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[RC] Neversweats 25 Mile May 17 (Part 3) - Aaron & Crysta TurnageSince
we had an hour hold at this point (20 miles) I walked him back to the trailer to
untack. He drank a BUNCH of water
(he always does) and dove into his beet pulp mash (soaked Manna Equine Senior w/
electrolytes). I made myself a
sandwich and let him eat. When he
was done with his mash, I took him over to get vetted. He received all A?s except for a B on
capillary refills and his pulse after his CRI was 40! Wow! This horse is doing
awesome! We went
back to the trailer and hung out until I thought it was time to go. I saddled up and walked over to the Out
Timer to discover I had hit it right on the nose and it was exactly time for me
to leave. So I got on and
started on the orange 5 mile loop.
This loop was REALLY rock, lots of loose shale and big river rock in a
dried out wash. Sinatra and I were
taking it slow and easy (he was doing his ?slug horse? walk) and the couple who
was behind us right before the first vet check came up. I followed them for about 3 of the 5
miles and then trotted towards the finish as they walked their horses in. Again, Sinatra was just happily cruising
along on a loose rein, choosing his pace, at a nice 100 bpm on the heart
monitor. Suddenly, about 100 yards
from the finish line?. There was a HORSE-EATING DONKEY!!! At least Sinatra thought so. He stopped, snorted and then plowed
through the sagebrush in an effort to get away from the donkey, who was calmly
standing by the fence on the OTHER side of the road! Silly horse! Oh well, there went my low heart rate
and two finishing positions as Sinatra shot up to 130 on the monitor and took a
little while to settle down. He
finally pulsed in at 54 about 3 minutes after the donkey episode, still a very
fair recovery. But the couple ended
up passing me at the finish and I was 8th out of
11th. I took
Sinatra back to the trailer and gave him some carrots and an apple. I untacked and sponged him off. We then walked back to get our
completion check. He was all A?s
this time with a CRI of 40 again. I
was so proud of my guy! He did
AWESOME this ride! I weighed him
after the ride and he only lost 9 pounds!
From 833 to 824, he stands about 14.3 with his shoes on. =) At the
awards that night, I was absolutely thrilled to learn that we won the Horse of
Excellence Award!!! It?s a
beautiful sheepskin rug (the kind with the really long fleece). My 10 month old son loves to lay on it
but I have it on the back of our sofa so he can?t get it too dirty. My thanks to Ride Manager Rosalee
Bradley and all the volunteers and sponsors for this ride. EVERY rider in the top-10 for every ride
that weekend got their choice of a nice prize and top finishers in their weight
division also got a bottle of fly spray (I was also top Featherweight). The food and hospitality were absolutely
fantastic and very much appreciated!
I will definitely be back next year, hopefully to ride the
55! (to be continued)
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