Ride Between the Rivers 2017

Can I just start by saying that this was some of the most fun I've had on horseback in a long time? Because it really was. Stan performed so amazingly and in such a manner that my future training of Q and other endurance horses in my life will be modified with the goal of achieving that level of performance. Stan kept a steady pace and motored down the trail with minimal input from me the whole day. He was confident, reliable, and trustworthy as he navigated the trail. It was a complete joy to ride him and I'm so grateful to have him back in my life.

FRIDAY

Between Dan, Lauren's whole family, Austen, Chuck, and myself, we had quite the little compound in camp this year. And in terms of setup, I think it was my favorite yet! My typical spot was already taken (by the ONLY people in camp on Wednesday when I went out to nab it, like seriously?!), and while that caused me some minor grief at the time, it turned out to be a good thing because we got a corner spot that we partitioned off to ourselves. We were friendly enough with our neighbors and others the whole weekend, but I can honestly say I didn't hate having our own private corner of the world. Our party was big enough at 9 people that we had enough going on!

Our compound for the weekend

With camp setup and registration complete, we setup a few things for the race the next day and visited as we awaited the arrival of the horse Austen would ride. I'd put a call out on Facebook a few weeks prior in the endurance groups asking if anyone had a spare horse for RBTR. Holly, whom I've crewed for in the past, answered my call with a tentative "yes" which she firmed up about a week out from the ride.

Dan put the front shoe Stan had lost in the days preceding the ride back on in the mean time. Dan pointed out that it had come off because of how much foot Stan had grown in the ~3 weeks since he was last shod; he said Stan put on more hoof in that time than his mare typically did in 6 months. Well, then! Fortunately, the other three shoes were still in good shape and wouldn't pose a problem for us the rest of the weekend.

Stan was using Dan as a pillow for his WHOLE head right before this photo

Right around the time we expected Holly to arrive, Austen and I wandered through camp seeing if we could spot her. Perhaps she'd already arrived and we'd missed her? As luck would have it, she was pulling in right that moment! I introduced everyone and we helped guide her to a camping spot and then get setup for the weekend. Through that process, she and Austen became well acquainted and I left them to it and struck off toward our camp.

With Austen settled and four shoes firmly attached once more on Stan, Lauren and I vetted in. Both boys pulsed at 52 which was a bit higher than I wanted to see. However, since the Arab was the same as my QH, I decided to just let my worries over it go, especially after Stan received all As on his vet-in!

Smile, Stan!

Stan and I were vetted in by who I consider to be the toughest vet at any ride I've been to. She LOVED him. She asked if he had any Arab in him (nope) and noted that he moved a lot like one. We talked a lot about his history with me and in general and she shared some products that may help with his hives from insects. I thanked her for the advice but noted that any intensely regimented allergy protocol probably wouldn't happen because he would be on an extended vacation after this ride because I simply don't have the time to keep three horses in full work right now. She was shocked that he'd just be a pasture puff and she expressed interest in leasing him if I was every interested, stating he is just the type of horse she wants to ride.

After chatting it up with the vet for a time, I realized there was a lot of commotion with Lauren's vet in. I glanced at her fact to see a very concerned expression. I waited for the conclusion of whatever was going on before leaving the vet area and even queried our vet as to what was up. "He's lame," she told me simply, never one to beat around the bush.

Oh dear.

Lauren was released from the vetting with her ride card in hand and I asked her, "Hey, what's going on? Is everything okay?"

"He's lame," she replied, her expression absolutely demoralized, "His scrapes from last weekend [from a minor incident at home] are making him lame. They said we can start if we're really careful."

Oh boy. I turned to the vets she'd been working with and queried, "Can you tell me what's going on with her horse exactly? I'm her sponsor for the ride and it would be helpful for me to know what to watch for and be cautious of so we can do all we can to help him out."

"He's lame on the left front and compensating through the hind end. Soak him in the river and with some ice and get something on the cuts to help protect them," they told me.

"Oh, absolutely! We can do all of those things. We'll be taking it slow tomorrow, too. No problem there!"

Poor Lauren was absolutely downtrodden as we headed back to our camp after vetting. I told her various stories of people I'd known who had dealt with similar situations and been just fine. I also outlined a game-plan of icing his legs, doing a betadine scrub, and applying desitin to help alleviate any soreness MJ was experiencing as much as possible. Her parents jumped right on board with it all, and we all continued to try to cheer a very discouraged and concerned Lauren that all would be well.

Chillin' in the river

Shortly after, Lauren and I set off on a short pre-ride where I continued to do all I could to stymie her concerns. She's the type to go deep into her own head when something is wrong internalizing to the point that she recreates reality to fit the concern. I've met many adults like this and they're hard to work with, but fortunately, Lauren's still at an age where the advice of a mentor and friend can offset some of her internal struggles and bring her back to a more positive place.

I was upfront with her saying that I absolutely saw what the vets saw, but MJ didn't express any stress through the rest of his body language. His very slight lameness was similar to she or I having a cut or blister on the back of our heel and continuing to walk/jog/hike. Additionally, of course it was more pronounced on the gravel! Even Stan, despite shoes, was short striding more on the gravel. It isn't the most enjoyable surface to work on!

I made a point of checking in with Lauren about MJ's movement and how he felt on every unique surface we traveled over during our pre-ride. I also helped her describe in words how he felt under saddle to her, noting that it was important to be able to describe what was going on to the vets. Finally, I made certain she knew that she absolutely did not have to ride the next day if she was concerned greatly about MJ. I added that I truly didn't believe what was going on was in any way life-threatening or life-crippling, but just quite uncomfortable in the moment.

Austen snapped this as she headed out on her pre-ride

By the end of our preride, Lauren was much more optimistic about things. We'd spent nearly as much time standing in the river letting his legs soak in the cool water as we had walking around. In my honest opinion, the horse looked much better returning the mile to camp than he had going out. I think the combination of movement and soaking in that cold water was just what his legs needed. Lauren's cheerier demeanor told me she seemed to agree.

Regardless, when we returned to camp, her parents, per my recommendation, had a bucket of ice water waiting for MJ. Once untacked, the family stood doting on him as his front left was soaked for a good 20 minutes before we scrubbed it (and his other lesser scrapes) and put desitin on them.

After tending to MJ, Lauren's family and I headed down to the swimming hole for a bit before the ride meeting. We actually were late to the ride meeting, but because our campsite bordered the meeting area, we were able to hear everything we needed to about the changes in the trail for the year, the vet criteria, and other relevant news.

A Kenai and MJ tail shot. Oh, and Stan. His ride number was the same as his age.

Following dinner, our little camp sat about in the dark laughing and drinking and sharing stories. It was fun to have Chuck in camp as he has far more experience in the sport than any of us, though he hasn't been very active in the recent decade. (He started the Canaan 50 way back when; that ride has been gone for 20+ years now, though as a Canaan local I still ride on many of the original trails.) I enjoyed picking up tidbits of information as Chuck told stories and laughed as subjects moved into less endurance-focused territories. Eventually, I called it for the night and others quickly followed my lead. Saturday would dawn early and we all needed rest.

RIDE DAY

Due to our proximity to the volunteer camp and radio headquarters/breakfast area, our little camp was roused at 4am when the generator kicked on. Oi vey.

I stayed in my tent for another two hours lapsing in and out of a subconscious state before finally rousing myself a little after 6am to wander around a bit getting things ready for my day.

The 50s were to start at 6:30am. I paused my morning efforts to blip up to the start to see Austen and Holly off on their venture, visiting with two of my childhood best friends in the process who were volunteering for the day. They were excited to be present for the day's events and, while uneventful, the start of the 50s was fun for them to witness.

With most of the horses in camp out on trail, I headed back to finish getting ready for the day. Our start would be an hour later at 7:30 and I knew it would sneak up on me if I wasn't paying attention. I readied myself, briefed the crew, and tacked Stan while Lauren iced MJ's leg one more time before the race.

Go team!

Like a well-oiled machine, Lauren and I were mounted in time to warm-up and our crew was solid with their directions for the day by 7:10. Lauren and I walk-trotted around in camp to get the boys ready and calm nerves.

After her first trot on MJ that morning, a huge smile broke across Lauren's face. "He feels AMAZING!" she beamed.

"Good because he looks, awesome, Lauren. I hope you believe me now when I say [again] what a good job you've done with him this summer! He's 50-mile-ready; today should be a walk in the park," I returned.

Darlin', you better wake up so we can do the thing.

And then, just like that, I looked up to see that trail was open and the 30s were off! Dan and Butch were the second pair out of camp, Butch giving Dan a bit of sass as they headed out, which gave me a good chuckle.

"Let's go, kid!" I called to Lauren and we headed around the trailers and made our way out onto trail.

Easy going start, me laughing at Chuck

Stan was not psyched to be leaving camp at first

Very quickly, Lauren and I found ourselves in a nice little pocket alone on trail. We would keep this for almost the whole ride, only passing one party about 6 miles in. It was GLORIOUS to ride alone in our own little zone all day. Stan did the majority of the leading, too, but MJ did step up to the plate when needed to keep our pace going.

Look,  Ma, no hands!

The weather was holding steady with overcast skies and temperatures in the lower 60s. The humidity was minimal and I was PSYCHED. This was exactly what we needed to guarantee a successful go of it for Stan whose pulse I knew would hang high at the check and finish. I kept Lauren and I at a trot for the entire first loop, but we rated the trot anywhere from a 5 mph pace to a 11 mph pace, averaging 7 mph the majority of the time.

Mole and Rocky

Both horses were strong and handily tackled everything on the trail. We trotted 95% of the loop, motoring along through mud, sand, clay, and gravel dodging rocks, logs, and puddles as necessary.

Literally how I held the reins the majority of the ride

My two favorite stretches of trail, the old railroad grade after the second river crossing and the ORV trail on the top of the ridge were even more fun this year with Stan. Q, my little spook monster, motors through these same sections, but does so with a cautious eye and nimble feet ready to duck, dodge, spook at a moment's notice. Stan, while not spook proof, simply doesn't fret over strange objects the way Q does. He watches them intently, and if they don't move or alter he just keeps marching onward. He certainly side steps and gives a wide berth to questionable things, but he does so in a very smooth, mostly predictable fashion. I rarely felt off balance throughout the whole day.

The old RR grade

Taking full advantage of the amazing cool weather, fit horses, and knowledge of the trail, Lauren and I completed the first loop (14.5 miles) in 2 hours and 15 minutes.

We were sharing the crew area with Dan, Holly, Austen, and Sandy. As Lauren and I arrived, Dan, Holly, and Austen were just leaving. Perfect! We'd keep this order of things throughout the day, that trio finishing before Lauren and I, and Lauren and I finishing before Sandy's arrival.

Descending Rattlesnake Drop

Both MJ and Stan were pulsed to criteria and through the first vetting within 5 minutes of arrival. Stan received all As and a B for wounds due to small knicks on his hind fetlocks; his CRI was 60/56. MJ received all As and a B for cap refill; his CRI was 52/48. Not too shabby!

NOMZ

Lauren's parents tended to her and MJ while Chuck pestered me to death to make sure I ate and drank while he took care of Stan. Just the kind of crewing I needed! If I wasn't taking care of myself, I was hearing about how I should until I did! I ultimately ate a sandwich, some jerky, and had half a gatorade while Stan polished off a large tub of grain/beet pulp/alfalfa pellets and helped himself to some of Holly's alfalfa hay.

By 10:32, we were back on trail, the same loop a second time. The boys weren't quite as gung ho for those first few miles, but by the second river crossing, they'd found their stride and were really stepping out.

The second river crossing

Pretty for a photo, but that rock is NOT natural

Our second trip along the railroad grade I got in a minor fight with Stan about avoiding puddles and we ultimately ended up cantering/galloping the whole RR section. I knew Lauren would be psyched to move out and it was totally flat, so why not? Stan and I got back on a good page with one another and the short speedy section helped wake him up.

RR grade again - movin' out!

We zipped across the first road crossing, and cruised through another gravel section to the next spotter at the base of the long slog up the gravel road.

The sun came out right as we reached the base of the gravel climb. We'd trotted the whole thing on the first loop, but I planned to give the boys some walking breaks this time around. Between the 21 miles traveled by this point and the sunshine, I knew they'd both benefit from a slower pace.

Lauren and I were also dreading the climb a bit. New to the sport and riding in general, Lauren still loathes all gravel riding. I recognize it as a necessary evil and admit that while boring, it isn't completely awful. The sunshine had me more concerned from a pulsing standpoint for Stan! Fortunately, the cloud cover was still dominating the sky so we should have a fair bit of shade in our last 7 miles.

Pump Station Pub!

Well into the final quarter of the ride by the top of the gravel road climb, we halted the horses for a breather and some carrots while I accepted a beer from Jen's husband Roger, the forever-pump-station spotter. He'd taken his boredom from past years and channeled it this year to create the Pump Station Pub at the top of the hill where he had coolers (which all our spotters have but not as visible as this) with water, green tea, beer, and moonshine. While the horses munched carrots, I got a Bud Light to go (Anheuser Busch is a sponsor of our ride) and Lauren and I continued to my next favorite section of trail on the ridge line.

Thanks to making the most of the weather, by the time we were starting this stretch of trail, we had a solid 4 hours left on the clock before we HAD to be pulsed to criteria and vetted and only 5 miles of trail to go. We could walk the rest of the ride and be fine. It was a great feeling to not have to worry about the clock at all.

This knowledge coupled with the fact that our horses were fresh and happy and eating and drinking well, I just let loose mentally and allowed myself to fully enjoy the remainder of the ride, especially this section of trail.

Endurance riding, brought to you by Bud Light!

In fact, knowing I had service up there, I did something I had yet to do on my Instagram and shared a story chock-full of videos so that others could appreciate the fun I was having.

Finally, the fun wooded ORV trail ended, we checked in with the spotters at the top of Rattlesnake Drop, let the horses drink their fill from the trough, and headed down the hill.

Back down Rattlesnake...

Two spotters later, I had a second beer in hand:

Blue mountains...wait is that still a thing or are all the cans that way now?

We trotted down the road a little ways more until the next river crossing where we hung out and let the horses drink their fill for about 5 minutes. Lauren even scored an errant sponge that someone had dropped in the river!

A huge smile on her face after fetching a sponge from the river

From this crossing, we had another 2-2½ miles to go. Stan powered along the last section of trail like a boss and we paused again at the final river crossing to let the horses drink well before polishing off the last mile of the ride.

Walking into the finish, not as glorious as riding, but so much better for Stan's HR!

We dismounted about a half mile from the finish and hand fed carrots as we walked in (something we did on the first loop, as well). About 100 feet from the finish, my BO called out to get back on for a finish photo. I had Stan's bit out and his girth loose so I tightened up one billet strap and hopped on with his reins still hooked as a lead rope for the last few feet for a photo.

There will be a better, clearer one of these eventually...

We stripped tack and set to sponging and scraping immediately upon finishing. Stan was running high at 73 after a few minutes (sunshine and temps in the upper 60s), but MJ was down to 54 already so I sent Lauren to vet in and finish while Chuck and I continued to work on Stan, moving him into the shade of the tent and gratefully accepting some ice water another rider didn't want to throw out (OMG THANK YOU STRANGE RIDER!).

I continued to sponge and scrape Stan with ice water, keeping my eyes trained on Lauren in the vetting area to see how her final vetting went as I cooled Stan. In moments, I saw a huge smile break across her face and knew she'd completed!

After a few moments more, Chuck and I had Stan down to 60, the finish criteria.

We walked v.e.r.y.s.l.o.w.l.y. to the P&R folks and the vet check where I checked Stan with my handheld one more time before the P&R folks could - 57!

Dr. Nick called us over and I very succinctly shared my concern about his pulse being really close to criteria, noting that his QH nature would keep it as such. Nick grinned up at me, "56! Down and back, please." I grinned in reply and set off down the alley for our final trot out.

Trrrrrrottting...sound?

As we arrived back, the vet who complimented Stan so much the day prior was passing by (the vet check was really chill at this point and they were taking turns going to get lunch) and called, "How is he doing?"

"Great! Unless Nick says otherwise!" I grinned.

Nick was checking Stan's other vitals during my short interaction with the other vet. When I turned back to him he told me, "Well, his pulse is fine, but you've got another problem," he made eye contact with me as I raised my eyebrows encouraging him to continue, "he's lame," Nick finished.

Well, fuck.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"I think his hind end is just a little crampy," Nick replied, walking to hands hind end to prod around a bit as his wife and scribe confirmed Stan reacting (ear flick and pinched nostrils) in response to the prodding.

"She's got 15 minutes until her cut off," Nick's wife told him.

"Okay," Nick answered, looking at me, "go see if you can work this out and come represent for your completion in 15 minutes."

"Absolutely!" I answered and struck back off for our tent where I immediately set to work massaging Stan's hind end while Dan held him.

I've watched my mentor Mary struggle with hind end crampiness in her gelding Gryphon a lot at checks and especially the finish, so I knew just what I needed to do and set to work getting it done. Massage, massage, massage, back him up several steps, rinse, repeat. I also dosed him with some calcium gluconate during this period to try to help relieve the cramping (he'd been dosed fairly heavily with a mixture of Enduramax and Perform 'N Win throughout the day, too).

Finally, after our allotted time had passed, I marched him back up to represent.

Nick waved me right over and we trotted out and back. On the return, I refused to even make eye contact with Nick, much like I'd done with Q at the second Bird Haven checkpoint on our hundred miler last June. I didn't want his eyes to give me a tell or even false hope if there was none.

Not making eye contact with Nick

After halting Stan, I finally looked up at Nick with a So-What'll-It-Be? look on my face. "I saw enough sound steps in there," he declared, "You've got a completion!"

I literally squealed and gave Nick an awkward fast hug, pinning his arms to his side for a fraction of a second before releasing him, grinning. (Sorry, Nick.) I rehashed the whole "10 years ago at this ride..." story and Nick smiled and said he remembered overhearing me tell someone the day prior.

And like that, Stan had a completion! Finally.

As a quick aside: I do want to note more for myself than anything how surprisingly little I cared if we actually got a completion. When Nick's words about Stan being lame were first spoken, I didn't get the typical gut-wrenching stomach flip I've had at past rides when a pull was very possible. Instead, I found myself going, "Huh, okay, that sucks, but whatever!" because all that really mattered to me was that Lauren completed. It helped knowing Stan wasn't life-crippling or life-threateningly lame, too. I'm so psyched we DID complete, but I honestly would have been okay if we hadn't, too, and my total "okayness" with that surprised me a lot - in a good way!

Happily completed horses

Back at our camp, I settled Stan with another mash, wrapped his legs, groomed him, and changed my clothes before heading over to the timer booth to watch the rest of the ride. I day drank, visited with my friends, and waited Austen's finish for a few hours, helping other riders as the moment presented. It was really enjoyable.

Unlike the rider meeting the night before, we were ready and early to the rider awards ceremony. It was your typical pomp and circumstance until we got to the awards for the LD. See, I knew Lauren and I had completed faster than we planned, but I didn't know where we were in the field of competitors at all.

Lauren snapped this. I love it so much.

It turns out there were 33 starters in the LD. I figured we'd be somewhere around 20th. But then my name wasn't called. We passed the 19th place, still not my name, the 17th place, still not my name, the 14th place, still not my name! I began having fleeting curiosities about Lauren being in the top 10? But no, she'd have been asked about BC and that didn't happen...

Finally, "13th place, Liz Stout riding Stan; 12th place Lauren riding Majayda Lethyf..." DAMN! I'd had NO idea our lovely little pocket for the day was that far up, but I'd sure as hell take it.

CHEERS! Yes, completion prizes are a custom mug full of beer!

Lauren was even more psyched than I was about it because I'd been preparing her for weeks now that we'd be back of the pack finishers. I was so happy for her that our surprise finish was so much higher than anticipated.

Awards dinner completed, we all headed back to our camp compound as the band started up. We played cornhole and visited until sleep drew us away, exhausted from a long, fun day.

RBTR 2017 may have been my favorite yet. The company was great, having my childhood friends in attendance sweetened the pot, the weather was incredible, Stan was outstanding all day, Lauren got her first completion on her own horse, and the surprise higher-than-expected placing was the icing on the cake. It really couldn't have been much better. Additionally, I really felt like this was the first ride where I troubleshooted all issues beautifully and that troubleshooting directly influenced how well the day went. My learning within the sport is FAR from over, but it's a really good feeling to know that I do have the knowledge-base for this sport to work through things without always relying on mentors.

"Did I do a good thing?" "Yes, yes, Stan. You did a very good thing."

Stan's performance was seriously the greatest thing for me though. To literally be able to just "go along for the ride" and not nitpick, micromanage, or worry one little bit about a thing was so wonderful. It's definitely partly attributed to his QH brain vs. the typical Arab or hot sporthorse brain, but it also is attributed to his age and our past relationship. I loved every single second of trail at this ride with Stan as my partner. While time isn't on my side at the moment, I may yet try to find a way to keep his fitness level close to a competition-ready place for the future so I can have more fun like this. Time will tell... 😉

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. =)