The transition back to the home front after an endurance ride is often the bumpiest part, life narrows to the essentials at ride camp and opens back up to the pressing needs of every day life once the rig is parked in the driveway again. The lure of a long, hot shower and the comfortable couch helps keep it smoother, usually. Coming off the high of the Santiam ride was especially hard, as this was by far the smoothest, most fun, most scenic ride I've ever done, and Tarma was a firecracker all day, leaving my arms the sorest part of me.
Bam, mountain!
As I went into this ride season with basically no plan, each ride has come together only two or three weeks before we started...and in the case of Grizzly, one day! I had originally told Shar, the Santiam ride manager, that I would volunteer like I did last year. However, the lure of the below mountain photos overruled my desire to be helpful. So I called her up and asked if I could substitute my 13 year old son so I could ride instead. When she accepted, I gave the kid a crash course in pulsing (finding a horse's heartbeat) and started fussing with boots.
Scoots on fronts, Epics on rears
I've been doing each endurance ride in a full set of composite EasyCare glue on shoes. Tarma's never had nails and I'd like to keep it that way if possible; the composites absorb a ton more concussion than flat steel or even boots do; and they avoid fussing with boots on ride morning. However, at $300 a pop and we're mostly doing LD's this year, that cost is hard for (the husband) to swallow, so back to boots we go. However, her movement is so dynamic that she can twist off her rear Scoots, usually during her canter departs, so I decided to take advantage of the EasyCare "Competitive Hoof Boot Upgrade Program" and trade in her Cavallos (which were too heavy for endurance and always badly rubbed her heel bulbs) for the EasyBoot Epics. I was looking for a boot that first and foremost stay on, while not rubbing. EasyCare has been making boots for endurance horses for years, with thousands upon thousands of successful miles behind them.
Benny loves his food bowl!
However, my timing as always leaves a bit to be desired, so I didn't get the new boots in hand until the day before we left for Santiam. The first thing to do once we got settled into camp was to pop them on (definitely harder with the Epics than the Scoots!) and take a test ride. Endurance doesn't have a lot of hard and fast rules (well, AERC does but that a whole other ten blog posts) but one of them is "Never do anything new on ride day." We took the boots for an easy five mile spin, where I did ask for a canter several times and got them wet, they didn't budge and her legs seemed fine so I was cautiously hopeful for the next day. At one point her gait got super awkward and I started to worry the boots were rubbing, so I pulled her up and was about to hop down to check...when I looked down our sponge was dragging behind us, hitting her legs and butt. Duh, mom! I did pack a spare Scoot in my saddlebags (always), and sent two extras in my outcheck bag, which luckily I ended up not needing.
Watching someone back their rig up
Ride morning dawned and promised beautiful weather, not too hot, slightly overcast, bit of a breeze. I rose with the 50's instead of sleeping in so I could get her boots on just so. I did use the Bickmore's Gall Salve I usually put on her girth, smearing it all over her heel bulbs and the gaiters of the EasyBoots, which is one reason I think she didn't rub at all. I made sure the kid was sent off with the other volunteers to the outcheck, locked the dog up in the trailer, and headed out mounted, at the walk, though naturally Tarma was all ready to argue over our direction of travel. In the lead up to heading out of camp, my mind is buzzing with checklists and what ifs and a bit of anxiety, but it completely melts away the moment I'm in the saddle. At that moment my zen switches on, what will come will come and we'll deal with it, and if it doesn't come we'll have a great ride.
Photo of a selfie!
I always walk the first mile to give us both time to warm up, so several other riders passed us without issue. Once I let her pick up the trot she wanted to fly, it was cool and the trail was fine so I let her for a bit. We hooked up with some new friends, Heather (a Washington ride manager where Tarma and I did our first intro and our first LD!) and her friend Michelle, leading them the rest of the day. Except for the few times I needed a break and parked Tarma behind Heather's "I'm not putting up with your shit spicy lady" mustang mare. At one point during the climb up and around the butte, we complained this ride was zipping past too fast for how stunning and fun it was. Tarma definitely set a pretty spiffy pace! We probably could have finished an hour earlier but I prioritized riding with new friends over speed, and had a blast doing so.
Tarma never had a bonk all day, I kept to our "electrolyte every 10 miles or so" protocol. I didn't even have to sponge her until we finished, she never got that hot, though she sweated plenty. The only time I really got cross with her was powering downhill into the outcheck, she totally recognized where we were from our previous camping trip to Whispering Pines, she almost ran into Janine's horse instead of stopping 50 yards back when I asked. Well, that and when she drank her fill at the last water tank and then just left while the other horses were still drinking (an endurance faux paus!) and Heather...wasn't on her mare and so her horse started to head back to camp and well, that's her story to tell but totally my fault, so sorry Heather! Overall this ride was so smooth, and we conquered the main thing I've been so apprehensive about! More than anything at a ride, I've been worried about folks cantering around or past us, especially after I had no control cantering in a group at our first 50 at Grizzly last year. We've done a ton of work and put in more miles and changed gear since then, and a few miles from the outcheck on a wide road we were cantering and two riders, not part of our group, were able to canter easily by and while Tarma was strong, she wasn't spooky or bolty and let the other riders by with no drama, even when I pulled her back to a walk to stay with our friends. Whew!
![](https://weareontheloose.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/img_2112-1.jpg?w=560)
The vet check flew by, though finding what Tarma wanted to munch on was a bit difficult, she really wanted alfalfa but most of that was hoovered up by the 50s so she settled for the oat float. I was able to share water and snacks with my friends and then we were back up, for what goes up must come down. When we hit 20 miles a clock started ticking in my head, we really slowed down for the downhills and Heather, on her first LD in a few years, was having stomach issues. We mostly walked but let Tarma pull us forward at her stretchy trot a few times the last few miles, so we finished with a comfortable 30 minutes to spare. Even towards the end, Tarma was locked on to the cute buttermilk Connemara ahead of us, as determined to catch up to them as I was to stay with our friends.
Tarma the hippo
I had to strip her saddle so she would pulse down at the end, but that caused her to roll right by the poor volunteers, covering them in dust. Whoopsie! She had her strongest vet card all day, and stood loose while Kade and I sponged her down and fussed over her a bit. Her legs did have a bit of filling the next morning, but cleared up with a few hours of turn out when we got home. Having Kade along was a huge help, he never once complained with fetching hay or cleaning up or volunteering, though he did ask that we go home early so we could shower sooner! Hanging out with friends in camp was a delight, the whole thing felt like a low key party, such a nice change from huddling in our trailer at Prineville to escape the wet and the cold. This is absolutely my new favorite ride, so sorry I'll definitely be riding next year too Shar!
Useful offspring!
No comments:
Post a Comment