Spring is blooming in Central Massachusetts. Rain has been minimal the past few weeks, allowing trails to dry out: perfect riding conditions.
Monday, we stayed local. Our 6.6 mile route crossed what we call the river. It’s slowly receding but still horse knee deep. There were a few iffy moments for me at the gas line. Jigs got “jiggy”, so I elected not to gallop up the hill. A little later we had to duck under a low branch while cantering, although it was a blast and quite funny.
Grafton Route
There was lots of laughter and conversation. Best line of the day: “I can’t hear you over your horse’s farts.” I was having so much fun, I did not take any photos.
Jigs and I trailered to Douglas State Forest (DSF) the next day to meet up with a friend and her mare. We hadn’t ridden together before so we weren’t sure how our horses would react to one another. No issue. They were fast friends, and after the ride her mare followed Jigs to our trailer. Jigs usually tries to lead or follow but he was willing to ride side by side with her. We even cantered together!
DSF has marvelous trails. Not all are horse friendly, like the hikers/bikers only Mid State Trail, but there are miles of horse trails. We rode off of Wallis Street, and stayed on that side of the forest. There are other parking areas to access more trails. The Southern New England Trunkline Trail runs through DSF, as does another rail trail, the Grand Truck Trail. Main trails are named and well marked. The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation maintains the forest and keeps the trails clear. They get support from local trail organizations like The Bay State Trail Riders (BSTRA.org).
DSF Ride
My knowledge of DSF is limited and yesterday’s 9 mile ride included trails I had not been on before. I learned about which to avoid and a short cut to bypass a rocky area. I am looking forward to exploring more DSF trails this summer.
The past two days of riding has left me grateful for the life I live! Thunderstorms are in today’s forecast, so Jigs will get a needed rest. Happy Trails!
Jigs came to me when he was 6. He is 21 this year. I don’t know his date of birth- he came without papers. His vet has been the same since he was 3, so his age estimate is accurate. She’s watched him grow into the stubborn pony he can be.
What I know of his history has been pieced together from different stories. A local sale barn rider bought then resold him to the woman I got him from, though I never met her (transacted the purchase through her barn manager). She bought him to be a hunter pony for her young daughter but it sounded like she was intimidated by him. He would give her a hard time and refuse to leave the barn when they would all go for a trail ride. My friends had ridden him without issue. One of the reasons I took him on trial.
He does test riders that way. I personally watched him do that with two different trainers.
While Jigs is the horse of a lifetime, I’ve found over the years if he refuses to do something, you can get him do it through negotiation. He needs to know why. Forcing him does not work. Someone remarked recently that he is like a mare in that way. Maybe.
Jigs’ split ear is his standout trait in a field of chestnuts. A while after I got him, the sale barn rider recognized him in the pasture when he was delivering hay. He remarked Chace (aka Jigs) “is a nice horse.” He added “there were papers the prior owner did not want to pay for,” but I’m skeptical. Papers can be swapped. He mentioned Jigs was well broke when he bought him.
None of it matters. He was sold to me as a green, grade quarter pony, although he sticks at 14.3. Despite lack of work, he looked fabulous the day he arrived. He holds his muscling.
Jigs February 8 2009 – First Day
Even at 21 he looks great!
Jigs April 2024
Although he enjoys napping in the sun more than he used to- then again, so do I!
60 degrees at the beginning of March! Blue sky after gray rain.
I took Jigs on my daily walk.
Three miles walking strengthens partnership. Yes, I could have ridden but our usual trails are muddy from the crazy rain, and it felt good to be beside him for a change.
So, we headed down the street in a different direction than our usual route. My plan was to cut through the old pine grove, where we used to ride, to avoid backtracking.
Good idea that lacked execution; I took a wrong turn. I would say we got lost, but I suspect the red pony knew exactly where we were as he dramatically sighed a few times. The old trail was broken, and we had to bushwack to the highway to find where it picked up again. I knew these trails before loggers destroyed them. The local land trust is working to restore them.
Downed trees, mud, a brook, big trucks- Jigs didn’t hesitate. Trusty trail pony he is.
On the way back we ran into a horse and buggy. Jigs got snorty. Did he think it was Spoc? I let them go ahead of us; he wanted to follow them when we turned toward our barn. Silly boy.
We were sweating by the time we got back. Okay, maybe me more than him. He is starting to let go of winter, but his coat is still thick; he was warm- honest…
What a difference a year makes. Just because that is cliché doesn’t mean it is not true.
Last February at this time, like many of my co-workers, I was stressed about the upcoming round of “reorgs” spinning in the rumor mill. Every February, this annual event disrupted my head, my stomach, my sleep, my focus. For years, I made it to the other side.
Then last year I didn’t.
At 65, for the first time since I was a teenager, I was without a job. Dreading starting over again in a world created for youth and short term thinking, I decided to take the hit and retire early, despite being months from full retirement age.
It turned out to be the right decision.
This February is just another month, albeit with less days. My blood pressure is normal. I sleep, I eat well. I walk nearly every day. Dark winter afternoons don’t prevent me from riding.
In two months, Jigs and I have traveled 103 trail miles. Last year at this time, we only had 21; the year before, 27.
Our lifetime tracked miles are 3,731, 269 from 4,000! Fingers crossed we both stay healthy. If we do, we will crush that!
November is when most organized horse events stop in New England. Jigs and I participated in our last judged ride on November 5th. We placed second in our division even though my brain fell apart at the second gate, and I messed up by overthinking.
Second Place
Overthinking is one of my fatal flaws. That and my noisy hands.
Winter is the time for slow trail rides and ring work. This week I set myself a challenge- to stop and turn off my seat and legs without using reins. I struggle with keeping my hands still and interfere with Jigs doing his job. I can use the frozen months to work on this.
And I will use Winter’s pause to continue sorting the stuff my parents left behind, like photos from the 50s and 60s. I don’t know the names of many people among them, probably friends of my parents. I did recognize an old car- a Chevy Impala my father loved. I recall riding in the back seat angry my parents were taking me from the solitude of my book to visit cousins.
As their only child, there are lots of photos of me. What strikes me is how even at two or three, my mannerisms were fully formed. Here’s one of me talking to Santa with my hands, something I do today. Noisy hands.
Talking to Santa
Snapshots of forgotten moments to digitize. It seems a shame to throw away the unrecognized ones. They are someone’s memory, someone’s treasure, but there’s no space to keep them, no one to look at them.
This pruning is part of the aging process. Keep only what matters and release the rest.
In my last post, I stated it’s not about collecting ribbons, but when you get them, it’s a rush and validation of all the practice hours and dollars spent in pursuit of improvement.
L2 Open Ride Champion – Photo Credit Mountain Lane Farm
The final 2023 trail challenge at Mountain Lane Farm is behind us. Last weekend, Jigs and I headed out of the barn at 6:15 in the rain. As we neared the New Hampshire state line, the rain stopped, but it stayed chilly most of the day.
We arrived in time for the walk through at 8. The two judges patiently explained what they expected at each obstacle and answered our questions. “Straightness” was the theme. Jigs and I compete in Level 2, in hand, adult ride, and open ride, so there was plenty of time after the walk through to groom and warm up as we waited for our classes.
As usual, in hand was a debacle. I am clumsy and struggle with spatial awareness. A recent DNA trait update on Ancentry.com indicates I am “Least Likely to enjoy dancing.” True. I’ve never been comfortable in my body. This spills to hand classes where I get confused and tangled up in the lead rope. Poor Jigs. He’s so forgiving. The judge noted on the scorecard how often I touched him and we finished near the bottom of the large class.
Rolling Bridge – Photo curtesy of Mountain Lane Farm
Adult ride was much better. I was aware of my mistakes (all mine, not Jigs’) so my expectation of pinning was low. It was a large class with strong competitors. We completed the 360 degrees turn on the rolling bridge, but I had to back him up a few steps to avoid stepping off at 180 degrees. It cost us a point. Overall, our total score was 70.5, enough for second place! Much better than the first two challenges.
Trailhead – Photo curtesy of Mountain Lane Farm
Our scores in the open ride were lower, 68.5, but enough to place first. We lost points because of my sloppiness- a half point here and there adds up.
Box – Photo curtesy of Mountain Lane Farm
For me mountain trail is not about collecting points or ribbons- it’s about building communication with my horse. When I think back to where we were last year, I see improvement. And I FEEL when we are not in sync on the course. The judges’ scores mirrored what I felt on the obstacle. In the open class, I lost tempo coming down the trot hill and fumbled on the trail head turn; my scores reflected that.
Ribbons
The win for me is I recognized it on the course. A few years ago, I would have been blissfully aware. My horsemanship scores have improved. Even with my wobbles in the open class, we scored a 5!
I am thrilled with how far Jigs and I have come and look forward to next year!
As I clean out the house I live in, readying it for sale, it occurs to me that humans hold onto too much. Some of the things my father saved perplexes me. Boxes and boxes of screws, electrical plates, flux, wires, ancient tools I don’t know the purpose of. There are receipts from the 1960’s for wood, concrete, and other sundries. I recall my mother and me trying to get rid of this just before his health forced him to a nursing home. When we put something in the dumpster, he would rescue it. We gave up.
Those things were his unrealized intentions.
My dad worked hard his whole life. He owned several businesses of varying degrees of success and failure. He was kind, the first to offer help, taking control in times of grief. He saved a woman’s life by going back into a building filled with noxious gas and resuscitated her.
I think this selflessness was because he experienced so much loss at a young age. His father died in front of him when he was thirteen. Accepted by an ivy league school that he could not attend for lack of money, he married my mother. And then his younger, 17 year old brother, was killed in a car accident the month before I was born.
Like all humans, my father was imperfect. He drank too much. His health failed early. Cancer, blindness, and stroke left him in a wheelchair.
This stuff we accumulate, disappointment and grief, are hard to release.
The bags of stuff I carry out of the house are the letting go, for him, of him.
My plan, if it holds, is to sell this house and move somewhere less expensive, somewhere with land for the pony- maybe two. But as my father learned, intentions are just that. They don’t always workout the way you expect.
As I sort through remnants of his life, I confront my own desire for lightness of heft, illumination, and grace.
Saturday was the second trail challenge of the 2023 Mountain Lane series. Not our best day, but we managed to pin first in Level 2 Open Riding. I was happy even though our first two runs (in hand, and adult) were rough and scores too low to ribbon.
I intended to go to a Mountain Lane Play Day to practice the course before the show, but life and high humidity interfered. Last weekend we attended a local versatility clinic. I received help with cueing the 180-degree tetter totter turn and though we didn’t get a wow in the competition, we didn’t lose points. I was a bit too handsy at the end. Rider’s fault, not horse.
There was a small Texas Two Step at the clinic. I wish I had spent more time stepping on and off from the side. I didn’t notice that nuance on the challenge course until competition day. Human error.
Clinic
Hot and humid the day of the challenge, I was pleased when competitors were told the judges would keep an eye on the warmup ring to ensure riders respected the heat. Keeping horses safe (and riders) is first priority.
In hand was a throw away class for us. My lack of body awareness created confusion for Jigs and I had to touch him with my hands, which is a big NO for competition. It did get him familiar with the idea of competing, which helped with the riding classes. I was happy we got the 360-degree turn on the rolling bridge, something we had never attempted before.
The adult riding class was rough. We lost all our points on the downhill back up, even though we practiced it well on the trail, I could not keep him straight. We lost our points on the cake box side pass too. This requires the horse to put two feet on the first layer and side pass to the middle before stepping all the way on. Losing points on these two obstacles put us out of the ribbon race.
Photo Credit: Mountain Lane Farm
Level two open was much better. We got the downhill backup, though lost two points for lack of straightness. Jigs’ side pass on the cake box was perfect! I was pleased with the run but painfully aware of our gaps. I figured we would not ribbon. I was about to load Jigs on the trailer when I heard our names called for first place!
Photo Credit Mountain Lane Farm
I enjoy these trail challenges. I want to think Jigs does too but who knows what thoughts run through his equine brain? Maybe he’s just working toward the cookie he knows is at the end of the class.
Time to go…..
Navigating a trail course is a test of partnership between horse and rider. Asking a thousand-pound animal to climb on a moving obstacle and turn requires trust between two species, one a predator and the other a flight animal. The horse must trust the rider is not putting them in danger, and the rider must trust the horse does not flip to flight mode. I feel like our partnership has grown because of these competitions. At the end, isn’t that what it is about?
Jigs and I attended the Bay State Trail Riders Association’s (BSTRA) Goddard Brunch Ride yesterday at Goddard Memorial State Park in Warwick, Rhode Island. Riding along Greenwich Cove and Bay was a great way to escape the high humidity that settled over New England these past weeks. While not as hot as other parts of the country, thick humidity makes physical exertion nearly intolerable after 10 AM- at least for New Englanders anyway! I have been riding in the early morning when it is cooler but even then we return to the barn dripping.
The “metropolitan park” as it is labeled on their website, is a wonderful property that contains a beach, boat landing, picnic areas, a golf course, and old carousel building (no carousel) that can be used for events. For equestrians, there is a show ground with a huge grass ring, and 18 miles of groomed bridle trails, that run parallel to the cove and bay. There is also a public riding stable that provides guided trail rides through the park for the horseless. A little over an hour from Jigs’ barn, we try to get there several times a year. I’ve written about it in past posts.
Horses are not allowed on the beach proper after Memorial Day through Labor Day but even in July, there are places we can get to the water during low tide. Yesterday was one of those days and we rode 9 miles, many along the water.
BSTRA provided a delicious lunch after the ride, and we chatted with old and new friends while the ponies munched their hay.
If you ever get to Rhode Island, I highly recommend visiting Goddard Memorial State Park.
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