Death Valley and Storm's Graduation Ride (part 1)

Storm in the second camp, looking like a wild, handsome, windblown mustang...with a binkie! LOL...

Death Valley Encounter marks Storm's one year anniversary as an endurance horse. He did his very first (and second) LD at this ride a year ago, and now he has done his first (he DID do one other, local, 50 in Sept, but it was SO easy, I don't count it as a real 50, as it really didn't test his capabilities of doing a real, tougher 50, like we usually have them out West here) 50 as well. He also did a tough 30 miler the previous day, and now has 80 miles as a good start into the 2011 AERC season. Whoo hoo! This ride was very scenic, so I think I will run this blog post mostly off of pictures with captions :)
It was going to be very iffy on whether or not Storm was going to go, because after coming home late at night from Desert Gold, Terri had forgotten to close the pasture gate (which lets horses into the middle, roundpen pasture and shares a fenceline with Storm's pasture) when she let the horses out of the trailer and put up Storm. This resulted in Terri's new mare teasing Storm over the field fencing that is in that pasture (and usually has a hot tape on top, but was not hot due to the solar charger being dead...no issues with geldings, but an in heat mare? Even good boys find that too tempting), and him going over the top of it. Terri found the fence stomped down and Storm in with the mare and geldings...two weeks later, a preg check showed nothing, so luckily it was late enough in the year to result in no real breeding. Good thing! But sheesh! Too much excitement. I had initially checked him over superficially that morning, and no lameness or big bleeding wounds, so back in the paddock and mud (over fetlock deep) and I fixed the fence (which had torn wire squares and holes, but was mendable). Issue over....so I thought.
A week later, we go out to the beach for a nice ride, and I was able to really clean storm of all his mud...I get to his hind legs, and WTF!?!?! His right rear pastern is puffy, warm, and looks skinned up and crusty...almost like after a rope burn...hmmm...I clean it up more, and find two shallow cuts in the 'bend' of the upper part of the pastern. Sighhhh...so he didn't get away from the fence jumping cleanly after all. I cleaned it up well and it looked fairly good, and checked for lameness...none I could tell. So we decided to lightly walk-ride him and stick him in the ocean waves...salt water baths are always good for these things.
Then began the long convalescence...I figured I would clean and goop up his foot really well and wrap it up like a porcelain vase...keep it as clean and dry and pliable as possible, til it finished healing. Clean and Dry? In a Humbildt Winter????? Riiighhhttt....two weeks to DVE and there was MUD just EVERYWHERE! And it was constantly raining, so Terri had the mare in the shelter area (which is in the same pasture as the roundpen) since she had no winter coat, having come from hot eastern Texas a few months ago. So putting Storm in the non-muddy roundpen was out (didn't need a leg stuck in pipe corrals or some other crazy thing, with her on the pipe corral talking to him). That left trying to keep him locked in his shelter....not stall...shelter...
First two nights: baling twine a corral panel across the front of it....FAIL...Storm was out of there quick, he just barreled right through the 'gate' and broke the baling twine...he does NOT like being stalled! So I went and scrounged around the property until I found some corral panel connectors in the tack trailer. That took care of one side, what about the 'gate' side? Two stout lead roped fed between the side wall and the roof support pole...wrapped several times around the other end of the panel. It was ugly, but solid...not good if we had to evacuate in a jiffy, but with all the rain, not like the shelter was going to burn, LOL. That kept the beast in....
Next issue: after almost 5 days of this and lots of rain, the mud and water outside had no where to go but inside. And his floor was plain old dirt....shit! More mud happening...I tried old hay...I tried straw...I thought of shavings, but they would just melt. After a week or so, I was thoroughly frustrated! And having to run to Trinidad at least once a day to muck out his stall and drag out mud and such, was not fun and time consuming and damned short winter days meant most that happened around dark...my headlamp got a lot of use! BUT...my wrap would have made most vets proud...even with all that (I changed the wrap every 2 days), he was CLEAN under the wrap and mostly dry..just a tad damp from the moisture in the mud seeping through. Not bad! And it looked to be healing ok. It would just be a race against the clock to see if it would be ok enough (since we were going to the alkaline desert...aka SCRATCHES heaven, it REALLY had to be nicely healed, or I'd just be asking for scratches...) to take him to DVE. With about 5 days or so left, the rain finally let up (but not the mud) and I was able to put him in the roundpen area and get him out of the mud a bit better.
Finally, a day or so before we left and one last wrap change, I tried to show up in daylight so I could actually see the foot a bit better. It looked really good, and he was totally sound on it (was the whole time really) at all gaits... So I decided to take him. If nothing else, I could tend it better in the dry desert and do a few Duck Miles, if he couldn't do a full ride day on it. That decided, off to DVE we went!
My original plan after he did so well at Desert Gold, was to ride 2 50's. Ride a day, rest, ride a day, rest.....or ride, rest, rest, ride. But with his foot as it was, and by ride weekend, over 3 weeks of no real riding, I wanted to take it easy. I decided that I would let him chill the first two ride days (and with the travel and rest days as well, it would be almost a good week of more healing time), then ride an LD on the third day to see how he felt both foot and energy wise, then ride the last day's 50 if all went well. Or another LD, or nothing if he really did horribly on day 3 for whatever reason. I could also help the ride management on the two off days that way as well.
We left Christmas Eve (I celebrate Solstice anyway as my christmas and new year...makes so much more sense to celebrate the world getting LIGHT again, LOL....the pagans had the right idea there! So I don't mind being gone over the holidays) and headed down to our first stop over in Healdsburg. Then drove to Tehachapi on the 25th. No rain and only a little wind. Our friends who left the 25th and drove as far as I think Los Banjos, got POURED on...and it was miserable driving...the storm must have been chasing us (and we did have to outrun a few dark spats on I-5 that almost caught us during one rest stop...so we barely missed the storms) the whole way south. From Tehachapi it was smooth sailing for the last few hr leg to the first DVE camp spot. We saw a bunch of tire ruts and rigs were parked in odd places...guess it rained a bunch here too! I held the horses while Terri tried to find a spot................and promptly got stuck! She went RIGHT for a set of those tracks and didn't have enough speed up to go over the dips it made, and spun out the back tires (obviously we only have 2WD)...sighhh..saw it coming! LOL...Luckily Anne Nicholson (part of ride management) was there with a bigger truck and towed Terri out. I think we will have to pay more attention on the XP ride, since ppl supposedly got stuck there a lot too...not good to start out the year with embarrassing yourself in front of the other riders, LOL... But she found a solid and dry spot and slanted us a tad downhill in case it rained some more, so we aught to be able to get out of camp :)
We spent that day and the next relaxing and getting ready to ride. It was so nice to be in the dry (well, drier than at home...the sand was actually wettish as it had rained so much the week before...odd for the area, but still 'dry' for us, LOL...made for a NICE, HOT grounding for the electro fence though!) desert again and the temps were nice during the day and not horrid at night. Our friends from Humboldt, Susan Wardrip and her husband and daughter, as well as her close friends from the Redding area (boy did we get spoiled by their crewing by the end of the ride!) arrived later that day as well. Susan and her friend had grown up as a kid in Trona, not too far from where we were going to be riding. This was going to be her first trip back to the desert since she was about 10! How exciting! She was also bringing along a younger, new horse, so we were planning on doing some easy rides together. We went on a short ride through the desert on the eve before day 1, and Storm felt good! His foot seemed much better to. So it looked good for a Day 3 start :) I was keeping the wrap off, but lots of good goop (a healing ointment as well as a good, thick layer of desitin) on it all the time. Storm and Kashmere (Susan's horse) seemed to get on well together on their ride as well. Good!
The next day, Terri went out on the 50 and finished well, but right around sunset. Susan did fine on her guy as well on the LD. We had been told the new plan was to move camp to the new camp after today's ride (originally this was to happen after day 2, but a rainstorm predicted for the night of day 1, would turn the old lake bed to mush...so everyone was heading out after riding day 1). I had spent most the day working the finish line, and watching Storm in his pen across camp. He behaved all day, only talking a few times when he thought he saw a familiar horse. He is SO easy as a 'camp' horse...so many of them just throw major fits all day when their buddies head out on the trail. He whinnies once, then goes looking for his mush bowl....love it! :) I also cleaned and packed up camp and set it up most of the way ready to head out, once Terri got back. She came in not long after Dave Rabe and Les Carr, and as we were taking down the pop top to the camper, I hear my name called. It was Dave...he wanted to know (most the camp was cleared out by that time) if I would be willing to drive Les' rig over to the new camp..... ???.... Turns out, Les was still recovering from some broken ribs from a riding mishap, and had over calculated his strength. He managed to finish the 50, but was totally exhausted and not feeling good at all, and couldn't see straight/feeling dizzy. Obviously NOT a safe idea to drive 25 miles in the dark with a horse trailer to the next camp. Hmmmm...well, sure! Why not? Guess it was time to jump in the fire and go for it....Oh man, oh man, oh man, oh.......
Let me explain that...not many ppl know, but I have a slight 'big rig phobia', LOL... I HATE driving big and unfamiliar trucks/rigs...always worried I will crash, or do something wrong and break stuff, or whatever... part of that is due to my depth perception issues, which or FINE for driving really (horrid for parking though, LOL), but just doesn't let me feel confident hauling a long/wide vehicle, at least until I get used to its dimensions. I had the biggest fears before I first drove Terri's rig, but now feel mostly ok with hers. Les'??? A bigger truck, a much bigger camper, and a heavier/longer steel horse trailer! And in the dark in totally unfamiliar territory! YIKES! LOL... But I didn't want to be a) a total wussie that everyone was going to laugh at, and b) let down Les, who is such a nice guy and has been helpful when others have needed it in the past...so who could let him down now, when HE needs help? That would not be a good XP child! So I finished packing Terri up and down the road I went..though first I had to figure out how the hell to get out of the danged lake bed (it helps to figure out your lights and brights...they were so weird to keep on, compared to mine. But got it eventually) and then not crash into the vet hauling the ride horse trailer, parked in the middle of the only path out..oops...just missed her! LOL...hmmmm, not a good start..least we were crawling along on a dirt road ;) HOLD ON TULIP! Nutcase driving your trailer! Poor horse! Sheesh... ;)
We made it onto the mostly deserted rode (thank heavens for that), and headed off to the new camp. I only had a vague idea where it was (turn right at the big T-intersection, go through the town you eventually hit, go out the back of town, then on the right eventually will be camp...), since last time I saw it was a year ago...coming from the total OTHER direction (camps for this ride change around a lot from year to year), and wasn't even sure how far we had to go (I had those directions with Terri in HER rig)...great. Shoulda waited and let Terri or someone else go first and follow! Oh well, this way at least I could crawl along the highway at 40mph and get familiar with the rig... We finally arrived at the T and made the turn, found town and drove through...only problem, it did not look familiar in the dark! We did go through it last year in the day time, heading for one of the other camps, then doubled back to the camp we were going to now, from the other direction a few days later...thus the vague idea of where to go. I hadn't remebered crossing train tracks...TWO gas stations, or that school! Ummm....we didn't take a wrong road in town, did we??? I THOUGHT there was only one way through, but in the dark, who knows! I finally got REAL nervous when I saw signs for 'loose gravel', and other 'bad road' things...(lots of flooding signs too from the rains), and was sure we were heading off into the desert to get lost and stuck somewhere! So as I saw more lights (cars or ??) behind me, I pulled over in a big turnout next to kinda a junk yard, hoping to get re-oriented. As a rig I recognized drove by! And then Terri pulled in behind me too! THANK HEAVENS! I guess if they were all going that way, I wasn't lost! Whew! So I got back on the road and followed the other rig, and Terri followed me. Turns out we were at most a mile or so from the camp, LOL... I just had let my doubts get the best of me again!
All the drive over, Les was being real nice about telling me what a good job I was doing, how well I was driving, etc (as I white knuckle clutched his steering wheel, LOL) and then he was trying to explain where all Tulip's 'stuff' was and how to set him up for the night, as Les really could only manage to crawl into bed when we got there. I told him not to worry, his pony was in good hands! (Well, least once we stopped driving and got to camp, LOL). Once in camp, I got Tulip unloaded and set up with food, water, and a binkie, while Terri found our camping spot (saved ahead of time, thanks to Susan and her crew!) and took care of our ponies. Then I went over to finish setting up camp with the electro corrals and the like. We also had dinner waiting with Susan's friends again (like I say, we got spoiled that week! Whatever will we do at the next ride, when it is back to Ramen noodles and doing all the camp chores alone?? LOL ;) ) and ended up into bed later than planned, but happy :)
Hanging out in camp on Day 2...

The next day, Terri rode the 50 again, and Susan ended up joining her. She finished the LD riding with Terri (who was coming into lunch), and Kash looked so good, she elevated up. Whoo hoo! He finished that day looking great as well! I spent the day hanging out (since the vet check was in camp, there was plenty of help and I was off the hook that day) with Bill and Este (husband and daughter), messing with boot conversions, saddle/tack, repairs and taking Storm for a little walk for a final check of his engines... all well there, so I decided he'd go on the LD the next day.
He looked out this end of camp a lot...he liked looking out into the desert, vs at other horses left in camp...

He's so pretty in his brand new, turquoise blankets (a light and mid weight matching set)...it took me a while to find some in this color, that were not a gawdzillion dollars... Tough-1 makes LOTS of colors, in a decent quality, for a great price! Mine came from Chick's Saddlery...


I had planned on using Easyboot Gloves all the way around, as he goes really well in them with no boot losses and no extra stuff needed. But then decided I would put a Glue On on the bad hind foot, so I could keep it gooped up all day and not worry about gooping up a gaiter, or stuff getting trapped in the goop in the gaiter and causing issues. It was really windy that day (but sunny...the storm never showed up the night before or that day...just blew on by, pushed by the gales) and I had a heck of a fun time trying to set up so I could glue the boot without sand going all over, or things blowing away, LOL.
Most of Day2 in camp looked like this...big clouds would blow over the mtns, look threatening, then blow right on by.... no rain at all, just WIND WIND WIND...


But other than that, I have to say gluing is now WAY easier than last time I had used it (over a year ago I think). The new glue gun is SO easy to use one handed, and the glue seemed to be a different consistency, so it didn't set so fast (it was cold, which helped, but I had glued boots on a client a month back, in warmer home temps, and it was the same...no rush!), I was all alone as Terri was still riding, but I got that boot on with no issues in no time flat (after I spent a bit extra time PREPPING...that's an important step). The boot stayed on beautifully for 4 days and 80 miles and when I WANTED to pop it off, came off much easier than in the past too...so I think gluing for XP will be easy peesy! A quick check of all my gear, go vet Storm in, and I was set for the next day.
Part 2: Riding!
"Aren't I just adorable?!?!"