Sunday, October 31, 2010
Fast at Hollenbeck (Again)
RHR: 36
HR on Return: 56
Distance: 8 miles
Average Speed: 6 mph
Time: 1 hour, 25 min
I'm beginning to feel like we do the same things over and over again. It's not that I mind so much, it just doesn't make for good blog fodder. The reason I use the same trails so frequently is because I like to take the big dogs with me so they get some much-needed exercise, too. There are not many dog-friendly trail areas around here.
It was yet another uneventful ride at Hollenbeck. It's a pleasant area to ride in, though. Once we crossed the cowboy gate, Hoss was ready to go. I let him start trotting pretty much right off. It really didn't seem like I'd have much luck if I didn't! He'd had three days since our last ride, so he was feeling pretty peppy. He trotted over many spots that he would normally have slowed down for, and wanted to canter quite frequently. The water crossings were fun. He always wants to put his nose down like he's getting a drink, but what he's really doing is looking for something to eat. It also puts me in the position of loosening my reins, a position in which he can take advantage and not walk through the middle of the water where I want him to go. So, especially early in a ride, I've taken to not allowing him to drop his head to the ground. By this point, I figure he knows what the crossing is like and should just step in. He could, and after Manzanita I'm sure he would, but he wants every opportunity to snatch at some exotic-looking plant he can get. So slowing down and trying to convince me he needs a drink and/or wants a good look at that water is the way he wants to do things.
On the flat, he wanted to canter. I let him go for quite a way. I even let him canter around a tight, nearly 180 degree turn that I would normally make him trot or walk. He cantered all the way around and up until I slowed him to a walk to go between the hills on a narrow, somewhat rocky trail. We got to the wide trails and I got him trotting down really good. He trotted and cantered all the way back until we were within half a mile of the trailer, when I slowed him to a walk. He still wanted to go faster, but I successfully kept him down.
Upon return to the trailer, his heart rate was at 56. As I've stated before, having this happen so soon after changing strategy doesn't mean it's working quite so remarkably so quickly. Still, it is reinforcing to have this sort of thing happen. I like it. I hope it continues!
Walking Again – And He Don’t Like It!
RHR: 36
HR on Return: 56
Distance: 9.67 miles
Time: 2 hours, 20 minutes
Average Speed: 4.1 mph
Hoss was not so thrilled with walking this time. After a couple days off, he thought we should just go fast! We rode yet again at the Steele Canyon bridge (noticing a trend here?), this time going to the gazebo overlooking the reservoir. We started late in the afternoon, so I knew we'd be finishing in the dark. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my flashlight, which I had carefully put new batteries in and put in my truck. Oh, well. There are worse things than being out on the trail in the dark. When I think of them, I'll let you know.
Almost immediately upon hitting the trail, Hoss wanted to take off. It didn't help that the cross country team from the local high school was out running, too. A group of boys came jogging up behind him, and he tried to use it as an excuse to lose his mind. Kept trying to tell me they were really horse eating monsters in disguise. Still, we got through that little episode easily enough.
I let Hoss pick up the trot in a few places. On our way up the switchbacks, he wanted to trot some and I let him. He realized pretty quickly it wasn't a good place to trot, being somewhat rutted and having quite a bit of exposed rock, and willingly slowed back down. Not that he was happy about it.
I spent a lot of time bringing Hoss back down to the walk or preventing him from breaking over to the trot. We made it to the cowboy gate with few disagreements. After crossing the gate, though, Hoss used stepping over the gate as an excuse to trot. I sort of half-heartedly asked him to walk, which he ignored, starting to trot faster as we hit a small down hill. When he hit the bottom of the down hill, he rolled into a canter. I made no effort to stop him. I could feel him getting ready for it, and figured it was just as easy to ride it out as to pull him back. He cantered for a bit, feeling strong and like he'd pull my arms out of their sockets if I tried to stop him. I didn't let him get far, however. The trail is somewhat treacherous in that area, and I didn't really want to take a chance of him tripping on the varying slope.
By the time we got to the bottom of the hill to the gazebo, Hoss was getting pretty annoyed with this walking thing. In the past, he's been more than happy to walk up this hill. This time, he wanted to canter or trot. I had to really correct him to get him to walk. Whether it was because he was just bored of walking, or because walking is harder than trotting, he was not thrilled about walking up the hill. It is a steep hill, so a good one for getting in some great training at any speed.
Usually we take a break at the gazebo. Seeing as how we were running out of daylight, and we'd been walking and Hoss was feeling just fine, we didn't stop. Even the dogs were less worn out than usual at this point. So we continued on our way around the old cattle pond back to the access road. When we hit the access road, Hoss once again rolled into a canter. I let him canter up the hill as long as he liked, which wasn't long. He dropped back to a walk pretty quickly, before we hit the top of the hill.
Walking back down and around was pretty uneventful. We crossed the river to the grey road, and I decided to let Hoss run up the road this time. He was really feeling frisky at this point, and had made it clear after crossing the river that he wanted to go! There really would be no stopping him without a fight. So, once we hit the road, I said okay, and he took off! After we topped the rise, he still wanted to go fast, but I brought him back down to a walk and he chose not to have a fight about it.
We crossed back over the bridge as dusk started to turn to dark. By the time we got back to the trailer, it was just dark! And it was starting to get chilly. I checked Hoss's heart rate, happy to find him at 56, and got him unsaddled and back in the trailer. I just wanted to get him and the dogs and me home.
I like that our average speed was a little faster than the last mostly-walking trail ride we did. He was clearly walking faster. I could feel that he was stepping out more quickly. I think the average coming up had more to do with him simply walking faster than with the amount of trotting and cantering we did, as we didn't do much. I never looked at the GPS unit while he was walking, but I could feel that his walking speed was much improved.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
And Then a Zippy One!
RHR: 36
HR on Return: 56
Distance: 7.3 miles
Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes
Average Speed: 5 mph
Hoss and I and the dogs went to Hollenbeck Canyon for our next ride. After a walking day, Hoss was raring to go. He wanted to run! It was all I could do to get him to stand quietly for me to mount up before he took off for the cowboy gate and the trails.
Because of the recent rains, the area was damp but not sloppy. It really made the footing quite nice. Once we'd done a half mile to warm up, I let Hoss go. He trotted quite nicely, if quickly, for a little while, then wanted to canter. I let him. What the heck? It's supposed to be a fast ride anyway! He's really quite smart and knows when to slow down for technical stuff.
We made our way around for a rather uneventful ride. I was happier with how he was negotiating down hills. Less of the jarring, floppy front end stuff than he'd given me the previous ride.
When we reached the flatter, straighter part, I let him fly. For a little ways, he wanted to canter, but he mostly wanted to trot. I kept this ride pretty slow. I was feeling no pressure! So, he did more walking than we'd usually been inclined to. Instead, when he felt like he wanted to go faster, I'd cue him to pick up the trot. The flat part is fun, because he can canter or gallop with little concern. There's hardly any turn to the area.
Again, an uneventful ride. Really not much to say about it. It was fun and relaxing, and the dogs had a great time.
Upon returning to the trailer, I checked Hoss's heart rate, and was delighted to find him at 56, despite coming in fairly hot. While it's unlikely to get such an immediate return on changing strategies, it sure felt like a win. It's rather reinforcing to see something like this happen.
Our First Walking Trail Ride
RHR: 36
HR on Return: 56
Distance: 7.5 miles
Average Speed: 3.5 mph
Time: 2 hours, 20 minutes
I took Hoss out to the Steele Canyon bridge for this ride. He was quite happy with the prospect of walking, until we hit the part of the trails where I've always let him go at speed. So, I ended up letting him canter for a little bit. After all, it's not like it has to be a walking only trail ride. It just needs to be a mostly walking trail ride. The big thing we did this day was hill work.
We headed up what is locally known as the Ribbon trail, which is steep. Having walked it in the past, I can say it is a challenge. I felt like I needed rock climbing gear to make it up! Hoss walked up with his usual grace on this rutted, over-used trail. A lot of mountain bikers use this trail for extreme downhill stuff. They've set up jumps and the like all up this trail. There are bypasses for the horses, but even with these, it is a challenge. Much of the trail has suffered from erosion. There are a lot of exposed rocks that can turn under a foot. Even with all that, it makes a fabulous place to work a horse.
After topping the hill, we went down the back side and up onto the SDG&E access road. There had been significant rain in the preceding days, and the road was still a little wet, though not slick. I saw a lot of deer tracks. Once, when my daughter and I were riding this area together, we saw several mountain lion prints. This day, fortunately, I didn't see any.
This access road is steep in many places. Since the trucks they use in these areas can pretty much climb a wall, these roads can be just about as steep as they want them to be. I've seen roads that I wouldn't walk up, much less send my horse up. Forget going down any of those!
We made our way around to the steep downhill part of the trail. This section is, again, rutted and washed out from rains. It's not unusual to have to create a new trail to avoid something perilous. I've noticed that Hoss likes to go fast downhill. His gait gets rough and sloppy. So, I have started working on making him move more smoothly and use his hind end more appropriately. I'm pretty sure that what he's doing is just sort of flopping on his front end instead of using his butt to move downhill.
Once back down to the river, we wended our way around and crossed. Once across, I held him back from our usual breakneck run along what I call the "grey road." He was okay with this. I was surprised. At the top of the first rise, I turned Hoss up onto the trails on this, the other side of the river from where we had started. We've done this path before, but never at a leisurely pace. We wended our way up and around and back down and to the bridge back toward the trailer.
All in all, it was an uneventful ride. Beth, my trainer, was worried that I'd be bored with walking. I was a little worried I'd find it boring and annoying. In truth, it's nice. I find it relaxing. There's not the pressure of trying to make a certain average speed. I get to ride along and listen to a book, and check out the scenery, and just be with my horse and my dogs. I like it. I hadn't realized how much I like walking rides.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Rethinking Strategy
After the Manzanita Endurance Ride, my trainer, Beth Smith, and I had a conversation about conditioning strategy. I'm still unhappy with Hoss's recoveries. Even allowing for the weather at Manzanita, by this point he should be recovering better. His recoveries should be improving with each ride. That's not happening. So Beth and I discussed what to change.
Hoss is my second endurance horse. However, Phoenix, my first, was largely conditioned by Beth. During the early years of his training with Beth, I was flogging along getting myself going as a farrier. Also, for about a year, I didn't ride at all due to a medical condition that caused pain while riding. During this time, I pretty much left it up to Beth to train and condition Phoenix. She knew my plans, so she developed a strategy for getting Phoenix ready.
Beth had a couple of obstacles to overcome. Phoenix is a rather poorly conformed, thin and small horse, and I'm a large, heavy woman. We are not a good match. Still, this was the horse I had, so Beth worked with it. Beth is one of those trainers who can find a way around virtually any physical limitation. Using her strategy, she was able to get Phoenix into phenomenal shape. To this day, at 13, Phoenix could be taken out of the pasture and do 25 miles without looking like he did anything. He hasn't done a ride in nine months. The most he gets ridden is a little around home, and the gymkhana last month.
During the time Beth did all of this, I was not exactly taking time to come out and watch. I trusted her to do what needed to be done, and left her to it. The result of this is that I had a very fuzzy notion of what she'd done. I knew she had done "interval" training, during which she would do a walk/trot day, then a trot/canter day, then a canter/gallop day. Still, this doesn't really explain and define what she did. It wasn't until this recent conversation that I realized what a poor understanding I had of what it was she had done.
The big, glaring difference: Time spent walking! Long, fifteen to twenty mile walking rides. Now, when I first started taking over riding Phoenix myself, I had him at a place where I often rode with another lady who had the philosophy of walking everywhere. To me, the idea that you condition a horse for a twenty-five mile ride by walking everywhere seemed sort of like a person training for a marathon by walking! Didn't really make much sense. It doesn't make sense to do exclusively, to be sure, but those long walking miles are important. At the time, my thought process was that Phoenix was already pretty fit, so riding around at a walk wasn't going to hurt him. Turns out that was what was helping him.
So, I am reworking the strategy. We will spend more miles walking, especially on hills, and those rides will be long miles. To be sure, we'll be doing the faster stuff too. Those rides will largely be shorter and on less challenging terrain. As Hoss builds his endurance, and improves his recoveries, we will start working on being able to trot over more challenging terrain.
Our next scheduled ride is on November 6, the Wind Wolves Endurance Ride in San Luis Obispo. Not a lot of time, and I haven't ridden Hoss since Manzanita. Of course, if he can't do fifty miles right now, I won't change that in the next few weeks, so it doesn't really matter. With any luck, we'll get a few trail rides in before this next ride. Mostly that will be to keep him in line and his mind fresh.
After Wind Wolves, I am planning to take Hoss to the Death Valley Encounter multi-day ride. We will be doing the limited distance rides, totaling 110 miles over four days. The approach to a multi-day is a little different than to single-day rides. While many single-day rides are run more like races, multi-days tend to have a more relaxed atmosphere. Also, since you really are planning to get on the pony again the next day, you have to ride more conservatively. So, I will be incorporating walking into more than half of our trail miles!
Hoss is my second endurance horse. However, Phoenix, my first, was largely conditioned by Beth. During the early years of his training with Beth, I was flogging along getting myself going as a farrier. Also, for about a year, I didn't ride at all due to a medical condition that caused pain while riding. During this time, I pretty much left it up to Beth to train and condition Phoenix. She knew my plans, so she developed a strategy for getting Phoenix ready.
Beth had a couple of obstacles to overcome. Phoenix is a rather poorly conformed, thin and small horse, and I'm a large, heavy woman. We are not a good match. Still, this was the horse I had, so Beth worked with it. Beth is one of those trainers who can find a way around virtually any physical limitation. Using her strategy, she was able to get Phoenix into phenomenal shape. To this day, at 13, Phoenix could be taken out of the pasture and do 25 miles without looking like he did anything. He hasn't done a ride in nine months. The most he gets ridden is a little around home, and the gymkhana last month.
During the time Beth did all of this, I was not exactly taking time to come out and watch. I trusted her to do what needed to be done, and left her to it. The result of this is that I had a very fuzzy notion of what she'd done. I knew she had done "interval" training, during which she would do a walk/trot day, then a trot/canter day, then a canter/gallop day. Still, this doesn't really explain and define what she did. It wasn't until this recent conversation that I realized what a poor understanding I had of what it was she had done.
The big, glaring difference: Time spent walking! Long, fifteen to twenty mile walking rides. Now, when I first started taking over riding Phoenix myself, I had him at a place where I often rode with another lady who had the philosophy of walking everywhere. To me, the idea that you condition a horse for a twenty-five mile ride by walking everywhere seemed sort of like a person training for a marathon by walking! Didn't really make much sense. It doesn't make sense to do exclusively, to be sure, but those long walking miles are important. At the time, my thought process was that Phoenix was already pretty fit, so riding around at a walk wasn't going to hurt him. Turns out that was what was helping him.
So, I am reworking the strategy. We will spend more miles walking, especially on hills, and those rides will be long miles. To be sure, we'll be doing the faster stuff too. Those rides will largely be shorter and on less challenging terrain. As Hoss builds his endurance, and improves his recoveries, we will start working on being able to trot over more challenging terrain.
Our next scheduled ride is on November 6, the Wind Wolves Endurance Ride in San Luis Obispo. Not a lot of time, and I haven't ridden Hoss since Manzanita. Of course, if he can't do fifty miles right now, I won't change that in the next few weeks, so it doesn't really matter. With any luck, we'll get a few trail rides in before this next ride. Mostly that will be to keep him in line and his mind fresh.
After Wind Wolves, I am planning to take Hoss to the Death Valley Encounter multi-day ride. We will be doing the limited distance rides, totaling 110 miles over four days. The approach to a multi-day is a little different than to single-day rides. While many single-day rides are run more like races, multi-days tend to have a more relaxed atmosphere. Also, since you really are planning to get on the pony again the next day, you have to ride more conservatively. So, I will be incorporating walking into more than half of our trail miles!
The Equipment, Part 2: The Horse
It's not quite so easy to get the horse's equipment right. Hoss can't tell me that the saddle doesn't feel right, or that the girth is pinching him. These are things I have to find out through inspecting him before and after every ride. Is his back sore? Is he twichy about a spot on his belly? Is there a raw spot? I also have to pay attention to how he's going. All of these things tell me how he's feeling about the equipment we use.
We have the saddle dialed in, quite possibly the most expensive and toughest piece of equipment to get right. Not only does it have to fit the horse's back, it has to fit the rider's butt. I lucked in to this saddle. My trainer, Beth Smith, was working with another horse whose saddle fit neither horse nor rider. While riding in it herself, Beth realized that it fit just precisely the way saddles I like fit. Eyeballing it, she thought it should fit Hoss nicely. She was right. It fits both of us quite well.
When I got the saddle, it came with a mohair girth and leather flank girth. I used this set-up for quite some time. The girth had a wide spot in the middle which I couldn't get to quite sit over Hoss's sternum. Since he was going smoothly and not complaining even a little bit, I didn't worry about it. I really hate mohair girths but was dithering about what to replace it with. My dithering came to a halt after the Warner Springs ride in January. A few days later, I found a truly huge girth gall just behind his right elbow, right where the wide area on the girth was resting. How the ride vets missed it I'll never know. All during the ride, I had been annoyed with Hoss because he'd been tripping on the right front. I thought he was just being lazy. Turns out he was in pain! He finished 50 miles, though, and passed the vet check at the end. I promised Hoss I wouldn't ride him until I'd replaced that girth! I found a new girth that is synthetic and elastic. It also has a feature that makes it much easier for me to get tight enough on him without over stressing my shoulder or jerking him around. Hoss has been going quite nicely in this girth since. No more girth galls, and my saddle doesn't move around as much, either. Two problems fixed with one piece of equipment!
I also found a nice, fleece saddle pad that keeps his back cool and reasonably dry on long rides. I'd love to get him a really high-tech saddle pad that I've seen, but it's hard to justify $250 for a saddle pad under a saddle that fits as perfectly as this one does. Many riders end up using saddle pads to compensate for saddles that don't fit *quite* right. Since our saddle fit is so good, I get to skip that step.
The bit has to be selected on the basis of what the rider likes and what the horse will put up with. Too much bit and you hurt the horse. Too little, and your ride is going to be way faster than you planned on. I use a relatively heavy bit on Hoss. He's got that big ol' hammer head and if he wants to, he can overpower me with little effort. I have found, however, that he's somewhat more responsive when I ride without the bit at all. It's like he feels the need to defy me if I have him bitted up, but feels more cooperative if I don't. It could also be that, without the bit, I am more aware of my riding, and am riding better than when I can depend on the bit to control him. I purchased an S-hack for him before the Manzanita ride, that I switch out with the bit when he's calmed down. He goes well in the hack for the second half of the ride. The first half, not so much. We may some day get to the point where we can ride in a hack for an entire endurance ride, and very little could make me happier, but it won't be soon.
 |
| Hoss modeling our saddle |
When I got the saddle, it came with a mohair girth and leather flank girth. I used this set-up for quite some time. The girth had a wide spot in the middle which I couldn't get to quite sit over Hoss's sternum. Since he was going smoothly and not complaining even a little bit, I didn't worry about it. I really hate mohair girths but was dithering about what to replace it with. My dithering came to a halt after the Warner Springs ride in January. A few days later, I found a truly huge girth gall just behind his right elbow, right where the wide area on the girth was resting. How the ride vets missed it I'll never know. All during the ride, I had been annoyed with Hoss because he'd been tripping on the right front. I thought he was just being lazy. Turns out he was in pain! He finished 50 miles, though, and passed the vet check at the end. I promised Hoss I wouldn't ride him until I'd replaced that girth! I found a new girth that is synthetic and elastic. It also has a feature that makes it much easier for me to get tight enough on him without over stressing my shoulder or jerking him around. Hoss has been going quite nicely in this girth since. No more girth galls, and my saddle doesn't move around as much, either. Two problems fixed with one piece of equipment!
I also found a nice, fleece saddle pad that keeps his back cool and reasonably dry on long rides. I'd love to get him a really high-tech saddle pad that I've seen, but it's hard to justify $250 for a saddle pad under a saddle that fits as perfectly as this one does. Many riders end up using saddle pads to compensate for saddles that don't fit *quite* right. Since our saddle fit is so good, I get to skip that step.
 | |
| Hoss modeling our bit and other gear |
 |
| Phoenix modeling an S-hack (the ones I took of Hoss suck |
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
2010 Manzanita Endurance Ride
rival at C
Arrival at Camp
We arrived at base camp about 2pm on Friday afternoon. The irony in this was that I had everything ready to go. Everything was packed, all we needed to do was hook up the trailer, pack the last-minute food items, and load the horse. Unfortunately, while driving my truck on Thursday, I noticed that a front-end under braking wobble was back! I wasn't feeling very good about driving with the trailer with that going on, so on Friday morning, the first thing we did was head over to Spring Valley Automotive and have Ed take a good look at it. Ed spent quite some time going over the truck, and determined that it was safe. The wobble is likely due to the rotors needing machined. Since I can prevent the wobble by not braking hard under certain conditions, I can probably let this go for a while. So, we came home and hooked up, and I dialed up the brakes on the trailer so I wouldn't need to depend on the truck brakes enough to cause the wobble.
My husband loves to camp under trees. There is one campsite at this camp that he really likes, which was surprisingly still available. We parked over there and unloaded Hoss. Unfortunately, it quickly became apparent that Hoss did not approve of the campsite. It was too far from other horses! Rather than put up with him being unhappy all night, we went ahead and moved. We found another site closer to horses and still under trees. It turned out there was a ridiculous amount of ants in the trees, but they didn't bite so it was livable.
While my husband set up the campsite (it's so nice when he's here; all I have to do is take care of the horse!) I took Hoss to be vetted in. His heart rate was 32 and he got all A's on all other parameters.
I took Hoss back to the trailer and gave him his dinner, plus leaving out enough food that I wouldn't have to feed him in the middle of the night. Then my husband and I went out to visit with people and check what Evelyn had for me. Well, Evelyn is truly an awesome and wonderful person. She had made me a pair of tights with this truly awesome green and yellow and black and white sorta shimmery material. Love 'em. She also made a vest for my son out of pink flame fabric and a tank top with similar material. My son got his stuff on Sunday morning. He loves both pieces very much. The vest, despite being a small, is still a bit big for him, but he's really the skinniest dude you ever saw.
I also bought an S hack and green fuzzie for Hoss. While I knew we wouldn't be starting out our day in the hack, I wanted to have it available when I felt he was ready for it. I fussed with it with the bit hangers until I got it right, then discovered that it won't fit in my saddle pack! Since the mid vet check is at camp, I left it in the front seat of my truck to be switched out at lunch.
It was warm and humid. There had been storms on Thursday, and there had been a cloudburst Friday at ride camp. While driving up there, we had driven through a pretty significant bit of rain. However, the weather report suggested that Saturday would be, if not clear, then acceptable.
My husband cooked dinner for us before the ride meeting, so he wouldn't have to do that in the dark. We brought a lovely London broil with us, which turned out to be significantly larger than we thought it was. We could've fed a lot of people with that steak! As it was, we brought more than half of it home.
After dinner I headed to the ride meeting. As I had anticipated, knowing this head vet well, heart rate criteria for the ride was set at 56 beats per minute. Finish criteria was 64. 56 is not my favorite. Hoss comes down to 60 quite readily, but it takes him longer to hit 56. However, he'd never taken more than ten minutes to meet criteria at the other rides with this criteria set, so I wasn't worried.
By this time I was pretty beat. I hadn't had a chance to really rest for a week, so I was running on empty. I turned in pretty early. My husband crawled in and watched his movie in the tent with me, but gave it up and we both curled up to sleep. This was the first time I was too warm in the tent. At my last ride in June, I was cold in the tent. This night, it was downright hot! We had the windows of the tent open and slept with the sleeping bags unzipped.
Hoss drank well over night. I had to refill his bucket four times, and I heard him pee at least three times. He rested quite nicely, too.
I never sleep well in the tent. This time was no exception. Despite being very tired, I just couldn't stay asleep. Every little noise woke me up. In addition, it seems like my bladder likes to keep me up under these conditions. I had to get up and walk off to the porta-potty several times. It worked out okay, since it gave me a chance to check and refill Hoss's water at the same time. This way, he didn't run out, which results in him banging his bucket against the trailer.
At about 3:30 am, the wind had started to pick up. I got a distinct sense we were in for a wild ride! Pretty soon, I heard the rain. I sat up in a hurry and closed the tent windows so we wouldn't get too wet. I could see the lightning as it lit up the tent. The thunder was loud! I began to wonder if it was such a great idea to have set up the tent under the trees. At one point, we saw a truly huge lightning bolt light up the sky. The thunder came so quickly the light hadn't faded before it started. It felt like it was right above the tent.
All I could do was hope the rain would abate before the ride started. I had set up everything I needed the night before, so all I needed to do was dust off Hoss and saddle and I was ready to go. So I got up and prepared Hoss's beet pulp and set that out for him along with a flake of rye grass at about 5am. My husband got up and started working on breakfast. He had brought oatmeal for us for breakfast, but our camp stove is missing a part. Discovering that was thrilling, as it resulted in a rather spectacular propane explosion! So, he was heating water on the propane grill. I crawled back into the tent to get what little sleep I still could before the 6:30am ride start.
Loop One
My husband brought me breakfast in the tent and made sure I got to eat. I finally got up and dressed at 6:00am. I decided to wear my new tights. They're made of a different material than I'm used to. It quickly became evident that they need to be put on a little differently than the ones I'm used to. These go on more like nylons! Also, they're a little bit snug. They fit rather like a second skin. Still, once on, they're very comfortable. I expect that once I lose some weight, they'll fit nicely.
Of course, Hoss was wet when I threw the saddle over his back. I hadn't blanketed him. It was just way to warm, even with the rain. So, he just got rained on. He's a tough fellow. He showed no signs of being cold at all.
I mounted up and headed down toward the start. It was still raining a little and we were getting thunder and lightning. Ride management elected to delay the start of the ride 30 minutes, in hopes that the weather would improve a little bit. So, I headed back to camp, tied Hoss back up, and waited the extra half hour. At 7:00am, we finally started the ride.
It rained a good bit on the first loop. Despite the rain, it was still warm, and I only wore my rain jacket to keep from getting too wet. Getting wet leads too easily to getting cold, which can cause my shoulder to start giving me trouble. So, even though I was really a little too warm, I kept the jacket on.
The first loop is tough from the stand point that Hoss really wants to go! He wants to keep up with every horse he sees, and he's not listening to me. I think the first three miles or so, he did more distance up and down than he did forward. I wouldn't let him trot unless he would do so in an appropriate manner and not try to run away with me! He did the first loop, 14.5 miles, in 2 hours 15 minutes, which is close to 6.5 mph on average. A good average, but I'd like him to be able to do that without pulling my arms off.
When we got into the vet check, my husband was waiting for us. I handed Hoss off to him in the pulse check area, and headed off to the porta-potty. I'd been holding it for about 12 miles! It took a long time to get my turn; a lot of other riders had the same problem. I expected that once I got back to Hoss, he'd have come down. When I got out of the porta-potty, I was surprised to see my husband still standing with him in the pulse check area. I figured he didn't know that once Hoss had pulsed down, he could move him to where the food was. So I walked on over to find out what was going on. Well, Hoss hadn't come down. I was surprised. Hoss was not drinking, either.
Hoss came down at about 20 minutes after entering the vet check. This was somewhat worrisome for me. I was very much concerned that we wouldn't be continuing. I had to use sponged water to help cool him and get his heart rate down. I took him to the food area for our hold. Most riders take their horses to the vet right away, but I like to wait. Hoss is a big-bodied, round muscled horse. It takes longer to get him hydrated properly. I prefer to let him rest and wait 'til the last minute to take him to the vet. Also, if he was going to have trouble, I felt it would be more likely to show if he'd been resting for a while before being seen. So, I let him eat beet pulp and bran mash and carrots and hay for fifteen minutes before going to the vet.
The vet checked Hoss over, and had us trot out. Hoss is really bad about the trot-out at vet checks. He just doesn't see the point! So he got all A's except impulsion, which he got a B on. It's very aggravating that he's like this. It is a difficult problem to work on, as ride conditions are nearly impossible to emulate in training. I'm really going to have to work on this! The vet said he looked good, and sent us on our way.
Loop 2
I knew Hoss wasn't doing as well as I'd like. He hadn't had a drink, which I don't like at all. So, I headed him out with the plan of keeping him slower. The second loop is 10.5 miles. There is a little "lollipop" loop that comes back around to the vet check. I rode him through that, only asking for a trot on the flat and downhills (not steep ones, though). When we got back to the vet check, I took him back to the pulse check area to see if he'd drink. He did dip his nose and took a little swallow, though not as much as I'd like to see.
We headed back out across the road and continued on. On this second loop, there is a long, steep uphill.
Partway up the hill, Hoss seemed to be breathing quite hard. I dismounted, and gave him a few minutes to blow before walking the rest of the way up. It's funny how we never realize just how steep a trail is until we have to walk it ourselves. Yup, that's one steep hill. I almost needed mountain-climbing gear! I got to the top and stayed on foot until we reached the water stop at the top. Another rider caught up to us and was marveling that I could walk along with my horse without holding his reins, and he'll just follow me.
At the water stop, Hoss finally tanked up. I breathed a little bit of a sigh of relief. This is a sign he's okay. Still, I didn't feel like he was out of the woods yet. He needed electrolytes, and I didn't have any on me. I had one dose, in a bran mash waiting for him at the trailer. We continued on our way down the road to the cookie stop, where he took another good drink and even splashed water with his head. We were doing great, coming in nice and slow, when we were passed by other horses going considerably faster, and he just got all sorts of mad about it. It was all I could do to keep him from trotting all the way down the hill and in to the vet check. In spite of this, his heart rate came down to 56 in ten minutes with the aid of cooling him with sponges. We did the second, 10.5 mile loop in 2 hours, so a little over 5 mph.
I took Hoss to the trailer and prepared his bran mash. Hoss slurped it down, and took a good drink from his bucket. Okay. Now I was starting to feel better about him, but still felt that I needed to be exceedingly careful with him. I went ahead and put his S hack on at this point. I took him back to the vet area at the end of our hour hold, and presented him to the vet. His heart rate was down to 46 at this point. Again, A's except for impulsion, which was still a B.
Loop Three
By the time we set out for the third loop, there wasn't another horse going our direction in sight. This did not make Hoss feel like he wanted to do this! Still, I got him to give me a good, steady trot on the flat and downhills. At the next water, he once again drank well. After the water stop, the trail got a little deep, and we were stuck walking. We eventually came to a gate. The kind constructed out of barbed wire that is held closed by wire. If you've never seen one, it looks for all the world like contiguous fence. The post at the end of the gate is held to another post by sticking the bottom end in a length of looped wire, then pulling the top of the post until you can loop a second length of looped wire over the top. This gate was supposed to be open.
We arrived at the gate and I was rather confused. There were a few hoof prints going up alongside the fence, but I could see a trail marker and more hoof prints on the other side of the gate. I decided that I was supposed to go through the gate and continue on the road. So, I dismounted and opened the gate. Hoss has never seen one of these gates before, and he was somewhat alarmed by it. When I asked him to come through, he decided he should go another way, and I had to catch up and lead him through. I closed the gate behind me and continued on my way. Hindsight being 20/20, I probably should have left the gate open. I wasn't sure if I was the last rider or not, but that really didn't matter. Drag riders would come out behind me and take care of these things. I figure some well-meaning person, unaware of the event going on, saw the opened gate and shut it.
I was pushing a little on this loop. We were out there all alone, tired and hot, and lacking motivation. I was beginning to fantasize that the coyotes and buzzards were watching us closely. While the map said 12 miles, I know that this ride manager tends to over-estimate early loops and under-estimate later ones. I also knew I had a cut-off time to beat. We had left vet check 2 a little after 1:00pm, and had until 3:45pm to be in vet check 3 and at criteria. Since Hoss had been having trouble coming down, I wanted to get in to vet check 3 with time to spare, by no later than 3:15pm.
At this point, although I didn't realize it at the time, I was getting very tired, and my memory is a bit fuzzy about some of the details. We finally got to another water stop, where Hoss again drank, though not a whole bunch, and a sign that advised us we had 1 mile to the vet check. Hallelujah! We walked all the way in.
Once again, I used a sponge on Hoss to help get his heart rate down. It took him 8 minutes at this check. I took him to food and encouraged him to eat. He wasn't as interested as I'd've liked to see. I can't recall if he drank in the vet check or not.
I presented him to the vet at the end of our 20 minute hold. Other than his skin tent being less than ideal, and his mucous membranes a little sticky, he looked good. If his heart rate had been spiking or there were other signs, I would have pulled, but the vet felt he looked okay, just to take it easy. At this point, I had more than three hours to complete the last 13 miles. While we couldn't walk it, there was no reason to suspect he wouldn't make it. This time, he got Bs on mucous membranes, gut sounds, and impulsion. Now I know I need to be careful to get this horse through this ride.
Loop Four
We headed out on the eight mile loop that comes back to vet check 3 for a five minute hold. It was a pleasant enough section of trail. Plenty of flat and easy downhills where Hoss could trot. We ended up catching up to a pair of horses and "hooked up" with them. I don't recall how long this loop took us. At the tail end of the
loop, when we got back on the dirt road, Hoss suddenly seemed to perk up and started trotting.
Back at the vet check for the 5 minute hold, Hoss took a good drink and was questing about for food. Unfortunately, since the vet check was technically shut down, there was water but no hay. I let him eat whatever he could find while I filled my water bottles up. At the end of our 5 minutes, we headed on back out.
It turned out that those of us in the 5 minute hold at that point represented the last riders. No one else left behind us. After we left the hold, Hoss started trotting again, looking at horses ahead of us about half a mile. I encouraged it, because this was a sign he was feeling better, and the road was downhill at this point. On the uphills, I encouraged him to walk. We now only had 5 miles to go, and about an hour and a half to do it. That distance, in that time, we could do walking. Still, I wanted to get him back in to camp with time to spare. I went ahead and stayed with the ladies we had hooked up with on the loop out of vet check 3. We were in dead last at this point!
Since the end was virtually all downhill, we were able to get some good trotting done. Hoss was snatching at every plant on the trail, seeking something, anything to eat. That, too, I considered a good sign. He hadn't had much interest in food since the lunch stop, and I was a little worried. Now he was more himself, seeking food anywhere he could get it.
We got back to basecamp and the end of the ride a little after 6:30pm. The vet was glad to see us and the other riders, as we represented the last horses he had to see. Of course, technically, I had an hour to present Hoss to the vet. However, I was just as tired as he was, and wanted to be done, so once Hoss's heart rate was down to 64 I presented him. He earned much worse scores at this point. More B's, and a C+ on gut sounds. Since Hoss had been looking for food all the way back on the last 5 miles, I felt that he'd turned the corner and would be fine. The vet agreed. I took Hoss back to the trailer and gave him alfalfa hay and another bran mash. I really wish I'd had more electrolytes to give him.
It was at this point that I realized just how tired I was. I turned away from Hoss to take something to the truck and found myself stumbling. My husband had already struck camp in anticipation of going home that night. I really needed to go home, as I sing in my church's choir and we were performing on Sunday morning. I considered having him set the tent back up, but I had a strong sense that I needed to get Hoss home. I went and ate dinner and sat through the awards, then checked on Hoss. He had peed and eaten most of his food. We scooped up what we could and put it in a hay bag, then loaded up and headed down.
I was very glad that I took Hoss home. While it would have been better for me to stay at camp another night, I think that Hoss was much better served by coming home. I was able to give him another dose of electrolytes in beet pulp. And, when I put him in the corral, he promptly dropped his head in the water bucket and took a huge drink. I will admit, I was glad to get to shower in my own shower and sleep in my own bed.
Over night, Hoss ate and drank quite well. I estimate that he drank a good 15 gallons over night. He was feeling fine, and ready to go back into the pasture with his buddies. I put out more beet pulp with electrolytes and hay and we went to church.
Overall, a good ride. I have learned that I will need to experiment a little with electrolytes with this horse. This is new for me. Phoenix never needed electrolytes other than what he got in his daily bucket feed. Hoss is a different horse, and I always knew there would be new things to learn. So, now on to the great electrolyte experiment!
Arrival at Camp
We arrived at base camp about 2pm on Friday afternoon. The irony in this was that I had everything ready to go. Everything was packed, all we needed to do was hook up the trailer, pack the last-minute food items, and load the horse. Unfortunately, while driving my truck on Thursday, I noticed that a front-end under braking wobble was back! I wasn't feeling very good about driving with the trailer with that going on, so on Friday morning, the first thing we did was head over to Spring Valley Automotive and have Ed take a good look at it. Ed spent quite some time going over the truck, and determined that it was safe. The wobble is likely due to the rotors needing machined. Since I can prevent the wobble by not braking hard under certain conditions, I can probably let this go for a while. So, we came home and hooked up, and I dialed up the brakes on the trailer so I wouldn't need to depend on the truck brakes enough to cause the wobble.
My husband loves to camp under trees. There is one campsite at this camp that he really likes, which was surprisingly still available. We parked over there and unloaded Hoss. Unfortunately, it quickly became apparent that Hoss did not approve of the campsite. It was too far from other horses! Rather than put up with him being unhappy all night, we went ahead and moved. We found another site closer to horses and still under trees. It turned out there was a ridiculous amount of ants in the trees, but they didn't bite so it was livable.
While my husband set up the campsite (it's so nice when he's here; all I have to do is take care of the horse!) I took Hoss to be vetted in. His heart rate was 32 and he got all A's on all other parameters.
I took Hoss back to the trailer and gave him his dinner, plus leaving out enough food that I wouldn't have to feed him in the middle of the night. Then my husband and I went out to visit with people and check what Evelyn had for me. Well, Evelyn is truly an awesome and wonderful person. She had made me a pair of tights with this truly awesome green and yellow and black and white sorta shimmery material. Love 'em. She also made a vest for my son out of pink flame fabric and a tank top with similar material. My son got his stuff on Sunday morning. He loves both pieces very much. The vest, despite being a small, is still a bit big for him, but he's really the skinniest dude you ever saw.
I also bought an S hack and green fuzzie for Hoss. While I knew we wouldn't be starting out our day in the hack, I wanted to have it available when I felt he was ready for it. I fussed with it with the bit hangers until I got it right, then discovered that it won't fit in my saddle pack! Since the mid vet check is at camp, I left it in the front seat of my truck to be switched out at lunch.
It was warm and humid. There had been storms on Thursday, and there had been a cloudburst Friday at ride camp. While driving up there, we had driven through a pretty significant bit of rain. However, the weather report suggested that Saturday would be, if not clear, then acceptable.
My husband cooked dinner for us before the ride meeting, so he wouldn't have to do that in the dark. We brought a lovely London broil with us, which turned out to be significantly larger than we thought it was. We could've fed a lot of people with that steak! As it was, we brought more than half of it home.
After dinner I headed to the ride meeting. As I had anticipated, knowing this head vet well, heart rate criteria for the ride was set at 56 beats per minute. Finish criteria was 64. 56 is not my favorite. Hoss comes down to 60 quite readily, but it takes him longer to hit 56. However, he'd never taken more than ten minutes to meet criteria at the other rides with this criteria set, so I wasn't worried.
By this time I was pretty beat. I hadn't had a chance to really rest for a week, so I was running on empty. I turned in pretty early. My husband crawled in and watched his movie in the tent with me, but gave it up and we both curled up to sleep. This was the first time I was too warm in the tent. At my last ride in June, I was cold in the tent. This night, it was downright hot! We had the windows of the tent open and slept with the sleeping bags unzipped.
Hoss drank well over night. I had to refill his bucket four times, and I heard him pee at least three times. He rested quite nicely, too.
I never sleep well in the tent. This time was no exception. Despite being very tired, I just couldn't stay asleep. Every little noise woke me up. In addition, it seems like my bladder likes to keep me up under these conditions. I had to get up and walk off to the porta-potty several times. It worked out okay, since it gave me a chance to check and refill Hoss's water at the same time. This way, he didn't run out, which results in him banging his bucket against the trailer.
At about 3:30 am, the wind had started to pick up. I got a distinct sense we were in for a wild ride! Pretty soon, I heard the rain. I sat up in a hurry and closed the tent windows so we wouldn't get too wet. I could see the lightning as it lit up the tent. The thunder was loud! I began to wonder if it was such a great idea to have set up the tent under the trees. At one point, we saw a truly huge lightning bolt light up the sky. The thunder came so quickly the light hadn't faded before it started. It felt like it was right above the tent.
All I could do was hope the rain would abate before the ride started. I had set up everything I needed the night before, so all I needed to do was dust off Hoss and saddle and I was ready to go. So I got up and prepared Hoss's beet pulp and set that out for him along with a flake of rye grass at about 5am. My husband got up and started working on breakfast. He had brought oatmeal for us for breakfast, but our camp stove is missing a part. Discovering that was thrilling, as it resulted in a rather spectacular propane explosion! So, he was heating water on the propane grill. I crawled back into the tent to get what little sleep I still could before the 6:30am ride start.
Loop One
My husband brought me breakfast in the tent and made sure I got to eat. I finally got up and dressed at 6:00am. I decided to wear my new tights. They're made of a different material than I'm used to. It quickly became evident that they need to be put on a little differently than the ones I'm used to. These go on more like nylons! Also, they're a little bit snug. They fit rather like a second skin. Still, once on, they're very comfortable. I expect that once I lose some weight, they'll fit nicely.
Of course, Hoss was wet when I threw the saddle over his back. I hadn't blanketed him. It was just way to warm, even with the rain. So, he just got rained on. He's a tough fellow. He showed no signs of being cold at all.
I mounted up and headed down toward the start. It was still raining a little and we were getting thunder and lightning. Ride management elected to delay the start of the ride 30 minutes, in hopes that the weather would improve a little bit. So, I headed back to camp, tied Hoss back up, and waited the extra half hour. At 7:00am, we finally started the ride.
It rained a good bit on the first loop. Despite the rain, it was still warm, and I only wore my rain jacket to keep from getting too wet. Getting wet leads too easily to getting cold, which can cause my shoulder to start giving me trouble. So, even though I was really a little too warm, I kept the jacket on.
The first loop is tough from the stand point that Hoss really wants to go! He wants to keep up with every horse he sees, and he's not listening to me. I think the first three miles or so, he did more distance up and down than he did forward. I wouldn't let him trot unless he would do so in an appropriate manner and not try to run away with me! He did the first loop, 14.5 miles, in 2 hours 15 minutes, which is close to 6.5 mph on average. A good average, but I'd like him to be able to do that without pulling my arms off.
When we got into the vet check, my husband was waiting for us. I handed Hoss off to him in the pulse check area, and headed off to the porta-potty. I'd been holding it for about 12 miles! It took a long time to get my turn; a lot of other riders had the same problem. I expected that once I got back to Hoss, he'd have come down. When I got out of the porta-potty, I was surprised to see my husband still standing with him in the pulse check area. I figured he didn't know that once Hoss had pulsed down, he could move him to where the food was. So I walked on over to find out what was going on. Well, Hoss hadn't come down. I was surprised. Hoss was not drinking, either.
Hoss came down at about 20 minutes after entering the vet check. This was somewhat worrisome for me. I was very much concerned that we wouldn't be continuing. I had to use sponged water to help cool him and get his heart rate down. I took him to the food area for our hold. Most riders take their horses to the vet right away, but I like to wait. Hoss is a big-bodied, round muscled horse. It takes longer to get him hydrated properly. I prefer to let him rest and wait 'til the last minute to take him to the vet. Also, if he was going to have trouble, I felt it would be more likely to show if he'd been resting for a while before being seen. So, I let him eat beet pulp and bran mash and carrots and hay for fifteen minutes before going to the vet.
The vet checked Hoss over, and had us trot out. Hoss is really bad about the trot-out at vet checks. He just doesn't see the point! So he got all A's except impulsion, which he got a B on. It's very aggravating that he's like this. It is a difficult problem to work on, as ride conditions are nearly impossible to emulate in training. I'm really going to have to work on this! The vet said he looked good, and sent us on our way.
Loop 2
I knew Hoss wasn't doing as well as I'd like. He hadn't had a drink, which I don't like at all. So, I headed him out with the plan of keeping him slower. The second loop is 10.5 miles. There is a little "lollipop" loop that comes back around to the vet check. I rode him through that, only asking for a trot on the flat and downhills (not steep ones, though). When we got back to the vet check, I took him back to the pulse check area to see if he'd drink. He did dip his nose and took a little swallow, though not as much as I'd like to see.
We headed back out across the road and continued on. On this second loop, there is a long, steep uphill.
Partway up the hill, Hoss seemed to be breathing quite hard. I dismounted, and gave him a few minutes to blow before walking the rest of the way up. It's funny how we never realize just how steep a trail is until we have to walk it ourselves. Yup, that's one steep hill. I almost needed mountain-climbing gear! I got to the top and stayed on foot until we reached the water stop at the top. Another rider caught up to us and was marveling that I could walk along with my horse without holding his reins, and he'll just follow me.
At the water stop, Hoss finally tanked up. I breathed a little bit of a sigh of relief. This is a sign he's okay. Still, I didn't feel like he was out of the woods yet. He needed electrolytes, and I didn't have any on me. I had one dose, in a bran mash waiting for him at the trailer. We continued on our way down the road to the cookie stop, where he took another good drink and even splashed water with his head. We were doing great, coming in nice and slow, when we were passed by other horses going considerably faster, and he just got all sorts of mad about it. It was all I could do to keep him from trotting all the way down the hill and in to the vet check. In spite of this, his heart rate came down to 56 in ten minutes with the aid of cooling him with sponges. We did the second, 10.5 mile loop in 2 hours, so a little over 5 mph.
I took Hoss to the trailer and prepared his bran mash. Hoss slurped it down, and took a good drink from his bucket. Okay. Now I was starting to feel better about him, but still felt that I needed to be exceedingly careful with him. I went ahead and put his S hack on at this point. I took him back to the vet area at the end of our hour hold, and presented him to the vet. His heart rate was down to 46 at this point. Again, A's except for impulsion, which was still a B.
Loop Three
By the time we set out for the third loop, there wasn't another horse going our direction in sight. This did not make Hoss feel like he wanted to do this! Still, I got him to give me a good, steady trot on the flat and downhills. At the next water, he once again drank well. After the water stop, the trail got a little deep, and we were stuck walking. We eventually came to a gate. The kind constructed out of barbed wire that is held closed by wire. If you've never seen one, it looks for all the world like contiguous fence. The post at the end of the gate is held to another post by sticking the bottom end in a length of looped wire, then pulling the top of the post until you can loop a second length of looped wire over the top. This gate was supposed to be open.
We arrived at the gate and I was rather confused. There were a few hoof prints going up alongside the fence, but I could see a trail marker and more hoof prints on the other side of the gate. I decided that I was supposed to go through the gate and continue on the road. So, I dismounted and opened the gate. Hoss has never seen one of these gates before, and he was somewhat alarmed by it. When I asked him to come through, he decided he should go another way, and I had to catch up and lead him through. I closed the gate behind me and continued on my way. Hindsight being 20/20, I probably should have left the gate open. I wasn't sure if I was the last rider or not, but that really didn't matter. Drag riders would come out behind me and take care of these things. I figure some well-meaning person, unaware of the event going on, saw the opened gate and shut it.
I was pushing a little on this loop. We were out there all alone, tired and hot, and lacking motivation. I was beginning to fantasize that the coyotes and buzzards were watching us closely. While the map said 12 miles, I know that this ride manager tends to over-estimate early loops and under-estimate later ones. I also knew I had a cut-off time to beat. We had left vet check 2 a little after 1:00pm, and had until 3:45pm to be in vet check 3 and at criteria. Since Hoss had been having trouble coming down, I wanted to get in to vet check 3 with time to spare, by no later than 3:15pm.
At this point, although I didn't realize it at the time, I was getting very tired, and my memory is a bit fuzzy about some of the details. We finally got to another water stop, where Hoss again drank, though not a whole bunch, and a sign that advised us we had 1 mile to the vet check. Hallelujah! We walked all the way in.
Once again, I used a sponge on Hoss to help get his heart rate down. It took him 8 minutes at this check. I took him to food and encouraged him to eat. He wasn't as interested as I'd've liked to see. I can't recall if he drank in the vet check or not.
I presented him to the vet at the end of our 20 minute hold. Other than his skin tent being less than ideal, and his mucous membranes a little sticky, he looked good. If his heart rate had been spiking or there were other signs, I would have pulled, but the vet felt he looked okay, just to take it easy. At this point, I had more than three hours to complete the last 13 miles. While we couldn't walk it, there was no reason to suspect he wouldn't make it. This time, he got Bs on mucous membranes, gut sounds, and impulsion. Now I know I need to be careful to get this horse through this ride.
Loop Four
We headed out on the eight mile loop that comes back to vet check 3 for a five minute hold. It was a pleasant enough section of trail. Plenty of flat and easy downhills where Hoss could trot. We ended up catching up to a pair of horses and "hooked up" with them. I don't recall how long this loop took us. At the tail end of the
loop, when we got back on the dirt road, Hoss suddenly seemed to perk up and started trotting.
Back at the vet check for the 5 minute hold, Hoss took a good drink and was questing about for food. Unfortunately, since the vet check was technically shut down, there was water but no hay. I let him eat whatever he could find while I filled my water bottles up. At the end of our 5 minutes, we headed on back out.
It turned out that those of us in the 5 minute hold at that point represented the last riders. No one else left behind us. After we left the hold, Hoss started trotting again, looking at horses ahead of us about half a mile. I encouraged it, because this was a sign he was feeling better, and the road was downhill at this point. On the uphills, I encouraged him to walk. We now only had 5 miles to go, and about an hour and a half to do it. That distance, in that time, we could do walking. Still, I wanted to get him back in to camp with time to spare. I went ahead and stayed with the ladies we had hooked up with on the loop out of vet check 3. We were in dead last at this point!
Since the end was virtually all downhill, we were able to get some good trotting done. Hoss was snatching at every plant on the trail, seeking something, anything to eat. That, too, I considered a good sign. He hadn't had much interest in food since the lunch stop, and I was a little worried. Now he was more himself, seeking food anywhere he could get it.
We got back to basecamp and the end of the ride a little after 6:30pm. The vet was glad to see us and the other riders, as we represented the last horses he had to see. Of course, technically, I had an hour to present Hoss to the vet. However, I was just as tired as he was, and wanted to be done, so once Hoss's heart rate was down to 64 I presented him. He earned much worse scores at this point. More B's, and a C+ on gut sounds. Since Hoss had been looking for food all the way back on the last 5 miles, I felt that he'd turned the corner and would be fine. The vet agreed. I took Hoss back to the trailer and gave him alfalfa hay and another bran mash. I really wish I'd had more electrolytes to give him.
It was at this point that I realized just how tired I was. I turned away from Hoss to take something to the truck and found myself stumbling. My husband had already struck camp in anticipation of going home that night. I really needed to go home, as I sing in my church's choir and we were performing on Sunday morning. I considered having him set the tent back up, but I had a strong sense that I needed to get Hoss home. I went and ate dinner and sat through the awards, then checked on Hoss. He had peed and eaten most of his food. We scooped up what we could and put it in a hay bag, then loaded up and headed down.
I was very glad that I took Hoss home. While it would have been better for me to stay at camp another night, I think that Hoss was much better served by coming home. I was able to give him another dose of electrolytes in beet pulp. And, when I put him in the corral, he promptly dropped his head in the water bucket and took a huge drink. I will admit, I was glad to get to shower in my own shower and sleep in my own bed.
Over night, Hoss ate and drank quite well. I estimate that he drank a good 15 gallons over night. He was feeling fine, and ready to go back into the pasture with his buddies. I put out more beet pulp with electrolytes and hay and we went to church.
Overall, a good ride. I have learned that I will need to experiment a little with electrolytes with this horse. This is new for me. Phoenix never needed electrolytes other than what he got in his daily bucket feed. Hoss is a different horse, and I always knew there would be new things to learn. So, now on to the great electrolyte experiment!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)