Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

The riders caught a break at OD this year....well, sort of.  We traded heat,
humidity, flies, and gnats for mud.  The weather predictions were not good.
Joan and I traveled up to Front Royal on Thursday with Magic.  I considered
doing the 75, but since this was Magic's first OD and the weather was iffy,
I decided to just stick with the 50.  I had several concerns with Magic:

This was his longest trip...12 hours...he has a tendency to stiffen up a
little on the trailer, since he doesn't have a lot of travel experience.
Hopefully, getting there on Thursday would give him time to recover.

The 12 mile downhill to McCoy's Ford at the start...just KNEW he was going
to want to go faster than I wanted...I wasn't disappointed!  :)  I HATE
downhills in the first part of a ride.

The river...he had never crossed this much water....didn't know how he would
handle it. 

Other than "happy feet" in traffic and being a little tense at times, Magic
is a great traveler.  Eats and drinks well, on and off the trailer.  Took us
almost exactly 12 hours to get there, in and out of rain showers, taking
Magic off for a few minutes every 3-4 hours to let him graze and relax. We
parked over next to an old baseball field.  Grass and clover were great!
Magic especially liked left field. :) I was surprised that more people
didn't take advantage of that.  We walked him out there every few hours all
weekend, even in the rain Friday nite.  As Art King says, "Nothing like Dr.
Green Grass"!  He was big time stuffed and hydrated!

Started raining in the middle of the afternoon on Friday (We vetted in with
rain) and it rained all night.  As I expected, Magic's back was a little
stiff and the vet said he was off a little on the left rear.  I couldn't see
anything, but whatever...as long as they let me start!  (Thanks, Art!) By
Saturday morning, the rain had ceased and it was cloudy and cool.  A little
humid, but FAR better weather than a normal OD.

There were about 100 riders in the 50 and it was crowded as we milled around
the ring warming up Saturday morning.  During the controlled start, I ended
up closer to the front than I wanted to be.  I had hoped to start near the
middle. Magic did fine on the pavement, and happily kept pace with the pack,
responsive, and keeping his distance.  (We started with pads on the front,
plain shoes on the rear, no borium, etc.) Once we reached the trail down to
the river, that all changed. He badly wanted to run and I thought I was
going to have to get off.  We had a number of serious disagreements, with
lots of head tossing and "happy feet". I was exhausted with a bad rub on my
right knee from fighting him when we got to the river.

Huh? No jugs to mark the crossing!  Did they wash away? Genie is out in the
middle of the river taking pictures and directing traffic! (Got a great
pic...Thanks, Genie!)  Magic just waded right in, stuck his head in up to
the eyes, and then walked calmly across. Whew!

Crews were not allowed at McCoy's Ford...just too wet.  Only place Joan
could meet me was at Fitchett's and Liberty Hall.  However, lots of grass
there in the hay field.  Magic loved it!  Didn't have a stethoscope, so just
gave him a few minutes to relax, and then just walked in...and he was down.


Big Vet line....lots of treatments going on. By the time I vetted through
(all A's except for gut) it was time to leave. Out of McCoys along the
river, lots of mud, some DEEP bogs.  Shoes littered the trail everywhere.
Tailed up Massanutten, beautiful views, cool, and NO FLIES!  Dang, I should
have brought the camera! I was riding behind a lady who got hit in the face
with a dry branch...in the right eye.  Got off and helped her and her horse
off the trail until she could see. After a few minutes her vision cleared
and I continued on.  Hope it was nothing serious. 

About a mile from Fitchett's, came across a rider who had lost a shoe...her
SECOND one....and only one easyboot.  Magic is good about keeping shoes on,
and since it was the right size, I got off and put my easyboot on for her
and hoped for the best. Fortunately, there was a farrier at Fitchett's and I
got it back.

Out of Fitchett's headed for Little Crease.  Magic had great vet scores.
Still very strong, asking to go faster...has a couple of rubs from the hack
on his cheek and chin, but mostly just hair off.  Missed the left turn up
Little Crease (poorly marked), but didn't go very far.....misleading because
of the horse tracks...obviously I was not the ONLY one who missed it!  Got
off at the Little Crease Shelter and tailed or lead up, over, and down
Little Crease. Scary...very muddy as well as rocky....but Magic handled it
well, aggressive and confident, although it was even more dangerous than
usual because the mud made the rocks slippery.

To Be Continued...

Jim, Sun of Dimanche+, and Mahada Magic (360 miles)




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People in Alabama swear by manure tea as an herbal remedy for colds.
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