Boy, what a weekend. It was a good Redwood 2 Ride, though I barely was able to pull it off due to a lack of enough and capable volunteers...But I survived! Only have the rest of the ride results to send in and turn in reciepts and such to the club treasurer....FINALLY! What a weekend.
Soo since I was running around most the weekend like a chicken with its head cut off, poor Storm spent most of Friday and Saturday penned up or tied up...but Sunday he got to go on a trail ride!
So here is the report.
A: he is SUCH a good boy! NO SCREAMING! That is the number one concern in taking a stallion to an endurance ride (well, beyond him just being a nutcase...but Storm isn't the type for that)...
As a rider who HAS at varying times been kept up all frigging night by a screaming stud or two in camp, I was desperately hoping he'd be one of the quiet ones. He is! He only would talk when he wanted to be fed, LOL...at "real" rides, where he will be working, he'll have hay 24/7 if he wants. So that will shut up his tummy talk, LOL. Course I had him in a "less stimulating" part of camp, rather than smack in the middle of chaos...but for a first trip, we started easy.
B: he is very respectful of his confinement systems... we parked next to the back of the arena fencing (forgot to get pics of "camp" :(....) and used that (bout 7ft high I would guess and totally solid to block the view) as one side of the boys' "corral". Then swung a handy corral panel that was on the corner of the arena, and covered by plywood and about 5ft high, around as the 2nd wall of his corral. then the truck's body was the third side (the trailer acted as Oli's third side). The fourth side was the "iffy" part as such. We set up a double line of hot fence with a 3 ft or so "corrider" between the boys, so each had their own "pen"...and another hotfence gate on Oli's other open side... pretty secure and Storm sure respects hot tape...if I even wiggled the fence he'd back up snorting, LOL...you really have to open the 'gate' wide when leading him through, or he thinks he'll get zapped. So he went nowhere near it all weekend. But just in case, since he IS a stud and would be by himself on Saturday while Oli was on the trail and I was running around at the out Vet Check, I set him up a tether line (kinda a high line, but at chest level) from one post of the arena fence to the other...he could "zip" along it the length of his corral and that way not have to be tied in one spot all day and reach food and water. Left hte pen/hot fence up as a second barrier as well. Better safe than sorry, LOL. But he really is not a buddy sour horse...doesn't even scream when Oli leaves...just nickers when he comes back. GREAT! My mare and gelding put up WAY more fuss than that, LOL... they run around their pens screaming their heads off half the day, if left in camp... So he gets HUGE points in the camping department...WHOO HOO!
C: he is fairly good around horses/ppl in hand. I finally had a chance for a breather for about an hour on Sat after I got awards set up, ride results tabulated, etc...before dinner. I then took him out for a "walk" to see how he'd be around camp. And of course to show off the handsome hunk (and he got LOTS of adoring comments, even from "Ay-rab" ppl, LOL...wait til he shows he can do the sport as WELL as look good!). He did really well...got distracted and "talked" a few times, at which point he had to do lots of circles or some other exercise to get his mind back on ME, not the other horses... but he never got real pushy, or dropped, or dumb. So that was GREAT! More brownie points there!
D: He got to practice a few "trot outs"...well, ok, gait outs in his case! A few ppl wanted to see him move and it was good to see if he'd move out in hand (needed for the vet checking, not all horses will do it without training...some just do fine without)..he picked up a gait right away when I asked him to run with me. And I could rate him in a faster or slower gait according to my run and he stayed right with me. GREAT! One less thing I have to work on with him... I forgot to practice "vetting" though...like checking his gums and listening to his heart rate and guts, etc...but that will be done later...
All in all, he passed his first ridecamp weekend test with flying colors! He DOES have to learn patience though...when he is tied or if he is standing in the trailer, he PAWS...but that can be fixed with some time standing tied every day... and like Oli, he paws at his food buckets...so his "dinnerplates" will have to be flat backed buckets that can be tied to something, so he doesn't spill mush all over the place....
Now...on to the trail ride. I spent most of Sunday cleaning and organizing camp. UGGGGG...no help there from anyone in the club either...sigghhh... Terri helped a little, but had a big project organizing our rig, as we are leaving for the 5-day Bryce Canyon XP on Saturday and it was chaos in there from the last few trips. Round early afternoon we both needed a break and figured it would be a good time to take the boys out for a ride... We tacked up (and Storm got to practice standing at the trailer tied fairly close to a second horse...he was GREAT with Oli and behaved himself well, though I was ready with a crop should he need it...never did :)!) and I led him down the levi along the river that heads for the trail. After 5 mins of walking I felt him relax and hopped on. Terri started out leading on Oli and Storm walked out like crazy, trying to constantly get on Oli's but for "protection" ....but he never tried to bite him or anything. I kept having to back him off though, so finally I stuck him in front...at which point his HUGE 5mph walk dropped down to a 3mph crawl, LOL...it's a BIG SCARY FORREST....EEK! LOL....Behind Oli later, back to fast and crowding...in front, slow and crawling...but it was good for him to have to go in both positions and learn to LISTEN to me... we also tried gaiting out a little. I was real hesitant at first in case he'd then try his supposed bucking, but after a few tries and no buck, we did it more often...he even cantered a little (seems to prefer that to a real fast gait...fine by me, he has a nice rocking chair canter....). We rode up to the big, burned out, hollow tree that is an icon on this trail and that EVERY horse gets its picture taken in, turned around, and rode back. 1/2 hr at most, but a PERFECT first ride. He still needs lots of work (likes to rush, needs lots of "wet saddle blanket" exposure to trail situations, and of course CONDITIONING...though he did well up the hill for not having done much really), but I think he will turn out to be PERFECT for endurance/trail...
I got some pics at the trailer and backing into/in the tree, but my camera phone is now so scratched it looks like a blurry filter was set on it on purpose. My camera turned up finally, but it is toast. I was SO mad that these pics did not turn out and the camera is dead, I promptly went and got another one today. So from now on, GOOD pics and video will be happening!
OH! and I totally almost forgot! Also on Sunday, we took the boys in the arena to roll. Terri said to just turn em loose and let them run together, I was really worried though. As good as Storm is, he IS still a stud and I didn't want Oli hurt...esp not a week before Bryce! Terri kept insisting though, and since she's the one without a backup horse, I let her decide. They were FUN together... Storm did try to climb on Oli once (just a dominance thing, not a breeding thing) but I was there ready with lead rope and broke it up right away. Other than that, they rolled, ran, snorted, and had fun! Later that day we had them in the stock corrals (I was originally planning on keeping Storm in one all weekend, but other ppl beat me to it...thus the other fencing we did...). The two boys were caught grooming each other and "play nipping" over the fence a few times...too cute...I think they could work out well together, which is GREAT, as that is the combo we'd have going to e-rides...Oli and Storm. They must be telling Canadian stories to each other or something, LOL... ;) They are not too far apart in age either...
