{"id":3498,"date":"2017-05-07T10:57:48","date_gmt":"2017-05-07T10:57:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newpromisefarms.com\/?page_id=3498"},"modified":"2022-02-12T01:30:12","modified_gmt":"2022-02-12T01:30:12","slug":"cheshire-2017","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/newpromisefarms.com\/?page_id=3498","title":{"rendered":"Cheshire 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have been a slacker on getting this story written.\u00a0 Penny did a fabulous job (on the second loop) at Blackwater Swamp Stomp<\/a> and I was very excited to keep her going.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the weekend after that ride, we had a quickie 5″ of snow and her and Grasshopper decided that was the best time to play really hard.\u00a0 Apparently, Penny slipped or slip or something and strained her left rear suspensory ligament.<\/p>\n

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!<\/p>\n

So, now Penny is off from working and poor Steel had to step up to the plate.\u00a0 Steel and I did the Chesapeake CTR<\/a>.\u00a0 Thinking that I might be able to get a versatility for Steel this year, if I wasn’t going to be able to ride Penny, I did the ride “judged” so she didn’t wear her interference boots.<\/p>\n

BAD CHOICE ON MY PART.<\/p>\n

Poor Steel gave herself boo-boo’s on her legs during the ride.\u00a0 She did complete in 9th place, but the ECTRA Versatility Award is right out the door.\u00a0 She will have to do any CTR’s in the future wearing her leg protection, which means she can only do Pass\/Fail, the Performance Division. She will be able to earn mileage credit only.<\/p>\n

So … March 10th Penny gives herself a strain.\u00a0 Talked to the vet who said if she isn’t moving soundly in 30 days, they will do some more intense testing, but for right now, keep her locked up resting.<\/p>\n

WHAT???\u00a0 Sorry, no-where to lock up my horse and I am in total disagreement with that treatment regime.\u00a0 I am a firm believer in letting a horse keep moving while healing (ask me about Numbers and her broken leg!)<\/p>\n

And Penny isn’t hobbling, she’s just “off” and the leg is puffy on the inside.<\/p>\n

I smile and nod my head and agree to keep her locked up for 30 days.<\/p>\n

SNORT<\/p>\n

Okay, I get back from Chesapeake and I’m missing Penny’s ride a lot.\u00a0 Steel is marvelous, but she’s no “machine”. I watch Penny carefully and she’s not been “off” for about a week so I decide I will take her for a buggy ride and see how she looks.<\/p>\n

My high school friend, Jeanne came to visit over the weekend of April 9th, so I put off taking Penny out until after her visit.\u00a0 We do a quick 8 miles in the buggy on April 11th and she looks great.\u00a0 I know because I had a great view of her butt for 8 miles.<\/p>\n

grin<\/p>\n

Okay, the following weekend, April 16th, Ro and I head out to Ontelaunee with her new guy, the horse with twenty five names, and to do a slow walk and trot ride.\u00a0 Well, that didn’t go as planned. Penny and Mooch were lively and wanted to work so we actually did 10 miles at a pretty good pace.<\/p>\n

Penny never took an off step that entire ride.\u00a0 The follow day there was a slight puff in her rear leg but no heat and she wasn’t off so I was hoping she was mending well.<\/p>\n

I let her alone all week and Ro and I went to Trexler on April 23rd to work Penny and Mooch some more.\u00a0 Trexler has a lot of hill climbing, and Penny is not the best at the uphills.\u00a0 She does not have the butt built-up conditioning at this point in\u00a0 her career and she struggles.\u00a0 Mooch, on the other hand, has a butt like a god and can pull a hill like Miss Daizy used to do.\u00a0 He’s a monster truck!\u00a0 Love riding with him!<\/p>\n

We do a semi-hard workout of 10 miles and Penny did great.\u00a0 I put her Renegade boots on for this ride and she had four blow outs.<\/p>\n

Dammit<\/p>\n

I think I\u00a0 need to readjust these boots.\u00a0 I am hoping someone out there close to me knows the secret because I really do not want to put her in shoes since we’re only doing 25 mile rides this year.<\/p>\n

Okay.\u00a0 Next day after this conditioning ride, nothing.\u00a0 No puffy, no offness, nothing to indicate that her ligament was ever compromised.<\/p>\n

Praise Jesus!<\/p>\n

She’s going to Cheshire.\u00a0 And doing it barefooted since I can’t get the hang of these Renegade boots.<\/p>\n

Kelsey was looking for a ride so I offered her Steel.\u00a0 Told her that she would have to ride in the Pass\/Fail (so no awards) and Kelsey just wanted to compete.\u00a0 She was okay with that.<\/p>\n

Sunday – 3:30 am – I load up Penny and Steel and off we go to Cheshire. We arrive at 6:30 am.\u00a0 Kelsey was having some issues at home so she had texted me that she would be in about 7:30 am.\u00a0 Yep, it’s a CTR – hurry up and wait – seems to be the motto!<\/p>\n

\"camp\"<\/a>This CTR sport requires a lot of things from a horse, more so than an endurance ride.\u00a0 I like starting new horses in CTR’s because they get all kinds of experiences that they would not get at an endurance ride.\u00a0 This is Penny’s first CTR (and only her second competition) and she really surprised me all day.<\/p>\n

Standing around waiting is the hardest part.\u00a0 We get to base camp and get all vetted in and then we wait. She’s tied to the trailer with a water tub and a hay net and she stood there like a seasoned horse eating and drinking (and yes, even peeing) while we wait.\u00a0 She didn’t get impatient or even get stressed.<\/p>\n

We do the ride meeting and it’s the same loop twice.<\/p>\n

(sigh)<\/p>\n

Yep, Chesapeake was the same loop twice.\u00a0 Cheshire is the same loop twice.\u00a0 I hate doing the same loop twice.\u00a0 I get it, it’s easier to mark 13 miles and leave it at that, but I hate doing the same loop twice.<\/p>\n

BORING!<\/p>\n

Anyway, should be easy enough to not get lost! Especially on the second go around.<\/p>\n

Renee is going to ride with us so it will be the three of us starting with two newbie CDR riders.\u00a0 (CDR is the intro ride, only doing one loop) Ben tells me to take care of them and I’m like – yeah, like that’s not going to happen!\u00a0 I know as soon as we get on the trail penny is gonna get into her big-ass-trot and the newbies will be on their own.<\/p>\n

And that’s exactly what happened.<\/p>\n

\"first_loop2\"<\/a>Penny took the lead right from the start and set a lovely pace.\u00a0 Okay, lovely for me, maybe not so much for Steel and Joy.\u00a0 I did hear a lot of cantering going on behind me all day. Penny has the biggest trot ever.\u00a0 In this picture I am setting up my “Ride-O-Meter to track speeds, etc.<\/p>\n

\"second_loop\"<\/a>We peaked pace at 17.8 mph, we had a sustained pace of 13.3 mph, we averaged 8.2 mph for the ride.\u00a0 Oh, it’s a CTR, right, minimum time 4 hrs 20 min … we just stayed in hold extra time to make up for being so quick on the trail.<\/p>\n

So, the trail was very well marked.\u00a0 There were bright pink arrow signs, ribbons every three feet, and big white “notice” signs telling us when there were obstacles or trail marking issues.<\/p>\n

Funny story.\u00a0 One big white sign said, “No trail markers for .7 miles” and it had a couple ribbons on it.\u00a0 Penny was working the trail in the lead and would reach out her nose to touch the pink arrow signs as we passed them. She reached down to touch this sign when a gust of wind came and blew the ribbon into her nose.\u00a0 She literally jumped up and sideways with a snort and stomped at the sign.\u00a0 It was hysterical!<\/p>\n

Later, we were passing another white sign and she went into fire-breathing-dragon mode and stomped over to that sign as if daring it to bite her.<\/p>\n

There were a couple times, especially when we entered onto single track trail in the woods, that Penny was not as smart as Steel and Steel got to lead the ride.\u00a0 I have to say, after five years of competing Steel (running behind Miss Daizy) she has really turned out to be a great lead horse, when asked.\u00a0 She doesn’t care to do it all the time, but on the single track trail, Steel can burn up some miles.<\/p>\n

\"3\"<\/a>On the first loop they had a hospitality station setup.\u00a0 It took Penny all of one second to understand this was where the carrots were.\u00a0 She put herself right in the front to get her carrots and apples.\u00a0 The second time we came into this spot, she dashed right over to the carrot lady without me even asking her to.\u00a0 She is very smart!<\/p>\n

\"first_loop4\"<\/a>She was remarkable on the first loop.\u00a0 I was prepared for a brain meltdown and she was like an old pro.\u00a0 We passed all the groups of riders and were running out front.\u00a0 We did have a couple riders come up behind us and pace along with us for awhile and she did not get excited or rammy.\u00a0 She did not particularly like Beth’s gelding, so she did some ear pinning when he got too close, but other than that, I rode her on a loose rein all day.<\/p>\n

We stayed in hold for 35 minutes.\u00a0 Renee was concerned and I told her that we would finish in plenty of time.\u00a0 Little did I know that on second loop, all three horses were starving and most the field we crossed was foot high grass so they wanted to stop and chow down.\u00a0 Our second loop was not as fast as the first loop.<\/p>\n

\"first_loop3\"<\/a>We finished with 6 minutes to spare (not to be overtime).\u00a0 Because every mud puddle, Penny stopped to drink.\u00a0 Every long grass, Penny stopped to eat.\u00a0 Munching munching.<\/p>\n

Coming into the finish, Penny already knew where her trailer (and food) was located so it was very difficult to get her past the trailers and up to the timer.\u00a0 Seriously, she kept trying to duck out and go back.\u00a0 It was the most comical thing I had ever experienced.\u00a0 She KNEW her food was at that green and white trailer so why the heck did she have to walk all the way up here?<\/p>\n

\"2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

LOL<\/p>\n

I don’t know how Renee and Kelsey enjoyed their ride, but I was on top of the world and smiling the entire day – even if we did do the same loop twice.\u00a0 Penny was a rock star all day.<\/p>\n

\"second_loop1\"<\/a>Well – until the final P\/R.<\/p>\n

Remember how I told you that CTR is hurry up and wait?\u00a0 Well, final P\/R is 20 minutes after we get into camp.\u00a0 Penny spent her 20 minutes eating everything in sight.\u00a0 As we made our way to the pulse taker, she was grabbing grass and yanking me around trying to eat.\u00a0 In the pen getting her pulse, she wanted to eat, not stand there and wait while someone took her pulse.\u00a0 She was really struggling with the whole concept of stand here quietly while Robbie counts.<\/p>\n

Robbie said her heart rate started really slow, like in the 40’s slow.\u00a0 At final pulse, they have to count the HR for a full minute.\u00a0 60 seconds was much too long for Penny to stand there.\u00a0 Robbie was almost finished with the count when Penny started throwing her head around trying to get to the grass.\u00a0 Her heart rate shot up.<\/p>\n

We have to start over. Steel is just starting her final pulse when three riders gallop up to the timer who is right behind us in the pulse pen.<\/p>\n

Penny spun around to see what was going on.\u00a0 Steel jumped and her HR went up.<\/p>\n

sigh<\/p>\n

So we start over.\u00a0 Now Penny is furious at me.\u00a0 She does not understand why she cannot eat this grass and why this other person keeps pushing on her girth area and then she nips at me.<\/p>\n

SMACK!<\/p>\n

Not today, you don’t!<\/p>\n

And (of course) heart rate shoots up again.<\/p>\n

Steel is finished but Penny is now done with standing here and she wants out.\u00a0 She is stomping her foot, nipping at me and Robbie.<\/p>\n

sigh<\/p>\n

Cate comes over and takes control.\u00a0 Does a count and we get 60.<\/p>\n

sigh<\/p>\n

I know Penny’s heart rate should have been in the 40’s, and if she passes at 60 I will take it but it will count against her at the scoring.\u00a0 That breaks my heart because she was a rock star all day.<\/p>\n

AND NOW WE WAIT (for final hands on judging)<\/p>\n

\"facebook_1493644605214\"<\/a>You know what?\u00a0 She was a perfect lady for the hands-on portion of today’s ride.\u00a0 Of course, by now she’s had an hour to fill her tummy, and drink and pee (again) so she’s totally relaxed.\u00a0 No changes.\u00a0 NO CHANGES??? No changes!\u00a0 She is a perfect CTR\u00a0 horse.<\/p>\n

She finished 6th place.\u00a0 If she had not lost all those points for her final pulse, she could have been Grand Champion at this ride.<\/p>\n

I love my Penny-Pony.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have been a slacker on getting this story written.\u00a0 Penny did a fabulous job (on the second loop) at Blackwater Swamp Stomp and I was very excited to keep her going.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the weekend after that ride, we had … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":5162,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3498","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/newpromisefarms.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/newpromisefarms.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/newpromisefarms.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newpromisefarms.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newpromisefarms.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3498"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/newpromisefarms.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5179,"href":"http:\/\/newpromisefarms.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3498\/revisions\/5179"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newpromisefarms.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/newpromisefarms.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}