Proud of my Boy...or Patriot's Day was a Success! (Part 1)

Gaiting down the trail...not sure why I am looking so serious, LOL.. (Photo by Renee Baylor)

After the plans of going to Bryce fell through, we decided on the Cuneo Creek (see last post) and Patriot's Day rides as a decent substitute. Both are 2-day multidays, so we'd get a good amount of riding in afterall. Not as great as Bryce (but nothing can beat an XP ride in such a pretty place), but it would do. I decided to try Storm's first 50 at Cuneo, as it is a relatively easy ride. Then, because Patriot's Day was only a week after and I was also planning on the Chamberlain Creek ride two weeks later, I thought doing a (or multiple) 50 would be too much at this stage of his conditioning. And even if his body was fine, I didn't want him to blow his poor little brain and think this whole endurance thing wasn't any fun. So I decided to do two LDs instead. This would still get him some mileage, and I could see how he'd do on a multi-day ride.

Patriot's Day is a nice ride run out of the Greenville, Ca area. It is not far from Lake Almanor (and the 50's get pretty close to the lake and later in the year, there is also a nice 25/50/75/100 around the lake as well, and we'll probably go do that 50), hosted by a wonder kids summer riding camp, Copper Creek. It is a benefit ride for the local Rotary Club and the whole town seems to come out to help. The riders and horses are absolutely spoiled (carrots and apples on the trail, even a free lemonade stand at one of the checkpoints!) and the camp has everything from arenas and wash racks for horses, to showers and a pond with a boat for the humans. I highly recommend this ride to everyone :) Trails on the 50 also come with a wonderfully scenic view of Mt. Lassen in the distance. The ride is moderately difficult (some really good, hard climbs, but then lots of open, flat or gradually downhill roads to move out on), so pretty doable if you take it easy.

We were going to get out early Thursday, but had a few hangups. Terri's cat had to go into the vet for some testing and such (she hadn't been eating well for a few days and seemed unwell), so we drove her by the clinic and dropped her off. Also, Storm decided it would be fun to delay our trip another 20 mins, by breaking his slider window in the trailer. Yes, he BROKE THE WINDOW! His stall in the trailer was missing the metal bars (broke out at the hinges...cheap and weak aluminum, that didn't like all the opening/closing it got the last few years) and this allowed him access to the actual window part. What I think he did, was stick his big snozz out through the opening (slider was in the open position, which put it on the inside of the trailer, against the main part of the window, with a 'tab' sticking out into the opening), got a little stuck, and then pushed around against the tab. This caused the whole thing to shatter. ARRRGGG!!! Luckily it was safety glass, so though we had a mess to clean up (it went on the floor of the trailer, on the parking lot, in his hay bag even...sighhh), he wasn't injured. That horse is such an oaf sometimes, and just can't leave well enough alone! We were going to have rings installed in the trailer, so we could hang some of those fly-mesh window coverings (the other two grates are about dead too), but just hadn't gotten around to it yet... what a dork. So anyway, it was closer to noon before we got out of town and on our way. Luckily we only had about a 7hr drive to camp.

We arrive close to sunset, and found a nice spot on the far side of the parking area (kind of a pasture area, that is used as a driving range for smacking some golf balls I think), under the trees and by the ropes course (boy, wish I were still a kid...this camp had LOTS of cool things to do!). We set up some electric corrals and a high line inside Storm's for night time tie up, and just managed to set all the camp stuff up before dark. Then the next day we got to relax and hang around camp, watching ppl arrive and waiting for our friend Linda to arrive, as we had a spot saved for her. Later in the day, I also helped a lady go out and ride her horses. It was kinda odd...she needed a second person to ride her backup horse, as her other horse wouldn't go out alone and she didn't like ponying. Hmmm, k.... She wanted to even pay me for it (which was really weird...like being a jockey or something? LOL)...I didn't want any money, heck we only went out for less than 2 hrs, and the horse I was riding was a total doll and easy to ride (the horse she was on, on the other hand, was not at all!). So it was kind of fun :) But she insisted, and paid me anyway...so does that make me a 'professional' rider now? LOL...
















Our camp setup...our boys are great and so relaxed...they'll sleep about anywhere :)

When Linda arrived, she set up her big TWH, Chance, on a high-tie on the side adjoining our corrals. Storm took GREAT interest in Chance, which he normally doesn't with other horses. He kept wandering over there and doing his excited nicker...hmmm...so we walked them around camp together, and even let them sniff noses and 'important parts' (all very carefully of course), so Storm could figure out that Chance was not a mare. He finally settled, but it was very weird. Linda finally figured out why, though...Chance looks almost exactly like a mare that Storm had bred at least once, if not a few times...big, black, with higher white socks. Interesting! Of course after riding together the next day, Storm could have cared less about Chance...just like with mares here at home...it's like once he understands that a horse is 'working' with him, it is no available for 'recreation'...whatever the case, he is always good with a mare after having ridden with her.

We gathered our packets and vetted through A-ok in the afternoon, and then had a lovely dinner (the ride has an option for buying dinners Friday night too..yeah! Much better than Ramen noodles :) ) and then the ride meeting. LD's start at 8:30...WHAT? I am not a morning person, but at rides I do like to start early. Everyone says they like to 'sleep in'...but really, HOW can you sleep in when the 50's are up and making noise, and as soon as they leave, all the LD horses left by their buddies are screaming their heads off? And with a 50 rider in the rig with me, I'd be up at 5:30 anyway. So what was I supposed to do for 3 hours??? LOL. Oh well.... I did get a shower in the morning, cleaned the pens (manure/hay had to be taken to a manure pile), ate some breakfast, and still had almost an hour left. Least I wasn't feeling rushed.

I tacked up and booted Storm (I love how the new Easyboot Gloves work with him...they just go on and off easily and they stay on, don't rotate, etc with no added stuff like sports tape or whatnot... no rubs either since we have been using the new gaiters...whoo hoo!). I even had plenty of time to put ribbons and bells (left over from our parade earlier in the year...they look great on him!) in his mane, then Linda and I (she wanted to ride with me and keep Chance to a slow turtle pace, which was great for me, as Storm likes riding with a companion instead of alone) wandered over to the start area. My watch had us at a few minutes before the start, so the front runners SHOULD have gone by the time we got there.... Nope. Ride time was about 7 mins slower than my watch...oops... oh well. So I hand walked while Linda got on and rode around...then a few minutes later they let us go. No one was in a big rush, but Chance got all wired up as the horses trotted off, and Linda was swept up with the front runners or risked getting bucked off if she had held him back. I was up on Storm by then, and he wanted to go with as well, but I had a plan and was sticking to it. I made him walk out (which he was not happy with, but behaved himself decently...just pulling a bit more than I like and trying to break into a gait) and the front runners finally got out of sight.

All went well for a little bit, but then more horses caught up with us and it was back to pulling and trying to gait off... hmmm, guess Redwood was not unique...he really HAS caught on to this whole competition thing. This is why I don't mind a lazy and laid back horse...they ALL learn to GO once they get the idea of the 'game', and they are in that adrenalized ride environment. But at least a quieter horse doesn't get all upset and hunchy, or otherwise dorky, like an already hot horse tends to do at rides. A few miles up the trail, I finally had enough of the argument about what speed we were going to do (and with a BIG BIG hill coming right up, I did NOT want to go blasting down the trail and blow my ride right at the start), so I simply got off and hand walked again for the next mile or so, until he finally calmed down and realized I was in charge again.
So often, I see people fighting their horses half the ride, and the horse is not learning anything and both are worked up. When it gets to the point that the horse is really not listening to me anymore, then I don;t play into the fight anymore and just get off... much safer that way and the horse can settle down and not burn all his energy fighting you down the trail. This may not work for everyone, but it has always worked for me, so that is what I do. So far, it has resulted in many ride completions and a sane horse that learns to listen to me.

I also used this as an opportunity to work on tailing. Storm is fine with me pulling on his tail, but due to his lazy attitude, he doesn't tail well. He'll stop and turn around and head back the way we came, when I'd try and tail him (I think I am going to make a light set of driving lines out of parachute cord or something, that I can rein him with on the trail, to fix that issue). Since he was so hell bent on catching the other horses, once he at least agreed to walk (fast), I got behind him and let him follow the trail. Worked great until we hit the BIG, LONG, HILL (called the Zipper, because of the steeper and many switchbacks). Then he decided going back to camp was a better option again and I got back on. He huffed and puffed to the top, but carried me up just fine. Then we got to go a gradual downhill for a good while on a good road.

Eventually, wandering up and down the ridge, we hit the checkpoint way up on top, that was the turnaround for the LDs at maybe 8 miles (30 mile ride this day, this was the first loop, then lunch in camp, and a second loop). There was water, hay, apples and carrots, people water, and even snacks. Did I mention we were spoiled at this ride?? Linda was there waiting as well...she had decided that was a good spot to wait for me and get away from the front runners, who were going too fast for Chance.

Here we are, leaving the mid-loop checkpoint, looking good :) (Photos by Renee Baylor)

I spent a good 15 minutes there, letting Storm eat and relax. It was good for Storm, but it did put me slightly behind schedule for when I wanted to be in camp for lunch. It was ok though, as the rest of the loop was mostly downhill and was slightly shorter than than the first part. So we were able to make decent time, and I got into lunch just about when I had planned to. We had to go back down the Zipper, which I got off and led, and then gaited all the way to the 1/4 mile sign. So it was going to be interesting to see what his HR was going to be (my HR watch is broken, so can't use the monitor).

The setup at the lunch VC was a bit odd...they take your in-time where the trail comes into the camp area, then there is a little walk to where the water troughs are set up. Then about 150 yards or so to the arena, where the vets were. Instead of having pulse takers, the vets were to take our pulse (and do the vet check at the same time if you wanted...which would have require dumping tack there, and no down-time for eating and resting in the VC before a check). This ate up a lot of time, and of course the horse could possibly still be (or go back) up in HR when it hit the vet, as you had to wander over there and it was a fairly warm day (mid-upper 80's). I wasn't sure of my strategy, but let Storm drink at the troughs and figured I would just go ahead and head to the vet and get a pulse (from sticking my hand on his side at the waters, he felt just around 60-64 maybe...). I wasn't sure about scooping at waters either, so he didn't get cooled off either. A good test I suppose :) At the vet line, they gave you another 'pulse/in' time (though depending on the line, you might be 1-5 mins from even getting to see the vet, so not sure what that time really does for you) and put you in line. There were only two ppl, already at the vets, so I got in to the vet in a minute or so of standing still, tack still on, in the sun....hmmm... Well, no worries, he was down! Whoo hoo! 56, which seems to be his 'standard' pulse in right now...seems to get that a lot. Not bad for no cooling, and only walking in the last 1/4 mile. Good job Storm :) From the arena, it was another 100 yards maybe to my trailer, where I dumped tack and set him up with all the goodies he'd need.

Linda turned up about 10 mins later (I had left her at the in-timers, since I thought Storm would prob pulse in ok and didn't want to squander any time, as I was kind of right on the schedule I had worked out, to finish in time and didn't have much leeway), and I thought she was all set as well as she was untacking, etc. Then she said she still had to go pulse in..hmmm?? I think she didn't quite understand the pulse/vet thing, but then she was saying they wouldn't take her pulse? Not sure. At any rate, it put our times way apart by the time she did go pulse in (20 mins or so into when we arrived), so I decided to leave on my own (again, not much leeway to finish without rushing and riding too fast). He was eating and drinking great, and I vetted Storm through about half way through the check (I often like to wait to the end, but they wanted tack off and with the check area and trailer areas all over the place, I didn't want to waste time) and he got mostly A's with a B on guts, which didn't worry me since we hadn't been in the check that long and it came back to an A at the finish. 15 miles down....

Our Lunch vetting.... A B and an A-...not bad at all...

15 more to go.... After the hour hold, we went back out on the trail (this time he was a bit better about leaving camp, compared to at Cuneo where I practically had to beat him down the trail, so he is learning fast that camp doesn't mean we are done...good!) and out on loop 2, which also starts out with a pretty significant hill (the camp seems to sit in this little bowl of a valley, and the only way out, is UP). He was not too pleased about that, but once we saw another rider up ahead (turned out it was a 50 miler), he perked up. At the very top was another water stop (yes! Thank you!) and he tanked up and I chatted with the 50 miler, who it turns out I knew (she hadn't recognized me at first, since I wasn't on Cheyenne...I think that is going to throw a lot of ppl for a while, who have seen me on a big gray the last 5 yrs). We decided to ride together a little, if the horses paced the same, and it did work out. She went a tad faster than I had planned, but most of it was downhill and Storm was doing fine and having fun, so I let him keep up. There was another uphill before the last checkpoint, and she was going a good trot up the hill and some canters, so I slowed Storm down a little. He wasn't too happy, but I didn't want him tuckered out since he had another day to go.

The check was the lemonade stand (mmmm, REAL lemonade too, not that powdered stuff..what a treat in the heat of the afternoon!) and Storm was a little hot, so I got off and let him eat (hay, apples, and carrots yet again) and drink, and the volunteers said this was an ok spot to scoop as well, so he got cooled off. Knowing where we were, and seeing it wasn't that far back, I relaxed a little (as we made decent time following the 50) and took it fairly easy back to camp. Most of it was back down the mountain, to the road, but that meant we had to climb back up over a small ridge to get back into our valley. Not fun at the end of the day, but Storm did alright, and some of the trail was a fun, single track that wound through tight, knee-knocking trees. Then it popped out on top of the ridge, with another fun, single track trail that wound down the toe of the ridge and through a bunch of manzanita bushes. At the bottom, a road took us by an (very scary apparently, as Storm SLAMMED on the breaks at a good gaiting clip, almost unseating me...sheesh) old barn-type building and over a nice creek that was deep enough to stand in and scoop out of. We passed over this creek at another spot at the start of the loop, so I knew we couldn't be too far from camp. With plenty of time on the clock, I made him stand in the creek and get nice and wet and cooled down and eating some of the grass on the embankment. Then we mostly walked back into camp, where we again had the kind of weird timer/pulse in the arena setup, only this end of the trail was almost twice as far from the arena, as the first loop's end. Luckily I had plenty of time (since LDs don't 'finish' until they pulse in...I was worried about what would happen to ppl close to cutoff though) and when we got over there, Storm was at 56 again. Great! Finished with 45 minutes to spare... not bad and pretty close to the turtle pace I had wanted to do.

Our pre-and post-ride check...All A's...great to see :)

Tack off and letting him eat a little, we went back to vet in within the required 1/2hr and all A's again. Super job! I brought him back to the trailer and he continued to inhale food for another 1/2hr or so, then settled in for a little nap, while I clayed and wrapped his legs. He has an older fence tangling ( think..not clear on the story really) injury on a hind leg, that so far never has caused him problems, but sometimes will stock up at rides a little...actually, it always looks a little puffier than the other legs to begin with... Anyway, I figure it can't hurt to wrap him and he always looks great after a few hours of wrapping (back to normal thickness). I might even invest in ice boots for him, though with only an ice chest to keep things cool and no LQ freezer, not sure if it is any better or worse than cold water and clay, by the time the boots would actually get used. Will have to investigate that...

Linda came in about 1/2 hr later, and she pulsed and vetted through alright as well. Whoo hoo! Chance did it :) His first ride and Linda is now back in the endurance 'game'. Yes! We got to relax and then have dinner (dinner starts really early and you kind of just go when you feel like eating) and Terri made it in on her 50 just in time for the ride meeting. Only downside of the ride...the meetings are before the cutoff time, so it kind of rushes the turtle 50's. Hmmm.. Ah well. small gripe in an otherwise perfect ride :) Ride meeting was good, and the LDs, instead of getting a Best Condition, get a "Horsemanship Award" in its place. The difference was that instead of coming from the top ten riders only, all horses in the distance are evaluated. And not only for fitness, but for how the horse behaves, how horse and rider interact, how the rider is behaving towards ride staff and those around them. I like having a BC since that is something that AERC awards and you can make a goal of going for the national BC award (both LDs and 50's+), but this kind of an award is great too, as it rewards things I find important too, besides just fitness of the horse, how heavy you are, and how fast you ride. I find there are a lot of fast and fit horses out there, that are total jerks (and often due to their riders not having much control over the horse) or that the rider is rude to ride staff and other riders, in their race to be first. That doesn't display good sportsmanship (or horsemanship), but is 'rewarded' by prizes for first, top ten, and BC anyway, if that rider/horse make it in that category. So then it reinforces that rider/horse's behavior as 'ok', since it worked to win. Oh well.

At any rate, the "Horsemanship" award went to a nice Arab stallion, that if I remember correctly, was on his first ride that day. Awesome :) It is always nice to see a stallion get an award like this, as there are not many doing this sport, and some of them are real dorks, that shouldn't be on the trail (often more due to the rider, than the horse really). At first, when the head vet started talking about 'this time the award goes to a stallion', I was getting a little excited, thinking it might be Storm. But not to be...oh well! He's a good boy anyways and looked in great shape, so I was happy. After the meeting, we organized for the next day (the LD and 50's first check was out on the trail, so I needed to send a crew bag this time) and tucked in all the ponies for the night. Ride start was at 8 for me, still a little late in my mind, but at least a little better than this time.
Another shot from the trail (Photo by Renee Baylor) Day 2 in the next post...