The Dude

Thursday October 221 2010

An idea has been growing:

Dudley's lost weight. His feet are better, and he hasn't gotten into any grain or alfalfa lately (even though he busted out of his pen again the other night) to bring on any laminitis episodes. I took him out marking trail with Regina, over soft footing that Day 2 of the Hallowed Weenies endurance ride would be going, and he did fine.

"What if..." I thought...

Look up Dudley's endurance record and you see 1 (that's one) 55-mile ride, two years ago. Dudley's nine. He's had bad laminitic feet since I've known him, he's always battling a weight problem, he's always starving, he's probably got equine metabolic syndrome (symptoms are abnormal fat deposits, chronic, recurrent laminitis, particularly mild cases); the one endurance ride he did with a trainer, he road foundered from it (his feet had overgrown his shoes).

Steph pulled his shoes in the spring and he's gone barefoot since. His feet are better, though if he eats food that's too rich (i.e. gets into alfalfa, or gets too much grass, or if he - heaven forbid - got into grain) he has another laminitic episode. He's also on D-Carb supplement, which is supposed to aid in carbohydrate and glucose metabolism for insulin-resistant horses (and it appears to help).

What if, I thought, Dudley did a 50 mile ride in 2 weekends?

I finally said it aloud to Steph, "What if Dudley tries a 50 on Day 2 at the Hallowed Weenies?"

We decided to take him on a good 20 mile ride yesterday, to see how he handled it. Four of us went, Steph on Rhett, John on Mac, and Judy on Milan (Judy's planning on doing 2 LD's at the ride).

Well. Dudley handled it condition-wise just fine - I had a heartrate monitor on him, (his starting pulse was 33) - and any big exertion we did, his heartrate dropped to 60 quicker than (Tevis finisher) Rhett's does.

And as for Dudley's feet - they were fine the day after the ride, and if they were not, too bad! That bugger tried to start bucking with me 3 times during our ride! If he can buck, he can ride further! In fact all of our horses were wired!

Dudley now has a 50 mile ride on his schedule for Halloween!

(Another idea: maybe he can go as a hula dancer, since he likes wearing his ribbon hula skirt...)

Naughty

Wednesday October 20 2010

Dudley's soooo naughty.

The Escape Artist had already busted down the wooden fence by leaning on it, and escaped, which was why we had the metal fence panels lining the propped up wooden fence (since we haven't had a chance to fix it yet).

Of course it didn't take him long to bust through that too.


He did it during the night, stepping carefully over everything, and hauling his big large butt to the hay pen where he likely gorged most of the night. His partner in crime, Finneas, didn't escape; he stayed in the Fat Pen like a good boy.

Dudley doesn't look particularly remorseful here, does he. Although he's probably sorry about getting caught, and getting in trouble again.

Gather

Monday October 18 2010

The cowboys and cowgirls gather in Diamond Basin after sunrise. They unload their cowponies and cowdogs and head up into the foothills of the Owyhees. The cows are scattered from here to Silver City and beyond.

This first Gather is the easiest. They get the cows they can see in this big valley and up the sides of the hills. The next times they have to start looking for the cows. "It'll take from now till Thanksgiving to get them all!" a cowboy says. He's not kidding.

The fall weather is mild, the sun and dust golden. The cows bellow as they move on down out of the higher country, headed for winter on the ranch in the warmer Snake River valley, with the cowboys and cowgirls flanking and pushing them along.

Silence falls over Diamond Basin. Dust settles in the hoofprints in the sand.

Beribboned

Sunday October 17 2010

He's a unique horse: big, beautiful, brave, clever, calculating, always getting in trouble (and hates to get caught and yelled at), very sensitive - his feelings and under saddle. He'll closely watch you unlatch or unhook a gate, and spend hours or days working at it himself - and he'll eventually get it open. He went down to roll once and got two of his legs through a chicken wire fence (okay... so that wasn't so smart), and he laid there not panicking while four of us helped get him out. He can help herd cattle without a rider. He likes to get out on the trails and ride. And yet, get him out on the trail in front, and he can be the biggest spooker, the biggest chicken (just ask that jackrabbit we met only a quarter-mile down the trail this morning).

And so today I put a hula skirt of ribbons around his neck, for marking trail.

"Now that's a broke horse!" Andy said, as he came by on a spooking bucking horse on a wild ride of his own.

Well, now, I thought, is Dudley broke for this? It was breezy. There were a lot of ribbons around his neck, and if he started panicking then bucking, there would be no stopping him, ever.

I walked Dudley around with his ribbon hula skirt, then I lunged him in a circle around me. The ribbons flapped in the wind. They danced in the breeze, swishing like a hula skirt.


Spooky? Jumpy? Bucky? Hardly. Dudley thought he was awesomely handsome (which he was), and the more the flags fluttered, the taller he posed. He positively sashayed to make the ribbons sway more. That horse posed with his ribbon hula skirt like a movie star.


And so we went, marking the Utter Disaster Trail with Regina and Michelle for the Owyhee Hallowed Weenies Endurance Ride, on October 30-31 (costumes are highly recommended on Halloween!). Dudley is very good at putting ribbons out. When I pulled a ribbon off his skirt, he was even anticipating the bushes I was going to pin it on.

He was good at supervising too.


When the last ribbon was gone from Dudley's hula skirt, he looked like just another handsome horse on the prairie.


But he's got some clever ideas churning in that calculating mind of his. Like maybe being a Hula Dancer on Halloween. Or finding a parade to star in...

Storm Cat!

Saturday October 16 2010

I'm flabbergasted.

Today, I not only touched a filly by Storm Cat, but I rode her.

Some down-the-highway neighbors, Andy and Gloria, own/ride/train horses. Andy's a cowboy who grew up around here. He's back here training horses now.

This filly is one of them. This filly by Storm Cat.


Storm Cat is only one of the most successful sires ever in Thoroughbred racing. He's by Storm Bird (by Northern Dancer), out of Terlingua, by Secretariat. He was a decent racehorse, winning 4 of his 8 races and earning half a million dollars, but it's at stud where he excelled.

He's produced outstanding stakes winners, Eclipse Award-winners and Champions, and many of his get have gone on to be wildly successful at stud themselves.

Storm Cat's stud fee from 2002-2007 (this filly was bred in 2006) was $500,000. Yes, that's half a million dollars a pop. He was pensioned in 2008 at 25 years of age.

Andy's training this 3-year-old Storm Cat filly, not to race, but to be a riding horse - and a fine horse she is.

And it was just around the yard - but I rode her!

Owyhee Mounted Games

Wednesday October 13 2010

We are going to start a new equine sport here. Thinking back to those Mounted Games I saw in New Zealand,

where everybody, humans and horses were having so much fun, we can start our own Owyhee Mounted Games, a cross between the Mounted Games and American Trail Trials, Owyhee style.

We'll have obstacles and chores that you encounter every day when you ride, and live or work in Owyhee.

Gate Obstacles:
Opening and closing gates are a given - keeping one hand on the gate at all times, with points deducted for letting go at any time. Double gates, both of which move when you don't want them to, are worth extra points, but it will probably take advanced riders and horses to close a gate like this.

Dog and Heron Obstacles:
Horse behavior and riding ability will be awarded points on Spectacularity, as a dog rockets out of the sagebrush chasing a rabbit right in front of you, or a great blue heron flies out of the creek right beside you, and your horse throws in a mighty spook or a mighty buck and you stay on.

Maneuverability:
Side stepping, backing, pivoting on the front end, pivoting on the hind end. This is for easy points! Every horse should know this anyway! (Extra points awarded for style and ease of movement.)

Balloon Obstacles:
One of those deflated and expired helium balloons that was previously released (thoughtlessly) at some kid's birthday party and has drifted to its almost-final resting place (and which will take 83 years to decay) in the Owyhee desert, will be presented at some point along a wash you are trotting along. Extra points awarded if, when you pass it and it moves in the wind, your horse does not spook. Some points awarded if your horse spooks and you stay on. Points deducted if your horse spooks and you fall off and land spectacularly on your back in the sagebrush. You get a few extra points back if your horse spooks and you fall off and land spectacularly on your back in the sagebrush, and your horse does not run home without you.

Balloon Obstacles II:
You see some of those deflated and expired helium balloons stuck in a sagebrush and flapping in the wind. Points awarded if your horse goes right up to them, you pluck them off the bush and tie them around your horse's neck and ride with them, with the wind making them flap and bang around his head and neck without him caring.

We've worked on various forms of these games before. Today we had a trial run of the main Owyhee Mounted Game - Mounted Ribbon Pulling.


There are two types: Stationary Ribbon Pulling, and Grabbing On The Fly. Both of these games demonstrate not only excellent horse and horsemanship (how well have you trained your horse to stand still? How steady and straight and focused is your horse?) but athletic ability and horse-hand-eye coordination.

The scoring can get complicated... but it's something like this.


In the Stationary Ribbon Pulling, the lower you lean to get a ribbon without falling off your horse and touching the ground, the more points you get. If your horse moves off before you are done, you lose points. If you leave the knot part of the ribbon tied on the bush, you lose points.


In the Grabbing On The Fly Ribbon Pulling, the faster you go, the more points you get. The walk is a good gait to practice, to get your horse used to your grabbing something off to his side, without him swerving or changing pace. If you can gallop by and grab a ribbon, you can score big points.

You lose points in both events if part of a branch breaks off with the ribbon; you lose points if you leave the knot of the ribbon on the branch; you lose points if you drop any ribbons to the ground. You lose points if you can't do it from both sides of your horse.


You get more points the faster you go by and pull ribbons On The Fly. You obviously get more points if you get a lower ribbon in Stationary Pulling, but what about if you have a bigger horse? I thought I should get double points today since I was riding Dudley, and he is one big horse.

You get extra, extra, extra points if your horse picks up a ribbon you dropped on the ground! (You will probably win if your horse can do this.)

We have a few rules and scoring issues to smooth out, and probably some games to add, but start getting your horses ready.

We might run them in conjunction with Steph's Owyhee Endurance Rides.

Farewell Rachel

Sunday October 10 2010

She's done. Already gone home.

4-year-old Rachel Alexandra, Thoroughbred racing's Champion 3-year-old filly and Horse of the Year last year, was suddenly retired from racing on September 28th.

She was brilliant at 3, undefeated in 9 races, including 3 against males (the Preakness, Haskell Invitational, and Woodward Stakes); she had the largest winning margin in the Kentucky Oaks (20 1/4 lengths) and in the Mother Goose Stakes (19 1/4 lengths), she set 3 stakes records, and she became the only female ever (a 3 year old filly nonetheless!) to win the Woodward Stakes.

Many say that stunning effort in the Woodward Stakes - winning by a head and fighting for it every step of the way - took a lot out of her. It was one of the greatest performances ever seen by a filly against the boys.

Her next start - her first one at 4 - was a rather shocking defeat (second place against what looked to be soft competition) that would have set her up for a showdown with the Great racemare Zenyatta. That never happened. Rachel was again defeated in her next start (second place). In the next one she showed some of her brilliance of last year, winning by 10 1/2 lengths. Next race she won by 3. Next race - another defeat (second place).

She was preparing for the Beldame Stakes, and working sharply up to it - and suddenly her retirement was announced. Owner Jess Jackson said that Rachel "did not return to her 2009 form."

And that was it. There was no big Farewell party, no Rachel Alexandra Day to honor one of the Greatest fillies in Thoroughbred racing, ever.

I was a skeptic when that easily bandied about G-word ("Great") was thrust upon Rachel early in her 3-year-old year. I was a skeptic when, about the same time, Zenyatta started being showered with that banner too. Man O' War (in 1919) was a Great horse. Secretariat (in 1973) was a Great horse. I'll get back to you on the others. (Like I said, I'm a Skeptic).

Nowadays when a horse wins the Kentucky Derby, announcers and analysts already have him winning the Triple Crown. If he happens to win the Derby and Preakness, he's already being compared to Secretariat (Secretariat won the Triple Crown in 1973; Affirmed was the last horse to win it in 1978). Nobody who has won the Derby and Preakness could have come close to filling out Secretariat's shoes, so you'll have to pardon me when I scoff at the 20th horse in 10 years who's been called 'Great', who most of us can't remember the names of anymore.

But Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta wore me down. Rachel made me gasp at her wins, and still Zenyatta brings me to weeping with her every race. They are both the two Greatest mares I'll ever see in my lifetime. It has been a privilege to watch Rachel Alexandra run, and it's still a drop-to-my-knees humbling privilege to watch Zenyatta run.

Long live the two Great racehorses Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta. Farewell Rachel, may you have a long productive life as a broodmare. Thanks for the thrills.

(And Zenyatta goes for her record 20th straight win in the Breeders' Cup, November 6th).