Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Illustrated version: http://endurancerider.blogspot.com

Part 2

4:30 came very early and I stumbled out of bed to give Tanna his
breakfast. I was cold, but fortunately, the camper warmed up while I
made breakfast. The pre-ride routine went smoothly and I was mounted
and ready for warm-up at 6:15. Tanna was being fairly good with no
signs of being totally stupid, but he was alert and ready to go.

After the controlled start across the pavement and down a creek bed,
the horses separated into 3 main groups. Front pack, mid-pack and back
pack. I stayed with the mid-pack and when the mid-pack separated a bit
into those that wanted to take the KK trail fast and those that wanted
to go a little slower, I stayed with the faster riders. We flew along
together, me trying to keep Tanna off the horse in front of him. The
KK trail was just beautiful. Good footing, lots of fun and along the
lake with the sun glinting off the water. Breathtaking! There was some
very nice grass through this section, so I periodically pulled Tanna
up and pointed him at a clump of grass. He would grab a big mouthful
and take off after the other horses again.

Too soon, the KK trail ended and we were dumped out onto a gravel
road. It was about an hour into the ride, so I pulled up and tried to
electrolyte from the saddle. We can do this, but not, I discovered, in
the middle of the first loop yet! Not with horses that left us and
another group coming from behind. So I wasted some of my electrolytes
before I got frustrated and jumped off. The riders were nice and asked
if I needed them to stop. I waved them on and proceeded with dosing. I
decided it was time to ditch my sweatshirt, roll up Tanna's rump rug
and generally took a few minutes before we got going again.

I was frustrated at first because I got a bit of race brain myself. I
had wanted to top ten at this ride, but I tend to waste too much time
and was irritated that I was doing it again. It was good, though. It
broke us away from a herd mentality. Me mostly!! After getting back
on, I was content to just enjoy the day with my horse and come in
wherever I happened to. I re-adjusted my ride plan to ride negative
splits instead of having a placing as my goal and as such, the break
brought our average speed down, which is good when you're wanting to
take subsequent loops faster than the first loop!

We were happily trotting through the loop when we came on Daniel
taking pictures. He informed me that I was the 14th horse to come to
him. So I was running in 13th place (one of the horses ahead was
running in the 2-day 100, not the 50). I was about a mile and a
quarter from the vet check. When I was close, I jumped off and walked
in. Tanna was interested in the activity, but pulsed right down. I
headed to the pulse takers and the vets. I got through and found my
duffle bag that management had brought for me. No crew for me. Daniel
jokes that he started taking pictures to avoid crewing for me!

Tanna would not eat. Not really a big surprise for him. He rarely eats
at the first check. He ate hay on the way to the vet, but afterwards,
he wouldn't eat. He got a B on guts; also normal for him. The rest
were As. I took him into the sun and grass and he nibbled some, but
eventually just hung out. I got him ready for the next loop and off we
went by ourselves.

We headed back out the same way we'd come in until I saw Daniel again.
Then we continued past the turn and out on the loop. We saw the front
5 horses all in a row coming up a hill as we trotted down it. I
believe they were Bud Davidson, Karen and Steve Cummings, Debra
LaComette, and Ron Chapman. No idea what order they were running, but
they were all together and looked like they were having a blast. Tanna
was interested in them, but by now he knows he has to keep going the
way he's going and not try to turn around and follow the other horses.

Tanna continued to trot and canter during that loop. Coming back up
the same hill after making a keyhole shaped loop, we walked and he ate
every step of the way. I just had the reins loose and my feet out of
the stirrups as he weaved back and forth to get the best grass. Coming
up out of the hill, we picked up a trot again as we headed back to the
vet check.

Tanna got all As at this check, including guts. He had eaten and drunk
really well during that loop. As a result, he didn't eat a lot in this
vet check again. I took a bucket of water and cleaned him up.
Unfortunately, I got him chilled, so quickly resaddled him, put his
rump rug on, put an extra blanket over his shoulders and kept him in
the sun as much as possible. I gathered up all our gear and dragged it
over to the gravel road to be taken back to camp.

Then off down the trail behind the buffalo pens back toward camp. I
left the rump rug on for about a mile. Then I checked to be sure he'd
stopped shivering. He had and seemed fine with plenty of pep and
power. So the rump rug was rolled up and off we went again.

The turtle 25 miler had left the vet check about 10 minutes before us.
She had asked me not to come up on her horse too fast so I didn't
scare him to death. I assured her we would be careful and try not to
startle them. We chased them the entire loop and finally caught sight
of them as we came into camp. I dismounted and walked through the camp
to the vet check. There is no running allowed in the camp, so I might
as well walk on my own two feet.

I quickly unsaddled and took Tanna to the vet. Mostly As again with an
expected B for guts. He hadn't eaten as much on this loop, although he
was still eating and drinking well. But he ate and ate and ate and ate
at this vet check. He ate until I begin to resaddle and decided it was
time to think about working again.

Off we went on our last loop. Tanna seemed to be confused about this.
He was not sure we should be going out again and not in this
direction! I patiently told him this was the way and we continued on.
We caught up with Trish Harrop. She was entered in the 2-day 100. We
played leap frog with her for awhile while Tanna would stop to drink
and they would catch up. Finally, we just kept going and moved off.
Tanna was reluctant to leave the other horse, but I was insistent that
we keep moving. I wanted to keep to a certain average MPH and I knew
he had the gas, he was just having a brain moment. It was actually
good training for him.

I was having a blast on the last bit of the loop going up and down the
roller coaster hills. When we crossed the last creek crossing, we were
quite close. Tanna cantered in to the finish line. We even turned on
the speed for the last 100 yards to a good hand gallop. He had plenty
of gas left in him and I was thrilled. I pulled him up, jumped off and
walked into the vet check. Our average speed was lower for this loop
than my goal, but I was still pleased with Tanna's overall
performance.

I unsaddled and cleaned Tanna up some before I took him to the vet. He
pulsed in around 50. I was pleased! He got mostly As on his completion
(another B on guts) and trotted out nicely. The vet commented he
looked like he could go again and I replied that was the idea! Even
though we weren't going again, I like him to look bright-eyed and
happy at the end of a ride instead of used up and exhausted. At the
finish he weighed 760 pounds. He lost 34 pounds. About normal for him.

We ended up in 12th place with around 6 hours 50 minutes ride time.
Another horse had the bad luck of stepping in a hole during the vet
check at the out check and had to pull.

I hung around the vet check letting Tanna eat for the next hour or so.
He ate lots of grass, some more grain, some hay and drank. I think he
might have thought we were going out again!

Thanks to Diane and Jerry Fruth for putting on this ride one more
time. I had a blast!! I wish they would keep putting this ride on, but
I know it's a lot of work putting on a ride and I know it's time for
them to RIDE! Thanks to the vets and the volunteers and all the other
riders. I really enjoy endurance and this was a stellar ride with
perfect weather!

April
Nashville, TN
http://endurancerider.blogspot.com

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