This blog is about Riyah's journey into the world of endurance, honestly put and nothing held back. So honestly, yesterday had some good points, some bad points, and a few downright ugly points. Read on.
Sharon and Gail arrived promptly at 5:15am as planned. I had booted Riyah in the barn that morning wrapping each hoof with three wraps of athletic tape before slipping the EasyBoot Glove onto her hoof and seating it with a couple of good taps with a rubber mallet. She was very good for this even though she was surprised to see me at 4:30 in the morning! I blanketed her with a flannel sheet since it was cool, but not cold.
As soon as Sharon and Gail pulled up and loaded their things into my truck, I loaded Riyah. Yes, in the dark even. She just loaded nicely although she was a little wired about the early morning activity. I ran into the house to tell my sleeping husband good-bye, ran back out and we took off. I didn't know that while I was in the house Riyah scrambled in the trailer.
She must have gone down, or very nearly so, because when I unloaded her 45 minutes later at the ride camp in Gunnison, I noticed the slant panel had a big dent. I removed her blanket and saw that she had taken a big chunk of hair off her hip. No blood, luckily. Sharon said she and Gail had heard her scramble earlier.
We parked close beside some friends and Riyah was relatively (!) relaxed standing near their horses. She looked around with flared nostrils and a high head. I tied her to the trailer with a hay bag, and went to sign in.
When the vet arrived, we headed over to vet in. Riyah was happy Diane kept her horse nearby. She needed a security blanket! She vetted through just fine and was even pretty good for the vet. She had a pulse of 44. Back at the trailer we saddled up and watched (since we were parked right by the start!) the 50-milers head out. It's easy in this wide-open country to watch the riders go out for the first half mile or so. That was exciting to Riyah! She wasn't sure what was going on, but she knew it was something BIG!
Diane and I had previously decided to ride together. She has a very nice young half-arab gelding who is remarkably quite and steady. This was his second 25 mile ride, and with his calm nature he seemed like a great riding buddy for Riyah. We mounted to warm up for a few minutes before our start, since horses were gathering. (Thirty or more riders had signed up for the 25-miler.) I dismounted a couple of short minutes later, as Riyah's behavior suddenly became totally wound up. Wound up enough that she tried to buck! She has never done that before! I decided to let the main pack head out and get out of sight over the hill. Luckily Diane was kind and patient enough to stick with me.
When there were just a couple of small groups of riders heading out, we tried again. I had quite the rodeo on my hands. Riyah was beside herself with excitement/anxiety. She trotted sideways down the trail. She threw in a couple of bucks. She jigged sideways. She bumped into Diane's horse, Sammy. She jumped from one side of the road to the other. It was bad. So bad that I twice had second thoughts about continuing. I did not want to get hurt and I did not want to end up on a run-away causing other people to get hurt. Maybe Riyah wasn't mentally fit enough for this yet. Finally I got in the front of a little group of riders--about six or seven of us. Riyah calmed down enough to trot along in the lead. She was nowhere close to relaxed, but she was going forward in a relatively straight line at least. I decided to continue.
We continued trotting up the jeep road. Riyah could see horses way ahead, but she stayed fairly manageable, until a couple of riders wanted to pass us. I let her out a notch and kept her ahead of them. Not because I was racing, but because she was going to go ballistic if they pulled away in front of us. Diane's horse stayed with us and our group continued. Four miles into the ride, I thought there might actually be hope. She was calming down. She had a couple of good spooks at the trail ribbons, which made me laugh. (That was a good sign, too.) She even kicked out at one of the ribbons as we trotted past. Crazy girl.
A young man named Rollin took the lead as we left the road and headed onto a single track trail. He led at a good pace and eventually Riyah relaxed and followed him nicely with Sammy close behind. We walked where the trail was too rough and strewn with boulders. We wound up and down through the gully, twisting through cedar trees, sage brush and boulders. Riyah suddenly scooted forward and sideways as a two-foot long rattler coiled and rattled menacingly at us. (Smart horse!) The trail was steep in places, and I was glad. Riyah needed a big hill! She was really starting to settle down since she was having to work and sweat a little.
All of a sudden we were at the top of the hill looking down into the Hell's Kitchen Canyon. Gulp. It was time to dismount and hike down this treacherous, steep, rocky, shale-covered, slidey, UGLY, trail. This stretch of trail is tougher than anything at Tevis. I must say that Riyah was great as I led her down that horrible stretch. It was terribly steep, so steep I could barely balance. I kept my eyes on the trail and concentrated on staying on my feet. Riyah did not crowd me. I kept my stick handy, and I did shake the lead rope at her once or twice to tell her to back off and slow down, but she was very good about it. Our whole group of five riders made it safely down the mile-long stretch. Thank heavens it wasn't muddy!
A few miles later we faced one more very nasty section to lead down. This one was shorter, but every bit as nasty--very slippery shale and loose dirt and rocky ledges. Whew! We made it. We were home free. Next stop: the vet check. Diane and I, along with a lady named Carolyn, dismounted a hundred yards from the vet check and walked in. Riyah pulsed down well. She was well below criteria (60) when we came in. Sharon and Gail were glad to see us! I'm sure they wondered if I was going to survive after they got to see our rather exciting start.
My dedicated, helpful crew!
Riyah was relaxed for the entire half hour hold. She drank, ate, and rested. And she went out in a relaxed manner when we headed out at 10:33! The three of us (Diane, Carolyn, and I) walked and trotted easily for the next few miles. Shortly we came to the last steep down hill stretch. We dismounted again and headed down. This hill was long and very steep, but it was open and not as rocky as the canyon. Riyah snatched a few bites of grass on her way down, and she was patient as I slowly made my way to the bottom. Again, she didn't crowd me or walk on my heels. Yay! Our lead training paid off! Easy, open trail from here to the end of the ride! We were home free! (Not.)
As we rode across a long open grass-covered valley, we were suddenly confronted with a herd of 800 stampeding sheep! I don't know if the sheep herder was making them run or trying to stop them. His palomino horse was alongside and his three dogs were working the herd. The sheep were neck and neck with us 100 yards to the right and quickly closing the gap as we flew down the trail at a good trot. They were going to cross the trail in front of us! No way. We would choke on the dust! We kept going, and the sheep finally ducked behind the three of us riders. Carolyn's horse who was in the back was beside himself with fear. Diane and I stopped and let her get him under control again. Riyah was looking around like she couldn't figure out why we stopped. It was just a bunch of sheep--no big deal. Little pink trail ribbons are terrifying, but stampeding sheep are OK. Go figure.
We carried on. Less than two miles from camp, Carolyn suddenly raced ahead of me and Diane. She just let her horse go and never looked back. Now I know it's "ride your own ride" and all that, but Diane and I had let her use us as pace horses, and we had babysat her through a couple of rough spots, so we thought it was a bit unsportsmanlike of her to do that at the end. Riyah basically came unglued as her horse raced away. She spun, ran sideways, ignored the one-rein stop, flung her head and bucked. I got off. We were too close to the finish to get hurt now! Diane, bless her, agreed to get off and walk the last mile to the finish with us. Our horses calmed down immediately, and we let them grab some grass on the side of the trail and munch on our way in. They were happy and relaxed as we crossed the finish line, and both horses' pulse were below criteria at the finish.
Both Sammy and Riyah vetted through in very good shape. They both drank lots of water and headed for their food! They looked good and felt good. I was happy to be in one piece and felt pretty good, too! It was touch and go a few times, but we made it!
The EasyBoot Gloves were flawless. A short detailed report will follow. A post analyzing the ride, our preparation, and our homework will show up soon. Stay tuned!
In one piece at the finish line!
Happy to be back at the trailer!
Good read and CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU BOTH!!!! you have nerves of steel.
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