Fw: TX Bluebonnet Classic - The Novel :)

["marilyn wiese" <mwiese@earthling.net>]

> Khal and I did our very first ride (he turned 4 on March 31) and we
WON!!!!!!!!  Not won where you
> come in first but won cuz we finished  :)  "To finish is to win" and that
> had been questionable because Khal was so overly excited that I was
prepared
> to get off and walk him the 25 miles, if necessary (actually we would have
> finished sooner and I would have finished sounder if I HAD gotten off and
> walked him the entire ride :).  We were not going to do this ride in a
> manner that was unsafe so I would rather do whatever circling, going the
> wrong way, and anything else that it took to bring Khal's mind back to me
> rather than having this mind (along with his body) running off with the
> other horses.
>
> Our drive from San Angelo to Decatur took about 6 hours with lots of
stops.
> Once we got past Decatur and were on the roads to the campsite I was
> concerned that I did not see other trailers going to the event.  This led
me
> to the terrible fear that I had gotten the days mixed up and that it was
> actually Sat already instead of Fri.  Of course I could not get over this
> fear until I actually arrived at the campsite and knew that the ride
hadn't
> started yet.  (I drive myself nuts sometimes  :)
>
> There were four first timers in the 25.  One of the first timers finished
> 2nd overall and won BC so she was some kind of 'newbie' prodigy  :)  Then
> there was Dawn Carrie, Keri Wilson (who as Becky said in her post, would
> make an excellent addition to the LF list!), and me.  The three of us let
> everyone go out.  Also Karen (she videoed the DSS clinic) and her son (on
> Becky's Fi) were going out late.  I could have ridden her but she was on
her
> Paso Fino and that weird walking horse just about freaked Khal out (he was
> very much on the edge of insanity already......with all the horses and
> hubbub).  Keri's horse was doing a bunch of jumping around too and this
> added to Khal's anxiety (understatement of the century), so I knew I
needed
> to just let everyone get going and calm him down before I made much
forward
> progress.  But since Keri and Karen weren't making much forward progress
> either, Dawn (who's horse was the calmest of the bunch) asked if I would
> like to ride with her.  I thought she must be some kind of experienced
saint
> sent from heaven to help Khal and me, but this was her and her horse's
first
> 25 also and she was hoping I could help her  :)
>
> We made a great team and although her horse (Mackenzie) is a kicker and a
> mare with an attitude, her mare took a liking to Khal (who is an all round
> easy to get along with fellow in horsedom) so we made a very compatible
> foursome.  Once we got away from Keri (Karen and her son never passed
> us.......I heard they took 4 hours to do 15 miles and pulled at the vet
> check), we settled into a really nice rhythm, with Khal leading at a trot
> and Dawn's horse cantering behind.  Mac had an uncomfortable fast trot
> because she would take short hoppy steps but during the ride, following
> Khal, who has a good trot, Dawn's horse was able to refine her trot and
> stretch out more.
>
> A few miles after the start Keri caught up with us and we all thought it
was
> good for her to go on ahead.  That way her horse wasn't pulling her to
catch
> up to us and Khal didn't have to worry about Keri's stallion beating him
up
> :)  Dawn and I talked constantly (NOTICE:  we BOTH talked......I did not
> monopolize the conversation......I did not talk the entire 25 miles!) and
> eventually really got into a nice groove of Khal trotting at a brisk pace
> and Dawn's horse trotting or cantering to keep up.  Both of us had new
heart
> rate monitors and we were always calling out "heartcheck" and then we
would
> compare heart rates.  Khal has a resting rate of 25.......he was so keyed
up
> at the vet in that it was 44 (high resting rate for him).  Dawn was amazed
> at how low Khal's heart rate stayed.  He was always at least 20 points
below
> her horse's rate.  She is able to just train an hour on Tue & Thu and then
> have a 3 hour ride on Sat and until she did this ride she really didn't
have
> a good idea if she needed to be working her horse harder or not.
>
> What I have learned is that it sure is a good thing I got a heart rate
> monitor because Khal had been in the habit of pretending he was tying up,
> had EPM, wobbles, feet too sensitive to walk on air, the yawns, the need
to
> pee every 5 minutes (and when he really peed he was glad to just keep that
> position forever.......he can sleep standing like that  :).  Khal catches
on
> very quickly as to what behaviour allows him to stop and then he just
> repeats that behaviour.  I am slowly figuring out all of his 'fake' moves
> and trying to not let him get away with them at all.  But he is such a
good
> actor that it is a tough job  :)
>
> Khal is a great drinker because when I got him two year ago, I had started
> working on teaching him to drink and eat all the time.  Of course, we had
to
> get over his phobias of creeks, ponds, and mud (hard to do when there is
> almost none of that in SA).  On the ride, Mac would go up to the  water
> which made Khal willing to go near it, once near, Khal would tank up and
> that got Mac to drinking eagerly.  Also we had to cross a wooden bridge,
> this was later in the ride when Khal had settled down and thanks to Mac
just
> calmly walking across it, Khal crossed it calmly too.  That was really
> something, this is a guy who used to be terrified to walk on concrete,
> boards, asphalt, rocks, leaves, etc.
>
> Around 10 miles out the top 50 and 100 milers started running by us and
Khal
> basically went nutzo.  I have no way to practice riding with racing horses
> going by me.......I'm going to have to see if I can get my friend Cindy to
> make her little QH slug run past Khal some (fat chance....literally  :).
I
> would do circles and Dawn used her horse (the kicker with the red flag on
> it's tail) as a blocker for me.  That is how much Dawn's horse liked Khal,
> she never kicked and she didn't even put her ears back until the last 5
> miles of the ride and then she was doing it at the world, not at him.  At
> one point about 7 racing riders were coming by and I just got off of
> Khal........I have learned that getting off successfully sure is a time
> saver as opposed to getting off involuntarily and then spending 4-5 days
in
> the hospital and almost a year of rehab, operations etc. before I get
> better.  Since I was off, once the riders went by, I headed for the woods
> for a pit stop.  I took Khal with me since I didn't want Dawn to have to
> deal with him if running horse's came by again.  Well, I know Khal and I
are
> going to be great high mileage endurance riders someday because we
imitated
> Karen and Weaver.  I was going to the bathroom and Khal just starts
dragging
> me off and I lost hold of the rein.  Khal LOVES green grass (a rarity in
San
> Angelo) and he just trotted over to a big patch of it and started eating.
> Dawn and I easily caught him just as a rider came by.........of course she
> probably assumed I had fallen off of Khal and as she went past us I
realized
> I was going to have to inform everyone that I did NOT fall off, that I was
> 'walked off from'.  Also, if my parents (who came to the ride) heard that
> one of the newbies had fallen off of her horse, I know it would just
thrill
> them to pieces, what with my two falls last year.
>
> I got back on and we started off again.  I had told Dawn that at any time,
> she could feel free to go on because I was going to work on having Khal go
> forward calmly even if it meant I didn't finish the ride in time.  Well
Khal
> was a changed horsie!  He had discovered what REAL grass tasted like and
the
> ground was covered with the stuff.  This is where his 'disease of the
> moment' symptoms kicked in, his need to do the pee stance, his really
itchy
> head and legs started bothering him, and his need to just stop and stand
> manifested itself.  Well since it was obvious (with Dawn's help.......I'm
> such a pushover I sometimes believe Khal) that Khal was faking big time, I
> got him trotting and led us the rest of the way in, with Khal acting just
> great.  We were just moving out so freely.  There were some logs and dead
> trees that had aliens in them and Khal was very careful to teleport a few
> feet away from them, whenever he felt the need.  He did a super duper
spook
> at one huge log pile and I went right with him, like we were
> one.........Dawn was very impressed with how there was no sign of me not
> being with him..........I am so glad I have gotten a better seat, that I
can
> hang with Khal.......I have worked so hard to improve as a rider since I
> know I cannot afford to fall off.
>
>  Whenever we would pass regular trail riders Khal was fine, he is used to
> 'non racing' horses moving all around him.  Right about the 10 mile mark I
> realized that my right ankle, which had been feeling sore, was making it's
> way past sore to the agonizingly painful stage.  It was turning and I
could
> not keep it straight, it was rolling over and my weight was really
> stretching out the muscles and tendons and 'stuff' on the outside.  Being
a
> long distance runner and biker for over 20 years, I have been well aware
of
> my 'conformation faults' and have had lots of trouble with running
injuries.
> I HAVE to do something differently for my ankle now because I had to put
all
> my effort into trying to keep the bottom of my foot in the stirrup instead
> of letting my ankle just roll the foot from under it.
>
> As we were finishing the first loop, Khal was leading as usual since that
> was how we could really move out easily.  Dawn's horse would go a slower
> pace when she was in front and Khal is very happy to move down to the slow
> poke level.  (Actually so was I since it was torture to post on my right
> ankle).  We did the 15 miles in 3+ hours and that was with lots of non
> forward movement and stopping.  Since Dawn had been so great to stay with
> Khal and me during the worst part of our ride (the first 10 miles and the
> racing horses going by) I told her that I was going to stay with her to
the
> end.  If her horse didn't act like it wanted to go fast enough to complete
> she wanted me to make sure that I went on and got in by the 6 hour limit,
> which I wanted to do also.  Khal and I trotted into camp and went straight
> to the pr person.  She couldn't get a pulse.......she said he was dead  :)
> so then we got to vet out.......on the trot out I tried to start running
and
> my ankle wouldn't work so I had to start over and try to focus on making
it
> hold me up.......I did fall on the trot out but recovered quickly :).
Khal
> was in great shape and our 30 minute hold started.  Dawn's horse took
about
> 10 minutes to come down, partly because she got upset about Khal
> leaving........I am so new at this that I didn't think to stay with Dawn
so
> her horse wouldn't get upset.
>
> Mom and Dad were my crew.  Of course telling them how to crew was like the
> blind leading the blind and deaf since I had never experienced this even
as
> a spectator and they knew nothing about any of this.  When I worked
Becky's
> ride in Jan, she had put me in the esteemed and lofty job of standing at a
> gate in the middle of nowhere......for 10 hours......so I never got to see
> the vetting, hold area, or anything else except people riding by my gate.
> Reading about all this is one thing, doing it is a whole 'nuther' world
but
> luckily I will be a 25 miler for the next year and Khal needs a hold less
> than I do so we will be safe learning on the job.  My parents had my
things
> nearby and Khal ate and drank so well and so much that one would have
> thought he must have been reading up on this endurance riding sport.  I
> dawdled with my hold time since I wanted to go out with Dawn.......we
didn't
> see each other until her time to go out was called........I had looked at
> the sheet and knew when it was and when she saw me waiting for her she was
> really happy.  BTW, she will be feeding her horse beet pulp from now
> on......I have been filling her in on all the things that I have learned.
> She is a lurker on ridecamp but she doesn't get to hear what the pros
> (that's you guys :) do to make this work, so I was able to tell her about
> things she had not known much about (like I'm an expert...he he  :).
>
> Oh, I asked my parents if they had heard that a newbie had fallen off and
> they hadn't but someone had come into camp saying that a horse had fallen
on
> it's rider and the lady had a broken collar bone.  I saw this lady walking
> around camp and she didn't look like she felt so great.  My poor parents,
I
> hope I haven't shortened their lives by too many years, with all the
stress
> of me and horses and hearing of people falling.  So they were very
relieved
> to see me and Khal come in safely :)
>
> We now had our 10 mile loop to do and we just sailed along at a nice brisk
> trot.  The only negative about this loop was the fact that I was bouncing
> around like a sack of potatoes since my ankle would not straighten out.
Man
> did that hurt, no two ways about it.  We pretty much did the last 10 miles
> at 6 mph pace.........Khal's heart rate was as low as always but now
Dawn's
> horse's rate was 30-4O higher than his (but never over 140).  Khal was as
> fresh as could be but he was sure getting tired of being in front.  Now I
> realize, from Wendy's recent post, that Khal was dragging Dawn's horse
along
> and esp being a very young horse, that must have been hard mentally (or he
> would at least like for me to think it was hard  :).  I know he really
> wanted to be behind her horse after a while but her horse wanted to be
> behind Khal so the only way they could both be happy was if we rode in
> circles  :).  Khal mostly stayed in front.  EXCEPT for the fact that I
felt
> like my ankle might break at any moment (I had a stress fracture in that
> area 20 years ago, from running so it isn't like I made up the idea) we
were
> having a blast.  On the first loop, Dawn had gotten it in her mind that if
> her horse was too tired that she would not try to complete but here we
were
> trucking along and she knew she would complete.  I never had any doubt
Khal
> could complete, and I know he could easily do the 25 a lot faster but I
had
> the goal of us finishing saner than when we started so I had been prepared
> to take forever, if it meant that I was better able to control Khal's
brain.
>
> We got to the finish and miracle of miracles I was behind this big bush
when
> I 'dismounted'  :)  My ankle was a useless mass of pain and when I got off
> my horse and tried to gently land on both my feet, I just fell down
> completely.  Looked around, nobody seemed to see, so I got up and then
> limped out from behind the bush for my completion time.  Khal and I went
> right up to the pr person.  This time it was a man and he said he couldn't
> find a pulse and that Khal must be dead  :)  The pr guy said Khal was
ready
> to move up to 50s but his rider was lame  :)  The vet asked me if I
thought
> I could trot Khal and I told him I was an athlete, an endurance athlete,
of
> course, I could trot him out, even if it killed me.  He only made me trot
> him out half the normal distance though, nice guy that he was.  He
> pronounced me severely lame and Khal passed with flying colors.
>
> I stayed to see if Dawn needed Khal's presence to calm her horse but her
> horse was able to recover quickly.  I think we took a total of about 5
hours
> and 40 minutes.  Khal was ready to eat and drink and could have gone out
> again.  I was walking on what felt like a broken ankle but otherwise I was
> in excellent shape.  I took Khal back to the trailer and washed him down
and
> he spent the rest of the time eating and drinking.  I also took him for
> walks to that he could graze on grass, several times that day and the next
> morning.
>
> About 35 started in the 25, 31 finished, I finished 26th, Dawn 27th, and I
> think that Keri finished 26th and about 15 minutes ahead of us.  We got a
> really nice t-shirt for completion (the same t-shirts that the 100 miler
> completers got  :) and as first timers, we got pouches for our vet cards,
to
> wear around out necks.  Great idea, because that morning I was paranoid
> about my vet card and had put it in my shirt pocket and then decided to
put
> it with my bridle and then went frantic when it wasn't in my shirt pocket.
> I calmly retraced all my morning steps around camp, looking for it and
then
> found it with my bridle which conveniently reminded me that I had put it
> there  :+  I am a very organized person so it takes real jitters to make
me
> get amnesia like that.
>
> Dawn is going to be at almost all the TX rides I am going to and the next
> one she is doing is the Dry Creek Cattle Call.  On that last loop we made
> plans to ride together again.  Her horse makes a calm, settling riding
> partner for Khal and Khal gives her horse motivation to put out more
effort.
>
> I know all about taking care of injuries since I have had 20 years of
> experience trying to keep my body going during some years of heavy road
> racing and triathlons.  But I didn't even think of sitting down and icing
my
> ankle, mostly because everything was so new and different and I was hot
and
> tired.  It wasn't until I had gotten home on Sunday evening and after I
> taken two hours to unload and repack things (Robert helped me the entire
> time.....he is wonderful) that I sat down and Robert asked if I had been
> icing my ankle (he hadn't seen it until then and it was really swollen
from
> the middle of my foot to halfway up my calf).  I hadn't even taken any
anti
> inflammatory.  If this had been Khal I would have had him at some high
tech
> vet hospital getting the latest and finest care available but it was just
me
> :)  I am going to do a better job of taking care of myself from now on.
> Maybe I will get Khal some ice boots so that I can use them  :)
>


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