Speedy G's endurance career started out very well, and it may be that more races await him in the future.  I don't know if my year of carefully planned camping and trail riding experiences helped, or if camping and trail rides were just in his genes.  He took to the whole thing like a pro.  He seemed to really like camping.  He stood tied at the trailer with no issues and LOVED the Hi-Tie.  

Endurance riders put a lot of value on a horse who "takes care of himself."  Horses that require a lot of coddling and care can be exhausting to ride.  Speedy turned out to be a very independent and confident fellow at endurance rides.  He ate and drank without any encouragement.  I couldn't keep the hay bag full enough and I frequently had to get up in the middle of the night to refill his water bucket.  Horses could pass him on the trail or leave him behind, and he just didn't care.  This trait alone makes an endurance horse's "price" go up.  Who knew my little gray pony would have so much endurance potential?

While he ate and took care of himself like an absolute super star, speedy he was not.  There was no way to over ride him.  He was very careful to conserve energy.  He figured that out on his first 30 mile ride.  Many, many endurance horses start the race jacked up on adrenaline and end up burning far more of their gas tank's fuel than their bodies have been conditioned for.  Not Speedy.  He was the epitome of slow and steady.  Not that I wanted to race him.  Back of the pack was my goal, especially for his first few seasons.  But when I did want to move out a bit faster, it took a lot of work to convince him that it was worth it!

Speedy G did his first limited distance event (Crazy Coyote 30-miler) one month before his fifth birthday (four year olds may compete in distances under 35 miles).  I really wanted to wait until he was five, but this particular race was well suited for a youngster.  It is flat, wide open (no cliffs to fall over), and the vet checks are all in camp or very close by.  

The race went very well, but several miles from the finish, I thought we were going to need a vet while on the trail.  Speedy G was dragging his toes through the sand, head hung low, and looked absolutely defeated.  I kept checking his metabolic signs, but nothing other than his attitude indicated a problem.  Taz's mom was riding with us.  I encouraged her to ride ahead to the finish line, but she insisted on staying with us in an attempt to pull Speedy along.  By this point, I was walking on foot literally dragging him behind me.

We made it to camp in the time allotted, and I quickly pulled Speedy's tack to present him to the vet as soon as possible.  She cocked an eyebrow at me and told me to get Speedy G an ipod.  What for? I asked.  This is one bored pony, came her reply.  There was nothing wrong with him.  In fact, once he was back in camp, he looked as if he hadn't done a thing.  He certainly didn't look as though he'd just ridden 30 miles through the desert sand.  She thought he was one of the best looking horses of the day.  I was shocked.  I got home and ordered a new heart rate monitor.  After that, I learned how to read his I think I am going to die expression for what it really was.  I'm bored ...

Speedy G's endurance career was off to a good start.  He completed the Git-R-Done 30-miler a month later, and then spent the summer doing more camping and trail riding.  I decided that I wanted Speedy G to be very versatile.  I had seen with Mickey Dee that horses frequently need a second career, so I also started taking some dressage lessons with Speedy G.  At first it was just monthly, weather permitting, but during the summer of Speedy's five year old, we went once a week.  The lessons probably weren't very "dressagey" as they were more about balance and control.  As the fall arrived and I went back to work, we returned to once a month lessons when the weather permitted.

I was still competing on Montoya and took her to several endurance rides that summer and fall.  But in January 2010, I lost her to colic and Speedy G went from back up horse to my only horse.  While dealing with the sadness of losing Montoya, I took Speedy G to the Twenty Mule Team 35-miler one month later in February. We rode through some pretty horrific weather, and he once again showed what he was made of.  In April we finished the Git-R-Done 55 miler with a ride time of 8 hours and 59 minutes.  He still wasn't fast, but he was methodical.  He caught the eye of several riders who asked if he was for sale - that always puts a smile on a rider's face.  He was now six years old and ready for a full time endurance career.

I was feeling confident in Speedy's ability, and I felt that he had potential to become a "stayer" in the sport. Montoya had competed for ten years, a rarity in the endurance world.  I wanted the same for Speedy G.  I entered the Just Coe Crazy 55-miler, but did it with a great deal of trepidation.  It was advertised as a difficult race, and with only one other 55-miler under our belt, I didn't know if Speedy G was ready.  My gut was right, he wasn't.  But we were in good company.  The winning time was more than two hours longer than a traditional 55-miler's winning time might be.  We went 45 miles or so before Speedy called it quits.  You can read about it here.

After that ride, I just lost my interest in endurance.  Most people who know me already know this.  Without Montoya, the endurance world just didn't have the same luster that it once did.  I decided to give Speedy the summer off, and we focused on dressage instead.  I started twice-weekly lessons with a different trainer and started showing.  That was the summer of 2010. By fall, I realized that endurance races were probably a thing of the past.  

I don't know how Speedy felt about it, but we've not done an endurance race since.  We now show pretty regularly and are working hard to advance as high as he and I can.  Who knows?  Maybe the day will come when the endurance world calls us back.  Or maybe the call will come for just Speedy G.

The end.

On the drive home, Hubby and I worked on names.  We tried a lot of them.  Since I am such a big NASCAR fan, I decided that he needed a racing name.  After all, wasn't he going to be an endurance horse?  His dam's name was G Im Fast, and his damsire's name was Fast Ptrack.  Suddenly it popped into my head that I frequently tell my students not to be a Speedy Gonzalez.  You know, that little Mexican cartoon mouse that always zips around shouting, Andale, Andale!  And Speedy G became his name.

The next morning I met G Ima Starr FA's owner near Lancaster which is about the halfway point to Perris. Speedy G loaded with no fuss and trailered all the way home without a single sound.  When I opened the door, he looked at me in surprise with a mouthful of hay.  He unloaded quietly, walked into his stall, took a long drink of water, and dug into the hay that had been left in anticipation of his arrival.  

I wasn't ready to ride a three year old.  Instead of continuing Speedy's under saddle education, which I felt was a bit spotty, I spent four months working on his ground manners.  I worked diligently on his saddling and bridling issues.  Knowing how stressful it can be to saddle and bridle a horse in freezing, 40 mph winds in the desert darkness, I decided that we were going to be ready for any kind of endurance conditions.  I also used the long lines for ground driving and worked on mounting from a stand still.  My plan was to do ground work until Speedy's fourth birthday in April, but the little stinker needed a JOB, and fast.  So in March, a month sooner than I had planned, I started working him under saddle, first in the round pen, then in the arena.  

With the help of our barn's caretaker (center of the picture), Speedy started working on walking trail rides.  Dario had a lovely mustang mare who proved to be a real Steady Edwina for a youngster.  He graciously accompanied us on frequent trail rides.  We trailered out to every local event we could find. Speedy's four year old year was spent camping and trail riding in both small groups and large.  I knew that he would need those experiences if he was to be successful as an endurance horse.  




Hover over picture for captions, and click pictures for links to locations.

G Ima Starr FA joined my little family December 8th of 2007. You know him as Speedy G.  His story isn't remarkable in any way, but he was maybe the first horse that I bought with something specific in mind.  I guess I should start at the beginning.

Speedy's story actually started in the fall of 2006 when Mickey Dee first showed signs of an early lameness.  After joint injections and six months of rest, I knew that Mickey Dee wouldn't be returning as an endurance horse, and I decided to sell him. My plan was to buy a young Arabian gelding that I could start as my next endurance mount.  Montoya was still going strong and I simply needed a back-up pony.

I had a mare and knew that two mares was asking for trouble.  Mickey was black and always had trouble with our summer heat.  So out of that, I decided that I wanted a gray gelding and my search began.  I wasn't in a hurry as Mickey was still in my barn, and I didn't want to feel pressured to buy the first thing I saw.  I looked online for several months, but nothing was quite right.  All the geldings I saw were either too old, had too many miles, or were simply too expensive.  

Eventually I spotted an ad on the classified page of Endurance.net, the endurance website, for a 4 year old, gray, Arabian gelding.  His price was in the ball park so I sent an email and started making plans to go and see him.  After some back and forth messages, Hubby and I made the three hour drive south to Perris, California. When we got there, I was pretty disappointed to discover that he was only three years old and while he was "broke" to ride, I could see that there was still a lot of work to be done.  Saddling him required two people, the owner and the rider employed by Feather Arabians.  Speedy fussed quite a bit while being saddled and he even reared as he was being bridled.  I was already regretting the long drive we had made.  Hubby, always non-plussed about equine antics pointed out that all horses do that.  Couldn't I just work with him?  Well, yeah, I could, especially after all the training I had done with Mickey, but the point of paying this much was to not have to do all of the training.

Since we had driven so far, we decided to see what the rider could do with him.  The arena was a mile or so down the road (in an equestrian community with little or no traffic) so we followed the rider at a distance in the car and watched him school Speedy along the way.  Much to our surprise, the rider had him plod though every puddle he could find.  He sent him up onto the sidewalk and back to the road.  He climbed dirt piles in an adjacent field, and jogged him along the shoulder of the road.  As we parked and walked to the arena, both Hubby and I were looking at Speedy with a new level of respect.  This horse had potential.

The rider, a Hispanic gentleman who clearly had a good touch with horses, worked Speedy at all three gaits while we watched.  He circled, he backed, and leg yielded all around the arena.  After some time, the owner asked if I wanted to ride.  I'll admit it.  I declined out of a healthy dose of respect for what a three-year old can do.  I wasn't prepared to ride such a youngster.  

Hubby and I walked back to the car and started talking about the horse.  When I decided to bring Mickey home, the conversation was more about my safety and what would happen if I got hurt.  This conversation was about how suitable Speedy might be.  Hubby liked him and was impressed with all the rider was able to ask him to do.  I was more skeptical.  I listed his problems: he was too young to start as an endurance horse (they have to be five before they can do 50-milers), and his ground manners were awful.  Hubby pointed out his strong points: he was very athletic and already broke to ride.  Knowing my ability to work with naughty horses, Hubby thought the ground manners issues could be worked out easily.

I have a great amount of respect for my husband's opinions.  He knows me very wellI and has a good sense of what I can do.  If he liked the horse, there was probably more potential than I was seeing at that moment. Hubby was looking at the big picture while I was hung up on a birthdate and some rough edges.  I decided to buy him.

To be continued ...

This blog has always been for the Underdog and not for the DQ.  Frankly, people who can only share their ooh-la-la successes, but shy away from admitting that occasionally things go wrong, kind of bug me.  If you're one of those people, feel free to stop reading.  I am really writing for myself (mostly), but the overall point is to show the rest of the riding world that anybody can do this if they give it at least half an ounce of effort.  You don't have to have a $50,000 horse and a world renowned trainer.

I have a pretty self-depracating sense of humor.  I enjoy poking fun at myself, and I can handle a fair amount of poking from other people.  I am far more likely to point out my flaws than to share my strengths.  I am quick to share the successes of my horses, but slow to share their problems.  They work hard for me, and I want to focus on their triumphs rather than their bad days (which are no doubt my fault anyway).

So to share a riding brag about myself kind of goes against the grain.  But here it is.

Since Monday was a holiday, JL and I moved my regular Wednesday night lesson to Monday morning.  We started out with a quick chat like we always do so that I could share with her what had been going well and what we got stuck on.  I confessed that I had started cantering Sydney.  I expected a bit of a tsk, tsk as she had not thought he was quite ready for canter work.  Instead, her face lit up and she excitedly informed me that while looking out her window, she had seen a lovely bay horse cantering in the distance.  She looked more closely and realized that it had to be Sydney and me.  She was genuinely excited by the picture we presented.

I was flattered by her revelation and quickly explained that I had decided that I needed to do whatever it took to get control of Sydney's feet.  Cantering him wasn't about not following her training program.  It had just happened.  She agreed wholeheartedly and added that it's important to use teachable moments when they present themselves.  Whew!

We had one of our better lessons that morning.  It seemed as though everything we've worked on finally came together.  We worked on moving sideways by using the inside leg to the outside rein.  I asked him to reach for the contact by keeping it steady and not pulling back.  To help Sydney "bend" his ribcage, JL had me keep his nose inside the circle instead of looking out (my fault).

While his behavior wasn't absolutely perfect, I was able to very, very quickly diffuse his offer of naughtiness by making the circle smaller, bending his neck to the inside, and pushing his ribcage out.  It's a movement that almost immediately softens his neck and lowers his poll.  Success!

After the bulk of the softening exercises, I asked JL if I could show her our canter work.  She quickly agreed and watched us get to work.  Sydney's canter to the left is already good, but with her direction to lift with the outside rein as his withers came up, we were floating.  Canter to the right will come another day.  It needs a bit of work, or rather, I need to learn to help him get balanced and soft.

So how did I start this thing off with a Teeny Tiny Brag only to end up pointing out what I still don't know?  Go ahead, poke away.  I can take it!

Yep.  I got poop patrol again for the weekend.  Three days of cleaning stalls, filling waters, turning out, blanketing, and feeding.  I don't mind.  With weather as nice as this, there's nothing I'd rather be doing.

You may or may not know this, but many Californians are pretty green.  Many communities even have recycling cans at the curb (they're blue), and many locations around town have large recycling bins for drop offs (newspapers, cardboard, etc.)  We even have designated lots for dumping our dead Christmas trees.

RM is very green.  She even has a special container for toxic trash: fly spray bottles, wormer tubes, cleaning products, etc.  In the barn, we have two containers for trash, one for recyclable materials, and one that is for plain trash.  RM's green barn-management style extends to manure disposal as well. 

There are many ways we deal with manure in Bakersfield.  Silverado, the last place I boarded, kept a large manure pile that was frequently hauled off to the green waste facility, which is a typical strategy.  Other barns have a field for spreading.  Others simply spread the manure in their arenas.

RM decided to recycle the manure for use around the barn.  She built a pretty cool composting bin that does the job quite well.  The slats of the walls are easily removed for tractor access.  Periodically, the tractor is used to rotate the manure to aide in composting.  Special tubes are inserted into the manure to allow oxygen to do it's job, and the temperature of the compost heap is taken regularly.  The thermometer looks like like a giant meat thermometer.  Once the temperature of the pile reaches a certain degree, the  manure is officially called dirt and is then spread around the property to fill in holes.  It's an amazingly efficient system that converts lots of poop into recycled dirt.  Here are some photos of the compost area.

This video was shot ten days after the Fluphenazine dose.  We have lots of work left to do, but man, oh, man is he getting quieter and quieter.  Much of it has to do with me taking control, but I think I am able to do that because of his less anxious frame of mind.  Have a look.

Several friends, that is vet friends, encouraged me to shoot a video of Sydney (on Fluphenazine) that showed him not whacked out, violent, or dying.  Most of the YouTube videos of horses using Fluphenazine were doing one of those things.  Those videos are far more interesting than the one of a horse standing in his stall quietly.  That's why you can't find successful examples of Fluphenazine.  Who wants to watch ten minutes of nothing?  So in an effort to balance the available info of this particular drug, I uploaded a video to YouTube. Here it is.

A change of topic ...  Thing are going great with Sydney, and I feel so much more in control, but I need to write about something else for a day or so (or week!).

In July, Speedy whacked himself pretty good during turnout.  Here is a photo of the injury.  He was lame for a couple of days, but as soon as the swelling disappeared, he was right as rain.  The wound eventually scabbed over completely and he's had no problems since.  I watched the injury slowly grow out, and was amazed by what a deep scar was left from what appeared to be a minor scrape.  Scroll down to check out the next two photos, but watch the dates.

There are almost 6 months to the day between the first and third photos.  The second photo was taken on Wednesday, and the third photo was taken on Thursday after my farrier was finished.  I am astonished by how much change there is between the two photos.  By next month, when Jaime Osbrink returns, the injury will be completely gone.

This is a follow up to yesterday's post in which I admit a few things to myself.  Thank you all for commenting. You were right in many respects.  Sydney was not being respectful.  I spent several days working on that from the ground and it helped me understand some of his anxiety.  How can you be relaxed when you have a leader who isn't leading? 

When I first brought Sydney home, his ground manners left quite a bit to be desired.  He wasn't a stinker, but he was used to just pushing his weight around.  I fixed that immediately as I am too small of a person to tolerate being shoved around by any horse.  He now has impeccable ground manners.  Under saddle was a different story, I was so afraid of "messing him up."  I tried to be gentle with him from the saddle and acknowledged that he was a different breed from which I am used to working.  While he learned to be respectful on the ground, he didn't trust me on board.  He scared me several times in the beginning which started a pretty vicious cycle of behaviors.

I gave this situation a lot of thought.  I realized that if I wanted to continue riding this horse, something had to change.  I asked myself seriously what I could do about it.

There were several answers.  The first one was that I admitted that I was afraid.  Whew .. got that off my chest.  And when I admitted that, I was pretty pissed at myself.  When did I become afraid of riding?  I've ridden my whole life and have been nearly fearless.  I was afraid after Speedy threw me into a fence and cracked the back of my helmet, but I got over that.  What was there to be afraid of here?  That admission was liberating and empowering.

Here's the second admission.  I started letting a trainer, whom I admire tremendously, take over for me.  I started to doubt my own judgement and abilities.  And when I admitted that, I was really pissed at myself!  I may not have certain particular riding skills, but I reminded myself that I can ride and have a rather large toolbox of riding tricks.  I can stay on a horse, dammit!  I may be new to dressage, but I am not new to riding.

So on the day I set out to video Sydney's antics, I "cowgirled up."  I told myself to get my ass out there and ride that horse.  I didn't need to be afraid.  What I needed to do was stop being afraid of looking right, and do whatever was needed to get control of my horse.  Sydney needed a leader, and I hadn't been providing that for him.  I knew how how to do it.  I've done it many, many times.  And that's what I did.  If you've seen the video, you'll know things didn't go perfectly.  He was still gravitating toward the gate, and he kept trying to duck out from under me to get to the gate, but he eventually started to work with me.  And while being the leader, I kicked that fat-assed elephant named Fear, OUT THE DOOR!

I've ridden Sydney several times since that video, and each ride has gotten better.  I am able to use the whole arena and he moves forward.  When he gets too forward, I simply bend him around my leg until he relaxes. We've had one or two little squirty spooks, but they weren't any big deal.  On Tuesday afternoon we had one of the better rides we've had.  We did lots of changes of directions, and with a gentle scoop of my seat and a squeeze with my legs, he jumped neatly into an awesome canter.  I squealed with delight!  We spiraled in, and I slowed him to a lovely pace.  He was "light" in my hand and responded quickly to my whoa.  Woohoo!  That was the first time I've cantered on him since July.  Before Tuesday, I was terrified to canter on him because I didn't know if I would be able to stop him.

So ... Fluphenazine, or fear conquered?  I don't know if the Fluphenazine just took his edge off which made it easier for him to hear me, or if my attitude adjustment has given him the leader he needed.  And I am not saying this whole anxiety issue is conquered, but at least I am on the right track.  I am no longer afraid of him from the saddle, and that is a huge relief!