Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Please Reply to: Lauretta  tikitiki69@xxxxxxxxxxx or ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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What a fun, and interesting, weekend.  I had a few mishaps and 
made one big mistake that cost me a completion, but am walking 
away with a sound horse so I am ok w/ this.  The start of the 
ride went great! I met up w/ a really nice person to ride with
(Hi Robin - I haven't forgotten I owe you some vet wrap!) and 
started the ride planning on going nice and slow.  The ride 
management had warned us that this would be a very challenging
ride, and it was: lots of uphill and LOTS of rocks, but I was 
hoping by going slow this would not be an issue.  I have always 
padded Shaba prior to doing this ride in the past, but had not
done so this time ( he has been in a foot of mud for the last 2+
months, so I didn't put any on at the last shoeing and didn't 
get him to the shoer in time to put them on prior to the ride).
Started the ride at a really slow pace; walked and slow trotted
alternatively.  Was about 6 miles in and we were slow trotting
on a slightly downhill stretch when Shaba trips, then is off on 
his left front.  Look down, no shoe.  Damn.  Robin and I walk 
back a short way to see if we can find it; no luck.  But, hey, I 
have an Easy boot!  So maybe all will be well?  Nope.  
Shaba is between a 0 and a 1 on the front (have the older model)
so I have to put a lot of vet wrap on to get the boot to stick. 
Where is my vet wrap?  Sitting in my car in my camelpack (I 
usually ride with this on, but it was a cool day and I decided 
not to wear it on the first 25 miles)..luckily, Robin has a roll
and is nice enough to take pity on me.  I then wrap his foot and
have a devil of a time trying to get the strap over the back..
I have to be the WORST Easy boot handler in the world.  Poor 
Robin is being polite enough to wait for me, even though it is 
costing her ride time.  I finally get it on and we start off 
again, but now I have the boot on too tight, so Shaba is still 
off.  Looks like this ride is gonna be over before it begins.  I 
am getting depressed, and walk him on another 1/8 of a mile, 
where the first set of ham radio operators are sitting (These 
guys were great! the management had radio operators along the 
trail to call in numbers and help out w/ any problems; they were
very friendly and willing to help when needed).  It turns out 
there was a farrier in camp that was willing to drive out to 
where we were on the trail and reshoe the horse! What a guy.  
This was going to take at least 20+ minutes, so Robin decided to 
go on.  Shaba has a complete fit, and jumps up and down screaming
for the rest of the wait period.  One of the radio guys comments
"Guess he isn't happy". Embarrassed that my horse is acting like
a complete twit, I agree and get off of him, where he proceeds to
dance in circles around me calling for Stormer, Robin's horse, 
who is no longer there.  By the time the farrier arrived, he 
probably completed another 5 miles worth of circles.  I have 
nothing but praise for the farrier.  He came up to a remote 
location that he had to get directions to find, fired up his 
forge, and refitted a shoe for me on a non-cooperative stallion.
THEN, he wont even accept payment; just asks me to make a 
donation back at camp to the charity the ride is for.  VERY nice
guy.  So we are off again, a little late but still in the game.
Shaba is travelling very well; he hates to be left behind and is
now wanting to catch up.  I am trying to slow him down so we have
no more shoe problems (I heard later a few folks lost shoes). We
get to the trot-by a few miles later, not a bad step since the 
new shoe, and we move on.  What a beautiful ride.  It is not too
cold, not too hot, and no wind, so good weather, and nice 
scenery.  Shaba has calmed down and is listening to me, and the
trail is well marked, so we settle into the ride and move 
steadily down the trail.  Lots of cool looking plants and little
streams to go through, and although some rocks, footing seems 
pretty good.  There are a few places with just soft dirt and we
make up some time flying through the trees there. We get to a gravel parking 
area with more radio guys and they point me to 
the next section of trail, a single track through a bunch of 
trees.  Off we go.  This is where the second mishap occurs...the
trail here is dirt and partially under water, with no room to walk around in a 
few of the puddle areas.  I decided to walk the
horse through them in hopes he would drink more (he likes the 
mud puddles for some reason).  BAD IDEA.  We are walking through
one that SEEMS to be only a few inches deep, when all of a 
sudden Shaba disappears from midchest down and starts to roll 
sideways.  A sinkhole.  I can't get my foot out of stirrup on 
the side that is rolling under, and thought he was going to roll
over me.  The all of a sudden he rights, makes a big jump and we
are out (I still don't know how he did it; one second we are 
rolling and then he is getting out; it happened so fast).  We 
get out, I check him over; he seems fine, and we continue, 
although he is being more careful when placing his feet in any 
water (who could blame him?).  We get to more radio guys a few
more miles down, and I ask them to send a warning back to any 
other riders coming down (the 25 milers and ride-and-tie were 
using the same trail).   

We finally get to the first check and there is Robin and Stormer! They got in a 
few minutes before we did, so we must 
have been going faster than I thought.  I was a little concerned
about Shaba's feet, but he gets good marks on trot out and 
impulsion so I am happy.  The vet said that he needed to drink a
little more, but I expected this; he was so worried about 
catching up on that last part I couldn't get him to drink as much as I wanted.  
He is making up for it now, and drinking now
that he is back with other horses.  Robin and I start out again,
this part is a lot of rocks, both up and down.  We are doing 
walking / slow trotting as the trail permits, but are pretty far
behind on time at this point and we still haven't reached 25 
miles.  Some more incline too.  Shaba is starting to look 
tired, and I am starting to wonder if I should not call it a day
when we get back to the vet check at camp.  I will decide when
we get there.  The BIG climb and a lot more rocks are waiting on
the second half, and it takes more time on that section.  We see
the sign for camp (YEAH!) and get off and walk in.  I untack and 
take Shaba to vet in.  So far, all A's; he is looking good.  Then
the trot.  I trot back towards the vet; he has his head cocked 
and is saying that there is something there, but just very slight
and he is not sure what.  We call a second vet over and redo the
trot; he says the same thing.  They ask me to come back in 10 
minutes.  I walk away and my mind is racing.  What the heck is 
it?  Was it the sinkhole?  The lost shoe? The rocks?  He was fine
at the vet check AFTER the sinkhole and shoe, so I am thinking it
was the rocks.  This would be my fault.  I have done this 50 
before, knew it was rocky, and thought I could squeak by without
padding the horse.  And there were a lot more rocks in the last
part of the ride than the first.  I go back and retrot, not any 
worse but still the vets are saying that there is something that
doesn't look right; however, not enough for them to pull me.  I 
decided if they are seeing something it is not worth trying to 
push it, and we pull.  I think I could have gone on had I padded;
in retrospect I think that on that last part he hit a rock the 
wrong way and that was the problem; he was prancing a few hours
later so it is hopefully minor.  His feet were soft from the mud
he has been in at home, and the rocks were just too much.  I also
think he needed a little more conditioning; he did get A's at the
check, but that was because he was going slow and we need to step
it up a little in order to get within completion time for a 50 (I
compare his performance with that of last year on this same ride;
last year he did the first 25 in 3 hours flat, this year he did
the same amount of miles in 6; part of that was waiting for
his shoe but still, more conditioning is in order).  However, the
day ended well.  We had camp this year right on the edge of a 
gorgeous lake, the food was GREAT, and I met a bunch of new 
friends.  Added plus, my horse looks good and we will be able to
ride another day.  Kudos to the ride management for a job well
done!  The take-away lesson for me: pay more attention to my 
horse's feet (read: PADS) and stay on the EDGE of water holes (that was not 
something I need to repeat).

PS- there was a 25 miler that stopped and lent me a 2nd
roll of vet wrap in case I needed it; PLEASE contact me so I can
repay you; it was very much appreciated!!

Lauretta and Shaba (who, although he was shampooed with an entire
bottle of vanilla-scented Suave shampoo prior to going to the ride and was 
gleaming white, now resembles a pinto <sigh>)


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