Another completion!! Stats: A solid mid-pack finish with 14th place out of 31 entries. We completed the 55 miles in 10:40:13 including two 45 minute vet check holds; Average speed 5.15 mph, average moving speed about 6 mph. Total elevation change: 13,647' (6725 gain, 6922 loss)
Another smooth ride.. everything worked, no equipment failures and the weather cooperated beautifully with partly sunny skies and high of 82 degrees. It was a bit humid, especially in the morning which was fantastic practice for the Old Dominion in June. Much better, in my opinion, than those that had the cooler temperature 40-50 degrees + RAIN all day on Saturday! And thank you to Diane Connolly and her team for putting on another fantastic ride!
Sunny received his first set of shoes 1 week prior to the ride on the 14th of April. I forgot/failed to prepare him properly for this and he was poorly behaved for the farrier, dancing all around when John was trying to nail on the hind shoes. John did a fantastic job of following him all around and somehow avoided a hot-nail or a pokey nail gouging his other leg--- no thanks to Sunny, who wasn't sure about the sound or feel of the hammering! I have since already started tapping his feet and mimicing nailing/shoeing everytime I clean the hooves -- which I should have (obviously) done this BEFORE the shoeing-- my apologies John!
We tested the shoes out on Sunday (5 days pre-ride) with an easy 10 mile in 2 hrs loop at Bucktail. I normally rest him about 10 days prior to a ride, but he had several weeks of rest and I thought it was important to check everything out before ride day. Sunny didn't move any differently, but I did find that the breastcollar was going to rub his still-healing surgery site. So I mentally prepared for riding No Frills sans-breastcollar with lots of saddle adjustments after the climbs; not so much fun but it was either saddle adjustments or not riding. I prepared a ride-plan, actually typing it all up which helps me figure things out and think more clearly. This also helped me know what to put in my away vet check and finish line crew bags. I have copied and pasted the ride plan at the bottom of this blog for anyone interested. I actually mostly followed the ride-plan too! A few changes included giving up on any horse feed mashes as Sunny has decided water in his food is disgusting... so I just fed him his regular with 1 oz of NaCL and syringed in 3 other 1 oz NaCL + 1 oz ProCMC doses pre-ride.
Camp setup went very quickly. I have a routine now and it just seems so much easier with every ride and/or with Sunny! I used my new Hi-Tie rope by Jonni Jewell and love it, hopefully we will never need the safety release but I feel much better having it available. I also purchased a new knife to keep on the trailer door for any emergency situation (such as cutting a rope on a tangled horse). Sunny does great on the hi-tie and when I woke up on ride morning he was still laying down sleeping. I really like that he is comfortable enough to lay down and sleep at ride camp and on the hi-tie. I know I will have a rested horse to start the ride.The start was uneventful (yay!!). Sunny stayed relatively relaxed, but was certainly happy to move out with the rest of the group. We followed our previous warm-up routine of lateral work at the walk, followed by walk-trot/gait transitions. Sunny and I joined Roberta and Trace, Anne and Tink, Kim and Scarlett, and Jennifer and Jade for the initial few miles. Sunny was moving out strongly, but we mostly kept the pace < 10 mph for the first hour or so, until we reached the ridgeline shortly before crossing 55 when I let him pick up rhythmic canter for a few minutes. At about 1 1/2 hours into the ride I gave Sunny his first dose of electrolytes and re-adjusted my saddle (a breast collar is really important on those climbs!). Unfortunately the only water was within the first few miles of the start and most of the horses had no interest that early in the ride -- it was much more exciting to think about catching up with the rest of the herd! By the time we arrived at vet check 1, after 18 miles and just under 3 hrs, Sunny and the others were pretty thirsty. Ride managment had planned well and had a large trough right before the in-timer; all the horses guzzled water for several minutes! However, the delay in drinking resulted in mild dehydration resulting in "B" score on skin tenting but Sunny received "A's" on everything else, and all "A's" the remainder of the ride.
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| Ride Start |
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| Away Vet Check (1) |
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| Loop 2, Tuscarora Three Ponds Trail |
The 11.5 miles out of Bucktail to Vet Check 2 were so much fun as well. We stopped at a deeper creek crossing and let the horse's play for a few minutes and cool themselves in the moutain stream. I went on by myself while Roberta and Anne let their horses graze for a few minutes more. Sunny remembered the forest road that we normally canter along and moved out nicely for the next 1-2 miles even though he wasn't sure about leaving his buddies. The sun came out in full force when we reached Waites Run Road and we kept up a steady trot to the vet check. By this time Sunny was hungry and started snagging mouthfuls of fresh grass as we moved down the trail. I am so happy he is taking such good care of himself!
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| Away Vet Check (2) |
In the last few miles I did notice Sunny's hips starting to track a little to the left indicating to me that he was getting tired. We added in a few more walk breaks playing with a little haunches-in and shoulder-in on the trail to keep him loose and flexible. I am sure I was getting a little uneven at that point too, possibly causing or at least contributing to his change in posture. We were both happy to see the finish line, he drank and ate very well and vetted in with all A's. Sunny rocked his 2nd 50 miler and we can't wait for Old Dominion!!
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| Finished! |
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| Sink post-endurance ride |
2017/04/21 No Frills Plan (Ride on Friday)
Ulcergard Thursday, Friday am
Wednesday - Offer alfalfa based mashes with 2 oz NaCL/day
Thursday - Alfalfa mash with 4 oz of NaCL/day, offer normal dinner mash at ride
Friday - pre-ride AM, offer alfalfa mash, small amount of feed. Carry baggy of alfalfa cubes.
Electrolytes - 2 oz of endurmax + 2 oz ProCMC for slurry (2 dose syringe fulls)
-Administer pre-ride and about 1x/hr during ride (if unseasonably cold, administer NaCL pre-ride and for first few doses)
Dose 1 - BC, 1 oz NaCL + ProCMC
Dose 2 - Loop 1
Dose 3 - Leaving VC 1
Dose 4 - Bucktail
Dose 5 - VC 2
Dose 6 - BC @ finish
1st loop Saddlebag electrolytes- 2 syringes (1 dose)
VC 1 Electrolytes - 2 syringes + 2 refill syringes for Bucktail
VC 2 Electrolytes - 2 refills
Basecamp @ finish - 2 syringes (1 dose)
1 syringe, refill 3 saddlebag syringes (4 @ 1st VC)
VC 2 Electrolytes - 1 syringe, refill 1 saddlebag syringe = TOTAL VC prepared electrolyte syringes = 6
Finish - 1 syringe @ crew area
Feed - alfalfa cubes in saddlebag, fresh alfalfa in crew bag, smorgasbord at finish
Saddlebag
- Spare hoofboots (front and back)
- Boost
- Bar
- Hoofpick knife
- Cell phone
- 1 water/electrolyte bottles
- 3 electrolyte syringes
- Israeli bandage
Away VC bag
- 2 pre-filled electrolyte syringes
- 2 refill doses of electrolyte mix (4 scoops enduramax + 4 oz ProCMC)
- Fresh alfalfa
- Alfalfa cube refill
- Cooler
- Hoof boots
- 2 replacement water bottles (w/ powder only)
- Boost (4)
- Pepsi
- Vaseline
- Bars (2)
Finish
- Cooler
- Feed
- Electrolyte syringe (2)
- Water buckets
- Sponging buckets
- Sweat Scraper
- Stethoscope
My food
- Thursday pm - potluck w/ cornbread and deviled eggs
- Friday am - boost, yogurt, boiled egg, fruit x 2
- Friday during ride - boosts and bars
- Friday pm - potluck??? snacks
Great seeing you there! Sunny looked awesome every time I saw him :) It's so cool that you get to condition on these trails, and I imagine the miles go much faster when you (and the horse!) know where you are.
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