Hello everyone! Bugsy and I are excited to be part of the 2016 Distance Derby. Bugsy is my home-schooled 6 year old Arab gelding. We are shooting for being a strong endurance team, with the goal of consistently finishing well rather than looking for placings. He did his first LD and 50 last year, and we plan on building on that in 2016. He's certainly a character, and keeps me on my toes. We have days that are just about perfect, and days where we don't really like each other, but it's always worth it in the end. For better or worse, Bugsy's success is entirely down to me shaping him the right way, and I'm finding it an incredibly rewarding journey. We look forward to sharing many many miles with you in the coming year.
January 1st - 3.5 miles. Quick bareback ride in the woods to kick off the New Year. Bugsy was a little sticky footed to start with, but settled in after a half mile, and we did a lot of our ride with the reins knotted on his neck. :) Excellent start to 2016
January 3 - 10 miles. Our first day out in the new-to-us trailer. Visited JDSF with a friend to send our over-excited young but fit Arabs over a massive hill to see if we could find some brain cells at the top. It kinda worked ;) Excellent fun ride, with mostly well behaved ponies and good company.
January 4 - 9.1 miles. Took a trailer-less friend out in our new trailer for a slow but technical ride working on refining our skills. Really nice to see that Bugsy is listening to subtle cues from my seat and legs, yielding and bending around trees, not caring when I pulled my legs up on the saddle to avoid knocking my knees in a gap too skinny for riders. Excellent fun trail, great training while feeling like a casual ride - my favourite!
January 5 - 17.2 miles. Took a chance on thunderstorms today, and got lucky. Absolutely fantastic ride, lots of trotting, some hill sprints, casual loose rein walking, and skills practice. All with a fabulous friend :) This is an awesome year!
January 8 - 4.3 miles. Nice easy relaxing ride with a friend and very well behaved ponies. Bugsy started out being a jerk, dancing and threatening to rear for the half mile of road up to the trail, but settled quickly once we were on the loop. He's feeling really good!
January 12 - 8.7 easy but hilly walking miles with friends. Taking 4 fit but green endurance horses out together could have been a cluster-eff, but it worked out brilliantly. Bugsy really impressed me today :)
January 15 - 7.8 solo miles - first entirely solo trip with our trailer. Couple loading/unloading kinks to work out, but the ride itself was great. He even crossed a river nearly deep enough to swim!
1/18/16 - 4.3 miles. Left my tack in the trailer, which was at my house. I didn't have time to go back for it, so made sure my spare helmet was in the barn and took him out in a halter and lead. We had a great relaxing ride!
1/21/16 - 6.2 miles. Planned for a long ride, but had to turn tail when the wind picked up and we could hear trees falling nearby. Opted for the shortest route home, still a little nerve wracking at times. We got some awesome canter work though, so between that and not getting hit by a widow maker I'm calling it a win. YTD - 81.1
1/25/16 - 4.2 miles. Squeezed in a zoom ride on our short loop before going out of town for a week. Just what my brain needed! Love my horse. YTD - 85.3
Yikes, forgot to update here. Lucky I log on Strava so I can see if I uploaded yesterday's ride or not lol. Feb 1 - 6.8 miles Feb 8 - 8.5 miles Feb 9 - 6.6 miles YTD - 107.2
2/11/16 - 9.7 miles. Pony was a star today! Some very technical trails that he handled like a pro, and didn't lose his mind when our co-trailer shot up an insanely steep muddy hillside, literally uprooting a tree on his way! Lots of exploring and brain training! YTD - 116.9
Looks like I've been slacking some on my tally. Pony was flipping awesome today! Really needed a good ride and he more than delivered (once we got beyond the tantrums lol) 3/23 - 20.6
Mock LD today, gave me a lot of confidence in our ability to finish our season opener ride next month. Accompanied our buddy on their longest ever ride, in preparation for the same endurance ride.
Hello everyone! Bugsy and I are excited to be part of the 2016 Distance Derby. Bugsy is my home-schooled 6 year old Arab gelding. We are shooting for being a strong endurance team, with the goal of consistently finishing well rather than looking for placings. He did his first LD and 50 last year, and we plan on building on that in 2016. He's certainly a character, and keeps me on my toes. We have days that are just about perfect, and days where we don't really like each other, but it's always worth it in the end. For better or worse, Bugsy's success is entirely down to me shaping him the right way, and I'm finding it an incredibly rewarding journey. We look forward to sharing many many miles with you in the coming year.
ReplyDeleteJanuary 1st - 3.5 miles. Quick bareback ride in the woods to kick off the New Year. Bugsy was a little sticky footed to start with, but settled in after a half mile, and we did a lot of our ride with the reins knotted on his neck. :) Excellent start to 2016
ReplyDeleteJanuary 3 - 10 miles. Our first day out in the new-to-us trailer. Visited JDSF with a friend to send our over-excited young but fit Arabs over a massive hill to see if we could find some brain cells at the top. It kinda worked ;) Excellent fun ride, with mostly well behaved ponies and good company.
ReplyDeleteJanuary 4 - 9.1 miles. Took a trailer-less friend out in our new trailer for a slow but technical ride working on refining our skills. Really nice to see that Bugsy is listening to subtle cues from my seat and legs, yielding and bending around trees, not caring when I pulled my legs up on the saddle to avoid knocking my knees in a gap too skinny for riders. Excellent fun trail, great training while feeling like a casual ride - my favourite!
ReplyDeleteJanuary 5 - 17.2 miles. Took a chance on thunderstorms today, and got lucky. Absolutely fantastic ride, lots of trotting, some hill sprints, casual loose rein walking, and skills practice. All with a fabulous friend :) This is an awesome year!
ReplyDeleteJanuary 8 - 4.3 miles. Nice easy relaxing ride with a friend and very well behaved ponies. Bugsy started out being a jerk, dancing and threatening to rear for the half mile of road up to the trail, but settled quickly once we were on the loop. He's feeling really good!
ReplyDeleteWelcome to The 2016 Great Distance Derby!
ReplyDeleteMay you have many SMILES & MILES throughout the year!
January 11 - 10 miles. Pushed on some of the uphills, but lots of walking as well. Great conditioning ride!
ReplyDeleteJanuary 12 - 8.7 easy but hilly walking miles with friends. Taking 4 fit but green endurance horses out together could have been a cluster-eff, but it worked out brilliantly. Bugsy really impressed me today :)
ReplyDeleteJanuary 15 - 7.8 solo miles - first entirely solo trip with our trailer. Couple loading/unloading kinks to work out, but the ride itself was great. He even crossed a river nearly deep enough to swim!
ReplyDeleteAdding a Year To Date for my backup tracking -
ReplyDelete1/15/16 - 70.6 miles
1/18/16 - 4.3 miles. Left my tack in the trailer, which was at my house. I didn't have time to go back for it, so made sure my spare helmet was in the barn and took him out in a halter and lead. We had a great relaxing ride!
ReplyDeleteYTD - 74.9
Delete1/21/16 - 6.2 miles. Planned for a long ride, but had to turn tail when the wind picked up and we could hear trees falling nearby. Opted for the shortest route home, still a little nerve wracking at times. We got some awesome canter work though, so between that and not getting hit by a widow maker I'm calling it a win.
ReplyDeleteYTD - 81.1
1/25/16 - 4.2 miles. Squeezed in a zoom ride on our short loop before going out of town for a week. Just what my brain needed! Love my horse.
ReplyDeleteYTD - 85.3
Yikes, forgot to update here. Lucky I log on Strava so I can see if I uploaded yesterday's ride or not lol.
ReplyDeleteFeb 1 - 6.8 miles
Feb 8 - 8.5 miles
Feb 9 - 6.6 miles
YTD - 107.2
2/11/16 - 9.7 miles.
ReplyDeletePony was a star today! Some very technical trails that he handled like a pro, and didn't lose his mind when our co-trailer shot up an insanely steep muddy hillside, literally uprooting a tree on his way! Lots of exploring and brain training!
YTD - 116.9
2/23 - 8.5
ReplyDelete2/25 - 11.2
3/1 - 4.2
3/2 - 10.6
YTD - 151.4
Looks like I've been slacking some on my tally. Pony was flipping awesome today! Really needed a good ride and he more than delivered (once we got beyond the tantrums lol)
ReplyDelete3/23 - 20.6
Mock LD today, gave me a lot of confidence in our ability to finish our season opener ride next month. Accompanied our buddy on their longest ever ride, in preparation for the same endurance ride.
ReplyDelete