Stories

Phlyrt and I did the Davenport Dare 25 on Saturday, October 18th. This was the first time I'd brought a friend to an AERC event (I've "introduced" others to NATRC, but not AERC). My friend Rachel and her older gelding, Winter, joined us. Winter is a purebred, but his previous owner gave him to Rachel and couldn't find his papers (how does one do that??) so she's not 100% sure of his age (and totally clueless on his breeding, but he looks & acts CMK).

Phlyrt & I did this same ride last year. Last year they said that some trails were closed due to fire hazards so they only had one 25 mile loop (and the 50s had to do the loop twice -- once in each direction). This is the ride where the "controlled start" led to us getting swept up with the lead riders and Phlyrt learning to gallop with her chin to her chest up & down hills, over rocks, etc.

This year, the closed trails from last year were open, so the 25 mile ride was actually entirely on the trails I hadn't seen last year, with the loop I'd done last year being the second loop for the 50s. I had told Rachel this was a nice easy ride, mostly level, very little rocks (except at the start where Phlyrt galloped over them), and a good starter ride. Well, that was that second loop for the 50s -- the one we didn't do this year.

This year's 25 -- especially the first 12.5 miles -- was exactly the opposite: hilly, rocky, and quite tough. The second 12.5 miles were much easier, and the combination made for a very nice ride with varied terrain (but not exactly an "easy starter ride").

The worst aspect was that it was nearly 100 degrees this weekend out in the desert (although there was a breeze most of the time, luckily), and the first water wasn't until probably mile 11. After all that climbing, the horses really would have drank well at a much sooner water stop -- and there were plenty of locations that the ride management could have easily gotten in with trucks to have water.

Oh, and my only other complaint (just to get these out of the way), was that they had NO portapotties out in the campground -- last year there were several -- so we had a several minute walk to and from the bathroom from our trailer. That was also the closest communal horse water -- and Phlyrt really prefers those big tubs of water to a bucket at the trailer, so I did a lot of hiking to and fro. But, on the other hand, they did come out and fill up our trailer buckets for us once when we first arrived (that's the first I've had that service!). Got my work out with the hiking back and forth -- but for once it wasn't freezing cold in the middle of the night when I made the trek to the potty.

So, now to the actual ride report.

We left camp 12 minutes after the 7:30 start time, to avoid all the hassles of the herd at the controlled start and because between the two of us going back and forth to the bathroom that was about when we were ready anyway. We were not the only people heading out late, but we easily separated from the group and did get to spend most of the first loop (12.5 miles) alone or mostly alone. Due to the tough conditions of that first loop, we didn't arrive back in camp for Vet Check 1 until around 10:15am. Both horses pulsed down quickly (Phlyrt on her first check, Winter a minute later). There was no line for the vet, and we only had a 20 minute hold, so we went right over for our checks (mistake! should have let them eat for at least a few minutes first, but our trailer was that long hike away...). Phlyrt got all A's, except a B on gut since she hadn't had that chance to eat, which I explained to the vet. Winter got A's and B's (I didn't hear exactly, as they were vetted simultaneously by different vets, but I know he also got a B on gut with comments from the vet to make sure he ate).

After vetting, we headed back to the trailer to let them rest and eat. By now our 20 minute hold was almost up, but we decided not to worry or rush. We hiked back to the bathroom, then back to the trailer, got the horses & took them for more water and then to the out-timer. We'd taken over 40 minutes for our 20 minute hold (gives you an idea what I mean about the location of the bathroom & the horse water in relation to our campsite).

The second loop (12.5 miles) was much easier, less rocks, less climbing, and several well-spaced water stops. Both horses were feeling good and we let them go much faster on this loop. This is actually the way many top riders recommend doing a ride: slower on the first half, faster on the second half to be sure you aren't over-riding, and it's been the way I've tried to ride every ride. There were a lot of nice stretches where we let them really move out, and they were enjoying themselves cantering along easily.

We came back into camp and pulsed down for finish times of 1:01pm. So, the official ride time was 5:31, but taking out the 20 minute hold and the extra dinking around at the start and the hold we had an actual riding time of about 4:40. I think Phlyrt could have gone faster easily, but this was a good speed for Winter and a nice conditioning ride for Phlyrt.

At the final vet check (30 minutes after the finish), Phlyrt was all A's! I was thrilled. The vet (who was quite critical), prior to the trot out asked "When are you going to do 50s with this horse? This is a 50 mile horse." I told him that she'd bowed her tendon in January, and that was why she's doing LD, so he watched her extra carefully in the trot out, and after the trot he said "Tendon's fine. This horse needs to be doing 50s."

Winter got a B+ on gut and had sore hamstrings (from all those hills I'm sure), but otherwise did very well. Especially for a horse who is likely at least 18 or 19 and a weekend warrior! He looked pretty tired, but was eating and drinking well and was alert & happy. And, I was very happy that Rachel has finally taken my advice about standing in the stirrups & getting up off his back, so Winter's back got an A (he has a history of a sore back after long rides) and her knees didn't hurt, either (she's got a history of that, and rides with her stirrups way too long because of it).

I really should have taken photos of Phlyrt after the ride, because she didn't look like she'd even DONE a ride! And she was walking out in her normal power walk, not even remotely tired! The next day when I turned her out she even threw in a few bucks.