Twenty Mule Team 100

Thursday evening I was still feeling a little less than perfect, but I felt well enough to go to the ride. I spent much of the afternoon napping, as we planned to leave around midnight in order to get to ride camp with 24 hours for Hoss to recover from the trailer ride.

My husband had spent Wednesday night pulling an "all-nighter" so he'd be able to drive most of the way to Ridgecrest. He also spent most of Thursday afternoon sleeping. It was a hot day, and I don't know how he managed to sleep in that hot bedroom. I couldn't do it; most of my napping was in my chair. I guess that Navy career really came in handy for this particular day.

It felt like a really, really long day, but midnight finally rolled around and it was time to load up and leave. Hoss saw the trailer pulled out and was ready to go when I brought the halter out to get him. D.C., however, was very unhappy and promptly began pacing. She spent most of the time Hoss was gone pacing. There went all the weight I'd managed to put back on her!

Our arrival in ride camp was delayed by the GPS directing my husband to the wrong place. I was still lying down in the back seat and did not see us pass the fairgrounds. When the GPS told my husband he had reached his destination, it was in the middle of a dirt road! It was still dark, so I had difficulty determining where we were in relation to where we wanted to be. After some fumbling around and driving into strange places, I took over the wheel and my husband used his iPhone to find where we needed to go. We made our way back to the fairgrounds and pulled in to ride camp a little after 6:00am.

After unloading Hoss and getting him set up, we unhooked the trailer and my husband headed back in to town to get us some breakfast. I got out my anti-gravity chair and hung out reading and keeping an eye on my horse.

The only drawback to getting to ride camp so soon is there's really not a whole lot to do. It's kinda boring, really. And it certainly doesn't help my anxiety level! By the time the ride meeting came around, I was so spun up I could've gotten on and rode right then. The extra time was good for Hoss, though. His heart rate was higher than usual, probably because he was standing in the sun all day, but otherwise he had recovered better than usual.

It finally got late enough to crawl in to bed. We had set up to sleep in the back of the trailer, as the weather was nice. The only problem is when Hoss starts digging deep in his hay bag, he makes the whole trailer move. It's not so bad in that I can be very sure he hasn't managed to untie or unclip himself and wander off.

About two hours before start, I got up and gave Hoss some more hay and his beet pulp mush. I laid back down for an hour, then got up to groom and saddle and get ready to go. My husband made me a wonderful breakfast of fried eggs and sausage.

Not having ridden with the flank cinch for very long, I wasn't sure how tight I should make it. As a horse works, it will tend to suck up its belly, resulting in the flank cinch becoming loose. When I'd ridden him to test the flank cinch, I hadn't ridden him long enough to determine how much he'd "shrink" his belly. I knew I wanted it to be snug enough to remain against his belly.

A little before start time we headed over to the start line. We met up with our riding partners for the day, Kaity Elliot and Kody. We headed out in the pre-dawn light. Hoss was a bit of a handful. You'd think after 1000+ endurance miles he'd be better than this. Instead I have a horse trying to bolt and generally acting a fool. Interestingly I've gotten rather good at putting up with this without yanking on his face or using the reins to hold him back. He pitched a nasty fit, behaving as though I was yanking on him when I had no pressure on the reins at all. I did find he settled down much earlier than usual. Whether that was because I wasn't fighting with him or he's finally decided it doesn't do any good I don't know.

The first sixteen miles went remarkably quickly. While we were riding on an old railroad track bed, Kaity found the turn, but a good ten or fifteen other riders (65 milers who had caught up to us back of the pack 100 milers) rode on past the turn. I recall when I attempted the 65 years ago with Phoenix we missed that very same turn. Added a good five or six miles to get all the way to a road, figure out we'd missed a turn, and make it back to the turn. This year the turn was not as well marked as it had been the year Phoenix and I missed it along with several other riders.

I noticed Hoss was not trotting quite like usual. He felt a bit choppy and short-strided. I looked at our shadow and noticed the flank cinch had become significantly looser. My guess was the loose flank cinch was a bit tickly and most likely the cause of his altered gait.

Just before we arrived at the first vet check, someone fired some sort of shotgun. Hoss really dislikes gunfire, and his heart rate shot up. Adding to his distress, Kody and Kaity had gotten fairly far ahead of us. Hoss really needs to walk in to vet checks in order to get his heart rate down. I had tried to slow him before Kaity had slowed Kody. This did not go over well. The result of all this madness was Hoss taking a good five minutes longer than usual to come down to criteria (set at 60 for this ride).

The first vet hold was 15 minutes. Once Hoss's heart rate had come down I took him directly to the vet and got him passed. My husband had set up Hoss's food and water across from where Kaity's crew had set up. Hoss was impossible. He was looking for Kody and not paying any attention to food or water. I finally gave up and we went over to be near Kody. Even though he was near Kody, however, Hoss did not really eat, instead more interested in looking around and nibbling on the local bushes.

Kaity decided to stay the extra time so we could leave the vet check together. We would make up the five minutes on the trail.

I had tightened Hoss's flank cinch during the hold. Once we had been back on trail a few minutes, we picked up the trot to continue on our way. Hoss's gait was more normal. I could only conclude the flank cinch had, indeed, caused him to trot weird. In the future I'll have to remember to snug it down further than it seems it should go.

The next 15 miles went somewhat less quickly, but quickly enough. Kaity and Kody cantered several times, but it became clear Hoss wasn't really interested in cantering. He'd rather trot. Not that he didn't want to stay with Kody, but he wasn't motivated enough to run to do it. The wind was blowing pretty hard, but it kept the temperatures down so I really couldn't complain. It wasn't blowing as bad as it had at Fire Mountain, so it really didn't feel like much in comparison.

We came in to the 31 mile vet check and hour hold, and I checked Hoss through. His heart rate came down much more quickly, and when Kody walked away from him he really didn't seem to mind particularly. The wind was blowing enough in the vet check area to put up dust clouds from time to time. My husband had set up a bran mash and hay for Hoss and was cooking up some soup for me. Hoss was being a bit of a pill. At first I didn't tie him off, and he wandered away. My husband had to go retrieve him. At that point I tied him to the workbench inside my truck. He still wouldn't eat once he'd finished his bran mash, so I took the hay bag off the truck and put it on the ground. Hoss doesn't like to eat with the hay bag up high. He can be more than a little persnickety. Once the hay bag was on the ground he ate a little better.

The next section was quite a bit longer. The next check was at 55 miles, making for 24 miles between the second and third checks. We took off with Kaity and Kody. We crossed under the train tracks and were on a relatively flat, broad section of trail. Once again Kaity and Kody cantered several times, leaving Hoss and me behind.

We came to a long uphill climb. Kaity and Kody had caught up with another rider. We had all three ridden together for a time, but Hoss faded back when we were going up the hill. The other two horses were simply faster up the hill than Hoss is. Hoss plugged along gamely enough, but he just couldn't keep up. The other two horses would periodically slow down, allowing Hoss to catch up, only to speed back up to a trot, and Hoss had to simply keep working. He was getting a little fed up with the whole thing.

After we topped the hill we came to a long, slightly downhill power line road. Hoss did better along this part of the trail. Still, when the other horses started cantering, he wasn't interested in doing the same. The other horses got further and further ahead, and Hoss quit trying to keep up with them, although he would have been happy to catch them. By the time we got to the next water stop, some three or four miles from the 55 mile vet check, Kaity and the other rider were well ahead of us. By the time we arrived at the vet check, Kaity and Kody were about ready to leave. Hoss's heart rate had come down, but I didn't feel like he was really ready to see the vet, as it looked to me from his heart rate monitor that he was still a little elevated. Hoss always seems to do his best if he gets to eat a little bit before going to the vet. Kaity asked if I wanted to go ahead and vet him while Kody was still there, but I sent her on her way. Hoss didn't seem to particularly care whether Kody was there or not. Which only lasted until Kody headed out on the trail. Hoss started calling for him almost immediately. It really didn't seem to make much difference, though. He gave it up pretty quickly in preference for the bran mash and hay my husband had laid out for him. Toward the end of the 15 minute hold, I took him to the vet and he passed well.

The next ten miles were difficult. Hoss was not particularly interested in going much faster than a walk. I suspect he was thinking this was just about over. I managed to get him to trot on the flatter and downhill parts of the trail, but he was dragging on the uphills. We finally arrived at base camp about 5:30pm, not bad really. Hoss's heart rate came down immediately and we headed to the trailer for our hour hold.

The vets wanted to see horses with saddles off for this check. I pulled Hoss's saddle while he ate and sat down for my own dinner, prepared by my awesome husband. (Do I say how great he is often enough? I don't think so.) When we had about fifteen minutes left in our hold, I took Hoss to the vet. He passed, once again with flying colors. I did have to take along a whip as a little incentive to get him to trot, but once he did he looked fine. He just needed a little more encouragement than the end of his leadrope waved at him could provide.

When I tied Hoss back to the trailer, he stuck his head back in his hay and started eating. Well, once I put the saddle pad back on his back, he stopped eating and got this absolutely disgusted look on his face. He made his displeasure evident when I mounted and headed him back toward the trail. Not interested, he said, and walked like a drunk. I did get him back out there, but he was less than pleased about the whole idea. He thought we should be done by now, dammit.

The next 25 miles were difficult to say the least. I could manage to kick Hoss up to a trot for forty or fifty yards, but then he'd fall back to a very slow walk and refuse to move any faster. When we reached the highway, another horse was waiting for a trailer. His rider had decided to pull. I let Hoss stop in hopes he'd drink, but he was more interested in food. Unfortunately the only hay available was stuff he can't have, so I was only able to allow him to eat the natural stuff – more like sticks – around the water tanks. (There were several other people around, and I always love it when people try to tell me I should just let Hoss eat whatever he wants. Would they tell me to eat shellfish if that was the only thing available, despite being allergic to it? I don't think so!) 

The trailer arrived right about the time I was getting Hoss back on the trail. He was really unhappy. He wanted to get in the trailer, too! When we crossed the highway, I couldn't get him to move faster than about 2 mph for some time. He did eventually give it up and move a little faster.

I was very grateful for a fairly good amount of glo-sticks. Had it not been for the dim glow in the distance, Hoss and I would've ended up out in the desert wandering around 'til dawn. One of Hoss's favorite tricks for slowing down is to start heading down what he knows is the wrong trail. At this point we were back on trail we had covered earlier, and there were turn-offs every 100 yards or so. It was down hill, so I was rather insisting Hoss trot. He would point himself down a wrong turn, and ignore my leg (which was pretty much gone by this point anyway) until I was forced to take up the reins and force him over. Well, of course, if I pick up the reins it must be because I want him to slow down! At that point in a ride (some 80 or so miles) I simply didn't have enough leg to keep him going and turn him at the same time. I would pick up the reins to push him over and he'd comply, and drop to a walk at the same time. We went through this several times.
When we finally arrived at the water stop a few miles from the final out vet check, I got off to give him electrolytes. The muscle in the back of my right leg promptly cramped up. For several minutes I was laying on the ground beside my horse hoping I could get the cramp to die down enough to finish the ride.
The cramp finally released enough for me to get back up without ending up falling down. I gave Hoss his electrolytes, although he didn't drink at that point, then managed to get back in the saddle.

Hoss recognized where we were and sped up, but not much. We still mostly walked the rest of the way to the vet stop.

While we were walking through the wilds, I saw a pair of eyes glowing off to my left in the light of my head lamp (due to my extremely poor night vision, I must use a flashlight at night; I did try several times during the night to go without the light, but Hoss would have succeeded in getting us off trail if I had). About thirty seconds later, a silver fox darted across the trail. I could only see it because of the head lamp. Not long after that, I saw the glow of the fox's eyes again, and once again it darted across the trail. This went on for about a mile. It was truly a cool experience. I really wish I had a camera that could take good night shots!

We finally made it to the vet check and Hoss was just so hungry I couldn't make him just continue on after being checked over. This was a "pulse and go" style hold, so we did not have to stay, but I gave Hoss fifteen minutes to eat before we made the final 10 miles back to camp.

Hoss really knew now we were headed back to camp. While he still didn't want to trot, his walk picked up. I did bring along the whip I had put in the truck for the final out vet check, in an effort to get him to move out at least a little more. It didn't work as well as I had hoped. There was no way he was going to trot uphill at all. He would trot some on the flat and downhill, but not fast. Really for the most part it was just as easy to let him walk. By this point he was at least walking at a reasonable pace.

We finally walked in to camp at 4:30am. Hoss's heart rate was well below criteria, and he passed the final vet check quite well. I would've liked for him to trot out better, but it was adequate. I took him to the trailer and got him untacked. I was thinking it wasn't very cold and I might leave his blanket off until I happened to check my husband's clock with the thermometer on it. It was 36 degrees! Much cooler than I felt it was. So I went ahead and put Hoss's blanket on, even though I knew once the sun was well up I'd have to take it off.

My husband didn't stir as I got in the trailer and changed. He woke up a bit as I crawled into my sleeping bag, and I teased him about not being up to see us come in. The end of an endurance ride is a little anti-climactic, unless you happen to be the one on the horse. I was asleep in minutes after I lay down.

We were awakened a few times. Once by another entrant asking if I had finished. Which prompted me to have to get up to check on Hoss. He was fine, but I gave him more food. We slept another hour or so, then headed over for breakfast. The ride meeting wasn't until much later, so back to bed I went. Unfortunately my hip started to really give me some pangs, and the painkillers were not touching it. Later in the morning I was able to rest comfortably in my anti-gravity chair.

I remember a time when a twenty five mile ride left me exhausted. I remember when fifty miles was enough to cripple me for days. After having completed my first 100 mile endurance ride, I can say this is the truest test of endurance for horse and rider.