It's been a very busy month or so here at Cascade Gold. I had ankle surgery on August 21st, where they found a big tear and several adhesions. Happily, they fixed them up and said I should end up back around 100% on that leg. That will be amazing, as I've struggled (ignored) this problem for years. This year though, it came home to roost.
Last year's "medical adventure" put me on 'stall rest' for about 7 months (breast cancer surgery and radiation), so I started 2012's conditioning behind the curve. We did our conditioning, moving up from walking in the arena to trotting/cantering 3 or so hours on the trails. In past years, that has been enough to get me and Galen ready to go for our first LD of the season. Ahh....the glories of age!
We went to our first LD, Home on the Range, at the end of March. We went at a conservative pace, as we had Danny there for his first ride and I wasn't sure that I was really in top shape. This turned out to be not so good for me, as when we came into the first vet check and I got off, I thought I'd somehow broken my ankle. I suspect that is when I did the big tear they found during surgery. Now, a SMART person would have Rider Optioned right then, but I'm an endurance rider (or right now, an LD rider), so I took a bunch of advil, found someone to trot Galen through the vet (thank you Monica) and continued on. By the end of the ride, I wasn't a happy camper, but we finished and more advil and a bunch of beer made it bearable.
We kept conditioning and I decided on a new strategy for our next rides - go faster to spend less time in the saddle! Galen has the years of conditioning, so he's all for this. So, I went out fast and Monica and Danny went at a reasonable pace. This strategy worked fairly well, as we got 11th at Mt. Adams (would have been around 8 or 9, but I couldn't get off to walk him in and it took a few minutes to pulse down), 3rd at Grizzly and 10th at Klickitat. All good right?
Well, Klickitat had a few routing issues and we ended up doing around 37 miles. I think 25 would have been ok, but that last 10 miles I had to have Galen walk most of it, as my leg was screaming. No doubt it was saying something like "You idiot, listen to me!'. In fact, I know it was. We came in and I was so sure I was way down in placings that I didn't even ask where I was, although we came in 10th. Galen was NOT happy about that boring walking in and let me know it. I had big blisters on my hands that night. Both of us were a bit disgruntled at the final vet check. Once again, I was a grade 3 or 4 lame and I had to ask someone (thank you John!) to trot Galen out. But, good drugs and more beer and I was soon feeling fine.
But, it finally did sink in that my leg wasn't getting better, so off to surgery I went. We had tried some injections (nope, didn't help much) and I had tons of tests, where nothing showed up. But, as my leg man said "We'll see what we find when we open you up". And they did find something - a big longitudinal tear on the tendon and a bunch of adhesions. All that was fixed and now it's just the boring aftermath - no weight bearing, physical theraphy and lots of time with my leg in the air. But, he tells me that if I do my physical theraphy, I should be back to 100% sooner or later. I'm really looking forward to that, because I plan that next year will see us moving back up to 50s and doing lots of rides (the original plan THIS year).
It did make me think though, as we get older, we can't skate by on the 'sort of' conditioning we used to. Or, maybe that is just me...I do tend to think that 6-8 hours of farm work a day along with conditioning SHOULD be enough to get everything working right. But, what works at 40 obviously doesn't work quite as well at 50. Sadder (and sorer), but wiser!
So, if there is a moral to be found here, what would it be? Don't expect what worked 10 years ago to work now? Take better care of yourself as you get older? Or maybe, don't be so dang stubborn and ignore obvious issues. I have plenty of time to think about it.
Friday, September 7, 2012
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Photo Shoot
Another one of Merdan
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Open Barn Party- August 11
Cascade Gold is having an Open Barn Event on August 11th, from 1 pm to 5 pm. Come and meet us and our horses. We'll have some soft drinks and nibbles for refreshments. This is a very informal event - if you've been wondering what an Akhal-Teke looks like or want to see some very cute foals, come and visit!
Thursday, July 5, 2012
New Foal!
We had our second (and last) foal of the season on July 3rd. Astra (also known as Addie), had a very large, lovely palomino colt with tons of chrome. I'd been checking on her every hour or so and when I checked at 4 am she was thoughtful and at 5:30 he was up and nursing. It's amazing how those legs fit inside her, but it sure explains why she had been so miserable the last week. His back is up to my waist and when he puts his neck down, it reaches to his knees. His legs are almost as long as Mom's so I expect that he will be around 16 hands. It's so fun to see them figuring out those long, long legs and when they start skittering across the arena or pasture, it's hard not to laugh. He seems to be very calm and bold and Addie is being an excellent mother.
July 3rd was quite cold, so he got the 'hot wheels' blanket and a heat lamp, but today (July 5th) it looks as if summer has arrived. The sun woke everyone (including horses) up around 6 am and there isn't a cloud in the sky. I suspect that Addie and Sparky (his barn name in honor of the 4th of July) will get to go out into the pasture today. Paddy will be very happy that there is another little boy to play with (not quite yet, but soon).
Monica has been taking some great photos of him and I'm sure there will be many more. There are more on my Cascade Gold Facebook page too.
July 3rd was quite cold, so he got the 'hot wheels' blanket and a heat lamp, but today (July 5th) it looks as if summer has arrived. The sun woke everyone (including horses) up around 6 am and there isn't a cloud in the sky. I suspect that Addie and Sparky (his barn name in honor of the 4th of July) will get to go out into the pasture today. Paddy will be very happy that there is another little boy to play with (not quite yet, but soon).
Sparky 2 days old
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Klickitat Endurance Ride, June 2, 2012
This past weekend, Monica and I went down to Glenwood, WA for the Klickitat Endurance ride. This is one of my favorite rides (so far- who knows, in the future some ride I haven't done yet might become my favorite!), with great trails, some fun water crossings, lovely views, great volunteers and a reasonable drive.
We arrived on Friday afternoon after picking up our friend Susan and her little mare Capri. We found a spot way on the edge of camp, which turned out to be great- it was very quiet, except for the sheep across the road. We vetted in, got supper ready, and went to the ride meeting. Marilyn, the ride manager, did mention at the meeting that the distances weren't set in stone....
We had a late start the next morning, by design. Ride management had straggered the distances by several hours each so the out vet check wouldn't be so congested. I was just fine with that. It did seem strange though, waiting until 9:30 am to start (all three of us were doing the LD). We all had our ride strategies, with me waiting to see how my ankle felt to dictate my pace, Monica planning to enjoy the day and the scenery and coming in midpack or below and Susan just wanting to make sure her mare was ok. My friend Shannon was there with her half-Teke gelding Octopelle, and she started a bit before me. I really wanted that walk out on a long rein, so we went back to the camp a time or two. I've been going pretty fast to save my ankle and Galen thought that should be the gameplan that day also. But, we did end up walking out calmly and soon found a friend to ride with for a while. We went at a pretty controlled pace until about mile 7 or so and then I realized that I had to speed things up or I wouldn't finish with the way my ankle was feeling. Galen was ALL for that and we zoomed off. There were a few water crossings before the out vet check, but none were all that exciting. We got into the out vet check at around 12:15, vetted through and some lovely volunteers held Galen while I used the restroom and got a sandwich. Also, a wonderful young lady trotted him out for me, for at that point the vet mentioned that I was 'pretty lame'. I would say I was at least a grade 3 by then. Good thing they don't vet the riders.
We went out of our hold expecting a 6 to 8 mile ride back to camp (the first loop was supposed to be 17-19 miles, so I figured 25-17 = 8). We headed out with me thinking longing of the drugs I hadn't remembered to take that morning. We were pretty much by ourselves at this point - we got passed by some 50s, but I don't think I saw any other 25s. So, I figured I was middle of the pack or lower. We came back to the largest water crossing and now it looked a bit more daunting than it had earlier in the day. Quite a few horses had been through it and had made both banks steeper and slippery and I later heard that the irrigation water was turned up. What had been an exciting but fine crossing was perhaps a bit more than that now. But, Galen hopped right in and beat against the current to make it to the one spot to get up the bank. He lunged up the bank and I think that his hoofboots must have slipped, for when we reached the top (thank goodness), he fell and I rolled off. It was a very easy fall as he was so near the ground at the time. We both popped up and he walked off, down the trail. I followed him, whistling and laughing, as he'd turn around every 20 or 30 feet and look at me, letting me know that he knew I was there and that I was pretty dang slow. We went on like that for about a half mile, with him continually stopping and looking at me. He followed the trail and never got out of sight, but I did wonder if I'd be doing the whole rest of the loop on foot. We came up to a turn in the trail and he went off the wrong way. He stopped about 20 feet in; maybe he didn't recognize the ribbon colors anymore or maybe he got fed up with my slowness, but he turned around and came back and got me. I swear I could hear him thinking quite loudly "she is SO slow". So, I headed back to the correct trail and was laughing for a good half mile. We then met a gentleman on a quad who was coming to look at the water crossing. I told him our experience and we continued on. I was expecting a 6 to 8 mile loop, so when the time came that I figured we'd be back and camp and it was nowhere near, I checked the ribbons and continued. I did meet up with some 50s (who passed me) who said they had heard the loop was closer to 13 miles. That was good to know, as now I wasn't worried that I'd somehow got off trail. Unfortunately, my ankle was not being very helpful and we ended up walking quite a bit of this loop, much to Galen's disgust. We got back to camp around 3:30 and vetted through, with John Parkey being kind enough to trot Galen out. I didn't ask what place we'd come in, as I figured with all the walking I had to be way down in the pack. I took Galen back to camp, took care of him and then went back to the vet check to wait for Susan, Monica and Shannon.
Susan came in first and she'd had a good day on Capri, so she vetted through. Monica's husband Bill had shown up by then and Shannon's husband Craig was there too. We hung out and waited for Monica and Shannon. People trickled in and we cheered them all, but by 6:30 we were rather wondering where our two were. We'd heard they cleared the out vet check and finally some 50s came in and told us that they were right behind them. They got in and we found that Shannon had had some hoof boot troubles, so ended up with Octopelle being barefoot for most of the second loop. Monica stayed with them, as she figured she'd need help getting Danny through the water crossings. It all worked out in the end with both horses passing their vet check with flying colors. We got everyone bedded down after rehashing our ride stories. We did hear (although not officially) that the LD ride was 37 miles, not 25, so we sure got our money's worth!
We went to the awards meeting and I was surprised to find that I had top-tenned! Marilyn had some really neat awards for top-ten - nifty glass chalices with lids that screwed on (don't want to spill ANY of that ride camp libation) and little tags that said "Klickitat". I love mine and had to use it right away.
The next morning Susan and Capri went out again and Monica and I stayed in camp and relaxed. I now now why people like multiday rides. It was so nice to socialize and chat while waiting for Susan. We had quite a few people ask us about our horses and Tekes in general and Monica said that as she rode into camp she heard 'That is Danny', from a few people. (Danny has been the star of her blog, Seattle PI Horsebytes) I almost felt like I could have ridden again, but until I get my ankle fixed, I'm not going to try that. Susan came in after a lovely ride, she got Capri all squared away, we went to the awards meeting and then we had a party. Usually, we leave Sunday morning after riding Saturday and we're so tired Saturday night that all we want to do is go to bed. Well, having the whole day to recover made Monica and I into party animals. Susan has the energy of 2 people, so she didn't need that extra day, but we ended up meeting some new friends and reconnecting with some old ones. It was great! We got up early Monday (it had been raining during the night and was still raining in the morning) so we packed up and headed out. What a great weekend!
We arrived on Friday afternoon after picking up our friend Susan and her little mare Capri. We found a spot way on the edge of camp, which turned out to be great- it was very quiet, except for the sheep across the road. We vetted in, got supper ready, and went to the ride meeting. Marilyn, the ride manager, did mention at the meeting that the distances weren't set in stone....
We had a late start the next morning, by design. Ride management had straggered the distances by several hours each so the out vet check wouldn't be so congested. I was just fine with that. It did seem strange though, waiting until 9:30 am to start (all three of us were doing the LD). We all had our ride strategies, with me waiting to see how my ankle felt to dictate my pace, Monica planning to enjoy the day and the scenery and coming in midpack or below and Susan just wanting to make sure her mare was ok. My friend Shannon was there with her half-Teke gelding Octopelle, and she started a bit before me. I really wanted that walk out on a long rein, so we went back to the camp a time or two. I've been going pretty fast to save my ankle and Galen thought that should be the gameplan that day also. But, we did end up walking out calmly and soon found a friend to ride with for a while. We went at a pretty controlled pace until about mile 7 or so and then I realized that I had to speed things up or I wouldn't finish with the way my ankle was feeling. Galen was ALL for that and we zoomed off. There were a few water crossings before the out vet check, but none were all that exciting. We got into the out vet check at around 12:15, vetted through and some lovely volunteers held Galen while I used the restroom and got a sandwich. Also, a wonderful young lady trotted him out for me, for at that point the vet mentioned that I was 'pretty lame'. I would say I was at least a grade 3 by then. Good thing they don't vet the riders.
We went out of our hold expecting a 6 to 8 mile ride back to camp (the first loop was supposed to be 17-19 miles, so I figured 25-17 = 8). We headed out with me thinking longing of the drugs I hadn't remembered to take that morning. We were pretty much by ourselves at this point - we got passed by some 50s, but I don't think I saw any other 25s. So, I figured I was middle of the pack or lower. We came back to the largest water crossing and now it looked a bit more daunting than it had earlier in the day. Quite a few horses had been through it and had made both banks steeper and slippery and I later heard that the irrigation water was turned up. What had been an exciting but fine crossing was perhaps a bit more than that now. But, Galen hopped right in and beat against the current to make it to the one spot to get up the bank. He lunged up the bank and I think that his hoofboots must have slipped, for when we reached the top (thank goodness), he fell and I rolled off. It was a very easy fall as he was so near the ground at the time. We both popped up and he walked off, down the trail. I followed him, whistling and laughing, as he'd turn around every 20 or 30 feet and look at me, letting me know that he knew I was there and that I was pretty dang slow. We went on like that for about a half mile, with him continually stopping and looking at me. He followed the trail and never got out of sight, but I did wonder if I'd be doing the whole rest of the loop on foot. We came up to a turn in the trail and he went off the wrong way. He stopped about 20 feet in; maybe he didn't recognize the ribbon colors anymore or maybe he got fed up with my slowness, but he turned around and came back and got me. I swear I could hear him thinking quite loudly "she is SO slow". So, I headed back to the correct trail and was laughing for a good half mile. We then met a gentleman on a quad who was coming to look at the water crossing. I told him our experience and we continued on. I was expecting a 6 to 8 mile loop, so when the time came that I figured we'd be back and camp and it was nowhere near, I checked the ribbons and continued. I did meet up with some 50s (who passed me) who said they had heard the loop was closer to 13 miles. That was good to know, as now I wasn't worried that I'd somehow got off trail. Unfortunately, my ankle was not being very helpful and we ended up walking quite a bit of this loop, much to Galen's disgust. We got back to camp around 3:30 and vetted through, with John Parkey being kind enough to trot Galen out. I didn't ask what place we'd come in, as I figured with all the walking I had to be way down in the pack. I took Galen back to camp, took care of him and then went back to the vet check to wait for Susan, Monica and Shannon.
Susan came in first and she'd had a good day on Capri, so she vetted through. Monica's husband Bill had shown up by then and Shannon's husband Craig was there too. We hung out and waited for Monica and Shannon. People trickled in and we cheered them all, but by 6:30 we were rather wondering where our two were. We'd heard they cleared the out vet check and finally some 50s came in and told us that they were right behind them. They got in and we found that Shannon had had some hoof boot troubles, so ended up with Octopelle being barefoot for most of the second loop. Monica stayed with them, as she figured she'd need help getting Danny through the water crossings. It all worked out in the end with both horses passing their vet check with flying colors. We got everyone bedded down after rehashing our ride stories. We did hear (although not officially) that the LD ride was 37 miles, not 25, so we sure got our money's worth!
We went to the awards meeting and I was surprised to find that I had top-tenned! Marilyn had some really neat awards for top-ten - nifty glass chalices with lids that screwed on (don't want to spill ANY of that ride camp libation) and little tags that said "Klickitat". I love mine and had to use it right away.
The next morning Susan and Capri went out again and Monica and I stayed in camp and relaxed. I now now why people like multiday rides. It was so nice to socialize and chat while waiting for Susan. We had quite a few people ask us about our horses and Tekes in general and Monica said that as she rode into camp she heard 'That is Danny', from a few people. (Danny has been the star of her blog, Seattle PI Horsebytes) I almost felt like I could have ridden again, but until I get my ankle fixed, I'm not going to try that. Susan came in after a lovely ride, she got Capri all squared away, we went to the awards meeting and then we had a party. Usually, we leave Sunday morning after riding Saturday and we're so tired Saturday night that all we want to do is go to bed. Well, having the whole day to recover made Monica and I into party animals. Susan has the energy of 2 people, so she didn't need that extra day, but we ended up meeting some new friends and reconnecting with some old ones. It was great! We got up early Monday (it had been raining during the night and was still raining in the morning) so we packed up and headed out. What a great weekend!
Monday, May 21, 2012
Mt. Adams Endurance Ride, May 19 2012
Monica
and I went down to the Mt. Adams endurance ride this past weekend. This
is a great ride – about 6 hours away, nice camping, just about perfect trails
and views to kill for. We got there Friday night, got settled in and
vetted and went for a short ride. My ankles were not happy, so we didn’t
go far. We did some visiting around camp and then turned in for our early
start the next day. We met Lisa Preston, who was there with her young Teke-Arab
filly for her first LD ride. There was one other Teke cross there with
Mona Thacker. Her Shiraz has been competing for quite a few years and has
been racking up the miles.
Saturday
morning dawned and we got ready. The weather was perfect – 60ish and
sunny. Our plan was that I’d start behind the leaders and go fast, to
save my ankles, and Monica and Danny would meander out later. As this is
only his 3rd ride, she’s being very conservative (and rightly
so). So, we waited until the majority of the 75 (yes, 75 riders in the 25
mile ride) went out. We walked out of camp after a bit of excitement –
someone’s horse decided to warm itself up just as we were walking to the start
line. They caught it after a few minutes and then we walked out on a
loose rein. As soon as we got to the woods (there was about a half mile
of pavement to walk on) we started our trot and passed and passed and passed
people. Galen LOVES to pass other horses. We finished our first
loop of 13 miles in around 1 ½ hours and vetted through just fine. We
only had a short hold, so we went back to the camper and got resupplied and a
bite to eat.
We
headed out on our second loop and met Monica and Danny coming in as we went
out. The horses felt that we should stand around and talk about it, but a
small amount of ‘persuasion’ and Galen and I were off. This next loop was
12 miles and we ended up leap-frogging with the same group of people most of
the way. We completed this loop in about the same as the first – my total
ride time was around 3 hours and 40 minutes (not sure of the exact time) and my
only real mistake was not getting off and walking him in the last half
mile. I was worried about my ankle – getting off and not being able to
walk would have been a pain. So, it took him a few minutes to pulse down
to the ride pulse of 60 and we ended up in 11th place. If I’d
have walked in (and he was pulsed down), we would have been 8th.
To explain, on the LD ride, ride time stops when you cross the finish and are
at a pulse of 60. The 50s and above ride times stopped when they crossed
the finish. But, he vetted through just fine and we were done in plenty
of time to go back and chat with friends and wait for Monica and Danny to come
in.
Monica
had had a lovely ride and Danny was complemented on his ‘metronome’ trot on the
trail. He’s really blossoming this year.
More
and more people are recognizing the Tekes at rides – lots of “how do you
pronounce that” and we handed out several breed info booklets. I bet we
see more and more at the rides in upcoming years! I know that people
riding behind us are often amazed at how smooth and spook free our horses
are. Love it!
All
in all, a lovely weekend.
Cathy and Galen on the first loop. Mt. Hood (I think) in the background.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Getting ready for Mt. Adams!
This week we're getting ready for the Mt. Adams ride. Once again, Monica and I will be doing the LD and Wendy will be doing the 50. I will be going as fast as possible, hoping that my ankle doesn't give out before I finish. Happily, Galen is good with that plan.
Mt. Adams is absolutely lovely and I can hardly wait. All this week we're stocking the camper and trailer, mounting our corral hangers on the trailer (so we don't have to 'macrame' them on) and then we'll head out Friday morning.
Monica and I got in a good ride at the Watershed last week - her phone fritzed out, so we don't know exactly how far we went, but we were going at a pretty good clip for most of it. Galen got into his lovely, long trot that I just sort of almost sit and kept it up. I could hear "Good boys" from behind me, as Danny got into his lovely trail trot too. We both had big 'trail riding' grins when we were done. Neither horse did much sweating at all, although there was a bit of a breeze that probably helped with that. The horses are ready...we'll see about me.
After Mt. Adams, we'll go to Klickitat and then possibly Renegade, if Addy foals at the right time. She is due on July 2nd, so could pop anytime from the middle of June on. We'll just have to wait and see.
I've been working some of the young horses. Mahri is carrying a saddle and has worn a bridle twice now. No big deal. Monica has sat on Goshen and taken a few steps. No big deal. Andre is coming along, getting stronger and fitter every day. I'm trying to get a little time in with Khan, Ari and Slari too, although they tend to be gotten to last. I even lunged Salam a little today. He really enjoys the work and fussing.
Well, my lunch break is done, so I'm heading out to the barn to enjoy this gorgeous weather.
Mt. Adams is absolutely lovely and I can hardly wait. All this week we're stocking the camper and trailer, mounting our corral hangers on the trailer (so we don't have to 'macrame' them on) and then we'll head out Friday morning.
Monica and I got in a good ride at the Watershed last week - her phone fritzed out, so we don't know exactly how far we went, but we were going at a pretty good clip for most of it. Galen got into his lovely, long trot that I just sort of almost sit and kept it up. I could hear "Good boys" from behind me, as Danny got into his lovely trail trot too. We both had big 'trail riding' grins when we were done. Neither horse did much sweating at all, although there was a bit of a breeze that probably helped with that. The horses are ready...we'll see about me.
After Mt. Adams, we'll go to Klickitat and then possibly Renegade, if Addy foals at the right time. She is due on July 2nd, so could pop anytime from the middle of June on. We'll just have to wait and see.
I've been working some of the young horses. Mahri is carrying a saddle and has worn a bridle twice now. No big deal. Monica has sat on Goshen and taken a few steps. No big deal. Andre is coming along, getting stronger and fitter every day. I'm trying to get a little time in with Khan, Ari and Slari too, although they tend to be gotten to last. I even lunged Salam a little today. He really enjoys the work and fussing.
Well, my lunch break is done, so I'm heading out to the barn to enjoy this gorgeous weather.
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