spookypony
Well-Known Member
Hello all, and long time no see on here! To be frank, I've not posted much mainly because posting pics is now such a pain, what with third-party hosting being less simple than it was, and HHO's album capacity being ridiculously small. So even today, I've only got 5 pics (I had to delete about 6 from my album to get them to upload), so my report will be that little bit more boring...
This year, I made the decision to retire the Spooky Pony. He had successfully completed an 80km endurance ride in 2015, and in 2016, I was keen to complete his Scottish Endurance gradings. However, in the Spring or 2016, he was looking quite thin, so I had him tested for Cushing's, which we had suspected for a while. The test came back positive, so I broke off his season after a 3-day camp ride and a 30k competitive ride (both completed well with excellent heart rates) in order to put him on the medication and get him used to it. He had a period of about 10 days when he went completely loopy, to the point where he was so fearful that he was quite dangerous to try to catch. Apparently, this happens to a small minority of horses! Thankfully, this settled down again, and he started to look a lot more healthy, even on a minimal dose. So over the winter into 2017, I began to ride him again, and by the Spring, was preparing him for his first planned outing, the Cairngorm 100 Trail Ride: this is a fundraising trail ride that covers the 160k of the Cairngorm 100 mile Endurance ride over 4 days; still a tough ask in the terrain. After that, we were hoping to do the Cairngorm 50 (the 80k version of the full ride), and then hopefully the gradings.
Alas, plans are never quite safe: about 3 weeks before the trail ride, the Spooky Pony, looking shiny and really starting to return to his Arnold Schwarzenpony form, tore a check ligament so severely that the prognosis of his return to ridden work was very guarded. So he had a month of box rest, followed by 2 months of corral rest beside the mare paddock, before he jumped over the fence and declared himself sound. I started walking him out again in hand, but didn't feel very good about the whole thing, and shortly after Christmas decided that I would retire him, because the worry over re-injury was just too much. So round about his official passport "birthday" at the end of April (which seems just as fictional as his supposed age of 18), we held a retirement party at the yard I hire! About 15 friends were there, and enjoyed a great spread of snacks and prosecco, while the ponies got neeps, carrots, polos, and apples. The Ballerina Mare tried to eat a sausage roll, but was prevented, and tried to drink prosecco, but knocked it over.
Some of the nibbles, along with pics and a retirement card:
Ponies in the yard, with guests. Spooky Pony on the left, obviously; the Girlfriend Mare (companion pony) in the middle, and the Ballerina Mare at the back right:
This pretty much decided that the Ballerina Mare, who had been borrowing the endurance saddle for the past year because her dressage saddle fund had gone to pay the vet for the pony's leg scan etc., had to take over Endurance duties. She had done one Pleasure Ride in October 2017, at Balmoral, on which I reported at the time. I was encouraged not to faff about, and went straight into a Competitive 30k in April, which she completed with a Gold heartrate and no difficulties whatsoever. It was a very strange feeling being able to ride to the start on a lose rein, rather than containing a pony grenade and mounting just as the countdown hits 5! She got her first Bronze Thistle qualifier at this event, and then her second one at her next ride in May, a much hillier 30k, which she still managed with ease and Gold, despite her seasonal allergies beginning to appear.
I was preparing her for the Cairngorm Trail as well, having been able to nab a place due to having to pull out the year before: that ride seems to be booking up 2 years in advance, so if you're keen, get on the list now! I knew that the CG Trail would be a huge ask for a horse that's only done 2 30k Competitives, since it involves riding up to 160k over 4 days on really, really tough terrain, albeit not so quickly. So I entered us (as a dress rehearsal) for 3 consecutive Pleasure Rides, to take place at our branch's 3-day event, with some tough hills. That nearly scuppered us! The temperatures on the first day were absurdly hot, at 33oC at the top of the hill, and there was no water on course. About 3/4 of the way round the first Friday Pleasure Ride, the Ballerina Mare simply...stopped. I was a bit panicky that she was seriously compromised, but with help got her moving again after about 20 minutes, and got her to the next checkpoint, where thankfully my mobile phone calls had prompted water to be brought. After a big drink, she was ok again, and we got back to the venue and vetted well, albeit far out of the allowed time for the ride. I needed to know if she was going to be ok to do the CG Trail, so I decided that I would take her out again on the Saturday, with the blessing of the vet, and the knowledge that the organisers had placed multiple static water crews on the course, given the continued high temperatures, as well as a time allowance. She felt flat as a pancake at the beginning, but gradually perked up a bit, and I had an excellent ride partner who was willing to nurse us round carefully. By the end, she had managed very well within the time, and was well hydrated with good metabolics, although her HR was a bit higher than normal. I decided I'd asked more than enough, and withdrew from the third day, manning a static water crew point instead.
(break in the post because of maximum character length)
This year, I made the decision to retire the Spooky Pony. He had successfully completed an 80km endurance ride in 2015, and in 2016, I was keen to complete his Scottish Endurance gradings. However, in the Spring or 2016, he was looking quite thin, so I had him tested for Cushing's, which we had suspected for a while. The test came back positive, so I broke off his season after a 3-day camp ride and a 30k competitive ride (both completed well with excellent heart rates) in order to put him on the medication and get him used to it. He had a period of about 10 days when he went completely loopy, to the point where he was so fearful that he was quite dangerous to try to catch. Apparently, this happens to a small minority of horses! Thankfully, this settled down again, and he started to look a lot more healthy, even on a minimal dose. So over the winter into 2017, I began to ride him again, and by the Spring, was preparing him for his first planned outing, the Cairngorm 100 Trail Ride: this is a fundraising trail ride that covers the 160k of the Cairngorm 100 mile Endurance ride over 4 days; still a tough ask in the terrain. After that, we were hoping to do the Cairngorm 50 (the 80k version of the full ride), and then hopefully the gradings.
Alas, plans are never quite safe: about 3 weeks before the trail ride, the Spooky Pony, looking shiny and really starting to return to his Arnold Schwarzenpony form, tore a check ligament so severely that the prognosis of his return to ridden work was very guarded. So he had a month of box rest, followed by 2 months of corral rest beside the mare paddock, before he jumped over the fence and declared himself sound. I started walking him out again in hand, but didn't feel very good about the whole thing, and shortly after Christmas decided that I would retire him, because the worry over re-injury was just too much. So round about his official passport "birthday" at the end of April (which seems just as fictional as his supposed age of 18), we held a retirement party at the yard I hire! About 15 friends were there, and enjoyed a great spread of snacks and prosecco, while the ponies got neeps, carrots, polos, and apples. The Ballerina Mare tried to eat a sausage roll, but was prevented, and tried to drink prosecco, but knocked it over.
Some of the nibbles, along with pics and a retirement card:
Ponies in the yard, with guests. Spooky Pony on the left, obviously; the Girlfriend Mare (companion pony) in the middle, and the Ballerina Mare at the back right:
This pretty much decided that the Ballerina Mare, who had been borrowing the endurance saddle for the past year because her dressage saddle fund had gone to pay the vet for the pony's leg scan etc., had to take over Endurance duties. She had done one Pleasure Ride in October 2017, at Balmoral, on which I reported at the time. I was encouraged not to faff about, and went straight into a Competitive 30k in April, which she completed with a Gold heartrate and no difficulties whatsoever. It was a very strange feeling being able to ride to the start on a lose rein, rather than containing a pony grenade and mounting just as the countdown hits 5! She got her first Bronze Thistle qualifier at this event, and then her second one at her next ride in May, a much hillier 30k, which she still managed with ease and Gold, despite her seasonal allergies beginning to appear.
I was preparing her for the Cairngorm Trail as well, having been able to nab a place due to having to pull out the year before: that ride seems to be booking up 2 years in advance, so if you're keen, get on the list now! I knew that the CG Trail would be a huge ask for a horse that's only done 2 30k Competitives, since it involves riding up to 160k over 4 days on really, really tough terrain, albeit not so quickly. So I entered us (as a dress rehearsal) for 3 consecutive Pleasure Rides, to take place at our branch's 3-day event, with some tough hills. That nearly scuppered us! The temperatures on the first day were absurdly hot, at 33oC at the top of the hill, and there was no water on course. About 3/4 of the way round the first Friday Pleasure Ride, the Ballerina Mare simply...stopped. I was a bit panicky that she was seriously compromised, but with help got her moving again after about 20 minutes, and got her to the next checkpoint, where thankfully my mobile phone calls had prompted water to be brought. After a big drink, she was ok again, and we got back to the venue and vetted well, albeit far out of the allowed time for the ride. I needed to know if she was going to be ok to do the CG Trail, so I decided that I would take her out again on the Saturday, with the blessing of the vet, and the knowledge that the organisers had placed multiple static water crews on the course, given the continued high temperatures, as well as a time allowance. She felt flat as a pancake at the beginning, but gradually perked up a bit, and I had an excellent ride partner who was willing to nurse us round carefully. By the end, she had managed very well within the time, and was well hydrated with good metabolics, although her HR was a bit higher than normal. I decided I'd asked more than enough, and withdrew from the third day, manning a static water crew point instead.
(break in the post because of maximum character length)
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