At hold 2 and doing

At hold 2 and doing well.

Vetted in ok - 100

Vetted in ok - 100 or bust!

Test Ride in EasyBoot Gloves

When I got home tonight I had just enough time to go get Zephyr from his pasture, eat my dinner, and get dressed to ride, before the UPS man came with my EasyBoot Gloves.

Because time was getting short and I needed to get at least a short ride in, I skipped installing the Power Straps and just headed out to tack up. I brought along the athletic tape to try the method the Aussie boot users are using, but found that even the recommended 2-3 wraps was too much to fit the boot on. Maybe after a fresh trim, but not with a week's growth and brand-new un-stretched-out boots.

Seems like they should velcro together more directly, less in a V:

Next time someone admires Zephyr's mane, I'll be sure and send them THIS picture. (Click to enlarge.)  UGH...........

 

Zephyr's new reflective leg wraps.  I really like them, they wash up easy after getting muddy, and they’re CHEAP CHEAP so I can just buy more if he loses them.  I do think I’ll trim off the extra length that gets “underlapped” when you put it on tightly enough.

 

The cedar swamp up the road... best boot-sucking mud I could find.

 

Here’s a video of us going through the mud hole.  Sorry about the loud bells, I wasn’t planning to take a video when I left the house.  You can still hear the boot sucking mud sounds though, especially about :50 in.

Zephyr's post-mud hooves with boots (front first, then hind). All boots stayed on perfectly.

 

 

 

 

 

Orange is a Good Color Too!

Last Wednesday I took Zephyr for a short ride at the Wildlands.  He had just gotten his shoes pulled on Monday in preparation for switching to Easyboot Gloves, so I planned to take it easy on the gravel roads.  He was tender enough that we ended up just walking the entire time, and I even got off and walked the last mile back to the trailer myself.  His Gloves are arriving tonight, so we’ll get almost two weeks to test them.  If they don’t end up working out, I’ll have him re-shod right before the ride.

I put the Myler Combination Bit on his new orange bridle that we got for the mounted search and rescue unit.  I want to test it out some more before I decide whether it will or won’t work for the first couple loops of an endurance ride.  At Crooked River he just seemed ticked off by the bit, but maybe I hadn’t spent enough time riding him in it.  Anyway... orange looks good on him, I think!  Just after I took the picture above, he yawned and I accidentally pushed the button again as I lowered the camera.  I think it came out kinda cool, if a bit dizzying!

And here’s the view along the way:

I Guess I’m a “Nerd With a Herd”, Too!

Except I only have one horse, not a herd.  This month’s Endurance News contains an article written by Tamara Baysinger, in which she explains the spreadsheet she created for converting miles/hour to minutes/mile and also converting minutes to hours.  I can’t believe I hadn’t already done this... what a fabulous idea!  If my crew uses this new spreadsheet in combination with the loop timing spreadsheet I’ve already done for the Pine Tree 100, I don’t think there’s any possible way I’ll undergo the same sort of “Time Warp” sensation I had at the Vermont 100!  If we don’t make it to the finish line, it won’t be from lack of planning.  NO, I am not going to OVER think it.  I just need to be able to keep perspective even when I’m dead tired and can’t think straight. 

I’ve uploaded a file to the 100-milers Yahoo Group... the first tab has my planned timing spreadsheet for the Pine Tree 100, and my version of Tamara’s spreadsheet is on the second tab.  I’ve adapted it for my crew’s and my ease of use, and highlighted various parts of it that apply to the particular loops.

Speaking of my crew... I found a couple of awesome documents online courtesy of Patti Stedman, which I’m going to modify for my own crew.  Doc 1  Doc 2  Thanks for posting them, Patti!

If the links above don’t work, I apologize.  I’m hoping they’ll be accessible even if you’re not a member of the Yahoo Group.

Testing mobile blogging.

Testing mobile blogging.
Edited to say... looks like it works! I'll be using this method to keep family and friends updated on our progress through the Pine Tree 100 on June 27. Yes, you heard me right, we're giving it another shot... we're both more prepared this time (both mentally and physically) and the terrain is much more similar to the trails we train on at home. I'm looking for 2-3 people to crew for us... any takers??

The Grass IS Greener!

Every morning when I turn him out onto pasture, Zephyr runs right to his favorite spot.  The grass must taste the best there.  He’s not always there when I go get him in the afternoon, which is good... he’s out on six acres so it would be nice if he were actually making use of more than just this little bit of it!

In the afternoon/evening when I go down to get him, he comes running back to the gate just like this.  I’d like to say it’s because he’s happy to see ME but I think it’s probably the grain.

And a close-up just ‘cause I can.  I wish he wasn’t standing with his right leg back... but at least you can see he’s got some good muscles this year.  And you can sort of see his dapples, I think?

I’ve changed the address for this blog!!

Please change your favorite/bookmark to point to www.zegifts.blogspot.com – I won’t bore you with the details, but the blog will be much easier for me to manage if it “lives” on the blogspot web servers instead of my own.  I will no longer be updating the blog files at this address (zegifts.com/blog/index).

Zephyr’s First Day of School!

Well, that’s what it felt like anyway.  This morning, Gary and I finished up the fence tightening and got it turned on.  About 2:30 I walked Zephyr over there.  I walked him down to the pond and the stream so he’d know how to find water, then turned him loose and spanked his bum.  This was the only movement we saw for the next hour other than chewing!

As I said, this is all we saw after that.  I think it was at least 15 minutes before he even moved one hoof… and it truly was just one hoof, and only by a few inches!

He got to stay out for 5 hours.  When it came time to go collect him, I brought grain in the bucket he recognizes as the YUMMY BUCKET, but I didn’t really need it.  He’s accustomed to being collected from the electric pen in our front yard at twilight, so he was waiting at the front fence line.  What a good boy!

Tomorrow I’ll bring him over before work, and he’ll come home at 4 to have his shoes pulled, hooves trimmed, and be measured for Easyboot Gloves.  The “Fit Kit” came yesterday, so we’re all set to go.

Zephyr’s New Summer Pasture

I’m totally excited.  This is where Zephyr will be spending his daytimes, starting any day now and lasting until the snow flies.  There are two pastures, the summer pasture is about 6 acres, and the fall pasture (for after it gets hayed) is a little more.  They’re both across the road from my house… a neighbor is letting me use them for free! 

Zephyr will have to share with a few cows, but he won’t mind.  These pictures are from the summer pasture, which I spent some time in yesterday, putting surveyors’ flagging on the wires.

The grass is up to his KNEES.  (Yes, I am weaning him onto it slowly).