Nat'l Championship Feedback-Anyone Have Pics of the Rocks?

["guest@endurance.net" <guest@endurance.net>]

Heather Watson watson1@gv.net
Here are some of my feelings regarding this ride: my overall impression is mostly good.  I finished, but was pulled at the end for lameness in the hind end (valid), probably incurred after trying to make the cutoff time.  I made it in, but the effort took its toll.  Never again will I work so hard over such unforgiving terrain for a completion.  It was not worth it. But
this is my responsibility as a rider, so I accept my fate with
a light heart, and will make an effort to learn from my 
experiences. 

The vets were GREAT.  The people were VERY nice, and the locals made me consider moving to New Mexico.

Its easy for people who weren't there to call us whimps or whiners.  I regret not taking pictures (documented proof) of the rocky sections that spanned steep miles.  No one will ever believe me that wasn't there themseleves.  I know I wouldn't!  That reminds me, does anyone have any pictures of what we treked through?  If so, please email me so that I can show my friends (non-believers), print it, and frame it on the wall.  

My horse experienced mild gas colic (along with a few other horses) after he drank water from the management-provided water.  Apparently there was a label on the front of the contracted-out tanker that indicated it was used for fuel at one time.  The water smelled like fumes and had a film of oil on the top, especially for the first 100 gallons that came out (which is what I used, unfortunately).  It became clearer as more was emptied, and some horses drank from it and experienced no problems.  I had used the first few gallons (bummer). I thought I had gotten axel grease on me somehow--couldn't have imagined it was the water, and that's what I was smelling.

Silly me...I had looked at the water coming out and thought it was dark.  Very brown.  I was assured that the other horses that were there for the 100 had been happily drinking it all week  They told me it came straight out of a river so I assumed the color was a harmless mineral.  I thought that I'd begin to acclimate my horse to the local water by adding half and half to his water from home, especially since we were already running out.  

We'd arrived Tuesday evening around 5PM, and all had been GREAT.  On Wednesday morning, I filled his 20 gallon bucket on that was down to 10 gallons with another 10 from the tanker.  He drank the 20 gallon bucket down halfway within 20 minuetes.  Satisfied that he was happy and eating, drinking, pooping, peeing, etc., my friend and I left for town to replenish our ice.  When we came back within two hours, one of the other campers notified me that he had been laying down and looking at his sides in discomfort, but was still eating and drinking.  I took him out and gave him walks, and he seemed fine.  The vets all suggested I tack him up and give him some mild excersise.  That's when my heart sank, because after 5 mins on the trail I realized that I did NOT have my happy little horse under me.  He broke out in a profuse sweat and had no will to move out.  We returned to camp and I watched him intently until he passed the gas colick.  During the whole ordeal, he continued to eat and drink, but didn't poop or pee until about 10PM that night.

We rode again the next moring for excercise, and had I not witnessed his behavior the night before, I'd never have known there was a problem.  We got all A's and A+s when we vetted in, so all appears to have come out fine.  I just took it VERY easy on the ride.  To say that I am distressed about the tainted water is an understatement, but I also realize that his discomfort could have been from many other factors, especially our long haul.  All I can say is that he was VERY healthy during the whole trip, and looked to me like he'd actually GAINED weight on the three day haul.  Everything was smooth until he drank the water...  After he began colicking, several people tskd tskd me and said that the water that everyone else earlier in the week had been using had come from ANOTHER tank up by the vet check.  THAT was the water I should have been using, and it is the water I used without problems for the rest of the ride. So who knows?  He could have gotten sick for a multitude of reasons, but this was cerrtainly NOT what I wanted to have happen after going to such lengths to attend this event.

About the trail...

There is no way in the world I would have driven 2600+ plus miles rount trip if I had known about the trail.  Not to say that it wasn't appropriate for some, but not something I would have wanted to subject my horse to for so many miles.  I only have one horse, who I love dearly, and can't afford to replace.  Not to mention that I would be devastated if I did something to him that caused him to be injured.  The whole time I was asking him to go down that (IMO dangerous) section, I kept apologizing to him.  I couldn't help it--sorry was all I could think of.  He did it without question, which really added to my feelings of guilt.  After many miles of the stuff, which I couldn't believe wouldn't end, I told my companion on the trail that I felt like I was abusing my horse.  He said he felt the same..  We joked about how that this was a challenge, not a championship.

Later, Randy asked me how I liked the ride.  I told him everything was great, but in all honesty (and no offense to him or his committe), I would not have come had I known about the rocks.  I read his description on the paperwork, and was expecting rocks--hard rocks even.  Since I train on terrain that makes most people cringe (email me privately and I'll attach pictures so that you can make up your own minds before dismissing me), I figured it would be something I needed to go slowly over, but it should be doable (and I did end up doing it).  I figured AERC wouldn't have sanctioned something unsafe, right?  Oh, and I also would have had second thoughts about attending this ride had I known that the trail had never been ridden/used for an AERC ride before.  Basically, we were all pretty much test cases for this trail, which is why I'd never heard any cautionary tales.  I'm used to rocks for intermittent periods on a sanctioned ride, or stretches of one to two miles, but not like this.  Randy told me that not one horse had been hurt, and that no horses had been treated (which IS indeed awesome).  I pointed out that no one was treated because no one could pick up enough speed to push a horse into metabolic failure <grins>.  And a lot of it was LUCK.  Which is fortunate because had a horse been injured out there on that stretch, I'm not sure how it would have been able to have been treated.  Seriously.  And also, there were so many GOOD, FIT horses with GOOD, SMART riders, which probably contributed to the lower statistics of problems.  

So to finish on a good note, thanks to all who contributed to this ride.  Thank you to all who helped make it happen.  I hope it happens again, just on a different (tried and true) trail.  And to any who have ever doubted the AERC slogan, to finish really is to win.  Sure wish I had!


Happy and now Sound,

Heather and Felix