Once home from “the Ride”, following unpacking and straightening trailer, resting horses and myself a day or two, I take out my score sheet and decide on 2-3 things to on which to concentrate and try to improve.
I use the score sheet as a reference and guide, as every ride is different and the parts of the obstacle that are judged can vary from ride to ride. Josie is not a “drill it and kill it” type of horse, so I am careful to keep things interesting. I may pick one in-hand and several mounted obstacles to practice. I then think how I can use what I have at home and out on my local trails to practice and reinforce the training. I have no problem recreating most obstacles as they were, but I also try to expand on them and develop specific objectives. For example: foot control, smooth flow, and of course “stop and settle”. What is it as soon as I start an obstacle that I get in a hurry?
I have several plastic barrels, landscape timbers, cones and Jim has made me a square pedestal from a plywood covered pallet. I have an old rope that I use to drag and swing around Josie. To quote Greg Dial, “4-6 cones or barrels and some landscape timbers should be sufficient to create an endless supply of practice obstacles”. A canvas tarp far outlasts a blue poly, which eventually disintegrates.
On my local trails I look out for flat rocks to put a foot on, a downed tree to step or back over or side pass, and small hills to practice speed control, turning, stopping and side passing in tight spots. I can practice forward laterals and transitions on straight trails. Trees in clearings are good for backing practice in circles. I never let just the trail we are on be Josie’s guide, I engage my body and legs on turns and sometimes intentionally go off trail to check our communication at that moment. Sometimes we are in such harmony that I can disregard reins for 10, 20 or even 30 minutes at a time. During this time, I can turn, stop (hard for us to do reinless), back, transition and yield. If I do pick up a rein, I try to use it as a reminder that she missed a quiet cue.
Another way to practice for rides is with lessons and clinics. Jim, Emily and I also practice together at home on weekends. Finding a good instructor is valuable, as they are eyes on the ground that can watch for improvement, offer suggestions, and help me focus on a few things to work on at a time. I love doing clinics because usually we work specifically on one focus, and I see improvement by the end of the session.
A little back story on Josie. I got her 3 years ago this fall, and it took me two days to load her in my straight load. Her past included toting cowboys/husbands/pasture pony/camp horse reject and then she landed in the care of an older lady. She was an 18-year-old grouch, didn’t want to be caught, be with me, nor be saddled or ridden, and especially did not want to trot or canter. Sour and shut down would describe her to a “T” back then. My first year and a half with her was building our relationship, and once she became more trusting and willing, things started to blossom. She now hangs out with me by choice, and is first in from the pasture when I call them in. She has arthritis and is long of tooth, but her heart is pure gold, and I am grateful for every ride with her.
I do love the rides and the evaluations I receive, but, for me, there is nothing better than riding my little red mare and watching her ears pay attention to the trail ahead. She has given me so much confidence and reminded me that the journey is the goal! See you on the trail! Kim and Josie
One of the wonderful things about this club is the sense of ‘family’, and the friendships formed both at rides, and subsequent socializing outside of TTCC events. As with all relationships, sometimes we share loss together. In recent months, we have mourned the loss of our friend, ride manager and former treasurer, Karen Boone. She fought a brave and quiet battle with cancer for many years, yet continued to show up doing life, with rarely a nod to the disease. One of her concerns in her final weeks was finding good homes for her beloved pets and TTCC family stepped right up to see that her horses and dog have forever homes. May you rest in peace, Karen.
Button May, Cheryl’s husband, also is now riding herd in Heaven. Cheryl said it best in her note to this club, which is shared below, July 24, 2023…
“My TTCC Family, And ya’ll are Family! Thank you for all the texts, emails, phone calls, and heart felt comments on social media. This club is amazing at how much we generally care for one another. Every time you reached out and said we were in your thoughts and prayers, helped us make it through another doctor appointment, hospital stay and procedure. In the end, of course, not the outcome we prayed for, but I know, without a doubt, Button is the winner. He is in a far better place, riding the best horse and rounding up strays. Thank you for your cash gift. It will help. Love ya’ll! Cheryl May”
It is a good thing to rejoice with those who rejoice and to mourn with those who mourn. Pretty much the essence of our club. RIP, Button.
FROM THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS…
Ann Stacy, President… Hello, TTCC! Our fall ride season is fast approaching, ready or not! I want to share a few general reminders to help you be prepared.
Current coggins (paper copy)
Tires and trailer are roadworthy
Carry extra water for yourself
Electrolytes – (people and horse)
Update your first aid kit (horse and people)
Sharpen your pocketknife
Inspect your tack for weak spots, oil and clean tack
Inspect saddle pads for wear and dirt
Write down your horse’s normal pulse and respiration rates
Replace flashlight batteries if needed
Generator maintenance
We enjoy time with our friends, horses and nature! It is best when we adhere to trail etiquette, be mindful of others performing at an obstacle and check with the rider behind you to see if you should wait prior to leaving the obstacle. These courtesies create camaraderie and positive competition among members.
The ride out sheet is needed to spread the riders out and avoid obstacle backups. I encourage everyone to keep their “ride group” to 4-5 or less. We understand folks enjoy riding trails with friends; however, backed up obstacles and large gaps between riders impact the ride flow and moving judges.
TTCC rides are filling up very quickly, waitlists are the norm. Ride Management appreciate members who contact them as soon as possible if they need to cancel.
“WHEN I COMPETE, I NEVER LOSE, I AM ALWAYS LEARNING” is a valid comment for TTCC members. I hope the fall 2023 ride season is a successful one for you and your equine partner. I’d like to thank the following volunteers…
Kim and Josie, for writing the Camp Life article below. It is relevant as we kick off this ride season. Do not miss it, I know you will find it useful!
Thanks to Gayna’s efforts, we are enjoying our newsletter. It is such a good way to be in touch and share information.
Thanks, also, to Laura McLean for working to have wonderful raffle items for you this fall.
One last note…our next general meeting will be at the last ride, Salute to the Troops, at C Bar in November.
Looking forward to seeing you on the trails, Ann Stacy, President
NEWS FROM UPCOMING RIDES
HOG WILD…In addition to the TTCC raffle held the first ride of each month, we will be hosting a raffle for TETRA (Texas Equestrian Trail Riders Association). This nonprofit organization helps maintain horse trails in parks all over Texas. Raffle will consist of a free weekend ride (Sat/Sun) AND an electric site for next year’s Hog Wild Ride. All proceeds are donated to TETRA. Cost is 10.00 a ticket. In addition to the TETRA raffle, a baby shower will be held for Thomas and Tiffany’s baby due just around the corner. Some needed items are diapers, wipes, gift cards to Wal Mart. She still has a lot of clothing from Miss Avery Jo, so necessities are appreciated. We look forward to having a new little member of our TTCC family joining us in October!
CACTUS TWO STEP… There will be a TTCC raffle as it is the first ride of the month. In addition, to the TTCC raffle, we are having a “Calcutta”. Riders will be placed (on paper) in teams of 5, and each rider preselects 2 obstacles that count toward their team’s total score. Ride Managers select the teams and our goal is to keep teams as even as possible. Teams are announced Friday night at the Ride Meeting. The top 3 teams will receive awards, and this is all in fun and has no bearing on year-end scores. Winners will be announced Saturday at the end of the regular ride awards. You are encouraged to ride with your team members on Saturday. We understand that this is not always possible due to horse speeds and rider preferences, but it would be fun to cheer each other on throughout the ride. The GOAL of this event is to get folks out of their normal patterns and meet new riders. There will be a lot of new riders at our ride, so this is a great chance to mingle a little and broaden our horizons! Also, there will be a side pot going in the event anyone wants to bet on the teams. Anyone can do the side bet but it’s also a chance for riders to bet on themselves. The pot will go to the winning team, divided among its members. If you choose to participate in the side bets, you will need cash. More details will be included later, on the ride page, so stay tuned! We are so looking forward to this ride!
Election time is just around the corner. This year, the Membership Director, Ride Director and Judges Director positions are up for election. If you are interested in running for a position, please contact the TTCC Treasurer, Tiffany Janke. Future dates and timelines are to be determined.
Please enjoy the following CAMP LIFE article submitted by Kim Gehring, final installment of the series she began earlier this year
Spring ride season has officially ended following the WWW ride this past weekend. The weather, food and company were all perfect, Friday night we were entertained during supper by a young man named Luke Powell, and Saturday night a historian from the Fort, Eric Abercrombie, talked to us about the characters who travelled through the area, prompting the “Tombstone” themed ride. The wildflowers were beautiful as well. The WWW gang announced they are taking a break in 2024 but plan to return with this ride in 2025. Carla put together a wonderful raffle table, and cash was raised to donate to Fort Griffin during a special “side” raffle. Many thanks to Kelly and Ginny, Greg and all the judges, all the volunteers who made this weekend possible.
There were a couple of new riders, prompting a discussion among some of us waiting to head out on trail Saturday morning. If you were giving a new rider one piece of advice, what would it be? Out of about 8 of us standing around, here are their answers: Have fun (and smile)! Don’t rush at the obstacles. Have a plan. Try to take one new tip away from each ride. Get up early enough to warm your horse up well. And this one applies to so many aspects of life, always remember to STOP AND SETTLE!
Kate has offered to do a new order of a pullover many members purchased prior to 2023, see below. This reorder is not meant to be a profit-making venture for the club, nor for Kate. Please get with her if you think you want to order, she will be collecting your money and sizes. Thank you, Kate, for offering to handle this.
I had asked Carol Warren earlier this spring about submitting an article regarding hauling horses in the heat of summer. (I hauled Jill to NM last September, taking two days, and when we arrived at Gila Wilderness, I unloaded a dehydrated mare). Please enjoy and learn from her article which follows.
Traveling with Your Horse in the Summer:
Many of us enjoy traveling with our horses in the summer. Traveling through the Texas heat is hard on our vehicles and our horses. Planning our route wisely, timing our travel, preparing our vehicles, and preparing the horse can help everyone arrive less stressed, healthy, and ready to ride. Here are just a few tips that I have found helpful in my 30 years of hauling. There are so many do’s and don’ts out there, and we all have our routines, but I hope this is a helpful starting point.
Vehicles–Make sure ALL tires are properly inflated and have not dry rotted. Tires 4 years and older are considered past their useful life when towing, no matter what the tread looks like. You can check the age of your tires by using the DOT Tire Date Code system published anywhere. The extreme heat from the asphalt and high speeds can easily fatigue tires leading to a blow-out. Be able to change a flat tire by yourself. Consider purchasing a battery powered impact wrench and drive-on trailer jack. Have a good truck jack and know where to place it on your truck to change truck tires. It’s not always safe or even possible to wait for help. Two spare trailer tires are even better than 1.
—Make sure your vehicle is capable of pulling AND STOPPING your fully loaded trailer. If you are going into the mountains, this is essential that your transmission, brakes, and engine can handle the load. Many a flat lander’s truck has failed going up mountain passes because it has been over-loaded. Worse yet is if the brakes overheat and make stopping difficult or even catch on fire!
—Make sure your trailer floor is sturdy and clean. If traveling longer than a couple of hours, I like to put shavings down. This adds insulation from the road heat and noise, and allows the horse to urinate without splashing himself. If I am traveling quite a distance and in the heat of the day, I like to place at least 4 inches of shavings. I will also sprinkle the shavings with water to keep dust down and to allow some evaporative cooling.
—Make sure your axles are straight, bearings lubed, lights and brakes work.
—Great ventilation is essential to keep your horse cool. Open the windows to allow ventilation but don’t forget to protect your horse’s eyes. Either a fly mask or screen on the trailer windows helps prevent road debris from hurting your horse’s eyes. Open the front roof vents to face forward to catch the air and open the last vent backwards to allow the air to escape, or flow over the horses. Fans would be great, especially for when you are trapped in traffic unable to generate ventilation by just moving.
Planning your route. Consider this as important as having a safe vehicle. In Texas, road construction is everywhere. Especially try to avoid construction in densely populated areas, as this usually means prolonged traffic jams. No movement means no ventilation for your horse. Stop and go traffic is more likely to result in traffic accidents causing even more traffic problems. Stop and go is also very taxing on our horses as well. I prefer to drive on the secondary roads and try to avoid the typical high volume traffic rush hours. Secondary roads usually go through the smaller towns. Smaller towns have great places to stop and allow you to give your horse a break. County fairgrounds, rodeo grounds, auction barns, even small city parks are safe places to unload, giving you and your horse the much needed lunch and potty break. I prefer these places over roadside parks because they seem to be safer, are away from traffic, and often have helpful and friendly people.
I stop every 3-4 hours if possible. If I have a 12 hour trip, I plan to allow my horse to get off the trailer around the 6 hour mark. If my trip is only 6 hours, I plan to stop around the 3-4 hour time mark for at least 30 minutes to allow my horse just to quietly stand and rest in the trailer. I think offering some water and soaked feed around the halfway point is a good idea. Some people keep hay in front of their horses. Mine do not like to eat much while traveling and I think the hay just blows in their face and eyes. Of course, soaked hay cubes and water is offered at each stop. If you are making the trip in a stock trailer or box-stall type trailer, unloading is not as necessary, but please stop to allow the horse a chance to relax. It takes a lot of effort to balance going down the road!
Horse—The most obvious things first. Make sure your Coggins is current for your destination. Health certificates are may be required by some equine events and for out of state travel. Find out if your destination requires weed-free feeds and start feeding it at least 1 week (or appropriate time frame recommended by your destination) prior to departure so your horse is adjusted to the new diet and his system has cleared all the noxious weed seed out. Vaccinations may be required depending on your destination. Make sure to pack all needed documentation in a convenient location, and double check they are actually packed!
Traveling in the heat can rapidly dehydrate your horse. Do your very best to super-hydrate him before the trip. Beginning at least one week before departure, I like to soak my feed as much as my horse will tolerate, serving it as soupy as he will eat it. Begin feeding small amounts of electrolytes or salt early to encourage drinking and to get them used to the flavor in their feed. Pack plenty of water from home and offer it frequently during the trip. Have enough water for your horse for a few days until he gets used to the local water. Plan to have some cubed hay that can be soaked as well. Keeping the gut well hydrated will keep your horse hydrated!
If it is already hot when I have to load my horse, I like to hose him off, then scrape off the excess water. I will sprinkle the shavings in the trailer with water. These steps will add some evaporative cooling to keep him a little more comfortable during the trip.
Check on your horse at least every couple of hours. If he is really sweating, you should consider stopping and unloading him in a shady area, give him plenty of time to rehydrate and rest. Your horse should only develop a mild sweat in the trailer. Too much sweat indicates a ventilation problem or excess stress.
How do you know if your horse is dehydrated? The skin tent test is a simple test. Just pinch some skin on the neck, pull it up, then release it. A normally hydrated horse’s skin will immediately go back to normal position. A prolonged return to normal position indicates at least 5% dehydration. The longer the delay, the more dehydrated the horse. Check the horse’s gums. Look at the upper gums where they meet the upper front teeth. Normal gums are pale pink and moist. The gum will blanch white when gently pressed, then return to normal within 2 seconds. If it takes longer than 3 seconds to return to normal color, there is a problem. Red or purple gums are abnormal and indicate a medical emergency. Practice evaluating these on your horse now so you know what his normal looks like. A horse that is 5% dehydrated (that has a prolonged skin tent) will require up to 25 liters of balanced IV fluids to return to normal hydration. This is approximately 10 gallons! A dehydrated horse is a medical emergency! Dehydration leads to colic, electrolyte imbalances, muscle weakness, kidney failure, shock and eventually death.
A quick note on using electrolytes. Do not give a full dose of electrolytes to a dehydrated horse. The salts and sugars just pull more fluid out of the horse’s body into the gut, causing more dehydration. It is ok to offer some electrolyte infused water, but make sure there is plenty of fresh water as well. The best electrolyte is just plain old salt added into the feed daily. Avoid the electrolytes with lots of sugar—these have very little value to the horse.
These are just a few tips I have learned over the years. I hope this helps. We all want our partners to arrive safe, healthy and happy.
Did we have fun or what?? First (hopefully annual) Junior Clinic was held at Parrie Haynes March 25, with 16 Junior riders attending, accompanied by parents, grandparents and adult friends. It did my heart good to see friendships form, and relationships between riders and mounts expanding. BIG THANKS to Karen and Greg for all the hard work, good ideas, great format, interesting obstacles, as well as the practice challenge on a 4-mile trail with 6 obstacles. A hamburger lunch was provided, and awards given out as well. Thank you, too, to secretary Tiffany, and all of the above who served as clinicians and judges, as well as Kelly, Cheryl and Nancy. Alex orchestrated a taco dinner potluck for the night before as well. This couldn’t have happened without all the extra volunteers and especially the adults who got the kiddos there for the day. Sunday followed with a full adult clinic, again managed by Greg and Karen, with Nancy as secretary and everyone working again in judge, clinician and volunteer positions. We had 42 participants, many of whom were new faces. Again, thank you Greg and Karen, for your hard work and labors of love to this organization.
THOUGHTS FROM ANN STACY, PRESIDENT
We had our first General Meeting for 2023 at the Smiley ride. We had between 50-60 folks attending. Tiffany handed out information related to our financial status (see below), Bill updated folks on our membership numbers, Karen encouraged folks to consider being a Ride Manager for 2024, Greg provided information on the clinics for youth and judges, and I discussed the various ways of communication used by the Club. The web site is the recommended manner to reach members, FB is not a primary source. Refer to the website for updates and our newsletter is an excellent way to keep current as well.
There were two clarifications of rules discussed. Keeping on the marked trails is important for safety reasons (getting lost is not intentionally departing the trail). Also, we provided the definition of equine professionals verses an equine instructor.
The BOD is here to serve our club and answer your questions, you may contact any BOD member if you have questions. We look forward to our next General Board meeting at Salute to the Troops in November! Stay safe on the roads and enjoy your equine partner! Ann
Editor’s note: I had the privilege of attending the Smiley ride this past weekend, and Carol, Karen and Devin did a wonderful job of incorporating Texas History of the area into the obstacles. Specifically, the Runaway Scrape. Our learning moment was provided by a young man, Alamo reenactor, and associate of the Texas Historical Commission, a veritable font of knowledge. Thank you all for the extra effort, proving we are never too old to learn! See page two for income statement provided by Tiffany.
