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Sep. 6th, 2010 09:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickTook the horse out for a spin today. I've been doing that a lot lately because the state 4-H competitive trail ride is in about two weeks.
The Ride is on Saturday, September 18, starting at 8 AM and finishing at about 1 PM or a little later. Base camp is at the Mifflin County 4-H campground in Penn-Roosevelt State Park in Rothrock State Forest, just off 322 and about fifteen miles from State College.
I don't expect anyone to attend, but that's when/where it is. (The only person I know who lives close enough to even consider popping by is fooliv and I'm pretty sure it's not his cup of tea.) Anyone who wants to see me actually on a horse would do well to stop by at around 7:30 AM on Saturday morning and hang around for the start of the thing at 8 AM, at which point there would be nothing more to see for four and a half hours and they could happily go home feeling they'd done their spectator-ish duty.
The thing is, competitive trail, while boatloads of fun for participants, is an asstastic spectator sport. There's nothing at all for spectators at base camp to see -- almost every single cool thing takes place over thirty miles, mostly out of sight and over the space of several hours. The folks at base camp just hang out and wait in lawn chairs all day. When the riders do get back, they're quite tired and busy doing arcane equine stuff with/to their horses. You don't even know who won the damn thing until way after the finish, when everyone's horse has vetted out and the scores have been tallied.
Unless you're honestly quite horse-oriented, this is not an event you will enjoy watching, attending, or discussing. I'm just including the particulars in the interests of full disclosure. I had thought I'd included all the details for the Ag Progress Days draping-horse-in-sheets thing, but apparently I did not do so until after the fact. I'm trying to do a better job this time around.
How do we plan to do this year? I don't know. I'm hoping for middle-of-the-pack. I've done some work with my critter, but not the huge pile of work that I'd done with her in 2007 when I was gunning to win the damn thing. As a result, Nick is in tolerable shape but she's not the ground-covering machine that she was in 2007. She should hold up well to a conservative and not overly-ambitious ride, though.
I'm somewhat skinnier now than I was then, which should help her because she won't have to schlep quite so much weight along. Trysta says my seat has improved (two years of dressage lessons probably didn't hurt) so I should be more balanced, too. I took her out today for extended trotting -- ten minutes at a clip. She dried off as long as it was level ground trotting, was not blowing hard at all. Hill work still sweats her up, but that's what hill work is *for*.
We'll be riding with Heather (on Callie) and Waylon (on Eikon) and Cass (on Thyme) and Trys (on Mariah) and La (on Cuervo). This is Heather's first time at the competitive ride, but Callie went as sweep in 2008 and had no behavioral issues despite being behind the group. Callie is sedate and has a good heart. Waylon (Cass's little brother) is also going for the first time but Eikon is sane and dead broke. I do not foresee any major issues there. Ike might need to be watched, as she's never been to the ride before, but she knows to stay with our group and she's done other, slower big trail rides before. Cass has been to this ride twice before, but this time she's on a relatively green mare instead of the dead-broke Casper. They should be OK but will need to be watched somewhat in case Thyme gets strong. Trys is a capable adult on a reasonably-sane pony. They should be just fine and able to save others. La is extremely capable, but Cuervo is quite green indeed so La won't really be in a position to save anyone else. And then there's me, on the horse I've ridden for eight years. I don't expect much difficulty for myself and I should be able to save people if people need to be saved. Some of the trail will involve roads, about which I am not entirely sanguine (my horse does not tolerate traffic), but it is what it is. Of our group of six, my horse is the most fit and has the most mileage in a competitive trail type setting. Because of the newbie kids and the green horse Cuervo, we will be doing a conservative and sedate ride. I'm OK with that. The year I went to win with my horse, I won with my horse. I've done that. Done now.
The Ride is on Saturday, September 18, starting at 8 AM and finishing at about 1 PM or a little later. Base camp is at the Mifflin County 4-H campground in Penn-Roosevelt State Park in Rothrock State Forest, just off 322 and about fifteen miles from State College.
I don't expect anyone to attend, but that's when/where it is. (The only person I know who lives close enough to even consider popping by is fooliv and I'm pretty sure it's not his cup of tea.) Anyone who wants to see me actually on a horse would do well to stop by at around 7:30 AM on Saturday morning and hang around for the start of the thing at 8 AM, at which point there would be nothing more to see for four and a half hours and they could happily go home feeling they'd done their spectator-ish duty.
The thing is, competitive trail, while boatloads of fun for participants, is an asstastic spectator sport. There's nothing at all for spectators at base camp to see -- almost every single cool thing takes place over thirty miles, mostly out of sight and over the space of several hours. The folks at base camp just hang out and wait in lawn chairs all day. When the riders do get back, they're quite tired and busy doing arcane equine stuff with/to their horses. You don't even know who won the damn thing until way after the finish, when everyone's horse has vetted out and the scores have been tallied.
Unless you're honestly quite horse-oriented, this is not an event you will enjoy watching, attending, or discussing. I'm just including the particulars in the interests of full disclosure. I had thought I'd included all the details for the Ag Progress Days draping-horse-in-sheets thing, but apparently I did not do so until after the fact. I'm trying to do a better job this time around.
How do we plan to do this year? I don't know. I'm hoping for middle-of-the-pack. I've done some work with my critter, but not the huge pile of work that I'd done with her in 2007 when I was gunning to win the damn thing. As a result, Nick is in tolerable shape but she's not the ground-covering machine that she was in 2007. She should hold up well to a conservative and not overly-ambitious ride, though.
I'm somewhat skinnier now than I was then, which should help her because she won't have to schlep quite so much weight along. Trysta says my seat has improved (two years of dressage lessons probably didn't hurt) so I should be more balanced, too. I took her out today for extended trotting -- ten minutes at a clip. She dried off as long as it was level ground trotting, was not blowing hard at all. Hill work still sweats her up, but that's what hill work is *for*.
We'll be riding with Heather (on Callie) and Waylon (on Eikon) and Cass (on Thyme) and Trys (on Mariah) and La (on Cuervo). This is Heather's first time at the competitive ride, but Callie went as sweep in 2008 and had no behavioral issues despite being behind the group. Callie is sedate and has a good heart. Waylon (Cass's little brother) is also going for the first time but Eikon is sane and dead broke. I do not foresee any major issues there. Ike might need to be watched, as she's never been to the ride before, but she knows to stay with our group and she's done other, slower big trail rides before. Cass has been to this ride twice before, but this time she's on a relatively green mare instead of the dead-broke Casper. They should be OK but will need to be watched somewhat in case Thyme gets strong. Trys is a capable adult on a reasonably-sane pony. They should be just fine and able to save others. La is extremely capable, but Cuervo is quite green indeed so La won't really be in a position to save anyone else. And then there's me, on the horse I've ridden for eight years. I don't expect much difficulty for myself and I should be able to save people if people need to be saved. Some of the trail will involve roads, about which I am not entirely sanguine (my horse does not tolerate traffic), but it is what it is. Of our group of six, my horse is the most fit and has the most mileage in a competitive trail type setting. Because of the newbie kids and the green horse Cuervo, we will be doing a conservative and sedate ride. I'm OK with that. The year I went to win with my horse, I won with my horse. I've done that. Done now.
