ride story

Land of the Sun ride story

/ Ashley Wingert / 1 Comment

The aches are barely starting and I’m already sitting down to write the latest ride story, which just goes to show how good the ride is…the worse the ride, the longer the story takes to get written, if it even does at all. And I’ve found that in my excitement over the ride, I ended up being rather verbose…so this story kind of goes on forever. All the excitement over a first 50, you know. It’s probably going to be a play-by-play of almost every mile of the trail, so will probably be a little bit boring in parts.

As a bit of a preface/introduction, I’ve been working on getting to a 50 mile endurance ride on a regular basis for the last year…my first 50 was supposed to be Land of the Sun 2007…the night before the ride, one of Mimi’s pasture-mates bit her in the middle of the back, right where the saddle sits. The entire year went that way…
an entire comedy of errors that culminated in me managing to get to 3 NATRC rides
and one LD ride. Not exactly what I would call a stellar year.

The 2008 ride season kicked off with an dubious start…Dad and I were supposed to go down to Sonoita to do 2 days of the LD at the Las Cienegas Pioneer. Well, Thursday (pony bathing day) rolls around…and with it comes clouds, wind, rain, and some kind of flu bug. So we bailed. Tough endurance riders, us.

Fast forward to the end of January…by this time, it has been since the beginning of October since Mimi has been to a ride, and she is going Stir Crazy. This is the horse that thrives on a competition a month, which is all she’s known since I owned her. When I was showing, we had a show once a month, on average. So she tends to get a little antsy when she doesn’t get to go anywhere for a time. Picking on her “brother” (Dad’s Shagya Arabian gelding, Beamer…absolutely no relation, they aren’t even the same breed…but they look very similar, and they’re pasture-mates, hence the “sibling” designation), throwing her feed tub around, charging the barn aisle for food…*sigh*

The week leading up to the ride was completely and utterly nerve-wracking for me. Fortunately, I had school to distract myself, and passed a couple more of my 60wpm speed tests (I’m in court reporting school right now, for those who didn’t know) because I was so focused. All the time, I was watching the weather reports…and getting more and more depressed and the chance of rain percentages kept creeping up…10%…30%…60%…70%…*gulp* This did not look good. Mimi hates the rain and cold weather, and is prone to cramping up in such conditions. I really didn’t want to brave my first 50 in the rain, but we had worked our tails off all summer long, and I wasn’t going to be put off.

I have the fortune of being horsey neighbors with Jim and Cindy Brown for part of the year…they spend the winters in Arizona, and their property is about a mile away from where we board the ponies, and I’ve been able to train with Cindy for the last two years or so, and we were planning on camping together at the ride. Talking to Cindy mid-week, the consensus was made the it would have to be hailing softballs for any of us to back out of the ride. They’ve been trying to make it to Wickenburg for a good number of years, and this year was finally the year they made it!

Wednesday night, I was dreading checking the weather…the last forecast was 70% chance of rain…in Arizona, that’s as good as saying “you’re going to get flooded out and go swimming down a wash.” Urgh. Surprise, surprise, the chance of rain had dropped back down to 40%…still, an almost certainty, but maybe not quite as much. And then, the nicest surprise when I woke up Thursday morning…the chance of rain had shifted to Sunday, leaving Friday and Saturday with only a 10% chance…in AZ-speak, that means less than zero, it’s just the weather forecaster’s idea of being optimistic.

Thursday afternoon is bath day, and the ponies get their first baths since October. Yeah, I’m a bad mommy, but I hate bathing when it’s cold and the water temperature is only slightly above freezing. The ponies don’t appreciate it too much, either. Fortunately, Thursday was sunny and barely breezy, which made for nice bathing weather. They both got fast baths, then stuffed into fleeces and sheets and installed in front of a pile of Bermuda and a pan of goodies (beet pulp, rice bran, salt, and some Trailer Express to try to encourage drinking that night).

I’ve pretty much got trailer packing down to a science now, and had it all packed Wednesday afternoon, so the only thing left for me to do Friday morning was pack the coolers and remember to stick my pillow in the truck. Ponies got another pan of goodies to munch while we pulled their sheets, groaned at the new manure and pee stains (no more gray horses after this, I swear), and did some last minute “make them look presentable” touchups. They both jumped in the trailer and we were on the road by 8:30. Yeah, Dad and I are both ridiculously early kind of people…he’s both of my parents are crazy morning people, whereas I’m actually not, I prefer to be a creature of the night, but for things like rides, I like to be there early if I can, since I’m pretty much rubbish at just sitting around twiddling my thumbs when I could be there setting up and not feel rushed.

Wickenburg actually isn’t that far away, just northwest of Phoenix, but we’re way southeast, and Friday morning traffic driving into and through Phoenix is not exactly fun. I drove and negotiated to moving road hazards while Dad took care of running the business on the go. It took us about 3 hours to get to the ride, between 2 stops at the drug store and grocery store, and the traffic.

Ridecamp is at the Wickenburg Rodeo Grounds, which is a nice, quite civilized location. Civilized = bathrooms. With flush toilets. Consider me spoiled. *grin* We found a nice spot around by the arena, fairly quiet, although a bit of a ways to the vet check. Easy enough for briefing and rider check-in, since we could cut through the grandstand, but I haven’t taught the ponies how to climb steps yet, so whenever they were in tow, we took the long way around.

We were one of the earlier ones to get there…when we pulled in, we only had one other neighbor, Karl Phaler and his Spotted Saddle Horse, Bubba G. Beamer was quite cheerful about having another horse on his side of the trailer. Mimi, on the other side and on her HiTie, could care less. She just wanted her food.

It didn’t take too long to set up camp…Dad sleeps in the back of the trailer, and I’m up front in the dressing room. I had a spot saved next to our rig for Jim and Cindy, who were leaving late morning. Mimi was thrilled when they showed up – she considers their boys her “harem”, especially Jim’s horse Panama. Panama got the nickname “Pony Motivator” over the weekend after they passed us and Mimi spent the rest of the ride trying to catch him.

Vet-in was completely without issue…pony did her usual “egg-beater” trot-out…I enviously watch all those pretty, floaty-trot Arabs, then go trot out the go-pony, whose legs go twice as fast as everyone around her. The vets get a kick out of watching her. *grin*

We did a short pre-ride just to stretch them out…Beamer was, as fairly typical, higher than a kite, but very controllable, especially when we were clinging to the side of a narrow single-track and a dog popped up on the other side of the hill. Beamer went to spin, saw the drop-off, and decided that wasn’t a healthy move to make. *Good* trail horse. He’s learning. Mimi just rooted her hooves and gave evil pony death glares at the dog.

Briefing was, well, brief. I did the 25 mile LD here two years ago, and remembered most of the first loop from that, as well as the NATRC ride at the beginning of last year, which had just a little bit of overlap trail, although not much. Briefing was early, too, so we were back at the trailer by 6:00, where Cindy and I combined forces and made dinner. A final walk for the ponies to the water trough, and I was in bed by 9:00.

I was up insanely early…3:30AM, ouch. I tend to take a while to wake up, especially when it’s cold. And it was cold, 33* cold I was informed when I dropped my crewbag off. My new portable Coleman BlackCat Heater I got for Christmas worked brilliantly, and really cut the chill in the dressing room. I haven’t yet had the nerve to leave it run all night…just a bit too nervous about the whole lack of oxygen/propane thing. But it worked while I was dressing in my many layers…I think I ended up with 5 layers first thing, and was down to 3 by the time I was mounted.

Gave the ponies some more beet pulp goodies while I made breakfast for me and Dad, and finished packing snacks in the crewbag before toting it off to get taken to the away checks – vet checks 1 and 3 were away.

The ride start was at 7:00AM, and our plan was for us to start out at the back of the pack. With the walk over to the start, it was 7:05 by the time we got there, so our timing was perfect. We walked out for the first ten minutes or so, then started trotting along the shoulder of the road that makes up the first mile or so of the ride. We passed a couple people, got passed by a couple people, and watched a gorgeous sunrise before turning off onto a wide, hard-pack dirt road for another mile or two.

Mimi was a bit disheartened when we passed Jim and Cindy – she didn’t want to leave Panama behind – but Beamer was on a mission, trotting down the road, and neither did she want to get left behind. However, they caught up with and passed us within the next 15 minutes, so Mimi was once again able to get into chase mode. We turned off the road onto a beautiful single-track that twisted through palo verde trees, sagebrushy types of plants, and up and down some little hills. The single-tracks on this ride are absolutely beautiful – they are literally raked and groomed before the ride!

We hit the first water tank in about 45 minutes – there’s water about every 5 miles on this ride. Both ponies drank, then it was onto another hard-pack road and down a hill into a sand wash. Jim and Cindy passed us at this point, and we ended up riding with them for the next 30 minutes or so. More single-track at this point – lots of short up and downs that are a hallmark of riding in the Valley of the Sun, as well as some sand wash thrown in – again, another hallmark that you can’t escape from. It is literally impossible to go a mile without hitting some kind of sand wash in the entire southern half of Arizona.

The single-track and wash combination eventually spit us out onto another hard-pack dirt road that we followed for 4 miles into the first vet check at 13 miles. Both ponies drank and pulsed down to 60 within 5 minutes…not bad, considering we rode them right into the check, since the single-track that leads into the check is not very pony-leading-friendly. She still gets a bit…enthusiastic…when I get off to lead early on in the ride, and it’s just easier to stay on her back when there isn’t a lot of room to maneuver out of her way.

The hold was 30 minutes long. We vetted them through right away…all A’s for both of them…then it was time for them to spend about 20 minutes stuffing their faces with beet pulp goodies and alfalfa.

Over the last two years or so, Dad’s been part of the pilot test program for Kirt and Gina Lander’s Renegade Hoof Boots (http://www.renegadehoofboots.com). Over the summer, I fiddled with a pair of Dad’s used boots and made them fit Mimi, despite being a size too big. She normally takes 00 Easyboots in the front, 000 in the back. Yes, tiny feet. However, the Renegades are adjustable enough that I made the size 0 fit her front feet, and kept using my Easyboot Bares on her back feet.

Just in the last month, though, they came out with 00 Renegades, which Mimi broke in and proudly showed off at the ride. Now I’m going to see if I can try to “size too large” trick on her back feet and see if I can’t get the 00 Renegades to fit her back
feet. I love the Renegades – they did great on both ponies at the ride. We didn’t have a single boot come off, and the only adjustment that was made was at the first vet check, when Kirt Lander replaced a couple straps on Beamer’s boots with shorter ones.

Neither of the ponies had rubs from their boots, although Mimi’s hind fetlocks and pasterns were liberally coated in Desitin to prevent the Bare gaiters from rubbing.

We were out of the vet check right on time, and the biggest obstacle was trying to find a decent enough rock for me to get on. Mimi has no withers, so any saddle I use on her has a tendency to roll, necessitating a raised surface to scramble on from.

The second part of the first loop was a lot of single track, ups and downs, and sand wash. Some of the sand washes were quite deep, and I insisted that the ponies walk through it. We met up with Stefanie Daratony, up from Tucson, part of the way through one of the big sand washes, and started the series of leapfrogging with her that would last for the rest of the first loop and the first part of the second loop. I think it because a game for Mimi, because she was bound and determined to catch Stefanie’s horse every time he would pass us.

The last six miles of the loop are beautiful…groomed single-track, for the most part. Mimi definitely remembered this part of the trail from doing the 25 miler two years ago, and did not want to do a nice, easy working trot, necessitating stuffing her head under Beamer’s tail and letting him set a nice, sane pace.

Were back in camp in about 4 hours, including the first hold, and the ponies again pulsed down within about 5 minutes. Mimi hung at around 70 for a couple minutes, and then dropped like a rock to 48. Again, we vetted them right away, since the trailer was a bit of a walk. I really like vetting first thing, because it gives the ponies more uninterrupted eating/resting time. And again, all A’s for both ponies. Yay! We’re halfway there!

We got back to the trailer, and both ponies were too busy pounding down the food to be too concerned about why their tack was still on. Both ate more goodies, some alfalfa, and their standard fare bermuda grass. Mimi ate for about 20 minutes, then started snoozing for about 20 minutes. She woke up in time to get another 5 minutes of munching in before it was time to get to the out-timer.

We were ready to go on time, but kind of forgot to take into account that the out-timer was back in the same direction as the vetting area, which is about a 5 minute walk. After letting them get a quick drink, we ended up leaving 3 minutes after our out-time, which I still consider to be pretty good.

The very first part of the second loop is a bit nasty…very technical downhill that involves some step-downs along slick rock. I was so glad for hoofboots at that point! Both ponies handled it beautifully, tackling the technical stuff without batting an eyelash, generating lots of cheering, excitement, and claims of “future Tevis ponies” from me and Dad.

We started leapfrogging with Stefanie again, and leapfrogged back and forth with her for probably about 10 miles or so. Mimi and I had taken over leading for this loop, and she was feeling even better than she had in the first loop. The joke was that because of the “early” (for us) start, she was still half asleep during the first loop, and that’s why she was so easy to control and rate. I should have known it was too good to last.

She was feeling so good and so strong in that second loop. My shoulder and neck muscle are still a bit sore, even as I write this, from when she was pulling. It was a bit of a shock – she hasn’t pulled as much at rides of late – but on the other hand, I was thrilled to see her feeling so good!

There was a lot more sand wash on this loop, but fortunately, a lot of it was more conducive to speed work. Lots of trotting, and we even got some cantering in at a few points. By the time we got into the vet check, there were a few scattered clouds in the sky and a light breeze blowing, just enough to keep things cool.

Again, both ponies pulsed down within 5 minutes at the check, and all A’s. Beamer still had enough energy to spook at the black plastic bags off to the side of the vetting area. Due to a minor miscommunication, the crewbags weren’t brought to the third check, but I really didn’t need it, because everything was provided. They had warm bran mash, alfalfa, carrots, and blankets for the horses, and a whole assortment of food for riders. I even managed to snag a couple of warm taquitos fresh off the griddle. Yummy! They even had volunteers to hold your horse while you visited the portapotty. I think Mimi charmed some of the junior generation, a couple of girls that were taking turns holding her as she chowed down while I took a bathroom break. New recruits, maybe?

We were ready early at the end of this check, and actually had to stand around for a couple minutes in front of the water trough before heading out. They even had a mounting block at this check – talk about a luxury!

A few miles after the check, all 4 of us kind of hit the wall. It was probably about 40 miles into it, and Mimi was feeling the best out of all of us. Beamer was starting to get mopey and a bit tired, and Dad and I were both getting some pretty sore muscles. For about 4 miles, it became “trot for a minute, walk for a couple.” My wall was when I got off to walk in one of the sand washes and thought I was going to die. I sort of just shuffled along next to Mimi for about 15 minutes before scrambling back on. I was kind of amazed that I was able to get back on – I figured that my muscles were so tired, they would just say “nope, forget this” and I wouldn’t have the energy to get up without pulling my saddle.

Once we got back on again, the trail turned into a hard-pack dirt road for a couple miles, then, *finally* we were at the same number check/water stop that we hit before the last 6 miles of the first loop. The last 6 miles of both loops are the same, and that *really* perked the ponies up. Mimi about took off – it was all I could do to convince her to keep it to an 8-9mph trot, and that was considered a “slow compromise.” Oi.

Those last 6 miles were the only repeat trail of the whole ride, and it was a great trail to repeat! Again with the groomed single track, etc. We took it pretty cautiously coming in, walking down every slight grade. The last thing we wanted was to have either pony come up lame in the last 5 miles of the ride. We still had plenty of time – and daylight – left, so we took our time and moseyed. Trotted some, walked some, and crossed the finish line at 5:09 (I believe). I couldn’t resist, and let Mimi trot just ahead of Beamer into the finish. In her mind, she won the race, and there weren’t any other horses in front of her. *grin*

Things were pretty quiet at the finish, so we vetted them through straight away…again with the dropping-in-5-minutes pulse thing. The biggest challenge was getting Mimi to lift her head from the food scattered around long enough to get vetted out.

Here she earned her only non-A for the whole day, a B on gut sounds, which is a hit-or-miss thing with her half the time anyway. Considering she was stuffing her face all day, I wasn’t too concerned. They both vetted out fantastic – all A’s for Beamer again, then we walked them back to the trailer. At this point, I had retrieved my crewbag and was carrying it over my shoulder. There was still hay left in it – I had packed enough for 2 stops, and only had it at the first one. Mimi kept nudging at it until I stopped, zipped open the bag, picked it up again, and let her eat out of it, hanging off my shoulder, as we walked back to the trailer. I really wish I had a picture of her doing that.

By the time we got back, there was enough time for them to roll in the huge rodeo arena before I put their fleecies and blankets on, brushed the worst of the gunk off, pulticed their legs, and gave them a nice pan of goodies. The awards dinner is actually held at the Wickenburg Community Center, about a mile or so from ridecamp, and we were ready in time to hitch a ride over and back with Ron Barrett, who we were camped near, and who happens to be the ride manager for Man Against Horse, which was my first LD AERC ride, and the one ride I’ve been able to get to consistently for the last 3 years. He had his adorable mini-Australian Shepard Jasper with him, and Jasper decided that I looked cold, and thus became my temporary lapdog on the drive over. I would have cheerfully taken him home, he was that sweet and adorable, but I don’t think Ron wants to give up his riding and running buddy.

Things were in full swing by the time we got there, but there was still plenty of food, and the line wasn’t *too* long…*grin*. 150 riders and their crews + 200 volunteers means lots of hungry people! It is so nice, at the end of a long ride like that, to be able to sit down in a real chair at a real table, and not have to worry about balancing my food on my lap! Sautéed green chili chicken, beef brisket, beans, and coleslaw tasted really good, as did the chocolate cake – sugar fix!

We were able to get our ride pictures at dinner – photographer Laura Bovee (http://laurabovee.photostockplus.com) and daughter Hailey took some fantastic pictures – we cleaned her out of all of the ones she took of us! Photographs are one of my life indulgences, and photography is one of my side hobbies, so I love being able to support the ride photographers. I figure, the more pictures everyone buys, the more likely we are to get them to come back.

Awards were lovely, hunter green sweatshirts with the Wickenburg ride logo printed on them, and t-shirts donated by Riata Custom Saddlery. Between completion awards, check-in gifts (little neck wallet pouches – very handy!), and winning a couple big bags of horse treats for being two of the top ten people to get our entries in, we came away with a ton of great stuff! I think we came in 53rd and 54th…I may be a place or two off on the numbers, so don’t take that for verbatim (and me being a verbatim court reporter-in-training!). I believe somewhere around 80 started the 50, and 68 finished.

Got back to the trailer, pulled the ponies’ fleecies out from under their blankets, brushed the rest of the dried crud off, took them for a walk, fully wrapped their legs, called my mom to give her the ride report, then crashed. It takes us a couple hours to pack up, and with both ponies being such good campers, we didn’t see the need to be driving a couple hours home at 10:00 at night.

Got woken up about 2:00 in the morning by rain. Thank goodness for waterproof Goretex blankets. The ponies were damp on their necks in the morning, but still warm, and dry under the blankets. Packed up – like I said, about 2 hours – and we were pulling out of the rodeo grounds around 9:00 in the morning. Took us a bit longer because everything was wet, and for some reason, that makes cleanup all the much harder. *lusts after a self-contained living quarters rig* Uh huh, Ashley, get a real job first…

The ponies looked great when we got back to the barn – still raining. They were both starving, and we left them with 3 or 4 flakes of bermuda each. The day after the ride, they still looked fantastic. I turned them out in the sand arena, since it was a mud swamp in the pasture, and they were both jumping around and bucking, looking like they had gone out for a 10 mile stroll.

I was so happy with how this ride went – it’s been a long time in coming, with a lot of ups and downs for both horses, myself, and my dad, and I have to say, it finally paid off…even if I did let my exuberance get the best of me in writing the recap of the ride. *grin*

Photos to follow in a seperate post…

Oops…

/ Ashley Wingert / Leave a comment

Hehehe, so much for regular updates…um, I blame school?

Actually, I got really busy, and everything kind of hit the fan after Man Against Horse. Mimi came out of that ride badly…it was by the skin of our teeth that we passed the final vet-out, because she was moving very weird. 2 weeks before, I had thought she was lame, but then thought the massage therapist fixed her. Felt a little more bouncy than usual, especially at the first part of the ride, then the vet made a comment at the check about the odd way her back legs, especially the right hind, were moving.

By the end of the ride, she was definitely sore. After we checked out, she went back to the trailer and curled up, looking find of miserable. Not her usual post-ride behavior. Even tried a tiny bit of colicky type of behavior, I think now it was because she was hurting.

Ended up bringing the vet out after we got back from the ride and springing for hock x-rays, which revealed that she’s losing a lot of cartilage in her right hock and starting to get a bit of fusing. Tiny bit showing up in the left, but not as bad. So I went ahead and had the vet do the hock injections…basically, the ones that help to replace the lost joint fluid. It’s like I have a whole new pony. She’s smooth and springy and happy again, and our endurance career is back on track!

Had a 5 week break from school, much of which was spent conditioning to get the ponies ready for their first 50 miler coming up next weekend – Land of the Sun in Wickenburg.

Been experimenting for the last several months with Renegades – http://www.renegadehoofboots.com/. Kirt and Gina make a fantastic boot – super easy to put on, and they stay on! They’ve been in the experimental production phase now for the last couple years, and Dad was one of their first guinea pigs. Now that they make them small enough, I’ve been using them on Mimi. I had been using an 0 on her…a size too big, but I was able to manipulate it down to where it fit. Now, we’ve got 00 boots, and they’re so cute! They fit her great, and they look adorable…sparkly golden yellow for Skip Me Gold! Appropriate.

So, needless to say, after having a bit of a downer ride at Man Against Horse, I really didn’t want to write up a whole ride story. The highlights:

-Dad got bucked off at the start when his saddle slipped as he was mounting and Beamer spooked and bucked. After that, though, the horse was an angel, and did quite well for his first LD ride. He enjoys trotting. Wasn’t so amused by the 1000-foot-elevation-in-4-miles climb up to the vet check, and he kind of trudged up the hill at the end, but after some food and water, he became quite cheerful again. (Dad’s thoughts: this is a highlight, how?)

-Due to the above reason, we got almost an hour later start. Consequently, we made it in with 7 minutes to spare…and we weren’t even the turtles! I took that title home last year, thank you, when we tried to turn Dad’s foxtrotter into a LD endurance horse. Didn’t happen, and we straggled in, literally in the 11th hour. Actually, the 5:59th hour, since this is an LD…

-Had we not started so late, we would have finished mid-pack. Eh, life. At least we finished. As it was, we came in 41&42 out of 47.

-The weather was perfect. Normally, Prescott is super windy, especially in the foothills of the mountains. Not so in this case. Friday was insane. Blustery, cloudy, cold. But Saturday more than made up for it, with just a light breeze keeping the air moving. I think the high was in the high 50s that day. Absolutely lovely.

-It really is a fun trail, although I call part of it my Tevis Practice Trail, because it’s a switchbacking singletrack that winds its way down the side of the mountain with a 1000 foot drop, and nothing but manzanita and a few pine trees to catch you. Urgh. Lots of “don’t look down” mantra happening. And singing. I have a horrendous singing voice, but I found that singing makes me breathe, and keeps me calmer, and thus, my horse. She doesn’t mind my singing…pony must be tone deaf.

The view from about 3/4 of the way up to the first vetcheck. This is about mile 11 or 12 on what is called Grapevine trail. Beyond the mountains is Prescott Valley.

Dad and Beamer at the start…before the airs about the ground. Walking him out doesn’t really work…he’s much better if you’re in the saddle.

Pony!Cam shot of going up Grapevine. This is what a lot of the trail looks like…narrow, twisty, and covered on both sides in manzanita. Every year I’ve done this ride, my leg wraps have gotten a new rip or tear. Better them than the pony’s legs.

Hitting the ground oozing…

/ Ashley Wingert / Leave a comment

No, I’m not dead. I was just busy, busy, busy. Graduation hit, and my life went crazy. I’m still real job hunting, working, and riding.

It’s way too hot to ride right now, but for some crazy reason, I’m still out there. My CoolMedics vest is saving my life. Except now it’s humid, so the vest doesn’t help. I hate monsoon season.

It’s been pretty quiet on the ride front, although I’m the sad, obsessive person that has my ride schedule planned out through summer of next year, where I hope to go to Tevis! Last ride was over Memorial Day weekend…Descanso NATRC. Did both days, finished, although that was the slowest timed ride I have ever been at. Honestly, I’m not even sure if the overall speed was within NATRC-legal limits. And for an oprganization that is so gung-ho about its rules and regulations…

Needless to say, Mimi was pissed, having to go so slow. I’m not going to do a whole write-up of the ride, just because 1) that was almost 2 months ago and 2) it really wasn’t my favorite ride, and I just don’t feel like putting the energy into it. The highlights:

  • Cuyamaca State Park is beautiful. I hadn’t been there in about 4 years, so the last time I saw it was pre-fire. It was sad to see all the damage that the fire caused, but amazing to see how fast things were regenerating, and how tough some of those old oak trees are to withstand the flames. Sunday morning, part of the trail went through the area of the park that hadn’t burned – wow! It was beautiful, but I was so glad I have a horse that is agile, pays attention to her feet, and is small. Parts of the trail were quite overgrown, so I’m thinking that in a sense, the fire might have been a good thing, as it cleared off a lot of the invasive underbrush from the other trails.
  • Got to see and ride with Kaity again, for the first time in about a year and half. Mimi and Sonny took turns being Bad Pony on Saturday.
  • I was really happy with the horsemanship performance Mimi allowed me to put in. She was so well behaved for the obstacles, which included, in true CP fashion, an off-side mount, opening and closing a gate, a sidepass, and a downhill back, to name a few. I actually got 2nd place in horsemanship.
  • We need to work on the whole “impulsion without losing out mind” at check in/out. Mimi starts being lazy and she gets marked off for lameness that isn’t actually there. But if I get her too animated, she starts bouncing around, thus losing me points for “lack of control.” Pfffft. AERC, here we come. They just want to see forward movement, and prefer to see the horse dragging its rider along. :)

Ride pics:

Me and Mimi Sunday morning. This was just after you spent some time weaving through the unburned part of the forest, where some of the grass was as high as my head! Granted, short horse + short rider doesn’t make that quite as impressive, but meh. The trail ended up on the top of a slight plateau, where there were these field of purple flowers carpeting the hills. We went on a fire road for a while, then all the way back down to the bottom of the hill. Gotta test out those cruppers, y’know. ;)

Dad and Beamer, Saturday morning. Beamer’s 3rd NATRC ride, and it’s safe to say we have a competition horse. He really rearranged his brain in the 6 weeks between First of Spring and Descanso and he really has his head together now. HE only put in a couple little crowhops within the first 5 miles of the ride, when we were doing some power trotting on the fire road. Dad said it was fun. :) Crazy man.

So what’s next for us? Still plugging away, even in the heat. Dad’s getting a new saddle, so after that happens, we’ll be able to pick up the training in earnest again. We’ll probably hit up Prescott and the Groom Creek area, where Michael and Julia Elias of Horses Dacor live. They’ve invited us to come up and ride with them some time. Precott = higher elevation = cooler temps. I’m in! Plus, I never pass up a chance to ride with experience endurance riders. Helps give me a better sense of speed and timing as well.

I’m planning a 3 day overnight camping trip over Labor Day weekend up to Flagstaff and Little Elden Springs Horse Camp, one of AZ’s premier horse camps. Better call and make reservations now. There are over 200 miles of trails that base out of that camp, so I think it’s safe to say that will be a good training weekend.

Man vs. Horse in October is our next ride, and we’re probably just going to do the 25. Had to put Bryce Canyon on hold, unfortunately. Maybe next year… But I love M v. H! It was my first AERC ride, and it’s a total blast! Not to mention, the runner stations are very generous and let you pig out on junk food they supply for the runners. After that, who knows? I’d ideally like to hit up Paso Del Norte and do the 50 there…it’s 3 weeks after M v. H.

I’d love to do Death Valley this year, too! Dad probably won’t join me on that adventure…I don’t think I’ve managed to corrupt him into being that extreme yet. So I either need to have my own hauling vehicle by then, or bum a ride from someone. My goal is to have my 300 Tevis qualifying miles ideally by March.

Some of my thoughts about Tevis, and why I truly do think I can do it with only a year of 50s under my belt. Despite what Indiana Jones says, in this case it is the years, not the miles. I’ve owned Mimi for going on 11 years. She and I have done everything together, short of carting and 3 day eventing. While I don’t have that many competition miles, I have been training, conditioning and competing for the last 6 years. I condition a lot more than I compete.

Before we started doing distance work, Mimi already ahad a good base on her from our showing days. POA shows were all day affairs, starting with lunging the tar (and the bucks) out of them at 6 in the morning, to finish up doing 18 second gymkhana barrel runs at 9:00 at night. Those ponies had to have some stamina to be able to handle all that we asked them to do. Flat classes, jumping classes, high speed reining classes…

Naturally, the idea of doing Tevis revolves around the ability to complete 50s, since we haven’t yet managed to get on one of those…*grin*. But Mimi’s not called the go-pony for nothing, so Tevis 2008, here we come!

First of Spring ride story

/ Ashley Wingert / Leave a comment

Mid-afternoon dental appoinments really cut into the schedule and working with the horses time. Had enough time today to dash in, dab more goop on Beamer’s dings, check to see that none of the horses got too enthusiastic with each other, then zip home, shower, change, and go see my novacaine-happy dentist. But I thought I would post my very long ride story from the First of Spring NATRC ride, April 14th.

First of Spring NATRC
April 2007
Warner Springs, CA

First things first: this is pretty long and wordy…I think I recounted almost every step of the ride! And I edited this from the original version!

First of Spring is always an interesting ride…for the majority of Region 2, it’s their first ride of the year. Many people chose to make this their first ride for various reasons: it’s fairly centrally located, it’s overall what I consider an easy ride, with smooth trail and essentially no hills. Historically though, FoS tends to be “one of those rides”, the kind where Murphy’s Law sets up permanent residence, and if it can go wrong, at least one person in camp will probably have it go wrong somewhere along the way.

This year was no exception. A record number of riders got dumped (my father included…more on that later), riders had major issues with crossing the multitudes of horse gates on the trail, people were way behind on their timing, and we were inundated with masses of bovines along the trail!

I think I set a new record in having stuff ready…the truck and trailer were both packed by 11:30 Thursday morning! With every ride, I just leave more and more stuff in the trailer, so I have to pack less each time. :) The ponies got their baths Thursday afternoon…it stayed nice and warm for Beamer’s bath, fortunately, but the wind picked up and some clouds started coming in about halfway through Mimi’s bath, necessitating a “shiver reaction” from the drama queen…culminated by some truly impressive slides, bucks and spins on the lunge line as I was trying to slow lunge her to dry her out. The neighbors had a new dump truck parked next to the round pen that was going to eat her…

And you thought bathtubs were just were for people… I prove that it’s just as useful for tack cleaning! :)

Friday morning rolled around way too fast, despite getting to bed at 8:30. 2:30 in the morning is an inhumane time to be up. Packed the coolers, loaded them into the truck, then it was grab a piece of toast (and coffee!) and head down to the barn to pick up the ponies.

First stop was Gila Bend, a little less than 2 hours away. Breakfast at McDonald’s, and who should come rolling up but Patrick Cook, our farrier, who was also going to the ride. We just thought he was going to be leaving about 5 hours before us…turns out it was raining in the middle of the night, so he went back to bed. Dad turned the keys over to me at this point, and I got to experience driving our new truck (Chevy Silverado ¾ ton Duramax) on it’s first long-distance hauling trip! I’m still getting used to the ease of driving a diesel, and it just skimmed up the hills like it was on the ground. Going 70 mph on some of the hills between Gila Bend and Yuma at 2000 rpms…nice!

Pulled into El Centro (note: need to find a better gas station, or better yet, just stop in Yuma) around 10:30, stopped for gas and to give the horses some water and sloppy beet pulp. Ate a couple large handfuls of B.P. each, but didn’t drink much. Ate a carrot and apple each.

Gave the keys back to Dad at this point, because partway to the ride, there are a lot of hills coming out of Ocotillo Wells, something I’m not experienced with. It’s a narrow, 2 lane highway through twisty, curvy mountain roads, with oncoming traffic (often RVs) whipping around blind corners. I tried to nap, but the area around Anza Borrego is so pretty, in the dry, arid desert way. :)

Got into ridecamp about 12:45, 8 hours after we left home. Despite what MapQuest says, it is not 6 hours and 15 minutes away…especially in a 30+ mph headwind! Found our favorite parking spot was still open – close to check in, briefing, and porta-potties.

Now the fun begins, as we had Easyboots to glue on still. It’s been somewhat of a nightmare trying to get this boot thing to work. Last year, I lost 3 boots at this ride, 2 of them permanently – one over a cliff, and one into a stream at the bottom of a steep bank. There’s $80 gone…

At Wickenburg last month, 3 of my 4 boots came off the second day. We eventually came to the conclusion that I hadn’t been using enough foam, and I wasn’t mixing it enough and let it set up enough before cramming their feet in the boots. Well, they worked this time…larger stir cups and more foam are the keys to successful Easybooting. It didn’t even take me that long to pull them off.

Check-in was a non-event, which was a relief. Our judges, Dale Lake and Leroy Burnham, DVM, are a great team with a fine sense of humor and a lot of experience. Dale sat on the Tevis board and was ride director for 3 years. Mimi put in a really good performance during check-in…stood stock still for the vet’s examination, then trotted out beautifully.

Now, Mimi being her Mimi-ish self somehow managed to bang her head (again!) on something in her stall, so she had a fresh, 2 inch long gash right across her forehead, right where the browband lays. It’s always something…wrapped her browband in moleskin where it might rub across the cut, and never had any problems with it the whole ride. Figures this would be the one time I don’t bring the back-up bridle that doesn’t have the browband. :)

Briefing was relatively, well, brief. Finished in about an hour…I’ve done this ride for 5 years now, 4 of those years on this same trail. The only thing that changes from year to year is the timing.

Took the horses out for a walk around ridecamp, let them drink out of the “different” troughs (since those are so much better than their buckets :)), then it was back to the trailer for their evening supplements and sloppy beet pulp slurry mixes.

It was sort of a restless night for me…got a good, solid 4 hours of sleep before I was woken up by trotting hoofbeats. Someone’s horse got loose…again. This happens at every ride…ironically enough, I find out the next morning it was Beamer that got loose! Whoops…I actually got out of bed and checked on them, too…Mimi was still attached to her hi-tie, peered around the side of the trailer and saw Beamer’s butt…little did I know, he wasn’t attached to the trailer at that point! A nice lady, Tamara, that was camping next to us caught him and returned him…apparently the snap on his leadrope had come undone. Something else to now check at every ride…urk.

4:15 rolled around way to early…and it was COLD! My little thermometer in the dressing room registered 24*. I have double sleeping bags, which is nice…until you have to get out of them. Note to self: buy a little portable heater! I’m also trying to figure out how to insulate the dressing room myself…Home Depot, here I come!

Go to make breakfast only to find out we were out of propane! :( Fortunately, Patrick was nice enough to let us use his stove in his LQ trailer (I want one of those…) so I could boil water for coffee and oatmeal.

Had to try and thaw out my Skito pad before I could tack up, so I stuck in on Mimi’s back and pulled her blanket back over it. Works pretty well, and it thawed out in about 10 minutes, during which time I was messing with attaching extra packs to my saddle. Got her tacked up fast…she’s so good for that – thanks to all the years of showing and tack changes.

Headed out on the trail at 7:30, the first CP riders out of camp. Mimi is so much calmer at ride starts with Beamer compared to with Kelly! We actually walked out of camp, across Hwy 79, and onto the California Riding and Hiking Trail. Did a very slow trot down to the wash that runs under Hwy 79, then walked up the wash and under the bridge, where we were observed by a couple judges right off! Mimi yanked her head as we stepped down the bank, and was able to get some extra rein, which I lost a point on. :( Bad pony. She did that last year, too.

Need to get grippier reins, methinks. Maybe beta biothane. I like the round nylon reins, because they double as a good lead rope for when I hop off and lead, but maybe for NATRC competition, when I don’t need to lead, I need something I can get a better grip on. We’re usually moving fast enough in endurance that she doesn’t feel the need to yank the reins. :)

Got through the bridge and into the campground, where Beamer tried Round One of the buck-fest. Didn’t really work, as he learned that he doesn’t get to go faster when he bucks. Picked up the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) at this point. Crossed the first horse gate – I was able to stay on Mimi and open it, hold it open, and close it again from her back. Good pony. Making up for the rein grab.

After that, it was about a mile of rolling plains to the next Hwy 79 crossing, and our first checkpoint. We were running about 7 minutes ahead of mid-time at this point, right about where we like to be. By running about 10 minutes ahead of time, we give ourselves a comfortable buffer to deal with things like tack adjustments and unscheduled dismounts, both which occurred on this ride.

Crossed the highway and headed off under the trees, the single track trail winding its way along a stream, and under a canopy of oak trees. Beamer decided that he was going to embrace the Young, Bad Horse aspect of his personality. His first offense was bouncing into a springy trot as Dad was passing under a very low tree branch…thank goodness for helmets, as that was one pointy oak branch! I should know, as I made contact with it on the way back…

The name-calling he got obviously didn’t sink in, because about 2 minutes later, he starts bucking when he wants to catch up to the horse that was in front of us. Dad disengaged him – or tried to. Beamer got very resistant, and decided he didn’t want to give, so he stiffened his neck and locked his jaw, wiggling his hind end all over the narrow trail. Well, at some point, he forgot how many feet he has, and got the back ones slightly tangled…

Tangled back feet hitting dead logs on the side of the trail usually don’t mix, and this case was no exception…Beamer went down, Dad flew off and landed about 10’ away in a think, cushy pile of leaves. Beamer flipped over into a pile of dead sticks and logs, scrambled around a bit, managed to extract himself, shook himself off, and went merrily trotting down the trail after the Fox Trotter in front of us!

The gal in front of us caught him about the same time we caught up to him, Dad readjusted his saddle, which had slid halfway down his side (thank goodness for cruppers and breastcollars!), and hopped back on. After this, Beamer was perfectly behaved. Neither of them were hurt, although Beamer had some scrapes on him.

This ride takes place on the beautiful Warner Springs Ranch, which the PCT winds its way through. Normally we see a couple cows throughout the ride, usually at a distance away. This year, we were up close and personal. We ran into a herd of Holsteins in the middle of the open plains, a few of them less than 2 feet off the trail. Beamer isn’t crazy about cows, so Mimi got to demonstrate her skills as a cow pony! We’d walk up to one, she’d lower her head, pin her ears, and glare at that cow! This typically resulted in the cow wilting in fear, and moving away.

Started down one of the few climbs on this ride…down a series of switchbacks to the stream below. I call this area from the stream to lunch my “Tevis training trail” – this first part is pretty narrow single-track that switches back and forth down to the stream below.

About part of the way down the switchbacks, we hear a crashing sound. There’s another herd of cows down below us, and about half a dozen of them are running down from upstream, crashing through the brush and hopping around. Horses just froze, eyes really big. We managed to get down the trail, one step at a time (and really tight reins!), until we cleared the trail and made it down to the stream, where there were still a few stragglers hanging around. Mimi stared down the one cow that was still drinking, got a drink herself (good girl!), then crossed the stream.

There were still about half a dozen cows on the other side of the stream, walking down our trail! I didn’t know the PCT stood for the Pacific Cow Trail! Mimi actually moved them down the trail for 100 yards or so, but then they got tired of that and jumped down the bank, across the stream, and down the other side of the stream. That cleared us of the cows for the rest of the ride, until we came back to the stream after lunch…

About a mile after the stream, we climbed the one hill in the ride…more “Tevis” trail…narrow, wind-y single track that slowly makes its way up the hill, plateaus for a while, then gradually descends again. It’s really fun, and I actually trotted on quite a bit of it. There’s quite a few sharp, blind turns, and dropoffs on the trail…not sheer drops, but V-slants, enough height to make it interesting! I don’t really like trails with dropoffs that much if I’m just walking along, which gives me way too much time to look at how far I’m going to fall if Mimi slips. So I prefer to actually trot narrow trails. The horses pay more attention, too.

Came into the P&R – Mimi was at the acceptable “go” rate coming in – 16 in 15 sec. (64). The ponies had great P&Rs. Mimi came in at 10/3 after the 10 minute wait, and Beamer was 9/5 (I think). We had a judged mount, which I aced, one of my few I’ve managed (I love my new saddle!), then it was across Hwy 79 again to Barrel Springs, our lunch stop. Bob and Margie Insko had their motorhome there, ready to serve lunch!

Bob had chili for us, as well as Margie’s homemade cornbread muffins, fresh green grapes (my favorites!), and a chocolate chip cookie. Ate rather quickly – I was hungry! I like to be waiting at the out timer 5 minutes before my out time, only because I’ve lost track of time before, and ended up going out almost 10 minutes late. :(

Adjusted my pad again – this was only the second time I used this pad with this saddle, and apparently Skito means it when they say don’t use the Cordura topped pad on slicker bottomed saddles. The pad migrated about 4 times throughout the ride…so we’ll be ordering a grippier, DryBack pad from Skito. Had to adjust my right stirrup to a hole shorter than my left…I think I must be out chiropractically, probably in my right hip. Dad noticed I was leaning to the right a lot. Shortening my stirrup helped, but I don’t want to do that because it means I’m riding off balance.

We headed out after lunch, back across Hwy 79, and back the same way we had come out. This was Mimi’s first time leading out and being the first horse along the trail, so she was actually a little spookier than I’m used to. Got to test the security of my new saddle on several occasions, and I’m happy to report it is very secure, especially for an English saddle! It’s a Duett (http://www.duettsaddles.com/), specifically designed for wide, flat-backed horses. I got the Companion Trail model, which has a lot of D rings, a padded seat, and longer and wider panels.

After we got back to the stream, more cows were waiting for us. About a dozen this time, below the trail, on the trail, and on the bank above the trail. The horses were concerned about that, so we stopped and waited for them to move off, crashing through the stream and up the other side. They did, except for one stubborn cow on the hillside, and I just knew if I went past her, she’d choose that moment to run behind Mimi, which would be a very bad situation. So Mimi and I scrambled up the bank, moved the cow down onto the trail, then down into the steam. Got to the stream crossing, the horses drank again, and we went back up the same switchbacks we had come down that morning.

Going through the shady oaks next to the stream was fun…we were first through the area, and we were scaring quite a few critters out of the dry, dead underbrush…squirrels make a lot of noise when they scramble through dead leaves and twigs! So Mimi was doing a lot of little spooks, most of which were kind of fun, as long as we weren’t too close to the edge of the trail. I wasn’t keen about the idea of landing in the stream.

Got into the 2nd P&R, was 8/3 after the 10 minute wait. Beamer was 12/5, but part of that was probably due in part to the P&R was right next to Hwy 79, and Beamer hasn’t been exposed to that much traffic yet. And we did a lot more trotting than what he’s used to. The P&R was actually at the 2 mile point, which meant forward motion from this point on. Made it into camp within our 15 minute on each side window around our midtime.

We cleaned the horses up – the day ended up being very pleasant, and the horses were barely sweaty, so they cleaned up very easy. We were waiting in line, being the first 2 back in camp, by the time Dale and Leroy made it back. Mimi checked out beautifully, for the most part. Her trot-out was gorgeous – one of the best she’s ever done! She actually checked out with a higher score on her trot-out than she checked in with.

One thing I was very happy with was that her back checked out perfectly! I think the new saddle is working…and that’s with the saddle pad going all wonky half the ride!

Poulticed and wrapped Mimi’s legs and pried off the Easyboots after we checked out…it only took me about half an hour to get all of them off, and that’s with taking breaks in between to let them soak in water. I’m pleased to say that I’ve pretty much figured out the trick to getting them to stay on…I wasn’t mixing the foam enough or letting it set up long enough before sticking the boot on the hoof, and I was using too little foam. Probably used too much foam this time, but it beat losing any boots! We’ll keep tweaking it, but for now, my faith has been restored in Easyfoam.

Dinner was served about half an hour before the schedule said, but I was okay with that, even if I didn’t have a chance to change. First time that’s happened, still being in my riding clothes for dinner and awards. My half chaps kept my legs warm when it started getting chilly, though.

Dinner was grilled tri-tip and salad…yum! Had a great dinner in our little “Arizona circle”. Beni DeMattei, Debbie Zinkl, Rochelle Gribler, Ellen Stewart and myself all set up our chairs in a circle and gabbed about the ride. I lost my father somewhere at this point…I believe he, Patrick and Jim Monroe were spending some time chatting. It’s been a year since we’d seen Jim, so there was some catching up to do. Apparently Jim has a new horse, so we’re looking forward to seeing him back in action at the next rides!

Awards got started after we had a chance to eat and gab. Neither Dad or I placed, but CP was a very tough class at this ride – 16 entries, and the scores were very high, separated only by +’s and -’s. Got to crash into bed about 10:30 after taking the horses for a walk and refilling their hay bags for the night. Got woken up at about 3:30, this time by raindrops! It wouldn’t be a First of Spring without getting rained on at some point! Heard the horses shuffling around unhappily, but that’s what waterproof Goretex blankets are for, and I wasn’t going out there to comfort them.

Woke up about 6:00, the rain had stopped, although there were still a lot of clouds hanging around. Started packing up, and about half an hour before we were ready to leave, it started sprinkling again. Had a moment of panic when I couldn’t find my keys, but didn’t really have time to look for them. Dad found them back home when he was cleaning out the trailer…they fell into one of my storage crates. Must have fallen out of my pocket while I was packing.

The rain stopped when we pulled out of camp, which was nice. Hwy 79 and S2 are not fun to drive in the rain. Stopped briefly in El Centro to water the horses and for a bathroom break. The next stop was Yuma, where we stopped at the state line to present paperwork (the guy at the counter didn’t even know where to stamp our health certificates!) and get gas. Note: Love’s stations are good places to stop! Their pumps are really fast, and their stores and bathrooms are usually really clean. I got Subway for us for lunch on the go, and Dad handed the keys over to me at this point.

It was still really windy, but it was a straight tail wind, so driving it wasn’t a problem. Got my first experience trailering down a hill with Maxie (the truck) and the Allison transmission. That is one smart, sweet transmission! I drove the same hill last year with the Suburban, and I was riding the brake the whole way down.

Made it back to the barn in a little over 7 hours. Turned the ponies out, and they both took off, Mimi at her fast “pony-trot”, Beamer cantering along behind her. They both looked really good.

Overall, I’m very pleased with how this ride went. Mimi was the best behaved she’s ever been at this particular ride. The new saddle appears to be working, especially once I switch out the stirrup leathers for myself. I was getting some pressure bruising on my thighs from the stirrup buckles, so I may try some Wintec Webbers, which aren’t as bulky. The Easyboot experiment went smoother this time, and I loved using the new UpBuckles!

Now it’s time to send in our entries for the Region 2 Benefit ride at Descanso, CA, over Memorial Day weekend.