Big South Fork - April Johnson

RIDE PREPARATION

Daniel and I started preparing for Big South Fork the weekend before the ride. We drove well into North Carolina to pick up a used horse trailer we found online. This new trailer has a dressing room so all my horse stuff could be put in there, leaving our slide-in camper for people stuff. The drive was quite long, but worth it as we were incredibly pleased with our purchase. Mo

nday, after returning to our home, Daniel spent the afternoon hooking up our horse compartment camera. He also put a decent radio/tape player in our dually truck and started the process of moving the corral panel rack from the old trailer to the new trailer.

I spent the afternoon cleaning the dressing room, scrubbing the feed mangers, introducing the horses to the new WHITE (they're both terrified of white things) trailer, and loading the dressing room with saddles, bridles, hay, water, extra tack, dog stuff, and anything else that we didn't want in the camper.

We both joked that we can't really afford to go to more than 3 or 4 rides a year since we've managed to buy a major item before all 3 rides this season. About 2 weeks before Chicken Chase, we purchased the slide-in camper. Just days before Liberty Run, we purchased a dually truck. And now, just days before Big South Fork, we bought another trailer! These rides are EXPENSIVE! LOL.

During the course of the day, I noticed Tanna had thrown his right front shoe. Agh! He was supposed to keep those shoes for another 2 weeks! I immediately put a call into my new farrier (who had put the shoes on 3 weeks before). I left a message and waited for a call back. I wanted him to come out and replace the shoe before we left for the ride. I knew it was a long shot, but had to try anyway.

Later that evening they called me back and told me they wouldn't be able to get to me since Billy had to go to Chattanooga on Tuesday and at the time we were planning to leave on Wednesday. They had me call a colleague that had also been there to put shoes on my horses. But I couldn't get a time with him since I had to work all day on Tuesday. No problem, I said, I'll just get a farrier at the ride to do it.

Tuesday night, Daniel and I were eating supper when a knock came at the door. We both looked at each other in surprise. We rarely have visitors and even rarely have unexpected visitors. I thought briefly that the horses might have gotten out, but I had brought them up to the pen by the house to eat hay and they were still there.

It was Billy! That dear man had come over to put that shoe back on Tanna's hoof. I quickly caught Tanna and told Daniel to bring a light. "I don't need a light," Billy said, and quickly set to work in the gathering darkness. Billy had that shoe on in short order and checked the other 3 feet to make sure their shoes were on tightly.

I couldn't thank him enough and was so thankful that he'd come out. I'd become more thankful.

WEDNESDAY

We were hoping to leave on Wednesday. Tanna was entered in the 30 miler on Friday, and we like to get to a ride early to allow him to settle in and recover from the trailer ride. However, we both had to work Wednesday and then Daniel still had to finish putting the corral panel rack on the new trailer. We had put a cut-off time of 3 PM. If we couldn't leave by then, we were going to wait until morning. We did not want to get to the camp after dark. 3 PM came and we were not ready, so we relaxed a bit and were ready to go by early evening, leaving a pleasant time of relaxing before going to bed early.

THURSDAY

I woke up around 5 AM Thursday morning and began the last minute preparations to leave. There were no major hinderances and we were on the road by 8 AM. We stopped at our local gas station to fill up and grab some breakfast food to eat along the way. I discovered they have wonderful cinnamon rolls. Very gooey and very yummy. :-)

Daniel and I passed the time by listening to an audio book from our local library. The miles seemed to pass slowly, but pleasantly. We were following a storm that had passed through Nashville earlier that day. We hoped the weather for the ride would be better than the weather we'd had in Nashville for the past several days. Rainy, overcast, and MUGGY. Yuck.

At the exit mentioned in the ride directions, we stopped again for gas for our guzzler. We opened the feed doors for the horses to look around and got the dog out of her pen in the dressing room for a breath of fresh air. As Daniel started to pump the gas, the radiator of the truck overflowed. Fortunately, it wasn't a problem. We didn't even need to refill the radiator, as there was still plenty in the overflow container. I offered water to all the animals (all of them declined). Soon we were on our way again.

The sun had come out and the air was pleasantly dry and cooler than we were used to. Very nice indeed.

After awhile, we entered Big South Fork Recreation Area. As we approached the end of the pavement, a volunteer met us and informed us that we might want to check out the fields before parking. The area had had a LOT of rain in the last days, especially overnight, and the fields for camping were quite muddy in some places. Since we have a 2-wheel drive, the possibility of getting stuck was high. We were told we could board our horses at the stalls and camp in the main campground, but we opted to drive on and check out the situation.

We rolled forward, then stopped the truck. We both got out and walked on into the field for smaller rigs. After some walking around, discussing and pondering, we decided to risk pulling into the field. Daniel said the ground underneath seemed solid and if we could stay away from the lowest lying areas, we'd be ok. We picked out a spot next to the Isaacs (the ride managers). We were planning to leave on Saturday, so wanted a clear shot out without having the possibility of getting boxed in.

Walking back to the truck, we unloaded the horses to make the trailer lighter and hopefully less likely to get stuck while Daniel was getting the rig into camping position.

I strolled leisurely after the truck and later was glad I hadn't seen the speed Daniel whipped that truck through the field! I did see the results in the camper and that was enough for me! However, kudos to Daniel, the truck was parked exactly where we'd discussed and we were not stuck! Whoohoo! After being stuck at Liberty Run in May, we were not anxious to repeat that experience!

It was around 12 PM, I think, when we got there. We spent some time setting up the horse pen. Daniel took the 9 panels off the top of the trailer and we discussed how exactly to set up the pen. I was lobbying for using the side of the trailer as one of the barriers for the pen. We had 8 10-foot panels and one 12-foot panel and I wanted to maximize the space for the horses. Especially since I was going to keep them separate.

Serts is a pig. 950 pounds, I found out, from the SERA scales set up near the vet check. And he eats like a pig. Or a horse. I know perfectly well he would eat and eat and I would have no idea if Tanna was having a problem with food. I like to know how much the horses are eating and drinking. Serts was to get very limited beet pulp and limited hay, while Tanna was to get generous beet pulp and unlimited hay. The only way to make sure they got what they needed was to keep them apart.

After awhile, we had a pen up and we turned the horses in together. They would get separated later.

We went up to the check-in tent to get the ride pack and introduce ourselves. Karen knew me instantly (no idea how...maybe it was the Cambodia t-shirt I was wearing?). I told her I was planning to be a vet secretary for the vet-in and when did she want me to come back. She answered, "Come back at 3 and I'll give you a clipboard and a pen."

It was around 1 PM or so, I guess. So we went back to our camp to continue setting up. We keep experimenting with the pen and coming up with new ideas for arranging it. Finally, we ended up with a decent sized pen, using the entire side of the trailer as part of the pen. That turned out to be very handy, because it was the side of the trailer with the door to the dressing room, so it was very handy to dole out hay and beet pulp and the tack was easy to reach without going in and out of the horse pen.

Then I fixed some cold sandwiches while Daniel read the ride packet and we discussed how we wanted to do the away vet-check. Daniel was thinking he would just drive the truck and camper up there and crew for me, but we didn't want to disturb the tarp and the ride info stated that parking at the vet check was limited. We didn't really have a good answer until almost sundown.

After lunch, we also put up a big tarp to give us some shade from the sun. Well, I say we, Daniel did most of the work! LOL. He had disconnected the truck from the trailer and had pulled the truck up, leaving a living space between the camper (on the bed of the truck) and the trailer. So he hooked the tarp on the top of the camper and then across the space to the trailer. Made a nice shade.

I pulled my tennis shoes on (I'd been wearing sandals), asked Daniel to bring Tanna to the vet in at some point during the next 3 hours, and headed off to the check in area to start my volunteering for the day.

When I got to the vet check, I was assigned to work with Otis Schmitt. Fun, fun! Right off, Otis picked up a livestock marker and started drawing big letters and numbers on the nearest horse haunches. For the next 2 and a half hours, we had a good stream of horses to vet in. Most horses were quite frisky. There was a breeze, the humidity was low, and the temperature was very pleasant. After the rain of the past days, the weather was too good to be true.

Some of the horses were very vocal, some were just jumpy. I got to see lots of horses. Most vetted in ok. I only know of one horse that failed the vet check due to lameness. That horse later worked out the lameness and was supposed to start on Saturday's ride. There might have been other horses that weren't allowed to start, but that was the only one I saw. I did get to see a 1200 pound Percheron cross that was entered in the LD. Huge animal!

I also saw a horse that passed the vet check just fine, but he had huge sores on his right heel bulbs due to easy boot rubs. The result of somebody (not the rider) pulling the easy boot strap up too high. The horse was not ouchy, surprisingly!

Daniel brought Tanna to vet in sometime after 5. He also was a little jumpy, but not bad. He was being quite good. He vetted through with all As. Good for him. :-) Daniel went over and weighed him for me. 784 pounds.

I also saw Howard at the vet-in. I knew it was him, due to War Cry calling to his buddies (that were nowhere in sight, btw).

After awhile, the flow of horses to vet in slowed to a crawl and then stopped. Otis left for home, so I laid down my clipboard and returned to my camp. There were still other horses to vet in, but another vet and his secretary took care of that.

I enjoyed my time as a vet secretary. Nice to see all the horses and watch the people and just be part of the action.

After getting back to our camp (a very short walk away), Daniel and I poured water into every available container. The horses' water buckets were filled to overflowing. The dog's bucket was likewise filled. Several servings of beet pulp were started to soaking. We also filled every 1 liter bottle we could find with a weak kool-aid/gatorade mix. Finally, we had emptied all the water we'd brought with us. About 20 gallons worth. Then we took the 5 6-gallon containers up the road 3/10ths of a mile to refill them. I had the dog on her leash and the horses on lead ropes and Daniel pulled the water containers in a garden cart we'd brought with us.

When we got back to camp, Daniel took ratchet straps and divided the horse pen into two pens. Tanna was turned into the one with the trailer side as part of the pen. Serts was in the other end. I threw Serts a flake of hay and filled Tanna's hay net with orchard grass and alfalfa hay. I also gave them beet pulp to get started on.

There was no time for a ride. This would be the first time I hadn't gone for a pre-ride the day before. Course, this was only my 5th ride, but one finds comfort in routine! I thought about double-checking my tack, but nixed that idea. I was certain I had everything. I'd checked and double-checked and rechecked at home. I had all his regular tack tucked into a rubbermaid container. And had spare tack tucked into another one. I had everything.

I pulled out his easy boots and put them in the easy boot bag I bought at the convention in March. I made sure the bag also held a pull-on strap, a screwdriver, and a hoof pick. Then I dropped the bag into the rubbermaid container holding his tack. I'd have to figure out a way to attach it to him in the morning after saddling him.

While waiting for the ride meeting to start, we had a truck and trailer get stuck in front of us while trying to go to another part of the field we were in. Daniel had moved the truck back a bit in order to allow them to pass by us. The pathway in front of our truck was just big enough for a truck to get by, but not a truck and trailer due to the turn radius that was necessary to get into the pathway. So Daniel had backed up a little. The truck and trailer got stuck in front of us.

A neighbor across the field came with a shovel and Daniel provided a tow rope. Another truck came from the other direction. After digging out in front of the stuck tire, the second truck towed out the truck and trailer. Fun, fun.

Soon it was time to head back to the tent for the ride meeting. Daniel and I picked up our camp chairs and wandered over. There was some definite news to be had. Because of the rain, the creek crossing was too high on one of the loops. So the 30 milers would be doing the same trail twice. On the way out, orange ribbons would be on our right. On the way back, the orange ribbons would be on our left. Karen cautioned to pay attention on the way out as they hadn't been able to mark all the turns for the way back. The 50 milers also had some trail changes, but that sounded way too complicated and I pretty much ignored what they were supposed to do to make up for the missed creek crossing. The vet check would be an away vet check, as we already knew. Pulse criteria at the vet checks was 64 beats per minutes. 30 milers, of course, had a 60 beat per minute at the finish. CRIs would be the vet's choice. Tack off at all checks.

One thing that did get my attention was the announcement about the farrier. Karen warned that we would be on our own for farrier work since the arranged farrier wouldn't show up until mid-morning on Friday! How glad I was that Billy had come and put that shoe on! Goodness! I would have still ridden, but would have foamed easy boots on and didn't want that hassle.

After the ride meeting, we headed back to our camp. It started to get dark and we decided that Daniel wouldn't move the camper to come to the vet check after all. He said to go ahead and send my vet check stuff with the vet check truck and he would try to catch a ride with somebody else to the vet check. But in case he didn't make it, my stuff would still be at the check for me.

So I scurried around getting things into the rubbermaid container I dubbed the "vet check box." Pop tarts, apples, carrots, and a few other last minute things in addition to the extra tack, horse first aid kit, and human first aid kit that I already had packed and waiting. I also put a couple of flakes of hay in a hay net. One flake of alfalfa, one flake of orchard grass. We then put the hay net into a kitchen-sized garbage bag. That took a little effort. Then Daniel took a bungie cord and secured the hay garbage bag to the top of the vet check box. I gathered two small buckets, one large bucket, and a wal-mart bag of premeasured beet pulp/grain mixture. Dry. I would pour water in it at the vet check.

By the time we took our stuff to the vet check truck, it was dark and the other vet check stuff had been loaded. Thomas Isaacs, one of the managers, was there and expressed concern that our stuff might get scattered and that would cost me time. I assured him that I was not there to race, it was only my 5th ride and we were just there to have a good time. He commented that was a good attitude and opened the trailer to put our vet check stuff with the others.

Returning to the camper, we tossed more hay for Serts, gave Tanna 2 more small buckets of beet pulp, and retired for the night. We ate some soup that Daniel had heated on our stove. Then I carefully laid out the clothes I was going to wear on the ride. I added a long-sleeved oversized cotton shirt to the pile. I thought it might be chilly in the morning. I set the alarm for 6 AM. Start time was 8 AM, so no need to get up too early!

FRIDAY (or RIDE DAY)

I didn't sleep very well Thursday night. I kept getting awakened by a horse banging on corral panels. I got up 2 or 3 times to try to keep our guys quiet. Serts was probably noisy, and the horse across the way in corral panels like ours. We'll have to figure out a better way to secure the rachet straps separating Tanna and Serts in their pen. Serts would push on the straps, trying to get to Tanna's hay, and that made some noise.

Tanna was an absolute angel. I love that horse. Well, he did manage to remove his halter. I picked it up off the ground in the middle of the night and put it back on him, wondering how in the world he got that off. That's why I put him in a pen instead of tying. He can untie himself (and his buddies), unclip himself, and now he's learned the trick of removing his halter! I think I'm going to get a neck strap for him. Let's see him get THAT off!

At 6 AM, I hit the snooze and spent the next 5 minutes waking up. Yawn. When the snooze alarm went off, I shut it off and actually got up. It was chilly. We'd needed to get blankets in the middle of the night. Nice change from sticky humid heat!

I lit the propane light in our camper, knowing it would warm the air some, as well as give me light to see. I dressed carefully in my favorite nylon/lycra tights, my microfiber sports bra, dark blue socks (over my tights), and my custom made t-shirt commemorating our Liberty Run accomplishment of our first 50 mile ride. I also pulled a long sleeve man's shirt on. It was chilly and I needed my arms covered!

I'm not quite sure where the time went but by the time the water was boiling for oatmeal, it was 7 AM! My plan was to be saddling Tanna at 7 to be in the saddle by 7:30. I quickly mixed the water into the instant oatmeal bowls and scurried out of the camper. I'd just have to grab a bite of oatmeal while I worked.

We swung one of the panels to close Serts in completely with corral panels, leaving a big gap in Tanna's corral. First thing I did was draw a big blue 'E' on Tanna's haunches on each side. (They only had green and pink at the vet in, but I wanted blue, so did it myself.)

Daniel then accompanied me to the scales to weigh Tanna before saddling him. Tanna got on the scale without a fuss and weighed in a 780 pounds. Hmm, lost 4 pounds overnight. Nothing like his tanking up the night before Liberty Run when he gained 30 pounds!

We went back to the trailer and I tied him next to the dressing room door for easy access. I gave him access to beet pulp, which he ignored as expected. With the gap in the corral fence, it was easy to go from Tanna to the dressing room to the camper and back again. Serts was not happy and paced and pawed and occasionally whinnied. Now one sees the need to completely box him in good. Tanna pretty much ignored him. Hehe.

I pulled the rubbermaid container from under Tanna's saddle. Tanna started to quiver with excitement. I opened it and grabbed his brush. Everything was right at my fingertips. No searching, no misplaced tack. It was absolutely great! I put KY jelly on the heart rate monitor electrode to go under his saddle. I squished it in place, then took my woolback pad and positioned it. Next came the saddle. I saddled him from the off side, since the dressing room door was on that side and I wasn't going to walk around him for no apparent reason. He actually seemed to like that better. Imagine that.

Tanna was still shaking, so I asked Daniel to drap a blanket over his rear end just to make sure he didn't get chilled. It wasn't all that cold, but I wasn't going to take any chances.

Next was his girth. I had planned to use the soft neoprene girth, but at the last minute, I decided I wanted to use the tougher neoprene because it might slide better over his skin. Where was it?? Oh, yeah, in the vet check box. Sigh. I went ahead with the soft girth since the vet check box was already with the vet check trailer.

I attached the girth heart rate monitor electrode. Then came the breast collar. I readjusted the breast collar in a couple of places, then hooked the heart rate monitor leads to the transmitter. After a few seconds, my watch blinked and read "37." Good. Perfectly normal. I've seen him as low as 33 when saddling for a training ride, but 36 or 37 is the norm. (I've also seen him as high as 80s when I hooked up the monitor, but that was only once and it was the first time we'd ridden since our 50 mile ride at Liberty Run. He was majorly excited!)

Daniel put 2 1-liter bottles of weak gatorade/kool-aid in my cantle bag. He also attached my easy boot bag to Tanna's right shoulder on the breast collar. I wasn't sure how Tanna would react to that, but I needed the boots and that was the best place we could find.

I slid his bit into his mouth after trying to warm it a bit. Then I put my hip pack on (carrying a mirad of items one might need on the trail). Then came my helmet. My helmet is very important. Where else can I put my GPS antenna and get that great reception?? Oh, yeah, it might protect my noggin in a fall, too. Multi-functional! :-)

I checked my feet for my riding boots. Yep, there they are...wonder when I put those on? Oh, well, there they are.

I led Tanna into the open field between several trailers and lunged him around me one way. No major spooking. I sent him the other direction. Still ok. Even with the easy boot bag. Excellent. I expected him to be more jumpy considering I hadn't ridden him in 2 weeks.

Daniel held the reins and I swung up into the saddle. After a quick kiss, off I went. I wanted to get on the scales while mounted. So I headed over there. We passed a water trough and I offered water to Tanna. He didn't drink (didn't expect him to, but I offer anyway). But the water reminded me, electrolytes! I hadn't given him any since the night before (when he got 2 doses in his feet). And what's more, I didn't have ANY in my vet check box. Agh! What an oversight! I trotted Tanna back toward our trailer. I met Daniel coming to watch the warm-up and the start and I told him about the electrolytes. He accompanied me back to the camper and went inside to get my 4 tubes of Lyte-now out of the cooler. I tried to put them in the easy boot bag at my hand, but Tanna wouldn't stand still for love or money, so I dismounted. One tube went in the easy boot bag, and 2 more went in the cantle bag. I opted not to give him any before the start.

I remounted and made it over to the scales. Tanna did stand still for the briefest of seconds on the scale, but I couldn't read the readout very well and I promptly forgot whatever it was I thought I'd read. I wasn't anxious to keep trying, so I headed out to the gravel road that separated the two halves of camp for the warmup.

I called to Nancy to get the official time. I checked my watch. I was 40 seconds behind. "Good enough for horseshoes," I said aloud.

I alternately trotted and walked up and down the road away from the start. I checked out the other riders. I recognized several of them from the vet in and a couple from other rides. I smiled and made small talk every now and again.

Then I struck up a conversation with Kelly Haslam from North Carolina. She hadn't introduced herself, but I remembered reading her info from her vet card when she vetted in. She and her daughter, Katie, were planning to ride conservatively and ride the 30 both days.

I started the ride with them and naturally fell behind them in the start. After about half a mile I finally remembered to turn on my GPS! Tanna was fighting, but the single track through the woods was very nice to convince him that he didn't need to try to pass the horses in front of him. I just had to keep him off Zeke, Kelly's horse, in front of me.

Sometime during the first mile or so, Katie got stung by a bee. I said that I had some various medicines in my hip pack and I would be glad to share. They didn't take advantage of that right away, but did at the vet check.

This loop was very nice. Sometimes it was just us three, but then we caught up with 2 horses in front and so there were 5 of us. Then, as we all went up a hill, 3 or 4 other riders came up behind us and passed on the left. I was busy looking behind me and to my right to see the mist hanging in the valley below. Very nice view!

After awhile, it was just 3 of us again and we chatted while trotting along. Tanna would canter some, and I'd insist that he trot up the longer hills. We had several conversations like that! I took the lead and Katie and her horse Lusie (Spelling??...it's a nickname!), would ride to our left and slightly behind for some of the way. Surprisingly, Tanna didn't want to race her, but would just keep trucking with his ears forward and ready to go as fast as I'd let him.

We passed a 50 miler with a radio and I commented on it. Then we passed her and kept going. I was still in the lead. All the sudden, we came out on a gravel road. Where to go?? I pulled up and looked for ribbons. Nothing to the left or right. The radio 50 miler came up and so did the Appaloosa horse from the corral panels across from our camp site. The guy on the appy spotted the ribbons on a trail that parallelled the road. So off we all went. At least the missed turn didn't cost us much time and no milage! LOL. (On the way back, I saw the pie plate with the arrow marking the turn...I just out and out missed it. The mistake the others made was relying on me! LOL)

Shortly after the turn, we came up on Howard Bramhall and War Cry. Howard was off and walking. He said he was ok, so we kept going. A rider ahead of me heard me say Howard and cried, "Was that Howard?" And I said (like I knew), "yep, that's Howard." Hehe. Fun, fun.

Howard caught up with us after awhile and there was some good natured teasing all around. All the sudden we were in a PACK of horses! 10 or more. I threaded Tanna through them and ended up in the lead, losing Katie and Kelly. I keep trotting along at a good pace until I saw the trail turn to the left and no longer parallel the road. I kept Tanna going straight to allow the horses to pass us so I could get with K&K again. Howard started to follow me and I told him not to rely on me. Hehe. That was fun. K&K were at the back and I fell in behind them. What a great time I was having!

All too soon, there was a sign advising to spread out for the second photo op. We did and as soon as the pictures were taken, we were dumped onto a road. Very short distance to the vet check. Riders started dismounting and soon I did, too. As I walked, I dropped the bit out of Tanna's mouth.

A fifty miler commented on how long the 20 miles had seemed. "I didn't go 20 miles," I grinned. "You didn't?" "Nope, I'm a 30 miler." I think she thought I'd skipped trail, or maybe she'd gone the wrong way. But neither was true.

I walked into the timer behind K&K. 9:57 was written on my card. We'd done the 13+ miles in 1 hour 57 minutes. I scanned the crowd for my husband, hoping he'd made it up to crew, but I didn't see him, so started hunting for my vet check stuff. I located the rubbermaid box with the hay bungied to the top. Then I spotted the 2 smaller buckets a little ways down. I headed to get the buckets and saw my 5 gallon bucket very close to the small buckets. When I got up to get it, I saw it was filled with water! Blessings on the ride management for making sure that happened! As I was gathering up my buckets, I was also kept busy trying to keep Tanna out of other's hay. A nearby rider gave me a couple handfuls of her hay for Tanna to occupy himself while I gathered the buckets. I thanked her and moved over to my vet check box.

I poured water into a smaller bucket with beet pulp and grain, then removed Tanna's hay from a plastic bag. Then the box came open and I offered carrots to Tanna. He sniffed the beet pulp, nibbled the hay, and ate a carrot. I turned off my GPS and dropped my helmet, GPS, and hip pack into the box. I also removed my long sleeve shirt and left it in the box. On came a ball cap, then I removed the saddle from Tanna and dropped it on the ground. I checked his HR before I removed the saddle. 59. Good. I sponged the worst of the muddy gunk from his girth area and back, grabbed a bag of carrots, a couple of pop tarts and headed for the vet line.

Truman came and took Tanna's pulse. Took him a minute, but he pulsed in at 49. Time on E, he called. 10:10 was the answer. It'd taken me 13 minutes to locate my stuff, unsaddle, sponge, and get to the pulse down. Not bad, considering I wasn't rushing, racing or anything else.

The weather was gorgeous. Low humidity, probably mid-70s. It was WONDERFUL! I waited in line handing carrots to Tanna as fast as he'd eat them and munching on a pop tart. We were 2nd in line when Tanna stretched out and peed. Good boy. :-) I gave him a piece of my pop tart as a treat.

I got Otis for our vet. Cool. I pointed out a rub on Tanna's withers. He wasn't sore on it, but the hair was gone. There was no swelling or heat or pain, so Otis said it wasn't significant enough to note. I figured it was a resulte of us trotting down hill and the saddle pushing on his withers more than usual. After a trot out and back, I got my vet card back. All As. Tanna looked great.

We went back to our area where Tanna continued to browse his food. I periodically fed him carrots and an apple. After about 20 minutes, Tanna just stood, relaxed, almost asleep. I let him do that for about 10 minutes, then took him over to a water trough to offer water. He hadn't drank more than about 4 sips since the start. He still didn't drink.

On the way back to our stuff, Karen talked to us to make sure we were ok. She asked where my crew was and I said he just must've not made it. She looked concerned, like maybe he'd gotten lost, but I told her he was going to try to get a ride out so he wouldn't have to move our camper and he must not've been able to. I asked her what to do with the beet pulp Tanna wouldn't eat. She said just leave it if I wanted it later. I said I did, but if it was going to make a mess in the trailer, they could just toss it out before putting my bucket in the trailer.

I then headed back to our stuff to saddle up. I saddled him quickly and carefully, using the tougher neoprene girth and storing the soft one in a plastic bag in the vet box.

As I saddled Tanna, I heard the timer yell that "G" and "H" were cleared to leave. I looked up to see K&K ready to head out. I held out my hand meaning I still had to wait (my out time was 6 minutes after theirs). I found out later they thought I only had a minute or so before I'd be out. They went ahead and left.

I secured everything in the vet check box and to the vet check box, dumped the rest of the water, then tied Tanna to a sign to go use the portapotty. I held my breath as had been advised by other riders. When I got out, I gave Tanna some electrolytes. I put Tanna's Little S Hackamore bridle on him and put the sidepull (I use it with a bit) into my vet check box.

I mounted up and headed over to the timer to tell them I was leaving. They said, "yeah, you're clear." "I know, I just wanted to let you know I was headed out." I was 6 minutes late leaving the vet check. No worries. It was a gorgeous day, and I had over 4 hours to get down the mountain and pulsed down. What could be easier?

I headed back down the road the way we'd come. After a minute or two, I noticed I'd forgotten to tight my boot laces. I tried to do it while going down the trail, but gave up after a minute and dismounted. Then I remounted and headed out again.

I leisurely walked Tanna past where we'd gotten our picture taken, then picked up a bit of a trot for awhile. I briefly thought of heading out at a brisk pace to try to catch K&K. But I realized they had a good 15 minutes on me and it'd be hard to make that up. I probably wouldn't catch them (if ever) until pretty close to the end of the trail, so I decided to take things easy and just mosey along like I was out for a Sunday afternoon pleasure ride.

I walked Tanna for awhile again. Looking at the foliage and the sky and relishing the temperature and low humidity. An LD rider came up behind me at a trot. She and I both thought she was going to pass, but her horse thought it would be nice to walk for awhile, so she walked until she was passed me a good bit. She introduced herself, but I totally forgot her name. Anyway, after a minute she looked back and said, "I'm gonna trot." "Ok." So off she trotted. Tanna did some nice side passes for me, since I wanted him to keep going down the trail at a speed of my choosing. If we side pass, ok. :-)

After the horse ahead got out of earshot and eyesight, another 2 horses came up from behind. Both LD riders. One of them I remembered from the vet in. A new horse. First ride. They asked if I was ok. I said, sure, just out enjoying the day, taking it easy. They trotted off and Tanna pitched a bigger fit. More nice side passes. Side pass to the left, turn, side pass to the right. I was in the zone, though, and just enjoyed every minute. Tanna settled back down as they got out of sight. He still thought I was crazy for moseying when there was a race to win!

Pretty soon, we were stopped again. I had drank about a liter of liquid at the vet check and since I wasn't sweating a lot, I needed to get rid of it somehow.

Tanna was certain we'd pick up the pace once I remounted, so danced impatiently while I was trying to mount. Silly boy, we're out for a stroll, not a record breaker.

After a few minutes, Tanna was trotting along slowly and STOPPED on his own accord to guzzle water out of a clear running puddle down the trail. He drank and drank. Good boy! He walked a few steps and drank some more. Excellent! I patted him and told him how good he was.

Our pace back to camp was pretty much the same. We did trot and canter some. When I felt like it, when it was uphill or straight. I made him walk down every single hill and trot up every steep hill. The moderate hills, he walked up. I swear he thought I was nutso! But I was enjoying myself so much! I didn't want the ride to end, so I was making the most of our time out there.

At one point, I stopped him in the trail and pulled out a bag of peanuts and dates in a ziplock bag. I rattled it and Tanna pricked his ears at me. I leaned over and offered him a handful. He took it eagerly. By the time I stopped feeding him, he would bend his head back toward my foot when he heard the rattle. Hehehe. That's a trick Laura told me to do with him and it's working great!

I saw very few people on the trail after the other LD riders passed us. I did see 5 or so 50 milers heading out the other direction. I also saw 4 pleasure riders that I exchanged pleasantries with. I was already walking most of the time, so I didn't have to slow down except once maybe. I also saw a trail marker. I was napping on Tanna, lulling, enjoying the day, when I was surprised to hear them behind me. I turned and she said hi. I smiled and said I was just out enjoying the weather and the ride. She said, "no problem." and trotted off down the trail.

At some point during the ride, I saw a good sized red fox trotting along the trail in front of us. When he heard us, he ran into the woods. I pulled up and watched him watch us. It was absolutely great! After few minutes, the fox ran deeper into the woods and we started off again. Sometime I wouldn't have seen if I'd been trotting or with a group. So nice!

As we approached camp, I saw more 50 milers heading out on their 3rd loop. Tanna was sure we'd speed up now! Well, we did, but only because the trail was in the sun and it was cooler to trot! Most of the trail was shaded. With the weather and the shade, the trail was SO pleasant.

When we came out on the gravel road leading to the vet check a mere 1000 feet away, I dismounted and stood with Tanna in the shade as I checked his HR. 72 or so. I undid part of his breast collar, patted him and headed toward the timers. I passed Howard leading a horse toward the stables. We exchanged a couple of words and I continued on. As I came into view of the timers, Nancy jumped up to get my card and said "there you are!" "Were you waiting on me?" "Well, we were getting a little worried, but others said they'd seen you, so..." "I was just taking it easy and having fun." "Do you want to vet in now?" "Nope, I'll go unsaddle him first." 2 o'clock was written on my vet card. Exactly 6 hours since the start. Now to unsaddle and go back to pulse down. He was probably down, but I was still in my lazy mood and wanted to take my time.

For the next 20 minutes, I unsaddled, sponged, and chattered to Daniel about our ride. What a good time I'd had! And I had to have gotten the turtle position (last) for sure! Otherwise, they wouldn't have been keeping an eye out for me. :-) Tanna pretty much ignored Serts and ate hay while I busied myself preparing for the vet out.

We walked back to vet him out. 2:23 PM was our pulse time with a pulse of 53. He vetted out with mostly As and A-s. Only one B+ in guts. He weighed at 748. He'd lost 32 pounds over the course of the ride.

What a great day! I got Tanna settled in his pen and sat in a chair under our shade talking with Daniel when Katie came by. She hung out for awhile, playing with our dog and chatting. It was fun to have her visit. Then Kelly came with their 2 dogs and we just sat around and talked. What a great time. Very relaxing and nice. After the vet check, they had waited for me a bit, then had picked up their pace, deciding I wasn't coming. They had tied for 6th! Unfortunately, Kelly's saddle didn't fit Zeke very well and they discovered he was back sore at the Best Condition judging.

After awhile, they departed to shower and take care of some things and Daniel and I went into our camper and I made yummy grilled cheese sandwiches. I was STARVED from missing lunch and being on the trail so long. No low blood sugar, just an empty stomach.

Then we headed to the visitor's center to buy ice. That was a good walk that limbered me up, probably helping with any soreness. We took the dog along for company.

After that, I decided I wanted to take Serts on a ride since he'd been cooped up for the whole day. I jumped on him bareback and ponied Tanna. Daniel suggested we take Serts to weigh him. 950 pounds. Needs to slim down! Then I rode out toward the stables, but didn't even get as far as that before heading back. I didn't want to miss the awards.

I met Daniel on the way back and he walked with me to our camper. I made sure Tanna had plenty of food and water, threw some more hay to Serts, and we joined the group around the management tent. Most of them were eating or finishing eating. We set our chairs near K&K and chatted until the awards.

Sure enough, I was the last to come in on the 30 miler. Since they started with 30 milers and started with last place, I was the first to get my award. Completion awards were nice wood picture frames with the BSF ride logo carved into it. I also received a turtle award for coming in last. A tube of Desitin and a pair of padded riding underwear! LOL.

I have no idea who won that ride, but I do remember Betsy Knight won the 50 miler, and came in second for BC. Also, Howard was pulled in the 50. Boy, I'm full of info, huh? ;-)

After the awards, Daniel and I went back to our camper to make preparations to leave the next day. Just as we were going to retire for the night, a truck and trailer coming in for the Saturday ride, got stuck in the field near our camper. So we watched that for awhile. Daniel offered the use of his tow strap if they needed it.

Then Kelly came up with Zeke and said one of the vets had been looking at her horse and her saddle using a thermal imaging digital camera. The vet said her saddle didn't fit well, based on the heat pattern on the saddle after running Zeke around a little with the saddle. She said somebody had suggested to look at an Abetta. I said, "that's what I have." "Really, can I see it?" I dragged out Daniel's saddle because it didn't have all the stuff attached it like mine does. Then she asked if we could put it on Zeke and get the vet to check the fit. Sure. I grabbed my woolback pad and Kelly put the saddle on Zeke, then I cinched him up.

The vet had Kelly run Zeke around a minute, then quickly took the saddle off and took a picture with the camera. Verdict? The Abetta fit Zeke a lot better than the saddle Kelly already had. There was more contact. More contact means the weight and pressure is spread over a wider portion of the back.

It was way cool. The vet let Daniel play with the camera some. That was great!

Finally we headed back to our camper. We went to bed at 10. It had been 2 hours since we'd first said we were going to bed! LOL.

SABBATH

In the morning, I leisurely got up and then glanced out the window at Tanna. I didn't see him, but I did see his corral panel open! I freaked out and jerked open the door. Whew, there was Tanna, just out of sight of the window, still in his pen, standing by Serts. I went outside and pulled the panel back into position. Gonna have to secure that! Daniel said Serts must've walked the panel around by pushing on the ratchet straps in the middle of the night. Good thing Tanna didn't feel like going for a walk!!

We packed up in good time and Daniel pulled the truck and trailer out onto the gravel road before loading the horses to spare them any rough riding through the field if he had to go a bit fast to keep from getting stuck. No problems. The horses loaded well, and we were off.

What a great ride! I had the BEST time! I met some really nice people and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Thanks to the ride management and all the volunteers that worked to get this ride on. It was perfect weather, too! Thanks!

April
Nashville, TN

Ofir Me The Wind, aka 'Kidd', A Horse With Heart - Kenny Stickler

Driving up hwy 62 just south of Prospect 9/25/99 all hell broke loose. Kidd and I were just going for a weekend of hunting. At 9:30 pm a BUCK jumped out. The truck handled it ,but the trailer didn't.The trailer pulled us of the road and corked screwed itself and the truck through the air.When I woke up Kidd was standing all humped over and bleeding. "My God my horse is dying" I thought.As I walked up to Kidd I realized he was still tied to what was left of the trailer and his head was taut to the ground.

I ran to the road and watched the first car fly by. In a blur a man stopped. Seeming more shaken than I, he gave me a knife to cut Kidd's rope halter loose and a phone to make a 911 call.

Kidd ran off as soon as he was free and instantly started eating. With the exception of looking like the horse whisperer he seemed fine. Not so - When I started looking closely , I noticed a large bump on Kidd's left rump the size of basketball.I thought it was a cramp but not so. It was a large hematoma.

Moving Kidd wasn't possible so Kidd stayed the night in someone's pasture. Kidd was now in Gods hands a and God took care of Kidd. Kidd ended up with a broken tail and back just above his tail. He lost all the hide on his rump and in time 90% of his tail.I had broken T-10 in my back as well.

Susie Morril sent a trailer down soon after the crash. With the trailer came Dennis O'Brien a horse chiropractor. Dennis demonstrated how to stimulate nerve growth in Kidd's tail. Dennis assistant opened my eyes to something I would never of thought. She asked me " doesn't it make you feel good ?" I looked at her in awe and said what in the world do you mean. Here my horse has a broken tail and back , I'm messed up as well, My truck is totaled and my trailer , well its at the scrap yard how would I feel good. Her reply was this. "Doesn't it make you feel good to know you have such a great protector? You should of all passed in this crash but you didn't and here you are. God has other plans for you guys she said." She was so right. Six months off for Kidd and me, we seemed to heal at the same pace. We were ready to start training. Our first ride back we went to Stookey and did 60 miles. Everybody asked about Kidd's short tail and couldn't believe the story and the pictures of the wreck.

I let Kidd go in this race and I mean GO.Kidd's Reg name is OFIR ME THE WIND and the wind was offered to us that day.We finished the race in 4:08 and received BE.C. This was quite a miracle, we not only got back on the trail we did it getting B.C over MC. RamsZ - not a easy task.

Susie Morril gave some of the best advice I could of gotten at this time of my endurance life. Susie said to get Kidd out of the 50s and go the distance.She said Kidd has talent and I'll ruin him if I keep doing what I had been doing.So I listened and in our second 75 we received yet another B.C. The longer distance seemed perfect. After some trials and errors we soon learned what to do and what not to do " almost '.

The next test of faith and heart came in 2001 in Bandit Spring ride.Kidd became ill at this ride and had to go to Bend Equine Hospital.The doctor couldn't believe Kidd was still standing.Kidd wasn't looking well at all.He was crashing hard and fast.At the ride Kidd's vet scores were great even the last one before his break,something wasn't right with his belly.All we could figure out after all the blood work prior to the hospital was great, is that maybe the electrolytes I gave him were different than any other I gave him. Kidd s stomach became upset and a chain reaction happened.The doctor wanted me to sign a paper saying he could put Kidd down in the night if things didn't get better. I of course said no way.You're asking me if Kidd might give up. I said I wouldn't do or think of such a thing.

While out unhooking the trailer the doctor said to my wife this is pretty much a lost cause.My wife Jill said,"you don't understand Kidd is our miracle horse." She explained the trailer accident and the doctor said well we need another miracle. When I started to leave I said out loud towards Kidd " HEY " and walked up to him .Trying to show no weakness I said to him quietly "don't you quit" and stared deep into his tired eyes.He stared back and with a distant but determined look he said he wouldn't, I just know.

Kidd made it and made it and after a couple of months we did a slow 80 Pacific Crest.Since we have completed four more 75 milers and four 100 miler with a training ride 50 miler.Now we"re honored to have been selected to ride on the Pacific North team in the Pan American Championship.

When it ccomes down to it, Kidd has one very important attraction to his great athleticism.Kidd has HEART ,with no heart you have nothing.People say if you put your mind to it you can achieve anything.I believe it is this way, with out your heart truly being there you may achieve mediocre goals.When you have the heart that Kidd has the sky is really the limit.When things seem to be at there worse reach deep into your heart and if you have Jesus in there He Will Help. Kidd and I definitely have heart and faith, I'm sure that's why we're still here.

YEEEEEee HHAAAaaaa

Kenny/Kidd

Eastern High Sierra Classic 30 Ride Story - Jackie Floyd

First of all, I want to say I LOVE MY NEW HORSE, I LOVE MY NEW HORSE! I LOVE MY NEW HORSE! Thanks again to Brett and Katey Gies, of Twin Falls, Idaho for picking me to be Tank's new Mommy. I had the most perfect ride a person could ask for on my new Arab cross 10-year-old gelding. If my first ride of the season is a sign of things to come, I will have pretty much effortless rides for as long as I choose to continue in this sport. What a guy!

Second, I want to thank Jackie Bumgardner and her volunteers for putting on such a beautiful ride. It was just a WOW all the way through!!

Now, on to the ride ...

We woke up to the hustle and bustle of the 50-milers getting ready to go out at 6:00 a.m. The usual kicking of panels and banging of buckets and whinnying everywhere. Tank watched the whole thing, resting one leg, with an amused look. "Yeah, been here, done that. WHATever." Not knowing how this horse would react when I got him to our first ride together, I had no idea what his reaction would be. It never changed. I marveled. The 50's went out on a controlled start with much screaming, dancing and prancing and and at least dump of a rider. Of course, there were equally as many not-so-antsy-to-get-out there mounts. There was even one with only a neck rein. Boy, was THAT impressive. No bridle, no halter, no anything.

So, now, what do we do? 30's weren't due to start until 8:00 a.m. We enjoyed a cup of coffee and just sat down and did nothing for awhile. The only two LD rides I did last year started a half an hour after the 50's so the general "air" was quite different. Finally around 7:30 I saddled Tank and went out to walk around for awhile. To my surprise, only one rider, Kelly d'Andrea, was out warming up her horse in the main area. Knowing her to be a usual Top Ten finisher in 50's in her previous ride career (she's been off for a few years raising 3 kids), I knew I wouldn't be going out the gate with her since I intended to start at the back of the pack. But we had a nice time chatting wondering where the heck everyone else was.

8:00 a.m. came and we're still the only ones there. Kelly took off since she was planning on finishing first. And a nice gentleman on an 18-year-old Tennessee Walker went. I'm still sitting there on my "cow pony" waiting for all the rest of the people to leave and Potato Richardson (who was helping out), yelled "People, it's time to go!!!" Still nothing. It's 8:02 and I said "Oh what the heck, I'll go out and as people catch up to me I'll let them pass." I didn't have long to wait before three people riding together (Bill, Diane and Robin ... I'm bad at names, hope I got them right) passed me. Tank was having nothing to do with being left behind. Fortunately for me, they were traveling at the pace I intended on going, 5.5 mph. My goal was to let him follow them for awhile and then pull him back if they got going any faster. After all, I wasn't trying to finish fast, just go out for a nice jaunt through the woods.

As loop one wore on, I was positive we were doing the loop backwards because there was nobody coming behind me. The trail was so oustandingly gorgeous, I really didn't care one way or the other. I was just having such a good time looking at those beautiful mountains and meadows. Finally, one pretty little 5-year-old pinto or paint (I can never remember the difference, sorry) arrived on the scene for awhile. I rode the entire first loop with Bill, Robin and Diane and the Tennessee Walker, and occassionally the Paint. Kelly was out in front and got lost in the meadow and we caught up to her there. By the 30-minute vet check, my horse was still doing great, we were still averaging 5.6 mph and outside of the fact that my back was screaming and I was threatening to pull myself (I'm 45, fat and overweight and out of shape), Tank was doing great. He's only had 10 conditioning rides this year, another reason why I was just out for a jaunt. However, last year he completed eight 50's, so if I can get my fat body into shape, next year we'll be doing 50's together.

The vet check saw me spending most of it on the my back with a bag of grain under my head, pouring water over my red face, as my ever capable husband took care of my horse. Boy, do I love this guy! What worry, just lay there. I was so pooped you'd think I was racing to win a 100-miler. What a wuss I am.

I found enough energy to get back on the horse and finish the ride, but this time, I let my trio of fellow riders go out without me so I could see how my new boy handled the trail by himself. I can tell myself that's all I wanted, but my back was so trashed I just couldn't see that I could keep up with them any longer. (Oh yeah, 5.6 mph is a real killer speed ...) But I did find out my new horse knows his job. I let him set the pace and he trotted where he could trot and walked where he needed to and watched where he was going and just generally I couldn't be happier!!! I did try to get him to walk on the nice jeep road back into camp but he was having nothing to do with that. He knew we were on "trot ground" and almost there and he wanted to jog along the trail and get there. I was going slow enough for the girl on the Paint to pass me and that was great with me.

I managed to finish the ride 6th horse in, with a ride time of 4:02. I was totally astounded. So ... where are all these racing people RideCamp is always talking about? I saw none. Unless I'm it? Kelly D'Andrea finished with a ride time of 3:40, first horse in. There were 38 starters and no pulls of any kind. My husband says the majority of the LD'ers left the start gate 15-20 minutes after start time. Apparently, everyone wanted to be last! :)

I will say I love my Timex GPS for training rides, but obviously, you kind of have to take it with a grain of salt when you get to a ride. It kept loosing the radio link for several minutes at a time so it's a given that I was going faster than the 5.6 mph I thought I was. I did learn that one should not totally rely on "toys."

The only concern I had at this ride was that Tank would not eat after the ride for awhile. He pulsed down immediately and I took him back about 45 minutes later for vet out. He got all A's on everything except that his pulse was up a little. I asked if I could bring him back an hour later and had him checked again, and it was still going up and down a little but the vet said surprisingly enough he had great gut sounds and he was definitely in no danger of anything, just tired. With only 10 rides on him this year, I was feeling bad that I let him go as fast as I did. He's only been with me for three weeks and not settled in yet. And I don't know his eating routine. Equine massage therapist Tom Cerino was there so I made Tank a 2:00 p.m .appt. He LOVED it! 45 minutes later, he was eating everything in site and he continued eating all night long. Boy, was I relieved! I would highly recommend Tom to anyone!

Our spaghetti and meatball dinner was luscious and we had a wonderful evening visiting with our fellow Lodians Abe and Sharon Kirkpatrick, who finished 13th and 14th in the 50, and who also took home gorgeous horse blankets for having completed all of Jackie's rides this year. Tank and I took home a lovely little first aid kit for our completion award.

As we left camp Sunday morning, I looked longingly at the beautiful high peaks on the 50-miler's first loop, thinking how eager I will be, to be back next year, to ride the 50 and experience all the Easter High Sierra Classic has to offer.

Thanks again, Jackie, for doing such a great with your ride. Looking forward to seeing you again next year!!

:) Jackie Floyd (and Tank, my new best friend)

2003 Helldiver, eh? - Heidi Smith

With all the ride cancellations in the NW, hubby and I got a streak of adventure and decided to make the trek all the way from the SE end of the NW region to about as far away as we could get and still be in our region--to the Helldiver ride on Vancouver Island, British Columbia! That's right--up in the land of the eh!

Of course, this wasn't quite a last-minute decision--we DID have the lead time to get Coggins tests, Canadian health papers, health papers on the dog, certified weed-free hay, and all that good stuff that we have to get for crossing the border. In addition, I found the website for the BC ferry, so that we knew how much it was going to cost us to take our LOOOONG rig over on the ferry.... (I can recall chiding my dog that if not for him, we could have a regular truck instead of the extended cab with the doggy bed in the back, and just LOOK what we could have saved! ) We decided to make a bit of a sight-seeing trip of it, so went to the ride on the Washington side, and came home on the Canadian side, and saw lots of great scenery. And for those of you who have not been on the BC ferry--they are really nice folks, and if you get there at least 30 minutes before sailing with livestock, you are guaranteed on, even if there is a big line. :-) (I DID learn that one has to cover one's hay on the ferry--flamable and all that--thank heavens there was still a stray tarp under the seat in the living quarters of the trailer...) Oh, yeah--and the food is good on the ferry, too! So after all that driving, we got to kick back and enjoy ourselves while BC ferry did the driving....

From the ferry, one drives partway up the island, just past Courtenay, to the ride site in a meadow that is a part of an equestrian center. Lots of room, good directions, plenty of water, plenty of outhouses, and lots of friendly Canadians! As we were pulling in, I turned to my husband and said, "Gee, I wonder if we should have asked before we came just what Hell we are supposed to dive off of?"

The ride was VERY well organized--with some of the best-marked trails I've seen in a long time, water on the trail, well-organized vet checks, and lots of friendly and efficient vets. It was 50 miles with no returns to camp and very little repeat trail (what there was consisted of some two-way going out and coming in)--so for those bored with repeat loops, HERE'S ONE FOR YA THAT DOESN'T HAVE ANY!! :-)

And they fed us not once but TWICE--barbequed burgers right off the grill with all the fixin's the night before, and a REALLY big feed the night after with awards....

But speaking of food--one question I've ALWAYS wanted to ask--maybe one of the Canadians on the list has the answer, eh? WHY do you have to rub it in by having a grocery chain called "Overwaitea?" I've wondered that for years--I mean, I KNOW I'm "overweightea" but do you have to call a GROCERY STORE that?? I mean, gee, that's how I GOT to be a heavyweight after all... Anyway, Overwaitea donated the food for the big feed (thank you Overwaitea for making me even more overweightea...), and ride management had also drummed up lots of good support and donations for some GREAT awards--including--get this--a SADDLE for BC on the 50....

We had one small mishap--hubby's horse took a bad stumble, and although he seemed fine, he started to go off about 5 miles before the finish, and despite walking the rest of the way in, was not quite fit to continue. (The good news is that he is pretty much better after some icing and wrapping and ionizing--just sore and bruised from hitting his fetlock on the rocks.. ) My own horse sailed through with flying colors--rack up one more 50 for the tubby lady making a comeback... :-)

And as we've mentioned before--the real successful ending is coming home and having the horses feel so good coming off the trailer that they go bouncing out to prance and trot and gallop with their tails up over their backs, telling their pals all about it... Tudor didn't slow down for half an hour, I don't think. (Guess that means I'm not riding him hard enough, eh?)

But back to the ride--this is one that any of you within range should put on your calendar next year--take an extra day off, enjoy the ferry ride over, and ride the Helldiver, eh?

Heidi

PS: Turns out Helldiver is a lake up there--yeah, pretty lakes along the trail--and we didn't have to dive into Hell after all.... :-)

Riding with the Big Boys, First 50, Washoo July 26th - Crysta Turnage

It wasn't that long ago (Rides of March, 2003) that my horse, CT's Sinatra, and I completed our first LD ride. My mom (who had also done her first ride) and I remarked somewhere around mile 20 of the 30 mile trail that we could not IMAGINE doing 50 miles. We were especially worn out, and our horses were tired as well. We could hardly believe the riders coming in back to camp in the near dark, just finishing, as we had already taken a little break, had dinner, and received our awards. I guess it's amazing what a difference a few months can make.

This last Saturday, July 26th, my horse and I had the pleasure of completing our first 50 mile ride at the Washoo Ride held in Washoe Valley near Reno, NV. We were very sedate, back of the pack finishers, who completed with about 50 minutes to spare. My biggest thanks goes out to my riding partner for the day, a man named Ted from the Cool, CA area who has been doing endurance since 1978 and whos mare is now just a few miles short of her 3,000 mark. Our two horses worked together very well and it was a boost, for both Sinatra's spirits and mine, to have some company for our first real venture into the sport of endurance. =)

I haven't had Sinatra very long, just since early February of this year. I named him that because he definitely stands out in the crowd with his two blue eyes and overo paint job. He is a 5-year-old grade gelding with four white stockings and a great BIG blaze (almost a bald-face). He always causes a mild stir in camp and people usually ask his breeding, of which I have NO clue. He must be one of those horses that are pretty generic looking because I've heard a VERY wide range of guesses. =) We have done 4 rides this year prior to Washoo, all LD's, with a 2-day 50 as his last ride(s). He was ready to move up, but I was a little unsure of myself.

Last week was near record highs for the Reno area but the weatherman had been forecasting mid-90's for Saturday for the last week and it hadnt changed much. With that in mind I decided to brave the heat and make our first attempt at the longer distance. Friday I was able to leave work early and, with a slight delay in packing due to thundershowers, was at ridecamp (about an hour from my house) by 5 pm. Sinatra vetted in with all A's and proceeded to eat everything in camp. He is VERY good about eating at and during a ride, he thinks he ALWAYS going 100 miles the next day even though, at this point, 30 was his longest ride. I decided to forgo sleeping in the cab of the truck for the back of the horse trailer since it would be cooler and roomier. Note to self: NOT a good idea with a horse that eats, and eats, and eats all night long. I ended up removing his hay bag around 11:30, empty bucket by 1:00 and throwing a flake of hay on the ground, because I was tired of him jerking the trailer reaching for wayward strands of hay and weeds, sometime around 2:00 in the morning. So much for sleeping before a big day! I was very comfortable though, so maybe some earplugs would be a good investment for me. Sinatra ate about = bale of hay, drank about 10 gallons of water, and peed an entire lake to his credit. Good boy!

Ride morning dawned crisp and clear. It actually got pretty cool (low 60's overnight) for the first time in about two weeks so it felt GOOD out. I decided to wear my new tights that I made myself (gloat), a jog bra, and a long sleeved white shirt based upon recommendations received on Ridecamp. I also wore a Camelback (70 oz) with half Poweraid and half water for myself to drink (this worked GREAT, I just had to tighten the straps as it was emptied) and carried two large (32 oz) bottles of water to squirt Sinatra with. I knew staying wet and cool would be the name of the game today. The trail was opened at 7:00 am and I started in the middle of the pack. Sinatra usually does well in a crowd but today was the first time he thought about bucking with me. He wanted to trot out but we had some slower riders on narrow trail in front of us so I had to hold him back. He got a little more 'rounded' than usual but after a verbal warning on my behalf, cantered in place for a few strides and then preceded to behave himself except for a little occasional head tossing to let me know the pace was still not suiting his tastes.

The trail was laid out extremely well. Three loops of 25, 15, and 10 miles respectively that all returned to camp for the vet checks. The first loop had quite a bit of elevation changes, taking us up, up, up in the morning to the top of McClellan peak where the TV Stations have their towers. There were beautiful views along the way that looked both west down on Washoe Valley and the lake as well as views south over the town of Carson City. At the top near the towers ride management had put out some hay and several water troughs. Sinatra drank very well (he usually does) and then dove into the hay. I waited at the top for about 3 minutes or so for his heart rate to drop to 60 before we continued on.

From the top of the mountain we headed northeast down towards the town of Dayton. We didn't quite go that far (they do on the 100 mile Washoe ride held in May) but rather after reaching the bottom, turned and went northwest back towards Jumbo Grade which would link us into the valley. I rode most of this stretch with Connie Creech's little group and we got off and walked some of the long downhills. At one point, we crawled down a really rocky hill to some water troughs that were naturally fed at the bottom of a small canyon. Sinatra didnt drink here (it was only about 10 minutes since the last water where he drank really well) and I totally ripped my sponge bag on a stray piece of wire while sponging him off. I stuffed the destroyed bag into my cantle pack and the sponge was strapped into an empty water bottle holder on the same. At this point, we headed back up the really gross rocky hill and I let Sinatra really tail me for the first time. I have been working on tailing with him on flat roads so he's used to me being back there, but he still needs someone else in front of him as incentive to keep walking down the road. As our little group headed back up the hill, I grabbed onto his tail and off we went! A little more ambitiously than I had originally intended! I quick tug on his lead and he slowed down to a more sedate pace. =)

At the next water stop, a puddle with a really steep edge about 10 minutes from the last one, again Sinatra didn't want to drink. This kind of concerned me since he had now refused water twice in a row, and that was VERY unlike him. I have a feeling this one was more of a location refusal though, since he's still working on the whole 'puddle crossing' issue and he would have had to step in the water to get a drink at this stop (sigh). So I hung out there a little longer than most people and Connie's group moved off. It was at this point (maybe 15 miles in) that Ted came along. He waited for me while I tried to coerce Sinatra to drink and even let me borrow his scoop to see if he would drink out of that (he didn't). So we continued on, up another mountain and back down into a fun little twisty single-track trail at the bottom of a canyon. A group of three riders, one on a green horse, and one a green rider joined us, we took turns leading/following and our little group progressed very well. This trail lead us out to Jumbo Grade where there were water troughs waiting at the point where this loop intersected with the last 10 mile loop. Sinatra drank really well here and we elyted the horses. From this water stop, it was only about 5 miles or so back to camp. Once back in the park, we followed a fun little trail that twists and turns through the sagebrush. We would take this trail (2 miles or so total) all three times today as we looped back into camp. About = mile from camp, we got off and walked the horses in. We came in from our first 25 miles at 11:28 am and Sinatra pulsed right in at 42. Good Boy! =)

At this point, we had an hour hold so I went back to the trailer, pulled tack, and gave Sinatra his mash. He happily dove into his mash and slurped up every last bit. When he was done eating and I was about halfway through my tuna sandwich, we went over to vet through. Kevin Lazarchef was the head vet; he is a REALLY nice guy that I have gotten to know from attending several rides this year. He has a daughter just a few months younger than my son, who just turned one the weekend before. He always asks me how Taren (my son) is doing and knew that I was going for my first 50-mile completion. He checked Sinatra over, gave him a G for 'Gross' on those mashy mucous membranes (actually an A) and had me trot him out. As I came back from the trot out, he looked me dead in the eye and told me 'He's pretty lame, we're going to have to pull you.' I gasped and exclaimed that I had JUST trotted him to the vetcheck from the trailer and he had looked just fine! Kevin started laughing and said that he was just kidding, he looked great, A's for impulsion and gait and that we were cleared to go. BRAT! =) So we went back to the trailer for a little more lunch for both of us (Sinatra = eat, eat, eat) then tacked up, met up with Ted, and headed back out.

This loop (15 miles) took us west out of camp towards the beach. It was very pleasant riding along the waters edge with the breeze. We rode the entire length of the lake, maybe 5 miles, probably less (I'm a horrible judge of distances). Due to the sand, which could be fairly deep, we walked almost this entire stretch. From there we cut over to a dirt road for an 'out and back.' Sinatra had fun spooking and looking at the other horses and farm equipment that lived along the road. At the end of the road was a clipboard that you had to sign with your name and rider number. We both signed-in and then headed back out. Honestly, this was the only point in the trail where I wish there was some more water. Due to the low water level at the lake, we hadn't braved what looked to be some pretty boggy mud/sand to get a drink there. After we had returned from the 'out and back,' we were able to get the horses a drink at a water trough in a little parking lot. They both drank well and we soaked them down. I also soaked myself, which felt absolutely wonderful! From here, it was back into the park for a quick jaunt back to the twisty trail into camp. I think it was around 3:30 or so as we got back into camp, Sinatra pulsed in at 48 and again had all A's and B's at his vetcheck (well, actually another G for 'Gross' on those mucous membranes due to an apple and some carrots this time!). This was only a 15-minute hold, tack on, so it wasn't long before we were headed back out for our last 10 miles!

These next five miles or so were probably the hardest for Sinatra. At this point, I had already ridden further than I ever had before (40 miles) and he was a little disappointed to leave camp but just seemed to resign himself to the fact that I was going to ride him forever, I was never getting off, and we would just keep coming to camp and leaving again until he died. =) Once he realized this, he just kept moving down the trail, my slow but steady boy! He had actually lead a good bit of the day today since Ted's mare didn't like to be in front. That was pretty new for him, leading another horse, since usually when we ride with company he's in the middle or back. But he did good and just keep on going down the trail. This last 10-mile loop took us back out northeast towards Jumbo Grade, which we crossed, and into the smaller hills on the north side of the grade. Both horses (and riders) were pretty hot and tired. It started to cloud over (thundershowers on hot days are very common in Nevada) and that gave us some relief. It even sprinkled a tiny bit. My knees started to get very sore, something I used to have problems with but had gone away as I started riding more. So I got off and walked as much as possible but it felt like I had a huge blister on the bottom of my right foot (I don't so go figure). This last 10 would actually have been a really fun loop on some fresh horses, but for now we were just going down the trail nice and steady. About 8 miles from camp, Sinatra realized we were heading back and started to perk up. When the trail would turn away for the general direction of camp, he would LOOK towards camp and kind of wonder why we were going a different direction. Once we looped back to the water troughs where the first loop joined in, I had a whole new horse. Sinatra drank but was very eager to keep going, since he now knew exactly where he was (we had ridden this trail several times before the ride as well). My steady boy took a nice easy trot and carried us most of the way back. I did get off to walk a couple more times but for the most part stayed on and trotted. I was a little disappointed as we came upon the finish line. I had always envisioned myself cantering across the finish on my first 50 amidst some clapping from the volunteers (silly maybe). Instead we found that no one was there to great us and I didnt have the heart to make Sinatra canter. Some people directed us to the vetcheck where the 'new' finish line was. We got off and walked the couple hundred yards or so to the vetcheck and Sinatra was pulsed down (56) when we got there. It was about 6:10 pm so that was a total ride time of 11 hours and 10 minutes, 'trail' time of 9:55. He vetted out with all A's and B's again and we did it, we got our completion! Dr. Lazarchef congratulated me on a job well done and asked me if that was my first 50 since the baby. When I told him that was my first 50 EVER he was pretty impressed and re-expressed what a good job I had done. I was very proud of my boy! He has come a VERY long way in the five months I've owned him. The trust and bond we have built is amazing and he really looks to me for guidance and assurance. I went back to the trailer and pulled tack and gave Sinatra another mash and a bunch of hay to chew on. I didn't sponge him since it was getting cool but he wasn't sweaty except for under the saddle anyways. After a few rubs and pats I went to go see what was left of the ride dinner. It is kind of sad for those last few finishers, especially us newbies doing our first rides, when it is all over and done with by the time we get into camp. Dinner had already been served, awards presented, and most people were leaving camp on their way home. There was plenty of food left (hamburgers, etc) and we got our choice of colors on the finishing awards (bags from Rider Relief). I have YET to get a T-shirt in the five rides that I have done now. =) So I don't even KNOW who won, who top tenned, who got BC, who finished, who didn't, etc. I DID enjoy sitting and visiting with the people who were remaining, a well-rounded group of very experienced riders. And I learned that if you are a male, it pays to race to the top of the hill at our rides out west. We had a very cute female photographer at the top of the hill waiting for riders to come in. Since she was all alone and could see riders coming WELL before they got there she, umm, how do I put this, decided to 'sunbathe' so she wouldn't get any tan lines. =) And no, not even the front-runners were lucky enough to get a show! All and all I had a great ride and learned some valuable lessons. Am I hooked on 50's? Heck, I was hooked on 50's before I even did one! =) My 105 miles of LD I did so far this season was just to get ready for what I accomplished on Saturday. And really, these 50's are just in preparation for my final goal, 100's. I'm hoping to try my first one sometime late NEXT year.

Hope to see you on the trail!

Crysta & CT's Sinatra

Moonlight in Vermont - Patti Stedman

Our diabolical plans for the ride involved a 9 hour haul from WNY to VT with my steed, Ned, along with my friend Carla and her trusty mare, Miss Dee. We planned to spend a couple of days at my friend Suzy Fraser's new dressage facility, and some dressage lessons with Ned, who is a quasi dressage horse in addition to being a quasi endurance mount. [Ned is 9, ½ Arab and ½ Trakehner, originally intended to be my "real" dressage horse, but then we did one fifty, and he seemed suited to the sport, and well, you know how it goes. Dressage has taken a bit of a back seat, and some days we school 2nd level dressage, other days training level.]

After years of hauling with my husband with nary an incident of note, we were chugging along the NYS Thruway at noontime when a family of four passed us in the left lane, gesturing wildly and surely screaming, although all we could see were their wide open mouths and fingers pointing at the trailer.

Not good news, we figured.

Sure enough, a blown tire on the trailer, and a nice two hour wait alongside a 65 mph highway while AAA and the NYS Thruway Authority (which will not allow AAA service on their Thruway) argued over who miscommunicated to whom when the driver showed up with a tiny jack (luckily, we had one) and no tire iron sufficient to change the trailer tire. Ooops. Two hours spent there, including the time it took for the driver to return to his shop for a tire iron. Note to self: pack all necessary equipment to change tire oneself, THEN allow burly man to do it for you. Also note to self, explain to dispatcher in excruciating detail precisely what one needs, then make dispatcher read it back to you. Get dispatcher's name. Anyhow, both horses behaved like saints, and we headed off again, arriving in time to settle the horses in and watch Suzy school her third level Danish Warmblood before crashing for the night.

Over the next two days, we shopped and fussed over the horses, and I had two dressage lessons that reminded Ned once again that he does indeed have a left hind leg, and that no, collection is not just something that happens at Sunday Mass. He's a talented guy, but after an hour lesson I was flushed and wringing wet, and he had barely turned a hair. No wonder I love endurance, where at least we BOTH sweat.

Headed off to Rojek's Smoke Rise Farm on Friday morning, joining our friends Georgia O'Brien and Paul Calandra in camp. Met Susan Brehm, who was riding her first 100, and with whom I'd conversed on line, but had never met in person. It was so good to see familiar faces, new faces, swap stories, and enlist Paul to assist us in getting nearly level in a hilly pasture! Paul was planning to ride the 50, Georgia was going to crew (although she had packed her saddle and seemed to be wishing an evil injury on Paul so she could ride herself). We mapped out the holds and got unhooked to set up our crewing areas, since Carla and I were "flying solo."

Did I mention this was an ultramarathon as well? Two hundred seventy runners had entered to run the 100-mile course, so alongside the horse camp were camps for the runners, and all the vendors and volunteers there to support the runners were in camp, along with Running Bear Farm, NeighPerSay, and Animal Tacker. In short, it was a bit more "zooey" than the usual ride camp.

Speaking of zooey, Steve and Dinah Rojek have a pot bellied pig named Mr. T who roams the farm, interacting with the horses, and just generally being social. This made me raise my eyebrow a bit in concern - what would hyper-reactive Ned think of a pig in his paddock?

Registration and vetting went smoothly down in Rojek's indoor round pen/indoor arena. With all the vendors and spectators and runners and horses, it was a busy place. Art King vetted Ned in, and called another vet over to listen to Ned's heart. This had me a little worried until Art told me why. Ned's pulse was 24. As in 6 lub-dubs over 15 seconds. Leave it to Ned to be unflappable in the face of chaos, and yet have dumped me too many times to count for such remarkable sights in a forest as a rock or a tree stump.

My friend Carla's mare had the tiniest intermittent lameness behind, so we enlisted Michael Beesley (what a great guy!) to come over and check her out. Sure enough, just a bit of tightness in a hamstring, which he worked on (and promised to work on again at any of the holds if she needed it), and the Miss Dee was back in her usual perfect way.

The start for the 100-mile runners was set for 4 a.m., complete with live music and fireworks. Sounds like your average endurance ride, yes? So we were warned to set our alarms and keep an eye on the horses for that event. More fireworks at 4:30 a.m. or so to kick off the 100-mile riders heading out at 5 a.m.

Then we 50-milers could go back to bed for a nap before our 2 p.m. start time.

This whole "moonlight" thing was new to Ned and me. Carla and I had kept telling ourselves we'd do a night ride to get ready, but just never quite found the opportunity. We were armed with glowsticks, but it was odd setting up the vet checks for a ride where you were leaving at the hottest part of the day and planning on needing another clothing layer for the end of the ride. We kept having to remind ourselves and each other about that.

Given my concern for Ned's potential encounter with the pot-bellied Mr. T, I took him for a handwalk down to the pasture where the little (well, not so little) guy was mingling with three horses. Immediately, social guy that he is, Mr. T headed right over to say hello. Ned was enthralled. Neck arched, nostrils flared, he reached his neck over the two foot stone wall so he could almost touch the pig in the split rail pasture beyond the wall. Scared? No. He was in love. At one point Ned had his knee on the stone wall, with every intent it seemed, to crawl over to meet his romantic interest. When he rocked back with intentions to jump, that seemed like a good time to bid farewell to Mr. T.

Now I had a new worry. If Mr. T was anywhere near the starting line, we'd never get out of camp.

There was a huge buffet dinner with all the riders and runners, plenty of carbs, and of course, Ben & Jerry's for dessert.

Ride morning began with the alarm at 3:45 a.m. Sure enough, the fireworks began at 3:55 a.m. with lovely music (was it Chariots of Fire?) playing, and it was awe-inspiring to see those beautiful fireworks over the darkened VT sky, standing beside your regal horse and partner, knowing just how privileged we are to be able to participate in such a sport as we do.

It was an odd morning, catching a nap, then running to the various vet check areas, and waiting to tack up until 1 p.m.

Normally, Ned and I are back-of-the-pack starters, given Ned's proclivity for airs above ground particularly during his younger years, but Carla and I ended up in the middle of the pack for this start. Ned was pumped, but thankfully, mostly earthbound.

Ten miles to the Greenall's, where there was a 10-minute mandatory rest stop. This part of the trail was probably the most challenging, technically, with a few switchbacks, climbs, twists and turns and a rocky area or two. We stopped for a quick potty stop on trail, and realized Ned was in ground bees. A little kicking and stomping and we were out of them. Phew!

We pulled into Greenall's in a little over an hour, immediately soaked the horse's slurpies, and they dove in, and then spent all of the ten minutes just sponging them while they ate. Great idea, nice stop, not terribly hectic since there was no pulse taking (although I'm quite sure our horses were down to 64) or tack stripping, and Julie Bullock watched us trot out to check for soundness after the rest time was up. Good to go, and nine miles to the first "real" hold.

The weather was gorgeous. Probably approaching 80, bright blue skies, fluffy clouds. Carla and I oohed and aahed over gardens and the New England-charming houses and barns, and the lovely views up the mountains, and down into the valleys. For pure wish-I-could-sit-back-and-hang-at-this-scenic-outlook-forever standpoint, this ride has to be tops. The horses were traveling along at a nice clip, Miss Dee favoring the wooded, technical trails, Ned enjoying the dirt road country lanes where he could just get into big trot mode, and go. With the occasional spook thrown in for kicks.

The trail into the vet check at Rhodes' took you through the back of their property, wooded, with a screened gazebo, and beautiful yellow barns and outbuildings and a house over a gorgeous stone barn. Breathtakingly beautiful, and so exquisitely maintained that I just couldn't believe we had a vet check on their manicured green front lawn (complete with that most lovely sight of all, the portapottie).

Miss Dee came down to parameters immediately. Ned hung for a few more minutes - he may have a low resting pulse, but he's also a big bodied ½ Trakehner. And as Mary Coleman would say, it wasn't Morgan (or warmblood) Riding Weather yet.

Julie vetted Ned through with all As, and seemed to take a liking to the big lug, despite the fact that on the trot back, he did the Arab head whirl and then managed to trip over his own legs. "Serves him right for showing off!" she said. Back to our crewing area, where both horses made quick work of their slurpies and hay, and were munching on grass as our 45 minute hold came to an end.

Off down the road for what was probably the "fastest" section of trail. Fourteen miles, methinks it was, of nearly all dirt road to the next vet check. This just hummed along. Ned was in power trot mode, allowing Miss Dee to come up front to take him past exceptionally frightening things like mailboxes. Another great part of this ride was that just about every horse place along trail had water tanks out for us. So there were lots of opportunities to stop and get your horse a drink despite the fact that there wasn't a lot of easy-to-get-to water on trail.

After one of these stops, I managed to sneak electrolytes into Ned via syringe, since it was a longer loop and probably the warmest and sunniest part of the trail. I do PnWs in feed at vet checks, but this was a bit of Enduramax, ProBis and ProCMC. I had the advantage of the element of surprise, snuck it into the corner of his lips while mounted, pushed the plunger, and voila, the deed was done.

Into the next hold, where once again, it took a bit of time for Ned to pulse down. He looked like he wanted to pee, but didn't, but all of his vet parameters were As and he ate in his usual don't-raise-the-head way. Short hold, 30 minutes, and we were occupied by getting our glow sticks attached and glowing. Michael worked on Miss Dee's hamstring a bit again, and offered to take our crewing stuff back to camp in his car. Did I mention he was a great guy?

It was almost dusk as we headed back out on trail. The wooded trails were quite dim, but the roads were still fairly bright. We made time where we could, knowing we'd end up slowing down in the pitch dark. Here we began to pass runners more frequently, awe-inspired by THEIR endurance and mental toughness. Some were walking, some were jogging and chuckling with a run partner, many were limping. All at least raised a hand when we greeted them. One gave the international hitch-hiking signal. I offered him Ned's behind but said I couldn't promise just how long he'd last. One duo agreed to race us back to camp for a beer. At this point they were over 75 miles, I believe. Incredible.

By now, the glow sticks were actually glowing, and beginning to be the real visual marker of where to head next. We got a bit confused by some "Xs" on trail that were for earlier trail, but right on our trail back; we reminded ourselves to simply follow the glow sticks and were fine from then on. It was interesting that the horses seemed to see just fine - the best evidence of that was that Ned spooked in darkness at all the same silly things that he would spook at during the day.

We caught up with Ellen Tully and rode together for a bit. Even found a nice grassy area where the horses (and ahem, some of the riders) could have a pee. Was relieved when Ned stretched out and peed for approximately three weeks.

Ned seemed to look forward to catching up to the runners, and I swear HE was looking for the next glow stick at this point. Carla was feeling a tiny bit seasick from the glowsticks and riding in the darkness. We both ate a few more bites from a PowerBar, realizing we hadn't done so well in the eating department ourselves, and with a few Vitamin I tabs (aka ibuprofen) we both perked up. Still the horses were trotting right along the roads.

Into the last vet check, four miles from camp, in pitch darkness. This was a busy, congested check, with lots of crew vehicles in a small place. We found our bucket, sponged but not too much (there was a definite drop in temperatures in the air, and we didn't want to risk getting the horses chilled) then off to vet through. Didn't have to strip tack here, thank goodness, or I might have tacked up with my saddle backwards because it was so dark, and it was a quick 15-minute hold. I got a laugh out of the deep footing in the lit outdoor arena. Ned bounced right off it, but I floundered in the deep stuff, so the trot back was less than pretty with me trying to keep up.

Four miles back to camp and it was just Carla and me, our glowsticks, the trail and our ponies. We rode glowstick to glowstick in the woods, with me in the front on my not-historically-trustworthy Ned, reins at the buckle, trying to sit incredibly still in the middle of the saddle so he would simply follow the trail. I couldn't see a thing except the next glowstick and I found myself laughing more than once at the silliness of it all. More than once, I'd lift a finger, or find myself unconsciously steering with my legs to the next little glowing green light, and then we'd inevitably hear crash, crunch, and the sound of breaking twigs as Ned obediently steered right off trail. Sometimes it was easier to just close my eyes and stay in the middle of the saddle.

At one point we tried some trotting, with me in two point, hands holding mane, reins still on the buckle, having no idea of the terrain until I felt Ned negotiate the dips and twists. I got out of balance more than once, and he'd come to a walk to "catch" me. Good boy. We walked nearly all of that four miles, laughing and giggling, and knowing everything was going to be just fine.

The last section of trail was marked by glowing jugs on both sides of the trail, a lovely evening corridor to the finish line, where we were greeted by thunderous applause, although we certainly didn't Top Ten, or even close. Vetted through with Nina Barnett laughing and saying we looked too good to have ridden 100 miles (no truer fact was ever spoken, we'd only gone 50). Both horses looked great, trotted sound, then lead us through the darkness back up the hill to camp. Final ride time 7:40, 29th and 30th I think (there had been 55 starters). It was approaching midnight.

Fussed over the horses, drank water, ate a sandwich offered by Georgia. Paul had finished 23rd, with his Morgan wanting to go faster the whole way. That must have been some fun four miles in the dark woods!

Awoke to feed the horses, begin packing, and head off to GMHA to see my friend Suzy's winning third level dressage test ride. It was positively lovely.

But watching so many tight lips, and black coats, and the incredibly precise riding, I couldn't help but be proud of my slightly stiff knees and my weary glute muscles and the fact that I'd ridden all around and above and below that facility while those horses were tucked quietly in their stalls and those riders were sipping Chardonnay out of crystal.

There was a huge brunch of BBQ back at Smoke Rise Farm at 10:30 a.m. and it was great waiting in line and visiting with the runners, including one who had just finished at 7 a.m. and the one who had won the run. Incredibly inspiring. One woman, stiff legged, who had finished at about 4 a.m. said she'd decided she would perhaps NOT mow the lawn tomorrow. Ate with one of the ride vets, and we spoke of many things, including the runners, and the impressive cavalry endurance riders, and of the on-the-edge things our wonderful horses are willing to do for us.

My Ned arrived home last night about midnight after a nearly 11-hour haul, screamed for his buddies, galloped once around the paddock with two clean flying lead changes, then passaged along the fenceline until he seemed to suddenly remember that there was indeed an open gate to the large pasture where his friends called back to him. Then he galloped down hill in perfect balance, perfectly sound, fit as a fiddle to join his friends.

Ah, heaven.

This morning his legs are cold and tight, and other than that big ol' red 37 on his behind, he looks like a mighty fine dressage horse!

Thank you so much to everyone who made the Vermont rides possible.

--Patti Stedman (NY)

An Outlaw Rides the Big Horn Trail - Tom Noll

One Hundred Miles is the signature distance of endurance riding and to me there is magic in the 100 mile distance that is different from any other ride.

Frank (my horse) and I are relative newcomers to endurance riding. Frank is an unregistered Arabian horse from Basin Wyoming. There are rumors about Frank's heritage, but Frank's past remains unknown. Kathy and Bud Arnold acquired him from friends and sold him to me when I needed a solid and honest horse to teach me about riding and endurance. I have trained Frank based on the knowledge of others and the experience that I gained from endurance running. Frank and I have trained on the same trails. Frank has taught me about horses and riding and I certainly doubt that I'll ever be able to give Frank enough in return.

Frank and I live in SW Idaho and earlier in the year I was honored when asked to join a local PNER endurance team called the "Outlaws." Frank is an outlaw horse. Butch Cassidy reportedly placed caches of especially strong horses with sympathizers and personal friends throughout the mountain west to be used for his escapes. Today we ride the decedents of those outlaw horses.

Riding the Big Horn 100 is an adventure in addition to being a 100-mile endurance ride. The Big Horn 100 travels true wilderness trails. The ride starts and finishes at the Trapper Creek Ranch outside of Shell Wyoming at 4500 feet. The ride climbs to a high point of nearly 10,000 feet and much of the ride is above 8000 feet. Very little of the course can be considered level and there are many climbs in and out of canyons. There are some gravel roads, many single-track and double-track trails, as well as some sections where there is no trail at all. The footing is rocky and the primary water sources along the trail are the natural creeks and steams.

This year the ride went clockwise around the loop and there were four vet checks at approximately 25, 38, 50 and 75 miles. Even though there are only four vet checks, I understand that in the whole history of the Big Horn 100, only one horse has been treated - and that was a long time ago. However, riders must be aware of the challenging trails, the difficult access, the long distances between the vet checks, and ride their horses responsibly. The Big Horn 100 is a very significant undertaking and I did not want to underestimate the terrain or the ride. People will debate the relative difficulty of various rides, but when the discussion turns to the most difficult 100s, the Big Horn 100 is always on the list. A crew is recommended for the Big Horn 100 and my brother Willi and his wife Alice drove up from Greeley Colorado and along with my wife Leslie, the three of them were a very capable crew.

Just like the words in the cowboy song, "I'm up in the morning before daylight, and before I sleep the moon shines bright." I got up early to saddle my horse and ride to the start. At 4:00 in the morning Tom Van Gelder spoke those unforgettable few words "The trail is open for competition." Cindy Collins led us on a nice controlled start. I was riding with the other 100-mile riders looking around at the stars, the badlands, and the cliffs thinking to myself, "This is really cool, I am so lucky." I was privileged to be riding with some rough riders and tough horses on some of the best trails in the mountain west. Soon Cindy released us and we were off and running through the shale badlands. Early on I linked up with Terry Dye and we rode together for the entire ride.

On our way to the first vet check, we passed farms, ranches, and camps as we began our climb out of the badlands from a low point of around 4000 feet on Shell Creek. We came into the first vet check about 20 minutes ahead of the next riders and pulsed down for our 45-minute hold.

Between the first and second vet checks the trail leaves the badlands to climb to the Big Horn plateau at over 9,000 feet. In portions, the trail is nonexistent and you just work your way up to a ridge or saddle through the forest underbrush. Later I heard that Regina, Linda and some of the other riders saw a bull moose on this section of trail. The section between the first vet check at Hudson Falls and the second vet check at Horse Creek is where some of the other riders met difficulties. Terry and I were alone for the entire ride and we were unaware of the troubles facing some of the others except for the short reports that we heard at the vet checks. The trail climbs and descends steeply in and out of several canyons on the way to the Horse Creek vet check. The Horse Creek vet check is on top of the Big Horn plateau and the snowfields and wildflowers were spectacular - especially the tiny blue alpine forget-me-nots.

After 45 minutes at Horse Creek, Terry and I were off to the Antelope Butte vet check at 50 miles. Again, this section is up and down. I don't know the total elevation gain of the ride but I am sure it is significant. During one section the trail was unmarked with only a sign reading "Big Horn 100 Riders - Head for the Peaks" and those peaks looked very far away. Little did I know that much later in the day we would actually be riding by those peaks. We descended off of the Big Horn plateau to the base of the Antelope Butte Ski Area for the 50-mile check and a one-hour hold.

After Antelope Butte it is a long 25 miles to the Jack Creek vet check. We were now in the hottest part of the day and we slowed our horses accordingly. Again the trail climbs to the Big Horn plateau, descends to the Shell Creek Ranger Station, and then climbs the Adelaide Trail to the plateau again. The Adelaide trail is very rocky and part of the trail is in the Big Horn wilderness. At one point in the wilderness a low overhanging log has fallen across the trail. Frank is a small horse at under 15 hands and we were barely able to squeeze under the log. Terry leaned sideways in the saddle as his horse Glory passed under the log. I heard later that Regina Rose had to unsaddle her Percheron-Arab horse Gypsy to get under the log. At Adelaide Lake we picked up two ranch horses that followed us along the trail. Our "herd" of four passed through the meadows and creeks until we cut off the two ranch horses at a fence gate. There are fences on the Big Horn 100 and Terry and I opened and closed many gates over the 100 miles of trail. Before our descent to Jack Creek we reached the high point of the route at nearly 10,000 feet. We were in the Big Horn Mountains and we could see other mountains and basins of Wyoming and Montana to the west and northwest.

Jack Creek at 75 miles was the last vet check. I loped Frank along the road and then got off and walked into the vet check for the final 45-minute hold. At Jack Creek I ate two excellent hamburgers while talking with the others about various 100s. I mentioned that in the 100-mile runs I was never able to get to 75 miles while there was still daylight so this was a first, but there were still mountain trails and slickrock ledges to cross before we reached the finish.

Terry and his horse Glory, Frank and myself left Jack Creek for the final 25 miles of trail. Our horses had worked together all day with each one of us helping the others during the low times. Terry and I had the talk that any two riders would have when they've ridden and shared the trails for 80 miles of a 100-mile ride and we made our agreement.

This last stretch of the trail was magical. The sun set in the west as a golden rider's moon rose in the east. Coyotes called to each other in the twilight as we rode along. Later that night the moon was so bright that in many sections I could see the silhouette of two riders on two horses making their way down the trail. The image was the same as it has been for hundreds of years on countless trails. At times we cantered through the darkness listening to the three-beat rhythm of the feet, always trusting our horses to carry us steadily and safely as they had faithfully done for nearly 100 miles. Around midnight we reached the finish line where Tom Van Gelder had spoken those unforgettable few words so many hours earlier. We finished together just as we had ridden together for the last 100 miles.

Best Regards,

Tom Noll
SW Idaho

Wild Wild West 3-Day - Nick Warhol

The Wild West Ride- Three day Multi-day, May 2003

Nick Warhol

It has been a wet and muddy Winter and spring here in the Bay Area, where I usually get to brag about how good our riding weather is. Unfortunately the regional park people don’t like the rain, and when it rains, the rides get canceled. Not to mention that I have been spending too much time at work lately, but ride we must! After too much waiting, I finally got a chance to do a ride for the first time in a couple of months. Over Memorial day weekend Judy and I attended the Wild West 3 day ride held at the Skillman campground, located on highway 20 about 15 miles from Nevada City, up at about 4500 feet, a nice elevation for mountain riding. Melissa and Robert Ribley have been putting on this gem for about 5 years now, I think, but it used to be over the Labor Day weekend. That used to make it pretty dusty, but by moving it to May it made the conditions just about perfect. The days were sunny, the weather was a little hot on the first two days, but cooled down considerably on the third. The single track trails were glorious, except for a few boggy spots here and there that were kind of gooey. The dirt roads were mostly okay, (If you like riding on roads), some were a little rocky, some were a little hard, and some were just right. Rocky is an overstatement- even the worst of these roads were all pretty nice when you compare them to rides like Virginia City, Las Vegas, and Death Valley.

What a great way to spend 3 days- up in the mountains riding your horse a whole bunch. And speaking of mountains, there is something I have to know. What is it with these stupid little mountain flies? The little white ones that just have to buzz your face and head, all the time? Sure- I know that’s where they live and all, and I guess they have a right to life, but how come there are only six of them buzzing you at any given moment? It seems no matter where you are, there are only six that are constantly buzzing excitedly around your and your horse’s head, making every effort to land in your ear. Does the fly union assign six flies to every rider, and then those same individuals just follow you and the horse around all day, or are there teams of six flies stationed every hundred feet on the trail, and they pass you off to the next group of six as you make your way down the trail? With all those flies, don’t you think there would be a hundred around you at once, or none? Always six! It’s like they have rules. But when you ride over a pile of manure on the trail, there are a thousand of those bigger green and blue flies on every little pile of poop that sound like a nest of hornets when you ride over them and disturb their lunch. Go figure!

So much for the philosophy of the insect world, what about the ride? I would attempt to ride the semi-sort-of-retired wonder Appaloosa Warpaint on all three days. I say semi-retired because he is nineteen years old now, and we are trying to keep him going a little slower on the easier rides. He doesn’t need to try Tevis any more. But try and tell him he should be going slower. Yeah, he still pulls, and is still trying to run down and pass every horse in the ride. I don’t care, I love riding him. Judy’s plan was to ride the first day on Wabi, and the third if he looked okay. The weather on Thursday night was a little weird- it was so warm we had all the windows in the camper open. In the mountains! Two weeks before the ride the camp was covered in snow. Friday morning was indeed warm- most people rode out in tee shirts, and those who didn’t wished that they had. About 78 people started the first day, a 2 loop affair that had lunch back in camp after 20 miles. Judy and Wabi took off with the rear of the pack, but I started out even later to avoid the mad rush my horse would bring, and quickly hooked up with my friend Jane Could, who was riding her superb horse Ezer. (I have no idea how to spell that. It sounds like eezur) It was his first ride back after a long recovery period, she was taking it easy at the back of the pack. He wanted to go much faster as well.

We rode along on the yellow loop and chatted a bit, but I went on ahead after the two competitive boys wanted to compete with each other. We trotted down a mountain road for only a few minutes when we came across a bunch of horses, all in a line, waiting to go somewhere. Uh-oh. It seems there was this uphill that Robert had described as “Don’t stop, and you better have a breast collar.” He was right! It was a very narrow, single track trail that went straight up for a hundred yards or so. It was really steep, but had pretty good footing due to the moist soil. There was absolutely nowhere to go but up, and of course that’s what happened to a horse ahead- a third of the way up the rider lost his balance and the horse bolted off the trail, right into the forest of manzanita and pine. Ouch! It took him a while to get going again, so we all just waited in a traffic jam at the bottom. Once it was my turn, Warpaint quickly dispatched with the hill like it was an elevated speed bump. A neat single track trail at the top led us to a water stop, where I ran into Judy and Wabi. We rode off together down the road with Wabi following his spotted barn mate. This first loop was mostly roads with a little single track thrown in. I wanted more single track! We wound around the forests and back to the lunch check at base camp for an hour hold. It was getting pretty warm, and it was only 10:45am. The horses both looked very good; we had our lunch and started out on the pink loop that headed up higher into the mountains. This loop is so cool- the first few miles are all just wonderful single track trail. Not too steep, just right for trotting along. Warpaint led the way, he’s so willing, always going forward; I just love that. Wabi and Judy tagged along behind. We hit the water stop and took a break for a while, since it was pretty hot, then took off for the road loop that would bring us back to the water. We were warned to watch out for the rattlesnakes. (GASP) What we found was snow- big banks of it crossing the road. Of course Warpaint is an old hand with snow- he’s been in it up to his ears a few times, so he just motored through the snow drifts without blinking an eye. Wabi, however, had never in his life seen this white stuff. He was a little apprehensive the first time he tried to cross the snow, but he walked across it with his nose pressed to the surface. For some strange reason, known only to Wabi, he avoided the section where the other horses had walked across it. He went for the deep, untracked stuff, where he deftly sunk in up to his knees, just like in a Warren Miller flick. What a goof! Judy piloted him from the deep back to the trail- he crossed the rest of the snow without incident, but unlike Warpaint, Wabi didn’t really like to trot through it.

A short walk on a slightly rocky road led to the short downhill that Robert calls the “Snowy River Downhill.” It’s a very steep, but soft, short decent that you could canter down like the guy in the movie, I guess, with your feet out in front and your head touching the horses butt, with one hand clinging onto the saddle horn, but me? I’ll lead the old guy down it, thanks. The bottom of the hill provides a great view of the valley; but after the hill it is just a few miles on roads back to the water. From the water we headed down a nice, long soft road that used to be some kind of wilderness route, but now it is just the road to the vet check. In we go, out we go. That simple. We scooted the last 4 miles or so to the finish, where we ended up in 24th and 25th, I think, at about 3:30. The finish line had a bonus- they handed me an ice cold bottle of beer! Oh yeah, that’s a finish line worth remembering! Back in camp for the post ride vet check, both horses looked very good. And the best thing yet- I get to ride again tomorrow! The ride had a pot-luck dinner, but we made our own in the camper (big mistake!), cleaned up and got ready for Saturday. Judy wasn’t going to ride, but I was! We got hats for completion awards.

Saturday morning didn’t come quickly enough for me; I saddled up while Judy slept in. Wabi looked at us walk away, but another hay bag was all he needed to keep him happy. Day two started out down the same dirt road, but unfortunately we had to stay on the roads for a long time. I rode along with Mike Bernsten and Rick Gomez for a while, Mike was riding his wife’s horse with the blue eye. We commented on how cool it was that these wife’s let us hubby’s ride their horses. The forest roads led to a serious jeep road downhill that was pretty torn up, it dumped us out into a nice creek where the horses took a drink. I stepped into the creek while giving the appy his salts, now my foot was wet. Only one. Walk, squish. Walk, squish. I would be out of balance on the horse until the water all drained out of my trail runner. Warpaint didn’t mind.

A long, slow climb led us through lots of houses that would have a heck of a time with this road in the winter. You could see fossilized mud puddles that had to have been pretty drastic when wet. I could just see the stuck cars buried up to their axles. The prehistoric mud road led us all the way to this huge reservoir where people were waterskiing already. A quick water stop and then the slick road. We had to lead up a hill along side a paved road that was by far the most slippery thing I have ever set hoof on. It was fine for my rubber shoes, but put a horseshoe on that and it looked like an Olympic ice rink, only on a steep hill. If a horse took a bad step on the pavement on the top of that hill, it would probably ski down a quarter of a mile before stopping! Once past the slick road we started up a serious climb on a single track trail called Anderson hill or something. Anderson is a madman! How could he have found this trail on a horse? What a cool climb. It was steep, somewhat aggressive, but really neat. Up a thousand feet or so to water stop, and then nice trotting through the trees along side the highway. It took me 5 minutes to cross the stupid road for all the cars, there ware 10 horses all bunched up when we finally got to go. Perfect, just what Warpaint needs. Now it is race time along the other side of the road all the way back down to the vet check. The mighty App breezed through the check, and after and the short hold, we were back on our way, all by ourselves in the forest. I had not ridden this day before, I had heard this loop was kind of strange. It was really nice, lots of single track! I caught and passed Rebecca and her gang, silently hoping she might feed me dinner later. (These are the guys who eat better at rides than most people do in restaurants) We came to a mile or more of hard gravel downhill roads, so I hopped off and just walked for a half hour or so. It was nice- just walking along in the shade, all alone in the woods with the War Pony. You get to listen to the forest sounds and not think about work. This is good for the soul. More roads led through meadows and forests, really pretty. We stopped and I let him graze in a lush meadow for 15 minutes or so, we never even saw another horse. We eventually got back to the vet check along the highway for our hour hold, I sat in the grass eating while he chowed down his goodies. It’s such a good feeling sitting in a check with a happy, healthy horse. You talk to your friends, you eat your lunch, you wish the hour would end so you can get going again!

The next 4 miles or so are one of the ride’s highlights. Amazing single track winds through the forest, right along the highway, but you have to slow down to cross about 20 driveways along the way. This is the kind of trail Warpaint lives for- he just motors through the trees. He doesn’t need another horse, he just boogies on his own. Away from camp, towards camp, up hills, down hills, whatever. The highway crossing came way too early, now it was just another few miles of single-track back to camp, including a long, slow climb up to the ridge. We made it in around 3pm or so for another splendid ride. Wabi was happy to see Warpaint, but once we gave Wabi some hay, he shuts right up. He knows his priorities!

We attended the Saturday night pot-luck, it was superb! There was a ton of food, and my salad was demolished. I snagged a big hunk of fresh BBQ Salmon, okay, so I had a bigger hunk than I should have. It was good! Today I got an embroidered pillowcase for my finisher award. That’s a new one, and quite creative. Warpaint looked just fine after his second day, and since Wabi looked great, day three was next!

We woke up and headed out at 7 am again, a very civilized starting time, don’t you think? Judy and I were at the back of the pack, intending to just ride through slowly and get a completion. We hooked up with a few horses after the start, which today heads right down the single track trail from camp. About 3 miles from camp we came to a clearing with not many trail markings, we didn’t see the ribbon to the right, since we were looking at the photographer down on the road in front of us who was on the trail. We rode towards him, he directed us to go that way, to our left! We did, and in retrospect, might have noticed that the turn ribbons were on the left. Down the trail we went, and in about a mile started up that big climb again. We walked up the long hill, a couple of people passed us, but that seemed normal. Then when we are about half way to the top, the leaders come blitzing up behind us. Uh oh. They are confused, we are confused. We get off the trail and let them go on their way, we turn around and head back down. That durn photo-guy sent us on the trail, but the wrong part. We missed a loop of about 3-4 miles. Okay, back down, we did the loop, turning around several people who had done the same thing we did. We did not get lost, we just went on the trail too soon. What the heck- we only lost 40 minutes or so, and got to ride some extra miles! At the top of the hill (the second time!) people were trying to get it sorted out. Two women rode the entire top loop and got passed by the leaders, they were confused as well. They were cool- they just rode back down that big hill and did what we did. Adapt and overcome, I always say.

Once we got back on trail the ride got really fun. Single track, single track, and more single track. Oh Boy! These are some of the best trails anywhere, and they were loamy soft with no dust or mud. There are parts where if you trust and can steer your horse, you bend in and around trees that would take your knees off if you were not careful. Very fun! We were whooping it up through there. We did encounter a few dirt bikes, out in the unbelievable conditions, but they were all very good and shut down or turned around when they saw us. The vet check and lunch came too quickly- those trails are too much fun. We were going pretty slow, and doing the extra miles got us out of the lunch check around 1:00. Now we got to do the cool pink loop again, the one we did on day one. We trotted most of the 8 miles or so to the water- the weather was nice and cool today. We let the boys eat for a while at the stop, while we got the rattlesnake warnings! Okay, yes, we will be ever-vigilant. The snow was just about gone, it is amazing how fast it melts. Two days earlier there was a couple of feet of the stuff on the road in spots, now it was just about history. But those roads were prime! A last trip down the steep hill, where Judy rode Wabi down, (Wabi from Snowy River? I don’t think so!), brought us back to the roads and the water stop, from here it is a nice downhill jog to the vet check. Judy was watching Wabi, he seemed to be a little leg weary, but he was fine for the vets. It is only a few miles from there to the finish, which we crossed for the last time around 4:30 pm or so. The horses vetted out fine, with Warpaint looking very good. Hooray! More pillowcases as awards, now we have three. (one is a spare?) Sunday night’s dinner was catered, it was good, but not as good as that pot-luck!

Who won? Michelle Roush! First day- first place and best condition. Second day- first place and best condition. Third day- second place and best condition. On the same horse, Do-So-La. Zounds! Not too bad. Overall BC? Ya think? I hope Melissa and Robert can keep this ride on this weekend going forward- it is a superb ride that is loads of fun. Us folks that did all three days on the same horse will get a custom monogrammed sweatshirt to boot. This ride is a perfect way to try a multiday, especially if you like riding in the forest. On single track trail. Through the trees. Perfect!

Nick Warhol
Hayward, Ca.