miles, give or take, and the sweep people ride that much, too. On blue forest-service gravel, 24 miles is enough to chew up whatever feet the horse has. So, some kind of foot protection is in order. However, after this coming weekend, I'm pretty much done** with Callie horse, so there's no point throwing seventy dollars away on shoes that I'll use for one ride. Instead, we're going to be using Not-So-Easyboots. I have two, well-used, that I have been putting on her front feet to keep from wearing them away completely during our conditioning rides. (The back feet take less wear and carry less weight. They're not as critical until you're racking up serious miles. I haven't done that much riding this year on Callie that the back feet have been an issue.) Turns out that I also have two, brand-new Not-So-Easyboots in 00 (This is a size of horse shoe and easyboot. It's pronounced "double aught". There's also a 000 -- "triple aught" and a 0 -- "aught".) that I apparently bought in advance of need and never put on a horse. The used ones are loose enough to put on a pony with a greater degree of Not-So-Ease than is typical for Not-So-Easyboots. They've also been cut down at the back to not rub low-heeled pony feet. I like 'em and am used to them and know how they work.
The new ones are stock, out of the box. I may have to cut them down at the heels (this is an approved after-market modification. The official instructions tell you about it, even.), will have to check on that tomorrow when I take Callie out for a spin. I'd also like the chance to see how she tracks with boots on all round, so definitely we'll be going out tomorrow. Experimental riding, yay! (Hope like hell she doesn't clip her freaking feet with boots on at the back. I don't know what they'll do to the breakover or anything, hence the experimental riding.) I also (note to self) need to replace a screw or two on my existing (beat-up) easyboots. I can steal one from my 0 size easyboots, I reckon.
**I will probably not ride Callie horse a whole lot after the competitive ride. At this point, she's broke. She's kind and gentle and a really sweet little mare. She has never done anything wrong and tolerates a wide variety of things. She goes alone or in groups. She ponies other horses. She leads or follows or trucks along in the middle. She walks, trots, and canters without getting hot and bothered. She has excellent brakes. She crosses creeks and climbs rather steep hills and generally goes where she is aimed, without complaint. She loads on trailers. She handles new things pretty easily and even her spooks are minimal and in-place. She is good with people handling her feet. (The Not-So-Easyboots are great for teaching horses to let you mess with their feet.) With a year or two of other people riding on her (so that she can get some experience under different riders), she will be ready to make some kid a wonderful pony. Thing is, Callie horse bores me to tears. I miss my Goofball. A lot.
Goofball, constant readers will recall, is GF Nile Kaia, aka "Nick", who is off having a baby this year. She will return from the mommy track next spring, random fluctuations in the space-time continuum willing, so that I can gun to win the competitive ride again. (I will have to round me up a kid to enter so that I get to go next year. I may also wind up conditioning the kid's pony for the kid. This is OK as long as I have a kid to enter so that I can go. I don't give a damn if the kid can actually finish the ride or if the kid quits at midpoint. I just have to have a kid to *start* the ride and a pony both fit enough to go the distance and kind enough not to kill the kid en route. I can do the pony part. I just need a kid to put ON the pony.)
