Saturday, June 19
Hopkins Creek has been dry and hot and nasty since it moved from its original October debut in 1998 to June. But not this year. This year, the weather was perfect. The temperature cooled off and the humidity wasn't too bad either. This trail has been our nemesis at times. Malik and I have both been injured at this ride due to accidents. He with I aboard during his first year out and I aboard my first horse, Jonathan on our first year out. Last year, Malik was lame at the very end of the 50 miles. Two years ago, Jenny finished 50 miles and Max was lame. No completion for either of us those years. This year, a freak accident to Max at Grand Island which caused a minor injury to his RL tendon and to myself earlier in the week (R hamstring, almost the same as Max) changed the entire scenario for all of us. No 50 for Max and no 50 for me. So Jenny and Malik braved the dreaded Hopkins Creek trail. I can't write their ride story. Jenny will have to do that. But I will write MY story about the whole weekend. It was unusual and unusually wonderful at the same time!
We arrived in ride camp on Friday early in the day and were able to find a nice, big spot and save room for the newbies that were coming to camp with us and learn and perhaps ride. We brought along Malik, Max and Malik's daughter, Luna. My sister, Mary arrived shortly after and set up camp with another Malik daughter, Badar. (Perhaps by the end of the summer, his third 4 year old daughter, Steppin, will be ready to hit the trail with Dad and her sisters).
The Pearson family, Burt, Meg, Anna, Brita and Greta joined us with Lisa Oles and her daughter, Lauren. Our friends from the previous weekend riding excursion, Diana and Maddie Anderson also joined us on Saturday. I have to say right up front that I don't usually enjoy camping with kids but this bunch was a blast and I am willing to camp with them anytime. They are the newbies you dream about. The ones that do stuff without asking or are right there not just asking questions but pitching in, too. They brought us firewood and helped pick poop out of the pens and haul water and feed. It was wonderful because my leg was not cooperating with me. All of these people were not just talkers. They heard about distance riding, found out what they had to find out, sought the people who could teach them and followed up by reading, meeting people, volunteering and going to the rides to see what it's all about. I would also like to mention a new family that Jeanie Miller has brought into the fold, the Dennis and Jill Byard family with 3 children, I believe, whose names escape me now. They attended my clinic last month and have been helping at rides all season, learning everything they can and hoping to try the sport sometime soon. Another newbie, Staci Towersey also attended again this year, volunteering on Saturday and riding on Sunday. She attended one of my first clinics a couple of years ago and has been volunteering when she can and this time, rode her first LD ride!! WELCOME TO ALL OF THEM!!! We are delighted to have you join our family! I hope I didn't miss anybody but I think it is wonderful to have so many newbies coming into the sport!!
Anyway, Jenny was coming from Illinois with her uncle John. Uncle Dan, the water boy had business elsewhere so it was Uncle John, the taxi boy to the rescue. (THANKS, Uncle John!!). However, they hadn't shown up by 9 p.m. Or midnight. Or 3 a.m. I was worried but tried not to panic. When the alarm went off at 5 a.m., I told Nelson to go tell ride management that Malik wouldn't be starting and we would have to find a phone and starting making some calls. Well, they HAD arrived about 3:30 a.m. but never let us know!!! Of course, by now, I had hit the snooze a couple of times so it was close to 5:30 and the ride started at 6 a.m. Jenny didn’t waste time and was dressed, saddled up and ready to warm up and head out in plenty of time. I decided to help crew for the first loop and then help out where I could after that.
Crewing is different but it's fun, too. I thought I would hate not being the one riding Malik. I did but I had fun watching Jenny and Malik have fun doing what we usually do together. Nelson knows those trails and where to find his rider. It was a BLAST! I loved it!
Back in camp at the first vet check, Nelson starts getting in a hurry and is all business. He gets quite serious about this job. Uncle John was helping out and my leg was feeling pretty good and I was getting around alright. Until I tripped over a stump and it spasmed on me again. Fortunately, I was close to the back of the van and was able to grab the wipers and hold on until it passed. I ended up having to take some of the drugs the doctor gave me after all and started icing it again right away in case it started to swell. As it turned out, I think it was just a spasm as it improved all day. However, I ended up riding with Nelson for the duration of the day and not helping out at the vet check (sorry, Pam). I probably overdid it but I am glad I didn't miss anything.
To make a long story short, Jenny rode smart. She held back where she thought it was to her advantage and made up ground where she could and blasted past riders who were pushing their horses in an attempt to stay ahead of her. She had PLENTY of horse ALL day. The front runners were going incredibly fast. In fact, the winning time was slightly under 4 hours and the winner did the last ten miles in an average of 19.5 miles an hour. Incredible. Jenny finished 4th in 4 hours and 33 minutes, Malik's fastest time yet. He looked great at the end and his BC score was 744. However, it was 10 or 12 points shy of the winner's BC score.
I am so proud of Jenny and Malik. At the first vet check, when I asked Jenny how it was going, she said "Oh, my God!". I thought Malik had done something to upset her. I asked her to explain. She just said "Oh, my God, it's awesome!". I had to smile. Jenny thinks I am always holding her back. I guess I am because I have not yet let Malik really GO. And even with a time of 4:33, Jenny did not really let Malik GO. I think she has a new appreciation of the sport and of Malik, the horse who always holds her back. J
Sunday, June 20, Father's Day
Today was the Father's Day ride I had waited and planned for and had been so excited about. Malik on the trail with his two daughters! Wow! The culmination of FIVE years of dreaming and scheming and planning and training. It seems like yesterday that we giggled about what short, fat Cherokee would produce if bred to Malik and what he might do to tame that bulk and that head of my sister's TWH mare, Dallas. Imagine our surprise the following year to get a pretty, little, flaxen mane and tail CHESTNUT filly out of grey Cherokee and grey Malik, a BAY filly out of Dallas and a GREY filly out of the black MFT mare we owned at the time. Talk about an assortment! And here we are, at the rides, having done our homework with two of them and finishing up homework on the third who may yet make it to a ride this year. Awesome. Just awesome. Just when I think I have experienced the greatest ride yet, I have another one.
The Oles and Pearson family were not confident about going out and doing 25 miles yet but agreed to let daughter, Brita be sponsored by me and to ride Max, who was ready for 25 but not 50 yet. Bringing him along was an afterthought but am I ever glad we did! Diana and Maddie were game to give it a try and so we tacked up late on Sunday morning and waited for the hot shoes to head out. Right away, there was trouble. Diana's horse, Joey (who Diana describes as the "prima donna"), had about enough of all the excitement and after having a Thoroughbred moment which resulted in his falling down and on top of Diana's ankle, decided to leave camp for other regions. I tried to chase him down and managed to keep him in sight, shouting WHOA, Joey, WHOA! He slowed down and actually stopped and when he saw us coming along, started trotting along again as if he were quite ready to begin now. Uncle John and Lisa Oles came along in the truck and I went back to camp and let them catch him which they did. We finally got started but Joey had broken his bridle so Diana and Maddie insisted we start without them and they would catch up with us down the trail. So, finally at 6:30, we were on our way.
Malik was pretty excited to be on trail with his buddy and one of "his" mares. Mary had gone on ahead at 6:00 with the other riders so it was just the three of us on Max, Malik and Luna. I was happy to be on trail again. I have missed the green of the woods and the smell of ozone in the early morning air. My sweatshirt only lasted about two miles before I tossed it back to Meg Pearson and Nelson as they passed us on their way to the first pit stop. It was chilly but exhilarating.
We encountered Larry Kirk, sports photographer at one of the pit stops and he took some FANTASTIC photos. I hope we see him again soon!! My leg held up quite well, especially when we were moving out at a trot or canter. Walking seemed to make it stiff and it would hurt a bit until we got moving out again. The horses paced well. Max took the lead as he is wont to do and showed Brita what a good endurance horse is like and I do believe showed her a really great time! Brita never whined once. Max gave her one big spook at one point and that girl's butt never left the saddle!!! WOW! I am mightily impressed and sure hope I get to sponsor her again sometime!! I have a hard time remembering her name so she told me I could call her "Bob" which is her nickname at school. The spook gave me the first opportunity to use it when I told her "Good job, BOB!". I won't forget her name again now!
Luna was a wonder. We encountered scores of things she has never dreamed about let alone seen!!! Wooden bridges and running creeks to name the most daunting. Malik and Max showed her the ropes and she went right on with business. What a filly! (I still have trouble thinking of her as a mare…she's a "filly" to me yet). Her only trouble was not wanting to drink. Fortunately, following the advice of Dr. Susan Garlinghouse as I have for the last several years, and having tanked her up all weekend on wet sloppy beet pulp slurries, she was well hydrated and perhaps didn't really need to drink. But she would go into the water and rinse her mouth. She had all As at the first check and slurped up her slurry without complaint or hesitation though she did not drink. Thank God for beet pulp slurries!!!
Heading into the first vet check we caught up with Diana and Maddie. They had gone off trail. Joey wasn't doing so well and it appears banged up his shoulder during his "moment". They followed us into camp and pulled. They wouldn't let Maddie continue on with me for the ten mile loop. She had already gone off trail. L Maddie didn't cry (though I wanted to cry for her) but she gallantly pitched in and helped trot out our horses and crewed with Nelson on the last loop. I look forward to sponsoring Maddie ANY time if her mom isn't able to for awhile. She is a great kid, too and I am sorely disappointed for her and for her mom's rotten luck. Unfortunately, it's all a part of the game and we have all been there at one time or another. Hopefully, they've used up theirs for awhile and will come again another day that will hook them into distance riding forever!! They have the horses that can do it!!
We headed out on the last ten miles. Luna and Brita had never gone this far before. They trucked right along. No complaints from Brita and no refusal or balking from Luna. I am really proud of both of them!
We walked in the last mile to come in with our horses' pulses down. All three horses looked and acted like a million bucks. When we pulsed down, we discovered that Luna was tenth and Mary had also come in top ten on Badar earlier. Maybe not much to some but for two green horses, 4 year olds, I think the experience we had was exactly what LD is about and though neither of them won BC, they "won" and made us proud just in the doing of it. Being able to see their BC scores was a big help. Luna needs to work on drinking (though she still had an A on hydration at the end!) and trotting out and circles and Badar needs to work on syringing into her mouth and getting her capillary refill and mucous membranes checked. Brita needs to come and ride with me again and we need to fix her up with water on the saddle. She didn't much like a fanny pack. Jenny has to toughen up if she thinks she can do 5 fifties in a row at Shore to Shore. J She will. And I have to rethink seriously the rest of my ride season. I can't reinjure that hamstring. The doctor told me I couldn't ride 75 miles (as had been the original plan) and I didn't do that (I only rode 25). But that may be all I can ride this year and I may have to forego Shore to Shore for another year. It galls me and makes me want to cry but Nelson is right. What good does it do me to take such good care of Malik so he can still be going down the trail when he's twenty if I don't take enough good care of myself so I can be the one going down it with him? It bites, that's for sure!
So, Jenny will be on Malik in some of the upcoming rides. Maybe if Max is not ready, she will do all or part of the Shore to Shore on him. Maybe I can do a couple of 25s and still ride into Lake Michigan with Jenny on the Shore to Shore. Maybe I can be ready to ride 50 at Tin Cup Springs and win a third BC in a row there in September. That will all depend on many things. But we will still be at the rides, even Shore to Shore. We have made some wonderful new friends and on a positive note, all those who did not get to go out on the trail or finish, went out and rode part of the ten mile loop including the bluffs that overlook the Au Sable River. Diana hopped on Max and had a jiggle, jiggle ride. After her big Thoroughbred, Joey, riding an Arab must have been a humorous experience for her! But she came back all smiles as they all did. Lisa Oles took her daughter and the other Pearson girls out with them. Brita was quite willing to stay in camp though she never uttered a complaint! Nelson reports to me that he saw her do a little dance when she walked into camp and her family started cheering for her. J Sorry I missed that. But I did get to watch her backside for most of 25 miles and caught an occasional huge grin. That's good enough for me!
P.S. In light of the number of newbies we have had this year, Jim Yell and I have decided that we will have a ten mile novice fun ride/clinic at the Wolverine this year. Jan Kennedy is going to assist us in this and will lead the newbies out on the trail. Nelson will try to fit in a "pit crew" session for those in the family who don't ride but would like to learn and participate with the riders in the family. We have not yet decided if we will do it on Saturday or Sunday. The cost will probably be between $5 and $10 and I promise some cool stuff that newbies will be able to use. Let me know if you are interested or if you know someone who might be!! Juniors and newbies are the future of our sport!!!
Miles of Smiles,
Maggie Mieske
http://arabianquest.com/samaha_arabians.htm
Thursday, June 24, 2004
Monday, June 21, 2004
2004 Old Dominion: Stagg's Plan
by Stagg Newman
At Angie's encouragement, this is the first installment of the Old Dominion. This is the preface that I wrote at Jayel Super's urging. The rest of story is told by Super with a little help from Drubin and myself. Note that Super claims he is sharing some of his secrets.
On Friday evening before the Old Dominion I gave a clinic entitled "To Finish a 1-Day 100 is to Really Win" to encourage riders to try 100s. I asserted that there are 4 "P's" that are key to successfully completing one-day 100s. As you will see all of these came into play the next day, some in rather ironic ways.
The Four P’s are: Patience, Practice, Pacing, and Pulse. Will just mention some points related to these that came up during the ride.
Patience is necessary because it takes years to get a horse ready to do tough 100s. Patience is necessary you must go at your horse's pace and not get caught in riding somebody else's pace. The first 50 is just a warm-up for the second 50. Patience is necessary because no 100 will ever go exactly as planned. You must have the patience to deal with it and adjust. .....
Practice is key so that the horse is trained as well as conditioned for whatever is needed. Practice is key so that as much as possible is routine. Then one is better prepared for the unexpected. I had actually planned to practice the finish by trailering to the last check, Liberty Hall, and then trotting and galloping up over the mountain and running down the otherside to the finish so Super would be eager when we arrived at Liberty Hall. However it was raining the day before the ride and we did not want to take the trailer out so I settled for riding from the finish up to the top of the mountain and just down the otherside a little way, turning around and trotting and galloping a short ways to the top and then running down Hickerson Hollow until the last fairly flat part into the finish.
Pacing is critical if you are going to have a strong horse for the second half of the ride. I made the point that a 100 should not be ridden as a competition with other riders but as a test against the trail where one sets a pace based on the toughness of the course, the weather, the capabilities and condition of the horse .... And the pace should be set for each leg of the ride depending on how the ride is going. And no, it's not true that I was trying to convince everybody else to slow way down.
Pulse is key sign of whether the pacing is proper. The horse should be staying well within the aerobic range most of the time. This is one reason I strongly recommend riding with a heart monitor as pulse is the best indication. The other key pulse indicator is time to recover at the vet checks. Unless the weather is hot and humid, in a 100 the time to meet parameters should be just a few minutes throughout most of the checkpoints and the horse's pulse should be way under the parameters by the end of the hold period.
Before the ride Sue Greenall and I agreed to ride together. Sue was riding Charlie, owned by Maggie Price, my mentor and the breeder of my horse Ramegwa Drubin [some of you may have heard me him mention once or twice or ..... :>) ]. I was delighted to ride with Sue as Super is a horse who likes a companion, Sue is superb at pacing, and has a great sense of humor, something very helpful on a 100.
And now a CONFESSION. I did have as a goal that I had shared with very few people. No horse had ever won the Old Dominion 3 times. Super had won the Old Dominion in 1999 and then in 2001 when he finished in under 13 hours and set the course record for the course used from about 1995 to 2001. My goal was for Super to be the first horse to achieve that feat. Super, who has a very healthy Arab ego, told me he could do it and was ready. However to be consistent with what I said above about pacing, the specific goal I set given the good weather was to ride a pace of just over 8 miles an hour except for the really rocky sections such as Habron Gap and Sherman Gap. That would put me on a pace similar to 2001 :>) .
At Angie's encouragement, this is the first installment of the Old Dominion. This is the preface that I wrote at Jayel Super's urging. The rest of story is told by Super with a little help from Drubin and myself. Note that Super claims he is sharing some of his secrets.
On Friday evening before the Old Dominion I gave a clinic entitled "To Finish a 1-Day 100 is to Really Win" to encourage riders to try 100s. I asserted that there are 4 "P's" that are key to successfully completing one-day 100s. As you will see all of these came into play the next day, some in rather ironic ways.
The Four P’s are: Patience, Practice, Pacing, and Pulse. Will just mention some points related to these that came up during the ride.
Patience is necessary because it takes years to get a horse ready to do tough 100s. Patience is necessary you must go at your horse's pace and not get caught in riding somebody else's pace. The first 50 is just a warm-up for the second 50. Patience is necessary because no 100 will ever go exactly as planned. You must have the patience to deal with it and adjust. .....
Practice is key so that the horse is trained as well as conditioned for whatever is needed. Practice is key so that as much as possible is routine. Then one is better prepared for the unexpected. I had actually planned to practice the finish by trailering to the last check, Liberty Hall, and then trotting and galloping up over the mountain and running down the otherside to the finish so Super would be eager when we arrived at Liberty Hall. However it was raining the day before the ride and we did not want to take the trailer out so I settled for riding from the finish up to the top of the mountain and just down the otherside a little way, turning around and trotting and galloping a short ways to the top and then running down Hickerson Hollow until the last fairly flat part into the finish.
Pacing is critical if you are going to have a strong horse for the second half of the ride. I made the point that a 100 should not be ridden as a competition with other riders but as a test against the trail where one sets a pace based on the toughness of the course, the weather, the capabilities and condition of the horse .... And the pace should be set for each leg of the ride depending on how the ride is going. And no, it's not true that I was trying to convince everybody else to slow way down.
Pulse is key sign of whether the pacing is proper. The horse should be staying well within the aerobic range most of the time. This is one reason I strongly recommend riding with a heart monitor as pulse is the best indication. The other key pulse indicator is time to recover at the vet checks. Unless the weather is hot and humid, in a 100 the time to meet parameters should be just a few minutes throughout most of the checkpoints and the horse's pulse should be way under the parameters by the end of the hold period.
Before the ride Sue Greenall and I agreed to ride together. Sue was riding Charlie, owned by Maggie Price, my mentor and the breeder of my horse Ramegwa Drubin [some of you may have heard me him mention once or twice or ..... :>) ]. I was delighted to ride with Sue as Super is a horse who likes a companion, Sue is superb at pacing, and has a great sense of humor, something very helpful on a 100.
And now a CONFESSION. I did have as a goal that I had shared with very few people. No horse had ever won the Old Dominion 3 times. Super had won the Old Dominion in 1999 and then in 2001 when he finished in under 13 hours and set the course record for the course used from about 1995 to 2001. My goal was for Super to be the first horse to achieve that feat. Super, who has a very healthy Arab ego, told me he could do it and was ready. However to be consistent with what I said above about pacing, the specific goal I set given the good weather was to ride a pace of just over 8 miles an hour except for the really rocky sections such as Habron Gap and Sherman Gap. That would put me on a pace similar to 2001 :>) .
2004 Old Dominion: Super's Story
Jayel Super (owner of Stagg Newman)
The start: I was happy Stagg had arranged for me to ride with Charlie, who is a good guy. We had camped together at the Pan Ams but did not ride together. I told Stagg I did NOT want any of this B.S. of doing 70 miles alone over this rock pile they call the Old Dominion like we did in 1999. I wanted company like in in 2001 only all the way. Since Charlie was to be my buddy for the ride, I decided to be nice early in the ride (well at least relatively nice) and more or less make Stagg think I was listening and willing to go out at a reasonable pace.
Of course at OD we do the first 1/2 mile or so on a paved road behind Henry's pace car. Stagg sings Kum Ba Ya to try to calm me. Boy does he not know how to carry a tune. Calming - Hah! Then we start the climb up Hickerson hollow.
Like usual we were near the front after doing the first 1200 foot climb at a slow but steady pace, in fact slower than usual. When we get to the top of the mountain the course is very inviting to fly down the mountain and I am ready to do that. But Stagg won't let me. He keeps mumbling (he does mumble a lot) about some guy named Matthew MacKay Smith saying "Never hurry, never tarry." So now I no longer even fight him (well not much) while all of these other horses come flying by us thinking they are going to make good time early. So of course most of the horses in the ride passed us before we got to McCoy's Ford (12 miles) out. Of course we always an lose an additional minute or so 'cause Stagg has to pee so often. But's it's fun doing circles around him while he tries to maintain his composure.
Crossing the Shenandoah River is the early morning light is really cool in more ways the one. This year is was cooler than normal cause the water was up to my belly due to the rains! And the milk jugs to mark the crossing had been swept away!! But I was smart enough to get Stagg across the river without getting in trouble unlike the horse who gave its rider a good bath. Then it was my turn to pee in front of the vets at the fly by. Nice color, good volume of course. Most of the other horses were now ahead of Charlie and me.
Charlie and I kept up a good steady pace going up Morgan's Trail (Stagg said Col. Morgan cut that at the direction of G. Washington in case the colonial army had to retreat from the British - I said Col. Morgan cut trails for mules not horses). We passed all of the other horses going up the mountain and across the ridge line as I am pretty good at dancing along the rocks and Charlie stayed right with me. Of course I did not tell Stagg we had passed all of the other horses and he can be clueless at times.
Stagg and Sue came into the first vet check (25 miles) in just under 3 hours. They looked around and asked where all of the other horses were. Charlie and I just laughed as we knew we were leading even though they did not. Sue and Stagg checked our pulses. They should not have bothered. We knew we were already down.
During the check Stagg made his first mistake. He was too busy feeding his face and running his mouth. He did not check the map for the next loop even though I thought I had trained him to always do that. But he's damn hard to train. Cheryl (Stagg's wife and my crew) told Stagg that he went out the way he came in but Stagg asked the out-timer which way to go who pointed to a set of ribbons in the OD color pattern going out in a different direction. I smelled trouble.
We left the first check point the same way we had in prior years and got a couple miles away when Sue said something looked funny. Stagg claimed we were going the back way up to Milford's gap. Then a couple minutes later he said some words that I will not repeat, got out the map and we turned around. It was funny as horses kept coming towards us. Stagg would point in back down the trail from which they came, shout something and they would turn around and follow us. After a couple of miles, Charlie and I had collected all of the horses in the ride and were leading them back to the Vet check like a troop of cavalry horses. Sort of cool in a way but Stagg did not seem to be amused. We had just done an extra 4 to 5 miles (at the OD!). And of course all of the other horses had done less extra mileage as they turned around as we met them heading back into camp. Stagg hollered for the Station Head that they were sending all of the horses out the 75 mile trail, not out the 100 mile trail. Then we headed back up the Massanutten in the right direction.
The rest of the way to the second vet check Charlie and I just cruised along with a couple of other buddies over new trai and some road. I like new trail. This was neat trappy up and down stuff without big rocks but good tough work. We did trot right over a rattlesnake in the road. But a car had already removed any threat from that particular crittur by running over it first.
As we got a few miles from the vet check I saw hoofprints ahead of us which roused my suspicions. When we got to the vet check, there were 4 horses that Charlie and I had passed on the climb up over Milford Gap. Turned out that after coming down from Milford Gap the riders made the guys turn right onto the 75 mile trail in the backwards direction instead of left onto the 100 and 75 going out. Then they picked up the 100 again when it split from the 75 and got ahead of us by cutting off several miles accidentally. Felt really sorry for the chaps as their riders had missed the one critical pie plate. Heard later the riders decided not to make them go back which would have made their ride over 110 miles but rather just ride for completion.
At any rate Charlie and I came into together. Our pulses were down immediately so we went straight to the vets while our buddies took a couple of minutes longer. Then we really chowed down! as we had heard that there Haburn's Gap was a big steep climb.
After this, it seems that we got into the serious rocks. Likely they import them -- no one place on earth could really have so many rocks natively. So Charlie I climbed up the new Habron Gap trail. This new trail is quite a steep climb altho we did trot much of it.
Got exciting when I saw the snake in the trail and no place to go. Stagg said it was only a black racer. Whatever. Charlie kept his cool and we got by.
Maintained steady pace to top, across the knife edge at Jack's notch. Believe they have added rocks since '01 on this trail! So we cruised into Hickory Lane. Again our pulses were down as soon as they took them (this was true at every check point all day since day was cool and we were just cruisin'). About 20 minutes later several of our buddies that we had left at last check point came in.
Just one word for the section from Hickory Lane to Edinburg Gap. BORING. 1 full hour of steay trotting on the long gravel climb up the mountain. Drubin had told me he once saw a bear in the middle of the road. At least that would have added some excitment. Personally preferred the old trail through the valley but heard the ATVs have torn it up too much.
Then Charlie and I did the steep climb out of Edinburg Gap on the ATV Trail to Little Fort. This next section of trail was OK in 2001 but now the ATVs have stripped the top soil so it was really rocky. Met lots of ATVs.
A few miles from Little Fort, my left front shoe came off. As soon as we hit some fresh gravel I let Stagg know by bobbing my head. He said some of those words again. Then got easy boot on. I was then OK and we headed on into Little Fort check. Took us almost two hours from E Gap to Little Fort because of all the rock. Ugh!
Got thru vet check right away even with easy boot on and then had to get shoe put on. No farrier truck at check point which was bummer so we had to walk up hill to meet farrier. Stagg got up tight as we left vet check about 10 minutes after scheduled to do so and other riders had come in. Charlie was nice enought to wait for me. I really like Charlie.
When we left the Little Fort Vet check, I could tell Stagg wanted to move out since the other horses were only about 15 minutes behind. With a new shoe on I felt fine. And since Charlie and I had been taking it easy we were ready to go. So we cruised up the gravel road to the Fort Powell campground. Then lots more rocks where Charlie (actually on orders from Sue) insisted we slow down. Then we cruised down the mountain into Pickett Springs.
V4 to V5 was fastest 10 miles of day (about an hour). Went straight into P&R. Really had to chow down as Sherman's gap was next and 20 minute holds do not give much time for serious eating.
None of our buddies behind us were into the check point when we left.
Sherman's Gap. Ford Passage Creek and start climbing on nice dirt trail with occasional rocks. And then more rocks. And more rocks. And then really steep with more rocks. Stagg took me to Sherman's Gap for training two weeks before my first OD in '99. I told him if he made me do it again he was going to have to scramble over the rocks on foot on the last steep section. And I have made Stagg do that at each of the OD's I have done. Lets him know what I do for him. Charlie was good enough to lead this stretch as I had done most of the leading. Sue calls Charlie a tractor and he just trudges along. Then along the ridge and down the other side. The descent has gotten tougher. I used to dance down beside Stagg on foot. But with mud from the rain and about a 100 horses from the 50 and 75, it was a mess. So we trudged down.
When we finally got to the open road I was ready to roll. So we cruised into McCoy's Ford vet check with Charlie reminding me occasionally to not go too fast. We went straight into the check. 20 minute holds do not give much time for serious chowing down but I did find some nice alfalfa cubes that some horse had left and hoovered them.
McCoy's Ford at nite! Had never crossed the Sheandoah River at nite before but thanks to the extra 5 miles or so we did leaving V1, Charlie and I headed into the river in darkness. They had the 1/4 mile crossing marked with glow sticks in milk bottles. Really cool looking!!!
We trotted up the climb to Limeton and on to Fox Hollow, where the trail was now really well churned up as those 50 and 75 horses had gone through twice. Charlie told me he had lost a shoe in the mud. As soon as we got to the gravel road Sue figured that out. Actually she had asked Stagg if he saw anything earlier but Stagg did not figure it out in the dark (JMO but he's frequently in the dark).
Sue put an easy boot on Charlie. Stagg trotted Charlie for Sue and then vice versa. They decided Charlie was OK. Charlie agreed. We did an easy trot into Liberty Hall, the last vet check and of course went straight in.
As the vet was checking me I looked up and saw 4 of my buddies from earlier in the ride had just come 4 minutes after us. Stagg and Sue did not look pleased.
Well those other horses came into the last vet check just 4 minutes behind Charlie and I. I overheard Stagg discussing with Sue what the plan was. Sue said she had to make sure Charlie finished as she was riding Charlie for Maggie Price, Charlie's owner. And Maggie had come to the OD to see Charlie as well as her human friends. Charlie said Sue was concerned about the shoe Charlie had lost as was Charlie. They did not want to race in with an easy boot. And there was no farrier at the vet check. So Charlie and Sue agreed that Charlie would just "tractor on in".
Aside: Maggie is a dear friend of both Sue and Stagg. My best buddy Drubin was bred and raised by Maggie who sold him to Stagg. Drubin said Stagg claims Maggie taught him much of what he learned about endurance riding but Drubin says he is really the one who trained Stagg. And Maggie, who is fighting cancer, had loaned Charlie to Sue. Sue rode Charlie to a successful finish at the Pan Ams last summer. Charlie told me Sue was riding the OD for Maggie.
I could feel the excitement in Stagg as we left the check point. Charlie and I remained together for a short ways. Then it was time to move. Now all that practice of trotting and galloping up that 2000 foot climb at home paid off. We made good time to the first creek crossing. There I took a good long drink as Stagg had put more of the nasty electrolyte in my mouth at the vet check. Yecch! Twelve times in one ride. Too much. The applesause only helps so much.
Then it was on to the top of the mountain. We got to the top before Stagg realized and would have tripped over the chain across the trail as the way around the chain was not marked by glow sticks and there was a glow stick lined up on the other side that Stagg was focused on. However I was alert and avoided the chain. Now downhill to the Finish.
Stagg hopped off as we crossed the Skyline Drive to run down Hickerson Hollow. I actually could have gotten him down faster in the dark with hin on my back but he likes to think he is helping so I humor him. But he can't see worth a damn in the dark. He was trying to use the light from the glowsticks on my breast collar so he would not affect my night vision. Great for me but not so bright for him. The glow sticks marking the trail were sometimes on the right and sometimes on the left. I could tell but he couldn't. So he headed to the left of a glow stick on the left and went straight into a ditch. I would have given a horse laugh if I wasn't so concerned for him. At any rate we did make it down the Hickerson Hollow with lots of stumbling by Stagg but none by me as I can dance down the trail in the dark. Stagg really is a lousy dancer, just ask Cheryl.
Stagg got on me just before the gravel road past Pete Wilson's and I did my big trot on down the lane. Had to be a bit careful on the paved road but did not hear or see any horse behind. We made the final right turn onto the dirt road, the left turn by the big tree and thru the woods onto the big field. Then I trotted proundly across the field to the finish line that Henry had all lit up. I appreciated all of those folks cheering at 8 minutes before midnite.
Charlie came in about 15 mintues later. Maggie was at the finish line to see both Charlie and I finish! Those other buddies that had come into Liberty Hall were 15 mintues behind Charlie. So we had saved our fastest riding for the last 5 miles in the dark, not knowing of course that the other guys were not chasing us.
As soon as Stagg weighed, we went down to the quadrangle where my vet friend Dr. Art King was. I did my trot out for completion. Then I proudly could say I was the first horse to win the OD three times. I could tell Stagg was pleased.
A bit later Charlie did his trot out for completion. He told me he was a bit sore where he had lost the shoe but determined to complete for Sue and Maggie which he did. Charlie is one tough horse and the only horse that I have ridden with that matched me at every hold on recoveries. I like Charlie and hope to ride with him again.
The last piece of business that nite was the Best Condition trot out at one hour. I felt good and so did a nice big trot as Art likes that. Stagg told me later that I there is a nice silver bowl on his mantle for OD high vet score to go with my Best Condition blanket. I am still waiting for him to serve me dinner in the bowl.
That's it. Am now on summer vacation! To my equine buddies hope to see you after the summer.
So long and happy trails,
Jayel Super.
The start: I was happy Stagg had arranged for me to ride with Charlie, who is a good guy. We had camped together at the Pan Ams but did not ride together. I told Stagg I did NOT want any of this B.S. of doing 70 miles alone over this rock pile they call the Old Dominion like we did in 1999. I wanted company like in in 2001 only all the way. Since Charlie was to be my buddy for the ride, I decided to be nice early in the ride (well at least relatively nice) and more or less make Stagg think I was listening and willing to go out at a reasonable pace.
Of course at OD we do the first 1/2 mile or so on a paved road behind Henry's pace car. Stagg sings Kum Ba Ya to try to calm me. Boy does he not know how to carry a tune. Calming - Hah! Then we start the climb up Hickerson hollow.
Like usual we were near the front after doing the first 1200 foot climb at a slow but steady pace, in fact slower than usual. When we get to the top of the mountain the course is very inviting to fly down the mountain and I am ready to do that. But Stagg won't let me. He keeps mumbling (he does mumble a lot) about some guy named Matthew MacKay Smith saying "Never hurry, never tarry." So now I no longer even fight him (well not much) while all of these other horses come flying by us thinking they are going to make good time early. So of course most of the horses in the ride passed us before we got to McCoy's Ford (12 miles) out. Of course we always an lose an additional minute or so 'cause Stagg has to pee so often. But's it's fun doing circles around him while he tries to maintain his composure.
Crossing the Shenandoah River is the early morning light is really cool in more ways the one. This year is was cooler than normal cause the water was up to my belly due to the rains! And the milk jugs to mark the crossing had been swept away!! But I was smart enough to get Stagg across the river without getting in trouble unlike the horse who gave its rider a good bath. Then it was my turn to pee in front of the vets at the fly by. Nice color, good volume of course. Most of the other horses were now ahead of Charlie and me.
Charlie and I kept up a good steady pace going up Morgan's Trail (Stagg said Col. Morgan cut that at the direction of G. Washington in case the colonial army had to retreat from the British - I said Col. Morgan cut trails for mules not horses). We passed all of the other horses going up the mountain and across the ridge line as I am pretty good at dancing along the rocks and Charlie stayed right with me. Of course I did not tell Stagg we had passed all of the other horses and he can be clueless at times.
Stagg and Sue came into the first vet check (25 miles) in just under 3 hours. They looked around and asked where all of the other horses were. Charlie and I just laughed as we knew we were leading even though they did not. Sue and Stagg checked our pulses. They should not have bothered. We knew we were already down.
During the check Stagg made his first mistake. He was too busy feeding his face and running his mouth. He did not check the map for the next loop even though I thought I had trained him to always do that. But he's damn hard to train. Cheryl (Stagg's wife and my crew) told Stagg that he went out the way he came in but Stagg asked the out-timer which way to go who pointed to a set of ribbons in the OD color pattern going out in a different direction. I smelled trouble.
We left the first check point the same way we had in prior years and got a couple miles away when Sue said something looked funny. Stagg claimed we were going the back way up to Milford's gap. Then a couple minutes later he said some words that I will not repeat, got out the map and we turned around. It was funny as horses kept coming towards us. Stagg would point in back down the trail from which they came, shout something and they would turn around and follow us. After a couple of miles, Charlie and I had collected all of the horses in the ride and were leading them back to the Vet check like a troop of cavalry horses. Sort of cool in a way but Stagg did not seem to be amused. We had just done an extra 4 to 5 miles (at the OD!). And of course all of the other horses had done less extra mileage as they turned around as we met them heading back into camp. Stagg hollered for the Station Head that they were sending all of the horses out the 75 mile trail, not out the 100 mile trail. Then we headed back up the Massanutten in the right direction.
The rest of the way to the second vet check Charlie and I just cruised along with a couple of other buddies over new trai and some road. I like new trail. This was neat trappy up and down stuff without big rocks but good tough work. We did trot right over a rattlesnake in the road. But a car had already removed any threat from that particular crittur by running over it first.
As we got a few miles from the vet check I saw hoofprints ahead of us which roused my suspicions. When we got to the vet check, there were 4 horses that Charlie and I had passed on the climb up over Milford Gap. Turned out that after coming down from Milford Gap the riders made the guys turn right onto the 75 mile trail in the backwards direction instead of left onto the 100 and 75 going out. Then they picked up the 100 again when it split from the 75 and got ahead of us by cutting off several miles accidentally. Felt really sorry for the chaps as their riders had missed the one critical pie plate. Heard later the riders decided not to make them go back which would have made their ride over 110 miles but rather just ride for completion.
At any rate Charlie and I came into together. Our pulses were down immediately so we went straight to the vets while our buddies took a couple of minutes longer. Then we really chowed down! as we had heard that there Haburn's Gap was a big steep climb.
After this, it seems that we got into the serious rocks. Likely they import them -- no one place on earth could really have so many rocks natively. So Charlie I climbed up the new Habron Gap trail. This new trail is quite a steep climb altho we did trot much of it.
Got exciting when I saw the snake in the trail and no place to go. Stagg said it was only a black racer. Whatever. Charlie kept his cool and we got by.
Maintained steady pace to top, across the knife edge at Jack's notch. Believe they have added rocks since '01 on this trail! So we cruised into Hickory Lane. Again our pulses were down as soon as they took them (this was true at every check point all day since day was cool and we were just cruisin'). About 20 minutes later several of our buddies that we had left at last check point came in.
Just one word for the section from Hickory Lane to Edinburg Gap. BORING. 1 full hour of steay trotting on the long gravel climb up the mountain. Drubin had told me he once saw a bear in the middle of the road. At least that would have added some excitment. Personally preferred the old trail through the valley but heard the ATVs have torn it up too much.
Then Charlie and I did the steep climb out of Edinburg Gap on the ATV Trail to Little Fort. This next section of trail was OK in 2001 but now the ATVs have stripped the top soil so it was really rocky. Met lots of ATVs.
A few miles from Little Fort, my left front shoe came off. As soon as we hit some fresh gravel I let Stagg know by bobbing my head. He said some of those words again. Then got easy boot on. I was then OK and we headed on into Little Fort check. Took us almost two hours from E Gap to Little Fort because of all the rock. Ugh!
Got thru vet check right away even with easy boot on and then had to get shoe put on. No farrier truck at check point which was bummer so we had to walk up hill to meet farrier. Stagg got up tight as we left vet check about 10 minutes after scheduled to do so and other riders had come in. Charlie was nice enought to wait for me. I really like Charlie.
When we left the Little Fort Vet check, I could tell Stagg wanted to move out since the other horses were only about 15 minutes behind. With a new shoe on I felt fine. And since Charlie and I had been taking it easy we were ready to go. So we cruised up the gravel road to the Fort Powell campground. Then lots more rocks where Charlie (actually on orders from Sue) insisted we slow down. Then we cruised down the mountain into Pickett Springs.
V4 to V5 was fastest 10 miles of day (about an hour). Went straight into P&R. Really had to chow down as Sherman's gap was next and 20 minute holds do not give much time for serious eating.
None of our buddies behind us were into the check point when we left.
Sherman's Gap. Ford Passage Creek and start climbing on nice dirt trail with occasional rocks. And then more rocks. And more rocks. And then really steep with more rocks. Stagg took me to Sherman's Gap for training two weeks before my first OD in '99. I told him if he made me do it again he was going to have to scramble over the rocks on foot on the last steep section. And I have made Stagg do that at each of the OD's I have done. Lets him know what I do for him. Charlie was good enough to lead this stretch as I had done most of the leading. Sue calls Charlie a tractor and he just trudges along. Then along the ridge and down the other side. The descent has gotten tougher. I used to dance down beside Stagg on foot. But with mud from the rain and about a 100 horses from the 50 and 75, it was a mess. So we trudged down.
When we finally got to the open road I was ready to roll. So we cruised into McCoy's Ford vet check with Charlie reminding me occasionally to not go too fast. We went straight into the check. 20 minute holds do not give much time for serious chowing down but I did find some nice alfalfa cubes that some horse had left and hoovered them.
McCoy's Ford at nite! Had never crossed the Sheandoah River at nite before but thanks to the extra 5 miles or so we did leaving V1, Charlie and I headed into the river in darkness. They had the 1/4 mile crossing marked with glow sticks in milk bottles. Really cool looking!!!
We trotted up the climb to Limeton and on to Fox Hollow, where the trail was now really well churned up as those 50 and 75 horses had gone through twice. Charlie told me he had lost a shoe in the mud. As soon as we got to the gravel road Sue figured that out. Actually she had asked Stagg if he saw anything earlier but Stagg did not figure it out in the dark (JMO but he's frequently in the dark).
Sue put an easy boot on Charlie. Stagg trotted Charlie for Sue and then vice versa. They decided Charlie was OK. Charlie agreed. We did an easy trot into Liberty Hall, the last vet check and of course went straight in.
As the vet was checking me I looked up and saw 4 of my buddies from earlier in the ride had just come 4 minutes after us. Stagg and Sue did not look pleased.
Well those other horses came into the last vet check just 4 minutes behind Charlie and I. I overheard Stagg discussing with Sue what the plan was. Sue said she had to make sure Charlie finished as she was riding Charlie for Maggie Price, Charlie's owner. And Maggie had come to the OD to see Charlie as well as her human friends. Charlie said Sue was concerned about the shoe Charlie had lost as was Charlie. They did not want to race in with an easy boot. And there was no farrier at the vet check. So Charlie and Sue agreed that Charlie would just "tractor on in".
Aside: Maggie is a dear friend of both Sue and Stagg. My best buddy Drubin was bred and raised by Maggie who sold him to Stagg. Drubin said Stagg claims Maggie taught him much of what he learned about endurance riding but Drubin says he is really the one who trained Stagg. And Maggie, who is fighting cancer, had loaned Charlie to Sue. Sue rode Charlie to a successful finish at the Pan Ams last summer. Charlie told me Sue was riding the OD for Maggie.
I could feel the excitement in Stagg as we left the check point. Charlie and I remained together for a short ways. Then it was time to move. Now all that practice of trotting and galloping up that 2000 foot climb at home paid off. We made good time to the first creek crossing. There I took a good long drink as Stagg had put more of the nasty electrolyte in my mouth at the vet check. Yecch! Twelve times in one ride. Too much. The applesause only helps so much.
Then it was on to the top of the mountain. We got to the top before Stagg realized and would have tripped over the chain across the trail as the way around the chain was not marked by glow sticks and there was a glow stick lined up on the other side that Stagg was focused on. However I was alert and avoided the chain. Now downhill to the Finish.
Stagg hopped off as we crossed the Skyline Drive to run down Hickerson Hollow. I actually could have gotten him down faster in the dark with hin on my back but he likes to think he is helping so I humor him. But he can't see worth a damn in the dark. He was trying to use the light from the glowsticks on my breast collar so he would not affect my night vision. Great for me but not so bright for him. The glow sticks marking the trail were sometimes on the right and sometimes on the left. I could tell but he couldn't. So he headed to the left of a glow stick on the left and went straight into a ditch. I would have given a horse laugh if I wasn't so concerned for him. At any rate we did make it down the Hickerson Hollow with lots of stumbling by Stagg but none by me as I can dance down the trail in the dark. Stagg really is a lousy dancer, just ask Cheryl.
Stagg got on me just before the gravel road past Pete Wilson's and I did my big trot on down the lane. Had to be a bit careful on the paved road but did not hear or see any horse behind. We made the final right turn onto the dirt road, the left turn by the big tree and thru the woods onto the big field. Then I trotted proundly across the field to the finish line that Henry had all lit up. I appreciated all of those folks cheering at 8 minutes before midnite.
Charlie came in about 15 mintues later. Maggie was at the finish line to see both Charlie and I finish! Those other buddies that had come into Liberty Hall were 15 mintues behind Charlie. So we had saved our fastest riding for the last 5 miles in the dark, not knowing of course that the other guys were not chasing us.
As soon as Stagg weighed, we went down to the quadrangle where my vet friend Dr. Art King was. I did my trot out for completion. Then I proudly could say I was the first horse to win the OD three times. I could tell Stagg was pleased.
A bit later Charlie did his trot out for completion. He told me he was a bit sore where he had lost the shoe but determined to complete for Sue and Maggie which he did. Charlie is one tough horse and the only horse that I have ridden with that matched me at every hold on recoveries. I like Charlie and hope to ride with him again.
The last piece of business that nite was the Best Condition trot out at one hour. I felt good and so did a nice big trot as Art likes that. Stagg told me later that I there is a nice silver bowl on his mantle for OD high vet score to go with my Best Condition blanket. I am still waiting for him to serve me dinner in the bowl.
That's it. Am now on summer vacation! To my equine buddies hope to see you after the summer.
So long and happy trails,
Jayel Super.
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
Happy Newbies Horse and Ride - Dean Conti
Jimmy (he’s the horse) and I are definitely members of the Newbie Division of Endurance Riding. I essentially knew nothing about it until attending the PAC 2003 when I crewed for the Kanavys (a friend of mine, Erwin, has one of their horses). It became obvious to me by the end of the weekend I would have to give this thing a try. So this past weekend I just completed my first ride, a 25 mile LD (BTW it’s fine with me they are not endurance miles), at the Klickitat Trek. So now I would like to make a few observations and ask a bunch of questions. I will then shrink into the background to continue my knowledge absorption. (Or is it adsorption? A little vet help here).
The boring (but possibly necessary) details of our first ride so perhaps someone can answer my questions and make suggestions (and others can learn from my mistakes):
My background is from mountain climbing and backpacking, but the knees are not what they use to be. (Yes, I was one of those dreaded horse-eating pack carriers)! So five years ago our family (wife and two daughters) brought horses into our lives (happily including the 4H thing). The horses are at the house and we have access to a nice 14 mile loop trail from there. Two years ago we purchased a four horse trailer so we could start exploring some of the tremendous trails that are in this area (Seattle). Some of the mountain trails we ride gain 2000 vertical feet in 2 miles of length, so good conditioning just happens (nothing like sitting on the horse at 7000’ in the Alpine Lake Wilderness).
Based on suggestions gleaned from RC, I added faster flat conditioning rides to prepare Jimmy, a registered 15.3H, 12 year old Quarterhorse (he was raced early in his life and is built more like a TB). So after a quick 15 miler warm-up and a few off days we headed down to Mt Adams.
Ride day brought what could arguably be called perfect horse weather. Temperature upper 50’s to lower 60s. A little sun, then mostly cloudy with a little rain but a lot of fine mist (comparable to what the NFL uses on the sidelines for hot games). Overheating was never a problem (except for the riders under their rain coat). So my friend Erwin and I stayed away from the start and let the first group go before starting. We trotted the first 11 mile loop and fortunately our horses were willing to allow others to pass without any (big) problem. We walked into camp and both horses quickly pulsed down. After a little coaxing, Jimmy drank and ate well, but not voraciously.
One strange thing did happen. Erwin’s horse, an Arab, went from dry to white foam on the chest in a matter of a minute or two. We were doing an easy trot on fairly flat ground and with no pressure from another horse (at least the humans didn’t notice any). His horse wasn’t showing any signs of distress and then almost as quickly he dried back out. Did we just miss something that he saw that made him nervous (and could that cause that type of reaction)?
Per plan the second loop was at a faster clip, with a considerable amount of cantering. We ended up in a group of four others (with another QH setting the pace). There were plenty of water crossings and Jimmy drank at about half of them. Everything was going along smoothly until we were doing a fairly fast canter down a slight hill when one of my stirrup leathers came off the saddle and it fell completely off. I’m not a good enough rider to sit what we were doing, so I ended up bear hugging Jimmy’s neck with both arms to stay on, and thus unable to slow him down (even though I still had the rains in my hands) . Fortunately the rider in front of us, Jill, noticed the change in beat and started to slow her horse down (who was not particularly interested in listening since Jimmy didn’t seem to mind my hanging onto his neck and thus was keeping the pressure on). So at a slightly slower canter I bailed off (instead of waiting to fall off), and fortunately we both kept the wheels down as we skidded to a stop. Everyone patiently waited as Jimmy and I ran back up the hill to fetch the errant stirrup.
What more could happen? How about Jimmy loosing a front shoe minutes later (on the same side as the problem stirrup), and not having an EasyBoot (forgot to put the darn thing in the cantle bag). But never fear, Jill again to the rescue! I never saw this wonderful person before she passed me halfway through the second loop. Yet here she was off her horse and offering me her EasyBoot as the other riders continued on. She stayed until it was fitted and then we continued on, reclaiming our positions in the ride. I dismounted and we ran side by side the last couple hundred yards to the finish (if I was the horse, I would have been pulled in an instant). Jimmy needed 10 minutes to pulse down, giving us a 3:12 ride time. He did the drink/eat/poop/pee thing well, so we did a light 10 mile ride the next day before going home.
Questions:
#
# 1) The farrier has noticed that Jimmies feet are not growing that fast (and he tends to throw shoes). He has not had any lameness problems (yet), but I am concerned. He wears shoes year round since we ride during the winter. The horses get Eastern Washington timothy hay, Strategy grain and salt supplements year round, and plenty of Western Washington pasture from April to November (mud the rest of the year). What supplements have others used that best helps promote hoof growth?
# 2) I got my Vet and BC cards back and suppose I should be able to learn something about my horse from the pre/post ride deltas and overall score (596). How can I learn from them?
# 3) How different will my horse react when we do a ride on a warmer/hot/humid day?
# 4) How should I work electrolytes into my program as I work up to a 50 miler, and hopefully a 100 miler?
# 5) How much more cautious should I be with Jimmy since he is a Quarterhorse as opposed to an Arab?
# 6) Jimmy lightly clipped the inside of his hind legs (at the fetlock?). What is the best boot/wrap to protect this area (the vet said it was fairly common problem), that won’t cause chafing?
Lessons I learned:
# 1) Stop and help someone if they need it. Your turn needing assistance is just around the corner.
# 2) If you know something is wrong with your equipment, fix it. The stirrup had come off once before. Even though it is coming off because I am not a smooth enough a rider, it needs to be fixed so it CAN NOT fall off.
# 3) Ask questions. Everyone was very polite and informative. All were happy to share regardless of how ridiculous the question. This is good since I knew nothing (and at least now I know very little, which is an improvement).
# 4) Listen to your horse and pay attention to what he is trying to tell you.
# 5) There is nothing like banking through the curves on a nice soft single track trail that wanders through the forest. Just be certain to stay on the same side of the tree as your horse (At least I managed that).
# 6) Find a mentor. Erwin has graciously passed on what he has learned from the Kanavys, which made a big difference for me.
# 7) Have fun!
So we thank EVERYONE on RC for spending their valuable time to share their knowledge and appreciation for this sport and their concern for the welfare of the horse. While the temperature on RC has gotten quite high at times, there is still plenty of wonderful information for us Newbies out here. So please don’t get discouraged and sign off, even if the discussions get a little raucous or personal. Remember that it is the horse that will ultimately bear the cost of an information void.
Cheers!
Dean (with a 2 week old, large AERC# 33370 and sliding back into the shadows)
The boring (but possibly necessary) details of our first ride so perhaps someone can answer my questions and make suggestions (and others can learn from my mistakes):
My background is from mountain climbing and backpacking, but the knees are not what they use to be. (Yes, I was one of those dreaded horse-eating pack carriers)! So five years ago our family (wife and two daughters) brought horses into our lives (happily including the 4H thing). The horses are at the house and we have access to a nice 14 mile loop trail from there. Two years ago we purchased a four horse trailer so we could start exploring some of the tremendous trails that are in this area (Seattle). Some of the mountain trails we ride gain 2000 vertical feet in 2 miles of length, so good conditioning just happens (nothing like sitting on the horse at 7000’ in the Alpine Lake Wilderness).
Based on suggestions gleaned from RC, I added faster flat conditioning rides to prepare Jimmy, a registered 15.3H, 12 year old Quarterhorse (he was raced early in his life and is built more like a TB). So after a quick 15 miler warm-up and a few off days we headed down to Mt Adams.
Ride day brought what could arguably be called perfect horse weather. Temperature upper 50’s to lower 60s. A little sun, then mostly cloudy with a little rain but a lot of fine mist (comparable to what the NFL uses on the sidelines for hot games). Overheating was never a problem (except for the riders under their rain coat). So my friend Erwin and I stayed away from the start and let the first group go before starting. We trotted the first 11 mile loop and fortunately our horses were willing to allow others to pass without any (big) problem. We walked into camp and both horses quickly pulsed down. After a little coaxing, Jimmy drank and ate well, but not voraciously.
One strange thing did happen. Erwin’s horse, an Arab, went from dry to white foam on the chest in a matter of a minute or two. We were doing an easy trot on fairly flat ground and with no pressure from another horse (at least the humans didn’t notice any). His horse wasn’t showing any signs of distress and then almost as quickly he dried back out. Did we just miss something that he saw that made him nervous (and could that cause that type of reaction)?
Per plan the second loop was at a faster clip, with a considerable amount of cantering. We ended up in a group of four others (with another QH setting the pace). There were plenty of water crossings and Jimmy drank at about half of them. Everything was going along smoothly until we were doing a fairly fast canter down a slight hill when one of my stirrup leathers came off the saddle and it fell completely off. I’m not a good enough rider to sit what we were doing, so I ended up bear hugging Jimmy’s neck with both arms to stay on, and thus unable to slow him down (even though I still had the rains in my hands) . Fortunately the rider in front of us, Jill, noticed the change in beat and started to slow her horse down (who was not particularly interested in listening since Jimmy didn’t seem to mind my hanging onto his neck and thus was keeping the pressure on). So at a slightly slower canter I bailed off (instead of waiting to fall off), and fortunately we both kept the wheels down as we skidded to a stop. Everyone patiently waited as Jimmy and I ran back up the hill to fetch the errant stirrup.
What more could happen? How about Jimmy loosing a front shoe minutes later (on the same side as the problem stirrup), and not having an EasyBoot (forgot to put the darn thing in the cantle bag). But never fear, Jill again to the rescue! I never saw this wonderful person before she passed me halfway through the second loop. Yet here she was off her horse and offering me her EasyBoot as the other riders continued on. She stayed until it was fitted and then we continued on, reclaiming our positions in the ride. I dismounted and we ran side by side the last couple hundred yards to the finish (if I was the horse, I would have been pulled in an instant). Jimmy needed 10 minutes to pulse down, giving us a 3:12 ride time. He did the drink/eat/poop/pee thing well, so we did a light 10 mile ride the next day before going home.
Questions:
#
# 1) The farrier has noticed that Jimmies feet are not growing that fast (and he tends to throw shoes). He has not had any lameness problems (yet), but I am concerned. He wears shoes year round since we ride during the winter. The horses get Eastern Washington timothy hay, Strategy grain and salt supplements year round, and plenty of Western Washington pasture from April to November (mud the rest of the year). What supplements have others used that best helps promote hoof growth?
# 2) I got my Vet and BC cards back and suppose I should be able to learn something about my horse from the pre/post ride deltas and overall score (596). How can I learn from them?
# 3) How different will my horse react when we do a ride on a warmer/hot/humid day?
# 4) How should I work electrolytes into my program as I work up to a 50 miler, and hopefully a 100 miler?
# 5) How much more cautious should I be with Jimmy since he is a Quarterhorse as opposed to an Arab?
# 6) Jimmy lightly clipped the inside of his hind legs (at the fetlock?). What is the best boot/wrap to protect this area (the vet said it was fairly common problem), that won’t cause chafing?
Lessons I learned:
# 1) Stop and help someone if they need it. Your turn needing assistance is just around the corner.
# 2) If you know something is wrong with your equipment, fix it. The stirrup had come off once before. Even though it is coming off because I am not a smooth enough a rider, it needs to be fixed so it CAN NOT fall off.
# 3) Ask questions. Everyone was very polite and informative. All were happy to share regardless of how ridiculous the question. This is good since I knew nothing (and at least now I know very little, which is an improvement).
# 4) Listen to your horse and pay attention to what he is trying to tell you.
# 5) There is nothing like banking through the curves on a nice soft single track trail that wanders through the forest. Just be certain to stay on the same side of the tree as your horse (At least I managed that).
# 6) Find a mentor. Erwin has graciously passed on what he has learned from the Kanavys, which made a big difference for me.
# 7) Have fun!
So we thank EVERYONE on RC for spending their valuable time to share their knowledge and appreciation for this sport and their concern for the welfare of the horse. While the temperature on RC has gotten quite high at times, there is still plenty of wonderful information for us Newbies out here. So please don’t get discouraged and sign off, even if the discussions get a little raucous or personal. Remember that it is the horse that will ultimately bear the cost of an information void.
Cheers!
Dean (with a 2 week old, large AERC# 33370 and sliding back into the shadows)
2004 Old Dominion: All is Well - Cindy Eyler
We didn't get a completion at the Old Dominion 50, but Jack is fine. I, however, get the dunce cap.
We warmed up in the big arena at the 4H Center from 6:00 until the start at 6:30, and Jack was amazingly calm in that increasingly crowded environment. There were about 100 horses in the 50-miler, and by the start time it seemed like most of them were in the ring with us. He immediately wanted to trot rather than walk, of course, but he was willing to do what I asked. It was a controlled start (because the first mile or so is on pavement), and we headed out about 2/3 to 3/4 back in the pack. Nice easy trot, walking in the steep and/or rocky spots, up and over Skyline Drive. It's steeper, though better footing, down the other side, and we had some disagreements about how fast we should be going in the steepest parts. Then, I let him move along with most of the other horses around us. WRONG. TOO FAST. We traveled the rest of that 12.5 mile leg to the Shenandoah River without incident. Except for when tried to act like a TB race horse -- two guys were going along side by side ahead of us, and when we came to an open area and they spread farther apart Jack spurted forward trying to shoot the gap.
The folks around us were not stopping at the few creeks, so there was no way that Jack was going to drink. He usually doesn't drink until we've done about ten miles anyway, after which he inhales water whenever it's available. I sponged him all the way across the Shenandoah (about a quarter-mile) into the first vet check at McCoy's Landing. We had done those first 12.5 miles in 1 1/2 hours. Was I concerned? No. I was so worried about not being overtime that I was thrilled. Dunce!
At the last minute, ride management had had to ban all pit crews at McCoy's because the ground was so soggy that we'd have destroyed what is actually a hay field. I had no stethoscope (wasn't riding with a heart rate monitor), so I asked for a courtesy pulse check and he was at 68 (criteria was 64). Took him back to where our crew bag had been dropped, but all he wanted was to eat a bit of alfalfa hay. Back to P&R about five minutes later and he was at 54. I was thrilled. Passed the vet check with no problems. But, during our 20 minute hold, the only thing he would eat was the remains of someone else's dumped out beetpulp/grain slurry, and there wasn't a lot of that. He did not drink, so I did not electrolyte him (he'd been getting plenty of e-lytes for the preceding 36 hours).
What should I have done at this point? Obviously, we should have stayed after our out-time until he'd drunk well and eaten more. But off we went on the next leg, over the Massanutten. He drank well a couple of miles into this second leg, and I syringed him with e-lytes. But we stayed apace with the folks around us up that friggen mountain. TOO FAST for the incline and the footing. Did I mention the rocks? At one point we were slogging over a section of trail that seemed to have only rocks and no dirt. There was a sheer drop-off on our left, though the trail was nicely wide. I was glad I'd had the farrier use borium-headed nails.
Came into the mid-point vet check at Fitchett's Field two hours later (TOO FAST), and he inhaled water from a trough. Sponged him well and he pulsed at 60. All's fine, right? WRONG. While he had excellent gut sounds, his hydration was not good. Vet said a C on skin tenting and cap re-fill. It was a 30 minute hold, so the vet kept our card and told me to bring him back in 20 minutes or so for a re-check. But during that time, HE WOULD NOT EAT! Not even carrots and apples out of my hand. When he peed, it was a deep golden color instead of the nice pale straw color I'm used to seeing. THAT scared me. Back to the vet. PULLED!
While we waited for transportation to basecamp, Jack finally did begin eating some, and he drank deeply again. Back at our campsite, his pee was again deep gold. But a couple of hours later it was the color I expect to see. He's fine. I'm an idiot.
As it turns out, we did get a completion after all for our 50 miles at the Michaux Madness ride two weeks earlier. Evidently the mileage was somewhat longer than advertised, and we finished in what should have been the allotted time. What irony!!!!
Cindy
We warmed up in the big arena at the 4H Center from 6:00 until the start at 6:30, and Jack was amazingly calm in that increasingly crowded environment. There were about 100 horses in the 50-miler, and by the start time it seemed like most of them were in the ring with us. He immediately wanted to trot rather than walk, of course, but he was willing to do what I asked. It was a controlled start (because the first mile or so is on pavement), and we headed out about 2/3 to 3/4 back in the pack. Nice easy trot, walking in the steep and/or rocky spots, up and over Skyline Drive. It's steeper, though better footing, down the other side, and we had some disagreements about how fast we should be going in the steepest parts. Then, I let him move along with most of the other horses around us. WRONG. TOO FAST. We traveled the rest of that 12.5 mile leg to the Shenandoah River without incident. Except for when tried to act like a TB race horse -- two guys were going along side by side ahead of us, and when we came to an open area and they spread farther apart Jack spurted forward trying to shoot the gap.
The folks around us were not stopping at the few creeks, so there was no way that Jack was going to drink. He usually doesn't drink until we've done about ten miles anyway, after which he inhales water whenever it's available. I sponged him all the way across the Shenandoah (about a quarter-mile) into the first vet check at McCoy's Landing. We had done those first 12.5 miles in 1 1/2 hours. Was I concerned? No. I was so worried about not being overtime that I was thrilled. Dunce!
At the last minute, ride management had had to ban all pit crews at McCoy's because the ground was so soggy that we'd have destroyed what is actually a hay field. I had no stethoscope (wasn't riding with a heart rate monitor), so I asked for a courtesy pulse check and he was at 68 (criteria was 64). Took him back to where our crew bag had been dropped, but all he wanted was to eat a bit of alfalfa hay. Back to P&R about five minutes later and he was at 54. I was thrilled. Passed the vet check with no problems. But, during our 20 minute hold, the only thing he would eat was the remains of someone else's dumped out beetpulp/grain slurry, and there wasn't a lot of that. He did not drink, so I did not electrolyte him (he'd been getting plenty of e-lytes for the preceding 36 hours).
What should I have done at this point? Obviously, we should have stayed after our out-time until he'd drunk well and eaten more. But off we went on the next leg, over the Massanutten. He drank well a couple of miles into this second leg, and I syringed him with e-lytes. But we stayed apace with the folks around us up that friggen mountain. TOO FAST for the incline and the footing. Did I mention the rocks? At one point we were slogging over a section of trail that seemed to have only rocks and no dirt. There was a sheer drop-off on our left, though the trail was nicely wide. I was glad I'd had the farrier use borium-headed nails.
Came into the mid-point vet check at Fitchett's Field two hours later (TOO FAST), and he inhaled water from a trough. Sponged him well and he pulsed at 60. All's fine, right? WRONG. While he had excellent gut sounds, his hydration was not good. Vet said a C on skin tenting and cap re-fill. It was a 30 minute hold, so the vet kept our card and told me to bring him back in 20 minutes or so for a re-check. But during that time, HE WOULD NOT EAT! Not even carrots and apples out of my hand. When he peed, it was a deep golden color instead of the nice pale straw color I'm used to seeing. THAT scared me. Back to the vet. PULLED!
While we waited for transportation to basecamp, Jack finally did begin eating some, and he drank deeply again. Back at our campsite, his pee was again deep gold. But a couple of hours later it was the color I expect to see. He's fine. I'm an idiot.
As it turns out, we did get a completion after all for our 50 miles at the Michaux Madness ride two weeks earlier. Evidently the mileage was somewhat longer than advertised, and we finished in what should have been the allotted time. What irony!!!!
Cindy
2004 Old Dominion: A Volunteer's Experience - Amanda Perez
Amanda Perez, aka Walkergirl
I cannot imagine putting on a ride like the OD. The managers have their hands full, and I hope they didn't have to go to wrk today!
It is a credit to the management that another poster said 'There wer plenty of volunteers'. At the awards ceremony, they said ony 12 volunteers had commited ahead of time, though they picked up more as people pulled. The management wisely put their efforts into making things go smoothly for the riders. That came at the expense of making things go smoothly for the vets, however. The ended up with more vets, and communications problems meant that Art King, the head vet, often did not know where his vets were. There was also some confusion at some of the vet checks, but this was not too obvious to the riders.
I have volunteered to be a vet scribe and was assigned to work with Joy Watkins. However she ended up getting shang-haied into doing treatments at the base camp (the 4-H center, a wonderful facility), and nobody, including Art King, the head vet (who drive down from Canada) knew where she was. So I ended up playing find-the-vet most of the weekend. Also, better volunteer info could have been provided. My packet did not include a schdule of events, or a map. I was able to get a rider map, which had the trail routes marked, but something similar with the road routes between the vet checks would have made my life easier, as some of the raod signs were easy to miss. In hind-sight, once I lost track of my vet I should have headed back to the office and said 'put me to work'.
I HIGHLY recommend any newbie starting out in the sport volunteer at a ride first, especially if you are, like me, not an experienced camper. I took my one-horse Brenderup trailer and my dog, Tarski Monster. For some dumb reason I actually beleived the weather forcase (raid Friday, clear the rest of the weekend) and packed lots and lots of shorts and short-sleeved shirts. Due to the rain I skipped the tent and slept in my trailer (yes, that was me tucked in beside the shelter where the dinners were served). Being near the bathrooms (REAL ones, not port-potties) was good, but being that close to the finish line did not make for easy sleeping. I think the first 100 milers began rolling in around 3 am.
It was cold booth nights, and I just about froze. I drove to the near by shopping centers to try to find a sweatshirt. Ha! Could only find one light weight long-sleeved shirt. Bought more blankets, and a mattress cover so my borrowed inflatable mattress would'ne get totally filthy with mud. I was not the only one surpirsed by the weather. Many people had no rain-sheets or coolers for their horses. Even horses used to full-time turn out got shileld standign al night in the cold rain, being unable to move around and wram up. I was told this was a factor accounting for the many tie-ups. I saw 5 pulls at the very first vet-check: three due to bad gut sounds and increased pulse int he CRI, one lameness and an injury. The injury pccured when a horse fell in the river (all the milk had washed away during th night). Both horse and rider went completely under, and she horse came up with a prety badly scraped knee. Joy, the vet I was working with, was the designated treatment vet, so I helpd her check th ehorse over. He was shivering and the rider habd no blanket,. Firtunately I had left my tack trunk in my truck, so I lent her my feleece cooler.
I saw LOTS of people putting their jackets and shirts over haunches: lesson learned: always take a rump-rug and have a cooler or blanket in the crew bag! Also, several people had nop buckets to water their horses while waiting for the ambulance wagaon. Joy Watkins kindly loned her stainless steel vet's bucket for people to use and, fortunately, got it back. although crews coudl not drive in to this stop due to muddy raod conditions, management trucked in gear for people, so a bucket coukld have been sent in. Another lesson learned.
The next time I volunteer, I will get involved earlier. I plan to offer to help out with the volunteer coordination and putting together the volunteer info packets. The management could make much better use fo their website and email to distribute info to vets, riders and volunteers BEFORE the event. Had I known where the vet-checks were ahead of time I could have visted them before hand or printed out maps from pa-quest. I also will volunteer myself and my trailer as an abulance. They had only two (I think) trailers doing abulance duty. I also have some friends who are into ham-radio and will ask them about soliciting ham radio clubs for volunteers: more radio operators would have made the head vets' life MUCH easier.
I heard someone say that there were a record number of treatments, don't know if it was true or not. One horse with colic was shipped to Morven Park equine hospital but was fine when it got there and did not need surgery. From what I heard ans saw, it seems the most common complaint was tie-ups. A surprisig number of horses pulled early in the ride, most likely from going too fast, which the cool temperatures made tempting.
All in all it was a good experience, though a wee bit disorganized. Riders in the area really should come out and support this ride: volunteer!!!! I hope I volunteer at the next OD ride, if my schedule permits. And next time I'll have more warm clothing!!!
I cannot imagine putting on a ride like the OD. The managers have their hands full, and I hope they didn't have to go to wrk today!
It is a credit to the management that another poster said 'There wer plenty of volunteers'. At the awards ceremony, they said ony 12 volunteers had commited ahead of time, though they picked up more as people pulled. The management wisely put their efforts into making things go smoothly for the riders. That came at the expense of making things go smoothly for the vets, however. The ended up with more vets, and communications problems meant that Art King, the head vet, often did not know where his vets were. There was also some confusion at some of the vet checks, but this was not too obvious to the riders.
I have volunteered to be a vet scribe and was assigned to work with Joy Watkins. However she ended up getting shang-haied into doing treatments at the base camp (the 4-H center, a wonderful facility), and nobody, including Art King, the head vet (who drive down from Canada) knew where she was. So I ended up playing find-the-vet most of the weekend. Also, better volunteer info could have been provided. My packet did not include a schdule of events, or a map. I was able to get a rider map, which had the trail routes marked, but something similar with the road routes between the vet checks would have made my life easier, as some of the raod signs were easy to miss. In hind-sight, once I lost track of my vet I should have headed back to the office and said 'put me to work'.
I HIGHLY recommend any newbie starting out in the sport volunteer at a ride first, especially if you are, like me, not an experienced camper. I took my one-horse Brenderup trailer and my dog, Tarski Monster. For some dumb reason I actually beleived the weather forcase (raid Friday, clear the rest of the weekend) and packed lots and lots of shorts and short-sleeved shirts. Due to the rain I skipped the tent and slept in my trailer (yes, that was me tucked in beside the shelter where the dinners were served). Being near the bathrooms (REAL ones, not port-potties) was good, but being that close to the finish line did not make for easy sleeping. I think the first 100 milers began rolling in around 3 am.
It was cold booth nights, and I just about froze. I drove to the near by shopping centers to try to find a sweatshirt. Ha! Could only find one light weight long-sleeved shirt. Bought more blankets, and a mattress cover so my borrowed inflatable mattress would'ne get totally filthy with mud. I was not the only one surpirsed by the weather. Many people had no rain-sheets or coolers for their horses. Even horses used to full-time turn out got shileld standign al night in the cold rain, being unable to move around and wram up. I was told this was a factor accounting for the many tie-ups. I saw 5 pulls at the very first vet-check: three due to bad gut sounds and increased pulse int he CRI, one lameness and an injury. The injury pccured when a horse fell in the river (all the milk had washed away during th night). Both horse and rider went completely under, and she horse came up with a prety badly scraped knee. Joy, the vet I was working with, was the designated treatment vet, so I helpd her check th ehorse over. He was shivering and the rider habd no blanket,. Firtunately I had left my tack trunk in my truck, so I lent her my feleece cooler.
I saw LOTS of people putting their jackets and shirts over haunches: lesson learned: always take a rump-rug and have a cooler or blanket in the crew bag! Also, several people had nop buckets to water their horses while waiting for the ambulance wagaon. Joy Watkins kindly loned her stainless steel vet's bucket for people to use and, fortunately, got it back. although crews coudl not drive in to this stop due to muddy raod conditions, management trucked in gear for people, so a bucket coukld have been sent in. Another lesson learned.
The next time I volunteer, I will get involved earlier. I plan to offer to help out with the volunteer coordination and putting together the volunteer info packets. The management could make much better use fo their website and email to distribute info to vets, riders and volunteers BEFORE the event. Had I known where the vet-checks were ahead of time I could have visted them before hand or printed out maps from pa-quest. I also will volunteer myself and my trailer as an abulance. They had only two (I think) trailers doing abulance duty. I also have some friends who are into ham-radio and will ask them about soliciting ham radio clubs for volunteers: more radio operators would have made the head vets' life MUCH easier.
I heard someone say that there were a record number of treatments, don't know if it was true or not. One horse with colic was shipped to Morven Park equine hospital but was fine when it got there and did not need surgery. From what I heard ans saw, it seems the most common complaint was tie-ups. A surprisig number of horses pulled early in the ride, most likely from going too fast, which the cool temperatures made tempting.
All in all it was a good experience, though a wee bit disorganized. Riders in the area really should come out and support this ride: volunteer!!!! I hope I volunteer at the next OD ride, if my schedule permits. And next time I'll have more warm clothing!!!
2004 Old Dominion: A Story - Karen Williams
This weekend I did the 50-mile ride at the Old Dominion. It was my 3rd ride and first 50. My friend (crew) and I arrived at the 4-H center on Thursday (we wanted to get a good parking spot near the shopping). It was blistering hot and by the time we finished setting up camp I think we were both on the verge of heat exhaustion! She had brought a neat little mister and we sat around spraying each other and using her battery operated fan to cool ourselves off. Worked pretty good! Fortunately, we heard a front was coming through and it should be cooling off by ride time.
The "front" arrived on Friday afternoon in the form of rain, rain, rain, rain. Our great parking spot turned into the great dismal swamp. I really felt sorry for the tent campers ... I wonder just how waterpoof those things are. We spent the afternoon keeping things dry, "strategy" planning and chewing our nails. We were told at the ride briefing that no crew would be allowed at the first vet because of the rain, which about put me into a panic. Who would hold my horse when I went to the outhouse????
Saturday morning looked pretty cloudy, so I hauled out my rain gear. Might as well stay dry and warm. Thank goodness it cooled off considerably. They had a controlled start which I watched from a distance. There were about 100 50 milers, so it was quite a crowd. Once they cleared out, I left (with the drag rider right behind me). Actually, she knew me by name because we had ridden together at my first ride back in October. Nice to see a familiar face.
The ride to McCoy's and the first vet check was fairly easy. Long up and long down, across the Shenandoah river. That crossing was pretty awesome. I've only crossed creeks. The river is about a quarter of a mile wide and standing out in the middle of it in waterproof overalls was a photographer. I don't know how she can stand out there all day in the middle of the river taking pictures. Sure wish I had a picture of that! The river was about chest deep on my little 14h horse. I was really worried when we had all that rain and imagined swimming a raging river. At least we didn't see the canoers and kyakers that other people ran into. My horse gamely plowed through the water, his sights on the vet check (and dry land) ahead.
McCoy's vet check actually worked out pretty well despite having no crew. I found the hay I had sent ahead and I carried feed and electrolytes with me. Widget pulsed down immediately, ate and drank. I quickly discovered that I had just completed the easy part of the ride. We left McCoy's and rode through tons of mud churned up by the 100 horses still ahead of me. Where there wasn't mud, there was rock or rock and mud. I ride a gaited horse (Paso Fino) and the places where we could have made time were too soopy to go through at any speed, so we just went at whatever speed we could. We passed a farm where someone had put out two huge water troughs for the horses and had a cooler of water for the riders. How nice!
Then the climbing began. I've never seen so much uphill in my life. We went up and up and up and up, and just when you think you are at the top, you round a corner and there's more up and up. Poor Widget would stop, look up, look back and try to turn around and go downhill instead. I kept telling myself that this is the worst ... after the next vet check, it will be downhill back to McCoy's. Some of the views were just spectacular. You look waaaaaaaaaaaay down and see the Shenandoah river snaking through the valley.
At the next vet check (I can't remember the name) I was so happy to see my crew. They took my horse, got him eating and drinking, got me eating and drinking. No problems getting through the check. I barely remember it! Anyway, I set off happily anticipating the downhill coming up. Wrong! The trail going back was more uphill!!!! Where the heck do they find all these hills. Again we climbed up and up and up over even more rock than before. More spectacular views.
At one point I came to a pie plate that said "Bog" and sure enough, right smack in the middle of the trail was this huge pit of mud. No way around that I could see. I checked very carefully to make sure hoofprints went up on the other side of it and that no ears were sticking out of it. Looked like it hadn't sucked down any horses, so we slogged through -- it was over my horse's knees (he's only 14h). So anyway, I'm looking (and praying) for some downhill - please!! Be careful what you pray for -- the downhill finally appeared and it was scarier than the uphill! No dirt -- just rock. At one point my horse stopped dead in the trail, looked down, and clearly said "No WAY I'm going down that!!" I got off and tried to lead him down, but he refused to budge, which was probably a good thing because if he had gone, he would have most likely landed right on top of me. I got back on and he immediately tried to do a rollback (no room to turn around) and head in the opposite direction. Nope -- I told him, we have to go down there. He finally heaved a huge sigh and plunged down the hill. I spent the next half hour or so praying that his shoes didn't slip. We finally got past the really bad rock into more sucky mud. I didn't think we'd ever make it back to McCoy's. In fact, I was so sure we would be over time that I stopped frequently to let him graze and drink. We finally came into McCoy's (dead last) and to my surprise, they vetted him through, and after our hold sent us on our way! I again met up with my friendly drag rider who led the way back across the Shenandoah.
We had 7 miles to our last vet check and this time I was definitely over time. I was almost to the check when I heard someone call my name. Turning around in the road I saw my truck and my crew -- all loaded up and on their way back to base camp! They were told I was pulled at McCoy's and the ambulance was taking my horse back to camp, so they were leaving. They were pretty shocked to see me coming up the road. Thank goodness we ran into each other. We got Widget watered and fed and checked by the vets. It was only 4 more miles back to the 4-H center and I wanted to ride it rather than be trailered back. He pulsed right down and was deemed fit to continue, so Suzanne (the drag rider and now my best buddy) and I headed back to base camp.
She and I discussed whether we should race to the finish, decided "nah" so we just trotted/gaited in waving our arms, shouting YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!! .... our friends were clapping and cheering ... it was pretty cool. I was an hour or so over time, but we completed 50 miles -- a distance neither myself or my horse has never done before. Widget was tired and had some foot soreness from all the rocks (definitely pads if I ever do this again), but no puffiness, no muscle soreness that I could find. He was out galloping around the field with his buddies after we got home this afternoon.
All in all .. it was a wonderful weekend. If I had planned a trail ride, and it had rained all the previous afternoon and all the previous night I would have said "forget it", rolled over and gone back to sleep. But there I was, so I might as well get up at an ungodly hour and go ride in whatever is out there. I met lots of wonderful people, made some new friends, reconnected with old friends ... Life is good!
Karen Williams Spotsylvania, VA www.mattariver.com
The "front" arrived on Friday afternoon in the form of rain, rain, rain, rain. Our great parking spot turned into the great dismal swamp. I really felt sorry for the tent campers ... I wonder just how waterpoof those things are. We spent the afternoon keeping things dry, "strategy" planning and chewing our nails. We were told at the ride briefing that no crew would be allowed at the first vet because of the rain, which about put me into a panic. Who would hold my horse when I went to the outhouse????
Saturday morning looked pretty cloudy, so I hauled out my rain gear. Might as well stay dry and warm. Thank goodness it cooled off considerably. They had a controlled start which I watched from a distance. There were about 100 50 milers, so it was quite a crowd. Once they cleared out, I left (with the drag rider right behind me). Actually, she knew me by name because we had ridden together at my first ride back in October. Nice to see a familiar face.
The ride to McCoy's and the first vet check was fairly easy. Long up and long down, across the Shenandoah river. That crossing was pretty awesome. I've only crossed creeks. The river is about a quarter of a mile wide and standing out in the middle of it in waterproof overalls was a photographer. I don't know how she can stand out there all day in the middle of the river taking pictures. Sure wish I had a picture of that! The river was about chest deep on my little 14h horse. I was really worried when we had all that rain and imagined swimming a raging river. At least we didn't see the canoers and kyakers that other people ran into. My horse gamely plowed through the water, his sights on the vet check (and dry land) ahead.
McCoy's vet check actually worked out pretty well despite having no crew. I found the hay I had sent ahead and I carried feed and electrolytes with me. Widget pulsed down immediately, ate and drank. I quickly discovered that I had just completed the easy part of the ride. We left McCoy's and rode through tons of mud churned up by the 100 horses still ahead of me. Where there wasn't mud, there was rock or rock and mud. I ride a gaited horse (Paso Fino) and the places where we could have made time were too soopy to go through at any speed, so we just went at whatever speed we could. We passed a farm where someone had put out two huge water troughs for the horses and had a cooler of water for the riders. How nice!
Then the climbing began. I've never seen so much uphill in my life. We went up and up and up and up, and just when you think you are at the top, you round a corner and there's more up and up. Poor Widget would stop, look up, look back and try to turn around and go downhill instead. I kept telling myself that this is the worst ... after the next vet check, it will be downhill back to McCoy's. Some of the views were just spectacular. You look waaaaaaaaaaaay down and see the Shenandoah river snaking through the valley.
At the next vet check (I can't remember the name) I was so happy to see my crew. They took my horse, got him eating and drinking, got me eating and drinking. No problems getting through the check. I barely remember it! Anyway, I set off happily anticipating the downhill coming up. Wrong! The trail going back was more uphill!!!! Where the heck do they find all these hills. Again we climbed up and up and up over even more rock than before. More spectacular views.
At one point I came to a pie plate that said "Bog" and sure enough, right smack in the middle of the trail was this huge pit of mud. No way around that I could see. I checked very carefully to make sure hoofprints went up on the other side of it and that no ears were sticking out of it. Looked like it hadn't sucked down any horses, so we slogged through -- it was over my horse's knees (he's only 14h). So anyway, I'm looking (and praying) for some downhill - please!! Be careful what you pray for -- the downhill finally appeared and it was scarier than the uphill! No dirt -- just rock. At one point my horse stopped dead in the trail, looked down, and clearly said "No WAY I'm going down that!!" I got off and tried to lead him down, but he refused to budge, which was probably a good thing because if he had gone, he would have most likely landed right on top of me. I got back on and he immediately tried to do a rollback (no room to turn around) and head in the opposite direction. Nope -- I told him, we have to go down there. He finally heaved a huge sigh and plunged down the hill. I spent the next half hour or so praying that his shoes didn't slip. We finally got past the really bad rock into more sucky mud. I didn't think we'd ever make it back to McCoy's. In fact, I was so sure we would be over time that I stopped frequently to let him graze and drink. We finally came into McCoy's (dead last) and to my surprise, they vetted him through, and after our hold sent us on our way! I again met up with my friendly drag rider who led the way back across the Shenandoah.
We had 7 miles to our last vet check and this time I was definitely over time. I was almost to the check when I heard someone call my name. Turning around in the road I saw my truck and my crew -- all loaded up and on their way back to base camp! They were told I was pulled at McCoy's and the ambulance was taking my horse back to camp, so they were leaving. They were pretty shocked to see me coming up the road. Thank goodness we ran into each other. We got Widget watered and fed and checked by the vets. It was only 4 more miles back to the 4-H center and I wanted to ride it rather than be trailered back. He pulsed right down and was deemed fit to continue, so Suzanne (the drag rider and now my best buddy) and I headed back to base camp.
She and I discussed whether we should race to the finish, decided "nah" so we just trotted/gaited in waving our arms, shouting YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!! .... our friends were clapping and cheering ... it was pretty cool. I was an hour or so over time, but we completed 50 miles -- a distance neither myself or my horse has never done before. Widget was tired and had some foot soreness from all the rocks (definitely pads if I ever do this again), but no puffiness, no muscle soreness that I could find. He was out galloping around the field with his buddies after we got home this afternoon.
All in all .. it was a wonderful weekend. If I had planned a trail ride, and it had rained all the previous afternoon and all the previous night I would have said "forget it", rolled over and gone back to sleep. But there I was, so I might as well get up at an ungodly hour and go ride in whatever is out there. I met lots of wonderful people, made some new friends, reconnected with old friends ... Life is good!
Karen Williams Spotsylvania, VA www.mattariver.com
Monday, May 10, 2004
Little Manistee Memorial Ride - Maggi Mieske
OR the Forrest Gump Rain Ride
Remember how Forrest Gump described the rain in Vietnam? Big, fat rain. Small, sting-ging rain (don't forget the twang there). Rain that came in sideways and even some rain that came straight up from the ground. We had that and MORE at the Little Manistee Memorial Ride!
First, it rained all night.
Then, the day dawned dark and dreary and now that I have the poetry out of the way, let me just say that the morning dawned YUCKY! It was dark all right. And dreary. If you could call it dawn, but I wouldn't. It was raining and it was thundering with horrendous flashes of lightning.
We were due to head out at 7:30 a.m. on the 50 miler. We didn't really decide that we WOULD attempt this ride until 7 a.m. and brought the horses out one by one to saddle them under the awning. For once, they didn't argue about being under the scary awning. However, Max and Malik both gave us very disgusted looks as we saddled them. I couldn't blame them. But in weighing the options, it occurred to me that the word "endurance" does not imply FUN or EASY or JOYOUS. "Endurance" is enduring and sometimes what we endure is not fun, is not easy and sometimes is heartbreaking. This was just some RAIN. OK, so it was also 39 degrees. Luther, Michigan is not the Arctic. And besides, my dear daughter, Carrie, offered me the use of her expensive waterproof Columbia coat. And to be brutally honest, NO, we were NOT prepared to ride in the rain (which will be rectified before the next ride!) but neither was the Donner party ready for winter. Well, maybe that isn't the best analogy!
In any case, we warmed up and actually left out a few minutes behind everybody else. We wanted to COMPLETE. We wanted sound, happy horses at the vet checks and at the finish. Malik and Max were thoroughly disgusted as it became apparent to them that we weren't just messing with their heads but actually meant to RIDE in the slop. We took the back loop behind camp that brings us out to the road and then down to the Tin Cup Springs trail. When we got on the road, they could see horses ahead and suddenly realized it was a "ride". A real ride! They perked up and never looked back.
I soon discovered that glasses are a girl's worst nightmare in Forrest Gump rain and removed them to a pocket (after I found one in my unfamiliar loaner). I was now, for all intents and purposes, blind. Jenny devised some ingenious hand signals to guide me through roots and mud and water (it was raining too hard to hear her!) but I basically turned it all over to Malik and was supremely pleased that he never once faltered, even when I missed a signal from Jenny. He never missed a step that whole fifty miles. Maybe I should ride like that more often.
Our first check went great. Max's guts were a little slow at first but he chowed down on the beautiful alfalfa I set aside for the ride and they came right around. He had A's on everything else, as did Malik. I couldn't believe they were doing so well in such awful weather. Ride management was having quite a time of it with vet cards disintegrating into oblivion. The vets and timers and vet writers were wonderful working under pressure. Many of the riders were on the honor system and for the most part, I feel most if not all were honorable. It was not the best of circumstances but spirits were high and there was a lot of laughter in spite of the rain!
I discovered at the first check that I was getting wet underneath my daughter's coat and thought perhaps it was seeping in when the hood had blown off from my helmet and from the neck when I had finally unzipped it slightly to regulate my body temperature. This trail took some concentration and WORK! We usually have to worry about it being deep and dry in the sand and Jay and Becke usually put out water troughs. Not this time, no sir!
There was water everywhere!!!
Our hold at the first check was 30 minutes. Jenny and I were basically numb from the cold but the horses warmed themselves up under a blanket and with some munchies in their slurry. They were quite happy to trot off for the next loop, which sure helped us be upbeat about going back into the storm!
Again, I was blind but it couldn't be helped. The glasses were even worse. We made it back to camp with water-logged shoes and literally peeled our clothes off back in the warm, dry trailer. We asked each other if we wanted to quit but neither one did. I discovered a couple of things back at camp. Carrie had not waterproofed her coat after washing it several times. I had to peel that off before I could peel off the rest of the layers of clothing. And I discovered that my tights with the suede knee patches had accumulated dirt and sand to the point that they rubbed the dye right off of my stirrup fenders and the skin right off of the inside of my knee to boot. OUCH! I had been so cold and numb that I hadn't realized it. Fortunately, I had some dry tights and before we could finish dressing, Nelson showed up to inform us that the check had been changed from a 50-minute hold to a 30-minute hold. We had ten minutes to head out! BUT, there was good news. While we had been changing, the rain had STOPPED! Hallelujah, praise the Lord!!!
Back on the trail we went and this time, I was able to SEE it! I noticed the poor little starflowers had shrunk themselves up as tight as they could. The marsh marigolds behind the ride camp were under water. The muddy spot we usually pass over was now a flowing stream and flowing pretty fast. Back to the road and then on to the trail again farther down and the horses were now really enjoying themselves immensely! While it was still gray, the sky was lightening up and the air was becoming warmer. Our 3rd vet check was 40 minutes and things were smoothing out for most of the volunteers though there was some confusion about vet cards and time outs and such. Nothing major and still lots of laughter to go around. Jenny and I left the check with happy and refreshed horses, strong and willing and we both agreed that in spite of the earlier weather, this was the best ride we had shared in a looooong time. Our horses took turns leading on the trail and kept each other motivated. When they wanted a breather, they would walk and in 4 or 5 minutes they would voluntarily pick up a trot again. They started drinking deeply finally on this last loop. Though not drinking well before, they never showed any outward signs of dehydration. They did decide that the water on the trail was the most delicious they had ever tasted, especially the dirtiest and brownest stuff. There was some tough going where the trail is usually firm, as it had been churned up into a muddy mess by the time we passed through. We slowed down in those parts and let the horses have a little gallop where it was clear and easygoing. They had fun "competing" with each other. We passed a few comp horses here and there. The 50 comp riders were doing the trail backwards and Max and Malik looked after them as they continued on after sharing a drink in the same puddle as if wondering what was wrong with them...they were going the WRONG way.
I can't believe how much our pit crew did for us. Carrie's boyfriend, Joe, was a trooper and proved himself invaluable to us. We couldn't have done it without Joe and Nelson, I am afraid. They were waiting for us with a smile and a pat on the back even though we didn't need a slosh bottle or anything to drink during the deluge! When I knew a pit stop was coming up, I would start calling "Yoo-hoo, where are you?" through the trees. (Watch the Bonanza episode called "Hoss and the Leprechauns" and you'll understand). When they could hear us, they would start calling the horses' names. Max and Malik LOVE to see their pit crew on the trail even if they don't get anything though they often do. We discovered during the course of our ride that saying "yoo-hoo" again would spark immediate renewed energy and vigor in both horses even if Nelson and Joe did not soon appear. We decided to not abuse our newfound, performance-enhancing chant lest our steeds catch on to our game! But it certainly was effective!
We finished in 5 hours and 48 minutes. What a great ride! Before we finished, the flowers had decided it was safe to come out and it actually became warm and somewhat muggy and buggy! Only in Michigan!!!
Max and Malik had top-notch vet scores (480 and 490 respectively) scoring 9 or 10 on everything. They were in excellent condition at the end. But Earl Baxter is not only heavier than we are, he is faster and he drove away with the Best Condition Award. Congrats to him. He has some fabulous horseflesh underneath him!
I must mention our new addition to our crew and ride camp family this year, Nellie. Nellie is the Great Dane that Jenny rescued and brought home at Christmas to live with us. She has become quite a fixture in our home and in our lives. Our dear Cardigan Corgi, Fancy still lurks under the trailer to guard us from strangers and overly inquisitive dogs that wander in but Nellie doesn't fit. She was a big hit though. We painted a number on her butt (#1, of course) and she went visiting with us. Everyone wanted to know if she was doing 25 or 50, competitive or endurance. Everyone wanted to pet her, of course and when she leaned her head into them, they were captivated if they were lucky enough not to be capsized! She waits with Nelson at the pit stop and runs up the trail to watch for us coming and then runs joyfully back to tell him that we are coming. She can't ride with us on the roads at home but I hope to take her to some trails with us this weekend and let her roam trails while we ride nearby. If she weren’t a dog, she'd be a perfect endurance mount! She loves to go and helped us clear the trail for LMMR a couple of weeks ago, leaping over the downed trees and finding water in the depressions of the forest. Fancy, of course, stays a little closer to supervise.
For our first ride this season, I am VERY pleased. Our horses were in great shape, did everything we asked of them, we didn't push them or get caught up in the excitement of the ride...rain dampens more than the forest! But it could not dampen our spirits or enthusiasm. The trail was as well marked, as always, the people were the best as always. A typical endurance ride in spite of the weather and a few "aguasfiestas". Thanks, Jay and Becke, for a wonderful ride AGAIN. As long as you are willing to put on this ride, I will be there to ride it and if you need help clearing trail, I'll do my best to make room in my schedule to do so.
The Grand Island 100 is next on our list!
Miles of smiles,
Maggie
http://arabianquest.com/samaha_arabians.htm
Remember how Forrest Gump described the rain in Vietnam? Big, fat rain. Small, sting-ging rain (don't forget the twang there). Rain that came in sideways and even some rain that came straight up from the ground. We had that and MORE at the Little Manistee Memorial Ride!
First, it rained all night.
Then, the day dawned dark and dreary and now that I have the poetry out of the way, let me just say that the morning dawned YUCKY! It was dark all right. And dreary. If you could call it dawn, but I wouldn't. It was raining and it was thundering with horrendous flashes of lightning.
We were due to head out at 7:30 a.m. on the 50 miler. We didn't really decide that we WOULD attempt this ride until 7 a.m. and brought the horses out one by one to saddle them under the awning. For once, they didn't argue about being under the scary awning. However, Max and Malik both gave us very disgusted looks as we saddled them. I couldn't blame them. But in weighing the options, it occurred to me that the word "endurance" does not imply FUN or EASY or JOYOUS. "Endurance" is enduring and sometimes what we endure is not fun, is not easy and sometimes is heartbreaking. This was just some RAIN. OK, so it was also 39 degrees. Luther, Michigan is not the Arctic. And besides, my dear daughter, Carrie, offered me the use of her expensive waterproof Columbia coat. And to be brutally honest, NO, we were NOT prepared to ride in the rain (which will be rectified before the next ride!) but neither was the Donner party ready for winter. Well, maybe that isn't the best analogy!
In any case, we warmed up and actually left out a few minutes behind everybody else. We wanted to COMPLETE. We wanted sound, happy horses at the vet checks and at the finish. Malik and Max were thoroughly disgusted as it became apparent to them that we weren't just messing with their heads but actually meant to RIDE in the slop. We took the back loop behind camp that brings us out to the road and then down to the Tin Cup Springs trail. When we got on the road, they could see horses ahead and suddenly realized it was a "ride". A real ride! They perked up and never looked back.
I soon discovered that glasses are a girl's worst nightmare in Forrest Gump rain and removed them to a pocket (after I found one in my unfamiliar loaner). I was now, for all intents and purposes, blind. Jenny devised some ingenious hand signals to guide me through roots and mud and water (it was raining too hard to hear her!) but I basically turned it all over to Malik and was supremely pleased that he never once faltered, even when I missed a signal from Jenny. He never missed a step that whole fifty miles. Maybe I should ride like that more often.
Our first check went great. Max's guts were a little slow at first but he chowed down on the beautiful alfalfa I set aside for the ride and they came right around. He had A's on everything else, as did Malik. I couldn't believe they were doing so well in such awful weather. Ride management was having quite a time of it with vet cards disintegrating into oblivion. The vets and timers and vet writers were wonderful working under pressure. Many of the riders were on the honor system and for the most part, I feel most if not all were honorable. It was not the best of circumstances but spirits were high and there was a lot of laughter in spite of the rain!
I discovered at the first check that I was getting wet underneath my daughter's coat and thought perhaps it was seeping in when the hood had blown off from my helmet and from the neck when I had finally unzipped it slightly to regulate my body temperature. This trail took some concentration and WORK! We usually have to worry about it being deep and dry in the sand and Jay and Becke usually put out water troughs. Not this time, no sir!
There was water everywhere!!!
Our hold at the first check was 30 minutes. Jenny and I were basically numb from the cold but the horses warmed themselves up under a blanket and with some munchies in their slurry. They were quite happy to trot off for the next loop, which sure helped us be upbeat about going back into the storm!
Again, I was blind but it couldn't be helped. The glasses were even worse. We made it back to camp with water-logged shoes and literally peeled our clothes off back in the warm, dry trailer. We asked each other if we wanted to quit but neither one did. I discovered a couple of things back at camp. Carrie had not waterproofed her coat after washing it several times. I had to peel that off before I could peel off the rest of the layers of clothing. And I discovered that my tights with the suede knee patches had accumulated dirt and sand to the point that they rubbed the dye right off of my stirrup fenders and the skin right off of the inside of my knee to boot. OUCH! I had been so cold and numb that I hadn't realized it. Fortunately, I had some dry tights and before we could finish dressing, Nelson showed up to inform us that the check had been changed from a 50-minute hold to a 30-minute hold. We had ten minutes to head out! BUT, there was good news. While we had been changing, the rain had STOPPED! Hallelujah, praise the Lord!!!
Back on the trail we went and this time, I was able to SEE it! I noticed the poor little starflowers had shrunk themselves up as tight as they could. The marsh marigolds behind the ride camp were under water. The muddy spot we usually pass over was now a flowing stream and flowing pretty fast. Back to the road and then on to the trail again farther down and the horses were now really enjoying themselves immensely! While it was still gray, the sky was lightening up and the air was becoming warmer. Our 3rd vet check was 40 minutes and things were smoothing out for most of the volunteers though there was some confusion about vet cards and time outs and such. Nothing major and still lots of laughter to go around. Jenny and I left the check with happy and refreshed horses, strong and willing and we both agreed that in spite of the earlier weather, this was the best ride we had shared in a looooong time. Our horses took turns leading on the trail and kept each other motivated. When they wanted a breather, they would walk and in 4 or 5 minutes they would voluntarily pick up a trot again. They started drinking deeply finally on this last loop. Though not drinking well before, they never showed any outward signs of dehydration. They did decide that the water on the trail was the most delicious they had ever tasted, especially the dirtiest and brownest stuff. There was some tough going where the trail is usually firm, as it had been churned up into a muddy mess by the time we passed through. We slowed down in those parts and let the horses have a little gallop where it was clear and easygoing. They had fun "competing" with each other. We passed a few comp horses here and there. The 50 comp riders were doing the trail backwards and Max and Malik looked after them as they continued on after sharing a drink in the same puddle as if wondering what was wrong with them...they were going the WRONG way.
I can't believe how much our pit crew did for us. Carrie's boyfriend, Joe, was a trooper and proved himself invaluable to us. We couldn't have done it without Joe and Nelson, I am afraid. They were waiting for us with a smile and a pat on the back even though we didn't need a slosh bottle or anything to drink during the deluge! When I knew a pit stop was coming up, I would start calling "Yoo-hoo, where are you?" through the trees. (Watch the Bonanza episode called "Hoss and the Leprechauns" and you'll understand). When they could hear us, they would start calling the horses' names. Max and Malik LOVE to see their pit crew on the trail even if they don't get anything though they often do. We discovered during the course of our ride that saying "yoo-hoo" again would spark immediate renewed energy and vigor in both horses even if Nelson and Joe did not soon appear. We decided to not abuse our newfound, performance-enhancing chant lest our steeds catch on to our game! But it certainly was effective!
We finished in 5 hours and 48 minutes. What a great ride! Before we finished, the flowers had decided it was safe to come out and it actually became warm and somewhat muggy and buggy! Only in Michigan!!!
Max and Malik had top-notch vet scores (480 and 490 respectively) scoring 9 or 10 on everything. They were in excellent condition at the end. But Earl Baxter is not only heavier than we are, he is faster and he drove away with the Best Condition Award. Congrats to him. He has some fabulous horseflesh underneath him!
I must mention our new addition to our crew and ride camp family this year, Nellie. Nellie is the Great Dane that Jenny rescued and brought home at Christmas to live with us. She has become quite a fixture in our home and in our lives. Our dear Cardigan Corgi, Fancy still lurks under the trailer to guard us from strangers and overly inquisitive dogs that wander in but Nellie doesn't fit. She was a big hit though. We painted a number on her butt (#1, of course) and she went visiting with us. Everyone wanted to know if she was doing 25 or 50, competitive or endurance. Everyone wanted to pet her, of course and when she leaned her head into them, they were captivated if they were lucky enough not to be capsized! She waits with Nelson at the pit stop and runs up the trail to watch for us coming and then runs joyfully back to tell him that we are coming. She can't ride with us on the roads at home but I hope to take her to some trails with us this weekend and let her roam trails while we ride nearby. If she weren’t a dog, she'd be a perfect endurance mount! She loves to go and helped us clear the trail for LMMR a couple of weeks ago, leaping over the downed trees and finding water in the depressions of the forest. Fancy, of course, stays a little closer to supervise.
For our first ride this season, I am VERY pleased. Our horses were in great shape, did everything we asked of them, we didn't push them or get caught up in the excitement of the ride...rain dampens more than the forest! But it could not dampen our spirits or enthusiasm. The trail was as well marked, as always, the people were the best as always. A typical endurance ride in spite of the weather and a few "aguasfiestas". Thanks, Jay and Becke, for a wonderful ride AGAIN. As long as you are willing to put on this ride, I will be there to ride it and if you need help clearing trail, I'll do my best to make room in my schedule to do so.
The Grand Island 100 is next on our list!
Miles of smiles,
Maggie
http://arabianquest.com/samaha_arabians.htm
Monday, April 26, 2004
2004 LBL Express - April
Tanna and I went to do the 25 mile LD ride at LBL Express. Our adventure started on Thursday morning. Normally, I like to get to a ridecamp two days before I am to ride to give Tanna a chance to settle in and get ready for the ride. But since LBL is only 2.5 hours from my house and we were "only" doing a 25 mile ride, the plan was to get to ridecamp around 12 or 1 PM on Thursday and then haul home after the ride on Friday.
Last week, we did a slow (10.5 hour ride time, excluding holds) 55 miler at Chicken Chase. This is the beginning of our second season and the first time I've attempted doing rides on back to back weekends.
After Chicken Chase, I didn't notice any rubs on Tanna and was thrilled, but on Sunday after Chicken Chase, I noticed two places on his loins on either side of his spine where the hair had been rubbed off and there was a very slight bump at each place. I wasn't sure where those came from as he also had grass and dirt stains in close proximity indicating that he had been rolling pretty good. So I wasn't sure if the saddle had caused the rubs or the rolling had caused the rubs. But it was something to keep in mind for LBL.
Thursday morning, it was blowing pretty hard like blowing in a storm. We were late to meet Laura Tichenor and her husband, Dan (not to be confused with MY husband, Daniel), to drive up to LBL together. I rushed out the door and quickly stripped Tanna's blanket off and replaced it with a lighter nylon sheet, slipped the fly mask on and pointed Tanna at the trailer expecting him to jump right on in like normal. Uh, no way. He balked hard. He was being loaded into the right side of the trailer when he was most often trailered on the left in the last few months. The dog was barking, chasing Serts around. The wind was howling. The truck was rumbling and I was rushing my horse that can not be rushed. I took my tapping stick and gave him a sharp rap on the rump. Ok, that was a bad move. He spun around me like a mad horse with the dog at his heels.
I told Daniel to take the dog and both of them to go away. I tossed the tapping stick away and tried to calm down. Tanna did not want to get in the trailer. Finally, I opened the escape door and walked into the trailer ahead of Tanna. He followed me willingly enough and I clambered out the escape door and petted him and called to Daniel to come close the back. That'll teach me to brag on my horse loading nicely. I had just been bragging to Laura how well my horse loads and then this incident. Looks like more lessons with more excitement are in order.
Anyway, we were finally on our way and we drove to the truck stop where we were to meet Laura and Dan. They were gassing up when we got there and I hopped out and gassed up our truck. Then we bought some bottled water and we all headed out for the highway.
After an uneventful couple of hours of traveling, we pulled off at the exit to head to LBL. There was a Cracker Barrel there and we went there for lunch. Laura and I chattered so much I don't even remember much of the food that I ate! Dan even ran into somebody he used to work with. How weird is that?
Back on the road, we headed on the last leg to LBL. Immediately before entering LBL lands, there is a bridge one has to cross. A very narrow bridge. And it was raining pretty good. And to make it worse, there were huge dump trucks coming the opposite direction. One right after the other. I was just positive we were going to be forced off the bridge or they would scrape all down our rig. There were only 3 dump trucks, but it was quite scary to me.
Shortly after that we started seeing markers to the camp, so we followed the road in. We pulled up to the gate house at LBL and got 2 campsites next to each other. A bathhouse was on the other side of Laura and Dan's campsite and there was a water hydrant on the other side of our campsite (across the road). Very nice, we enthused! After camping in a pasture the week before, we thought we were in paradise! :-) (But we LOVE Bill Wilson's place and are quite happy to camp in his pasture/hay field!!)
We quickly unloaded the horses and set them up on the high lines. Every campsite (that we saw) at LBL has picket line posts. Each campsite had ample room and was very nice. There are even barns with nice airy stalls, but we decided to keep our horses with us and not stall them, although it's a nice thing to have and to remember for training trips.
Laura and I gathered our paperwork and headed for sign in while Dan and Daniel took their bikes for a spin. We signed in and each got a water bottle for the "thanks for coming" gift. Also, in our ride packets we got some horse cookies and maps for our ride the next day.
After sign-in, we stepped over to visit with Teddy Lancaster from Running Bear and Laura bought a couple of knot eliminators (that we never got around to using).
Then we got our horses and took them to weigh in and have a look see around the camp. Tanna weighed in at 770. Which I thought was excellent. He was only 8 pounds lighter than he had been pre-ride at Chicken Chase. He left Chicken Chase at 750, so he had gained 20 pounds in the 6 days between the rides.
Then came the vet in. Tanna vetted in with all As. I pointed out the spots on his back, but Otis checked them out and said they weren't a problem, which is also what I thought, but I did want to point it out.
Next we decided to play with Tanna and saddles. I'm thinking of changing my saddle in a year or so, so I think it's time to start looking at saddles and deciding what I might want to purchase. Laura helped me try out a couple of her saddles. I discovered Tanna has a wider back than I thought.
Also, I got to ride Diamond (Laura's horse) for the first time to try out his saddle. He is a very nice horse! Laura had me get him to go soft and to do some side-stepping. He is a very responsive horse and it was exciting to feel him soften in my hands and round his frame. He wouldn't do it for me at a trot (although he does it for Laura), but he did it for me at a walk. Very nice. Makes me want to take some basic dressage lessons to see if I can get Tanna to do that.
Then came supper and the ride meeting. The meeting was long. Seemed like the 50 milers had a lot of stuff to remember! Our stuff was pretty easy. 2 loops. The first loop was 11 miles, the second 14. Vet check and hold in camp. Hold of 40 minutes. Pulse at the vet check was 64, pulse for the finish was 60. Start for the 50/2-day 100/1-day 100 milers at 6:30, start for us at 7 AM. The rest of the meeting was just your basic stuff like don't race, be careful of the trail riders we'd encounter, awards and meal would be Saturday evening, etc.
Before the ride meeting, I got to see Carla Lawson! I hadn't seen her for quite some time. Back in 1999 we both went to Longstreet's Charge to do our first LD ride. I had seen her last year when I went up to pick up a kitty she'd rescued that she couldn't keep, but I had no idea she'd be at LBL. She was there to crew for her friends, Lisa and Penny. It was particularly weird because just that afternoon, I had been telling Laura that I hadn't seen Carla in forever.
After the ride meeting, I got to see Susan Reid. I had met Susan when she came up to test ride (and buy) a mare that my barn owner was selling. I took Susan on the test ride so she could try out May. It was cool to see her! She was going to ride on Saturday and help out on Friday. She didn't bring May, but brought her other horse to ride. I introduced her to Laura and we all chatted for awhile
before I insisted I had to find an outhouse. Back at the trailer, I fed Tanna again and made sure everything was laid out for the morning. I climbed into bed and set my alarm for 1 AM to get up and feed Tanna. At 1, I dutifully crawled out of bed and went to feed Tanna. The wind was a smidge chilly, so I put his light nylon sheet on him and went back to bed.
About an hour later, the skies opened up and pelted the camp with hard rain and possibly hail. It continued with wave after wave. Thunder, lightning and that hard, heavy rain. I kept waiting for it to quit, but it just kept on. I figured Tanna was ok because he had that sheet on, but I'd forgotten that it wasn't waterproof!
Finally at a quarter to 5, I decided to go take a shower. I figured I wouldn't have much competition for the showers at that time in the morning. As I went outside, I decided to check on Tanna first. Poor thing was wet through and shivering. I threw my shower stuff in the dressing room of my trailer. I stripped the wet sheet off and replaced it with Tanna's nice waterproof, lined blanket. Then I walked him around for 15 minutes in the rain to get his blood flowing and generate some warmth. The whole time berating myself for forgetting the sheet wasn't waterproof. Diamond was tied to Laura's trailer nice and cozy in his waterproof sheet and called to us as we walked around.
I put Tanna back on his picket line and continued on to take a shower. The shower was heavenly! Warm water and a nice spray and an area to put my stuff where it wouldn't get wet and to get dressed. Very nice indeed! And like I figured, no competition for the showers at that time in the morning!
On the way back to my trailer, I banged on Laura's tack room door to wake them up. It was 5:15 and we had an hour and 45 minutes to get ready, if we were going to even go with the rain. They called for me to come in and I climbed in and dripped on their floor while we discussed. Finally I said I would try to find out the weather forecast and went to call my dad in SC. I had him get on the internet and check the radar. He said it would probably rain more, but that the bad stuff was probably behind us. So I reported back to Laura. Dan had his laptop out and connected to the internet via his cell phone and was also looking at the weather. After me giving him the wrong zip code at first, we got a look at the radar. Just what my dad had said. So after a few more minutes of discussion, we decided we were going to ride anyway. At that point, we had an hour before start.
So I rushed back to my trailer and spent a soggy 50 minutes saddling and shoving a bit of food down my mouth, entirely envious of Laura and Diamond, getting ready in her slant load trailer out of the rain. I was thankful that Tanna was dry and warm under his blanket. Well, at least he was dry until I stripped it off to saddle. The rain finally stopped before I was done.
Laura and I mounted up and headed off to the start line. There were lots of 50 milers around. Their start had been pushed back to 7 and we were to leave at 7:30. Now we had plenty of time! Dan and Daniel showed up a few minutes later and we hung out by the concrete water trough and let the horses play with the water. Tanna drank just a few sips, but enjoyed sticking his nose in the water and making lots of splashes.
At 7:15 we remounted and walked around. I kept an eye out for Kara and her gelding. We were supposed to ride with them to try to help keep her gelding calm for the start. I didn't see her anywhere. At 7:30, Nancy (timer extraordinaire) declared the trail open for 25 milers. Laura and I hung back and let the pack go for a few minutes, then followed along with the stragglers. I still didn't see Kara. Maybe she had decided the weather was just too miserable like we almost had.
Our first obstacle was quite scary to me. The small trickle to cross to get to the trails had been transformed into a raging creek. Tanna plunged right in behind Diamond. I focused on the other side of the creek (per Laura's instructions) and just tried to keep Tanna headed in the right direction. For a scary moment, we were being swept along with the water and then Tanna got his feet grounded again and we made it across. Then I noticed the photographer. Great. I can't wait to see my panicked face in THAT picture.
Then we got to the road and Laura and I pulled up for a minute to let even more riders pass us. We thanked the forestry personnel that were present keeping the traffic stopped (there was no traffic that I saw) for the start.
Finally we hit the trails. Tanna was pulling quite fiercely to be allowed to catch the riders in front of us. I refused, but was glad to have my pulling partner back. I had been worried about him becoming too mellow, but he was his own self and I was thrilled, even though my arm and back muscles were definitely getting a workout!
We trotted up the small hills and walked down them. To say there was water on the trail is an understatement. To say there was mud on the trail was quite accurate. To say the trails were sloppy is quite accurate as well. However, it really wasn't all that bad. There is a trail here in Nashville that will turn to 18 inches of mud with less water than was dumped on LBL. That is a gross and nasty trail. Here the mud was nowhere near that deep. There was a LOT of standing water on the trail, though. Certainly no shortage of drinking water, though. :-) Of course, neither one of our horses were interested in drinking.
The worst part of trail was a quarter mile stretch that was completely covered in deep, flowing water and we had to traverse that section twice (once each loop) going against the current.
After a couple miles, Kara caught up with us. Guess she had started after all. She passed on and we only saw her briefly at the vet check.
We came into the timers almost 2 hours after the start. In 5 minutes, we had our pulse time. As soon as we got up to the pulse takers, Tanna stretched out and peed. The pulse taker took the pulse while he was peeing. Didn't disturb him in the least. Hehee. Tanna vetted through with a B on Jugular Refill and As elsewhere. We hadn't stripped his tack since it was rider option and I didn't want to bother removing the saddle for a 40 minute hold. Daniel trotted him out and he looked good to me. It's really nice to be able to watch him move when I usually just feel him. No CRI this time. I rather like CRIs and was disappointed that the vets were only doing CRIs when they felt it was warranted and not across the board. I might should have asked for a CRI though. I didn't think about that.
After Diamond and Tanna were vetted in, Dan suggested we head back to the trailers for our hold rather than stay at the vet check area as we'd intended. So we gathered up our stuff and went back to the trailers. Tanna was being prissy and didn't want to eat. I fed him by hand, changing the offering when he balked at eating what I offered. He ate 2 handfuls of grass hay, several handfuls of alfalfa hay, a few bites of beet pulp/sweet feed, and one bite of apple. The only thing I didn't try, that I will next time, is dry beet pulp and/or dry sweet feed. Maybe he was just sick of everything being wet. I knew I was. I ate much better as Daniel fed me a sandwich while I was trying to hand feed Tanna. :-) :-)
It had started raining during our hold. Ugh. I had been hoping to dump my jacket, but at least it started raining before we left the hold and I was without my jacket! Laura had mounted and was heading toward us with a bright orange poncho. I told her to stay over at her trailer while I was mounting. Last thing I wanted was for Tanna to freak out while I was trying to mount. I quickly mounted and rode over to her trailer. Tanna looked at the poncho but didn't seem concerned. Good boy. So we headed toward the timers. Almost there I realized I had left my vet card at our campsite. Sigh. Laura waited there while I headed back to the trailer to get my vet card. As a result of my forgetfulness, we left 10 minutes late from that hold.
That second loop was miserable. A lot of the trail was part of the first loop, including the 1/4 mile stretch of river we had to walk up. After 30 minutes, I was soaked from head to toe despite my jacket. I was thankful for the jacket, though, as it probably kept me from being too cold. I was glad for the rump rug I'd left on Tanna. Tanna was still good to go and he would ask to catch up to any rider he saw in front of us. We only saw a couple riders though. We passed one and another passed us. No trail riders at all. Hmmm, wonder why THAT was!
The only problem Diamond and Tanna have riding together is that Diamond is bigger and has a longer stride than Tanna. So when Diamond is walking (if he's not dragging his feet, which he wasn't), Tanna has to do a slow trot to keep up. It's not really a big deal until I really want Tanna to walk, like to let his heart rate recover or to walk down some of those slippery slopes. Then Tanna got mad because Diamond was ahead of him and I wouldn't let him trot to catch up. So we had some discussions there. Tanna also cantered more than Diamond as Diamond can do a bigger trot without extending. When Tanna gets to his huge 11 mph trot, I nudge him up into a canter. But Tanna and I train the canter so we weren't doing anything we don't do in training.
It was really funny to hear their heart rates, though. They were almost always within a couple of beats of each other. It was like they were sharing the same heart. Would have been interesting to see their CRIs. There was no way we were picking up each other's HRM either. We were sufficiently far enough away from each other that that wouldn't have been an issue at all.
It took us 2 hours 15 minutes to do that second loop (2 hours 25 minutes since our out time). Shortly before we finished, it stopped raining and the sun came out and it was pretty. We walked in the last little bit. I was letting Tanna grab grass while Laura was trying to see if Diamond wanted to pee. As we got closer to the vet check area, I spotted my truck and trailer in the parking lot! Soon we saw Laura's truck and trailer on the other side of mine. Guess the guys took it to heart when we said we wanted to leave after the ride and to pack up while we were on our last loop.
We took the horses to the water trough and both horses finally drank long drinks of water. Probably a gallon or so each. Just sucked it down. Tanna was at 52 for his heart rate, so I headed for my trailer and Daniel took Tanna while I loosened the girth while walking. At the trailer, we stripped him and threw his cooler over him. Straight to the pulse takers where Tanna again stretched out to pee. Guess that was a good pee spot! Susan K took his pulse and called for time. 12:39. Ride time of 4 hours 29 minutes. Good for 32nd place. :-) Nice back of the pack pace. There were 8 other horses they were waiting on for the 25 milers.
Took Tanna to the vet and Otis pronounced him finished and gave him all As on his vet card. First ride that Tanna has had As on his guts at all the checks!! I thanked Otis for standing in the rain and mud to vet us all.
We weighed Tanna. He lost 30 pounds! Sheesh. Lots, but he seemed A-ok. Daniel took Tanna over to the wash rack while I recorded the weight loss on the clipboard and my vet card. Some nice gentleman was holding Tanna while Daniel sprayed him down. Tanna apparently hadn't liked the idea of cold water on him and had been giving Daniel a hard time. Goofy boy, we just wanted to get the caked-on mud off him!
Then back to the trailer where he got his blanket on and he began to eat his beet pulp he'd ignored at the vet check.
With Tanna taken care of, I finally went into the camper and changed into dry clothes. I was mostly dry (except for my hair and my feet) for the first time since 5 AM. Felt great, even though I had to wear my wet tennis shoes since I didn't have any other shoes with me.
Laura and I hunted up the ride manager, Diane Fruth, and asked for our completion awards since we were gonna head home. While she was off retrieving our t-shirts, Laura remembered that she hadn't weighed Diamond after the ride. So I stood around under the vet canopy eating the food there (I wasn't going to eat my ride meal, so I wasn't shy about eating a couple of oreos from the table), watching other horses vet through and generally just feeling good about being where I was. Diane returned with our shirts and I took them both and thanked her for the ride.
After a brief pause at the gate house to tell them we were out of our campsites, we were on our way. Daniel was driving this time and I was babbling on about the ride and Tanna and the changes I wanted to make. We were home in short order and I turned Tanna loose with his pasture buddy and they went galloping, bucking and trotting around their field for the next 30 minutes. Goodness. Too bad I wore him out on that ride!
I feel quite proud of Tanna. Even though we hardly ever ride in the rain, he did great and never balked at where I wanted him to go. He carried himself very well and handled the slop like it was dry. Amazing what my little guy can do. I love him to death and he is now going to get a very well earned 3 week rest. Then it's back in training for Hoosier Daddy at the end of June.
I have some changes I'm going to make. First and foremost, I'm going to quit using my Dixie Midnight pad for rides longer than 15 miles or so. He got some more rubs on his loins at LBL and Daniel and I are suspecting the DM pad is contributing to that as we didn't have that problem at Liberty Run (50) or BSF (25) last year which was before we got the DM pad. So I'm going to use the DM pad for shorter training rides to keep me from having to wash my woolback pads as often, but we'll try using just the wool pad for Hoosier Daddy and my 25 mile training rides to see if the rubbing disappears.
Second, I'm going to quit girthing him up so tight. That also contributed to some light rubbing around the girth area above the girth itself. (which also might be contributed to by the DM pad)
Third, he is going into crupper training as soon as he comes back into training with the goal to ride Hoosier Daddy (a reportedly flat ride) with it to prepare him for more hilly rides with it. Having the crupper and the breast collar (which he is already used to) should help me be able to keep his girth a little looser and still keep the saddle in place.
I had a lot of fun these last 2 weekends and I am looking forward to Hoosier Daddy in a couple months. Thanks to Diane and Jerry Fruth for putting on LBL this year and for it being a 2 DAY RIDE! :-) I had a great time despite the rain, the campsite would be hard to beat, the volunteers cheerful and bright despite the rain, and the trails were well marked. Every time we had a question of which way to go, there was a pie plate with an X on it to tell us NOT to go there. Thanks to the volunteers and LBL AND the ride managers for a great ride!
April
Nashville, TN
Last week, we did a slow (10.5 hour ride time, excluding holds) 55 miler at Chicken Chase. This is the beginning of our second season and the first time I've attempted doing rides on back to back weekends.
After Chicken Chase, I didn't notice any rubs on Tanna and was thrilled, but on Sunday after Chicken Chase, I noticed two places on his loins on either side of his spine where the hair had been rubbed off and there was a very slight bump at each place. I wasn't sure where those came from as he also had grass and dirt stains in close proximity indicating that he had been rolling pretty good. So I wasn't sure if the saddle had caused the rubs or the rolling had caused the rubs. But it was something to keep in mind for LBL.
Thursday morning, it was blowing pretty hard like blowing in a storm. We were late to meet Laura Tichenor and her husband, Dan (not to be confused with MY husband, Daniel), to drive up to LBL together. I rushed out the door and quickly stripped Tanna's blanket off and replaced it with a lighter nylon sheet, slipped the fly mask on and pointed Tanna at the trailer expecting him to jump right on in like normal. Uh, no way. He balked hard. He was being loaded into the right side of the trailer when he was most often trailered on the left in the last few months. The dog was barking, chasing Serts around. The wind was howling. The truck was rumbling and I was rushing my horse that can not be rushed. I took my tapping stick and gave him a sharp rap on the rump. Ok, that was a bad move. He spun around me like a mad horse with the dog at his heels.
I told Daniel to take the dog and both of them to go away. I tossed the tapping stick away and tried to calm down. Tanna did not want to get in the trailer. Finally, I opened the escape door and walked into the trailer ahead of Tanna. He followed me willingly enough and I clambered out the escape door and petted him and called to Daniel to come close the back. That'll teach me to brag on my horse loading nicely. I had just been bragging to Laura how well my horse loads and then this incident. Looks like more lessons with more excitement are in order.
Anyway, we were finally on our way and we drove to the truck stop where we were to meet Laura and Dan. They were gassing up when we got there and I hopped out and gassed up our truck. Then we bought some bottled water and we all headed out for the highway.
After an uneventful couple of hours of traveling, we pulled off at the exit to head to LBL. There was a Cracker Barrel there and we went there for lunch. Laura and I chattered so much I don't even remember much of the food that I ate! Dan even ran into somebody he used to work with. How weird is that?
Back on the road, we headed on the last leg to LBL. Immediately before entering LBL lands, there is a bridge one has to cross. A very narrow bridge. And it was raining pretty good. And to make it worse, there were huge dump trucks coming the opposite direction. One right after the other. I was just positive we were going to be forced off the bridge or they would scrape all down our rig. There were only 3 dump trucks, but it was quite scary to me.
Shortly after that we started seeing markers to the camp, so we followed the road in. We pulled up to the gate house at LBL and got 2 campsites next to each other. A bathhouse was on the other side of Laura and Dan's campsite and there was a water hydrant on the other side of our campsite (across the road). Very nice, we enthused! After camping in a pasture the week before, we thought we were in paradise! :-) (But we LOVE Bill Wilson's place and are quite happy to camp in his pasture/hay field!!)
We quickly unloaded the horses and set them up on the high lines. Every campsite (that we saw) at LBL has picket line posts. Each campsite had ample room and was very nice. There are even barns with nice airy stalls, but we decided to keep our horses with us and not stall them, although it's a nice thing to have and to remember for training trips.
Laura and I gathered our paperwork and headed for sign in while Dan and Daniel took their bikes for a spin. We signed in and each got a water bottle for the "thanks for coming" gift. Also, in our ride packets we got some horse cookies and maps for our ride the next day.
After sign-in, we stepped over to visit with Teddy Lancaster from Running Bear and Laura bought a couple of knot eliminators (that we never got around to using).
Then we got our horses and took them to weigh in and have a look see around the camp. Tanna weighed in at 770. Which I thought was excellent. He was only 8 pounds lighter than he had been pre-ride at Chicken Chase. He left Chicken Chase at 750, so he had gained 20 pounds in the 6 days between the rides.
Then came the vet in. Tanna vetted in with all As. I pointed out the spots on his back, but Otis checked them out and said they weren't a problem, which is also what I thought, but I did want to point it out.
Next we decided to play with Tanna and saddles. I'm thinking of changing my saddle in a year or so, so I think it's time to start looking at saddles and deciding what I might want to purchase. Laura helped me try out a couple of her saddles. I discovered Tanna has a wider back than I thought.
Also, I got to ride Diamond (Laura's horse) for the first time to try out his saddle. He is a very nice horse! Laura had me get him to go soft and to do some side-stepping. He is a very responsive horse and it was exciting to feel him soften in my hands and round his frame. He wouldn't do it for me at a trot (although he does it for Laura), but he did it for me at a walk. Very nice. Makes me want to take some basic dressage lessons to see if I can get Tanna to do that.
Then came supper and the ride meeting. The meeting was long. Seemed like the 50 milers had a lot of stuff to remember! Our stuff was pretty easy. 2 loops. The first loop was 11 miles, the second 14. Vet check and hold in camp. Hold of 40 minutes. Pulse at the vet check was 64, pulse for the finish was 60. Start for the 50/2-day 100/1-day 100 milers at 6:30, start for us at 7 AM. The rest of the meeting was just your basic stuff like don't race, be careful of the trail riders we'd encounter, awards and meal would be Saturday evening, etc.
Before the ride meeting, I got to see Carla Lawson! I hadn't seen her for quite some time. Back in 1999 we both went to Longstreet's Charge to do our first LD ride. I had seen her last year when I went up to pick up a kitty she'd rescued that she couldn't keep, but I had no idea she'd be at LBL. She was there to crew for her friends, Lisa and Penny. It was particularly weird because just that afternoon, I had been telling Laura that I hadn't seen Carla in forever.
After the ride meeting, I got to see Susan Reid. I had met Susan when she came up to test ride (and buy) a mare that my barn owner was selling. I took Susan on the test ride so she could try out May. It was cool to see her! She was going to ride on Saturday and help out on Friday. She didn't bring May, but brought her other horse to ride. I introduced her to Laura and we all chatted for awhile
before I insisted I had to find an outhouse. Back at the trailer, I fed Tanna again and made sure everything was laid out for the morning. I climbed into bed and set my alarm for 1 AM to get up and feed Tanna. At 1, I dutifully crawled out of bed and went to feed Tanna. The wind was a smidge chilly, so I put his light nylon sheet on him and went back to bed.
About an hour later, the skies opened up and pelted the camp with hard rain and possibly hail. It continued with wave after wave. Thunder, lightning and that hard, heavy rain. I kept waiting for it to quit, but it just kept on. I figured Tanna was ok because he had that sheet on, but I'd forgotten that it wasn't waterproof!
Finally at a quarter to 5, I decided to go take a shower. I figured I wouldn't have much competition for the showers at that time in the morning. As I went outside, I decided to check on Tanna first. Poor thing was wet through and shivering. I threw my shower stuff in the dressing room of my trailer. I stripped the wet sheet off and replaced it with Tanna's nice waterproof, lined blanket. Then I walked him around for 15 minutes in the rain to get his blood flowing and generate some warmth. The whole time berating myself for forgetting the sheet wasn't waterproof. Diamond was tied to Laura's trailer nice and cozy in his waterproof sheet and called to us as we walked around.
I put Tanna back on his picket line and continued on to take a shower. The shower was heavenly! Warm water and a nice spray and an area to put my stuff where it wouldn't get wet and to get dressed. Very nice indeed! And like I figured, no competition for the showers at that time in the morning!
On the way back to my trailer, I banged on Laura's tack room door to wake them up. It was 5:15 and we had an hour and 45 minutes to get ready, if we were going to even go with the rain. They called for me to come in and I climbed in and dripped on their floor while we discussed. Finally I said I would try to find out the weather forecast and went to call my dad in SC. I had him get on the internet and check the radar. He said it would probably rain more, but that the bad stuff was probably behind us. So I reported back to Laura. Dan had his laptop out and connected to the internet via his cell phone and was also looking at the weather. After me giving him the wrong zip code at first, we got a look at the radar. Just what my dad had said. So after a few more minutes of discussion, we decided we were going to ride anyway. At that point, we had an hour before start.
So I rushed back to my trailer and spent a soggy 50 minutes saddling and shoving a bit of food down my mouth, entirely envious of Laura and Diamond, getting ready in her slant load trailer out of the rain. I was thankful that Tanna was dry and warm under his blanket. Well, at least he was dry until I stripped it off to saddle. The rain finally stopped before I was done.
Laura and I mounted up and headed off to the start line. There were lots of 50 milers around. Their start had been pushed back to 7 and we were to leave at 7:30. Now we had plenty of time! Dan and Daniel showed up a few minutes later and we hung out by the concrete water trough and let the horses play with the water. Tanna drank just a few sips, but enjoyed sticking his nose in the water and making lots of splashes.
At 7:15 we remounted and walked around. I kept an eye out for Kara and her gelding. We were supposed to ride with them to try to help keep her gelding calm for the start. I didn't see her anywhere. At 7:30, Nancy (timer extraordinaire) declared the trail open for 25 milers. Laura and I hung back and let the pack go for a few minutes, then followed along with the stragglers. I still didn't see Kara. Maybe she had decided the weather was just too miserable like we almost had.
Our first obstacle was quite scary to me. The small trickle to cross to get to the trails had been transformed into a raging creek. Tanna plunged right in behind Diamond. I focused on the other side of the creek (per Laura's instructions) and just tried to keep Tanna headed in the right direction. For a scary moment, we were being swept along with the water and then Tanna got his feet grounded again and we made it across. Then I noticed the photographer. Great. I can't wait to see my panicked face in THAT picture.
Then we got to the road and Laura and I pulled up for a minute to let even more riders pass us. We thanked the forestry personnel that were present keeping the traffic stopped (there was no traffic that I saw) for the start.
Finally we hit the trails. Tanna was pulling quite fiercely to be allowed to catch the riders in front of us. I refused, but was glad to have my pulling partner back. I had been worried about him becoming too mellow, but he was his own self and I was thrilled, even though my arm and back muscles were definitely getting a workout!
We trotted up the small hills and walked down them. To say there was water on the trail is an understatement. To say there was mud on the trail was quite accurate. To say the trails were sloppy is quite accurate as well. However, it really wasn't all that bad. There is a trail here in Nashville that will turn to 18 inches of mud with less water than was dumped on LBL. That is a gross and nasty trail. Here the mud was nowhere near that deep. There was a LOT of standing water on the trail, though. Certainly no shortage of drinking water, though. :-) Of course, neither one of our horses were interested in drinking.
The worst part of trail was a quarter mile stretch that was completely covered in deep, flowing water and we had to traverse that section twice (once each loop) going against the current.
After a couple miles, Kara caught up with us. Guess she had started after all. She passed on and we only saw her briefly at the vet check.
We came into the timers almost 2 hours after the start. In 5 minutes, we had our pulse time. As soon as we got up to the pulse takers, Tanna stretched out and peed. The pulse taker took the pulse while he was peeing. Didn't disturb him in the least. Hehee. Tanna vetted through with a B on Jugular Refill and As elsewhere. We hadn't stripped his tack since it was rider option and I didn't want to bother removing the saddle for a 40 minute hold. Daniel trotted him out and he looked good to me. It's really nice to be able to watch him move when I usually just feel him. No CRI this time. I rather like CRIs and was disappointed that the vets were only doing CRIs when they felt it was warranted and not across the board. I might should have asked for a CRI though. I didn't think about that.
After Diamond and Tanna were vetted in, Dan suggested we head back to the trailers for our hold rather than stay at the vet check area as we'd intended. So we gathered up our stuff and went back to the trailers. Tanna was being prissy and didn't want to eat. I fed him by hand, changing the offering when he balked at eating what I offered. He ate 2 handfuls of grass hay, several handfuls of alfalfa hay, a few bites of beet pulp/sweet feed, and one bite of apple. The only thing I didn't try, that I will next time, is dry beet pulp and/or dry sweet feed. Maybe he was just sick of everything being wet. I knew I was. I ate much better as Daniel fed me a sandwich while I was trying to hand feed Tanna. :-) :-)
It had started raining during our hold. Ugh. I had been hoping to dump my jacket, but at least it started raining before we left the hold and I was without my jacket! Laura had mounted and was heading toward us with a bright orange poncho. I told her to stay over at her trailer while I was mounting. Last thing I wanted was for Tanna to freak out while I was trying to mount. I quickly mounted and rode over to her trailer. Tanna looked at the poncho but didn't seem concerned. Good boy. So we headed toward the timers. Almost there I realized I had left my vet card at our campsite. Sigh. Laura waited there while I headed back to the trailer to get my vet card. As a result of my forgetfulness, we left 10 minutes late from that hold.
That second loop was miserable. A lot of the trail was part of the first loop, including the 1/4 mile stretch of river we had to walk up. After 30 minutes, I was soaked from head to toe despite my jacket. I was thankful for the jacket, though, as it probably kept me from being too cold. I was glad for the rump rug I'd left on Tanna. Tanna was still good to go and he would ask to catch up to any rider he saw in front of us. We only saw a couple riders though. We passed one and another passed us. No trail riders at all. Hmmm, wonder why THAT was!
The only problem Diamond and Tanna have riding together is that Diamond is bigger and has a longer stride than Tanna. So when Diamond is walking (if he's not dragging his feet, which he wasn't), Tanna has to do a slow trot to keep up. It's not really a big deal until I really want Tanna to walk, like to let his heart rate recover or to walk down some of those slippery slopes. Then Tanna got mad because Diamond was ahead of him and I wouldn't let him trot to catch up. So we had some discussions there. Tanna also cantered more than Diamond as Diamond can do a bigger trot without extending. When Tanna gets to his huge 11 mph trot, I nudge him up into a canter. But Tanna and I train the canter so we weren't doing anything we don't do in training.
It was really funny to hear their heart rates, though. They were almost always within a couple of beats of each other. It was like they were sharing the same heart. Would have been interesting to see their CRIs. There was no way we were picking up each other's HRM either. We were sufficiently far enough away from each other that that wouldn't have been an issue at all.
It took us 2 hours 15 minutes to do that second loop (2 hours 25 minutes since our out time). Shortly before we finished, it stopped raining and the sun came out and it was pretty. We walked in the last little bit. I was letting Tanna grab grass while Laura was trying to see if Diamond wanted to pee. As we got closer to the vet check area, I spotted my truck and trailer in the parking lot! Soon we saw Laura's truck and trailer on the other side of mine. Guess the guys took it to heart when we said we wanted to leave after the ride and to pack up while we were on our last loop.
We took the horses to the water trough and both horses finally drank long drinks of water. Probably a gallon or so each. Just sucked it down. Tanna was at 52 for his heart rate, so I headed for my trailer and Daniel took Tanna while I loosened the girth while walking. At the trailer, we stripped him and threw his cooler over him. Straight to the pulse takers where Tanna again stretched out to pee. Guess that was a good pee spot! Susan K took his pulse and called for time. 12:39. Ride time of 4 hours 29 minutes. Good for 32nd place. :-) Nice back of the pack pace. There were 8 other horses they were waiting on for the 25 milers.
Took Tanna to the vet and Otis pronounced him finished and gave him all As on his vet card. First ride that Tanna has had As on his guts at all the checks!! I thanked Otis for standing in the rain and mud to vet us all.
We weighed Tanna. He lost 30 pounds! Sheesh. Lots, but he seemed A-ok. Daniel took Tanna over to the wash rack while I recorded the weight loss on the clipboard and my vet card. Some nice gentleman was holding Tanna while Daniel sprayed him down. Tanna apparently hadn't liked the idea of cold water on him and had been giving Daniel a hard time. Goofy boy, we just wanted to get the caked-on mud off him!
Then back to the trailer where he got his blanket on and he began to eat his beet pulp he'd ignored at the vet check.
With Tanna taken care of, I finally went into the camper and changed into dry clothes. I was mostly dry (except for my hair and my feet) for the first time since 5 AM. Felt great, even though I had to wear my wet tennis shoes since I didn't have any other shoes with me.
Laura and I hunted up the ride manager, Diane Fruth, and asked for our completion awards since we were gonna head home. While she was off retrieving our t-shirts, Laura remembered that she hadn't weighed Diamond after the ride. So I stood around under the vet canopy eating the food there (I wasn't going to eat my ride meal, so I wasn't shy about eating a couple of oreos from the table), watching other horses vet through and generally just feeling good about being where I was. Diane returned with our shirts and I took them both and thanked her for the ride.
After a brief pause at the gate house to tell them we were out of our campsites, we were on our way. Daniel was driving this time and I was babbling on about the ride and Tanna and the changes I wanted to make. We were home in short order and I turned Tanna loose with his pasture buddy and they went galloping, bucking and trotting around their field for the next 30 minutes. Goodness. Too bad I wore him out on that ride!
I feel quite proud of Tanna. Even though we hardly ever ride in the rain, he did great and never balked at where I wanted him to go. He carried himself very well and handled the slop like it was dry. Amazing what my little guy can do. I love him to death and he is now going to get a very well earned 3 week rest. Then it's back in training for Hoosier Daddy at the end of June.
I have some changes I'm going to make. First and foremost, I'm going to quit using my Dixie Midnight pad for rides longer than 15 miles or so. He got some more rubs on his loins at LBL and Daniel and I are suspecting the DM pad is contributing to that as we didn't have that problem at Liberty Run (50) or BSF (25) last year which was before we got the DM pad. So I'm going to use the DM pad for shorter training rides to keep me from having to wash my woolback pads as often, but we'll try using just the wool pad for Hoosier Daddy and my 25 mile training rides to see if the rubbing disappears.
Second, I'm going to quit girthing him up so tight. That also contributed to some light rubbing around the girth area above the girth itself. (which also might be contributed to by the DM pad)
Third, he is going into crupper training as soon as he comes back into training with the goal to ride Hoosier Daddy (a reportedly flat ride) with it to prepare him for more hilly rides with it. Having the crupper and the breast collar (which he is already used to) should help me be able to keep his girth a little looser and still keep the saddle in place.
I had a lot of fun these last 2 weekends and I am looking forward to Hoosier Daddy in a couple months. Thanks to Diane and Jerry Fruth for putting on LBL this year and for it being a 2 DAY RIDE! :-) I had a great time despite the rain, the campsite would be hard to beat, the volunteers cheerful and bright despite the rain, and the trails were well marked. Every time we had a question of which way to go, there was a pie plate with an X on it to tell us NOT to go there. Thanks to the volunteers and LBL AND the ride managers for a great ride!
April
Nashville, TN
Tuesday, April 20, 2004
Chicken Chase Ride Story - Roxanne
Well, I have lurked on ridecamp for years and have always enjoyed those first time ride stories, and am happy to finally have one of my own!! This past weekend I attended the Chicken Chase ride in Indiana. It was a first ride for both my horse (Eddie) and myself ( I had done a few CTR's a few years ago with a different horse). To make a long story short we had a great time. The weather was beautiful, Bill Wilson's farm is a wonderful place to camp, and the trails were well marked with good footing.
So here goes....I followed my training partner up to Bill's on friday, set up camp and settled in. Registered, vetted in and weighed Eddie on the SERA scales, he weighed 1065#. He drank and ate all night...had some excitement at 2:30AM when a herd of horses came blasting through and ran through an electric corral next to my truck. I sleep in my suburban and it was very comforting to have a solid wall around me - however as I came instantly awake and tried to get out the door to check on Eddie it looked like a comedy routine since I had locked myself in and was yanking on a locked door handle in a panic! Calmed Eddie down, lots of activity - people milling about, lights all on....well, you know the drill....fortunately the horses were all found but some not till much later in the morning.
Day one: We did the 25 mile ride on Saturday. I knew we could do the distance but I wanted to see how Eddie handled all the other activity that goes on and I wanted to make sure I took my time to pay attention at the vet checks. 1st loop was 10 miles - we left five minutes after the start and rode the pace we have been training at. At the hold he pulsed down right away passed the vet check and went back to the trailer to eat, drink and relax. 2nd loop was 15 miles - he started drinking on this loop and drank at everything we passed. Finished fine, no problems, mid-pack, 20th out of 57 starters. Weighed him later in the afternoon after a few hours letting him eat and drink and he was 1060#. Couln't be more pleased with how he handled himself. Had so much fun decided to do it again on Sunday!
Day two: Did the 25 again, this is now Eddie's and mine 2nd ride. Since my riding partner had left after the ride on Saturday, I decided to ride this day by ourselves and concentrate on pacing. Wanted to just maintain a nice trot and not get distracted by other horses. Well, all I want to say is now I know why people get so hooked on this sport. We had a blast! Eddie was having a great time and we just kept going and going. There is a section on the second loop where you are riding a narrow trail through trees slightly uphill for a long time ( I need to be a better judge of distance ) where it felt just like riding a motorcycle. Eddie was just going along and leaning into turns - that was way too much fun. Like the first day, he didn't drink on the first loop but drank at every stream the second loop. We finished in great shape, he pulsed down and looked terrific. We finished 12th but I'm not sure how many started the second day. Kept a nice even pace.
Thanks to my riding partner Robby Doll for training and getting me through my first 25 miles. Taught me pacing and strategy. And introduced me to what felt like a million people this weekend - is there anyone who doesn't know Robby?? Thanks to Connie Caudill for selling me such a great horse. Thanks to Amy Whelan for putting on such a wonderful ride. Thanks to Bill Wilson for the use of his farm. Thanks to the ride photographer - even the photo's came out great. I'm hooked and already planning for our first 50!!
Roxanne and Eddie
Kentucky
So here goes....I followed my training partner up to Bill's on friday, set up camp and settled in. Registered, vetted in and weighed Eddie on the SERA scales, he weighed 1065#. He drank and ate all night...had some excitement at 2:30AM when a herd of horses came blasting through and ran through an electric corral next to my truck. I sleep in my suburban and it was very comforting to have a solid wall around me - however as I came instantly awake and tried to get out the door to check on Eddie it looked like a comedy routine since I had locked myself in and was yanking on a locked door handle in a panic! Calmed Eddie down, lots of activity - people milling about, lights all on....well, you know the drill....fortunately the horses were all found but some not till much later in the morning.
Day one: We did the 25 mile ride on Saturday. I knew we could do the distance but I wanted to see how Eddie handled all the other activity that goes on and I wanted to make sure I took my time to pay attention at the vet checks. 1st loop was 10 miles - we left five minutes after the start and rode the pace we have been training at. At the hold he pulsed down right away passed the vet check and went back to the trailer to eat, drink and relax. 2nd loop was 15 miles - he started drinking on this loop and drank at everything we passed. Finished fine, no problems, mid-pack, 20th out of 57 starters. Weighed him later in the afternoon after a few hours letting him eat and drink and he was 1060#. Couln't be more pleased with how he handled himself. Had so much fun decided to do it again on Sunday!
Day two: Did the 25 again, this is now Eddie's and mine 2nd ride. Since my riding partner had left after the ride on Saturday, I decided to ride this day by ourselves and concentrate on pacing. Wanted to just maintain a nice trot and not get distracted by other horses. Well, all I want to say is now I know why people get so hooked on this sport. We had a blast! Eddie was having a great time and we just kept going and going. There is a section on the second loop where you are riding a narrow trail through trees slightly uphill for a long time ( I need to be a better judge of distance ) where it felt just like riding a motorcycle. Eddie was just going along and leaning into turns - that was way too much fun. Like the first day, he didn't drink on the first loop but drank at every stream the second loop. We finished in great shape, he pulsed down and looked terrific. We finished 12th but I'm not sure how many started the second day. Kept a nice even pace.
Thanks to my riding partner Robby Doll for training and getting me through my first 25 miles. Taught me pacing and strategy. And introduced me to what felt like a million people this weekend - is there anyone who doesn't know Robby?? Thanks to Connie Caudill for selling me such a great horse. Thanks to Amy Whelan for putting on such a wonderful ride. Thanks to Bill Wilson for the use of his farm. Thanks to the ride photographer - even the photo's came out great. I'm hooked and already planning for our first 50!!
Roxanne and Eddie
Kentucky
I Went to Chicken Chase This Weekend - April
I went to Chicken Chase this weekend. We got back today as I just rode the 55 on Friday and am planning to go to LBL for a follow-up 25 miler.
The weather was creepy. From snow on the ground (3 inches!) on Tuesday to a high near 80 on Friday with full sun. Very weird.
We arrived Wednesday night to give Tanna time to settle in. This was his first ride of the season. I was planning a very slow, tail end pace.
Friday only had a 55 miler with 2 away vet checks. 34 riders started, 32 finished, with the 2 pulls at the finish. Betsy Knight won 1st place and BC.
I started 5 minutes late and played leap frog with the three eventual last place riders pretty much all day. Tanna never pulled on me. He settled into a good working trot and only a couple times asked to go faster than we were going at the time. Made me wonder where my freaky boy was in that model of work ethics. I didn't even need the full cheek French link snaffle I'd put him in for the first loop.
First loop was 21 miles. Took me right at 4 hours to ride it. Back of the pack. Right where I wanted to be. Daniel, my husband, was right there helping me unsaddle, sponge, take care of my horse and me and the GPS technology. We vetted in with a B in guts and a B in membranes. He hadn't drunk until around mile 18, and then sucked down lots at each small creek crossing for the 3 miles into the check. Consequently, he didn't drink much in camp, but he did eat half his beet pulp and some alfalfa hay. He turned his nose up at the offering of carrots.
Saddle back on and headed out for the 11 or 12 mile second loop. I was hoping to make some time up on that ride, but it wasn't to be and it took me 2 hours and 15 minutes to ride that loop. Still well within time limits, so I was content, but knew I'd have to watch the clock on the last 21 mile loop or I might not finish in time.
Tanna drank well on the second loop and I was pleased. He also grabbed grass at every opportunity. "Eat and walk" was the most oft heard phrase out of my mouth as I hiked down the hills and he grabbed the grass along the edge. I also walked up a couple of the hills (he hasn't learned to tail yet) and I had lots of respect for my little horse carrying me and him up the rest!
Back in the vet check for the second 50 minute hold, Daniel and I repeated the routine of strip, sponge, vet, eat, resaddle, head out. Tanna got all As except his guts were a B. We got really good at putting the saddle back on. I'd put the pads on, he'd drop the saddle on top. He'd attach the girth on the right and I tightened it on the left while he clipped the breast collar and reattached the heart rate monitor leads.
Finally back out for the last 21 mile loop. We had 4 hours and 45 minutes to do the loop. Since we'd done the first loop in 4 hours, I figured we had plenty of time, but since it was hot and he had already gone 32 or 33 miles, I wasn't sure what would happen. We stopped about 9 or 10 miles from the finish for a 15 minute break and grain/beet pulp/grass. We had stopped at the same location on the first loop for the same purpose. Tanna ate and peed and took his mid-loop electrolytes like a veteran, even though this was only our 2nd 50.
After he had taken his first drink of the ride at around mile 18, he drank very well the rest of the ride and I was very happy with him for that.
We walked a lot of the last 9 miles. Trotting up the hills and a few good trots on the flats, but mainly walking and enjoying the scenery. Finally, we were a mile and a half from camp with plenty of time to spare. Tanna was spooking at the same stuff he'd spooked at in the morning on the way out. So he was still feeling good and his ears were forward the entire ride, ready to go where I pointed him (unless he saw other horses going another way, then he was convinced I was having him go the wrong way for a few minutes).
When we reached the pavement a quarter mile from camp, I dropped off and loosened his breast collar and walked him on in. I got my finish time and Daniel met me to take Tanna back to our trailer to untack. We stripped him for the last time and sponged him down and took him back to the vet. Still a B in guts, but all As on the rest and a good CRI of 54/48. A clear win! We had completed our second 50 together! With 55 minutes to spare. :-)
SERA had the scales set up Thursday night for weighing the horses. I was glad of that and weighed Tanna Thursday after the ride meeting. 778. Which is good, I'd been feeding him lots to get his weight up after I noticed his ribs peaking through several weeks before the ride. He gained 10 pounds overnight for starting the ride at 788. Since the vet checks were both away, I didn't have a chance to weigh Tanna again until the finish, so after we successfully vetted in for the finish, we weighed him again. 744. He lost 44 pounds from start to finish. He only gained 6 pounds overnight to have a weight of 750 before we loaded him to bring him home.
After the finish, my friend Laura came up to me. She was riding her horse Diamond the next day and was waiting for me. Before I went to bed, I took Tanna over to visit with Diamond as they are good buddies from training rides back home.
Our completion award was a nice picture taken by the ride photographer. I liked that.
Overnight on Friday, I got up and walked Tanna around a couple times. The second time I got up, I was awakened by horses trotting outside our camper. I thought maybe I'd slept through the night and people were warming up their horses, but when I checked my watch, it was way too early. I hopped out of bed and grabbed my shoes and jacket and heard Amy (ride manager) calling out that she had a grey gelding. Apparently some horses were loose. Fortunately, my grey gelding was still standing in his metal corral. I haltered him and took him for a walk since I was up already.
I spent the next hour watching, listening, letting Tanna graze and talking to Amy. A total of 8 horses had gotten loose. Four (including the gelding she held for much of the time we talked) were recaptured in camp, but four were still missing when I went back to bed. They had been tracked several miles away on the pavement. Horses running and leaving tracks on pavement. Not good.
The next morning, Daniel and I packed up and headed out to come back home. Before we did leave, though, I was able to find out from Amy that the lost 4 horses had been recovered. 3 of them were fine, the other was being checked by a vet when we left for some skinned up legs from falling on the pavement. Hopefully, it wasn't serious.
I was also able to chat with Laura who was in camp on her hold. She and Diamond were doing well and they headed back on their last loop and then Daniel and I left.
I love Chicken Chase. What can I say? Amy and Bill are great ride managers and the trails were perfect and very well marked, even though it could have gotten confusing, I never got lost once. It's great to camp in Bill's pasture. The trails are pretty, in great shape, and the 55 was a nice challenge for the start of the season.
I spent some money at Running Bear's trailer, too. Bought a crupper and some nice syringes for electrolytes. After LBL, I'll train Tanna to the crupper. I used the syringes immediately.
I had a great time. I am not very sore at all. Tanna has NO RUBS! Notta one. He looks great. Perky, running in his pasture. We're headed for LBL on Thursday to do an LD on Friday.
The only thing I have to change is to lengthen my right stirrup. On a picture my husband took, I noticed his breast collar was crooked due to the saddle being crooked due to my right stirrup being too short so I pushed down hard on that stirrup and twisted the saddle.
Thanks to the ride management and all the volunteers that made Chicken Chase a great first ride of the season. Can't wait to go back next year!
April - Nashville, TN
The weather was creepy. From snow on the ground (3 inches!) on Tuesday to a high near 80 on Friday with full sun. Very weird.
We arrived Wednesday night to give Tanna time to settle in. This was his first ride of the season. I was planning a very slow, tail end pace.
Friday only had a 55 miler with 2 away vet checks. 34 riders started, 32 finished, with the 2 pulls at the finish. Betsy Knight won 1st place and BC.
I started 5 minutes late and played leap frog with the three eventual last place riders pretty much all day. Tanna never pulled on me. He settled into a good working trot and only a couple times asked to go faster than we were going at the time. Made me wonder where my freaky boy was in that model of work ethics. I didn't even need the full cheek French link snaffle I'd put him in for the first loop.
First loop was 21 miles. Took me right at 4 hours to ride it. Back of the pack. Right where I wanted to be. Daniel, my husband, was right there helping me unsaddle, sponge, take care of my horse and me and the GPS technology. We vetted in with a B in guts and a B in membranes. He hadn't drunk until around mile 18, and then sucked down lots at each small creek crossing for the 3 miles into the check. Consequently, he didn't drink much in camp, but he did eat half his beet pulp and some alfalfa hay. He turned his nose up at the offering of carrots.
Saddle back on and headed out for the 11 or 12 mile second loop. I was hoping to make some time up on that ride, but it wasn't to be and it took me 2 hours and 15 minutes to ride that loop. Still well within time limits, so I was content, but knew I'd have to watch the clock on the last 21 mile loop or I might not finish in time.
Tanna drank well on the second loop and I was pleased. He also grabbed grass at every opportunity. "Eat and walk" was the most oft heard phrase out of my mouth as I hiked down the hills and he grabbed the grass along the edge. I also walked up a couple of the hills (he hasn't learned to tail yet) and I had lots of respect for my little horse carrying me and him up the rest!
Back in the vet check for the second 50 minute hold, Daniel and I repeated the routine of strip, sponge, vet, eat, resaddle, head out. Tanna got all As except his guts were a B. We got really good at putting the saddle back on. I'd put the pads on, he'd drop the saddle on top. He'd attach the girth on the right and I tightened it on the left while he clipped the breast collar and reattached the heart rate monitor leads.
Finally back out for the last 21 mile loop. We had 4 hours and 45 minutes to do the loop. Since we'd done the first loop in 4 hours, I figured we had plenty of time, but since it was hot and he had already gone 32 or 33 miles, I wasn't sure what would happen. We stopped about 9 or 10 miles from the finish for a 15 minute break and grain/beet pulp/grass. We had stopped at the same location on the first loop for the same purpose. Tanna ate and peed and took his mid-loop electrolytes like a veteran, even though this was only our 2nd 50.
After he had taken his first drink of the ride at around mile 18, he drank very well the rest of the ride and I was very happy with him for that.
We walked a lot of the last 9 miles. Trotting up the hills and a few good trots on the flats, but mainly walking and enjoying the scenery. Finally, we were a mile and a half from camp with plenty of time to spare. Tanna was spooking at the same stuff he'd spooked at in the morning on the way out. So he was still feeling good and his ears were forward the entire ride, ready to go where I pointed him (unless he saw other horses going another way, then he was convinced I was having him go the wrong way for a few minutes).
When we reached the pavement a quarter mile from camp, I dropped off and loosened his breast collar and walked him on in. I got my finish time and Daniel met me to take Tanna back to our trailer to untack. We stripped him for the last time and sponged him down and took him back to the vet. Still a B in guts, but all As on the rest and a good CRI of 54/48. A clear win! We had completed our second 50 together! With 55 minutes to spare. :-)
SERA had the scales set up Thursday night for weighing the horses. I was glad of that and weighed Tanna Thursday after the ride meeting. 778. Which is good, I'd been feeding him lots to get his weight up after I noticed his ribs peaking through several weeks before the ride. He gained 10 pounds overnight for starting the ride at 788. Since the vet checks were both away, I didn't have a chance to weigh Tanna again until the finish, so after we successfully vetted in for the finish, we weighed him again. 744. He lost 44 pounds from start to finish. He only gained 6 pounds overnight to have a weight of 750 before we loaded him to bring him home.
After the finish, my friend Laura came up to me. She was riding her horse Diamond the next day and was waiting for me. Before I went to bed, I took Tanna over to visit with Diamond as they are good buddies from training rides back home.
Our completion award was a nice picture taken by the ride photographer. I liked that.
Overnight on Friday, I got up and walked Tanna around a couple times. The second time I got up, I was awakened by horses trotting outside our camper. I thought maybe I'd slept through the night and people were warming up their horses, but when I checked my watch, it was way too early. I hopped out of bed and grabbed my shoes and jacket and heard Amy (ride manager) calling out that she had a grey gelding. Apparently some horses were loose. Fortunately, my grey gelding was still standing in his metal corral. I haltered him and took him for a walk since I was up already.
I spent the next hour watching, listening, letting Tanna graze and talking to Amy. A total of 8 horses had gotten loose. Four (including the gelding she held for much of the time we talked) were recaptured in camp, but four were still missing when I went back to bed. They had been tracked several miles away on the pavement. Horses running and leaving tracks on pavement. Not good.
The next morning, Daniel and I packed up and headed out to come back home. Before we did leave, though, I was able to find out from Amy that the lost 4 horses had been recovered. 3 of them were fine, the other was being checked by a vet when we left for some skinned up legs from falling on the pavement. Hopefully, it wasn't serious.
I was also able to chat with Laura who was in camp on her hold. She and Diamond were doing well and they headed back on their last loop and then Daniel and I left.
I love Chicken Chase. What can I say? Amy and Bill are great ride managers and the trails were perfect and very well marked, even though it could have gotten confusing, I never got lost once. It's great to camp in Bill's pasture. The trails are pretty, in great shape, and the 55 was a nice challenge for the start of the season.
I spent some money at Running Bear's trailer, too. Bought a crupper and some nice syringes for electrolytes. After LBL, I'll train Tanna to the crupper. I used the syringes immediately.
I had a great time. I am not very sore at all. Tanna has NO RUBS! Notta one. He looks great. Perky, running in his pasture. We're headed for LBL on Thursday to do an LD on Friday.
The only thing I have to change is to lengthen my right stirrup. On a picture my husband took, I noticed his breast collar was crooked due to the saddle being crooked due to my right stirrup being too short so I pushed down hard on that stirrup and twisted the saddle.
Thanks to the ride management and all the volunteers that made Chicken Chase a great first ride of the season. Can't wait to go back next year!
April - Nashville, TN
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