ridecamp@endurance.net: Ride reports (3) medium long

Ride reports (3) medium long

Nick Warhol (nwarhol@namerica.kla.com)
Mon, 7 Apr 1997 11:37:25 -0700

Hi everyone- I'm writing this mostly to brag about the California winter
riding season. Here it is early April- we have had three perfect rides
in terms of the weather so far this year. Becky Hart puts on a series
of four 50 and 25 mile events called the Shine and Shine Only rides.
She schedules one for the third week in January, Feb, March, and April
in the Almaden Quicksilver Park down in San Jose. The rides are only
canceled if there is too much rain before the ride, so you have to watch
the weather carefully. This year we have had two SASO rides so far-
the third is scheduled for April 19th. The rides are just perfect for
keeping your horse going throughout the brutal Northern California
winters, where we have to actually put on a jacket to go out and ride in
December. Hey- someone has to live here! These rides are easy to
medium in difficulty, which makes them even better for winter riding,
and they make a perfect first ride for newcomers. The entire route is
on two lane fire roads which offer great footing- no rocks, but the
roads can get a little hard in places.

These rides were just what I was looking for since my young horse Shatta
is back from his suspensory injury fourteen months ago. (seems like a
lifetime now) We went back to work last October, making plans for the
first SASO ride to be his comeback ride. We started out at the very
back, wanting only to get through with a completion and a sound right
front leg. The day was perfect weatherwise- sunny and cool. We went
out and had a fantastic time, mostly trotting, some nice slow cantering,
with me running down some of the long hills off his back. Vet checks?
We walked right in at criteria every time. We finished 29th out of 45
or so riders on the fifty in perfect shape. The horse was still totally
fresh, but most importantly the leg looked perfect! Not to mention we
made it through the fifty miles without a single spook, and for my
horse, that's saying a lot. He's getting better with every ride.
Confidence, understanding, and calmness have done the trick- getting mad
at spooking just made it worse. Ride and learn is my new motto. My
wife Judy Long rode her infamous Appaloosa Warpaint (one of the great
spotted ones) in the 25 mile ride just to satisfy her concern that his
hocks are all better after his slip down fall at Tevis last July. She
finished with a very fresh horse- it takes Warpaint 20 miles to warm up!
This was Judy's first ever 25 mile ride in her career. Her comments?
"Nice to stop, but way to short."

We waited three whole weeks, then went back and did the next Shine and
Shine on March 22nd. Once again, another perfect day greeted the ride-
no rain! Judy and I both rode the 50 this time. I started out near
the back again and rode along at a nice moderate pace. I hooked up with
Kathy Ruiz (another ridecamper) and a friend of hers after a while.
Kathy rides Al Marah Tamirand (spelling?), although technically he's her
husband's horse. We rode together off and on all day, enjoying the
perfect ride conditions. I had one wild experience when my saddle
slipped down to the left on Shatta's back as we were cantering around a
turn just before the first loop ended. My left foot was down near the
ground, my right foot up near his back- I grabbed his neck to keep from
falling off. I asked him to "whoa", which he did. He stopped from a
canter with me clinging to his neck. What a good boy. After lunch we
did the same loop again, spending some riding time with Dennis Souza on
his big gray gelding. His wife Joyce was riding Jim-Bob, but they
stopped at lunch due to what she thought might be an absess. Jim-Bob
was an alternate on the US team for Kansas- he's a great horse. Kathy
and I cantered up the road to the finish with two very strong horses.
I almost fell off the saddle again when they told us we were in 11th and
12th place. I couldn't believe it- we were just out riding nice and
steady, relaxing the entire way. What a blast! Judy got her money's
worth from her entry fee, finishing way at the end of the pack with
another very bored Warpaint. No sign of injury from either of our
horses! So far so good. So good, in fact, that Judy is nominating
Warpaint for the North American Championships again this year. She had
to drop out with hoof problems 2 years ago, but the Spotted Speedster is
back!

Our third ride was Saturday April 5th, but wasn't quite an endurance
ride. I rode in my first IAHA 30 mile Competitive Trail RIde. I have
worked a bunch of these in the past as a favor, and rode in a 15 mile
one a while back, but this was my first attempt at the longer distance
in the "slower" ride. I was actually dreading the "5 Miles an Hour"
pace before the ride, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun it
was. We were able to move along throughout the day at a decent clip,
although still very slow compared to an endurance ride. But what the
heck- I wanted to give it a try. The weather was perfect again during
the day, if you don't count the frozen water buckets the night before
the ride. There were a lot of cold campers out there. (Poor me- I had
to get up at midnight to switch the propane tanks on my camper when the
heater went off. I hate it when that happens!) Judy worked the ride
for ride manager Rita Schlim- These rides are not Wapaint's cup of tea.
Like Judy says- his resting pulse is about 40, so trying to get him to
stand still and recover to 40 is like trying to ice fish in July. But
as for Shatta, well, we had a good day. We won the thing. He scored 99
out of 100 total points. I couldn't believe it when they called my name
at the awards ceremony. I knew he was doing well throughout the ride,
but he must have really impressed the judges. Funny- I wasn't sure if
I even wanted to ride the event, but now I'm glad I did. It was a lot
of fun! I'm not about to turn in my AERC card, but I did learn a lot
about how much fun other types of rides can be. I can recommend these
rides to any endurance rider, especially one who is doing conditioning,
or bringing a horse back. My barn buddy and conditioning partner Sally
Abe took a well deserved fifth place on her spunky Arabian gelding
Ahkiba, riding her third competitive event. Judy went out and rode
drag, then did a twenty mile loop at speed, picking up ribbons as she
sailed down the trails. She says Warpaint stops under the ribbons, but
I don't believe her.

The good news is both Warpaint and Shatta are back from the injured
reserve, and hopefully we will have a good year.

Nick Warhol & Shatta (Who is now 1 for 1 on the
competitive trail circuit.)
Rowan (Who is still old, but knows he can whoop
Shatta's tail if he really wanted to)

Hayward, California (Where the weather is really
good. Sorry about that, East Coast!)

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