Saturday, March 24, 2012

Unmentionables, Washoe Lake, hooves

So the other day I went and bought quite expensive undies. (Well, expensive for me - I usually just buy six packs of garishly colored Hanes.) I hit REI and found a pair of seamless Patagonias (HT to Liz Stout for recommending them), and a pair of REI brand seamless panties inexplicably marked down to $4.87. All the rest of the purple REI panties were $16.50, but these were $4.87 - and they actually rang up at that price! A 20% off coupon and my dividend made it a very reasonable purchase. I ordered two more pairs of seamless panties from amazon, but those haven't even shown up yet. I wore the Patagonias on today's ride, and they're quite nice. They won't get my official Seal Of Approval until I do at least an LD in them, but so far I really like them.

My friends are putting on a new ride this summer, the Tahoe Rim Ride. They've got a new photographer - not new to photography, but new to endurance photographs. A small group of us met up at Washoe Lake this morning to help her get some practice. We walked, trotted, cantered, and gaited past her in various combinations along a couple of scenic spots in the park.

The taller one with the ski slopes is Slide Mountain. Lake Tahoe is lurking up there just behind that line of mountains.


In preparation, I washed my horse on Thursday! From stinky yellow beast:


To shiny and white:


Ok, to be totally honest, I only washed her mane and tail. It was in the mid-50s, and my well water is also in the mid-50s, and I just couldn't scrub her torso, poor thing. She glared at me and went to sleep while she was drying and getting Cowboy Magic'd, then took off bucking and cantering around when I turned her loose. And she rolled. She rolled FOUR TIMES. Poor put-upon mare.

But it was all for naught! She was still fluffy and white this morning.


She'd just shaken her head - I love the floppy ears.


The pro pics should be up by tomorrow, but I'll spoiler you now: I wore the black tights. I KNOW! But the smileys are very much summerweight, and it was just too cold for that nonsense. I promise, the smileys are going to be worn at the very next warm ride.

My GPS says we went 10.8 miles in 1:45 (moving time - it subtracts out the standing around talking parts). 7 miles of that was dinking around with the photographer. Good practice at being a broke horse - lots of letting others go first, going first, waiting for others, etc. We went in the lake up to her fetlocks and gaited and cantered up and down the shoreline.

Then S and I took off for a little speed work before lunch. S lives down that a way and trains her fabulous racer at the park, so she took me up a seriously winding singletrack through the sagebrush at Mach 10. Well, ok, more like 10 MPH, but it was a blast. It reminded me of exactly why I got a horse to begin with, and how much fun it is to open up on a twisty trail. Dixie racked a bit, but she just couldn't gait quite that fast, so we cantered most of the 4 miles. She wasn't too winded at the turnaround, and she wasn't worn out when we got back to the trailer. This is not the world's most amazing accomplishment, but I'm proud anyway :)

A little sweaty, but not dripping:


We had a very pleasant lunch together - I brought beer and mooched off of everybody else's food. (Sorry I ate all your celery and most of your hummus, M! It was really tasty.) When the wind came up, we all decided it was definitely time to go.

I touched up Dixie's trim yesterday and snapped some pics today, after the barefoot ride cleaned her feet up very nicely. Here's a post from 6 weeks ago to compare photos.

Front left. I guess I could roll the toe back a smidge further. I think (wishfully?) that her heels are a bit wider, and I can't decide if her frogs look better or worse.
Front left

Front right.
Front right

Rear left.
Rear left

I will continue on with the purple thrush stuff. Most of her hooves look/smell/feel good, but that one pocket on the outside of the front left is still there. I am pretty tempted to go at her frog with the knife, just to cut back that flap of frog that flops over and covers up the thrush pocket. I knooooow, it's bad and wrong to trim frogs, but maybe this is the equivalent of a hangnail. Hmmm.

22 comments:

  1. Hooah to the underwear lol.

    Dixie is gorgeous and so unbelievably fit; she just looks amazing.

    Dunno if my comment posted out awhile back on thrush... If you soak a cotton ball -or half of one- in tea tree oil then stuff it in her sulcus with a hoof pick it will stay for several days -usually- and really help to attack the thrush. Used it last year with Orion and our muddy mud - worked great.

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    1. I did forget, but it's on the list now - thank you!

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  2. Gosh, her mane is to die for. Love her expression in the fourth photo down.
    Her feet- as per usual- look fantastic.

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    1. I like you! I like all the people who don't want to MUTILATE HER GORGEOUS TRESSES. Everybody else can stay away! ;)

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  3. Can't wait to see the pix of you and your pretty mare!

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  4. What a pretty girl, and so fit looking! I love her mane. I love it braided too.

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  5. Okay...so it is bad to carve the frog into nothingness...but I regularly trim off ragged or obnoxious pieces of frog from my horses and I haven't managed to cripple one yet. Cut it off already. LOL

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  6. Dixie IS gorgeous for a TWH (and trim, unlike a certain other spotted mare) and great feet! She's a little too tall and thin-hipped for a Mustang. Her feet match up, though! LOL She's certainly holding her own in your LDs.

    Off topic: how did you get the 'reply' button on here? Would love to do that with our blog; it's so cool.
    Bionic Cowgirl

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    1. I'll do a quick post about the reply button!

      Thanks - I am really quite pleased with how she looks. Very leggy with "long" muscles instead of "bulging" muscles.

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  7. PS - Washoe says I should bring him up to ride Washoe Lake with you, but I think he just wants to flirt with Dixie!
    Bionic Cowgirl

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  8. I love the "sweaty Dixie" pic, it shows her off wonderfully! She's so fit and her head looks really nice in that pic :)

    Once you've got the unmentionables tested out are you going to review them?

    Oh, and I'd like to know about that reply button too :)

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  9. Her feet are awesome. She looks so good.

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  10. Congrats on the new they that shall remain unmentionables. Foundation garments are so important for comfort. I've only ever spent about three straight hours in the saddle, but do spend all day on a tractor...

    Regarding well water baths - I hook two hoses up, open the spigot so the hoses fill, and let them heat up in the sun. Before bathing I catch all the heated water in a big bucket and use that for the final rinse. Makes me feel better anyway. Dixie looks great!

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    1. I actually fill up a rinse water bucket of nice warm water from the house sink (and put blueing in it!). I still blast the suds out of her coat with the hose, but then I dump some warm (blue) water on so maybe it's not quite so awful for her?

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  11. Dixie looks fab! Can't wait to see the photos, even without the smiley tights. Thanks for the unmentionables review, I think many of us have the same issues!

    Her feet look good, and I'd trim the frog. The little flappy parts just hide the thrush, trim it, treat it and the frog grows back really fast.

    Are you liking your high tie? I have one too, though I'm still trying to find a good leadrope that fits the Clip. All my cotton leads are too thick, and I don't really like tying with nylon. What is your setup?

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    1. I do like my hi tie! It's a nylon lead rope - I've never gotten all obsessive about leads, god knows I've gotten plenty obsessive about everything ELSE.

      I don't know why you couldn't skip the clip and just hard-tie to the velcro loop. I mean, it's the velcro that's going to give in a real panic situation, and the clip thing is just to make it easier for you to untie in a normal situation. Maybe try that?

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  12. Dixie looks wonderful! So white(ish) and fit! Love her mane and tail.

    I'd love a review on the unmentionables too. I spent longer than usual in the saddle yesterday and it wasn't pretty. Can't wait to see the professional pics, too!

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  13. I could do amazing things with her mane... really I could!! All I need is a pair of scissors and a comb!! Hehe! Come on, you know you want me to!

    She looks beautiful (even with the mane, I gues...) and I think her feet are looking great! Can't wait to see the rest of the pictures.

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  14. I would never trim her beautiful tresses, but her frogs (and bars) I would. Don't leave thrush pockets in the frogs, those damn things spread like wildfire.

    I notice you aren't leaving her walls as long and it looks like her white line connection is getting better and better. Nice work!

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