other people’s horses

Tevis 2013: pre-Ride

/ Ashley Wingert / 6 Comments

Or, Part One of this year’s Epic Crewing Adventure.

My Tevis experience lasted a full week this time. The fun started last Tuesday when I flew up to Sacremento. Fellow crew member, friend, and rider-I’ve-crewed-in-the-past Lucy picked me up at the airport and we made our way back to “Tevis Low Camp” — aka Lucy’s place. It was the gathering place of the week, with, at various points, up to seven people (plus a dog and a parrot) all crammed under one roof.

Wednesday was the start of some good fun, as Kaity wanted to do one last ride from the Finish to No Hands Bridge and back. I borrowed Lucy’s pone Roo, and we trailered him and Kaity’s Kody over to Auburn. We’d gotten a late morning start, so it was a bit warm, but a lot of the trail is under shade trees, so it was never really too bad, temperature-wise.

I’d hiked the last 1/2-miler or so of the trail from the Fairgrounds before, and hiked from the Hwy 49 crossing to just past the waterfalls and back, so I’d seen parts of the trail, but never the full 49-to-Finish section. (All part of my long-term plan to see as much of the trail and experience as much of The Ride as possible before riding it myself.)

Heading out from the Auburn Overlook

I’d also, for curiosity and education’s sake, booted Roo in a full complement of Renegades. Not only has he been notoriously hard on boots in the past (he really torques with his hind hooves when he goes up hills), this section of trail has some “boot-eating” areas of water crossing + mud + uphill climb over rough terrain. It was very educational and I got to experience firsthand some of the challenges of why boots can come off it this type of terrain. (As I’m half-hanging off Roo’s side as he climbed up out of the Black Hole, watching his hind boots twist a little bit more with each step.) Finally experiencing the terrain firsthand gave me some great insight into the boot-hoof-trail relationship and have some ideas on how to work through some of these challenges in subsequent years.

We remembered the helmet…and forgot the bridle.

The pre-ride (8 miles or so?) was tons of fun. Roo, true to form, had to gawp suspiciously at all culverts, chalks lines, and large rocks, but he only gave one truly spectacular sideways Arab-teleport-maneuver spook, and he chose a nice, wide, safe area to do so.

Back in to the Overlook. A bit hot, sweaty,
muddy, and hungry. 

I love little grey Arabians of the Al-Marah variety
(Roo is AM Ruwala Land)

Look, Ma, no hands!

Riding across No Hands was a blast. On the way out, I did a staged “no hands” photo op, and then we trotted across the bridge on the way back. (Even more fun!)

After the ride, we hustled the ponies back to Lucy’s, got cleaned up, then zipped back down to Auburn for the Tevis BBQ and standard perusal of the horses staying in the barns at the Fairgrounds. Not too many in the barns ahead of time this year — fewer out of state riders? Or more riders going directly up to Robie Park?
Thursday was prep day: Grocery shop, clean stuff, pack trailer, wash pone, and we managed to get everything done by a reasonable hour so that we could sit back and enjoy pizza.
That’s about it for part one (unless you want a play-by-play of rig packing), so it’s on to part two — The Ride!

Stewart Mountain Loop

/ Ashley Wingert / 4 Comments

So, I tend to look at the entire endurance process as one big training opportunity that’s all building up to my eventual go at Tevis. Today, I practiced getting up early. I was up at 3:30, dressed in my riding gear, drank my coffee and a (pre-made) breakfast smoothie, and was out the door by 4:00.

I met up to ride with my friend Lancette, and she brought her horse Khan for me to ride.

meet Khan

I realize at this point that my readers have probably given up trying to track all of the different grey horses I’ve been riding of late. It’s okay. I can barely keep track myself.

first view of Saguaro Lake

Our destination: the Stewart Mountain Loop by the Salt River near Saguaro Lake. I’d ridden this loop years and years ago on Mimi with some friends, but to be honest, the only part I really remembered was the area that’s like a sandy beach and provides easy river access for horses.

trail traverses a ridgeline with a view of Saguaro Lake

I also remembered the part that goes up to a ridgeline and gives a great view of Saguaro Lake for a bit — this section I’d last ridden just a couple of years ago.

splish-splash

Because it’s a loop, the trail can be done in either direction. We chose the way that meant getting the longer section done first and getting to the river towards the end of the ride, when we’d be hot and sweaty and the cooler riverfront section of the trail would feel really good.

The spot on the river that’s easily accessible for horses is a nice sandy mini-beach, and the water is slow-moving and clear enough that it’s easy to see how far the sandbar goes out into the water before the drop-off starts. 
We didn’t go any further in than knee-deep, but that was enough for Khan to have a great time splashing and pawing the water. He never tried to roll, but he figured out that pawing the water made it splash up onto his belly and chest. I wasn’t complaining about the overspray, either.

Salt River, looking upsteam

Salt River, looking downstream

Running the loop the way we did, counter-clockwise, the trail that heads back to the trailers from the river is this fantastic section of technical single-track. There are a couple of slightly “hairy” areas that involve a bit of clambering over some rocky outcroppings. The whole trail traverses the area between a vertical cliff and the river, and while you’d probably still be in one piece if you fell off the trail at that point, it definitely wouldn’t feel good.

I did put the camera away and ride thru the worst sections

Fortunately Khan is very experienced and has a lot of trail savvy, and never put a hoof wrong. So much so that I whipped out my camera and was happily snapping away, putting it away only through the worst of the rocky sections that required two hands and ride attention.

Lots of loose, sharp rock in this section, too…Khan goes in Renegades and I was glad for it. (Pretty sure he was too.)

good overview of the river section

I wish more of the trail ran along the river, but all too soon we were back out in the desert, and back to the trailers. 

me-n-Khan

The loop is just about 8 miles, and we covered it in about two and a half hours. We were out for an enjoyable ride, with only one of the four horses in our group in full competition shape, so it was a good day to take it easy and enjoy the trail. Khan was a fantastic ride — very sweet, happy to go, cooperative, and darn near unflappable, the kind of horse who is trustworthy with the greenest of beginner, but a smart and active ride for an advanced rider.

I love that area around the Salt River. It’s definitely an oasis in the middle of the desert, and a real treat for us otherwise parched desert rats. Makes the hot days a little more bearable, and the early morning wake-ups worth it.

Ride Story: Ride the Divide 2013

/ Ashley Wingert / 9 Comments

Or, “How to Top Ten and Turtle At the Same Time.”

Memorial Day weekend, I headed out to Quemado, NM with Stephanie for the Ride the Divide endurance ride. The weekend ended up being a good lesson in “not every ride is going to be a great one.” I’ve had (for me) an extraordinarily good ride season so far this year. I was due for a dose of endurance.

First, this happened:

 

 I swear, I’m not a tire jinx. I’m just having a very…challenging…year for tires either belonging to me or in my proximity. But I’m not a tire jinx!

Fortunately, we were at a gas station when we discovered it, and fortunately it was on the trailer, which is light-years easier to change than a truck.

People are very friendly in New Mexico, at least based on the number of offers of help we received, but we were two capable endurance women and we had that tire changed and on the road again 20 minutes later, including the originally-intended stop to fill up with diesel.

Base camp is located at just a hair under 8000′ elevation and the weather was gorgeous all weekend. A bit windy (and dusty) but gorgeous.

Quemado Lake, view from the drive in to camp.
Lake not actually visible from camp.
Lake briefly visible from parts of the trail. More visible if you
miss a turn and keep going almost to the lake.

The ride was small, with maybe a total of 50 entries over all three days and both distances. I did like the low-key setting and relaxed atmosphere of a smaller ride, but I also don’t want to see ride managers lose money on a small ride. :(

We checked in and vetted in…I was riding Rocco on day one. Went out for a pre-ride, survived, came back and went to the ride meeting, then had a delicious dinner of homemade pork enchiladas (thanks, Darla!).
It gets cold at 8000′ elevation at night and this happened overnight:
frosted propane

Steph’s heater decided not to work Thursday night/Friday morning, so chattering teeth accompanied my morning routine. Coffee, strawberry/banana juice, a croissant, and cottage cheese with a chopped-up hard-boiled egg made for a good breakfast, something I was very grateful for later on.
There were 16 starting in the 50-miler on day one, and pretty much everyone headed out in one controlled start amoeba pack. A small field makes for a pretty sane start, and we had a pleasant couple of miles of trotting along, winding through trees, ducking branches (who put that sharp turn on a downhill anyway?) and heading out across a lovely open meadow.
At one point, I looked across the meadow and saw a cow elk wandering just below the tree line. Prime elk country, with lots of water, grazing, and shelter.
And then it all kind of fell apart from there. Most of the pack was still mostly together at this point, and somebody realized we hadn’t seen a ribbon for a while. Cue lots of back-and-forthing and the larger pack splitting into smaller packs and winging off in different directions trying to play spot-the-ribbon.
And at one point, Rocco whiplashed me when he spotted a Rocco-eating bush and gave the appropriate Arab-teleport-and-spin-180 maneuver. I barely stayed on by the skin of my teeth, a handful of thick mane, and a slightly irrational desire to not fall off of 15.1+ hands tall.
AS it turns out, where we were supposed to go was the area where I’d seen the elk. Hmmm. Seems like somebody had herself a delicious ribbon breakfast buffet.
It wasn’t the best first loop one could have. That kind of mental uncertainty and frustration is draining and doesn’t do much for bolstering one’s confidence levels. (What the heck? I never get lost at rides and I’ve gotten lost/off-course/misplaced several times this year. Maybe there is something to the idea that, “If you don’t screw up at least some of the time, you’re not doing something enough.”)
Loop one was 10 miles and back to camp for a trot-by. I jumped off, trotted by, shed my jacket, visited the porta-potty, then hit the trail again for loop two, which was a 15-mile out-and-back. This section was probably the ickiest in terms of footing. Old logging road that turned into slightly newer forest service road that turned into maintained forest service road, onto more old logging road…and back the same way. It was hard to make time in the footing: when you’re dealing with softball-sized, ankle-turning rocks, you can only make so much time.
As an aside, boots were flawless. I’ve been riding in the new Renegade Vipers this whole spring and have put about 250 competition miles, plus another chunk of training miles, on them and love them. They’re the bright green boots that have been showing up in my photos of late. This ride, they got abused by really rough footing, lots of rocks, stop-n-go pacing, mud, and water crossings. (We might have squished a tadpole or two.)
water stop partway through
loop two

Back to camp, I was feeling the ‘blehs’, having managed to eat one whole GU the entire first half of the ride. (Not for lack of trying, but Rocco wasn’t having anything to do with the sound of rustling paper or wrappers and threatened a spook-n-bolt every time I went to dig in my saddle packs. Thank goodness I wore my Camelbak and could at least drink.)

Rocco was down to 60 immediately and vetted through fine, the only ‘B’ for gut sounds. (He’d finally caught on to the grazing thing partway through the second loop.) Back at the trailer, I was all too happy to tie him to  off, throw a pan of sloppy food in front of him, and slump down in a chair for the next 30 minutes.
Lunch was water, gatorade, bologna, cheese, apple slices, and tapioca pudding. After sitting and munching for a while, I was back to a much better humor. A bit of housekeeping (refill Camelbak, potty, bodyglide) and I was ready to tackle the last loop, 25 miles and another out-and-back.
This loop had some of the prettiest scenery of the day. A good part of the trail was on an old service road that wound up through a little valley. There was water, grass, and enough trees that we weren’t exposed to the hot sun for too long of periods of time.
water crossing
It was a tiny little creek-lette, so rather than politely cross,
Rocco decided to show off his potential as an eventer.
Darla on Apollo behind me.

The footing was also much better for the vast majority of this loop, so we were able to make better time and keep a more consistent pace.

Ultimately, we finished at 6:40…11 hours and 10 minutes after we started, including the 45-minute hold. It also got upgraded to a 55 after riders’ GPS tracks showed that it was definitely over 50 miles. (I think mine was 54.7.) Rocco vetted out well, just another B on guts.
Management was kind enough to set aside plates of the spaghetti dinner for us, and we had a chance to put the horses up and get our dinner before the ride meeting. I was starving, having not eaten anything the entire second loop. (Please note this is not how I actually prefer to operate.)
16 starters and 10 finishers…I came in 10th. My first top ten…and I turtled at the same time.
Originally, the plan was for me to ride day two on Stephanie’s mare Kasha. Partway through the third loop,  I realized just how late we’d be getting in to camp, and I still had to fit Kasha for boots, make any saddle/pad adjustments for her, and generally get myself presentable for a second day. I said, “No way.” Yes, I could get everything that I needed to done…but I was thrashed after day one. My lack of eating and taking care of myself had caught up with me and I really needed a day to recover.
I slept like a log Friday night, helped by the fact that the heater decided to start working again, so went to bed nice and toasty. I slept in until the decadent hour of 6:15, then stumbled out for coffee. 
morning of day two: Rocco paced and Kasha mare-faced
I spent the day as intended: lounging around camp, reading a book, taking a nap, refueling, re-hydrating. I felt better by evening, enough to go vet Kasha in for day three…but still not overwhelmingly enthused about going out again. Ultimately, it turned out that Steph took Kasha out on day three after I decided that one day was enough fun-n-games for me for that weekend. It also meant we were able to get an earlier start to head back home, since I was able to get camp packed up.
Coming home involved no drama and no blown tires.
So that was my Ride the Divide weekend. Having had a week to ruminate on it, I’d still go back and give it another go. It’s a beautiful area, and a challenging ride. But you need a challenging ride to tell you where your horse is at and what they can do. And it was a close enough, easy drive as well.
I honestly didn’t have any major revelations or gear changes at this ride other than to say, “taste-test electrolyte drinks before blithely mixing them up and guzzling.” Lemon-lime GU Roctane Endurance energy drinks are nasty. Weird because I love the grape and tropical fruit flavors…but the lemon-lime didn’t work at all. Sticking with my Succeed Clip2, since I know that works and I really like it. 

Indian Springs Wash ride

/ Ashley Wingert / 2 Comments
Did a really fun ride up near Bartlett Lake on Saturday. It was my first time up there and it has some absolutely gorgeous scenery. Bonus points for being able to ride down to the lake to let the horses drink and sponge them off. (See, we do have water in Arizona…you just have to know where to look and how to get to it.)
banana yucca

first view of the lake

Barb on Junior in the lead, Clydea on Ash, me on Clydea’s
horse Pepe providing the ear cam shot

And I came home to find my ducklings learning to play “king of the hill” on the rock next to the pond. Now Mama is onto the game and she sits on top of the rock while they cluster at the base.

Ride Story: Prescott Chaparral: Day Two and A New Horse

/ Ashley Wingert / 8 Comments

We wrapped Day One with another successful 50 for me and Rocco, and after he was fed, watered, and wrapped, it was on to prepping for Day Two.

Gina had gotten her truck straightened out and had shown up in camp sometime while Steph and I were out on our second loop. She had in tow with her Uno, her Kiger Mustang gelding with a handful of endurance rides and a unique personality, and Liberty, a half-Shagya/half-Arab mare who would be my ride. Gina had been telling stories on this mare to me for some time now, including her propensity for escaping and apparently being immune to hot-tape fences.

Hmmm…this could be one tough mare.

But you know what? I love tough mares. I’ve spent the last 16 years around one, haven’t I? And yes, they might be more complicated, sometimes more frustrating, and definitely more of a challenge…but I get them. They’re not for everyone…but I love my mares.

Anyways, I was prepared for the fact she could be pushy and dominant, and our first meeting had me giving her a very clear definition of “personal space” when she attempted to body block me.

I’ve spent 16 years being pushed around by a pony. Do these horses honestly think they can be much worse???

With that settled, she vetted in beautifully, checking in with a pulse of 40 even with horses milling around the area, bawling cows behind her, strong wind blowing things over and around…oh, and did I mention this was only her second ride and the last ride she had done was this same one two years ago? Oh, yeah, and she’s really still just a baby, especially by slow-maturing Shagya standards…she’s only 7.

Unfortunately we didn’t have time to pre-ride, but I felt pretty comfortable with the idea of getting on her the next day. Some horses just give you good vibes, y’know, and I’d been reassured by multiple sources who know the horse that she doesn’t buck or rear, and really doesn’t spook at much.

That afternoon and evening, I managed to:

  • fit Liberty for boots (she had excellent hooves and has been barefoot her whole life but paranoid me was more comfortable being fully-booted) 
  • try my saddle on her (she’s a tank) 
  • get dinner (ribs! excellent!!!) 
  • go to the ride meeting (23rd place on Rocco on Day One and a t-shirt for completion)  
  • pack the crew bag 
  • try to poison Liberty (according to her) with electrolytes (really, another one who hates syringes???)
  • shower (yay for friends [Gina] with living quarters)
Morning (5AM…ugh) rolled around way too fast, and I started with Battle of the Breakfast, Day Two. I did a bit better this morning when I discovered cottage cheese went down quite well, plus another yogurt smoothie, a banana-applesauce, and coffee.
I was quite pleased with Liberty’s lack of young-horse-wiggliness when tacking up — I didn’t even bother to properly tie her (she was on her hi-tie) until after she was tacked up.
Liberty is definitely a Pretty Girl.
Doesn’t she look good in the orange?

That mane!!! I thought about braiding it, but kind of ran out of time. Fortunately, although it’s long, it’s silky and not really thick. And she’s also pretty much shed out except for a little bit on her back and belly.

Buddies
Liberty and Uno sharing a hay net.

Getting on a brand-new horse for the first time is always a bit fraught…in this case, it went off without a hitch. She stood politely next to the mounting block (a necessity: she’s a true 15.1 with no withers) and stood quietly while I got myself sorted out, then proceeded to still stand quietly while Uno did his Uno thing (circle-circle-circle-circle around the mounting block) before eventually deciding to cooperate. (He’s a Kiger Mustang. He does everything on his own time in his own mind.)

The start was another controlled start, but both the 50s and the LDs started at the same time. We split off onto separate trails within half a mile, but there were still probably 60+ horses all starting at the same time. We drifted out towards the back of the pack, but it was definitely a slow start.
Remember that part back on Day One where I mentioned that seeing the “scary” stuff the day before really benefited? Well, these two could have used the same benefit. :) It probably took us about 10 minutes to get past the camp vicinity, since we had to gawp at:
  • large rocks
  • tree full of fluttering ride ribbons
  • dead farm shack
  • dead farm equipment
  • other horses freaking out
I also wanted a slower start to give Liberty a chance to get used to me…and me to her. I could already tell she was going to be a smooth ride; her slow dance-mini prance past the (scary, already-creaking-and-groaning) windmill had shown me that much. We finally got out to the main road and picked up a trot.
Oooooh, this mare is a nice mover.
She’s smooth, light in the face, doesn’t pull, and actually responds to requests like, “Let’s not trot downhill on the hard-pack-topped-with-loose-DG [decomposed granite]-road.” I really like her trot: enough loft and elasticity that she’s easy to post and two-point, but doesn’t beat you up.
Camera out within the first few miles.
Liking this ear view.

She’s also really, really solid, especially for a baby. She was perfectly happy to lead, and although she peeked at thing (big rocks, dead logs, lurking cows), she rarely stopped, preferring to veer around and keep trotting. She also didn’t quite get “follow the trail” at first, and I had to actively ride her through the narrow, twisty single-track…for about the first quarter of the ride, after which point, she had it figured out.

The way the trail was run, the 30s and 50s shared some trail, then the 50s would break off and do a loop, then come back on shared trail…all throughout the day. Which meant as tail-end 30s, we were getting passed by the front-running 50s, pretty much most of the day. And she handled it so well. She is a dominant  mare, which means she has a space bubble…and one heck of a bitch-mare face…but she never acted on it. 
She also hit the first water trough at roughly 3.5 miles into the ride and started drinking. Yes!!!
Liberty and I lead for pretty much the first 9 miles, through single-track, open roads, across cow pastures, more road, then down into a large wash that made a long, slow uphill climb that kept going deeper and deeper into an ever-narrowing canyon. And finally, her baby-horse brain said, “Enough, I need a break.” So we put Uno in front and she was more than happy to follow him.
Still leading.
Smiling Gina and Uno.
Miles 10-12 were a bit of a “wall” for them…a large, wide-open road that lead to a gravel pit mine of some sorts, totally exposed to the sun and getting a bit warm. Talk about “death trudge.” I didn’t know two horses of their sizes (Uno is every bit of 15hh) could actually walk that slow. And then I pulled up the GPS track when I got home and realized it was also part of the section of trail that ended up climbing almost 1000′ in roughly four miles.
Death trudge excused.
We also met the terrifying photographer and had to be coaxed by her…so much for high-action shots. :)
The next few miles of trail into the vet check was a ton of fun…technical single-track that went up, down, around, and every which way, and it was there Liberty displayed one of the most hilarious quirks I’ve seen a horse pull: a temper tantrum when she trips. Seriously. She would take a minor misstep/trip, then shake her head and thrown in this bouncy hop-thing…I can’t even call it a crowhop because it involves more front hooves than hinds, but it’s like she’s stomping up and down on the ground that dared to get in her way.
We walked the road down into the vet check and she was already down by the time we pulsed in. (And ravenous. The alfalfa at our feet didn’t stand a chance.) I was happy with how she vetted: Mostly As, with a couple of Bs, but still very bright-eyed, perky, and happy to trot out.
She and Uno demolished a flake of alfalfa, grazed on whatever was growing underfoot, and nibbled on some bermuda grass before settling in to snooze for the rest of the hour hold.
Vet check snooze-fest!

You know I’ve got it together when I’m actually saying, “I wish the check had been shorter.” Really. I didn’t spend half of it trying to get my horse to stay in one place (either I or Gina held her for about the first 15 minutes, then I dropped my reins on top of the crew bag and there she stayed), so could actually dig in the crew bag, hit the porta-potty, replace water bottles, and eat.

Food tally: Peanut butter and jelly sandwich, tapioca pudding. I’d also downed two water bottles and a sports drink by the time we got to the check, plus a granola bar. My shoulders appreciated not wearing the Camelbak like I did on Day One. And on the way back to camp, I slurped another banana-applesauce, plus another bottle of water and sports drink.
The trail out from the vet check was awesome. It was a technical, twisting, little-up-but-mostly-down ATV track and boy did we make time on it. I was seriously impressed with Liberty’s ability to handle herself on technical trail while moving at a good trot. Waaay fun. She was still happy to let Uno lead at this point, and he is one handy little Mustang, especially on technical going, and I was even more impressed that even with him in front, she was still paying attention to the trail and slowing down when necessary versus fighting to tailgate. 
There was no wasting time, especially on this last 12-mile stretch home. They drank at all of the water tanks/troughs, and we gave them a couple of grazing breaks, but we were very aware of the clock and had to make time when we could. Liberty was also willing to lead again, so we were trading off sections, breaking them down into smaller mileage so as not to overwhelm the baby-horse brain.
We pretty much trotted into camp, then hand-walked the short section through camp to where they were pulsing  and by the time they drank, she was down to 56…and we finished with a whole 14 minutes to spare! Which is pretty much how I wanted it: No racing, not pushing the young horse too hard, and still having bright eyes and good vet scores at the end…which she did.
And then we went back to the trailer where she proceeded to continue work on her excavation project:
Does it make me a bad horsey-mommy that I had to take a
photo before disciplining her?
Oh, the attitude! Note the tongue sticking out.
And as pretty as she is, this is such an unflattering photo.
She looks so much prettier in person.

That was the work of Saturday night and Sunday afternoon-evening. Exhausted, that one. Not.

Suspect she was: 1) not pleased with confinement (she does bust out of hot tape corrals); 2) wanting her buddy next to her, not on the other side of the trailer; 3) wanting attention.
Still, digging to China was her worst indiscretion all weekend.
I can see why someone coined LD the “Luxury Distance.” It was kind of nice to finish up mid-afternoon and have a chance to get another shower (!), sort everything out for the next day (still anticipating riding Day Three at this point), grab dinner, and go to the ride meeting. (15th place; mesh mangers for completion awards…too cool!)
However, the plans changed one final time. After unwrapping Hadji’s legs, Steph noticed he had a puffy front leg, and while the swelling went down after doing a few walking laps, it was decided he wasn’t going to go out on Day Three. I had the option of taking Rocco out, but I declined. I had two awesome rides and was perfectly fine with calling it good at that point. It had only been Rocco’s second 50, and while he probably  could have handled it, especially if we went slow, I didn’t feel like pushing it, especially on someone else’s horse. So we packed up and headed home Monday morning.
Even with all of the changes of plans, I had an awesome weekend! Two great rides on two great horses, a chance to see and socialize with friends, beautiful trails, and an excellently managed ride. This was the third year for the Prescott Chaparral ride, and the first year I managed to make it to the ride…and you can bet I’ll be back for next year!!!
That wraps up our in-state rides until the fall, so I have no clue what’s next on the schedule. We shall see…