I did it!

all rinsed off

I did it! I did 10.764 miles today on Ibn. Now I have a route I can follow, and know it’s the right number of miles. I went down our fence line looping around to the main road past Baker’s property line. Then instead of continuing all the way down the road, I went right down another trail, which it turns out was a big loop around by the gated house, and back down the trail that leading back to the main road. We were doing great (if slowly) till we came to a culvert pipe. There was no way on God’s green earth that Ibn was going to go over that shiny thing, even though part of it was covered with dirt. He didn’t know what it was and it could leap up and eat him. Round and round, we went getting really close, then he spun around flipping his head, and caught me right on my forehead, and cheek. Man he has a hard head. I told him if I ended up with a black eye he was dead meat. I tried a few more times then I took him away from the dreaded shiny thing, dismounted, and walked him over it several times. I mounted him again, and rode him over the culvert several times. He was still suspicious, but he walked over it. Thankfully the next culverts we found were no problem. Horses, they have such a big imagination.

 We reached the main road again, and crossed to the road that led to the grassy knoll. Unlike Marina, Ibn had no desire whatsoever to take off at a dead run. I did get him to trot a bit of the way, but I had forgotten to take the quip so he basically ignored me. Why we can’t have normal horses I don’t know. After the knoll we went up, and over the ridge. I wanted to follow the maintained road to the right, but it just led to a paved road, and since Copper Canyon is a gated community I wasn’t about to trespass down their main drag. Back we went to the trail that went up, and ended in a loop. There had to be something at the top of that ridge, I just knew there was something.

Part of this road is maintained, that is until you get to the big wash. That’s when it changes to more of an ATV trail. We got to the little loop, and I went up to the top of the ridge. What a view. You could see the whole of the valley. There was no way down, unless you had a parachute. With a cliff in front of me I was very careful turning Ibn around, getting my camera, and trying to get him to stand still for a couple of shots. I had no desire to have him back up and over. For some reason the thought of falling down that cliff was not appealing to me. The photos I took don’t do the valley justice. I would love to follow the main drag through the valley, but as I said it’s gated. Besides that would take me way over my 10 miles.

We returned to the grassy knoll, but instead of going back we went across to the other meadow. It ends at the top of another steep ridge, but it makes a nice loop. Finally we went back towards the main road home. We went back the same way we came up, making it a longer route, but I needed to get those 10 miles. I got back to the barn, and low and behold, Marina came out of her stall, and squirted making goo goo eyes at Ibn. The only time she tolerates Ibn is when she is in season. Then he’s the handsomest stallion in town. Of course so is every other stallion, but that’s beside the point. Now her dripping milk a few days before makes a little more sense. Her hormones are all screwed up. Franklin’s office is going to order the Pergaloid for me, but he said to watch her, and if she shows any signs of an infection call them.

At least she went into season. This is the first time I have seen her in season since she came home in November. It’s a good sign that something is working, we just want it all to work better. The Pergaloid will get rid of her hay belly, and get her back to a normal coat. I have also noticed that her skin is getting a little yucky under her tail on her back legs. That’s another sign of Cushing’s. That should clear up too. Of course she will also feel better, and will probably have even more energy. Woe is me, that’s just what I need, Marina with more energy.

Tomorrow I’m going to try to get off to an early start. I have to get hay, and I still need to go to town. At least Marina will take less time to do the same route, so that will help. I have to start working on the kids too. Since the storms I haven’t worked with them because I have been concentrating on riding Ibn and Marina. Now that I have a specified route to take, and won’t just be wandering around, the rides should take less time. If I would remember to take my quip when I ride Ibn that would help a lot too. I know that riding slowly actually builds them up faster, but it took him nearly 4 hours to do the 10 miles. That’s not acceptable. They give you three hours to complete the 10 miles so we have some work to do. Marina’s no problem, if I let her do what she wants, she’d probably finish it in less than two hours. Until I get her going on the Pergaloid, and her hormones balance out, I don’t want to push her. Besides I have four months to get both of them in racing shape.

I wish I could compete in more races, I know I would win hands down every time with Marina. I could probably do the same with Ibn, he would just need some coaxing (a lot of coaxing). Who knows, after a couple of months he may decide he likes doing trail rides, and step up to the plate so to speak, but I’m not holding my breath on that one. There has to be something he likes besides being a gentleman stallion, I’m hoping this might be it. The funny thing is, so far his get are sweet, but considerably more hyper. Breeding him to a hot mare, is not the mare of choice we have found. Jeri on the other hand, turns out sweet calm babies when bred to hot mares. Go figure, Ibn is as laid back as they come, and Jeri is actually a hot stallion. The kids come out backwards, Ibn’s kids are hot, and Jeri’s are laid back. I can’t figure it out, I just go with the flow.