Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

 

Several years ago, I did the Moonlight 50 in Vermont.  The neat thing about this ride is that you ride out at 2pm, so that those of us who haven't done a 100 yet can get the feeling of riding at night.  It is July, so the sun doesn't set until 8 or so.  My horse was getting over an issue, and he would spook at stuff that he shouldn't be spooking at (like someone running or biking up behind us).  Oh, did I mention that at about dusk, the three groups participating in this event (the 50 mile horses, 100 mile horses and 100 mile runners) meet up and follow the same trail for the remainder of the ride. 

 

So here I am, on a horse that spooks when runners come up behind him, are going to have lots of runners coming up behind him in the dark.  To say the least, this ride got him over spooking when approached from behind.  We were by ourselves in the woods when I heard a noise.  So did my horse.  And he stoppe dead.  It was in a tree and I thought for sure it was a bear.  Turns out it was a porcupine in a tree.  When the horse saw it, he totally relaxed.  So sometimes terrible noises turn out to be nothing. Well, unless the porcupine fell on us (ouch!).

 

Carolyn Burgess

 

.  Big, deep sounds can come out of small animals, just as you wouldn't expect the little chirps to come out of a big cat like Apache.