ride story

Ride Story: Bumble Bee 25 2014

/ Ashley Wingert / 3 Comments

Bumble Bee…otherwise known as the ride with the really long name, or “Lead, Follow or Get Out of My Way @ Bumble Bee” ride. I volunteered it last year…this year, I had the chance to ride it. Gina brought Liberty down for me to ride again — our second ride together.

I’m going to segue for a moment to detail out a theory I have that’s tended to hold true over the years. For me at least, on the horses I’ve really clicked with, the first ride has been magical. Heavenly choir and hallelujah chorus echoing in the distance, and the feeling that I can go anywhere and do anything with this horse. The feeling that sears into your subconscious and stays with you forever. A good thing, too…because inevitably, the second ride is when all hell tends to break loose and you find out what you’re really dealing with.

I had that happen with Mimi…my first test ride on her was amazing. And I had to keep reminding myself of that feeling for the next couple of years as we argued and struggled…it was something to cling to, that we could one day reach that level of partnership again.

Guess what happened this weekend? Yep. I got to experience the “other” side of Liberty. But knowing what I know now, coupled with the horse herself…her “other” side is still not going to be that difficult to work with, and most of it will be solved with experience, exposure, and wet blankets.

The very shortened cliffnotes version of the weekend? We finished…but overtime. The fact we got a late start, coupled with a number of “baby horse brain” training moments meant we came in about half an hour over…and I’m okay with it. It was my decision to deal with the issues as they came up, before they turned into major problems down the line, and my decision to back off and not push it as soon as I realized there was no way we were making time. That didn’t take away from the fact I had a great ride in gorgeous scenery on a really fun horse who has a ton of potential. We all finished in one piece, riders stayed on top, no one tripped and face-planted, no one kicked, and there were no tears or blood involved.

Sooo, now for details…

Friday afternoon saw me and one stuffed suburban heading out, leaving Future Ridecamp Dog in the extremely capable hands of my parents for the weekend. Much as I would have loved to bring her, she’s just a little young still. Hopefully sometime this year…

overlooking the Bradshaws

The last four miles of the dirt road into Bumble Bee wasn’t quite as icky as I remember it being…but that could also be because I remembered that I have a 4-wheel-drive vehicle…and remembered to use said four-wheel-drive this year. (Blonde moment? What blonde moment?)

pretty sure they have more cattle than that now…

arriving to basecamp

I had a chance to meander around camp and visit with friends while I waited for Gina and Kirt to arrive. Once they did, we whisked the horses out of the trailer and vetted them in before we ran out of daylight.

Liberty watching the vetting area

Liberty vetted with all As, except for a B on guts, and 40 pulse — not bad for just hopping out of the trailer, being near-dusk, and being several horses away from her travel-and-riding-companion-horse. I would also like to remind people this is only her third ride, at a brand-new basecamp she’s never been to, and only the second time I’ve handled her.

Yeah, pretty sure she’s got a good (if young) brain between those ears.
ranch pavilion where ride meeting was held

After we vetted them in, we found the permanent ranch corrals we had reserved for the weekend. The horse Gina had brought to ride hadn’t been tested on the hi-tie, as since there were permanent corrals available, we figured that would be the better way to go. And was it ever. The corrals were 35×50, so gave the horses a ton of room to move around all night. There were also feeders (no need to hang hay mangers) and large auto water troughs, so no hauling water. I could get used to this.

After settling in Liberty and Gina’s horse Wicked, we scuttled back over to the pavilion where they were just starting to serve the ride dinner (spaghetti, salad, garlic bread, and brownies with ice cream). We munched down on dinner and listened to the ride meeting, including fun things like the “horse name raffle” in which all of the horses who are entered in the ride have their names put into a jar and a random drawing is done for various door prizes. It was kind of strange listening for a horse’s name other than Mimi’s. Liberty’s name wasn’t drawn, but it was still fun.
And then ride meeting was over, and it was back to the trailer to throw the horses another flake of hay, pack saddles, and socialize with friends before bed. I got a nice sofa bed, with a heater down on the floor and Gina’s Rottweiler as a foot-warmer.

As is typical for me on Friday nights before a ride, I didn’t sleep all that well…but new settings combined with the always-present pre-ride nerves mean this is pretty much standard practice for me. It’s always kind of a relief when the alarm finally goes off and I can wake up for good, get dressed, and get on with things.

Ride morning was when we made our first tactical error. I don’t know what it was, but it seemed like time flew by. I had allowed almost two hours before the start, and I was still scrambling, to the point where I forgot my vet card as we were walking up to go check in and had to run back for it. (Yay, early morning cardio.)

Liberty was somewhat up, but still well-behaved, with the exception of trying to paw the air when I wanted to pick her hooves and put her boots on. Least they go on easily…

Liberty is currently running in Renegade Vipers, 140×135 on the fronts and 140×130 on the hinds. To put that in perspective, I can fit Mimi’s boots inside Libby’s with room to spare. This mare has nice, big, lovely feet.

I had the same set-up from Prescott Chaparral, with the exception of a different girth and Woolback pad instead of Skito (my Skito foam inserts have just about had it and I really need to get them replaced). I don’t know if it was the pad, or her being slightly more trim, but my saddle fit her better this time around.

We probably should have allowed more time to get ready, but it’s hard to think about that when it’s cold and dark out, and you’re not used to starting an LD at 7:30 in the morning. Oh, well…now we know…

So we hand-walked over to the start (halfway down, I discovered I’d forgotten my vet card, prompting the aforementioned dash to the trailer and back), Kirt gave both of us a leg up (which I need to practice…I was about as graceful as a flopping tuna, not being used to this whole “leg up” concept), and we made our way out of camp.

mares moving out from the start

“Out of camp” meant down a dirt road and through the ranch barn yard…past things like ranch equipment, wired horses, and…goats. Here, Liberty’s lack of exposure to a lot of things made itself known, as it took us probably another ten minutes to make it through and out to where the actual trail started. (Hindsight: Should have hand-walked. But I didn’t relish remounting, since Libby’s a little taller than my usual pony fare.)

indecisive mare ears…not sure if she wants to lead or make
Wicked go first

I gotta say, the ride name is kind of ironic…”Lead, Follow…” since neither mare wanted to lead particularly well, but neither did they necessarily want to follow. In their pasture, Liberty is boss over Wicked…but Wicked is the more experienced of the two out on trail and at rides.

We did quite a bit of frequent trading off and on of who was leading for the first half of the first loop, which was a mix of sand wash and road like the above photo. Liberty also started drinking when we hit the water at 7 miles, and proceeded to drink at every available opportunity afterwards. Hydration will not be a problem with this mare.
About halfway through the loop, we hit the Black Canyon Trail, which was an awesome section of single track with some technical sections. Liberty excels at this kind of trail. For being 15.1 (or thereabouts) and somewhat rectangular in her build, she can compact herself up and motor right through those twisty trails. Of the two, she did much better at leading through at a speed faster than a walk, so she got elected to lead for the next 7 miles. We had a couple of battle of the wills, that involved her planting her feet and me convincing her that forward was actually the order of the day, but overall, I was extremely pleased with how she did. She did some smart footwork, and really, really tried. There were a lot of large rocks and rock piles along this section that were quite scary, and she was brave as long as I was right there with her. It was definitely a lot of active riding on my part — rein contact, leg contact, core muscles engaged, steer the horse, look ahead, pay attention, let Libby know she’s doing good…no autopilot today.
cross-country section that routed around a rock slide on the
Black Canyon Trail

Gina and Wicked behind us on the Black Canyon
Trail. Wicked is every bit as big as she looks — at
least 16 hands tall.
short climbing section on the BCT…Libby acts
like the hills aren’t even there.

The last bit of loop one took us off the Black Canyon Trail and down into a wash that lead back to camp. The wash actually had a flowing little stream-lette going through it, and ride photographer Susan Kordish was there to take what I’m sure will be awesome ride photos.

Heading back through the wash and stream was a blast. Liberty was a bit unsure of the water, so as long as Wicked went ahead, we were actually able to trot through the wash, splashing through the water. (Next time, I must remember to get video.) 
Yes, this is the AZ desert. Really.

We hand-walked back down the same road we had left on, and back into camp. Both mares were pulsed immediately (Libby was at 44(!)), and she vetted through with all As, except a B on gut sounds. She also pawed the air because there was alfalfa on the ground right. there. and I wouldn’t let her grab it, and cantered and leaped through part of her trot-out. Yeah, worn out, that one.

We were in for our hold at 10:52…recommended in-time was 10:30. So if we hadn’t started late, we actually would have been right on target, pace-wise, even with the young horse training moments.

Back at the trailer, she tucked into the bucket of soaked pellets Kirt had made up, and proceeded to slop and scarf her way through the next hour.
“I shall call you Mush Face, and a lovely Mush Face you shall be.”

Gina, Wicked, and Kirt at the hold

We were actually early for our out-time (and yet another graceful leg up into the saddle for me…), and I laughed as Liberty stood in the road, doing her trademark air-pawing. As soon as we hit our time, we were off, and as soon as we cleared camp, both mares sprang into a trot and booked it out of there. 

Okay, cheerful willingness to leave camp is good.
The second loop was only 9 miles, but we had been warned it was slow-going. A lot of the trail followed the Black Canyon River (which is a tiny stream by most definitions), crossing over the river bed and paralleling it for over half of the loop. Which meant we had a ton of water crossings, and sand, and climbs. (Otherwise known as rigorous conditions for hoof boots.)

This loop, even though it was slow-going, was So. Much. Fun. I’d call it alone worth the price of admission. Water is a novel concept for this desert rat, as well as for my desert rat horse, but Liberty was with the program, and she proceeded to drink out of every single stream crossing. I wasn’t going to discourage the hydration, but this wasn’t helping our time…
paralleling the Black Canyon “River”
Partway through the loop, we had a big climb up a steep jeep road, and she powered up it, pausing only once for a brief moment. Her heart rate peaked at 160, then immediately started dropping, and she was back down to 80 in under a minute, and not even breathing hard. I cannot wait to see what this horse does when she’s in shape…
After the climb, we were on a jeep road that slowly started winding back towards camp. With the internal compass pointed due “trailer”, both mares perked up even more…perhaps a bit too much so, as Wicked started trying to canter the small uphills, which in turn meant Liberty also wanted to canter…and exercise her canter-induced “happy feet” (read: crowhops that threatened to turn into some bucks). Uh, not in my world, sweetheart. 
She definitely wanted to go faster, but some of the footing was tricky (lots of embedded rock slabs in the road), and she had started doing a bit of tripping — I don’t know if it was because she was getting tired, or just not paying attention to her feet — but either way, it meant it was time to slow down and re-group the baby horse brain. It was also at this point that I realized we were still roughly 4 miles out from camp and had 15 minutes before cut-off. Unless the two mares magically sprouted wings, that wasn’t going to happen, and there’s no sense in pushing it.
So we proceeded back at a sensible, not-rushing-the-clock pace, treating it as we would have had we still been on time…trotting where it was good, walking the rough, keeping brains intact. We also got more great photos from Susan as we crossed the “river”, and I had a “discussion” with Liberty about making nasty faces when being passed, as well as the inappropriateness of spinning and trying to take off after them.
We headed back in the same running-stream wash, and back into camp the same way.
We were officially a touch over 30 minutes over…so, our late start, plus the fact we just meandered the last few miles in. But we pulsed down to 48 immediately, and vetted out with As, and a B for gut sounds. When I asked Dr. Rick about the B on guts and whether that was just “her”, he said that, at least to him, a B is what he considers “normal” and As are “exceptional.” She also trotted out great…keeping it to a civilized dull roar this time.
And then we were done. :) We went back over to the trailer, un-tacked, and pulled and examined boots. I hadn’t touched Liberty’s boots all day, including at the lunch hold, and they hadn’t budged, even through all the water, sand, climbs, and fancy footwork. Safe to say we’ve got her boots ironed out.
We were even able to give the mares a bath afterwards, then put them in their corrals to roll, dry off, and eat some more while we went back to the trailer for food and to do some Renegade customer service.
Requisite goofy picture of normally-attractive mare

I love this part of going to rides and working with Kirt and Gina in a hands-on setting…I always end up picking up just one more tip or trick on fitting/sizing/troubleshooting, or learning something I hadn’t previously known or thought of.

Kirt and Gina headed back home later that evening, so I shared my friend Angie’s living quarters for the night, since I’m not overly fond of driving I-17 at night, then headed home the next morning, where I had a very enthusiastic puppy welcoming committee.
Officially, we might not have “completed”, but we ended up with a great 25-mile training ride over some gorgeous scenery with good company on a great horse. I call that a win.
until next time, big mare… *kisses*

Ride Story: Bill Thornburgh Friends & Family Ride 30 & 25

/ Ashley Wingert / 4 Comments

(Only two months late…)

My 2013 ride season has come full circle. I started the year in January with the Fire Mountain ride on Kaity’s horse Kody. Last weekend (last weekend being the last weekend of October), I did what is likely my last riding ride of the season (since I’m committed to working the McDowell ride next month) on Kody. As in January, our purpose was again companionship and babysitting of “greenie-brain” Ani, Kaity’s up-and-comer.

In between January and now, Kody has done three 100s, including Tevis and Virginia City. Needless to say, I felt very privileged to get to ride Kaity’s Tevis!pony.

I also decided against a repeat of the tire incident from the Fire Mountain trip and elected to fly out to Kaity’s this time. (Turns out this was also more economical than filling my gas guzzler.) I flew out bright and early Tuesday morning on a packed Southwest flight, stuffed my bags in Kaity’s car, and we zoomed back up the hill to her place, with stops along the way for Starbucks, pony food, and girl food. (Did you know you can fit two girls, two suitcases, two sacks of feed and a dozen grocery bags into a four-door Chevy car? Neither did I. But you can.)

Packing and prep went without incident, including being warm enough to give the boys a bath. (“Woe is us,” says Kody and Ani.) We pulled out of Kaity’s mid-morning on Friday with one very stuffed truck and trailer, since apparently packing for two girls + two ponies + two days = a lot of stuff.

The Bill Thornburgh ride is located in Inyokern, about 2-1/2 hours or so from Kaity’s place. That is, if 395 isn’t shut down due to a shooting/police chase in Ridgecrest that detoured us out and around the long way. We did go through Red Rocks State Park, so got some pretty scenery.

Just a small sampling of the pretty. If we didn’t
have Places To Be, I would have loved to explore.

Once we checked in and got our rider packets, we set up camp (weather was nice enough to tent camp this time), then took the boys out for a leg stretcher. Since I’d flown out, I decided against trying to wrangle my own saddle through the airport, instead electing to ride in Kaity’s FreeForm. I’d had a chance to do a couple of short training rides in a FreeForm this summer, and didn’t dislike it as a saddle. And I figured I could put up with almost anything for 25 miles…but it would be nice to know what I was in for by doing a short pre-ride.

Turns out that once you get the stirrup length right and the stirrup position/leg hang right, the FreeForm is wonderful. Not to spoil the ending, but this is the first ride I’ve ever done where I haven’t come off of the weekend with tight, crunchy calves. Two back-to-back days with lots of trotting and I felt fantastic. One of them has definitely been added to my wish list.

Derp faces all around.

Kaity and Ani on our Friday leg-stretcher ride.

We vetted the boys in after our pre-ride, and Kody vetted in “nearly dead” with a pulse of 30(!). We also continued our trend of completely sucking at trot-outs. (At least we provide entertainment, since it was soft sand and I thought I might fall down at least once.) The rest of the afternoon was spent packing the crew bag and hauling it back to the vetting area — camp was about a block and half away from the check-in/vetting area, so we treated it like an “out check” with everything at the check area instead of traipsing back and forth to the trailers.

Per the ride meeting, we would have two loops: Loop one was 11 miles out to the water/number-check/turn-around point, and back on an approximately parallel track into the check for a half-hour hold, then back out for a 9-mile short loop. Vet criteria was 56. It was warm and ponies were woolly, but there was lots of water along the way, with enough to sponge/scoop, and as far as I know, there were no treatments and only a few minor pulls over the two days. And the start time was an incredibly civilized 8AM. 
Every other time, I sleep like the dead. But for whatever reason, the Friday night before a ride is usually more like zombie-apocalypse restless dead, and this Friday was no exception. Not made any easier by the water truck pulling up right outside our tent and re-filling the giant water trough that we had so conveniently parked right next to. Sleep happened, but it didn’t seem like it at the time. I’m also not used to this “sleeping in” concept, so was up before the alarm, slowly pulling on my riding clothes and shivering.

Surprisingly, the typical “Battle of the Breakfast” was not a part of the day’s scheduled programming. I was able to eat a yogurt, a hard-boiled egg, a banana, coffee, and juice without any protest and/or mental trickery.

The boys got festively adorned with Halloween decor all around.

Kody’s witch hat and mane clips
The boys ready to go.

Ani’s pumpkin heads and mane clips
glittery spider on the tail

And us riders didn’t do too bad in the festivity department, either.

Orange in my helmet, tights, and Kody’s boots
Kaity wins (this time) for most orange, an honor (?) usually
taken by myself

Ride start was a very civilized 8AM, IIRC. (I think…I stopped this partway through, and am picking up writing it again two months later.)

dust cloud of the rest of the pack ahead of us

We casually meandered out of camp, pretty much the last ones to leave, and tiptoed past the scary stuff along the road. (The usual suspects: tires, trashcans, other horses, barking dogs.)

And then we were on the trail, and this series of photos shows a pretty good idea of what the next 11 miles to the turnaround point looked like:

turnaround point is a water stop just past those vehicles

Yup…flat, straight, sandy. I was warned ahead of time that the Inyokern rides are “good ones to do with a good riding buddy.” And it’s true. Kaity and I chattered and laughed pretty much non-stop through both days. To me, at least, I found the scenery to be interesting and pretty, since it’s a different desert than my desert. I was on a good horse, the weather was good…and flat, fast trails are their own challenge, since you the rider have to consciously think about things like changing gait, changing positions, and making sure you and your horse don’t get sore from the “sameness” of it.

at the turnaround point…Kody noms alfalfa
while I rummage for something
(probably food)

lava flow — we rode right at the base of it to the turnaround
me-n-Kody, heading back after the turnaround point

Kaity and Ani on the trail back to camp, part of which was an
old railbed trail

baby pistachio trees

heading back into camp for lunch

shabby view, eh?

monitoring the hoover’s food intake at lunch

I don’t remember how long lunch was — 30 minutes, maybe? I just remember thinking, “Ugh, not long enough.” I don’t like having to eat that fast…but whatever. The thing about riding with Kaity is she makes sure I take care of myself — “Are you drinking?” “Are you eating?” “Ash, leave the horse alone and sit down and eat.” Yes, ma’am. So I sat. And I ate. Bologna/cheese sandwich, tapioca pudding, Kern’s nectar.

And then it was time to put bridles on, tighten girths, and head back out. (Yes, I used the big water trough for a mounting block. No, I did not fall in. Yes, this is considered a bloggable accomplishment.)
Loop two was shorter — approximately 8 or 9 miles…whatever made up the balance of mileage after the first loop (22ish miles) to get the distance up to a 30.
And loop two was fun.
It was a lot of single track, which Kody and I lead through at a great, zoomy canter. (Hey, cantering through the desert…I feel almost like a real endurance rider!)
skeeery tire. brave Kody had to lead past it.

more pistachios

the start of the really fun single track

I’ll let the next series of photos speak for itself. This section of the loop was gorgeous, with the Sierras always in sight.

And then we were out on a road that paralleled Hwy 395…

And then turning off onto part of the trail we had pre-ridden the day before…
And then we were done! Both boys pulsed down immediately, giving Kaity and I finishing places of 12th and 13th, respectively. (Out of 18. Started dead last and still made up a few placings.)

(photo actually from Friday pre-ride, but you
get the idea…snorkeling pones)

And then we took advantage of the perks of riding the LD: shower, sit in the sunshine, nibble on snacks. Watch exhausted (uh huh…) ponies nap.

poor 100-mile pone, exhausted after 30 miles…not

Ride dinner was delicious…tri-tip with all the appropriate sides. (Beans, corn on the cob, salads, and a huge dessert table.) Day one completion awards were t-shirts, and Kaity won a Halloween bucket of goodies for “Best Coordinated Horse and Rider”.

Fortunately, I made up for my Friday sleep deficit on Saturday night, and it probably would have taken something running over the tent to actually wake me up.
Sunday morning was a repeat of Saturday, food-wise, and Halloween decorations were once again installed on pones. (Except Kody lost one of his little witch hats from his mane somewhere along the way.)
Sunday’s trail headed us out in the vaguely same direction as Saturday — towards the lava flow — but we paralled Hwy 395 for a while before peeling off, doing some loops through the desert, and coming back in the same way.
even more orange today…

Lather, rinse, repeat for lunch…

And then back out on the same loop two as Saturday. More cantering, more views. And because we knew where all the dips and soft spots were, we made better time.

photo by Tony Wilkie

We finished in 12th and 13th again, out of 24 on Sunday’s ride. And Kaity and Ani won the overall LD horse of excellence award for the weekend!

The boys got to snooze in the sunshine while we packed up camp — the wind had really picked up, and predicted to get worse, so we wanted to head back before Hwy 395 got closed due to blowing dust.
We got back to Kaity’s early enough to unload the boys, clean up, then head out for Mexican food and obligatory celebratory margaritas!
 I still had a couple of days to spend at Kaity’s, and we filled the time with things like off-roading with Kaity’s boyfriend KC:

And admiring the high desert mountain weather:

And the general, life-enjoying shenanigans that Kaity and I manage whenever we get together. Woe, as always, that we live in two different states, but glad, as always, that I’ve got such an awesome friend that shares in the craziness of endurance, horses, and life.

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!

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. 

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…