Two days before the ride, Hoss was lame. He had a bruise, possibly an abscess, as a result of that rock. I removed the shoe, treated the foot, and knew he would not be doing a 100 mile ride anytime soon.
I called Melissa Ribley, the ride manager, on Friday to let her know we weren't going to make it.
At this point the whole abuse accusation thing was coming to a head. I really hated the idea of skipping the ride altogether, because it would look like I had backed out due to the accusations. I contemplated taking DC for the 35, but of course I really did not want her to do her first ride without Hoss along for a babysitter.
I talked to my trainer, and she didn't like me not going either. In the end, she offered me the use of her horse, Eclipse. I called Melissa, let her know I was coming with another horse, and got myself loaded up.
This was the point at which I was called and told I abuse Hoss and not to bring him to any rides. This was rather the low point in that whole episode.
I loaded up Hoss and we left to pick up Eclipse. I had to bring Hoss along so I could continue to treat his foot.
We arrived at camp far too late to vet in, so I got myself set up and the horses settled. Since it was Eclipse's very first ride, we were doing the 35, giving us quite a long time to get arranged in the morning.
Due to the extra excitement of leaving for a ride at the last minute, I unfortunately neglected to bring along my video camera. I was able to get a few stills with my phone.
After the 100-mile start, I headed over and arranged our entry. Once that was done, I started the process of saddling Eclipse.
The only piece of tack I had taken from Beth was Eclipse's bridle. We were pretty sure one of my saddles would fit just fine. We were right. DC's Australian saddle sat on him beautifully. One problem: the girth was too short. Oops. Well, the Western saddle fit him well enough. The girth was way forward, and with Eclipse's "extra padding," I knew I would have to be very careful not to gall him.
I set out late, after most of the other horses had left camp. It had dawned on my sometime during the ride up that I had never, not even once, not even for 30 seconds, ridden Eclipse. Additionally, the last time he'd done a ride (a 15 mile fun ride several years ago), he had been a handful. So I was giving myself the best chance to have a reasonably decent start.
I got up on Eclipse and we headed out toward the start. Although I'd never ridden him, or perhaps because I hadn't, I gave him the benefit of the doubt. I let him have a loose rein. He would have to give me reason to ride him harder. Eclipse had a hard time, but he worked very hard and did as he was asked.
Once we were well out on trail, we set out at a trot. Eclipse was excited and a little confused. As far as he was concerned, the farrier had stolen him. Now the farrier had saddled him up and taken him riding. Really bizarre!
We hooked up with another horse after a time. The two were relatively well matched and seemed to be okay with each other.
I pulled Eclipse back on most of the uphills, wanting to ride conservatively. It was his first ride and I didn't know him well at all. We trotted on the flats and any gentle downhills we came to, plus some of the uphill pulls which weren't steep.
We finished the first 19 miles in just about 3 hours. Wow, that's fast. I was impressed with his speed, but a little worried about going quite so fast the first time out. So I pulled him back and let the other horse go on ahead of us.
It turned out that other horse had been somewhat messing with Eclipse's normal energy. When the horse was gone, Eclipse sighed and released quite a bit of negative energy he had gradually built up riding with him. I liked this horse better, even though I hadn't realized it was happening.
The vet check was at 25 miles. I dismounted a distance out, wanting to give Eclipse at least a little signal it was time to wind down a bit. My little toes were going numb on me, too, from riding in that western saddle.
Eclipse met criteria in good time, and I presented him to the vet. He stayed at criteria for a while, but he was looking around like he was on high alert. I never did convince him to eat. Nor had he taken a drink during the first 25 miles. It was a cool day, and we were doing 35, not 65, so I didn't fret about it.
After our hold, we set back out on trail. We had sort of hooked up with yet another horse, whose energy was better. The other horse caught up to us shortly out of the vet check, and his rider allowed him to crowd Eclipse. Eclipse did not take this especially well and lashed out. I knew the other horse kinda deserved it, but I got after him for it anyway. He should have let me know he was unhappy so I could remedy it for him, and I'm pretty sure he knew that. Still, I had to give him some slack. It's not like he's spent a lot of time being ridden in crowds or with horses allowed to run up under his tail.
The last ten miles were great. Eclipse is not a large horse, and the horse we were loosely riding with was longer-legged. So we'd fall behind, and Eclipse's competitive side would come out and he'd want to catch up. Once we had topped the hill, I got him up to a trot and we blew past the other horse and kept on going.
We went on for the rest of the day, alternating trotting and walking. Once the finish line was in sight, I pulled him down to a walk, and got off when we were close. It took him several minutes to come down, after finally taking a huge drink there at the end. I think he needed to pee, and would have recovered more quickly had he taken the time to do so, instead of waiting until we were walking back into camp.
When I presented Eclipse for the final check, I was pulled aside and given the best news I'd heard all week: someone was on my side in the whole abuse thing. As I walked through camp and talked to different people I knew, I found many others also in my corner. By the time I went to bed, my stress level had dropped incredibly. I hadn't realized how much I was carrying it until I laid down. I fell asleep and slept harder and better than I had all week.
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