Stories

May 15, 2004

On this ride, I decided that the "endurance" for me starts on the drive to base camp. It's driving a truck & trailer on the southern California freeways that is where I'm really tested. This isn't exactly news, since I'm well aware of my distaste for the freeways under any conditions, let alone while hauling. Something like 99% of SoCal drivers are idiots. I'm sure a scientific study would support this conclusion. And, on this ride it was possibly worse than ever since I had to take the 101 freeway through West Hollyweird. The best thing I can say about the drive is at least I wasn't going the other direction where traffic was already at a stand-still at 11 am on Friday.

Ok, enough about the drive, huh?

Phlyrt and I arrived at base camp the earliest we've ever done so, sometime right around noon. Base camp was sprawled across the open areas at a large boarding facility, and not only were there lots of California Live Oaks, I actually got to park under one! What a treat, and a first for me.

Vetting wouldn't start for several hours, so I set up camp and settled down with a book. Relaxation? In the shade? Wow. Phlyrt greeted the horses in our vicinity and settled in to munch on her hay. She's a smart girl who has long since discovered that while she can be a picky- and light-eater at home she better chow down when I take her away from home.

As soon as vetting started, so did the long line for it. We took our place in line - which was moving quite quickly - and had a nice vet-in. She even stood still. Maybe she's figuring out this whole deal?

After vetting I tacked up and we went out for about an hour, mostly roaming camp -- what a lovely ranch & boarding facility: lots of arenas, several with jumps, shade, a stream, and sprawled out over a good area rather than everything bunched up together - and located the start point for Saturday morning. Afterwards I settled down with my book again while I ate a sandwich and Phlyrt settled in with her hay.

The ride meeting was held by the covered arena, where a dressage rider was getting an unexpected lesson for her horse: dealing with crowds and applause. We were warned, again, that the ride would be tough. The ride flier said: "This is a challenging ride and you and your horse should be well conditioned for the event." and "rated difficult +." And quite a few people were apparently using this ride for Tevis training.

Following the ride meeting I took Phlyrt for a stroll around camp and ran into Peggy, someone I've talked to several times, but somehow we never manage to ride together. I promised to look for her at the start. Then I settled Phlyrt in for the night and settled myself in with my book. I actually managed quite a good night's sleep, only waking a couple times to check the time and I think I only got up to check Phlyrt once. That's another first since I'm usually up several times to check her. Maybe it was because for a very nice change it was not cold out, and camping in the trailer was almost comfortable.

The ride start was at 6 am. We were tacked up and walking around camp to warm up by 5:40 or so. Phlyrt was being an angel. She really doesn't get worked up prior to the start, unlike so many horses. She saves that for later.

I looked around for Peggy, but never saw her. At 6 the front runners took off and Phlyrt and I settled in near the rear of the pack. Only a quarter mile or so from camp the trail started going up up up in a switchback single trail with lots of rocks. Phlyrt's not happy being behind a row of horses like that, but she had to deal with it. I consider everything like this as good training, even if it's a pain while it's happening. After we reached the top of this particular climb, the riders started spacing out better and I even convinced Phlyrt she could walk since I wanted to distance ourselves from the pack.

Leg 1 was 16 miles of gorgeous trail. The majority was winding single-track, usually going up or down, which is what I enjoy the most. Much of it was shaded, which was a wonderful added bonus. There were stretches of open trail, and plenty of places to make speed, but lots of rocks to watch out for and keep you awake. The Santa Monica mountains are covered in California Live Oaks, wildflowers, and lots of bushes and plants I couldn't name; our rider packet contained a swab of "pre-contact poison oak lotion," but if there was poison oak out there I guess I don't know what it looks like nor did I apparently touch it.

We did get a good wake-up call when we were going down a shaded switchback trail, and what I now think were the front-running LD riders caught up with us out of nowhere. Even Phlyrt didn't hear them coming until they were right on top of us, which is unusual for her. Wee! They were very polite and I got out of the way as soon as there was enough room for them to pass.

The only time I got lost was on this leg, and only for a quarter-mile or so. Although, actually, that's probably the furthest off-course I've ever been (so far…). We'd been cantering down a wide dirt road and flew right by the turn-off. I heard later that quite a few others did the same thing, since this wide road was so good for speed after coming down off a long rocky trail.

Shortly after I located the turn I'd missed, there was a water stop for the horses. Like a good girl Phlyrt took advantage. This was one of the few places I saw behavior that I didn't like: a couple LD riders raced right past the water without offering it to their horses. I know a lot of horses won't drink that soon on a ride, but I'm a firm believer in offering water to the horse every single time there's a chance at it. Ah, well, ride your own ride, right?

From this water it wasn't too far into vet check 1. Vet check 1 was being held at a parking lot and picnic area in Malibu Creek State Park. To get there we had to negotiate through hikers, bikers, baby strollers, etc. Of course, this sort of stuff doesn't phase Phlyrt in normal conditions and even less so during a ride where her attitude is all business. "No time for goofing off" is her motto during a ride, the opposite of her motto during conditioning when she loves to goof around and entertain herself. We also rode over a wide concrete bridge with no railings and lots of kids splashing around in the water underneath. Phlyrt's used to the "trolls" under bridges thanks to living in Norco, but she's not used to concrete bridges. I had no reason to be nervous, as I'm not sure she even noticed the bridge and since she wears Ground Control shoes it wasn't remotely slippery.

We rode into the vet check and Phlyrt quickly pulsed down after drinking and being sponged while she tried to scarf as much food as possible. This ride used the "pulse box" which means you have to pulse down, then stand in line for your actual pulse to be taken. For the first time, I had a working heart rate monitor, so I could more accurately watch her pulse come down - although it's not 100% accurate when the girth is loose. We headed over to the pulse box and Phlyrt stopped to pee. No big deal, usually, and in fact that will drop the pulse even faster, but this time there was a stallion standing right there. He noticed her immediately, and the feeling was mutual. The stallion's handler walked him past her and into the pulse box, but we then had to walk around him again to get into the box ourselves. I said something to the stallion's handler about my mare being in heat, but he just said "he's fine." Luckily her raised pulse from living up to her name came back down again once I got her focused back on me. Immediately after getting our pulse time I took her over to the vet, since this was only a 20 minute hold and I just wanted to get the vetting over with (I really do know to let her eat for a while first, but I figured she'd be fine). The vet commented on watching the stallion & peeing episode, and I told her that I think we all saw that the stallion was dropped except the stallion's handler. Oh, well. The vetting went well, even on gut sounds even though she hadn't had a chance to stuff her face yet.

After 20 minutes of eating, and some additional trips to the water, Phlyrt was ready to head back out. Leg 2 was only 9 miles, but we were warned that it was a tough 9 miles. It started by going back through the multi-use busy trails full of bikers, hikers, strollers, et all. Then we hit the "rock garden" - which proved to be the kind of trail that if I was hiking along it I wouldn't have considered it passable by horse. Guess I was wrong, since we made it through without a problem. Lots of hikers & boy scout-types through this section, all of whom were very polite and stood aside to let us past. After the "rock garden" the trail opened up for some trotting and went past the old M*A*S*H filming site. There was a burned Jeep on the side of the trail, but no other obvious signs that the show was ever there, although the backdrop of the hills behind were easily recognizable as the hills in the opening sequence of the show.

Next was Bulldog Canyon. Prior to hitting Bulldog, the vast majority of the trails on this ride had at least some shade from trees, and many were quite shaded and very nice. But, the day was proving to be quite warm and very humid. We found out later that the temperature was 85 degrees, and the relative humidity was close to 80%. 85 degrees isn't all that hot for So Cal, but high humidity is something we are not used to dealing with, especially those of us who live inland. Bulldog was in full sun. And it went up and up and up. We'd been told Bulldog was three miles, but it just had to be longer, especially since this leg was nine miles and Bulldog seemed to be half the distance of the entire leg. I dismounted several times and tailed Phlyrt, but each time I ended up doubled over and gasping for breath. I decided that if the rider died that wouldn't help us complete, so I remounted each time and Phlyrt continued on up carrying me. Each time we had a tiny patch of shade I'd stop Phlyrt and let her rest for a minute or so. As we climbed the never-ending hill, front running riders were headed back down and greeted us with encouragement: "not much further!" Finally the end was in site and vet check 2 at the top.

Again, Phlyrt pulsed down well. I was so tired and felt so bad about making Phlyrt climb Bulldog that I almost pulled right then and there. How easy it would have been to just load up and have a trailer ride back to camp. But, she was A's on her vet check and happily settled in to eat for 20 minutes, so I didn't wimp out. The sun and humidity was really getting to me, but apparently Phlyrt is a lot tougher than I am.

Right behind us coming into the check were Peggy and her horse, LP Dalite. So we decided to head out together and ride the rest of the ride together. We also both agreed to just walk down Bulldog, since the ground was so hard and neither of us felt like trotting down on that footing. When we reached the bottom of Bulldog - which was almost as long going down as it had been going up - both mares were feeling rested and were happy to trot along until we got to the "rock garden" again. We walked the "rock garden" then trotted back to vet check 3 and lunch at the picnic area again.

When we got into lunch and pulsed down, a cool breeze actually started up. It felt fantastic after the heat and humidity we'd been riding in all day. Peggy and I sat down at a picnic bench and I shared my sandwich with her, while the mares chowed down on hay and bran mash. Unfortunately, Phlyrt's hindquarters didn't appreciate that breeze and when we trotted out for our vetting she was having a cramp in one hind leg. The vet assured me that it was just a cramp from the cool wind hitting her hot muscles (the reason I'd normally have sent a rump rug to the check, but given the overall temps I didn't expect to need it). I offered to pull right then and there, but the vet instructed me to walk her around for the rest of our hold period and then check back with him. So, I proceeded to walk around while carrying half a flake of hay for Phlyrt to walk and eat (such service). After about 15 minutes the vet called over for me to trot her and after watching her trot he handed me back my vet card and said we were good to go. Gosh, and I'd been looking forward to that trailer ride back to camp.

Peggy and I headed out for the last 16 miles. Leg 3 was identical to leg 1, only in reverse (the entire ride was an out and back rather than a loop due to some trail issues). Dalite had been just ever so slightly iffy on one front leg so we agreed to take it easy on the last section and just finish. We had 3.5 hours to complete at this point, having lost lots of time going up and then back down Bulldog. Knowing that this leg would have lots of up and downs, since we'd done it once already in the other direction, we did easy trots on the flats and mild grades and let the mares walk the steeper sections. We leap-frogged letting first one mare and then the other lead. Both mares were going strong and showing no signs of being tired or stressed.

Maybe a bit over half-way through this leg there was a pulse-and-go. This is where you come in, pulse down, and then head out again. A lot of horses were apparently having a tough time with this by this point due to the humidity. Luckily for all of us, Lisa Schneider was working here and she is wonderful! She was helping sponge horses to cool them as well as taking their pulses; I think she realized that at this point in the ride many riders were suffering from heat- and humidity- and distance-induced dementia. She even kept her cool when Phlyrt decided that she really wanted some hay right now and plowed right through me, Peggy, and Lisa.

After the pulse-and-go, we hit some trail where we could trot out, and both mares were even cantering a bit on some straight-aways. As we were heading up one of the very last climbs along a cliff, Dalite leading and Phlyrt following, Dalite suddenly collapsed under Peggy! Peggy bailed off and was able to coax her back up, but it looked like her hind legs were cramping and she was trying again to lie down. Peggy kept her going, with Phlyrt and I behind trying to drive her forward. But, a few hundred yards further along Dalite went down again. This time she went flat on her side and refused to rise. Both Peggy and I were in a state of panic. I couldn't think what to do. I felt helpless and brainless. Peggy tried to loosen or remove the saddle, but Dalite was lying on the side with the buckle to her overgirth. After not too long the drag rider (Cheri Briscoe on her perfect gentleman of a stallion, MMF Faramir) caught up with us. She recommended removing the saddle and putting water on Dalite's neck, but suggested Peggy not try again to get her to rise. She said she'd ride to the finish as fast as she could and alert the vets.

After Cheri rode off, I suddenly realized that I carry a knife in my saddle bag. My brain clearly hadn't been working since it took me so long to remember that. I dug it out and handed it to Peggy to cut the overgirth. She then removed the saddle, which I'm sure offered Dalite much relief and poured the rest of her water on her neck. Peggy was removing Dalite's bridle when she suddenly jumped back up and started eating weeds! Her recovery was as swift as her collapse. I'm not sure how long she was lying there, but it felt like an eternity. I was starting to worry about Phlyrt cramping up again, as we were standing on a cliff with a breeze. I was also worrying about when a vet would appear. I asked Peggy if it was OK if I rode off now that Dalite was up, and I'd make sure a vet was on the way. She agreed and I gave her the last of my water to pour on Dalite and then we headed off.

Luckily for Peggy & Dalite there was a road just around the corner and down a short hill from where I'd left them. And, the finish proved to be much closer than we'd thought. The actual finish itself was slightly off-course from the morning's trail, and I knew we'd have to walk approximately a quarter mile up the creek. I expected Phlyrt and I to be overtime, but my mind was entirely on Peggy and Dalite so I don't remember much about those last few miles other than the creek being rocky and slippery and full of green slime. And as we trotted to the finish line the folks manning it told us we had finished with five minutes to spare. I verified that they knew about Dalite and helped them relay her location via radio to base camp. As we stood there, we heard that Peggy was indeed leading Dalite out and that a vet was there with her. What a relief. I finally felt my panic start to subside, and I was able to relax and drink the water the finish line crew offered me. They even offered to pour some on Phlyrt, but she wasn't even sweating or hot after the rest she'd had while watching over Dalite.

The finish line was probably a mile or so from camp. I'm not a fan of that kind of finish, although I understand the safety reasons behind it (having the finish in a safe place for those who will be racing for placement). And, unfortunately, that included what at that point felt like a pretty steep climb. I dismounted and led Phlyrt up the climb and then back down into camp. I took her straight to my trailer and untacked, putting on her cooler to prevent further cramping or chills (as I always do at rides). I let her rest and eat for a few minutes, then headed over for our out-check.

As we walked to the vetting area, I saw Peggy and Dalite standing with the vets. Yeah! She was safe and alive. Peggy said that after Dalite bounced back up she'd just wanted to eat and then tried to drag Peggy out to the road where the trailer was waiting to bring them in. The vets looked her over and found nothing wrong. Her hydration, pulse, guts, everything was normal. It was likely "just" a spasmodic gas colic that came and went that fast. Too scary! Like I needed something else to worry about!

Phlyrt vetted out with the comment of "she looks great" and I took her to relax and eat. It was almost time for the awards, so I hiked back over to the covered arena area. Management hadn't noticed that I had finished after the drag rider, so the Turtle Award went to Cheri. Cheri tried to protest, and afterwards she did offer me her award. I was touched, but turned her down. Several days later the ride manager emailed me to tell me that she realized the mistake and will be sending me something in the mail. Too sweet. Our completion awards for this ride were engraved belt buckles. Very nice. Too bad I don't wear belt buckles… I'll just have to make a trophy case…