This was Mystery's and my 2nd endurance ride. He came up "gimpy" in
the 14 mile vet check and I voluntarily pulled him and walked the other
14 miles. When he was rechecked, he was sound and so I am happy. As a
novice, I learned a few important lessons:
1. How to tell your horse is sore when he is not actually lame (thank
you to the excellent vets they had there).
2. Judge the terrain better when deciding where to hold the green
"lets go youngster" back...ie: don't try at the top of a hill where he
will see the others disappear around a corner..when he flips, it is too
dangerous to try and "turn or hold him" on a 10% downslope!
3. Start a little later than 5 minutes when you don't want to get
caught in a shot gun rush!
All in all, the trails were very well marked, the vets were good, I was
too tired for the entertainment, the weather was beautiful and other
than the stumps and piles of debre left by our forest service, the
mountains and scenery was outstanding.
I hope the results will be posted by someone soon. I understand there
were quite a number of pulls, not because of metabolic problems, but
because the earth was so hard and there were feet problems.
And thank you to Lari Shea and volunteers for all the hard work she did
in arranging this ride.
Kimberly (&Mystery the Morab....#1.....but only in my eyes!)
Petaluma, CA