RBTR 2016: Griffin's first LD and many new faces

The short

Griffin completed his first LD. Q carried fellow blogger Austen through her first endurance event. Both of my horses tied for turtle! One of my lesson students completed her first LD also, and much fun was had by our group of 8 riders all day long. 

Tuesday

No stranger to how busy and quickly ride camp fills up for this ride, I headed out Tuesday night to stake out my camp and spots for Nicole and Carlos and Dan. It was a wise decision, as I was able to snag my usual spot with plenty of space for our group before ANYONE was present.

Bonus? Someone mowed it for us before we arrived for good on Thursday. =)

Space-saving, shade-saving

Thursday

I worked a half day before heading home to load my car and head out to the barn to finish packing and get the horses loaded.

Lauren, my 12 year old lesson student, was going to meet me at the barn and help out. She hasn't even been riding a year yet, but she's such a natural, does her homework, and was beyond eager to try her hand with endurance, so when my mentor Mary offered up her 24 year old ½-Arabian decade team horse I arranged for Lauren to come to RBTR and ride him.

Lauren was bringing Q and Griffin in when I arrived at the barn. Once they were in, we loaded the trailer the rest of the way, washed them off a bit (scrubbed poop stains from Griffin. Because grey horses.) and then loaded them up uneventfully and headed to Ellamore!

Dan and his daughter Orion were already at camp when we arrived. Orion joined us last year, but didn't compete. This year, Dan had promised her that if she got her horse, Nell, into shape through the summer, she could come try her hand at it. She did a fabulous job doing just that - Nell looked amazing! And so, our group of riders for RBTR would be eight: Lauren on Shiloh, Austen on Q, me on Griffin, Nicole's friend Jess on Lily, Carlos on Gracie, Dan on Butch, Orion on Nell, and Charlie on Dakota. 4 first-time riders, two relatively inexperienced endurance riders, Charlie, who has past experience but it's been several years (though her brother is more active, he just completed Tevis in 14th place), and me. Shiloh had more experience than the entire group put together (>5400 competitive miles) and of the 8 horses, only 1 was full Arab, 2 were half-Arab, and the rest were non-Arabs (TB, RMH, Morgan/QH, Morgan/Stdbd., and then Griffin, who is god-knows-what).

Dan walked over to greet us as I backed in the trailer, informing me he was all setup and ready to throw shoes on Griffin. You see, we'd have done this earlier, in fact, we'd planned to, but Griffin was lame with an abscess (or two?) for about 11 days and didn't come up sound again until July 31. Talk about cutting it close to the ride!

And so, Griffin unloaded in a new-to-him place, walked over to Dan's trailer, and received his first set of shoes in his life as if he'd been doing it for years. The only mishaps were when he drooled (white clover) in Dan's ear and then pooped without ANY warning while Dan worked on his right hind.

Griffin thinking about sleeping

Totally at ease with this new thing

Backs? No problem. Q, take notes, please.

Orion, Dan, Lauren and I chatted on and off through the whole shoeing process. I, for one, was just so grateful to finally be in a place with no cell service for a few days. I'd been increasingly overwhelmed by the world in the days preceding the ride, so it was really nice to be totally away from any technological stimuli.

Lauren's mom picked her up shortly after the shoeing, and Kenai and I headed down to the swimming hole for a time to cool off - while temperatures weren't too bad, the humidity was absurd!

Once I was cooled off, I visited with club members for a bit before heading out to put up a few more signs to help those arriving find ride camp.

I noticed upon my return to camp that I had new neighbors parked to one side of me, so I spent some time visiting with them (turns out it was Daisy Bicking) before Austen showed up.

Austen and the huskies arrived just in time for dinner, and she had prosecco in tow. And thus the evening shenanigans began! We enjoyed dinner with Dan, Orion, my mom, and club members, then headed back to our camp to indulge in grapefruit margaritas (also brought by Austen) while we chatted with Dan and Orion.

Eventually, Dan headed to bed and we ladies stayed up chatting even longer.

At some point, Austen and I decided it would be a brilliant idea to ride the horses. Because what better time to ride than in the middle of the night, drunk? Nevermind the fact that Austen hadn't ridden Q before. It'd be fine! Orion skipped off to get her helmet and horse so she could provide some supervision while Austen and I stuffed our noggins in our helmets and mounted up. Safety first!

We tooled around the field in camp for awhile, giggling all the while. Orion eventually abandoned us, so we gave up the charade and headed back to camp to talk more before I decided I simply could not sit upright and talk any more, so we decided to go to my big tent and talk more. And thus, 2 girls and 3 huskies crammed into a 5 person tent for the night.

Friday

I nursed a hangover much of the morning, guzzling electrolytes and BCAAs to try to make up for my poor decision the night before.

Dan wandered over to our camp area as I made Austen and I breakfast and we chatted about random things for awhile until Austen and I ran over to the registration booth so I could pay and get the paperwork for my two taken care of. Afterwards, Austen and I prepped to head out on a 5-mile pre-ride.

The pre-ride went uneventfully minus one incident... You see, we let Lyra come along with us. She'd been darting hither and thither all along, and then we stopped dead in one of the many mud puddles for a moment. Griffin was leading, Q was standing behind and slightly to his right (her head at his flank) and Lyra was to Griffin's left taking a dump. Austen and I were laughing at Lyra because we knew being so close to the horses was making her nervous and she couldn't run away in the moment...because poop. Well, I gave Grif a little leg to urge him on by, and the next thing I know, Austen is lying on her back half-submerged in the mud puddle yelling and kicking her free leg at Q yelling, "GET OFF MY LEG GET OFF MY LEG!"

Best guess, Q saw Lyra suddenly where she hadn't realized she was, teleported to the right, and forgot to mention the plan to Austen. Classic Q spook. Fortunately, the mud was deep and soft and Austen wasn't hurt, her ankle was even spared damage other than some minor swelling! She was however, COVERED in mud. Logically, we walked back to the closest river access point where she promptly dropped down the bank to bathe.

But not before this photo:

Heading down to the river to bathe

I apologized profusely, repeatedly, but she assured me she was okay! The rest of the pre-ride went without issue and we spent most of it discussing Q's way of going from Austen's dressage-minded perspective. I gained a LOT of insight into this little horse over the weekend and foresee a lot of homework in my future to help improve her and strengthen her!

Following our ride, we went to the river and swam awhile.

After our swim, Nicole and Carlos arrived and our camp area was a flurry of activity for a bit.

I was distracted much of the afternoon waiting on Lauren's horse to arrive along with a horse that was being dropped off for a friend to pick up later that evening. They finally showed up around 4:30p in a moment when I happened to be wandering around looking (for the 3rd time) and so I darted over to fetch both horses. The give away would stay tied to my trailer for an hour until her new owners arrived, and with Carlos' help, I increased the size of my corral to make a space for Shiloh. (I didn't originally *know* Shiloh would be penned up with us, but it definitely worked out a lot better that he was!)

Sometime around the time Shiloh arrived, but before dinner, Nicole's friend Jess whom I've heard SO much about arrived. Everyone met and mingled for a bit before we headed over to dinner and the ride meeting.

Contrary to past years, the club did not slow cook a whole hog all day this year for Friday night's dinner; instead, they opted to buy pork butt from the same gentleman we typically get the pigs from and have it pre-cooked and brought to camp to serve as sandwiches instead of having to pull the hog and deal with all of that nonsense. It was still delicious, as slow-cooked locally raised meat tends to be.

I admit to not paying much mind at all to the ride meeting. I knew that the blue loop had changed a bit, but I wasn't super concerned about it. Beyond that, I knew criteria would be at 64 with 60 at the finish and knew I knew the yellow loop like the back of my hand. And so, I spent much of the ride chatting with our group and catching up. <3

Following dinner, everyone took the horses on a leg-stretching grass-eating walk for a time before coming back to our camp to talk for a short time. Dom and Mike joined us for a time even! It was really nice to chat with everyone, but ultimately sleep was singing its sweet song and we all left to follow it.

Saturday

I slept well, albeit lightly that night. The camp wake up and Lauren's arrival, both around 5:30a, roused me up for good though.

Once dressed, I putzed around for a bit doing random things as I waited on Austen to rouse herself. Nicole and Co. were already milling about, as were Dan and Co.

Austen and I, with Lauren tagging along, walked over to get some coffee from the registration tent. With a jolt of caffeine in our systems, we sparked to life a little more than we had been, but we still weren't very alert.

As Lauren and Austen had never been to an endurance event prior, I wanted them to see the start of the 50 so they knew what the start of a ride was like (though my plan for everyone was to leave camp after all of the starters for the 30!). Fortunately for all, it was a very, very mellow start. Other than a few horses side-stepping, no one acted out and all walked or trotted calmly out of camp.

After the 50s left, we went back to get our horses ready, though we took our sweet time about it. My head wasn't super focused at all through the process. Lauren kept offering to help and grab this and that, and as much as I appreciated the offers, I just couldn't put to words what I was doing/going to do. After planning and executing the OD 100, a 30 on my "home" course seemed like child's play and I was totally lackadaisical about the entire thing.

Somehow, all three horses, Q, Shiloh, and Griffin, were tacked up and all riders (all 8 of us!) were mounted and ready with time to spare before the start. Despite Dan's urgings, "Let's GO!", I held everyone back away from the start until I was certain most of the 30s had left. Nicole played right into my "make everyone wait" goal, whether purposely or not, I'm uncertain, by taking photos of the group and trying to get our attention.

The posse!
Photo by Nicole

Uncertain beasties
Photo by Nicole

Lauren and I...and probably my new favorite photo of Griffin. SMILE!
Photo by Nicole

Finally, I was satisfied that any potential starting chaos was past, and we headed out on trail at a sedate walk.

We trotted for a little bit, but Griffin threw a bit of a broncing fit (no extreme aerobatics but he was popping up in the front and the back end a lot and squealing). Then I noticed that Lauren's stirrups were incredibly uneven (totally my bad) so we had to stop and fix those at the beginning of the ride. Beyond Griffin's relatively mild antics and Lauren's stirrups though, we didn't have any issues with the start!

Becky Pearman was in the river at the start for photos, and I darted ahead to try to get another epic river photo on Griffin. Without a crop though, Griffin wasn't totally convinced he should canter through the water.

For the next many miles, we'd trade leaders as we went in my efforts to keep us going down the trail at a fair pace with proper etiquette toward other riders. It's kind of nerve-wracking managing so many new riders! Dan and Charlie rode sweep for me the whole time to keep an eye on things. I had Griffin lead as much as I could, let the old pro Shiloh lead with Lauren a fair bit on loop 1, too, and tried letting Carlos lead a fair bit, too, but Carlos was almost always riding too fast for the rest of the group which almost got us in trouble several times. Once Austen and Q settled into their partnership, they led us a fair bit, too, which Q did beautifully at.

The biggest uphill of the first loop was all on a gravel road. The beginning is mild, and so I told everyone we could trot those sections, but we'd be walking in a bit. I don't know what happened exactly, but when we finally reached the steady uphill, almost the entire group took off cantering/galloping. Da fuq?! I think Carlos was in the lead of that charge? All I know is that Dan and I were in the back chatting with other riders and we looked up to see all of them galloping away. Well, Griffin had HAD it at this point and was not possibly going to catch up to them (he was debating why he ever became my horse and why would I possibly bring him to such a ride when he wasn't in as peak condition as he could be), so I told Dan, "Go get them and stop them. Make them walk. Please!" and he and Butch took off to catch and slow our group who was now disappearing around the turn in the road!

Shiloh and Lauren leading

Smiles walking up the hill

Few more smiling faces

Probably my favorite selfie of the ride.

Dan, don't look so scared!

Q had been standing squarer a moment before! And look, Nicole! Electrolyting and hackamore swapping!

"You mean, there's MORE?"

I have no issue with going faster like that, it's how I normally ride. But how I normally ride is also on a horse far fitter than nearly any horse in that group, who is proven at multiple mileages, and whom will pulse down quickly and easily at a hold. The group we had on this day was NOT conditioned like that and NOT capable of pulsing in like that at a hold! We needed to ride smart and ride slow if we had any hopes of getting everyone through.

Dan slowed everyone down one-by-one as he passed them, and Griffin and I did a slow trot to catch up with a bit of time. All was well and good, though when we reached the top of the incline where the spotter was, more than a few of the horses were breathing harder than I wanted to see. Fortunately, at my recommendation to hand walk the last tiny incline before reaching the ridgeline where we'd ride for a couple miles, almost everyone dismounted and hand walked the horses to give them a break for a little bit.

Three more spotters, two moonshine stops, and one grazing stop (I was pretty serious about making sure all the horses were doing the best they possibly could be) later, we were coming into camp for the first check and hold. We'd walked the horses for the last 3/4 mile and had dismounted to handwalk them in for the final ¼-mile of that. Thanks to this preparation and careful management, all were very close to being at pulse criteria once we'd stripped tack. With just a little sponging, all were down at or below criteria and went through the vetting.

Libations.

I can't speak for Dan's horses or Nicole's horses other than to say "they passed the check" but I do know that both Q and Shiloh (½-Arabs) had CRIs in the 40s (48/48 for Q and 48/40 for Shiloh) with all As and the vets asked if either of them was doing anything out there (haha). Griffin and I vetted through with the pickiest vet of the group and he was screaming his head off the whole time. Basically, each time we returned to camp Griffin went into a screaming fury calling for anyone and everyone who might listen. Nevermind that all of his friends were WITH him, he had to talk to the whole camp. -_- So, needless to say, my vetting was a bit nerve wracking. His pulse was 56 when I checked it before the P&R station, 60 at the P&R, 64 when the vet checked it, and his CRI ended up being 64/68. Screaming, screaming, screaming. The vet also called him "off behind" gave him Bs for attitude, impulsion and gait, A- on 3 other criteria, and Bs on all gut sounds. I inquired what I could do to improve all of these scores and was told, "Keep him eating and drinking." Well, he's doing that beautifully, so okay.

The rest of the hold went uneventfully. All horses ate well and drank well and both of mine peed. The latest out time for our group was 11:12a and I think it was more like 11:15a when we all rolled out at a sedate walk once again, only picking up a trot/canter when we passed the photographer at the top of the hill as we left camp.

<3
(Used with purchase.)

The next 3ish miles went pretty uneventfully as we picked our way up the mountain to ride on the ridgeline once more. Carlos was in the lead for this and ended up passing some other riders and leaving our group in the dust for 5-10 minutes before he stopped for us to catch up. Once we caught up, he took off too fast once again which led to Dan screaming from behind, "DUDE SLOW DOWN! TAKE IT EASY!" because he was worried about the group keeping up and Lily in particular as I believe she'd received a lot of Bs during the vetting.

I pushed Griffin to the front after that and wound through the tricky mud puddle section with ease before Griffin told me in no uncertain terms that he. was. done. leading. And so I let Carlos take the lead before, and he was much more cautious about his speed.

We wound along on top of the mountain with minimal issues, Carlos and Austen trading off with the lead for awhile.

I was growing increasingly concerned about Griffin as we went along. Even though he had shoes on, he was mincing his steps really dramatically any time we were on gravel or significant rocks. Dan assured me he saw no reason for Griffin to be so sore when he shod him two days prior. So I tried to ease my mind a bit, but it still bugged me.

When we reached the beginning of the stretch of trail that was new, I dismounted and hand walked Griffin for a time. The trail was pretty laden with gravel bits and I figured he'd rather deal with that without me on board. Eventually, most of the group dismounted to handwalk this section that ended climbing a big incline to a nice grassy section where we let all of the horses graze for a time while we indulged in the first cell service of several days.

To this point, the day had been overcast and very humid with intermittent drizzling rain. The temperature wasn't too bad in the low 80s, but the humidity was oppressive. It made it very difficult for the horses to cool out properly and made me very thankful that the sun wasn't out to make matters even worse! So, taking hills easy and stopping to graze was a really important part of getting the group through.

Selfie attempt

Better photo

I checked pulses on all (Dakota was the lowest at 50 with Q and Shiloh also in the 50s and all others in upper 60s) after we grazed for a time and declared that we should walk all of the ups and significant downs, and trot the flat bits for the rest of the ride. We shouldn't have more than 7 miles left, but as I hadn't pre-ridden the new section (I was supposed to map it but Griffin's abscess ruined those plans) I didn't know what was ahead.

All remounted and set out. I rode Griffin for a time, but when we reached what seemed to be another long downhill (rocky) I dismounted to lead him down it.

I was growing increasingly concerned about time and miles at this point. I was more or less "in charge" of everyone all day - keeping the pace, making certain all of the horses were handling things okay, and getting us in and out of checks smoothly. It was a lot! I was ready for it, but it was still a little nerve wracking - especially toward the end when I realized we were going to be cutting things close time-wise. I HATE racing the clock. Hate. It.

In my head, I separated out the horses who were doing great and could handle any pace, those who needed to be coddled a little, and those who really needed to go slow. As I handwalked Griffin, several of our group noted to me that Lily had taken some off steps. It sounded like it could have just been a rock, but hard to tell. She was walking now on tricky footing and seemed okay.

I shared with Austen and Carlos about my plan to split up and how we'd do it if it happened. It had been amazing that we had all been able to ride together to this point, but it wasn't fair for everyone to have to sacrifice their completions for one weak link, y'know? So, point shared, burden off my shoulders a little bit from internalizing it for so long, I realized my right knee was really bugging me and I decided to jog. Griffin easily picked up a trot with me and downward we descended, passing everyone in the group.

I really had a Forrest Gump moment. I just kept run-nig and run-nig and run-nig. It felt good and it made me hopeful that we'd get to a place I recognized on the trail sooner than later so I could better gauge the time and miles to better manage our group. I didn't exactly tell anyone I was going to run for as long as I did, but I ended up running nearly a mile down that damn hill. Griffin trotted happily along and Austen joined me on Q at some point, too.

At a natural flat spot, I waited to see everyone else, told them sorry for running off, but explained that I wanted to find out where we were so I could pace us better. Dan, Charlie, Orion and Lauren were all together and agreed with my reasoning, so I took off again.

Shortly after that though, the trail took a bit of an uphill turn and I said eff that noise. I don't run uphill. So I remounted then waited for the group with Austen who'd continued along with Griffin and I riding Q.

When the group came around the corner, Carlos and Jess were still absent. We waited for a time for them, but I finally had to call it and say, "Let's keep walking." We simply couldn't sacrifice completions for the rest of us and time was really going to be short.

We walked and walked for a time. Charlie and I even dismounted and handwalked Dakota and Griffin awhile more.

We eventually came to Howell Bridge crossing (where I was suspecting we'd come out after a time because nothing else made sense in my mind) and found out that we had 3.5 more miles to camp. Excellent. It was somewhere around 1:45p at this point. We indulged in some beverages (water and otherwise) and waited for 5 minutes for Carlos and Jess before I urged everyone to move on.

Yay water!

Q still isn't sure about walking through water...

Drinking like a boss

Those remaining 3.5 miles were uneventful and we walked the horses in/dismounted at the same places as before - though I did tell Lauren and Austen to go ahead and ride their horses in. Q and Shiloh were more than capable of pulsing quickly after trotting across the finish.

We all came in around 2:20p and every horse pulsed down pretty quickly. Bonus? Griffin wasn't screaming as badly as before.

Both of my horses and Shiloh vetted through the final check with all As. Griffin's CRI was 56/56 and Q and Shiloh were both (once again) in the 40s. Completions for all!

Orion was unfortunately pulled at the finish for a slight offness of her mare's front left. I could see it later when I trotted her out back at the trailer, but it wasn't very obvious - no worse that Q's offness at the second Laurel Run check of the OD 100! Dan had also been running Butch without hind shoes and he had a somewhat predictable stone bruise that caused him to be pulled at the finish also. Dan's Dakota completed with great scores. (Nell and Butch were fine the next AM.)

As for Jess and Carlos? Well, I'll let them tell their tale over at Nicole's blog.


Following our completions, we settled the critters and changed clothes. Q and Griffin got a watermelon to split between themselves, and I even gave Shiloh a few bites before we took him over to his ride home that was about to leave.

Happy nomz

Mmmm

Austen, Lauren and I grabbed our ride photos from Becky before heading down to meet everyone at the swimming hole where we would spend the next hour cooling off and relaxing post-ride. It was so nice to just sit and chat with everyone in the river. Seriously love these people. <3

Following swimming, we went to the awards dinner. Of 66 starters, there were 40 finishers. That humidity was a bitch and the trail isn't the easiest.

Because it isn't RBTR without ample dogs!
Photo by Carlos

Austen and I ended up tying for turtle!

Woo! Also, my shirt matches the turtle ;-)
Photo by Carlos

It'll be a long while before my horses tie for an award again! How special that we could this time around.

Lauren finished right ahead of us.

Yay Lauren!
Photo by Carlos

Dinner was great, once again, drinks were plentiful, conversations were rich, and laughter was a constant.

Lauren's ride arrived right at the end of dinner, so we got her sent off with words of praise (once again) and then settled in for the night to drink and chat. Per the norm, we had a band (classic rock cover band this year) and bonfire, but we didn't bother walking over to it this year, opting instead to sit near my easy-up and chat.

Except before we could settle in, we had an impromptu hoof clinic with Daisy! Amanda's gelding Elvis was getting a trim and Dan and Nicole and I were interested in geeking out while she did so. But the more and more people wandered over and before we knew it there was a small following gathered around an LED spotlight as Daisy narrated to us why she was doing what she was doing.

I've heard about her clinics for 2 years now, but it was fun to watch her work. 85% of what she did and why was right in line with what I do when I trim my horses. The new-to-me information wasn't anything earth-shattering, but definitely helps pull the bigger picture together and will benefit my trimming skill for sure. Hopefully Dan will get to one of her clinics eventually to pick up some more skills.


Once Elvis' feet were all trimmed up, we settled in to drink and talk for hours. I was definitely the weakest link though and went to bed around 11p. I just couldn't keep my eyes open much longer!!

Sunday and follow-up

I slept great and was hesitant to rise on Sunday. But camp needed to be picked up and the car needed packed.

I manged to get everything broken down and packed in record time and in a neater fashion than I've ever done before.

Our whole group was able to roll out of camp around 9:30a to get on with our travels and our days.

It was a really great weekend. I loved meeting Jess, riding with Charlie, and introducing Austen and Lauren to a new sport. (I think they're both a bit addicted now. ;-) )

I don't have any rides planned for awhile, but the training will continue ever onward. I foresee a lot of dressage in my near future for all horses. Griffin and I plan to clinic with Stephen Birchall in a few weeks and Austen has a lot of homework for me to do with Q that I'm excited about! With time and patience, Q will be stronger than ever and Griffin's fitness is finally getting back to a great place. =)

2016 Old Dominion 100

Thursday

Originally, I wanted to be on the road relatively early on Thursday to get to camp and get a spot. As my week unfolded though, it became obvious to me that there was no way I'd be getting out of town when I thought I would. I'd had an exceptionally stressful week at work, and on Wednesday night I just gave up on the original plan I had; if I tried to stick with it I would only stress myself out more.

I ultimately got my act together and got out of town around 12:30p and was in camp around 3:30p on Thursday.

Q and I right before we left home

The plan was to save Nicole and Carlos a spot beside me. The OD is notoriously heinous about parking and we weren't sure this would be possible, but we could try! I pulled into camp and told the parking volunteer that I needed to save a spot beside me because my friend would be using my corral. Turns out you were allowed to save one spot! I took the shady side of things, parking beside Stagg and Cheryl Newman, and saving Nicole and Carlos the spot opposite me.

I spent all of my time between arrival and dinner (6:30p) getting my camp setup slowly and intermittently chatting with the Newmans (whom I hadn't previously met) about the 100. Stagg is a wealth of information and loves to talk, so strategizing about the trail was fun.

My camp setup. Trailer, tent, easy up, Q!

Back of the trailer with feed and extra tack

Thursday's dinner was a potluck, and as with most OD potlucks, it was fantastic. I ended up sitting with a group of seasoned endurance folks including Jen and Kelsie, the other WV endurance riders at this event. (Jen would be doing the 100 as a cavalry rider and Kelsie would be doing the 50. Jen and her horse Prince won the OD trophy last year. Same horse and rider pair for this year with same goal but as cavalry instead!)

Jen shared with  me that she had been training for cavalry by riding with a 25 lb. pack for the past month. She planned to ride with  15 lb. pack for the actual ride. I told her I had some extra pommel bags I did not plan to use if she'd like to borrow them for her Boz saddle. She gratefully accepted and nabbed them from me after dinner.

 I took Q for a walk with Jen and Kelsie and their horses after dinner, then Felesha and Roger strolled by on their horses and talked me (easily) into a short leg stretching ride with them. I vaulted up bareback onto Q and we all went out for a 1 mile marching walk ride.

Back in camp, Felesha and I swapped horses for a few minutes. Her little stallion RZ and Q had paced VERY well together at No Frills. Originally she had wanted to do the 100 but after RZ had some mishaps in his field with a fence that caused her to miss out on some conditioning, she decided to drop back to the 50. Riding RZ was JUST LIKE riding Q. If I had closed my eyes, I would have thought I was on my own horse! It was bizarre! What a neat little guy.

It was dark by the time we finished our riding. I put Q in her pen, gave her a mash and alfalfa and hay for the evening, and settled peacefully into my tent with Kenai for the night.

Cozy tent with Kenai <3

Friday

Friday dawned slowly. I woke, petted Kenai beside me in the tent, and sat up enough to gaze at Q in her pen.

Kenai and Q

<3

I counted myself so fortunate in that moment to be fulfilling a childhood dream for the umpteenth time - camping with my dream dog and my very own horse.

Eventually, I rose and began toodling about my little camp.

I fed Q a mash and some soaked alfalfa, prepped things for the following day, had some breakfast, chatted with the Newmans about the ride more, and prepped my food for the following day.

Finally, with enough done to feel "accomplished" I saddled Q up for a pre-ride and we headed out.

We did the first 1.5 miles alone, but eventually caught up to Jen and Kelsie. The three of us tooled along for a little while until we were 2.5 miles from camp and then turned to head back. I separated from them then, intermittently trotting Q then slowing to a walk after she'd gone a fair bit confidently. I wanted to give her some confidence building solo in preparation for tomorrow when anything would be possible re: riding alone or with company.

I didn't plan to do a 5 mile pre-ride, but I'm really glad I did as it prepared me so much more for the the start and the finish the following day that traversed that same bit of trail!

Back in camp post-ride, I noted that Q's new mohair girth (purchased at the beginning of May) seemed to be working really well. Post ride it was sitting back a nice distance away from the area of her girth that had previously been pretty sore. I think the combination of the mohair girth, having a girth the proper size, having a girth that was a bit slimmer, body glide, and a crupper that did.not.stretch really made a huge difference.

"Quit taking pictures and untack me, human!"

I settled Q and then popped into town to get some service to check in with my crew who would all be arriving later that day.

I immediately received texts from Dave, mom, and Nicole when my phone regained service.

Nicole informed me that Lily was still off from a blown abscess, but she and Carlos would be coming to crew for me and would be bringing their truck! I was sad about Lily and the fact that Nicole would have to scratch, but I was PSYCHED about still getting to see them, and that truck would be a monumental help!

Mom had texted to let me know she was heading my way on schedule. And Dave had texted asking me to call him if I got a moment...

I called and he told me the craziest story ever! (Trigger warning if you don't like hunting...skip the next few paragraphs.)

"Guess what woke me up this morning," he asked me. "The bear!" I replied. The bear we'd seen when Mandy visited in May had been showing up more and more frequently in the neighborhood. The neighborhood had had a past nuisance bear that tore things off of people's porches (including Dave's - it threw his grill off the porch and ripped it apart) and ate all of Dave's beehives (he hasn't started any since due to that!) Dave eventually shot the bear after repeated calls to the State wildlife agency who told him he could do it or wait for them to have time to do it.

"Yep," Dave replied, "And guess where he is now?" This stumped me. Thoughts flashed through my head of the bear stuck somewhere in the garage..the basement..the house?! "I don't know..." I hesitantly replied, "Where...?" "IN MY FREEZER!" Dave exclaimed. "WHAT?!" I replied back, shocked. Dave laughed and then told of how he'd woken up to the bear on his porch in the compost bucket (the bear had attacked the real compost further down the hill a few days earlier). Fortunately, he had closed the sliding glass door right beside the compost the night before (he usually leaves this open!) or the bear would have undoubtedly made it into the house! After getting over the initial shock of the bear on the porch he waved his arms and stomped and yelled at it to try to scare it off the porch. Well, the bear was having none of that! It turned around (butt had been facing the sliding glass door where Dave was standing on the inside), reared up onto its hind legs and started pushing against the door with its forelegs! "The hell with THAT!" Dave said. A bear with THAT kind of habit is DEFINITELY not going to get itself in anything but further trouble and potentially hurt someone eventually. Black bears with no fear of humans are rare in West Virginia where they are heavily hunted; those with no fear end up being pretty dangerous and always end up being put down by the State before they can hurt someone (our bear population is stupid high thanks to careful management from a time when the population was really low...that careful management has resulted in a VERY healthy population now!) So Dave marched upstairs and got his gun, came downstairs and shot the fucker. Dan (farrier and my riding buddy) then came up and helped him dress the bear out. The hide is currently being tanned and Dan was able to take the claws to his Sun Dance. Unfortunately, despite literally a dozen calls to people, no one was available to come harvest the meat on short notice. =( Dave really tried.

And that's how my boyfriend sacrificed a bear so I could complete my first 100.

Post call with Dave (where we discussed more logistics about the ride in addition to the bear story), I checked the weather one last time (still 90°+ but fortunately with winds 10-15 mph and lower than usual humidity for us) before heading back to camp.

Back in camp, I quickly let the trailer parking folks know I wouldn't need my saved spot any more. It was promptly filled by a fellow who was kind enough to leave enough room for all of my crew! He was SO nice. His gelding also promptly fell in love with Q... Oops.

From that point, I just sat in camp getting tiny things prepped for the next day as I waited on my crew to arrive. My mom showed up first and I got her settled in her tent, she fed me (what mom's do best, right?), and she accompanied me to vet Q in for the ride.

Vetting in

My vet from home vetted us in!

Pulse of 36, all As with a note about her naturally wobbly gait

While waiting for the others back at our camp post-vetting, Dom and Mike stopped through to say hello. So very good to see them, as always. =) They'd been seeking Skip and decided to chat with us while they waited. He eventually zipped back into camp so they headed over to meet up with him and prep for the following day.

Sara arrived next. I was telling my mom what she'd be driving and mom looked up and said, "Oh, like that?" and BOOM it was Sara! I walked out to the front of my camp to meet her and direct her in. =)

Once parked and settled, Sara immediately set to asking me questions and getting things straight for crewing the next day. She's a FORCE, guys. Crew Captain extraordinaire. She put on her mom voice and I innately responded and listened and did as I was told! Damn. Everyone 100 miler needs a crew member like that! She also brought me a surprise! A Frog Togg Chilly Pad towel to help me keep cool in the next day's heat. THAT THING WAS THE FUCKING BOMB. Oh. My. Goodness. It saved my life in the heat of the day. Everyone also needs a crew member from the deep, hot, humid south to help them get through a summer ride. THANK YOU, Sara.

After a short time, Nicole and Carlos arrived, too! I greeted them, facilitated introductions with Sara and my Mom (no one had met IRL yet!), and then helped them get set up for the next day.

Once all were settled, we took Q over to get the final nail in her left hind shoe for the ride. Dan had done all but that nail after Q decided she had no more patience during the shoeing. The ride farriers didn't have any borium tipped nails (I only needed the stud nail in that shoe), but they decided to use a slightly larger nail that would stand above the others a bit like a stud. I checked with Nicole who has more experience with shoes to make sure this would work, and we did it. (Obviously, all was fine and it worked well.)

Once this was done, we put Q back in her pen and waited for Dave, forever discussing the plans for the following day as we waited. I was beginning to worry he wouldn't show up in time for dinner! Fortunately, though, he did show up - just in time on his motorcycle - and we all headed to dinner and the ride meeting.

Dinner consisted of pulled pork sandwiches, cole slaw, mac 'n cheese, and brownies. The ride meeting was pretty par for the course. I paid attention to what I could, but with the Endurance Trifecta Quartet of Nicole, Dom, Sara and myself in the same 10 foot radius, it was hard to pay full attention! I nabbed the nitty gritty details on the vetting criteria (optional tack off at all, though vets could request tack off if they didn't like your trot out, pulse criteria of 64 for whole day) and called it good. There were 15 vets, 29 100 milers, 69 50s, and 38 LD riders starting the following day.

The Endurance Trifecta. This is our Normal. (photo by Carlos)

Thank you Blogging World for bringing us together. (photo by Carlos)

Following dinner, Q got a bit more food, we packed the truck, the ladies headed to the shower hourse to rinse off, then we nabbed cell service before heading back to camp. I crashed nearly immediately after we got back to camp, with the others following shortly after. 4a would come too soon.

Walking back to camp with Nicole and Sara (photo by Carlos)

Post dinner, mid prep for the following day. I think Nicole was trimming Q's mane for me. =) (photo by Carlos)

Saturday

Ah, the morning dawned too soon. My sleep wasn't horrible, but it wasn't as sound or deep as it is for 50s either.

I'd told Capt. Sara I was setting my alarm for 4a and seconds after I'd snoozed it, she was there, "Rise and shine, it's 4a." I groaned in response and told her something about being too perky at that hour and I'd be out by 4:15a. She replied with something peppy I've since blocked out of my memory. Because mornings. The lady is a FORCE, I tell you, a FORCE. (In the best way possible!!!)

I slowly dressed and readied myself for the day slowly, double and triple checking my thoughts as I went along. Dave tried to sleep lightly as I did so, but eventually this blared loudly through camp:

Followed promptly by this:

I apologized to him, but told him I had warned him that there was absolutely no sleeping in at this damn ride. They simply don't allow it.

I gave Dave a quick, apologetic kiss and forced myself out of the confines of the tent and into what would be a very long day.

I prepped Q's mash and by the time I'd given it to her, all were awake and out of tents. We headed over to the big tent to get coffee and hot tea together to leave Q in peace to eat. Once back, I tacked her up while Nicole and Sara took mental notes so they could do it later.

Sara then headed up to check me in with the starter while Nicole performed the Native American rituals on Q and I that Dan had tasked her with to safeguard us for the ride.

Once Sara was back, it was time to mount up and head to the start!

Sara and Nicole escoring Q and I to the start (photo by Carlos)

Becky Pearman Photography

I made it to the start moments before the trail was open, said my good byes, and headed down the trail! I'd see my crew again in about 16 miles.

Saying goodbye to Dave <3 (photo by Carlos)

The First Loop (15.7 miles)

I trotted away from my crew right as the announcement that the trail was open was made.

In seconds after the start, as Q trotted among the other horses heading out, I heard a whippoorwill calling up the hill to our right. It isn't an uncommon bird to hear, but they are so special to me for some reason. Hearing it brought a smile to my face as we began our 100 mile attempt. That call made me feel like everything would be okay all day; we would be able to do this thing.

That first mile out on the road out of camp I ended up a little more in front than I wanted to be, so I hung back a bit at the turn up the hill to let those nearest to me pass before we got onto tighter trails.

At the next significant turn on the trail, the 4 or 5 riders in front of me all trotted on by. I had been following along like a good little lemming and then realized that there should be a turn about...NOW. I yelled ahead, "TURN! TURN. MISSED TURN ON YOUR LEFT!" Bryn Stevenson, immediately in front of me, heard and called to the others as she turned around, but the others didn't immediately correct their error.

I let Bryn pass Q and I before heading onward. Q is calm at starts in that she won't run off with me, but she is still a bundle of nerves re: spooking and I simply didn't care to deal with it first thing if I didn't have to!

We followed Bryn for awhile more, though I let her pull ahead of us as we reached the short stretch of paved road we had to follow before going back onto trails for good. As Q and I traversed that stretch of road though, Bryn and Taco were trotting the wrong way on trails on the other side which spooked Q pretty good, sending us sliding precariously across the asphalt. Talk about my stomach leaping into my chest for that one! Q kept her feet though and I called to  Bryn that the trail went the opposite direction and she corrected herself.

From there, things went well for the most part. Q was a big bundle of energy that wanted nothing more than to chase Taco down and stay RIGHT with him. I spent a lot of time checking her and holding her back.

Eventually, Richard Stedman would catch up to us and I'd let him and Bryn go in front of me. I knew they knew the trail better and had more experienced horses under them. I was happy to follow behind, smiling to myself about how incredible my company was for these first few miles.

As the first significant climb of the day presented itself, a lot of riders became jammed together. Kathy Broaddus (riding her gelding who has top 10'd at Tevis multiple times, OD, and other 100s), Rich Stedman (on last year's Nat'l Champion horse), Claire Godwin (on Merc, her 25 year old gelding who is an absolute hell of a horse), a lady from Australia, Lani Newcomb, Amanda Humphreys, Bryn Stevenson, Lauren DiOrio and I were all touch and go for awhile. I can't tell you how special it was to spend time on trail with so many endurance legends (horses and humans alike).

Following Bryn and Taco up the first big climb

Looking over my shoulder at the view

Bryn and Rich in front of me up on the ridgeline

Bryn and Rich ahead again along the ridge

When we reached the Forest Service (FS) road that would take us downhill to the first vet check (VC) though, folks spread out. I would ultimately settle in with Lani Newcomb behind Rich and Kathy for the rest of the loop until I dismounted to handwalk Q in right before Bird Haven.

As we descended the hill at a trot, I introduced myself to Lani and we chatted a bit. She eventually asked me if I ever worried someone would steal my carrots from my backpack, to which I laughed and told her Rich Stedman had already threatened as much earlier in the morning. =)

VC 1, Bird Haven (15.7 miles)

As I walked into the first hold, Sara took my ride card and my crew swept in to take Q and my helmet and my hydration pack from me. It was as if starving vultures swept in and ate me clean in seconds the way they nabbed every lick of possible responsibility from me!

I directed some, but mostly, my crew had it handled. It was a little shocking at first!

We arrived at 7:28a (2 hour and 13 minutes to travel the 15.7 mile first loop) and we met pulse criteria at 7:32a. Q's CRI was 52/52, she received all As, positive sounds in all 4 quadrants, and our out time was 8:17a. BOOM.

Back at our little station post-vetting, Q would show no interest in her mash, but dove into the alfalfa. We let her do as she would and I ate a Noosa yogurt, a can of mandarin oranges, drank a gatorade, and did my best to sit still while my crew took care of things. Dave even massaged my shoulders.

All hands on deck for sponging and scraping (photo by Carlos)

Sara reaching to pass the girth to Nicole to tighten (photo by Carlos)

It was hard to NOT do things at first! But as the day went on, I would settle into the routine easily - especially as my head became more frazzled.

I would ultimately use the portajohn twice at this hold because I was SO HYDRATED. It was a good problem to have.

8:17a arrived too soon and after syringing Q her electrolytes (they were in her mash that she didn't eat) I headed out for the second loop of the day that contained the worst climb.

The Second Loop (16.4 miles) 

Lani, Kathy, and Rich all had outtimes a minute before mine, so I caught up to them quickly as we left camp.

Kathy and Rich struck out in front of Lani and I quickly settled in behind them and Lani filled me in on their horses (multiple top 10s at Tevis for the one and Nat'l Championship for the other) and why we should feel zero need to keep up with them for the day.

In short order, Lauren DiOrio and Getcha caught up to us and the three of us would ride together for the whole loop with Amanda Humphreys on her POA Candy joining a few miles later. Such a nice little group!

One of my favorite things said all day was said by Lani around the beginning of this loop. She is a vet and pointed out that at the pre-ride vet meeting for this ride, the vets noted that one thing they loved most about helping out was the bond between all of the riders and their horses in endurance. Lani told us that all endurance horses are essentially horses that sucked at all the other jobs they tried to have. People couldn't put up with them because of their energy that presented itself in bad forms because they didn't have enough outlets. So they ended up with us and they became endurance horses and it's the best job in the world for them. We've got what other people don't want/can't handle. And it's kind of true! Definitely so for Q and I.

All 4 off the floor! Movin' right along during loop 2. Photo by Becky Pearman

The conversation was rich and the miles flew by and the 5 mile stegosaurus climb I remember being so demoralizing when Nicole and I did it in 2014 seemed like no big thang. In fact, I got a pretty good chuckle when we were discussing the trail at one point and Lani said, "It's simple really, all endurance is is starting at one place and going until the end. Duh."

Climbing ever upward on the second big climb
This is not the steepest section nor the rockiest section believe it or not

Ever upwards

False summit along the ridgeline

Getcha didn't want to participate in our selfie!

Amanda in front, Lani, me

Vista over the GW atop a rock outcropping

More rocks. More climbing.

Amanda and Lani still in front

Another false summit 

We had so many great conversations about horses, endurance, other rides, terrain, etc. I wish I could remember more of them in detail! I do remember Lauren's detailed account of an accident she'd had due to a horse years ago. The injuries she sustained blew my mind. Even with ski patrol and my other outdoor adventure sports, her injuries were such that my jaw dropped. It's her story to tell, so I won't recount it here, but take my word when I tell you she's got some serious lady balls for being back on horses - and competing in endurance at that! She's got a great spirit and is really fun to talk to. I was really enjoying myself and Q was really well behaved and nearly foot perfect throughout the climb as she and I talked and got to know one another.

Eventually, we all grew tired of climbing and wished for both better footing and a chance for the horses to drink. I remembered the trail to the water trough very, very well and told the others what we'd see when it was close: the trail would "tunnel" through the forest, the soil would be soft and loamy with few, if any, rocks, and then the trough would be on the left. We all "wooooo"ed and whooped when we finally reached it, Amanda turned in her saddle to tell me, "Wow, you really did remember it perfectly!" "I was demoralized the last time I did that section of trail and seeing this piece was like heaven, so I committed it to memory forever!" I told her, grinning.

With the horses tanked up on water, we confronted the final several hundred feet of descent on ankle rolling cobble/boulders!

After that, we had only a few miles of gravel road before Laurel Run. Lani and I had horses who were happier trotting a bit slower than Candy and Getcha, so we hung back from them as we trotted to the check. The heat that hit us as we descended from the mountain top was pretty intense (highs for the day ended up around 92°F) but the breeze was present which was very fortunate.

I would ultimately dismount and walk Q in again for the check, arriving at 11:20a (3 hours and 3 minutes riding that second evil loop). I fed both Q and Lani's Banjo carrots as we walked in to help get their gut sounds going for the vets.

VC 2, Laurel Run (32.1 miles) 

This check was crewless, and as a result, I didn't make it up to the P/R until 11:25a, 5 minutes after my arrival, a little slow. Q pulsed at 64 (we had to walk up a hill in the sun to get to the vetting) but dropped to 56 by the time we walked the additional 20 shady feet to the vet.

This vet check is STUPID. The trot out is on an incline, on gravel, and generally sucks. I didn't meet a single person with a positive thing to say about the location or the setup all day.

Q's CRI was inverted as a result of having to trot downhill away from the vet and uphill back to the vet (56/60), but Traci told me everyone had been that way but to keep an eye on Q in the heat anyway. Q received a B on impulsion and As everywhere else with positive gut sounds in all quadrants.

Following the vet check, she dove into her mash while a volunteer held her so I could use the bathroom and grab food from the volunteers (turkey and cheese sandwich and an orange gatorade).

I plopped down on the ground with Q as she finished her mash (which had electrolytes in it) and dove into her alfalfa, the volunteer left to help others, and Q and I just chilled in the shade eating.

Ground tied and chowing down at Laurel Run

Pondering a nap 

Eventually I would tack her up then sit back down for the rest of the hold before our 12:10p out time. I took the last few minutes to get out the Chilly Pad towel Sara brought me, dipped it in a water bucket, wrung it out slightly, and draped it on my neck for the rest of the day. IT WAS AMAZING. OH MY GOODNESS. I knew right then and there that the oppressive heat of the day wouldn't be a problem for me thanks to this towel!

The Third Loop (14.5 miles) 

I headed over to the out timer right around 12:09p. The heat was really making me drag. I knew we had a steady 5 to 6 mile climb ahead of us and I was not looking forward to it in the heat of the day. I hoped Lani's out time was similar to mine so we could tackle it together. Despite Lauren, Amanda, and Lani all walking into the check before me, Q had the earliest out time. I think Amanda and Lauren chose to linger a little longer in camp, too, due to preparations for the heat to come.

Fortunately, Lani wandered over to the out timer within a minute or two of my out time so we could leave together.

We moseyed on up the road from the check mumbling about the heat and why do we even enjoy doing this to ourselves, and blah blah blah. It was all said in good fun.

As with the former loop, Lani made a point of noting to me all of the places I would see again at night that we traveled right now. I would be really grateful for this come nightfall!

As the long climb up the road began, Lani and I would intermittently trot and walk. Q's got a much more purposeful trot than a lot of horses. "Slow trot" is not in her vocabulary unless we are in an arena and I'm really asking for it. Lani would initiate the trot and Q and I would follow suit, pass them, trot for a time, then Q would need a walk break and Lani would catch up, we'd walk a time, and then repeat the whole process. We did this all the way up the hill. Lani initiating, then Q taking the lead and "dragging" our partners up the hill.

Lani and I chatted the whole time about vet med, horses, endurance, other endurance rides around the country, being liberals, being scientists, science in general, and life. 

We paused twice during the trek at water troughs before settling into a beautiful section of single track bordered by laurels.

The photos don't do the tunnel of laurel

But to the left is a beautiful view into WV

This was the part I thought would be a good mountain bike ride

As we descended the trail, I thought how fun of a mountain bike ride this section would be and thought of Dave, hoping he had found time to get out on his mountain bike.

Eventually, the trail leveled off and we had a long while of trotable sections. Q led for a lot of this until the last mile or so when she had a particularly large horizontal teleport spook. Lani laughed every time Q spooked all day. It helped me make light of her behavior and not get too upset about it, though it can be so frustrating to deal with. (Granted, she was infinitely better than she has been in the past.)

In time, we found the bridge over the creek. I remembered Stagg telling me this meant we were really close to the check and dismounted here to walk in, feeding Q and Banjo carrots as I did so. We arrived at 2:52p (2 hours 42 minutes elapsed on loop 3).

VC 3, Bucktail (46.6 miles)

I arrived into this check and Q was swept away from me by my crew again. She was untacked immediately and we all began scraping and sponging her as Q and I both ate watermelon (I'd eat a piece and give her a piece at the same time, she loves it). Despite these efforts, she was a bit hot, still, so we added ice to the water buckets and that did the trick pretty quickly after that. We met pulse criteria at 3p which made our out time 3:45p.

Unfortunately, we got the vet that always dings Q on her gait at this hold. Sara trotted Q (as she did at the first check) and I prayed silently and made verbal note to the vet that Q's gait is naturally wobbly. The vet told me they call that a "sashay" in dressage. Well okay then. I'll use that term from now on. She also noted that Q may be "hip hitching" and have "issues with her SI area". Regardless, Q passed the vetting with B on mucus membranes and cap refill, A- on skin tenting, jug refill, and wounds (slight knicks from those damn rocks...we had no leg protection and I personally feel Q did pretty damn good considering!), As on everything else with A in one quad and Bs in all other gut quads, and a CRI of 60/60 which is typical for her in the hot heat of the day.

Arriving (photo by Carlos)

While crew took care of Q eating, I sat in the shade and ate sushi amongst other things, received another massage from Dave, and chatted with everyone. Sounded like I was currently in about 9th place. INSANE. That made me feel a little uncomfortable, honestly!

In love with the cooling towel (photo by Carlos)

I shared with Dave about the trail and lo and behold, he had indeed ridden it! He'd gone out for a bike ride and ended up following the trail back to camp, traversing the same section I had for the past several miles! Sweet! I was so excited for him. He'd enjoyed it a lot - just like I thought he might!

My out time came too soon and Lani told me she was a good 25 minutes behind me and may or may not be going back out. Amanda and Lauren had come into the hold a good 15 to 20 minutes behind Lani and I, too, so they wouldn't be out until much later! I was on my own heading out on the big fourth loop (interrupted by a pulse and go). I wouldn't see my crew again until nearly nightfall at Big92.

These girls <3 (photo by Carlos)

The Fourth Loop I (7.2 miles) 

Fortunately, I knew this section of trail really well. It was part of No Frills. Q and I trudged out of camp alone, both cranky about the heat of the day. It took me a solid mile to convince her to start moving out and we alternated between walking and trotting for another mile with her beginning to spook more and more at white rocks.

We were on a fire road for this section of trail and it is Q's absolute kryptonite. Wide open with intermittent white rocks and stumps scattered along the edges. Q HATES those white rocks. But not all of them. Only some of them. And so we went, zigging and zagging down the trail at a miserably slow pace.

Alone on trail

Around mile 2, I look up to see a doe in the woods. I told Q, "Deer. Do you see the deer. There is a deer in the woods ahead." She's usually very good with deer. Not this one! I tried to scare it off, but it didn't work, so we walked closer and then it spooked and Q spooked VIOLENTLY as she's capable of and I saved myself the first spin, but she executed a second one and I was dumped.

I landed on a rock near her feet and she kindly did NOT step on me, but I still screamed loudly at her for the shenanigan, "FUCK YOU. GODDAMNIT," my voice echoed to the trees around us. But hey, I didn't hit her like I would have once done after the fact! I got back on, and we continued SLOWLY onward, her spookiness growing with every step.

See, Q reaches a point where she just kind of escalates panicking about nonsense and nothingness. She gets increasingly freaked out over NOTHING because she can't calm down. Walking helps usually, so we walked a lot and I hoped she would just calm the fuck down. It wasn't super effective though. And unfortunately for us, we were many miles away and I couldn't just give her something easy to succeed at and then call it a day like I'd do at home.

The wind was not helping matters at this point either. While it felt wonderful, it sucked because it was causing deadfall high in the canopy to loosen and fall and hit the ground. Cue more spooking.

And so we walked.

I wanted nothing more than to stretch my legs free of the stirrups and ride on the buckle, but I couldn't! I could give her a loose rein, but I had to be on the ball because of the chance of Amanda or Lauren or Lani coming up behind us. After the whole tumbling backwards off a bolting Q at No Frills due to horses approaching from behind, I wasn't going to risk anything again. UGH.

Eventually, we reached a section of trail where we'd gone Right at No Frills but we needed to go Left for the OD. Go left and cross a bridge. Thank god, we were in the woods on single track at this point where Q feels more secure. She crossed the bridge like it was no big deal at all! YES.

Shortly after the bridge, a raccoon in the brush growled at us. That spooked me good, wondering why the hell the bugger was out in the day time and I kicked Q into a trot for a time. Eventually though, her spookiness was too much to handle and I just dismounted and walked her. I needed to stretch my legs anyway.

While walking her, we reached a section of road I thought I recognized. I continued hand walking her for another half mile or so until I was certain I did indeed know the road from No Frills (we'd popped out at a different place than NF).

I intermittently trotted Q and walked her on the road until seeing Claire Godwin and the Australian in the distance. I was SO HAPPY to see other people. Dealing with Q's nervousness was getting us NOWHERE.

I called to Claire and friend, "I am SO happy to see people," and recounted to them about my fall and loop to that point. Claire smiled sympathetically and shared that the Australian's horse was having a questionable metabolic issue so they would just be walking. No big deal to me! I just wanted to be with people and would have been walking anyway.

We all rode in silence for a time after that. I finally asked Claire how Merc, her 25 year old gelding,  was doing. She smiled and said, "It's just another day at the office," as she sat with her arms crossed comfortably, reins resting on his neck as he plodded along, his busy ears taking in everything around us.

About that time, Amanda on Candy came up behind us. I quickly told her about how I was hoping to run into her eventually and we caught up with one another on the trail so far. She was worried about Lauren who she hadn't seen in some time since leaving Bucktail.

Amanda and I trotted a short ways to some grass at the bottom of the short (and sunny, blast it!) climb up into the pulse and go where we let the girls graze. When the other two riders caught up to us, we all walked up together.

Waites Run Pulse and Go (53.8 miles)

My mentor Mary Howell was helping with the pulse and go as was my vet from home. SO wonderful to see these familiar faces!

Q dove right into the grain and hay that was on site and had a good long drink to boot. Good girl.

I called my vet over and had her take Q's pulse, not wanting to take off tack if I could help it, but I told her I would if I needed. She listened to Q's heartbeat for a few moments and declared her to be at 64! YES. 10 minutes and we could leave if we so chose.

While Q dove into more groceries, I helped Amanda with Candy who wasn't pulsing down very quickly in the sun and heat of the day. Eventually, we got her there though. Her out time would be a ways after mine, but I had already decided to stick with her for awhile. I needed the company and I've always admired Amanda, so it seemed a good idea. Additionally, she and I both were on the same page re: the girls getting some groceries in them.

While we were working to get Candy pulsed down, 3 more riders came in. That made a group of 7 of us at the pulse and go. Claire and friend were out first, which cleared things up a little. Amanda and I finally conceded to go after electrolyting the girls and letting them eat some more. (I also had a Coke and Q ate some apples Mary offered us. Great to see Q eating immediately after electrolyting like that!)

The Fourth Loop II (16.5 miles)

Amanda and I left moments before the group of 3, but they passed us pretty quickly on trail, setting off at quite a blazing pace!

For the first half of this mileage, we were on the No Frills trail we'd done in April. We FLEW. I hadn't cantered all day and we ended up having a few short sections of cantering and galloping on this bit of trail. It was wonderful! I think Q enjoyed it as much as I did.

Eventually though, the trail turned and we climbed up what would be the last significant climb of the day. We moved up that mountain at a snail's pace. We. Were. Done. It was the lowest of lows for sure for the whole ride.

At some point during the climb, Amanda noticed Candy's front right EasyShoe was gone. She got off to try to put a 0 on it, but it wouldn't fit with the nails, so I gave her my 1 to use, praying inwardly that Q wouldn't have any shoe issues.

We continued to trudge up the hill forever after that, turning right at the top instead of left as we did for No Frills.

Ever upward! I think I have a similar photo from April in the fog

In my mapping research of the ride, it seemed that we would find a "road" at the top of this mountain somewhere. It could be fire road or gravel or otherwise, just something that an ATV could travel down. In aerial imagery of the area, I'd remembered seeing gravel descending the mountain on the other side for sure.

I shared as much with Amanda. My best bets on the trail based on my mapping had been surprisingly accurate all day...until now. That trail seemed to go on forever and ever. The rocks never ceased. We bitched and bitched at the rocks. Expecting them to end just made the fact that they went on and on all the worse.

I turned my phone off airplane mode along this trail and texted my entire crew to tell them I'd be closer to 9p coming in than 8:30p. I told them I was with Amanda and we were fine, just slow. I also asked if they could let her crew know she was with me, okay, and that Candy would need to see the farrier at the check. I turned my phone back onto airplane mode after I knew the message had sent.

Lets take a moment to visit my collage of selfies throughout the day...
Start on the top and to L to R on each subsequent row. I went from happy and eager
to hot, plausible, and then faded into stir crazy as the day went on.
No sun gear, to sun gear, to dusk gear (clear safety glasses to minimize chances of
a branch to the eye!)

Eventually, we came out onto the "road" but it was the least qualified "road" all day. Still rock strewn, but we did manage some sections of trotting finally.

Amanda and I kept saying "Fuck these rocks" so I took a photo to document the damning of rocks

During one such section, Candy overreached and shredded the gaiter on the boot and Amanda had to get off and smash a 0 onto the foot. That was the last issue we had with boots/shoes for the ride.

Finally, we emerged onto a gravel road of sorts. It was pretty rough. Rough enough that Amanda and I decided to get off and hand walk the girls down, grazing intermittently.

We knew that somewhere near the bottom of this gravel stretch, would be the Little Sluice hospitality check and then we'd have 4 miles of gravel road before our hold.

We kept thinking we should be at Little Sluice, but it was never around the corner! Amanda wondered aloud if it was like Narnia. I asked if she'd seen a wardrobe or a lamppost anywhere? No such luck. We did eventually see THE BIGGEST FUCKING DEER though. In fact, it was so large we were convinced from a distance in the dusky light that it was a sign...until it ran. Amanda called after it, "Deer, do you know where Little Sluice is?!" "Amanda, did I miss our entrance into Narnia? You're talking to animals as if we're in it..." I told her amidst a fit of giggles. It'd been a long day!

Finally though, we did reach the hospitality hold. The girls had a nice big drink from the trough while we made small talk with the volunteer. We asked her if she could radio ahead to Big 92 to let our crews know we were 4 miles out, and then we headed on our way.

It was nearly dark by the time we left Little Sluice and fully dark by the time we reached Big 92. We trotted and cantered those last 4 miles to make time and get there as quickly as we could.

I found myself grinning the last mile or so as we moved out in the dark without glowsticks lit or headlamps on yet. It was quite magical.

Day is done. Gone the sun.

Our tiny 1/3 moon.

About a half mile from the check, a whippoorwill called to our right. Amanda noted it with surprise and a little bit of wonder. I smiled, telling her they were all over this area. Right before we saw the lights for the check ahead, I heard another whippoorwill calling to our right and a wood thrush called at the same time to our left. I smiled huge in that moment. Both birds' calls are absolutely magical to me. Two of my absolute most favorite calls. I knew right in that moment that everything was going to be okay. We would get through this.

VC 4, Big 92 (70.3 miles)

I arrived at 9:19p. My crew was ready and waiting once again at this hold. We stripped Q, sponged her and scraped her, and I filled my crew in on the last big loop and the trials and tribulations it held. I also spat out my directions for what needed to be complete before the next loop in the dark before I forgot.

Q didn't cool off quite so quickly, but fortunately a breeze picked up and we finally got her to 64. Our time at the P/R was recorded as 9:27 and our outtime would be 10:07. Q vetted through absolutely beautifully with all A's and a 56/52 CRI. Wonderful! Both Dr. Bob and Dr. Bullock had wonderful things to say about her.

Dr. Bob vetting, Dr. Bullock looking on chatting with me (photo by Carlos)

Ready for nighttime! (photo by Carlos)

For the rest of the check, Q ate and was tended to by my crew while I used my solar shower in the woods to rinse off. Dave helped hold it up so I could "shower". I was SO HAPPY to rinse off and change clothes completely. It wasn't elaborate, but damn did it do the job.

After my "shower", I had a beer, a gatorade, ate some sushi, some chips, some chocolate, and then it was time to go! (Though not before my crew informed me Q peed BUCKETS of a light yellow color while I was rinsing off! This was the first she'd peed all day. She's very pee-shy.)

Amanda and I headed out of the check together.

The Fifth Loop (8 miles) 

Amanda and I intermittently trotted slow and fast for these 8 almost-all-gravel-road miles. Our crews passed us shortly after we left camp, so we waved to them as they went, then choked on the dust their cars threw up after.

Being passed by our crew (photo by Nicole)

The dust from passing vehicles was definitely the worst part of the loop!

These 8 miles were pretty uneventful. We had one little section through single track that rerouted us around a paved highway, but beyond that, it was lots of gravel.

I was feeling FANTASTIC when I left Big 92, but somewhere in those 8 miles, I hit a wall. I was tired. I began chafing. And I was Not Having Fun. It was at this point when time ceased to exist for me. I looked at the "time" as merely a number that had to be before our cut off for each hold, but other than that, it meant nothing to me. I just counted the miles. I looked frequently at my watch wondering why the miles wouldn't go faster. I just wanted to be at the hold!

Fortunately, the hold came a bit sooner than I'd anticipated. Thank god.

VC 5, Laurel Run (78.3 miles) 

I unfortunately don't know what time I came into this hold because my card became misplaced at the last check I discovered during the last mile of the gravel road section.

I was irritated because I was tired and chafing at this hold. I passed Q off to my crew and grumbled a bit. I also had to pee incredibly bad so I went and did that while they got her ready for vetting.

When I was done peeing for the millionth time that day, slathering on chamois cream and "pulling a Funder", Q was ready to vet. Remember, this is the stupid ass check with the hill for the trot out.

Q's CRI was somewhere in the 50s (I don't have these scores right now) and she had all As....but she was slightly off in the trot out. It was inconsistent though, so we were asked to represent. She looked so good otherwise, so that definitely helped.

My heart was in my stomach when the vet told me all of this. I just saw my dream of this 100 crashing and burning. But I was so tired. And I hated that I was beginning to chafe...so I was having a hard time caring too much as we walked back down to let Q eat.

I sat glumly in a chair and tried to sleep a little while my crew fussed with Q. They tried to get me to eat, but I flatly refused. Sleep was all I wanted. Nicole poked and prodded Q's legs and she and Sara waxed and waned over some possibilities as I tried to shut out the whole world.

I was having a mental battle with myself. Sleepy Liz wanted nothing more than to quit. To be done. To sleep. To rest. But the tiny piece of Logical Liz that was left alive in me knew I should care and continue.

Finally, it was time to represent. I stilled my thoughts as best I could and marched back up the fucking hill to the vetting area.

Q was trotted out again. There was still *something* there, but it was even MORE inconsistent than before and definitely improving. I was allowed to go on as long as I took it slow. Q was dubbed Grade 2/5 on the right diagonal. (Although Nicole would later tell me she felt it should be a 1/5 because Q showed zero signs of the lameness at the walk and was inconsistent at the trot.)

I informed Amanda of this as we went by her on the way to tack Q up. I told her she didn't have to ride with me if she didn't want to because I was going to be so slow. She assured me she'd stay with me.

I quizzed Nicole and Sara as they got Q ready. "What would you do?" I was assured that I should keep going, just take it easy. So I trusted them and went.

The Sixth Loop (13.4 miles) 

Amanda and I did what we could to only trot the "flat" areas of these 13 miles. We took it as slow was we could. And boy was it ever slow seeming! We were kind of miserable.

This loop was so hard on us both. I can't speak for Amanda, but boy was I ever having a rough time. I was SO TIRED. I wasn't motion sick from the darkness, but I was just.so.tired.

My vision would blur in and out on the verge of sleep as we went along. Time didn't exist. Only the miles. Only the miles.

We'd trot, and Q would lead a lot because Candy was just SO done. When we trotted, I counted each post and switched my diagonals like a fiend. 10 and 10. 20 and 20. 6 and 6. 15 and 15. 3 and 3. Left. Right. Back. Forth.

Only the miles. Only the miles and counting my diagonals. Time did not exist.

The girls were absolutely famished. They'd pull us to the left and right to eat while we were on the gravel road. When we made it to more "rough" road, they'd eat in the median, slamming us to a stop from whatever gait we tried to maintain. Occasionally, the girls pulled us violently to one side of the road or the other seeking water. Whenever we could find it, we let them drink. Eventually a trough settled their thirst.

We were stop and go seeing another lady from Georgia on her POA mare, but mostly we were on our own.

Amanda had a white headlamp, my light was red. We had our lights on and off depending on whether we were trotting or walking because they bugs would be so bad with them on at the walk. When they were off, we just trusted the girls to lead us onward, grazing always.

We ultimately would trot most of the road, and walk the trail that wasn't on the road. Walking was definitely more prevalent than trotting for sure.

I knew talking would keep me alert, so I tried to get Amanda to talk to me about random subjects. They'd work for short bursts, but we were both too tired to maintain them.

I spent a lot of my delirium thinking about Funder's 100 mile stories. The unsuccessful and the successful alike. I don't know why, but they stuck out in my mind more than nearly anything else. I didn't see the words, I saw images. It was like I was teleported there with her and the other girls she rode with at night. Bitching about the trail and being tired. I don't know why I thought so much about these stories...but I did.

Finally, we reached a section of trail we remembered from the morning. The mere recognition boosted our spirits a bit as the mares climbed up some moderately rocky singletrack to the gravel road that would drop us down into the final check.

The whole loop Q had looked and felt fine to me. She had spring to her step and was even on both diagonals. Regardless, I had vowed to myself to dismount and handwalk her most, if not all, of the way in once we reached the gravel road that would lead us 2+ miles downhill into the hold.

When we reached that point, Amanda got off and handwalked, too. We were both aching to stretch our legs some.

I tried to watch Q's gait as we went downhill. I tried to note any discrepancies or inconsistencies with it. It was so hard to tell, but I thought she was maybe the tiniest bit off? Maybe?

Eventually, Amanda would get back on. I told her to keep going. I was going to walk Q all the way in. I didn't know how she was going to do. I feared it was over for us. Amanda sympathized with us for a few moments before I ushered her onward down the trail.

I walked with Q for nearly 2 miles alone after that. The other lady on the POA passed us at one point, but mostly it was just Q and I.

Q knew where she was. She had a spring in her step. She was bright eyed and steady in her gait once we were on a more level surface for me to observe. I longed to trot her out and see for sure, but I just couldn't let myself! I told myself I would when we were in the flat grassy field right before the check. But not before.

Downward we walked. Downward, downward.

I cried for a time, pleaded with Q, with the Universe, with the surrounding dark. I wanted to finish this thing, but I wondered if that was just selfish. I wanted my horse to be okay, too. I told Q to just do whatever she could. It would be okay. As long as she was going to be okay.

At one point, we reached a FS gate I didn't remember. I flipped my light to white instead of red to see which way to go around it. As I was flipping my light back onto red, Q balked HARD. Legs splayed. Gravel flying. I checked her legs and body all over, but she seemed unharmed. Leave it to this horse to spook violently after 91 miles!

Finally, we reached the field. I'd heard the final 3 riders that were out on trail behind us, but they never passed. The miles long walk had woken me up a little, my mind at least - my body was thoroughly whooped.

I trotted Q out as we approached the lights of the final check, watching her carefully under the glow of my red headlamp.

She was steady. She was even. She had spring to her step. She looked pretty fucking outstanding after 92 miles to me!

VC 6, Bird Haven (91.7 miles)

I entered the check to very worried looks from my crew....and Dom and Mike! They'd stayed awake after Dom's ride and come to the check to be there for me. Knowing that they'd had a long day and were there for me slowly registered and really did a lot to warm my mood and boost my morale.

I told everyone I'd be trotting Q out. I told them I'd handwalked her the past 2+ miles, trotted her moments before, and told them she looked great to me. It was going to be close to the very end it seemed!

Everyone helped untack Q, I hugged Dom, and grabbed my girl and headed to the vetting, informing Dr. Nick what happened with Q at the last hold.

Q's CRI was 52/52 and she had all As (I asked Nicole about this as I don't remember and don't yet have my card back.) When I trotted her out for Dr. Nick, she seemed really strong to me, trotting out better than she does most pre-ride checks! Still though,  I couldn't bring myself to make eye contact with anyone at the end of that trot out. I didn't want to see the "tell" on their faces regarding a pass or a fail.

The vetting of truth.... (photo by Carlos)

Nick completed the vetting and didn't say anything. I finally asked, "Well? Did you see it? Is she okay...? ...or....not?" Nick replied as perkily as if it were the first check of the day, "I see something, yeah. It's there! But it isn't bad! Just keep doing what you're doing. You only have 6-some more miles to the finish!" Inwardly, I collapsed with relief. Outwardly, I don't know what I exhibited. "Thank you! I will! We're going to walk the whole thing! Thank you!"

And then I passed Q back off to everyone and slumped into a chair nearby, grumbling about wanting sleep.

Sleep was not to be had however. Mike and Dom magically appeared at my side with a cooler, forcing food on me with over-cheery tones. "We've got ____ and _____ and cheezits and applesauce and pudding and....." The list went on. "Cheezits! Applesauce!" I declared. "I always get jealous when the horse gets applesauce for electrolyting," Dom noted, "It's the best. So now I pack it for myself!"

Dave massaged my shoulders as I feebly ate a few cheezits and sucked down the applesauce. Dom noted to me while I did so that if Q was off at all, it was right hind and only slightly. I nodded or said something...or maybe I didn't acknowledge at all. My memory is fuzzy.

All too soon, the hold was over. I told my crew there was moonshine in the cooler and I'd see them at the finish.

The volunteers at the out timer asked how I was as I sat on Q ready to leave. "My ass is chapped and I'm tired," I replied, to many giggles in reply. -_-

The Final Loop (6.5 miles)

And so Q and I left camp somewhere near 4a. Amanda was long gone. The lady with the other POA mare was released about the time I was, and 3 more riders would be out shortly.

I chatted briefly with the lady from Georgia as we left Bird Haven. Both mares were giving us fits about wanting to graze when we just wanted to move down the trail and be done with the damn thing! We leap frogged a bit, until we got to the gate where we were supposed to cross the road...the gate that was supposed to be OPEN but wasn't!

I paced back and forth before I figured it out, then dismounted to open it for the Georgia lady and myself, bumping Q slightly with the gate in the process which sent her skittering about in a panicked fury for a short few moments. We made it through unscathed though, I remounted on the other side, let the lady on the POA go in front, and onward we went.

Q tried to trot to chase down the POA for a bit, but I was firm in telling her to walk. She eventually settled into this absolutely fantastic marching walk that averaged 4 mph, sometimes upwards of 4.5 mph. Her head bobbed along in time to her steps as if she was a TWH.

I was able to keep track of the POA from her rider's white light bobbing along the trees ahead of us. It was so dark in those woods! (We had clear skies but a moon that was only a third of the way full for our ride. The forest canopy always makes things darker, too.)

It seemed that as soon as Q had truly settled from wanting to chase the POA, the other 3 riders passed us. Jesse Jarrett, Forrest (or Hunter?) Green, and an unidentified female rider trotted past and kept going. I had to remind Q again for a time that we.were.walking. before she settled back into her beautiful 4 mph march.

We continued marching onward, and I eventually just let Q be on the buckle. I did nothing to guide her on the trail for nearly all of that final loop. I just sat there, gazing into the distance seeking the next glowstick as Q marched us ever onward toward the finish.

Nicole had given me a strong drug to counter motion sickness at the final hold, so maybe on account of that, or maybe because it was nearing the time of day that I normally get up for work, I was feeling more alert by the minute. My mind was strangely calm and clear.

Q marched onward.

I took some time to reflect on how special this was. Me on this little mare in the woods finishing 100 miles. Completion or no, she'd be carrying me 100 tough miles. This little mare I decided to take a chance on 4 years ago. This little mare I'd done all of the endurance training for. She was going to do it. She was going to finish 100 miles. We've had our share of ups and downs, but she was going to succeed at this crazy thing because of the time I'd spent with her.

That just blew me away. I'd think about it, then my mind would flit to Funder's 100 ride story, and back to the present. I'd tear up a bit, then pull myself together. I'd wonder for a moment why I wasn't more scared of the darkness around me (I was a kid who was very afraid of the dark growing up), and couldn't come up with an answer. I just sat stoicly on my marching mare and felt so calm as we moved along.

Finally, I recognized where we were on the trail. We had 2 to 2.5 more miles to the finish.

Q marched onward.

We traversed the last bit of single track easily. Q stepped on a stick that lept up a bit from her hoof, but instead of freaking out, she just shuddered and stood still for a moment, then continued. Good, good mare.

A little bit further, we heard coyotes call. That made my hackles rise a bit, but I dismissed it.

Finally, we emerged from single track onto the gravel road that marked us 1 mile from the finish. I fell forward on Q's neck and hugged her so big and thanked her, crying a little. Q stood STOCK STILL as if saying, "Stupid human, please LET GO of me. This is NOT okay. Get OUT of my bubble." She's really too stoic about things. (Good thing Griffin is great about hugs and cuddles to make up for it!)

I glanced at my watch. 4:59a. We had 16 minutes to get to the finish.

I felt confident we could have walked it all, but I decided to not push it too close to the limit. I did that in 2014 with Nicole when we did the 50 and I didn't really care to do it again! Not that close!

I clucked Q up into a trot for a half mile. It was a STRONG, lofty, 9 mph trot that ate up the ground. I grinned huge. This thing I'd visualized happening (the finish) was happening for true.

And then a whippoorwill called up the hill to our left. I grinned even bigger. We'd done it. We were doing it. We WOULD complete.

The whippoorwill called ever onward.

Dusky sunrise

I saw the finishline lights ahead of me shortly after pulling Q to a walk. I looked at the colors of the sunrise, bursting behind the finishline lights as we got closer. I teared up a bit more then.

I knew everyone would be there for me. I knew that Mike and Dom and Nicole would all call to me as we'd done 2 years prior to 100 milers when we were slap happy with tiredness, "YOU JUST DID 100 MILES! HOW DO YOU FEEL?!" and I tried to come up with a reply. All I could think of was, "Grateful. I feel grateful."

The finish

Q and I walked into those lights and I heard my friends whooping their excitement. Q gazed longingly down the hill at the trailer and tried to pull me that way instead. "I'm sorry, little girl. I know you want to go there. I know you know where it is. I'm so sorry. We have to go down here first. We have to finish this thing. Semantics. I know. But you can do it. I'm sorry, little girl. We'll feed you plenty soon enough. I promise." And then Q looked toward the finish and picked up a trot of her own accord.

My mom was walking to meet us and Q slowed to walk when she reached her. I spoke, but I don't remember what I said. Something along the lines of, "Sorry to worry you. We walked the whole way until a little trotting at the very end."

Dom, Mike, and Nicole called to me as I got closer, "YOU JUST DID 100 MILES! HOW DO YOU FEEL?!" And the carefully prepared answer I'd said aloud to myself moments before wouldn't come. I just grinned.

It was 5:05a.

Approaching (photo by Dom)

<3 (photo by Dom)

Eeee we did it (photo by Dom)

Walking in with Mom (photo by Dom)

This little horse, you guys <3 (photo by Dom)

Putting her cooler on (photo by Carlos)

Q listening to all the activity around her (photo by Carlos)

DONE. (photo by Carlos)

I dismounted, handed over my card, and then things were a blur.

Q was untacked. Nicole and Sara put her cooler on. Then Sara escorted Q and I down to the final vetting. I don't know what the others were doing...

The Finish and Final Vetting (98.2 miles)

We didn't even give Q a moment to cool or calm down for the final vetting. We went straight in. We'd walked almost the whole way back after all.

She pulsed in at 60, I think, and then we were asked to trot out. I wished with all my might, then cued Q, "Let's GO!" And off we went down the lane.

...and she nearly drug me away! So much pep and spice to her at the end. I was shocked how strong her trot out was! I had to RUN not jog to keep up!

Her CRI was in the 60s, but otherwise she received As and maybe an A- or two. Her gut sounds were decreased in one or two quadrants, but we hadn't grazed a ton on the way back, so I wasn't surprised at that. (And the vet prodded her back pretty damn good without a response, so I'd say she wasn't back sore either. I've never seen a vet prod that hard before! It hurt me to watch! But yay for good saddle fit and balanced riding?)

WE HAD A COMPLETION.

I scratched Q's ears and face and did all but hug her because I knew she'd hate it.

Aftermath 

I walked back to camp with everyone after receiving official word. We settled Q in her pen with food, and then we all pretty much crashed immediately as the sun was rising. (Oh, and Q peed once more with a nice healthy yellow.) I'd been awake over 26 hours at this point and was on my horse for about 20 of those hours.

Dave was asleep before me in the tent. <3

I slept HARD for 3+ hours before waking up to check Q where I found her rolling in her pen.

I got up, fed her again, then began slowly packing up pieces of camp as others roused themselves for breakfast.

Once all were awake, we headed up and had breakfast with the rest of the 100 milers and camp that was left. (50s and 25s had awards the night before and most were gone.)

Sara departed right after breakfast, and on her heels, both Dave and Carlos bailed to go start packing up camp while Nicole and my mom and I hung out and waited for the awards.

I was awarded the turtle award (apparently the Endurance Trifecta is all owed this award at this ride! We each have one now. <3) and received my shirt and belt buckle.

We listened to everyone else get their completion awards (less than half of the starters completed!!!), heard who won BC and the OD trophy, then ditched the rest of the ceremony to go pack.

Fortunately, the guys had packed nearly all of camp at this point. Mom took Q on a walk while Dave and I rolled up the corral, Nicole wrapped Q's legs, and then we were all pretty much OUT after that!

She looks pretty fabulous the day after!

My drive home was uneventful. I unpacked for awhile at both the barn and home, before sleeping the rest of the day and the night.

What an adventure. What a horse!

---

And last, but most certainly not least, I've got some huge thank yous to dole out. (I originally had these at the beginning of the post, but they got really long...)These folks really helped make this experience happen for me.

To my incredible crew, Sara, Nicole, Carlos, Mom, and Dave: I could NOT have done this without you. Not at all. Not in any way. I can't explain how incredible it was to be able to come into checks and literally not worry about a thing. At first it was weird to just...sit there...but it was so welcome by that 4th check when I really wanted to shower and by that 5th check when I wanted to to die a little because I'd hit such a wall and by the 6th check when I was so frazzled not knowing if we'd really make it or not. Sara, that towel saved.my.life. in the heat. Seriously freaking amazing. Thank you so much. And thank you for using "mom voice" on me and keeping me on track all day. Nicole, you know Q and I better than anyone. You kept us on track and kept me sane especially during those last two checks when I thought everything was going to fall apart. Thank you for performing the rituals Dan gave you to help safeguard us for the day and thank you for wrapping Q's legs so expertly the morning after. Thank you thank you thank you. Carlos....the photos...all day long...so amazing. Thank you so much for documenting this journey. Kenai also loves you for being the bestest uncle ever and being his charge for the day. Mom, thank you for being there for this big moment and being game for all of the chaos that happens at these things. I know it was a bit of a different world! I really appreciate you bringing so many of my favorite foods and keeping me "in the food" all day long. I'm definitely less sore for all of the eating I was able to do. =) And finally, Dave (who I know will never read this, but whatever)...I know this was a totally foreign world for you to throw yourself into and I'm so grateful you were there for the journey. The massages at holds, the carefully crafted solar shower at the 4th check/hold, and packing up most of camp for me while the brunch and awards were going on was so helpful and amazing. <3 <3

To Dom and Mike: Thank you so much for the amazing finish line photos and most of all for being there for me at the last Bird Haven check. I hadn't expected that at all and was so thrilled to see you. Your perkiness and eagerness to offer food stuffs was the only thing that got me to eat. Seriously. I don't think I would have otherwise. You're so amazing. Dom, I'm so thankful you stayed up after your big, long day in the heat to help me get through mine. <3

To Dan Sullivan: I couldn't have completed this ride in boots. I didn't trust a single soul to shoe my horses before you. You do such an amazing, amazing job with shoeing Q. Your careful shoeing job made this completion more possible for her than anything else (aside from obvious conditioning through the years). Those shoes didn't budge at all for 100 miles. That course is rocky as FUCK. One hell of a job, my friend. One hell of a job. Thank you as well for your guidance with the Native American rituals that no doubt helped boost us through this journey. I hope the Sun Dance in California went well for you.

To Mary Howell (and other mentors along the way): Your shared knowledge through our many rides together helped me so much in preparing for this thing. Your generosity, love, and passion for this sport and the horses and riders involved in it was huge in getting me to this point in my endurance career. Thank you for being such an incredible mentor these past few years. I look forward to many more miles on trail with you.

To Daryl Downs: I wouldn't have taken the leap to try this ride if it weren't for the push you gave me last October during the National Championships. Thank you for planting the seed that turned into a successful completion of this gnarly ride.

To Funder: I don't know why, but your 100 ride attempts and final success story were the biggest thing going through my mind during all of the dark loops. I couldn't quit thinking about you and Dixie and your rides and your tenacity. The thoughts were blurred and more images (created from your words!) than things I can put into words here...but thank you for sharing your stories. They helped me stay alert and awake and motivated to push through.

To Bloggers: Your continued support and kind words through the years during my journey with this little mare helped us reach this point. Your excitement about this attempt both through comments on the blog and on Facebook and Instagram were so welcome and made me smile and really feel like we could go out and DO this thing, no matter how difficult the course.

To my Friends and Family: Your kind words through all outlets of social media were so wonderful and helped me get through the anxious days leading up to the event. I actually screenshotted all of the comments on my pre-ride photo on Facebook to have to look back on during the ride. I was so floored by how much support outpoured to us on that photo. It means so much to get so much good fortune from friends - especially those non-horsey folk.

To many more miles...

My new favorite photo (photo by Dom)