Thursday, December 28, 2006
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Hell on the Border Ride - Katrina Mosshammer
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Hell on the Border Ride - Katrina Mosshammer
Mom had to work Friday so I took off work and was going to go to her house Thursday night and meet up with Gared Dale and the boys on Friday and drive the rigs up together (Shelia also had to work).
So I get home from work Thursday night between 6 and 6:30 and all I have to do is leave food and water out for the animals staying home and then I'll be on my way. Well I had to change the bandage on my appy mare (who cut her leg during the ice storm the previous week). So far I had not had any problems with it. Well I took the bandage off and it started bleeding for the first time since she had cut it. Well I finally go the bleeding stopped and got her and the other animals taken care of.
I got all of my clothes for the ride in the truck, get the house squared away, get the corgi's in the truck. (Mom already had my mare at her house but I was bringing her a load of hay that was already loaded in my little trailer). I checked the tires and sure enough had a flat on the trailer. Well my air compressor had just died 2 weeks before and I hadn't replaced it yet. So I have to change the tire. I get the Hi-Lift jack out, jack it up, change the tire, start to let it down and it gets stuck. Well in the process of trying to get it unstuck the handle slipped and I now have a beautiful black eye.
Finally get finished with the tire and am ready to go. I get in the truck and go to start it and nothing happens. (I had just moved it the day before with no problems, but by this time it was getting pretty close to 32� outside). Thankfully, I have 2 vehicles so I hooked up the car and jumped the truck. Ok, finally pulling out of the drive @ 9:45. I looked down and the needle is on empty. I pray that I have enough to get to the gas station 7 mi. away. I do and finally start for mom's @ 10:15. I get to mom's @ 12:30.
Mom gets me up @ 7 the next morning to put out a round bale for her horses and then to take my rig over to the tire shop. She then leaves for work. All I have left to do is fill the water tanks in her rig, wrap the horses legs, put the hay in and feed her dogs. I catch the horses, put the hay in, start wrapping their legs, grab the hose to fill the tanks. The hose is frozen solid. So I wait to let it thaw out, finish the horses and feed the dogs. I go out and I now have water the only problem is that when mom hooked up the truck she backed over it and it is now cracked the down whole length. So I have to get out the short hose and pull the rig as close to the well house as possible. I call Gared to find out where and when to meet in town and the person that answers the phone is another lady friend of ours. Mom had the wrong number programmed in her phone. I call Shelia at work and get the right number and we meet and finally head out for the ride. Get to the ride and when I go to back in, I get the 4x4 stuck in the mud and have to be pulled out.
I get Perle checked in. All A's. Yeah, my luck is changing. Get ready to head to the start in the morning and Perle has an absolute fit about leaving her buddy at the trailer. I finally had to get mom to lead her and hold on to her until we could actually go down the trail. As soon as we get going she is a perfect angel. This is only my second ride on her and the first one was a max time 50. So I had decided to let her go fast this time and see what she was capable of (I've only had her since March). We did that first loop with Gared and the boys. We get back to camp and she vets through again with all A's. I find out I'm only about 30 min behind the leaders. She's looking good. I was out about 7 min ahead of the Gared and boys, so I had to leave camp by myself and she did not like that. She wasn't moving out as well as she had on the first loop, but I couldn't really tell if she was tired or just pouting about being alone. Well, that first time we passed some of the other riders she perked right up. The only problem was they were going the other direction (There were some out and back so we had some common trails). She did not want to go the opposite direction. Had to fight her every time we passed somebody until we finally caught up the people in front of us. She moved out perfectly fine behind them and we got back camp and had actually been within 15 min of the time it took us to do the same loop the first time. We get pulsed down. We were 6th and only 48 min behind the first horse. She got all A's again and we decide to stand for BC. We do our hour check and she still has all A's.
Well, long story short, with her athleticism and my heavy weight butt, we got BC. I was so proud of her. I keep think I'm going to find her limitations but I haven't yet. When I bought her I asked Leah if she would want her back if things didn't work out; she said she wasn't worried, she didn't think the mare was going any where. Well Leah you were right. Miss P is here to stay.
Katrina Mosshammer and H. Perle
Central
Friday, December 08, 2006
Monday, December 04, 2006
Friday, November 24, 2006
2006 Sultan's Cup - Malaysia
Endurance.Net is travelling to Terengganu! John and I will leave from Idaho on November 20, and arrive in Malaysia November 22 (it's a long way around). We will be joined there by Belgian friend and fellow adventurer Leonard Liesens. Leonard and I will be both be riding horses from the Sultan's Royal Stable. Leo is doing 160km, start time 5pm, finish time..? I'll be riding 80km - start time is midnight! It's monsoon season which means thunderstorms are common. Might be another wet ride - but at least it will be warm :)
Arrivals
We arrived last night after a long trip, met up with Leonard Liesens, and
Paul Jeoffrey (New Zealand) - were met at the Terengganu airport and
shuttled off to the Suria Beach resort - a modest little resort on the coast
where the riders are being housed. Hot and humid - the warm coastal air was
a shock after hours of airplane and airports. A little smokey from the open
markets, and very very humid. It had rained during the afternoon, everything
was still wet and steamy. A night drive along the coast from the airport to
the hotel - images of Terengganu - the first images are always the most
interesting, before the newness wears off.
[More ...]
Getting Ready
A little time to write, just a bit. We went out to the stable early this
xmorning to try the horses out. Woke up to pouring rain (the kind that will
deafen you if you're standing in a tin roof barn) but it soon stopped, and
was already drying up by the time we went to breakfast. Sunny and gorgeous
when we got there. I brought a saddle with me (the Gaston Mercier - which is
very very light for travel and seems to fit most arabs reasonably well) and
provides a degree of comfort and familiarity which is quite welcome when
riding strange horses! My horse is 'Murphy' - nice horse, smooth gaits, a
little young and playfully rambunctious, but I think he'll be a good ride.
[More ...]
Friday, November 17, 2006
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Skymont, Hahira, and Gunner's hoof injury - Angie McGhee
I posted about 2 weeks ago telling that I went out to ride Gunner and he had what looked like a bad hoof injury that went from the corner of the frog, straight forward as if it had been sawed for about 1" forward. It was about 1/2 way up his heel. He was totally oblivious to it, couldn't care less when I put testers on it, no sign of blood or any wire that he might have hooked it on. John posted pictures and most thought it was probably a wire injury and he'd be sore soon. Farrier came out Tuesday, thought the same, didn't seem overly concerned and put patching material on it. He didn't think a clip of any sort would help.
It was four days till Skymont and I was supposed to sponsor my daughter Josie and Joni Buttram. Dave Bennett had offered me his good horse Rocketeer as a backup, but we had a pretty complicated situation where I had to drive an hour and a half, drop the horses off at the ride site, vet in, leave them with Bill and drive 120 miles to my school's football team's playoff game, film it (it was COLD!) pick up Josie there and drive back to the ride at about 1 AM. I didn't want to leave Cade, Josie's horse without a buddy he trusted, so we decided to gamble that Gunner would stay sound. I've gotta admit. I didn't mind the 2 1/2 hour drive after the game because I knew that was the warmest we would be the rest of the weekend.
It was cold enough to have ice on the buckets Sat. morning, but perfect ride weather. I had washed our girths the day before, left them out to dry and thought they were, till we got ready to put them on Sat. and they were both frozen solid! The horses stayed sane though, and we had a great ride. The thing about Skymont that gets you is that you just don't seem to get anywhere very fast. The trail is nice, but very time consuming. There's lots of twists & turns, knee knocker trees, loose trippy rocks and just stuff that seems to slow you down more than you realize. The horse has to be careful every time he puts his foot down and it wears them out. The good part is that the trail is beautiful and the colors are at their peak, so it's still enjoyable. The scenery looks like the movie "Last of the Mohicans" and you get lots of views off the mountain with beautiful rock formations. This is my fourth time to do it (I think) and I've learned my lesson...don't fool around or you could very easily get caught out there after dark, and you have to allow for the short days.
Jody had sworn they were there to take it easy and get a completion but the truth is...and don't tell everybody this...Jody is *kinda* competitive. >g<>g<>g<>G<>
Angie McGhee
http://www.lightersideofendurance.com
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Saturday, November 11, 2006
A slice of French Endurance Life
At short notice we had been given a horse to train for one specific race, a 119k 2* (which richard was to ride in) so we worked him for a fortnight but 48 hours before the race the neighbour's cows broke into our field and trashed the electric fencing which allowed our Alpha Horse (Dougal by name) to give the newcomer a thorough seeing to.
Poor little gelding, he didn't have a square foot on his body without a bite mark and had also suffered a kick on one hock which then went septic. So we had to pull out of the race but the owner was really good about it and suggested we aimed for another one three weeks later down south. It was touch and go as to whether the cut would heal, he wasn't lame on it but it seemed like a demand too far to ask him to canter for 200k with a seeping wound. Endless poulticing alternated with borrowing ice from the local bar (we have no freezer section) and we knew it would be a close run thing.The ride in the South was a two day 200k 3* called Montcuq. It was celebrating its 30th birthday but there'd been a highly charged political movement to sabotage it this year by a group of riders who were putting on a seemingly identical ride the following weekend. As well as riding, we were writing and photographing both rides and therefore being hosted by the respective organizers (who, needless to say, don't speak to each other). Diplomacy would rule.
On Thursday 26th Oct we loaded up two horses (the alpha male plus the horse he'd beaten up; needless to say they were best friends immediately because there were no mares around to make life complicated!) and headed 600k south for twelve days. We've never left the homestead for that long before and we'd been worrying about it a lot before leaving; a couple of days before we were due to leave, Hannibal (the pest of the herd) had discovered a route out of the field and had taken some of the other horses with him so two or three times a day there would be as many as five horses loose on the very small country lane (but nonetheless a road) galloping up and down, disappearing into sown fields etc. with me flapping around uselessly imagining the worst. But we reinforced the boundaries, put more electric fencing units up and drove away with fingers crossed. We'd left a 'friend' nominally in charge, who was meant to come round every other day to water the horses and feed the cats and hens. We are blessed with abundant grass and about fifty chestnut trees keep the horses well stuffed with marron so they didn't need anything extra in the food department.
A nine hour drive down south, stopping for an hour midway, and we arrived in the small medieval town of Montcuq. Although we were being put up for both weekends we couldn't expect either ride organizer to house us plus two horses for the intervening week so had booked room and paddock at a 'chambre d'hote' and we dropped Dougal there immediately then took the other one - lets call him Biggles - to the stables which were in the middle of the town.
It was almost impossible to get anywhere in a hurry as there was always someone to talk to - and often in English which was a treat as the ride has always been well supported by the Brits who come over just for 'the crack'. Pre ride vetting was on the Friday afternoon about five minutes after the wound on the right hock had decided to heal over. Phew; and at eight the following morning an aptly numbered 30 riders (19 french, 11 from other countries) set off for the first day's 100k.
Four horses hit the front within metres - an Italian girl, an English woman, a Spanish man and a local Frenchman, very democratic and truly international. These four dominated the lead all day and arrived back in Montcuq within minutes of each other having averaged 17/18kph but ridden the last 22k stretch home at closer to 22kph.Richard was about forty minutes off the pace and losing ground at the vetgates as we hadn?t really had the horse for long enough to work on his cardio vascular and a speedy presenter he wasn't! My concentration was focused on Richard and Biggles and I'd completely forgotten that I was meant to be taking photos. We grazed the horse in hand all Saturday afternoon, had his front shoes changed, planned tactics, talked endless post mortems of the first day and generally indulged in feeling part of the endurance community. Biggles's 70 yr old breeder/owner, who had driven ten hours from the coast of Brittany, who was delighted with how he'd performed, took us out to a wonderful supper during which we went to the stables and brought the horse back to the restaurant where he ate a couple of kilos of carrots in the dark.
Late that night, after our meal in the restaurant, there was a hysterical call from the owner of the Chambre d'hote telling us to take Dougal away as he was nothing but trouble in the escaping department and had eaten all her plums off the trees and she'd had enough. So we sneaked him into the ride stables (there was an empty one) and realised that as we couldn't take him back there that we were, in fact, homeless with two horses for the next four days. However, there was Sunday's ride to worry about first.We were up and leading him round at 6.30, delighted that he'd eaten a huge breakfast and just tried a trot before the vetting. Hopping lame on the left hind so immediate withdrawal along with five others whose horses had also stiffened up overnight (we're not allowed to corral at either 2 or 3* rides in France, the horses have to sleep in stables which I'm not crazy about). The good news was that Richard could then take the photos and we could follow the ride from the front. There were 18 horses left to tackle another 100k loop with both vetgates away from the venue. The GB lady hadn't started day 2 so it was the French/Italian/Spanish triumverate who raced each other round. At the last vetgate Jordi (insert surname) had sped through the vetting and set off for home averaging 26kph and arriving (with broken stirrup leather!) twenty minutes ahead of the Jean Francois Lassalle who took a safe second place. Patrizia was next but eliminated on pulse so a French woman (Christine Lef) who came in over an hour later, took third place on the podium.
That evening the tired and hungry entourage were treated to a slide show of the last 30 years of Montcuq. Interesting to see how there was no sign of leg protection for the horses until 1986, there were several horses in the early years being ridden in double bridles, hard hats weren?t even popular, let alone compulsory, until well into the 1990s. The introduction of plastics and Lycra proved easier to spot than the effects of France's excellent long-term breeding programmes, state support for the sport or the arrival of the petro-dollar.
The homelessness factor sorted itself out and we found a truly wonderful place to stay thanks to someone we'd met down there. Glorious well-fenced paddock, comfortable bed for us and clippers to borrow. The sun shone, we bought ourselves picnic lunches and sat in restaurants in the evenings and it really felt like a holiday. We had the small dog with us and she became very used to sitting under tables eating unsuitable things.
On the Thursday we moved to the house of the organiser of the second ride. This second ride had been well hyped and had 140 horses competing for 15.000euros prize money and we had high hopes for the alpha horse. At his trot up on the Friday there were actually oohs and aaahs, I promise, that's the first time that's ever happened to us and it felt lovely that others were appreciating our horse!
Richard had decided to start in last position as Dougal is only 8 and we suspected the excitement of jumping off with so many horses would mean he'd hit the front and want to stay there; he might have drawn oohs from the crowd but it doesn't mean he's that biddable in a race - or he certainly wasn't in his last one where there were a mere 50 starters. By the first vet gate they'd moved up to 95th, mostly by going straight in to vet and thus overtaking about ten horses. I'm going to draw a veil over the misery of crewing when there are 200 other huge cars on tiny French lanes but it was a 'first come, first to park close to where the horses cross' situation and for those of us further back - buckets of water feel really heavy after carrying them for five minutes! Valerie Kanavy was at the other end of the field, consistently presenting first on a really impressive mare she'd brought to Europe to do the Portugal trial run.
By the second vetgate he'd moved up to 77th and vetted immediately with straight As. This just left the 20k home stretch which they did in just under the hour, again taking only two minutes to get into the vetgate which put them in 66th position. And this is where we say goodbye to Dougal as he was slightly lame left fore, possibly from when he'd fallen in a hole whilst preferring to go up a bank than to stand still whilst being crewed (tipping Richard off at the same time) but probably just one of the inexplicable lamenesses where there's no heat, no swelling and a completely sound horse 48 hours later. So an ignominious end to what had (up to this trip south) been a wonderfully successful season but you have to cope with disaster just the same and there were photos to take, people to talk to, wine to be drunk!
Sunday morning there were 93 horses left in the race and Valerie set off again in front. She'd been ten seconds off the leader overnight but the first 15 were all bunched so tightly together in terms of time that it could have been won by any of them. Speeds were down slightly because, though the first day had been relatively flat, the second day was a series of long long climbs. A 94k loop today, again with both vetgates away from home (I told you it was pretty identical to the previous weekend's ride!) and Valerie again vetted through first at both of them overtaking three or four horses, if only by seconds, each time.
After vg1, as the riders left for the second stretch of the day, they weren't allowed to mount but had to lead their horses through the most incredible old tow path, cut into the rock and nothing between them and a steep drop down to the river. I'll enclose a picture and strongly suspect it will become the iconic image of French endurance in the same way that Cougar Rock is to yours. The organizers had thoughtfully provided a leg-up man at the far end where the race was back on (they'd all had to walk single file down the towpath)At the last vetgate Kanavy was still in the lead, she had overtaken the overnight leader and had a two second advantage over an 18yr old girl called Morgane Payen whose parents are both endurance vets and whose mother has been on the French team in the past. Within two strides Morgane had overtaken your countrywoman and set sail for home at an astonishing 30kph which included being crewed twice where the horse drank really well.
There were sadly few (maybe a hundred) people to see Payen cross the line as almost everyone was still out on course but the mare looked great and as if she could do it all over again. The next horses home were also ridden by women and, like Payen, both passed the final vetting which meant the podium had three females. We've covered at least ten of France's major rides this year and this is the first time we've seen this; it's more of a man's sport over here. Two men came in 4th and 5th and Valerie finished 6th having seemed to really enjoy the experience, as did Larry whose only complaint was that the scenery was so beautiful he'd have liked to linger as opposed to pushing on to the next crew point.
There were 62 finishers altogether, a fantastic new race to add to the must-ride-it-before-I-die list. The ride has a website where stat lovers can get the facts. We photographed and wrote up both rides for EnduranceWorldOnline but it probably won't be out til the next issue.
Allen, Hannibal and Nicki
Monday, October 23, 2006
Mary Howell's AERC NC 50 2006
Last year, Darryl Downs, Fran Williams and I rode together on the pre-ride
NC 50 course and I thought the winning time of 7:23 was a pretty decent,
given all those rocks and climbs. This year's top finishers, many of whom
had never seen the trail before, tore almost 2 HOURS off that time!!
I certainly felt as if I was part of a championship, which pulled out of me
& Shiloh out one of the best performances of our career. My experience
wouldn't have been possible at all for me if it weren't for longtime friends
Becky, Bob and Jennifer Supinger, who have been boarding Shiloh, brought him
to the ride, shared their warm trailer and did an exceptional job crewing.
Loop1 (23 miles): At the start, Roxi from Iowa said she saw me and Shiloh
gallop off into the darkness and was inspired to follow, catching up before
the first bridge; we zoomed that first nine miles, slowing only for the 6
concrete bridges on the climb up to Moreland Gap. After just 45 minutes, we
came into the 9 mile pulse&go. Her horse pulsed about 2 minutes faster than
Shi & she was out of sight after that.
I'll never forget zooming along the rocky, uneven ATV trail along the top of
the ridge in pitch black darkness, with the downward-pointing handle of the
Big Dipper showing the way. I didn't have any lights on board but was
fortunate to be riding just in front of Ruth Ann Everett from North
Carolina, whose headlamp provided a reassuring beacon.
Dawn broke as we descended the ridge, with a spectacular view of the sunrise
on our right as Ruth Ann and I galloped the remaining miles of gravel road
into the first hold. One of my favorite vets, Otis Schmidt, vetted Shiloh
through with a CRI of 60/60. Shiloh's pulse time was 7:10, nearly an hour
fast than I'd told my crew to expect. They hadn't arrived yet, but their
friend Mike Condon, a volunteer, helped me out immeasurably, carrying my
saddle to a safe spot and borrowing grain, hay and a blanket from kind
others (thank you Peggy!) When Bob and Jennifer arrived to crew, ride
staffer Bonnie Snodgrass brought us the sad news that Becky had been
involved in a multi-horse incident at the start and had to pull at the
pulse&go because Electik had scrapes all over his body.
Loop 2 (15 miles) Ruth Ann and I left out together on Loop 2 and kept a
steady pace climbing Veach Gap. We were passed by Ed Kidd of Tennessee and
two others, but opted to play it safe on the rocks. Ride photographer Genie
Stewart-Spiers had hiked a whole hour to reach the top of the ridge, which
provided the perfect fall colors as backdrop for the ride photos. Ruth Ann's
horse was a bit shy of the camera so Shiloh took over the lead as we passed
by. On that loop, I enjoyed having a chance to talk to her about horses and
other things; she admired the scenery and explained that her horses train on
the steep Leatherwood Trails but that the amount of rocks was a surprise.
Descending Milford Gap, Amy Cieri of Pennsylvania caught up to us and shared
more about the train wreck at the start. She and John Crandell had a tough
time catching the loose horses, removing their loose saddles and securing
the horses to trees, but she was able to make up about a half hour time
difference to catch up to us.
No sooner did Shiloh reach the flat road along the Shenandoah River than he
broke out in a flat out gallop - Amy's horse Ruby not only kept up, but
passed us coming up the steep grade near Indian Grave. Wow, what an
exhilarating feeling to be able to go that fast after negotiating all those
rocks and climbs. At the hold, another one of my favorite vets, Duane
Barnett, vetted Shiloh through. His fatigue was starting to show a bit with
a 60/64 CRI. He gobbled all the grass he could and had a chance to roll
while we chatted with Sperryville native Eve Bargmann, who reminded me of
the technical trail on the 3rd loop. I decided to keep the size 2 EZ boots
over front shoes that Shiloh had been wearing all day - he could never have
gone as fast over those loose rocks and stayed sound without them.
Loop 3 (11 miles): As I worked up the steep rocky climb to Hebron Gap on the
first part of the second loop, Shiloh was ravenously hungry and wanting to
take his time. I let him walk at his own pace and grab some random clumps of
grass. By the time we crested the ridge, he got his second wind and we
caught up to the others. As we neared the road crossing at Camp Roosevelt
just a half mile form the last hold, the sense of urgency increased and our
group of 5 (Amy, Ruth Ann, me, and two heavyweight division riders) zoomed
down the rocky and muddy trail into Hickory Lane.
I am a defender of having this hold. If you've ever ridden Hebron Gap, those
11 miles take most riders over 2 hours, and there's no water on trail. It's
humane to give your horse a chance to recharge before a final raceoff. As it
so happened, Shiloh lost an EZ boot about 1/4 mile from the hold and then
took a few minutes longer to pulse down than Ruth and Amy's horses. Although
his CRI was 60/52, Vet Amy Worrell saw something a bit off on the trot out
and felt an increased pulse in that right front leg, so we set his leg in a
bucket of ice water during the brief hold. I'm sure that break helped ensure
his completion - but he was angry to be left behind!
As Shiloh saw Amy Cieri's horse Ruby gallop out, Bob and Jennifer had their
hands full trying to reattach his bridle and dose him with electrolytes. He
had a competitive gleam in his eye and he wanted to race after them! But it
was another few minutes before our out time of 12:20, so we cantered
steadily in, crossing the line at 12:24 and 56 seconds.
Heat vet Art King said Shiloh looked fine & he had a 10 minute CRI of 60/60.
Even though me & my tack were only 153 lbs, I presented for BC an hour later
just to learn how he was doing. Although his metabolics were still fine, Art
saw a big difference downward in Shiloh's quality of movement, and
encouraged us to cut out the pads from the front shoes. I think Shi was just
tired and sore like me! BTW, Amy Cieri's horse was padded too but remarkably
Ruth Ann's horse, the first-to-finish FW, didn't have any pads on at all
and still stayed sound!
By midafternoon several horses were being treated and Michigan State vet
students was also taking blood samples and blood pressure readings (with the
cuff mounted around the upper part of the horse's tail) as part of a study.
Since Shiloh was already getting blood drawn for the study, I told vet Joy
that Shiloh could serve as the 5th (random) horse for the AERC drug testing.
I can't match Flora's poetic description of the ride scenery, but our
spectacular surroundings were as much a part of what set this event apart as
the competition itself. The 2006 AERC NC was a wonderful opportunity for me
to meet and talking with riders from other parts of the country. I hope they
all make it home safely and gain newfound appreciation for our Old Dominion
Trails and the staff and volunteers who made this event possible.
- Mary Howell
Josie Whelan's AERC NC 50 2006
by Josie Whelan
I was very happy to have finished the ride. It started out rough when I fell off my horse after he was spooked by 2 other loose horses, and ran away. Meg Sleeper was my sponser and we had to walk for a mile and a half before we saw my horse tied up to a fence. When we came into the 8 and a half mile check we were already last ,but we didn't mind we just wanted to finish. We did all right for a while, but then took a wrong turn and went out three miles. Meg had done the hundred mile ride 2 days before and thought that the part of the trail we were on was the same. Luckily we ran into Stagg Newman who was driving down the road and he told us we were on the wrong trail. So then we had to back track and get back on the right trail. When we were just about to get to the vetcheck my mom came up the road telling us to hurry because the check was closing soon. We asked how she had known we were lost? Apparently the Drag Riders had come in before we had so they knew that we had taken a wrong turn. Everybody cheered when we came into the vetcheck. It was actually kind of cool to get there last because my mom got a spot close to the vets since everyone had already left. It was also cool because lots of piles of good alfalfa hay were lying around. And since everybody elses hay is better than yours I was running around grabbing bits of hay and ploping it in front of my horse. We finally left and th 2nd loop was rocky ,but okay. We went through the second vetcheck fine and started up on our last loop. Well who ever said that the last loop was better than the 2nd is dead wrong. Just as you thought you were at the top of the hill you would start going up again. The entire trail was basicly a rock graveyard. The views were beautiful and amazing, but the trail was tough. We finished with 10 MINUTES to spare. I decided to let Meg have the Turtle Award. She said I couldn't be first junior and get the turtle award( I thought it was strange being 1st junior in 2nd to last place) I want to thank Meg Sleeper for being my sponser and sacrificing her ride, John Crandell for catching my horse, Stagg Newman for turning us around because we would never have made it, Karen and Steve Cummings for hauling my horse, and everyone else who helped me
Josie & Rock (my horse)
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
A Weekend of Firsts - Margit Krellwitz
This adventure began Friday morning, shortly after I dropped my children off at school. I was so excited. I'm 52 and in the 26 years I have been married I have never had a girl's weekend away from my family! A weekend doing something new, challenging and just for me!
The trailer is packed quickly, the horses loaded and we are off. Three women who love to ride horses! Annetta and Linda have been working with me for over a year, slowly building my confidence and stamina. Finally, I said yes, I was ready to take on this challenge. Linda and Annetta have many years of experience; I have none.
We are headed for the Indian Territory endurance horse race at Lake Oolagah, Oklahoma. The road trip passes quickly and before long we are pulling in to camp. Despite arriving in the early afternoon, there are trailers and horses everywhere! We set up camp, taking care of the horses first, of course!
Once the horses are settled in we head for the ride manager's camp. We check in and show our horse's current Coggins and receive our race card. Annetta switches from the 50 to the 25-mile race. Linda & Misty will do the 50-mile. I will attempt the 25-mile race. After the paperwork is completed we return to our camp to get our horses and walk them to the vet's camp for out pre-ride vet check. Once our pre-ride vet check is complete we settle the horses in for the evening and check our tack for the next morning's ride. A ride meeting to explain the course was schedule for that evening. They would honk a horn when it was time to come!
I was glad to have Annetta accompanying me in my first race, my horse, Shahb El Shiraz (AKA Comet), would behave better around his buddy Fernie, but I was afraid I would either not be able to keep up or worse, hold her back! We went back to camp and prepared dinner. We had a great meal with mashed potatoes, pot roast and veggies all zapped in the microwave thanks to Annetta's generator! We sat outside in our camp chairs and watched the sun set on the lake, not 40 feet in front of us, our horses peacefully grazing between the lake and our trailer. This was nice!
The "mom" in me kicked in and I grabbed my cell phone and turned it on, I had left it off all day. I had three missed calls and several messages! I listened to the messages and called home. I straightened out the confusion about what to feed the mare and colt and what to feed the pony and told everyone I loved them and would call after the race ended.
The ride meeting was short. The start time of the 25-mile race was moved from 8 am to 9 am, giving the 50-milers a two-hour head start. The ride manager and head vet explained what the rules were. The directions were deceptively simple: go to your right, follow the ribbons, pick up a token at the end of the trail, turn around and come back the same way. 17 miles for the first loop, 64 pulse, vet check, 45 minutes hold, then out again, go to the left this time, 8 miles for the second loop, 4 miles out, pick up a token, then back the way you came, 60 pulse, Vet check then done. No maps just follow the ribbons! Seemed simple enough. No maps!!!
The ride manager announced a first-timer meeting with the vet after the general meeting. I moved up to meet the vet. Did I have any questions, he asked? I truthfully answered that I didn't know enough to know what questions to ask. Have you crewed on a ride, he asked? No. Have you come to a watch a ride? No.
I felt like a neophyte. I was a neophyte! I told the vet I was riding with Annetta, if I could keep up with her, she would help me through the ride. One kind gentleman standing nearby offered to let me ride with him. I said great. Of course, I never recognized him the next day and to my knowledge I never saw him again all weekend!!
We went back to our trailer, got ready for bed and waited for morning to come. Anxiety about the race settled in my gut! Great, I thought, I'm going to be stuck in a port-a-potty all night, or all day tomorrow and miss my race! Eventually I fell to sleep, listening to the rumblings of my intestines!
Linda's alarm sounded the start of the day at 5:30. Morning finally arrived. I had woken up at 3 am to go to the bathroom, stepping on Annetta's head getting down from the bed. I couldn't get back to sleep, but thankfully my stomach had stopped making noise! Annetta has taken the couch while Linda and I shared the bed. Annetta and I tried to go back to sleep, but gave up at six. We decided to help Linda get ready for her 7 am start time.
What a glorious morning. The Harvest moon was full and heavy, ready to sink into the west, but still provided plenty of light. The sun was creeping up in the east. You could see the moon reflected in the dark lake water. Someone grab a camera! Horses quietly grazing with the moonlit water behind them and the sunrise too! Does it get any better than this? Before long, it was 7 am and Linda was off! Our turn to get ready to go!
We had checked and double-checked everything the night before. It didn't take long to get ready. What to wear? Why is that always the hardest thing to decide, even here! If I dress too warm I'll get hot, but I don't want to freeze either! Layer and strip, decision made. One last pit stop and I was ready. We walked our horses around to get them warmed up.
It was time to go. Lake Oolagah was a beautiful place; plenty of the people who came to the ride lazily enjoyed the scenery during the ride. We, however, started out at the front of the line and never gave up first and second place!! Annetta was #29, I was #15. We did a 17-mile loop at the start, with a few people on Comet's tail, but gradually we were down to one lone horse chasing us. We thought we had lost him for a few miles, but he caught up and stayed with us until the vet check at the end of 17 miles. With a strange horse on our tail Comet wanted to go faster to get away from him, Fernie in turn didn't want Comet on his tail, so I was stuck in the middle trying to keep Comet off Fernie's tail, and remain far enough ahead of the horse on our tail!
Time flew by, and we expected to meet Linda on the trail as she started her second 25-miles. We saw the front-runners; Linda was not in the top 10 horses. Something was wrong. Time passed quickly and it was 10:38 when we rode back into camp.
Linda was waiting for us and helped get us through the vet check. Misty had slipped on the 8-mile loop and the vet noticed something in her trot during the vet check and pulled Linda and Misty from the race. They had been in the lead for the first 25 miles of the 50-mile race.
Annetta and I both passed the vet check with no problems, and then had a 45-minute hold. She could leave at 11:25, Comet and I at 11:26. We took care of the horses, took a potty break and then it was off to the races again. Annetta graciously waited until 11:26 so we could leave together. We were off again, Annetta and Fernie in the lead. We had hoped to have a few minute start on the horse who had been chasing us. We never saw that horse and rider again.
The second loop was a short 8 miles. We felt great and since it was shortly before 11:30 hoped we could finish before it got too hot! The second loop was rocky in many places and we were cautious after learning of Misty's slipping in the terrain. We still went fast, but walked down the rocky hills and tried to be careful!!
At the halfway mark we were both doing well and felt great. On the way back we passed our closest competitor. We had about 2 miles to go. We pushed to extend our lead. We dashed down a small ravine and up the other side. We had a tree to jump/walk over. We had done many jumps on the trail and had done this very same log on the way out. Comet jumped, I fell -- HARD!! My ears were ringing, I saw stars and heard Annetta say, are you OK? She was holding Comet and was about to head to the finish line and get help. I said no I was fine. I struggled to get back in the saddle. I got back up, determined to finish. Luckily I really was ok, and did not get dizzy as we raced to the end.
At the finish we walked in, Annetta in the lead, Comet and I right behind her. We quickly headed to the water trough. Linda was waiting for us, and helped cool off Fernie and then Comet. Linda urged me to get off Comet. Annetta had gotten off and walked Fernie in. I slid off and started splashing water on Comet. Someone handed me a scoop. I used it and quickly returned it, grateful for the help. Linda instructed me to quickly head to the P&R (pulse and respiration) station. I watched my heart monitor as it dropped and headed in as soon as it registered 60. Annetta had entered before me, and as it had been for the whole race, I was right behind her.
The P & R area was teaming with activity. Several people were taking P & R's. The timer's table was strategically located to record the times as the volunteers shouted the horse's number and the time. 50 milers were coming in at the same time as the early finishers for the 25-mile race. Comet's time was recorded and we were whisked away to the vet. Several vets were checking horses and I moved to the first available. Annetta and Fernie were already being check by a vet. All went well until the dreaded trot out! After completing 25 miles and taking a fall, the last thing I wanted to do was run to a cone and back! But Comet and I did what we had to do. We weren't going to stop now!! Next we had to strip our tack off the horse and step on the scales holding it all! Ugh!!
We had one hour to get our horses cleaned up and ready to present to the vet for the best-conditioned horse evaluation. Fortunately, the campsite had access to a hose so it was easy to clean them up. Linda was a big help!!! Were it not for Linda and Annetta I would have been lost in the chaos of the moment.
We fed and watered the horses and finally got a minute to take care of ourselves. That's when I noticed that my brand new helmet was cracked at the base! I was grateful to have had a helmet that worked. That would have been a nice C-1 injury! Always wear your helmet!
Soon it was time to go for our final vet check. Amazingly Fernie and Comet had each pulsed down at the same time. We were both scheduled to report to the vet at the same time. The vet looked at the best conditioned paperwork she had been handed by the timekeeper and asked to see Comet first, that was when we realized that the timekeeper had mistakenly placed #15 ahead of #29. It was an understandable mistake; after all, the P&R station was like Union Station at 5 pm on Friday. Annetta and I told the vet and timer about the error and asked the vet to check 29 first as 29 had finished first. She said fine. We both vetted out fine, although I thought I was never going to do Comet justice in the trot out; I had run beside him as he trotted up and down a small incline, which, after 25 miles, felt like Mount Everest to me!
We were done at last and could now have lunch! After a nice lakeside lunch, Annetta and Linda took Fernie and Misty bareback into the lake to cool off their legs and just have fun. I stayed camp side and called home to let everyone know I was alive and well and had finished second to Annetta. I was happy and proud of my accomplishment. I took some pictures of Annetta and Linda in the lake.
As the afternoon passed we wandered up to ride manager's camp to see what time the potluck dinner was going to start. She said the last 50-mile rider had just left to complete the last 8-mile loop. Dinner wouldn't start until they returned. I guessed 6:00ish. While with the ride manager we learned that the error in place finish we thought we had corrected at the vet check, had not been corrected. #15 was recorded as finishing first and #29 as finishing second. We had brought that error to their attention at 1:22 when we went to the vet check; we thought we had fixed that error!
It's ok, we thought, we can fix it now, no harm done. Unfortunately we were the ones who were wrong. The rider manage would not change the results. The times had been recorded that way and she was not going to change it! Changing the results, she insisted, would require thirty minutes. It's too much trouble to change it now, besides its no big deal; limited distance (25-miles) doesn't count anyway! Imagine how that made me feel as a first timer!!
We went back to camp and Annetta checked the AERC rulebook. It stated clearly that in the event of a tie the first person entering the P&R area would be awarded the first place finish. OK, we thought, we'll just go back and show her the rulebook; surely she will change her mind. We trekked back to the ride manager's camp and tried again. No luck, despite attempts to reason with her, the ride manager would not change the results. We left, dishearten. I was so embarrassed! I did not deserve to win. I was proud of my second place finish. I could never feel that way about this win. As we walked back to camp I hoped Linda and Annetta would be ready to break camp and go home.
Annetta insisted we stay for the awards ceremony anyway; we would break camp afterwards and head home. At the ceremony I reluctantly and very embarrassingly accepted the first place finish award. I wanted to shout "I didn't finish first - I wouldn't have finished at all without my friend, who lead me the whole way, and gave up a minute for me, and babied me though a fall!!" But it was my first time and I had already alienated the ride manager enough! Strangers who were tired, hungry, and just wanted to go home surrounded me, they didn't want to hear me complain about finishing first! I just offered Annetta my prize as I returned to my seat. Later, I had to stand before the crowd again, this time to be recognized as a first timer. I stood, but I didn't turn to face the crowd. I simple turned several shades of red when I overheard the whispers when people said, "she finish first in the 25, and this is her first time!"
We headed back to camp after the potluck to break camp. Just before pulling out, we broke out the Razzleberry pie I had baked for the potluck. We had chosen not to share it as a silent protest to the finish; it was Annetta's favorite pie and I saluted her with a big slice. The pie lifted our spirits and we headed for home.
We didn't miss a single turn during the race; we missed several, on the way home! We pulled in late, but as always took care of the horses and tack first. I offered the rest of the Razzleberry pie to Annetta. She insisted I take it home to my family.
I drove the 30 minutes to my house. It was after midnight. My husband greeted me with a hug and congratulations. He emptied my car for me while I jumped in the shower, my first since Friday morning. Afterwards I popped several Ibuprofens into my mouth and happily fell into bed. My prayers were simple thanks, I was grateful for so much. I fell to sleep quickly.
All in all I had a very nice time with my friends and our wonderful horses! Will I do it again? We'll see.
Happy Trails