Last night we went to Sierra Trading Post and upgraded my cold weather clothes. I got two pairs of fleece-inside long johns, two pairs of glove liners, and a Columbia ski jacket (at ridiculously low prices, too.) Today I tested it all out.
I drove off up a gravel road, put on the chains, drove back out to the paved road, took the chains off, and came home. Needless to say, it was not as easy as I just made it sound. It was horrible. But I got it done without needing to beg for help from passersby, and more importantly, I never got cold. I got hot, actually, but all the synthetic stuff wicked away all the sweat and I didn't get chilled once I started driving again.
Then I came home and taught Cersei to dig in the snow. Got a lot of pictures, and I'll post the good ones later. Again, I got totally covered in snow, but I wasn't cold. I had to take off an outer glove to work the camera and that hand got chilly. It was sunny, calm, and in the low teens, so not the worst conditions Nevada has to offer but not the best either.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
WD 09 Day Two
It snowed all evening. It snowed all night. We had 10-12" when I woke up in the morning! Then it kept snowing, all day - finally stopped around 5 pm.
We were pretty sure that going anywhere was foolishness. My husband worked from home - a good plan, according to his coworkers who DID drive in. I carefully observed people in our complex all day, driving out in their little cars without chains or snow tires, and I think it is actually possible to drive on snow. I am planning on trying to go visit Dixie tomorrow, but the road up the mountain that she lives on might defeat me. It'll be an adventure!
I called first thing and the horses are just fine. S gave them lots of extra hay and nobody's shivering or unhappy. I have to trust that she knows what she's doing, and that horses really ARE evolved to live in cold weather. If I had property, with Dixie at home, I would probably try to bring her in the house to warm up.
Here's a video of Cersei in the snow:
And another. (I <3 my lil' dog!)
Here's the enormous tractor that plowed the parking lot in the afternoon.
Reno area people, how was your big snow day? Zach, did your school get cancelled?
It's going to be below freezing (lows near zero F for the next two nights!) and then another storm is coming later this week. This is the most protracted White Death I've ever been in!!
We were pretty sure that going anywhere was foolishness. My husband worked from home - a good plan, according to his coworkers who DID drive in. I carefully observed people in our complex all day, driving out in their little cars without chains or snow tires, and I think it is actually possible to drive on snow. I am planning on trying to go visit Dixie tomorrow, but the road up the mountain that she lives on might defeat me. It'll be an adventure!
I called first thing and the horses are just fine. S gave them lots of extra hay and nobody's shivering or unhappy. I have to trust that she knows what she's doing, and that horses really ARE evolved to live in cold weather. If I had property, with Dixie at home, I would probably try to bring her in the house to warm up.
Here's a video of Cersei in the snow:
Cersei loves snow from Funder on Vimeo.
And another. (I <3 my lil' dog!)
Cersei playing in the snow from Funder on Vimeo.
Here's the enormous tractor that plowed the parking lot in the afternoon.
Snow TRACTOR plows our parking lot from Funder on Vimeo.
Reno area people, how was your big snow day? Zach, did your school get cancelled?
It's going to be below freezing (lows near zero F for the next two nights!) and then another storm is coming later this week. This is the most protracted White Death I've ever been in!!
Sunday, December 6, 2009
White Death '09
So I rode yesterday, and got way too cold, and really need fleece long johns. And I went to a Christmas party with a horsey gift exchange, and my red halter with lighted blinking reindeer antlers wired to the crownpiece was a huge hit. But the most important thing I have to talk about is SNOOOOW!
Tonight: Snow likely. Cloudy, with a low around 19. West wind between 10 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. Total nighttime snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible.
Monday: Snow. High near 26. South wind 5 to 10 mph becoming east. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 7 inches possible.
The most snow I've ever seen in my life was about 8" when I was in college in Virginia. This is mind-boggling. And it already snowed like an inch on us (none down in Reno) this afternoon. Snow pictures tomorrow!
(I hope my horse is warm. I'm sure she is, she's hairy like a yak and she has two huge shelters available, but I can't help but worry, a tiny bit.)
Tonight: Snow likely. Cloudy, with a low around 19. West wind between 10 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. Total nighttime snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible.
Monday: Snow. High near 26. South wind 5 to 10 mph becoming east. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 7 inches possible.
The most snow I've ever seen in my life was about 8" when I was in college in Virginia. This is mind-boggling. And it already snowed like an inch on us (none down in Reno) this afternoon. Snow pictures tomorrow!
(I hope my horse is warm. I'm sure she is, she's hairy like a yak and she has two huge shelters available, but I can't help but worry, a tiny bit.)
Friday, December 4, 2009
Plans and feet
Here's why I never post any bold riding plans: Plans change.
Earlier this week, ~C and I decided to ride Palomino Valley today, and S and I were going to trailer across the highway to Hungry Valley for a (slight) change of pace on Saturday. S was going to take Tempus, the gelding, because neither of us think it's a real smart move to put my hussy in a trailer with Summer. The catch with Tempus is that he has some nerve damage in his face from a long-ago pasture accident, and he can not deal with stuff touching his face - like rain or snow. When the NWS put a chance of snow in the forecast for tomorrow, that nixed our Hungry Valley ride. I was still on with ~C til her truck made some very disturbing noises this morning, and then that was off too.
I have nothing but respect for the type of people who can say "Ok, next week I need to do 30 miles in five days of riding, so it'll be 5 miles Monday, speed work Tuesday, off Wednesday..." and so on. I am not, and will never be, one of those people. I try not to plan more than two days ahead, and I don't like to box myself into a corner, where, say, if I don't ride tomorrow I won't get to ride for the next three days so I have to ride tomorrow even if it's pouring down rain. I was hoping to do a long ride today, but since it didn't happen, I'll do a long (>5 miles) ride tomorrow or Sunday.
Riding:
Dixie was in raging heat, so I figured we'd do a shorter ride at a faster speed today. And the Garmin was actually charged, so I got lap times and everything!
She is, unfortunately, a lot like me. She can walk at a good clip for miles and miles, but she doesn't have the muscles or stamina to do faster work yet. I don't think I'm pushing her too hard by asking for short faster days, but feel free to let me know if you think I'm doin it wrong! Our totals were 3.87 miles in 1:14, average of 3.1 mph.
We did our usual stop-and-go warmup for 20 minutes, then we headed out down the trail at a nice fast walk. Then we were attacked! We rounded a corner and a covey of quail exploded across the trail in front of us, all flappy feathers and blood-drenched talons and weird whirring noises from their robotic innards. Dixie froze, all on her own! She jumped a bit, but she didn't try to run. It took a LONG time before she felt ok to move on, but eventually we did.
Our first speed lap was .4 miles at 5.9 mph average. She mostly racked. Then a .2 mi cooldown, then a .2 mile speed lap at 8.7 mph - rack and canter. A long half-mile cooldown to get her thinking again, with just a few strides of trot here and there, then a little more fast work. She was getting tired at this point, and I had to ask her to continue instead of asking her to slow down. .15 miles at 6.4 mph of foxtrot, baby - a gait I'm getting very fond of - then .15 miles at a fast walk, then a final .15 miles of foxtrot at 7.4 mph. Then I dismounted, took off her bridle, loosened her girth, and hand-walked her home for the last half mile. She didn't sweat too hard, and she was lightly blowing but not out of breath.
Feet:
Dixie's getting trimmed early next week, and I had the time and inclination to take pictures today, so these are my December '09 "before" pictures. I saw some very interesting things, and I really welcome any comments or hypotheses about them. Here's the whole set. It contains more views than what I'm linking here, so click over if you want to take a closer look.
Front feet, side view. Right is clubby, left is long-toed. This is the posture she usually stands in, and I suspect it contributes to the growth pattern.
Right front solar. Pretty balanced, clefts are a little deep because the heels are a little long. White line could be tighter in the quarters.
Edit: Lythia noticed I got these pictures wrong
Here's the left front solar. The Weird Thing is kind of subtle in this picture. Bars look kind of long here, but maybe that's retained sole? This is the right front again!
Edit: Here's the left front, with the weird wear pattern and long bars.
Left front Weird View!
Her toe is totally worn asymmetrically! And it's worn on the OUTSIDE, not the lateral side! Here's my guess: she paddles. But does she paddle with the left foot only? Because the right toe is worn pretty evenly. Also of note: the bars really do look long in this picture.
Here's one more picture of her left front. This is from ground level, looking toward the back - I don't have a clue what the Latin would be.
Weird stuff I see here: The whole medial wall looks weird. Something's off about the line of the wall. There's some ridges on the medial wall, but her coronet band at the medial quarter isn't "pushed up" like I'd expect to see. If you look through the hay, you can clearly see how the lateral tip of the toe is worn more than the medial tip of the toe. This is SO WEIRD to me!
I'll point this all out to the trimmer next week, but I'd love to hear yall's thoughts on it. How do you think this should be addressed? What's going on here?
Earlier this week, ~C and I decided to ride Palomino Valley today, and S and I were going to trailer across the highway to Hungry Valley for a (slight) change of pace on Saturday. S was going to take Tempus, the gelding, because neither of us think it's a real smart move to put my hussy in a trailer with Summer. The catch with Tempus is that he has some nerve damage in his face from a long-ago pasture accident, and he can not deal with stuff touching his face - like rain or snow. When the NWS put a chance of snow in the forecast for tomorrow, that nixed our Hungry Valley ride. I was still on with ~C til her truck made some very disturbing noises this morning, and then that was off too.
I have nothing but respect for the type of people who can say "Ok, next week I need to do 30 miles in five days of riding, so it'll be 5 miles Monday, speed work Tuesday, off Wednesday..." and so on. I am not, and will never be, one of those people. I try not to plan more than two days ahead, and I don't like to box myself into a corner, where, say, if I don't ride tomorrow I won't get to ride for the next three days so I have to ride tomorrow even if it's pouring down rain. I was hoping to do a long ride today, but since it didn't happen, I'll do a long (>5 miles) ride tomorrow or Sunday.
Riding:
Dixie was in raging heat, so I figured we'd do a shorter ride at a faster speed today. And the Garmin was actually charged, so I got lap times and everything!
She is, unfortunately, a lot like me. She can walk at a good clip for miles and miles, but she doesn't have the muscles or stamina to do faster work yet. I don't think I'm pushing her too hard by asking for short faster days, but feel free to let me know if you think I'm doin it wrong! Our totals were 3.87 miles in 1:14, average of 3.1 mph.
We did our usual stop-and-go warmup for 20 minutes, then we headed out down the trail at a nice fast walk. Then we were attacked! We rounded a corner and a covey of quail exploded across the trail in front of us, all flappy feathers and blood-drenched talons and weird whirring noises from their robotic innards. Dixie froze, all on her own! She jumped a bit, but she didn't try to run. It took a LONG time before she felt ok to move on, but eventually we did.
Our first speed lap was .4 miles at 5.9 mph average. She mostly racked. Then a .2 mi cooldown, then a .2 mile speed lap at 8.7 mph - rack and canter. A long half-mile cooldown to get her thinking again, with just a few strides of trot here and there, then a little more fast work. She was getting tired at this point, and I had to ask her to continue instead of asking her to slow down. .15 miles at 6.4 mph of foxtrot, baby - a gait I'm getting very fond of - then .15 miles at a fast walk, then a final .15 miles of foxtrot at 7.4 mph. Then I dismounted, took off her bridle, loosened her girth, and hand-walked her home for the last half mile. She didn't sweat too hard, and she was lightly blowing but not out of breath.
Feet:
Dixie's getting trimmed early next week, and I had the time and inclination to take pictures today, so these are my December '09 "before" pictures. I saw some very interesting things, and I really welcome any comments or hypotheses about them. Here's the whole set. It contains more views than what I'm linking here, so click over if you want to take a closer look.
Front feet, side view. Right is clubby, left is long-toed. This is the posture she usually stands in, and I suspect it contributes to the growth pattern.
Right front solar. Pretty balanced, clefts are a little deep because the heels are a little long. White line could be tighter in the quarters.
Edit: Lythia noticed I got these pictures wrong
Edit: Here's the left front, with the weird wear pattern and long bars.
Left front Weird View!
Her toe is totally worn asymmetrically! And it's worn on the OUTSIDE, not the lateral side! Here's my guess: she paddles. But does she paddle with the left foot only? Because the right toe is worn pretty evenly. Also of note: the bars really do look long in this picture.
Here's one more picture of her left front. This is from ground level, looking toward the back - I don't have a clue what the Latin would be.
Weird stuff I see here: The whole medial wall looks weird. Something's off about the line of the wall. There's some ridges on the medial wall, but her coronet band at the medial quarter isn't "pushed up" like I'd expect to see. If you look through the hay, you can clearly see how the lateral tip of the toe is worn more than the medial tip of the toe. This is SO WEIRD to me!
I'll point this all out to the trimmer next week, but I'd love to hear yall's thoughts on it. How do you think this should be addressed? What's going on here?
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Exceptional!
I just had the best ride ever on my totally awesome mare! She's coming into heat, which makes it even more surprising - but we did it!
Did the mines, with the detour behind the pueblo house - 4.58 miles in 1:29. We had a very slow start! Once we got down in the canyon and turned the Magic Corner for home, I started really working on half-halts. I knew she wouldn't want to pay attention to me, so I didn't ask for any lateral stuff or let her speed up - she'd have really checked out mentally. Just move out, then slow down and collect up, then stretch back out and repeat. When we got up to the better footing, we picked up the pace. She'd speed up and slow down from the softest lightest cues from me. It was so cool! Felt like we were dancing, or like I was holding her hand.
I will say that it wasn't any kind of relaxed ground-covering trot. She'd go faster or slower, but she wasn't sure what gait she wanted so she kept bouncing between a trot, a rack, and a canter. Oh well - nothing's perfect, and it didn't spoil my ride at all.
I was going to meet S when she got home and go back out for another mile, but I just couldn't. Dixie had done so well, and I really wanted to end on a good note. I fed her an apple, cooled her off, and let her go back to dozing in the pasture.
Did the mines, with the detour behind the pueblo house - 4.58 miles in 1:29. We had a very slow start! Once we got down in the canyon and turned the Magic Corner for home, I started really working on half-halts. I knew she wouldn't want to pay attention to me, so I didn't ask for any lateral stuff or let her speed up - she'd have really checked out mentally. Just move out, then slow down and collect up, then stretch back out and repeat. When we got up to the better footing, we picked up the pace. She'd speed up and slow down from the softest lightest cues from me. It was so cool! Felt like we were dancing, or like I was holding her hand.
I will say that it wasn't any kind of relaxed ground-covering trot. She'd go faster or slower, but she wasn't sure what gait she wanted so she kept bouncing between a trot, a rack, and a canter. Oh well - nothing's perfect, and it didn't spoil my ride at all.
I was going to meet S when she got home and go back out for another mile, but I just couldn't. Dixie had done so well, and I really wanted to end on a good note. I fed her an apple, cooled her off, and let her go back to dozing in the pasture.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Two years of the world's best dog
Today's Dixie's day off, and mine too. My back still hurts a bit from the Invisible Swordsman bolting thing and I feel kinda crappy. Took a long nap today so hopefully I'll be fine tomorrow. I looked back through my archives (dear god, I've been writing this thing for a long time!) and I thought last year's post deserved another look.
Cersei's been in my life for exactly two years. Here's the story of how I got her, and here's a hot-off-the-iPhone current picture. Still looks pretty cute when she sleeps, but she definitely doesn't fit on my lap anymore! Here's to about 15 more, little yellow dog. :D
Cersei's been in my life for exactly two years. Here's the story of how I got her, and here's a hot-off-the-iPhone current picture. Still looks pretty cute when she sleeps, but she definitely doesn't fit on my lap anymore! Here's to about 15 more, little yellow dog. :D
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Brrrr!
I got cold today. S and I were going to meet up at 3 and go do the Mines and get back before it got too terribly dark. I planned to wear my very warm but very cumbersome Carhartt coveralls, so I didn't wear any leggings under my jeans. Leggings + jeans + coveralls is 0 degree wear, not 30 degree wear!
When I got out there and tacked up Dixie, I realized it wasn't very cold at all yet. If I'd put on my coveralls, I'd have gotten pretty sweaty before the sun went down. I decided I'd rather freeze for 20 minutes than roast for an hour.
We did the standard full-length Mines trail, no extras. I am all confused, though, because the GPS said it was 4.35 miles. Every other time I've ridden the full Mines it's been right at 4 miles. It is a mystery! Anyway, 4.35 in 1:37, average of 2.7 mph. I wanted to get her back without any neck sweat - just a slow relaxing ride.
We took two of the dogs - S's young one Oscar and my Cersei. They did the butt-tuck high-speed run in a huge circle around the horses, nonstop, for THREE MILES. Cersei is sacked out on the couch now - a tired dog is a happy dog!
I kept gently working the reins and easing out the length, and I got Dixie to stretch out and keep her contact with me. It was pretty cool! :)
When I got out there and tacked up Dixie, I realized it wasn't very cold at all yet. If I'd put on my coveralls, I'd have gotten pretty sweaty before the sun went down. I decided I'd rather freeze for 20 minutes than roast for an hour.
We did the standard full-length Mines trail, no extras. I am all confused, though, because the GPS said it was 4.35 miles. Every other time I've ridden the full Mines it's been right at 4 miles. It is a mystery! Anyway, 4.35 in 1:37, average of 2.7 mph. I wanted to get her back without any neck sweat - just a slow relaxing ride.
We took two of the dogs - S's young one Oscar and my Cersei. They did the butt-tuck high-speed run in a huge circle around the horses, nonstop, for THREE MILES. Cersei is sacked out on the couch now - a tired dog is a happy dog!
I kept gently working the reins and easing out the length, and I got Dixie to stretch out and keep her contact with me. It was pretty cool! :)
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