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We had a good ride, from start to finish....Weaver did really well...we had
a good day and a BAD day....I spent too much time running downhill in the
first 51 miles and ended up with really bad shin splints. Then, on the
second loop we had a long walk into camp (this was at about 75 miles) and
cooling down...Weaver started to get a little stiff and vetted in with a
"B" on gait and we re-checked him before heading out for the last loop. He
warmed up out of it and was feeling great. I was happy with how he was
drinking and eating...and had excellent hydration throughout...also, his
recoveries were great and his heart rate readings (guess what I made it
thru an entire ride without losing ANY parts of my HRM!!!!) were really
low....on the last loop I don't think we went over 90 on readings. We made
it into the 92 (??) mile point and I kept him moving so he was able to vet
thru without any stiffness...got an A- on gait...and another A on hydration
:-)....we only had a few miles back to camp.
We crossed the finish line about 11 p.m. ish...9th and 10th (I rode with
Pat - her horse did GREAT!!)...which was funny because we did not ride in
the top ten all day and did not pass ANYBODY..in fact, we never even SAW
anybody ahead of us all day. I believe 65 horses started, and 46
completed. We had a long walk on pavement once we trotted across the
finish line. :-) It was getting cold, and unfortunately Weaver started to
get stiff again. It took a full half an hour to get back to camp and I
took him to the vet immediately. We tried to keep him moving and keep him
warm but by the time we got thru the line to the vet he was stiff enough to
be considered a little off...and we got pulled at the finish. I think it
was a fairly close call because they had to talk about it for awhile....it
was really sad to make it all the way to the finish and then not get to
complete. Another rider in front of me also got pulled for the same thing.
I learned a few things...next time I'll have a blanket at the finish line
so I can keep him warm, and instead of walking in all the way I'll keep him
trotting a little bit so he doesn't cool down too fast. What else can I
do? I know that if I had been able to vet thru just a few minutes
sooner...that he would have been okay. This is the first time anything
like this has ever happend to him...does anybody have any suggestions on
what I can do to make sure this doesn't happen again...or what should I do
if it does happen again? btw, his CRI was good....and his urine was
completely normal yellow.
Weaver is better today...still a little stiff but he walks out of it. He
came home and happily rolled- couldn't wait to do that...dove into the
water trough and then took control of his domain by circling the property
and chasing poor Rocky around mercilessly.
I know exactly now Nick Warhol feels. Now I can say 'been there, done
that'.
We really did have a great ride...the volunteers were wonderful and the
views from the trail were incredible. The hot chocolate and soup at the
last vet check really hit the spot. It was also really incredible to be
riding when the moon rose...awesome!
Happy Trails,
Karen
in Gardnerville
& Dream Weaver...haha, yeah but I'm not nearly as stiff as mom is!!!
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