We arrived at ride camp Friday afternoon and set up. We knew bad weather was coming for Race Day, and already the ground was very soft and wet. Not so good when you're in a 44ft 18,000lb rig. Indeed, rigs were already getting stuck and needing to get moved/pulled out with a tractor. Good on ride management for having it ready and waiting to go!
Vet in went fine, both horses were good with the vets. Aleah's heart rate was 48, Helo's a little higher. Everyone was sound and happy, and eating and drinking A LOT. I think we
went though 3 buckets of water before dinner! Ride meeting went fine, though the tent was SUPER crowded. I should note that this ride is notorious for having poorly marked trail, and it appeared we were in for it once again. Not only would the trail be the same, but there were other running races going on the same day that had similar markings to follow. AND their trail overlapped ours. Fabulous. Having done it before, though, and knowing we were going just to train and have fun I had confidence that we would get through ok. Once it started to get dark, we blanketed the ponies, made sure things were set for the AM, and then bunked for the night. Carolyn and I passed out early, with Jack the dog pouting (though I think it was from incoming bad weather, not from being bored. or at least I tell myself that).
Morning of the ride, both 25's and 50's were leaving at the same time, but from opposite ends of camp. Horses were a little wired while tacking up, Helo especially was nervous. But between the two of us we got through, and Aleah confidently led us through to the start time and out on trail where we started slow and then settled in to a nice medium trot. The horses did pretty well for it being their first time off and passing, being passed, etc. Aleah was a little racey, but nothing out of line. Helo seemed to loosen up and get over his nervousness as soon as we started moving. Trail was exactly as I expected it to be.....absolutely beautiful and well-maintained, but marked poorly. Confidence markers where we didn't need them, and no markers around blind turns when we came out of the woods and didn't know where to go. Several people missed turns, it was very frustrating.
Coming in to the first vet check, Aleah was down right away! Helo took a little more time, coming in to camp seemed to make his nervousness return. It took us FOREVER to vet through, the pulse takers were quick but because half of the vets were out on trail at a gate-n-go for the 50's, there weren't enough back in camp and we had to wait forever in line. It really came in handy to have both Sarah and I there, because one of us could hold the horses while the other went and got blankets and buckets for the horses while waiting. By the time we got through, we only had 20 minutes to really rest at our crew spot. Helo was still nervous and a little slow in eating, so we took some extra time getting ready before going out. A personal note here, the out timer at this ri
de was totally rude. I was fuming about it for a while, he seemed inexperienced and was not nice to us as we asked a.) if it was okay for us to go and b.) which way the trail left camp (he actually refused to answer the second question). After complaining about it later, I found out he had been that way with several people during the day. I know I know....we all love our volunteers! But this guy was definitely a grade A dump! Probably would have been smarter to put someone more experienced and a little happier at that post! Yes the weather was crappy. But we were really nice in asking him if we could leave! Don't know why he was so mean to all of us. Second loop was quick,
horses came in and both vetted in even better than the first time. Aleah's finishing heart rate was 48/36!!!! Whoa. We came in perfectly in mid-pack, as planned. Helo was also much better and calmer through this check, and both passed with flying colors. Very happy and proud of both of them! Just after we finished the weather started to get SERIOUSLY bad. Rain, wind, cold, yech. Carolyn was doing the 50, we watched her leave for her last loop and went up for her finish (she finished mid-pack out of 60+ riders. Good job Carolyn! Since it was a last-minute decision, we went in Renegade training boots and not glue-ons. The course was really muddy in some places; Aleah kept all of her boots on all day but Helo lost 3 of his. The first was a freak accident; he did a little spook while on the pavement and got it caught and flipped. The second and third times were definitely bc of mud, one came off completely and the other flipped sideways. We think we have developed a plan to winch down his toe straps a little tighter to see how it works, but may switch to glue-on for future rides to be safe. Otherwise they worked just fine.
Once we were all finished, we had the tractor pull out the rig from the mudbog and up to higher paved ground. We moved the horses up there and packed up, taking our time so they could rest and we could relax a bit before hitting the road (we were leaving same-day, Carolyn had events on Sunday and the weather truly was terrible). Again, hooray for having a tractor there!
And now for the exciting news....I got a new trailer! It's a 2001 CM in PRISTINE condition, just needs new tires and bearings packed and we're good to go! I still have my old one, but it really turned out to be way too small and I wanted something the horses would like better (and in better shape). Very excited to be able to travel and go to rides wherever I need now (without being embarrassed). :-) Still trying to sell the old trailer as a pony or livestock rig, in case anyone is interested.
That's all for now folks!
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