[RC] My OD...sometimes the bear gets you Part 3 - Laura Hayes
Oh well....if endurance were easy, could you call it endurance?? E was
slightly and inconsistently off on one front foot and I am fairly
certain that if I had asked, I would have been allowed to go on, but 80 miles of
rock and mountains is rarely therapeutic and so I pulled. I will spare you
the details, but will add that she was sound an hour later. Did I make the
right decision??? Well, I guess we will never know, but I do know that being
conservative is rarely the WRONG decision in the grand scheme of things.
I am going to admit it: I cried. In 6000 miles of this sport, I have
never cried - I felt so foolish, but I couldn't help it. We
were so prepared, so confident- ET was so fit and willing....I wasn't
expecting this. The let down was huge. But Mathew McKay Smith came and
gave me a hug, and I realized how fortunate I was to be involved with a sport
with such wonderful and talented people.
We got a ride back to camp and I considered hanging around the empty camp
and holding my own pity party with my dogs and horse. That lasted about 4
minutes while I changed my clothes, and leaving my saddle with it's packs of
food and water, and my helmet and bridle laying on the lawn of the 4H center, I
sprinted to the office to catch a ride back to the check. If nothing else,
I could hang out with my husband and the other vets and maybe learn a thing or
two.
Well, I love the vets, but they were not the liveliest group I have hung
out with, especially in the oppressive heat, so I jumped in with old buddy
Johanna Blackmore to crew for her sister Jean in the 100. This way I could
keep an eye out for my other old friend, Libby Llop who was doing her
first 100 on Fly, who I was especially attached to after competing on her last
summer during the big XP ride. Johanna and I go way back to what seems
like a lifetime ago. I rode one particularly memorable 75 with her late
husband, David, and have missed him terribly since his tragic death in
1992. In fact, Johanna had already asked me to present the award for the
David Blackmore Memorial during the awards ceremony the next day. I was
honored and awed at the responsibility.
Johanna and I had a blast. It was so good to be able to spend time
with her and the other girls we were caravaning with, Jennifer Sapira and her
friend Jo, who kept us in stitches with her stories. At one check, while
waiting for our riders in the dark, we adopted a skeletal dog who had the
misfortune of either dying or being dumped in the parking lot we were in-
wearing his choke chain and leash, no less. We named him Lucky and made up
tales of his adventure to that point, while we drank expresso laced with sugar
and fought off the giant killer moths that were attacking us.
Libby finished in 9th place with Fly looking GREAT (and won the David
Blackmore award for second from last!), and Jean finished bravely by herself at
5:45 AM - 3/4 of an hour over time, but her horse looked
wonderful. The second VA sunrise I shared with
friends (first was ET, and the next with Johanna while we
waited) was fabulous with the birds singing and the mountains around
us waking up, and no matter that the bear got me and Equal Terms that day, we
had a great time and wish we didn't have to wait until next year to try it
again.
I woke my husband, who had vetted until 3:3:30AM and we went
in town for breakfast. As I spilled the whole story to him, I couldn't
help but feel fortunate to have such a good man, such good friends, a healthy
horse, and more great adventures than most people are ever
allowed.
Next month is the Big Horn 100 in WY.
Watch out, trail, ET and I are loaded for
bear.
Laura Hayes Vine Cliff Farms Brocton,
NY AERC# 2741
