saddle time

/ Ashley Wingert / 2 Comments

Since I’ve got the Tevis Educational Ride coming up in a week and half, I figured it would probably be a good time to remind the riding muscles they have a function beyond just meandering a few circles in the arena.

Running the Renegade Hoof Boots trade show booth at The Mane Event last month and Western States Horse Expo earlier this month was a really good boost to my mental state. Not only was it a good confidence booster both personally and professionally, but that kind of immersive horse experience got me excited about riding again.

With as hot as it is (we got a blessed reprieve through the first part of June with a somewhat delayed summer, but we’re into it now…commence heat training), I’ve really backed off on how much trail running I’m doing, choosing instead to walk with the dogs or put in the treadmill time at the gym.

The flip side of not running as much means time to ride. And this weekend, I managed to get down to the barn both days, which is an almost-unheard of phenomenon for the last several years. Used to be par for the course, but more recently, between travel, work stuff, dead-truck-for-a-time, family stuff, running, and just plain old can’t-be-bothered-to-make-the-drive…it’s been a while since I’ve had both weekend days free, and felt sufficiently motivated to do something with it.

Doesn’t hurt I got a couple new toys to play with, either.

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Taylored Tack “Zuni” Bridle and an original handmade Myler kimberwick

At the Western States Horse Expo, we were right next to the Western States Trail Foundation booth — aka “the Tevis store.” And my wallet ended up making some contributions to the trail. ;) They had this gorgeous Taylored Tack bridle hanging up…right next to me…after a day and half of being taunted (they also had the same bridle at the AERC Convention earlier in the year) I finally gave in and it found a new home.

Who says retired ponies don’t deserve nice things? By now, that pony probably deserves a gold-plated tack set, but that would be harder to clean, and probably not as flexible or easy to fit as beta-biothane.

And the Myler was an eBay find. Original handmade, not one of their production line. Sweet iron mouthpiece, which you can only get on English-style bits by custom order. And interesting hooks on the kimberwick cheeks. They’re half loops versus the fully-connected loops, so the reins end up with a bit more slide to them, especially on the bottom loop. I have no idea what the purpose of it is; I’ve never found any published info out there from Myler as to this style versus closed loops. But Mimi loves this thing. Like, grabs it out of my hands, and I have to practically pry it out of her mouth at the end. It’s the MB33 mouthpiece, which she really likes, but I think in this case, the sweet iron is what’s got her so nuts for it. This is the absolute softest I’ve ever seen her with a bit. No fuss, no fidget, no weird jaw crossing.

Taylored Tack

Sleepy side-eye when we were done. We wrapped up before it cracked triple digits, but it was still warm. Windy, too. But she knows she looks good. She knows when she gets new tack.

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Have realized I can never get rid of this saddle

Irony is: When you have three saddles, and the one that currently fits the pony the best and is the most comfortable/favorable riding position is not the fancy dressage saddle, or even the saddle that did probably thousands of ride-and-training miles…no, it’s the old gymkhana-saddle-turned-endurance-saddle.

Yep, the old Big Horn has been pressed into service once again. The old Big Horn, circa 1999 (I think?). My former lesson and gymkhana saddle. I guess it’s no wonder I feel so comfortable in it…spent hundreds of hours in it when taking lessons and running gymkhana at shows.

This saddle deserves its own post, especially detailing out all of the alterations its gone through, but long story short: when I started distance riding, I sawed the horn off (if my trainer from show days is reading this, she probably just died a little at that part…) and gradually made changes like swapping fenders for English leathers, and putting girth billets instead of cinch latigos  on it.

It’s not always been the most comfortable saddle for me in the past, though…mainly, too wide of a twist. But I’ve kept it around as a back-up saddle…it lives down at the barn for the days I can’t be bothered to haul one of the saddles from home.

Funny thing…I’ve been playing saddle “Round Robin” for the last several times I’ve ridden…and when I hopped up and settled to the old Big Horn yesterday, it felt wonderful. Of the three saddles, it puts me in the most comfortable position, I don’t feel like I’m fighting it at all, and I feel really secure. And for whatever reason, the twist doesn’t feel too wide.

Mimi’s moving well in it, too. I’ve always had good luck with this saddle on her. We used it for half a dozen NATRC rides, and several AERC LD rides, and the only time she ever had any back soreness was when I used an Equipedic pad instead of the above-pictured purple Skito.

So I guess we’ll just keep on busting out the old Big Horn for now.

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And finally: discovering the sneakers you put on by accident/force-of-habit because you forgot you were riding, not running, actually make for fantastic riding shoes. Still like my Terrains, but not for hiking since they have no tread. I’m not sure how much of the Ed Ride coming up might involve hiking, but since I’d like to be prepared for that eventuality, I’ve been scratching my head and wondering about what shoes to bring. Yesterday’s “happy accident” was further confirmed by deliberately wearing them today, and that settled the matter — these are definitely going on the packing list. Super comfortable, no foot numbness, good tread, and very breathable.

11 days out from Tevis Ed Ride departure day. Counting down!

Getting an Education

/ Ashley Wingert / 4 Comments

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What’s the next best thing to a Tevis entry form?

How about an entry form to the Tevis Educational Ride?!?

Last month, a friend surprised me with an offer to join her on the Tevis Ed Ride and ride one of her horses. Naturally, I had to think about that for all of about .05 seconds. I’ve been wanting to participate in the Ed Ride for years now, but just like Tevis itself, it takes money, time, and the appropriate horse. (While it’s 64 miles in two days versus 100 miles in 24 hours, it still involves the canyons, so a fit, strong, capable horse is required.)

I have been peel-me-off-the-ceiling excited about this since it all came together. I’m really excited about the chance to see the trail again, and really psyched about all of the seminars and clinics that are a part of the weekend. Every little bit of trail experience and Tevis-specific knowledge I can get crammed into my brain will only serve to help me on the actual ride, and in the past, those who have completed the Ed Ride have a very high completion rate on Tevis itself.

It’s also an opportunity to spend a long weekend in close company with a very experienced endurance rider — over 20 years, over 17,000 miles, and 5 Tevis completions out of 7 starts. With a 2-day drive to Auburn, there’s a lot of time for conversation, questions, and brain picking.

Most of my attention for the past three weekends was spent on two different expo trade shows (two three-day shows, two weekends apart), but those are done with now, so the next few weekends will involve getting in some good saddle time so I can remind my riding muscles that they really are functional and have a job to do.

It should be an interesting weekend — because the Sierras are still snow-covered (and just got more snow on Monday), the courses for both the Ed Ride and Tevis itself have been altered this year. They’ll still use a majority of the original trail, but there are definitely some changes involved…curious to see how the ride will play out, although management is working hard to ensure that the changes don’t lessen the degree of difficulty of the ride.

And I just realized that I leave for the Ed Ride 3 weeks from today. Wooo!!!

belated birthday wishes

/ Ashley Wingert / 6 Comments

I spent the last three days at The Mane Event expo in Scottsdale, working the trade show booth for Renegade, so I missed posting on Mimi’s actual birthday, which was on Friday.

So this is a belated happy 24 years to my bestest heart horse in the world.

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It’s really hard to believe that she’s 24. Physically, there are times I definitely know that she’s showing some signs of her age, but mentally, she’s still going strong, and as long as she’s given some warm-up time, she is still physically strong and capable.

We were able to get out on trail again a couple weekends ago, and at one point, she was out-walking all five four of the other horse we were with. Never mind she was the shortest of the bunch, with the others ranging from 15hh to 17+hh.

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best view in the world is between these ears

Partnership

/ Ashley Wingert / 3 Comments

You’d think that after two decades of being together, Mimi and I would have a seamless partnership. In part, that is true. I know, for example, that she is probably the overall best horse I will likely have in my lifetime. I may have others in the future that end up better in some specific regard (more suited for 100-mile endurance rides, for example), but as far as the overall “hit every box for what I need and want in a horse,” she’s set a really high standard.

The danger of a 2-+ year partnership, though, is complacency. Of late, I’ve been guilty of just “going through the motions.” When you’ve “been there, done it all” and there’s nothing new on the horizon, it’s easy to slip into a mode of boredom with a side of “don’t give a damn.”

And she deserves better.

I owe it to her — 20+ years of packing my butt around and putting up with my shenanigans and foolish ideas — to still keep pulling my weight. It’s hardly fair to expect her to put in a good performance when I myself could be accused of being “barn sour.”

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Yesterday felt like an eye-opening refresher. I had access to the big pasture, so rather than subject her sometimes-questionable mechanics to the soft sand and tighter turns of the area, we were able to have a lot more room to move out (getting and keeping her momentum up seems to be the trick now in getting a reasonable canter out of her), and she didn’t have to work as hard at lifting her hind toes on the harder-packed turf as she does to clear the softer arena sand. Case in point: she didn’t trip or stumble at all yesterday.

As for myself, I’ve gotten so caught up in paying too much attention to fine details and minutiae that I’ve forgotten to to just sit up and ride. As a result, I’ve gotten more and more tense, overthinking and trying to force the issue, letting myself get into a downward spiral of believing I don’t know what I’m doing and don’t really know how to ride.

I don’t really know what changed, but a couple weeks ago, I had glanced at one of my ride photos I have hanging on my bedroom wall, and my takeaway impression was “What are my lower legs doing?” A closer look at some of my other photos all revealed the same consistent error. Apparently I’ve forgotten I have lower legs, and that they have a job to do in the saddle.

Lightbulb moment. Way too much gripping with the thigh/pinching with the knee, not enough “heels down, lower leg as a solid platform under you.” No wonder all my ride photos have me pitching forward, with lower legs swinging back. I’ve gotten so comfortable in my defensive, curled over, “cling like a monkey” default riding style that riding centered actually feels like I’m in a chair seat.

So the past couple of weekends have been spent paying attention to the basics of keeping my lower leg solid and under myself, with a side order of “heels down, shoulders back, eyes up.” Y’know, all the stuff I learned as an 8-year-old.

And wouldn’t you know it, as long as I kept a solid lower leg in place, everything else just came together as it should.

This is why my pony should be sainted. 20+ years later, she’s still tolerating me with good humor.

 

Crown King Scramble Analysis/Wrap Up

/ Ashley Wingert / Leave a comment

(Only a month late, but that’s usually how I end up doing these analysis type of posts. Have to think about things or a while, forget about it, get tired of it sitting around in a draft, realize I’m done thinking, and just post it.)

Obviously I couldn’t be happier with the ultimate outcome: my first ultra finish, and while it involved a lot of sweat, there was no blood, and there weren’t even any tears this year. I got a whole lot right, and most of the “change or do better” category are minor bumps and nitpicks versus major game-changers.

Since I’m still very, very new to this ultra game, this will not be a streamlined list. This will be me laying out lots of details, mostly for my own purposes of future reference and remembering.

What I Wore
I was vacillating on what to wear for two weeks ahead of the race. First the weather was going. Then it was going to rain. Then snow. Then be perfect. Then cloudy. After some indecision, I finally settled on:

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  • InkNBurn “Sakura” singlet. This was actually a brand-new design release from them the week before the race. I have a deep love for cherry blossoms, so I took it as a good omen as a “meant to be” race shirt for me.
  • InkNBurn “Dragon’s Gate” capris. These were a good pick for multiple reasons. 1) I was afraid my leg muscles might get cold in shorts, and stiffen up. But capris aren’t as warm as tights. 2) Have done a fair amount of training in these and they’ve never done me wrong. 3) Thigh chaffage is a real thing. The longest run I’ve done in my InB shorts has been 15 miles; I was unsure of the chafe factor/how much BodyGlide I would need beyond that point. 3) InB always has a really cool “meaning behind the design” story, and this one resonated for me:

    “These capris were inspired by the legend of Dragon’s Gate. The story tells of a huge, glimmering school of koi swimming upstream in the Yellow River of China. Gaining strength by fighting against the current, they came upon the waterfall at the start of the river. Many of the koi turned back at this point and let the current carry them away. The remaining koi refused to give up and leaping from the depths of the river, they tried to reach the top of the falls. This caught the attention of mean-spirited local demons who raised the height of the falls just to be cruel. After a hundred years of jumping, one koi finally reached the top of the waterfall. The gods recognized the koi for its perseverance and determination by turning it into a dragon, the image of power and strength.”

    My goal was to be that koi. No turning back, just keep jumping, one step at a time, no matter how long it took.

  • Nathan VaporHowe race vest. A new acquisition for me, I was able to put all of two training runs and 10 miles on it ahead of time. Overall I really like this vest. Doesn’t bounce at all, super comfortable, and tons of pockets and storage. The hydration bladder is really easy to access, to re-filling at aid stations was super-fast. My only gripe is that I think it runs a little small for the measurements, at least for us busty gals, so I had to undo the straps during the worst of the climbs so that I could breathe easier. (That said, I’ve had to do that with every hydration pack, and even some of the bands on my sports bras, so it may just be me and having a hard time handling any rib cage constriction whatsoever.) I would like to try adding some elastic pieces or extra length to the straps to see if I can fasten it a little looser — straps are extended out as far as possible. Even with un-doing the straps, I didn’t have issues with the pack bouncing or slipping.
  • Hoka One One Challenger ATR 2 shoes. I have two pairs of Challengers, one with ~ 200 miles on them and one with ~ 25 miles on them. I started with the newer pair with the though of having the most amount of cushy padding for the faster, harder-packed section of the course. I think they could have done with a little more breaking in, though, as they were a littler tighter around the toes and I ended up having a blister rubbed on my right big toe from them. I had my well-worn ones waiting for me in my drop bag at mile 15, though, and I switched over to them for the remainder of the race. Definite difference in toe space, so the newer ones will be in for a thorough round of getting even better broken in over the next couple weeks.
  • Balega Blister Resist merino socks. I’ve had really good luck with these socks. Small aforementioned blister was due to the shoes and part of my tape getting scrunched up. Socks are super-comfortable, and even when my feet got a bit wet during one of the creek crossings, the merino kept my feet warm and comfortable.
  • SmartWool arm sleeves. These are a really good option for me when conditions are slightly cooler. I tend to warm up very quickly when running, especially once the sun is out. So it has to be near-Arctic conditions (or raining) for me to wear jackets or long sleeves. I started with the arm sleeves, ditched them in my drop bag at the halfway point, and only briefly wished I had kept them with me for a couple miles of cooler, cloudy weather between mile 20-23. And then the sun came out again and I was perfectly warm in my tank top.

What I Consumed
I did sooooo well in the food/drink department this time around, and it made such a difference. I followed the mantra of “eat early and often” so I never got behind on my intake as the race went on, and as foods got a little less appealing, I still had reserves left in my tank from earlier.

I’ve also learned that consistent calories is more important for me that hitting an exact number of calories, especially taking in large quantities at a time. I do much better with a few bites of something every 30 minutes rather than a gorge-fest at the aid stations.

Huma Chia seed gels were a surprise hit — I could have managed a couple more of them. They were a great option for when I hit the level of “but I don’t wanna eat.” More substantial than Gu/other gels (most of which were concocted in a chem lab test tube), and made with all natural ingredients, they’re easy to slurp and swallow, sit well, and don’t have a fast-hit-and-crash effect on me. Strawberry, Raspberry, Mango, Lemonade, and Strawberry Lemonade are all ones I’ve enjoyed.

Hydration went really well, between carrying my water pack and a soft bottle in one of the pockets that held Skratch labs drink mix. This is definitely my go-to for any kind of electrolyte drink…about the only thing that tastes good when it gets lukewarm, and it’s really mild-flavored. Also not concocted in a chem lab. Has passed the approval test for both riding and running.

Misc Thoughts on What Went Right
I was really surprised at my fast recovery. I’ve felt far worse after shorter races than I did after this one, so obviously I didn’t over-do it, and went in with sufficient training. I even went to the gym the Tuesday after the race…not at all-out capacity and effort, but enough to engage in “active recovery.”

I ran with music. I have “meant to” in the past, and then would get to the point where I couldn’t mentally be bothered to deal with it, or I was going to “wait” until I hit the wall (uhhh, that *was* hitting the wall). I did my Mt Ord training run with it right fromthe start, realized just *how much* it helped. Music went on a couple miles in and stayed on the whole time.
However, I apparently need to get a new iPod. My old one has vanished into the ether (WTH? I have no idea how I managed that one. It’s highly aggravating, because it has to be around here somewhere, I just don’t know where and I’ve torn everything apart searching for it) so I was using my phone and the music I have stored on it. Downside? I don’t have as much music as I would like on it, in order to save space. Plus, having my earbuds attached made it that much more stuff I had to fumble with if I wanted to pull my phone out for photos, or when I took my pack off. First world runner problems.
Staying at the venue ahead of time was a really good idea. While it made for more work, the extra couple hours of sleep was justified. (That said, if I choose to do this again, I have an invitation from a friend who lives very near Lake Pleasant to stay at her place.)
I never went into quit mode. I slowed down, and I heartily bitched a few times, and there was much bad language to be had…but I never once seriously gave any thought to dropping. (Music also helped. If I’d start feeling too down I’d look for something really peppy and/or loud rock and that would lift my spirits and perk me up.)
Misc “Things to Work On/Change”

I can always do more hill training. I’m a flat-lander with limited access to the kind of true, sustained climbs encountered on this race. If I do this again, I will frequent Mt Ord and Thompson Peak numerous times. Hip flexors were definitely tight/sore during, although they recovered quickly.
Be more consistent in first half speed. My goal was to make it to mile 15 in the “normal start” time allowance of 3:30, and I did it in 3:35. 10 minutes faster than last time, but would still like to get a little more consistent on the sustained speed during the “easier” parts. (That said, I ultimately finished within 9 hours, so didn’t actually “need” that early start extra time on the back half, which meant my hill training was much stronger.)
I didn’t need to carry as much solid food with me as I did. Solids like granola bars/waffles held minimal appeal. Get more chia gels — they are almost always appealing in any weather, and are easy to eat.
If you’re planning on running with someone, discuss your race plan ahead of time — do you stay together the whole time? Do you split off at any point? Do you each “do your own thing?”
I still want to work on getting breathing under control. It was better this time, but I still feel like my lung capacity is compromised in some form or fashion. I’m hesitant to just grab the inhaler option if I don’t absolutely have to.
Went through way more electrolytes than I had planned, so I need to start carrying a “backup stash” of them in my pack. I didn’t run out but I only had one left.
Will I do Crown King again? Never say never. Now that I’ve done it, there’s a part of me that would like to improve on what I did.  Next year, though, I would like to tackle the Whiskey Basin run in Prescott — multiple distances offered, all held on the Prescott Circle Trail that forms a 55-mile loop around Prescott. (They offer an 88k, which is the full loop, and then shorter distance of 54k and 31k that have starting points along the trail, and all end up back at Watson Lake.) This year it was the weekend after CK, which would have just been too much back to back, so Whiskey Basin gets the priority nod next year.