Trail Obstacle Challenge - Guiness Book of World Records

.....Attempt June 13, 2010. WE DID IT!!! Well, not sure if we made the record or not, but we were a part of the attempt, and finished the course with smiles on our faces. Okay, so I had a smile on my face, G I imagine was just happy to get back to his hay.

The alarm went off at 5:00 am and it really was the last thing I wanted to hear. Although we went to bed at 10:00 I think I only managed about 5 hours of real good sleep. So reminiscent of those first days of school and work jitters – what is it about women anyway? Why can’t we just shut down our brains like the click of a switch? Hubby’s head hits the pillow, 5 minutes later he’s snoring, lol.

We had the trailer packed and hooked up to the truck the day before so all we had to do was load G in and hit the road. It only took 10 minutes so we were on the road by 6:30. The day was damp and dreary, but weather reports predicted only a 30% chance of showers or thundershowers so I was being optimistic that we’d stay dry. About 20 minutes from our destination the highway was really wet, so we just missed a down pour, but that was all the rain we were to see. When we got to McCulloch’s Morgan Farm, we were directed to a parking space – I was so thankful I’d asked hubby to drive. He had to maneuver backing the trailer between the front porch of a small house and a tree, all the while not hitting a rig already parked in this yard. He did an awesome job. Found out later the gal whose rig was there drove around the barn so she came in straight lol. There was a wide variety of rigs here, from the oldest and smallest to the Freight Liner hauling a 3 horse LQ with bump out (gorgeous!!); horses tied to trailers, some in portable pens. Folks for the most part were walking around in rain gear, as they had been hit by that passing down pour. 

We started chatting with the gal next to us and it turns out she’s not only from a town two over from where we board G, but she’s also the vet tech for our new equine vet! How small a world is it? She came by herself hoping to meet new people to trail ride with, well, she got lucky right off the bat, lol. I asked her if she wanted to buddy up on the ride since it was our first time doing something like this. Turned out to be her first time too, so it was great as we didn’t hold each other up to any expectations, lol. She is owned by a 12 year old Buckskin mare named Ellie. Very sweet and well built QH. Here they are coming back to the finish:

And us looking out the indoor arena where we warmed up a little:

Me & G hanging out after registration:

The rider briefing meeting was held at 9:00 where the obstacles and trail maps were handed out. Great. Not one single obstacle that we’d worked on the past three weeks, figures!

This event was really well organized, and I thought the woman I had been conversing with via email was, well, a woman. Turned out she was 18-19 years old. Boy was this girl organized, she did an incredible job.

Two groups were scheduled to go out. Twenty riders at 10:00 and then the remaining seventeen at 10:15. We went to the start line around 10:12 and were told we could head out. The first obstacle was less than a mile away....it was the dreaded blue tarp on the ground. Object was in one minute to get your horse to the center, stand for 3 seconds on a loose rein and walk off. G has seen blue tarps, he’s walked by them, he’s stood by them, and he’s even half worn one. But walk on one? I’ve never asked him to do this. G snorted, dropped his head and side passed right. He side passed left. He backed two steps, he stopped and snorted. The judge said “times up”. I said is it okay if I ask again; they said yes. This time I gave G a little kick rather than squeezing and he stepped on it with two feet and stopped. I asked again. We got to the center, I asked him to stop; he did. Woohoo! Okay, so the easy part is getting off it right? No. I had to give him a bit of a kick for motivation and the moment his hoof moved and it crinkled, he snorted; but then lept forward. Ahhhh, we’re off it. I praised the heck out of him, and we walked a few paces off to wait for Claudine and Ellie. Ellie dropped her head, snorted. She side passed right, side passed left, she backed, she side passed again. She ran out of time, and although they continued to try after another minute Claudine decided to walk her around it. Ellie looked at it the whole way like it was going to eat her alive. Off we went through the woods.

As a side note; this Morgan farm (McColloch Morgans) consists of 600 acres and it backs up to Preservation lands. We both kept commenting on how gorgeous these trails were. For the most part they were two and a half horses wide and because of the sandy/small stone soil, in pretty good condition considering all the rain we’d had. We’ve also agreed that if they hold any more events such as this, we’re there!


Hubby was able to walk out to two of the obstacles that were a stone’s throw from one another, so when we approached obstacle 2 he was there to take pictures. This was a square box on the ground with a small evergreen in the middle of it. Originally there was supposed to be come kind of animal in a cage, but because of the weather they didn’t want to risk it. THANK GOODNESS!! Now if it had been a chicken, maybe, but anything else and I bet G wouldn’t have gone in there. For the pleasure division, you just had to walk your horse in forward and around the tree. So turning on the haunches was required, and G did well on this one. This first picture I was facing G away from the two horses that were in front of us. He was doing great on the trail until we told these two riders they could go ahead of us. Once they started leaving an obstacle G wanted to follow. Then it would take 3 minutes to get his mind back on me, so I found this was easier. What he couldn’t see couldn’t hurt ‘um.

Ellie did well on this one, Claudine had her back around it so she scored extra points (open division).

Off we went to find obstacle 3. These were spaced about a mile apart from one another, so it gave you time to mosey through the woods, which we did. It was so beautiful I really didn’t want to rush through it.  Obstacle #3 was a hoola hoop on the ground where you would place your horse's front hooves and then do a turn on the forehand.  BUT, what they found out after the first group is that if a horse stepped on it just so, the hoola hoop would pop up and pop the horse.  Needless to say the hoola hoop got put aside and they just asked for people to do a turn on the forehand.  We did okay on this. 

Obstacle #4 for pleasure riders was to trot from one cone to the next and come to a complete stop, drop their reins for 3 seconds.  Since G doesn't trot I asked if I could canter, which was the request for the open division.  So we did.  G did really well.  I was pleased at his prompt response both in the up and down transitions.  See, all that arena work does come in handy, lol. 

Obstacle #5 was near #2 so hubby was waiting for us when we arrived.  He told us it had taken 45 minutes to get there from #2 (not sure he was happy about that).  This was the dreaded "L" on the ground.  For pleasure you only had to back up through the straight section, open did the full L.  Glad I registered pleasure, cause getting G to back up straight with barriers on the ground doesn't work so well.  He is just starting to back straight in an open arena....so this was pushing the envelope a bit.  I was pleased that he only stepped on the right outside bark barrier; hence the smile on my face in the 2nd shot.

I sure wish I’d brought a second camera to take some pics along the trail.  This was one of the prettiest places I’ve ridden in awhile and surprisingly not all flat!  Not hills by definition of those living in places like Pennsylvania; but considering we’re at the beach, very surprising.  Claudine and I kept saying “dang, I want to come ride here again”.  We rode up a drive way and through a small saw mill which was also a surprise.  I later found out from hubby that the current owner is the great great grandson of the founder who bought the land for $5 an acre.  Wowser!

We finally made it to obstacle #6 which was simply walking over 5 ground poles.  Pleasure division simply had to walk it, so it was a piece of cake.  Up ahead they had five more poles that were elevated for the Open division which needed to trot over them.  I should’ve gone for the extra points – but so far we’ve only trotted over ground poles, not elevated ones.  From the last obstacle it was less than a mile from the farm.  We left at 10:14 and returned at 12:20. 

As we were coming up the drive I was doing serpentines to keep G at a walk so we wouldn’t out walk Ellie.  When G hits wide open flatlands he really likes to move out so I thought this would be a nice cool down and easy way to ask him to walk.  I looked down the road and see about twelve people standing at the finish line.  Most in judge’s t-shirts; there are two photographers and hubby with my camera.  I asked Claudine if it would be a problem if I moved out and she said not at all.  So with that I squeezed, and asked G to gait.  We started to rack and I pushed him further into a really smooth step pace.  It really put a smile on my face.  I know, showing off for the judges lol.  Well, they were giving out prizes for best dressed western, English and best groomed horse so I thought maybe his flash would wow them a little.  NOT, we didn’t get best groomed.  Darn.

On the way home we were talking and he said “ya know when you were coming down the drive, one of the judges asked me why I was doing serpentines” and he answered “G is a Walking Horse and if she lets him go, he’ll out walk that nice Quarter Horse she’s riding with.  Maybe she’ll let him gait so you can see how smooth he is”.  Within 10 seconds of him saying that is when I opened him up lol.  Hubby said there were lots of comments like “wow look at that”; “shoot how smooth is that?” “her head isn’t moving one iota”.  When I crossed the finish line we had our picture taken several times and I got a few questions regarding Walking Horses.  Nice that he behaved so well for me, as I love when I can contribute to positive marketing for the breed.   Here we are coming up the drive

 

(that expression is one of relief....we did it!!!)

Following the ride we gathered around the tents for a lunch.  We had hamburgers, hot dogs, potato, pasta and fruit salads and water/soda.  It was really neat to sit around and talk about the course and how folks did and their experience or lack thereof in CTC events.  I was surprised at how many first timers were there, and hubby was surprised that the majority of riders were over 40-45.  

After lunch they held the award cermony which everyone stuck around for which I thought was nice.   All the riders received a Guinness Book of World Records certificate, a commemorative red ribbon and a couple of little equine items (I think antibacterial spray & EZall's shine & detangler).  So I have a few things to add to our scrapbook album.  When I ever get around to doing G's!!

 Hubby also had to take a picture of the one horse he was fascinated with.....only it wasn't a horse.... His rider was the only Junior rider.  And for my gaited horse friends, no, he wasn't gaited.

We didn't want to stick around to wait for all the scores to be posted so I have no idea how we did "officially".  I do know we got a zero for the tarp, lol.  I checked ACTHA's website when I got home this evening but our ride hasn't been posted yet.  I'm just happy that we had a wonderful experience and that G gave me his all.  Considering he was in a strange place with a strange horse, doing strange things, and the fact that he kept his head, means it was a successful ride for us both.  But when I find out, I'll make sure to add them to the blog.

Lesson in Sidepassing

Our lesson last week was the sidepass.  Since I've entered me & G in our first competitve trail ride, I wanted to work on sidepassing to objects.  G, being the fearful horse that he is, is claustrophobic.  He will sidepass, but don't put something next to him or ask him  to stand while I try to unlock a gate or open the light box in the indoor arena.  I rode him in the dressage saddle which was great, as he can feel my leg cues better then in my western. 

At first he wasn't quite sure what I was asking.  Hmm, do I back up?  No she's not asking that.  Hmmm, maybe step forward one step?  No, not that either.  Okay I'll try moving away from the leg.  Hey, she told me I was a good boy, that must've been it!  We've worked so much the past few months on smooth backing, and G being the ancipating horse that he is, thinks if I'm keeping him from forward motion it must mean back.  We managed to get I'd say three really nice passes in either direction.  So we decided to work on canter transitions.  G was doing really well, but it was hot and buggy.  We gave him lots of breaks in between everything, but he was a sweaty boy in need of a cool shower. 

Last night I tacked him up in the western saddle figuring we need to practice in it since that's what we're using on Sunday.  Well.  He was great sidepassing to the right.  I was so excited as Val was giving a lesson in the arena and called over "that was really nice Kate".  G was actually moving his shoulders and hips at the same time, woohoo.  We've got this down I'm thinking to myself.  Now I ask with my right leg and outside rein to move to the left.  G steps back.  I shut down his movement.  Try again.  He steps forward.  I shut him down and ask again.  He starts backing and took about 5 steps before he would halt.  I feel like I'm using the same amount of pressure as with my left leg, but he's obviously not feeling it.  Trish mentioned that her horse isn't as responsive to leg aids in the western saddle either, and that he side passes in one direction better than the other.  So I decide that we'll stop asking for the sidepass to the left and head for the arena gate.  It took about 4 minutes, but I got G to stand while I unlatched the chain, walked through the gate (though I had to let go) and sidepass over the gate so I could relatch it.  I'd set up the stanchions and rope gate on the other side of the barn so we headed over and worked on that some.  G really dislikes having to walk up beside "things" but after the first five minutes of walking to it, positioning him parallel to the rope and standing still he then stood while I removed the rope loop.  I asked G to back up rather than go through the opening and asked him to stand.  I took the rope rubbed it all over his neck and shoulders and even flipped it back and forth over his head like a jump rope.  Nothing, stood perfectly still.  Okay we're ready to try again.  It took 3 attempts but we finally managed to open the gate, walk through the opening and closed the gate.  WOOHOO!!!  He's getting praised like the dickens.  I asked him to repeat the exercise and the second went smoother.  I praised him and walked him away. 

We headed to the other side of the barn where the plank bridge is.  It too took several attempts before he would even put one hoof on it.  Several more attempts and he half heartedly walked across it.  This is good, we're making progress.  What a good boy, let's go cool off and call it a day.  I put him in the cross ties and look at his hooves.  Oh crud, he's due for a trim.  Soooo, I pulled out all my equipment and went to work.  Since it was a cool night I decided to just get it over with and do all four hooves.  Boy was I pooped when I left last night!  But G's tootsies are done, and we're ready to try the gate again tonight or tomorrow if we get rained out.

The competive trail ride is Sunday, and they are also are predicting rain :(

We've also signed up for a centered riding clinic with Deb Moynihan that's being held at our old barn on the 28th.  It'll be fun to see our ex-boarding friends and I'm curious to see G's reaction in "coming home again" so to speak.  Hopefully he won't think he is home and decide not to reload to come back to his new home. 

Busy, Busy, Busy

It appears the official start to summer has begun.  With Memorial Day comes parades; flowers on soldier's gravestones; and family time.  Flags waving from the front stoops of neighborhood houses; smells of barbeque in the air.

We spent a pretty quiet weekend staying away from computers, blackberries and cellphones.  The only electronic device used was the TV for awhile as we watched some old classic war movies.  Pin Up Girl with Betty Grable was my favorite since I'd never seen it and boy oh boy did it make me think of my dad and his service days in WWII.  I'm sure he or someone in his barracks had this pin up inside their locker .

"Wow look at those GAMS" I can hear my father saying.  In seeing this particular photo I can see why he used to tell me that wearing a one piece bathing suit was far sexier then a bikini.  In his words "your eyes are drawn to the whole body, not parts and pieces" he said to me many times.  Yep, I think women have lost much of the mystique since wearing less in public has become the norm.  Anyway, it was a fun corny movie and hubby and I both found ourselves giggling throughout.

Saturday was a work day.  It was predicted to be the coolest of the three days so I wrangled hubby into tearing out the living room wall to wall carpet.  I'm guessing the carpet was about 20 years old.  Coming from a house with many cats & dogs throughout the years and a mom with a "dripping" oxygen tank, the wood floor underneath was definitely stained, but we think totally salvagable.  Oh man the fine sand and dirt under the foam padding was enough to choke a horse!  I think I know why hubby & I have been so stuffed up lately.  Even the power vac we have wasn't picking this up.  So once removed, we vacuumed a couple times; I washed the floor twice and then dry mopped Old English hoping it would moisturize the wood a little.  We then went out and bought an 10' x 12' remnant piece of burgandy carpet to protect the wood from further damage (and not see it of course).  The next task will be removing the 12" x 12" peel &  stick tile I installed for my mom over the dining room area and hallway wood floors.  I can't imagine the mess, and it will be a long process I'm sure.  But once done, we can refinish the wood floors, which will definitely add value to the resale value.

Although I had three days off, I only rode G on Sunday morning.  Since it was supposed to get hot we hit the trail around 10:15 with our trail buddy Ozzy.  Going out G kept turning his head to the left looking at the farm and I kept urging him forward.  Great, I'm thinking.  Now he's going to be buddy/barn sour.  We got up in the woods and he at least stopped looking around.  We got a good groove going and then navigated down Big Butt Hill (yeah I know all you mountain folks laugh at this lol).  Since the black flies are at their worst, I stayed out of the woods and went through the Christmas tree farm toward the marshes.  Around the corner we go and G drops a shoulder, stops and snorts.  Off waddle two Canadian Geese to the marsh on the left.  Okay buddy, just Geese let's go I said.  I could feel his tenseness so I made sure I was breathing nice and steady, sitting in my 3-point position.  This didn't seem to help.  As we turned to the right, we flush out a Red Tail Hawk out of a low bush.  Dropped a shoulder again with a half hearted attempt to spin.  Caught him in time and urged him forward.  He's getting more tense.  I've really focused on being relaxed and then I see Ozzy sniffing something in the middle of the trail.  As we ride up to it I realized he was sniffing Bear poop.  Oh great, I bet this is what G is smelling.  So I urged him past and took him to the end of the other marsh to the right. 

When I turned him around he turned into the G I remember oh too well.  Jig, jig, jig, "gotta go, gotta get out of here, gotta gooooo hoooooome".  It never ceases to amaze me how a horse that will stop on a dime with my seat cue in the arena can totally blow it off on the trail.  This means I have to add in rein cues.  Okay, that's not doing much either but slowing him down until I would release, then it's back to jig, jig, jig, "gotta go, gotta get out of here, gotta gooooo hooooome" [heavy sigh].  So begins our one rein stops.  Stop turn around walk the opposite direction 10 steps, stop stand relax, turn.  G jigs, we one rein stop, we turn, we travel in the opposite direction, we stop facing away from home until he relaxes, we turn again.  After the 4th or 5th time I decided to try Joanna's trick she uses with Montero and rather than allow him to walk forward toward home, he can walk backward.  Once the head would come down and he seemed softer, turn around again walk toward home.  Jig, jig, jig.  Poor Ozzy.  At this point he's run back and forth trying to follow us during the 15 minute exercise and he's out of breath and panting.  I got G turned around again, stoppped and standing long enough for me to give Ozzy a drink from his doggy bottle/trough.  By this time we're at the base of Big Butt Hill and he has one choice.  Walk it, or not go up it.  Surprisingly he walked it.  A little more animated then I would have liked, but by about the 20th step he realized he'd better pay closer attention to his steps and lowered his head.  Ahhhhhhh.  Rather than stop and let him blow at the top I let him continue walking.  Now he's walking rather than jigging so onward.  He got a little antsy coming back down the hill to the farm, but by the time we reached the bottom he was happy to deliver a nice relaxed walk.  Of course he thought he was done, so I took him to the outdoor arena and started working on side passing to open the gate, walk through it and close it.  It took about 10 minutes until I could unlatch the chain and open it, as we walked through G rushed through so I had to let go of the gate.  Dang, we're going to get this yet.  We cantered both directions about 4x each and then I walked him until he cooled down some.  On the trail, I'm not sure if it was the biting bugs (I got bit a couple times) or the smell of the bear, or a combination of it all, but he was back to being the G of 6 years ago [heavy sigh again].  I think its Lynn Palm that advocates "if you're not having fun, time to sell the horse".  I can't tell you how many times this thought went through my head during the weekend.  Am I really having fun?  I question my sanity, wonder why I love this horse with all my heart, and then realize that I can't imagine life without him at this point.

Monday we stopped at a friend's house who has holds an annual campout and just hung out for awhile.  Its a chance to get to see some people we don't see often.  After we headed over to the barn to check on G.  As expected the day would come....I stood at the gate and whistled.  The lead horse Sunny picked up his head, everyone else ignored me and kept on grazing.  I called G, he ignored me. I asked him if he was a good boy [he knows this means a treat] he ignores me.  I went out into the pasture about 1/4 of the distance to the herd, still talking to G and who comes up but Sunny - "hey you got something for me?" I shoo'd him off.  Next comes Irish, G's best buddy - "hey is that for me?" I shoo him off.  I took four more steps and said "G were you a good boy?" and he finally lifts his head.  Hmmmm....naahhhh grass is better.  Took two more steps "G, last call.  Come and get it or it's going." I get that look like you'd imagine your 5 year old gives you "oh do I have to?" but he walks over.  I let him have one morsel of oatmeal cookie and walk to the gate, he's following closely behind.  Food, the great motivator.  When he got to the gate, I gave him the rest of the cookie, gave his neck a stroke and walked out.   I stand there watching him walk away to the water trough and I look at hubby and say "I've lost him to the herd, just like I thought".  Hubby put his arm around me and went back to the car.  All the way home I keep thinking to myself.....would G be happier somewhere else?  Would I be happier with a different horse?  Am I ready to move on? 

We finished off the day with a nice steak on the barbie with grilled asparagus, garlic toast and played some cribbage before calling it a night.  It was overall a very productive and relaxing weekend.  I went to bed and stopped asking questions.

Competitive Trail Riding

After reading about the American Competitive Trail Horse Associations' attempt to set the Guinness Book of World records for the most trail riders to be in the saddle at the same time, my curiosity got the best of me and I decided to look into the discipline a little.  At the show we did in Vermont a couple years ago, we attempted to do a trail obstacle class, which has similar obstacles, just not set on the trail.  It was a good experience and thank goodness the judges were really patient with us - but it was the first time we'd ever done something like this and  G had never seen a mail box that close and personal....."you're going to open that black hole and take stuff out, and then put it back in...hmmm, not likely" I imagine he was thinking to himself.  I did manage to get the mail but had to hand it off to the judge as G wouldn't sidepass to that box again.  

Anyway, it really looks and sounds like a lot of fun....trail riding (my favorite thing) combined with obstacles, which I think would be good for G's head and building on his trust factor.   So today I became a member of the ACTHA and signed up for the "Ride for the Rescues" on June 13th.  This is being held in just about every state in the nation - Rhode Island is combined with Connecticut, and I think North Dakota isn't holding one.

Here's a link to info on the association and the ride:   ACTHA Ride for the Rescues

My friend (and fellow boarder) Trish used to do Trail Obstacle classes with Warrior and just so happened to bring all her obstacles with her to the barn (thanks Trish).  So tonight we met after work and set up a couple of things to start G's "fast-start" training for obstacles.  We set up the gate (using two stanchions and a rope); the dreaded mail box; the "L" with ground poles in the arena; and we moved the wooden (flat) bridge out so we could walk over it.  

One of the things you generally have to do is to dismount and mount from the right side of your horse.  This is something I never really did with G.  I would place my foot in the stirrup and let him get used to the weight and me on that side, but back then since he didn't stand still for mounting I never felt confident enough to swing my left leg over (bad lower back keeps me from doing this quickly).  So I decided I might as well start our training at the mounting block.  The hardest part was getting G to walk up to it with his right side.  We have a really nice high wooden block in the outdoor arena which allowed me to bring him around it completely.  On the second pass he stopped when I asked.  I put my weight in the stirrup stood for a few seconds, took my foot off and tried again. No movement.  I swing my left leg over and.....G stands perfectly still and I can't believe how easy it was.  Good boy G.

I walked G around all the obstacles and let him get used to seeing them and decided we'd start with the rope gate first.  Looked easy enough, NOT!  G was a bumble head.  He's always had issues with sidepassing up to an object and this was no exception.  Trish was on Warrior and she talked us through it.  Basically walking G as close to the stanchion as possible and asking him to stand.  Then move one step closer, and another, and another.  Of course as we'd get closer he'd move his hindquarters over.  Even holding my leg behind the girth on his outside didn't matter.  He wasn't going to stand sideways to this "object".  After about 5 minutes I got him close enough to pick the rope loop up off the stanchion and he immediately took 3-4 steps back. I kept hold of the rope and tried my best to remain focused and calm (easier said then done).  I walked him forward and began rubbing the rope on his neck; bringing it up and over his neck; flapping it around a little; just tying to desensitize him to it. After another 5 minutes I got the rope back on the stanchion.  We tried this a couple more times, I managed to get the rope off, walk him through, but couldn't get him to back up to the stanchion so I could replace the loop.  I think I dropped it a couple of times, so I moved G over to the other stanchion and slowly gathered the rope back off the ground.   He started getting a little more than nervous at this point.  As Trish said, he really didn't know what I was asking him to do, and he certainly had no clue what the obstacle was about.  So we moved on to the next item.

The dreaded mail box.  Surprisingly on the second attempt I was able to open the box, remove the umbrella inside, replace it and just as I was closing the door G side stepped away.  The third attempt was better; the fourth attempt was worse.  Let's move on.  At this point between the heat and nerves G was pretty sweaty so I moved him out to the rail and we walked, gaited, and walked some more.  He was pretty keyed up. 

When he relaxed a little, we started on the ground poles set up in an L pattern.  The goal is to back your horse through the L.  The first few times we walked forward through them so he would get used to them.  Then we tried backing up just one side of the L.  It's interesting to me how a horse that can back straight without barriers, backs crooked when there are poles on the ground, lol.  We tried several times, and even tried to make the turn, but each time we went over the poles and a couple times knocked them out of whack. 

Next?  I took him back out to the rail and was asking for some bending when I realized G had gotten his tongue over the bit.  So I got down fixed him up and we went back to doing a little arena work before calling it a day.  Oh but wait!  What about the wooden bridge Trish and I sweated over moving to a flat spot?  Can't let that go to waste.  We both tried, me from the saddle, Trish from the ground and G wasn't going to step foot on this flat bridge.  "What on earth would I do that for?" I'm sure he's thinking.  Well so much for "fast tracking" through training lol.

The barn owner is going to let us set up a few of the obstacles on the other side of the barn so I don't need to dismantle them each time we use them.  On Trish's advice, we're going to tackle one obstacle at a time each day I ride.  Take one step at a time; breathe deeply; and not get frustrated that G doesn't quite understand what I'm asking.  Maybe in about a week or week and a half, we'll try them all together.  Phew, who thought trail obstacles could be so hard?