Lessons learned and Audrey and Jazz’s longest toughest rides yet!

Jazz and Audrey take a Selfie!

This past weekend I had the most exhilarating, adrenaline fueled ride experience in my life so far, followed later in the day by the most frustrating experience. Since my last post in March (scroll down below), I’ve had a number of great and not so great rides. Here are a few quick tidbits I learned from these rides I’ll share, then I’ll discuss my most exciting and disheartening ride below. 

Trot/Gait out at Llano Estacado

1. At one ride I learned that endurance means more than enduring long miles of trail, sometimes you have to endure unfriendly and unaccommodating ride management as well. At a ride that will remain unnamed, the management decided ‘no electric pens’ without telling anyone. They did not have any available stalls or let us borrow panels. I was very angry (and I don’t get angry very often) at a clear lack of communication. I was ready go home and submit a protest. Eventually we worked it out with the owner of the property who let us use the electric pens. Additionally management assumed that all riders knew the trail, but many riders got lost over the first mile of course because it was not well marked. They fixed this later in the day. The actual riding part went pretty well, Jazz (TWH mare) and I finished 50 miles on Saturday, when I also had my first on-trail bathroom experience, when you gotta go, just go. Then Sunday we did 30 miles and got BC!
2. At the Llano Estacado ride, Jazz and I had the best ride we’ve ever had. We made friends with another rider and did the entire 55 mile distance together, including enduring a downpour thunder/lightning storm in the middle of it. We went on to get BC! This would not have been possible if we didn’t have the riding buddy, the horses helped each other along so I encourage you to make friends on trail.
3.  However, I’ll caution those reading this, don’t let success go to your head! My ego was inflated and at the next ride at Fort Stanton I let Jazz go too fast cantering up and down the mountains, trying to keep up with a faster Arab. Jazz had muscle tightness/cramps at mile 33 and we both got our first pull :(
4. On day 2 of Fort Stanton, I rode Annakate (morgan mare) in the 30 mile. Many mentors will tell you ‘don’t do anything new or for the first time at a ride!’ I knew this, but circumstances were what they were and we were using glue-on boots for the first time. With the excellent adaptability and tool handling of Kenny Weber (at one point using a hack saw!) we got boots and pour-in pads on such that Annakate wasn’t lame and we finished the ride.
5. At Quitaque Climb I learned that the rider must always check your tack before and after you get on! The girth was too loose when we started out on the 55 mile and as the name suggests there were a lot of climbs involved. I thought I was on a roller coaster ride moving up and down the mountains but also side to side! Shear will and my mantra of ‘just stay centered’ got us through until we could dismount and adjust the tack. This was day two and only 2 riders were entered in the 55. After the first loop, I knew we couldn’t keep up with the faster arab (lesson learned from Fort Stanton) and so for the next ~40 miles Jazz could not rely on a riding buddy to motivate her along. I think Jazz had her ‘seeing Jesus’ moment, that is being pushed to the edge and moving beyond it; (phrase I got from another mentor Patti Stedman) at the end of the long, lonely ride Jazz was eating and drinking like she never had before, realizing she had to take care of herself over such long distances. This had been our longest, toughest ride yet, that is until 2 weeks later.

Still bright eyed after 63 miles.

My longest, toughest ride yet happened at Armadillo, where we signed up for the 75 miler! How do you know if you’re ready for the next distance? All the FB posts and advice from mentors said to just sign up and try it, so I did. And while someone might say we failed because Jazz and I didn’t finish, I say there’s more than one way to measure success. I’ll always remember the 1^st loop where I had the most exhilarating, adrenaline fueled ride experience in my life so far. I woke up at 3am and Jazz and I headed out at 4am (the sun doesn’t rise until 7:30am!) with Kerry Lowrey and Hope Finan, both Tevis participants, leading the way. I am super grateful to these experienced horse women for answering all my questions and conveying a sense of carefree ‘we do this all the time, except over mountains!’ attitude. They led the way through the dark, windy forest paths, gaiting along at 8-10 mph. Every now and then creeping thoughts would pop up in my mind: ‘what are you doing?!’, ‘you’ve never done anything like this before!’ (see bullet point 4 above), ‘what if a tree branch pokes out your eye?’, ‘what if Jazz trips in a ditch/over a tree root?’ and on and on. I promptly shut those negative thoughts down with ‘The answer is Don’t think about it!’ (Rick and Morty reference) and refocused on the here and now. This took major trust in Jazz, my fellow riders leading the way, and ride management for clearly marking trails and danger spots along the first 28 mile loop. I had a huge grin on my face the entire time. 😄 And then the heat and humidity set in. 

Ready and waiting to head out on the 2nd loop.

     On the 3^rd loop Kerry started before me walking on the blue trail and I said I’d catch up since my out time was a few minutes behind her. However, I learned you have to know what loop you’re on AND what loop you’re not on, i.e. there is a difference between blue/white ribbons and blue/yellow! I did an extra mile and got separated from Kerry. Since Jazz was now by herself, she was not motivated in the least to go any faster than a 5 mph pacey gait interspersed with walking and eating. It was frustrating and painful as this was mile 46-63 and I knew we had to get to 75 miles to finish. I was completely prepared to hand-walk the last loop and was calculating cut-off times for how I could do it before 10pm. Luckily we finished the last 5 miles of the 3^rd loop going strong because some 50 mile riders came up behind us and Jazz found her motivation. Unfortunately this was the hottest part of the day of 4:30pm, high of 87 degrees with high humidity. Lots of ice water cooled Jazz enough to meet P&R but when we went to the vets her HR was slightly elevated around 72 bpm and stayed that way for the next hour. While I’m sad we didn’t get to do the last 15 miles and complete now I know to only attempt longer distances under less humid and hot conditions with Jazz. It probably would have been different if it had actually rained instead of the air being stagnant and as one rider put it ‘felt like a microwaved towel was laid on us all day’. We went to the vet for fluids and they recommended we wait and Jazz recovered fine on her own, maybe because she ‘saw Jesus’ at the last ride.      

Bobbie Lieberman and Kenny Weber

A huge thank you goes to Bobbie Lieberman and Kenny Weber, they are the owners of all the horses I’ve been fortunate to ride and my faithful crew. They are not exactly in their physical prime (i.e. getting older) and it’s a major effort gluing on multiple hoof boots, tacking up at 3:30 am and always having sponges, electrolytes and feed at the ready. Add on to that the stress and complications of building a new home in NM when you live in TX (see Bobbie’s series of articles in Equus magazine) and it’s amazing we’ve been able to accomplish all that we have! They take excellent care of their horses and maybe we will sell one or two to downsize their herd as was the original goal of our partnership (Jazz is for sale to just the right home!) but it’s been a fantastic journey so far. This was my last ride for the season and I look forward to the next ride year. I hope I don’t repeat my mistakes and learn from my future mistakes. If you’re a greenbean rider, I hope you’ve learned something from my experiences and if we’re at a ride together, come say Hi!  

Audrey's Shanghai Trails Ride, Sunday 30 miles

Originally published at GreenBeanEndurance.org on Mar. 30, 2017

Warm-up in the mist. Photo by: Bobbie  Lieberman

I’m separating the events of this ride into 3 posts to describe Friday Pre-Ride Catastrophe, Saturday 55-mile Ride and Sunday 30-mile Ride. Each day I learned a lot and hope to pass this on to other Green Beans.

This was Leggs, (aka Go Away’s Midnight Dancer) the Missouri Foxtrotter mare’s 2^nd LD and longest distance ridden. She did a fantastic job a few weeks ago at the Heart of the Hills ride (see prev. blog post), the end of which I thought she was fit enough for a 50. Boy, am I glad we did a 2^nd LD first! Physical training is important but mental training is far more important and Leggs is still learning. The start was a little more chaotic just because there were so many more horses (36 starters compared to 14 during my Sat. ride). I thought I had picked a good place in the pack to start out but Legg’s had race brain! What happened to the wonderfully responsive mare I had during the first LD only a few weeks ago? After reflection I realized the Heart of the Hills ride had lots of rocks, ups and downs and single track twists and turns enclosed by trees, which provided natural breaks to keep a horse from going off to the races. The Shanghai trails were largely straight, flat, farm roads, easy to gallop on if your horse had the mindset. 

I should have worn gloves, and she may need a bit for the first loop (I ride in an S-hack). She learned to tuck her head in and down and from the side it might look like she has a nice arched neck but in reality is avoiding the ‘bit’ and hanging heavy on my hands. For the first 10 miles we were fighting, I made her stop and stand, back up, did lateral bending work to try to keep her mind on me instead of running to catch the other horses. She was a handful and I’ll be consulting my trainer on what else we can do to keep her more light and responsive. Eventually she got better, in part because we found a good riding buddy to keep pace with for the last 3 miles of the first loop.

Finished! With riding buddy coming in behind.

At the hold we learned the importance of having a buddy horse at the vet check. During the exam everything looked good except her CRI went from 60 to 80! The vets recognized she was probably just excitable/emotional and said we should come back for a recheck. Kenny brought Jazz up and Leggs immediately relaxed, yawned and started eating. We redid the CRI (with Jazz gaiting beside her) and everything checked out. I did have difficulty leaving ride camp (Leggs didn’t want to leave her buddy behind) but eventually we got out back on trail and we caught up with our previous riding buddy. For the 2^nd loop she was great, went on a loose rein and responsive and we took our time and completed the ride with all A’s on the final vet check.

 

Re-hydrating with Kenny and Jazz for support.

While the final vet check is technically the end of the ride, all A's on the vet card does not mean everything is automatically OK. It was 1-2 hours after we finished and I went to the post-ride meeting. Bobbie and Kenny noticed Leggs didn't want to graze in hand, while Jazz was eating heartily. Her gums were tacky, not as moist as they should have been and heart rate was a little high at 60 bpm when it should be lower when just resting. The vets concurred she was dehydrated and put in 1.5 L of saline along with CMPK supplement with an IV infusion. She perked up and started eating. After the infusion we knew her system had recovered when she pee'ed! This really highlights the importance of observing your horse post-ride. If we had just packed up and left right away, she may have coliced on the trailer during the 4 hr drive home and gone down hill fast. I'm very thankful to have great partners and mentors in Kenny and Bobbie.

Audrey's Shanghai Trails Ride, Saturday 55 miles

Originally published at GreenBeanEndurance.org on Mar. 29, 2017

I’m separating the events of this ride into 3 posts to describe Friday Pre-Ride Catastrophe, Saturday 55-mile Ride and Sunday 30-mile Ride. Each day I learned a lot and hope to pass this on to other Green Beans.

Despite the events from Friday evening, I felt ok to ride on Saturday. The loose horses had left ride camp and our horses had remained on the trailer until about 1-2am when Kenny felt everything was ok and returned them to the pens. We had another potential catastrophe when Jazz kicked at Leggs during breakfast (they are ‘frenimies’, sometimes getting along and sometimes not). She got a hind foot stuck on the fence! Luckily the fence was not hot and she was tangled but not shocked. Once again quick action by the 3 of us diffused the situation: Bobbie kept Leggs calm, as her pen was quickly shrinking; I was at Jazz’s head keeping her calm, both her hind feet were wrapped in the fence; Kenny got the feet untangled and reset the fence. We added a corridor/space between the pens to prevent further antagonistic actions between the mares. Phew!

This was my 4^th 50-mile ride on Jazz (aka Dancer’s Southern Princess) and while I got completions on the previous 3, we had various issues with: race brain at the start, riding too fast, lack of gut sounds, not eating at the holds, boots coming off, loss of momentum/energy on the last half. I had none of these problems this ride!

Heading back out after a hold.

There was little-to-no race brain at the start, in part because we had a longer warm-up since the start was delayed by 15 min. I ended up leaving 3^rd just behind the leaders. This was not my initial strategy but when they finally called trail open, I was right there ready to go and didn’t want to wait 5 minutes for others to go out. Everyone was not clumped together and it was a nice relaxed start. I made sure not to ride too fast, checking my watch with an aim to maintain an overall avg 7mph pace for the ride. Multiple riders passed us the first loop but by this ride I knew my horse and that it was better to go slower than give in to the temptation to keep up with the faster Arabs. This ride she was eating like a champ on trail and at the holds, since her teeth had been floated after the Heart of the Hills ride (see prev. blog post). There were no boot issues due to a superb fitting by Kenny Weber (owner/crew) and I realized after the first loop, we didn’t need them. During the last half of the ride Jazz largely maintained her momentum because we found riding buddies. There was a point around 30 miles when we were alone and she had lost momentum and in her mind did not see the point in gaiting when she could walk instead and eat grass! Luckily two other riders caught up to us and all of a sudden she had motivation again to stay with the pack. The three of us continued as a group and completed the last 25 miles together. Impromptu riding buddies can really make a difference in a horse’s motivation, they are herd animals and the instinct to stay together seems stronger than pleasing the rider’s desire to maintain a decent pace, at least in Jazz’s case.

Finished! Bright eyed and looking good.

While it was a great ride, there are still some areas I need to improve on. Figuring out when to electrolyte during the ride is one of them. I carried a tube with me but didn’t give it because I was afraid if I did, she wouldn’t eat and then I’d have more problems with gut sounds. We did give some at the end of each hold and that seemed to work for this ride. But I’ve come to learn that every ride is different and we’ll see what the next ride brings!

Audrey's Shanghai Trails Ride, Friday Pre-Ride Catastrophe

Originally published on GreenBeanEndurance.org on Mar. 29, 2017

I’m separating the events of this ride into 3 posts to describe Friday Pre-Ride Catastrophe, Saturday 55-mile Ride and Sunday 30-mile Ride. Each day I learned a lot and hope to pass this on to other Green Beans.

This ride hammered home the importance of camp safety and what to do in an emergency situation. Quick thinking and acting by Kenny Weber, Bobbie Jo Lieberman (my ride crew and the horse owners) and myself, saved our horses and us from likely major injuries. At this ride weekend there were three horse fatalities, one occurred onsite and two were from horses that succumbed to injuries after being transported to the Wharton Equine Facility for treatment. No humans were physically injured.

The damaged car a horse ran into, with Leggs in the background

In short, there were 13 horses all from the same barn that were divided into 4 connected electric pens. Friday evening 9 of the horses escaped the pen and were loose, galloping in an open field. Our campsite and our two horse pens were on the edge of this field. Though it was dark, I noticed the loose horses and we soon realized it was dangerous and escalating. I was about to go out and help catch some loose horses, which might have been ok if it was just one. But Kenny realized this was more serious and dangerous than one loose horse. Kenny prompted me to take Jazz (TWH mare) in hand, while he took Leggs (MFT mare) in hand and we got them out of the horse pens while Bobbie stayed in the LQ. One minute after we removed them from the pens, a horse ran into the car next to our pens (see picture), in the process spooking an adjacent horse that was tied to a trailer, who then pulled back hard from the trailer and was now loose; this horse was found later in the field with a broken neck. The horse that ran into the car was very badly injured and now was standing in one of our pens. Kenny got a hold of it until others came to take it to the vets. Bobbie was able to clear out the back of the trailer so we could load our horses. This all happened in 5 minutes! I learned that the safest (and by that I mean safer) places for your horses are in-hand (it helps if they respect/trust you and have been trained with good ground manners) and inside your trailer, meaning good trailer loading skills are a must! How you set-up your ride camp in relationship to those around you can be critical and building in safety blocks is important. 

Our rig setup with the 3-side Protection Rule for my tent

Building in protections for your rig set-up: We had some natural protections, which arguably may have helped us escape injury during this situation. Protection #1: the 3-side rule. I sleep in a tent and strategically placed it between the fence, the truck and my car such that it was protected on 3 sides (see picture). I have heard horror stories of loose horses trampling tents and now try to have it protected on 3 sides at every ride. Protection #2: we parked along a fence line, slightly away from most of the other rigs. The fence acted as a natural barrier for that side of the rig, however being adjacent to the open field in this case did not help us. Protection #3: Have the back of your trailer clear of ‘stuff’ so you can load your horses quickly. We did have a few items in the back, but Bobbie was able to clear it quickly so we could load the horses. If you sleep in the back of your trailer, just have a minimum amount of items and have it be easy to move if needed. Protection #4: Be able-bodied enough to handle excited/panicky horses or have friends who are able-bodied. Kenny and I were able to handle our excited horses. Bobbie (who has poor night vision and had a hip replaced two years ago) is not as able-bodied but between the three of us, we got it done.

The ride went on as planned and all of the horses were accounted for by Saturday afternoon. The ride manager, vets and volunteers did an excellent job treating and transporting horses. Despite a crazy start I had great rides on Saturday and Sunday, which I’ll post about next. This post is only meant to give my account of the incident and if you’d like to learn more about best horse containment practices there is currently discussion going on now on the AERC facebook group.

Audrey's Heart of the Hills Ride Day 2, 50 miles

Originally published on GreenBeanEndurance.org on Feb. 27th, 2017
After a great 25-mile ride on Saturday I felt good to ride 50 miles on Dancer’s Southern Princess (aka Jazz) the TWH mare on Sunday (also for sale to the right home). This was my 3^rd 50-mile ride on Jazz and each ride has been a completely different experience. Jazz is an experienced endurance horse but was diagnosed with EPM a few years ago, she took some time off and now is back full force completing 50’s.

Checking gut sounds.

 

The good: For a two-day ride I held up well, stayed hydrated (I had problems with that at the previous ride) and as of Monday evening, have much less muscle soreness than previous 2-day rides I've done. Jazz was great the first 25 miles, lots of energy but not the head-tossing race brain she had at a previous ride. We rode on a loose rein for all but the first half-mile (where I thought she might decide to buck with excitement).

The bad: We had potentially major problems with Jazz’s gut sounds at the first hold. She wasn’t eating much and the Vet’s gave her a generous B- (it was probably more like a C). We stayed in ride camp an extra 30+ minutes and she very slowly became more interested in eating (drinking was fine throughout). I altered my ride strategy and stopped to let her graze for ~2 minutes every mile when we could. At second vet check she had A’s on gut sounds! However, even though she had good gut sounds now, she was not motivated, it took a lot of effort to get her to a choppy 6-7mph gait (when during the first half she was doing a comfortable smooth 8-10mph gait). Luckily, we hooked up with another rider whose horse was also lacking energy and did the 2^nd 25 miles together going slow. All A’s at final vet check (A- on gut).

The ugly/other:  I don’t know if anything fits into the ‘ugly’ category from this ride. I had some boot problems but I’m learning that this is to be expected at this ride (rear Renegade game off shortly after crossing a stream). We had double checked and adjusted all the boots since Saturday’s experience (see previous post).

We finished!

What we learned: This is the 2^nd ride we've had gut problems with Jazz, both times she recovered but I’d like there to not be any problems to begin with. She’s not a great eater the night/morning before rides and I’m not sure how to combat that, having all Saturday to settle in seemed to help but not enough. The dentist will be out to check teeth and we'll see if that helps. The last 11 mile loop was pretty painful (on the mental side for me). Perhaps Jazz and I haven't quite clicked. Whereas I'd like to just get the ride done, she'd rather take her time and 'smell the roses' (or is it eat the grass?). Maybe she needs a pacer riding buddy to keep her motivated the 2nd half? All other indicators (heart rate, muscle, impulsion) suggest she is very fit. Since each ride is it's own experience, we'll see what the next one brings!

Audrey's Heart of the Hills ride Day 1, 25 miles

Originally published on GreenBeanEndurance.org Feb. 27, 2017

A recap of my ride weekend at Heart of the Hills. It was a very technical ride, maybe the most difficult in TX? There are hills and rocks of every sort. Here is a recap of Saturday's 25-mile ride. 

Quick background: I ride my mentor Bobbie Jo Lieberman’s horses. I learn a lot from her and in the process, help her condition the horses and maybe(?) help sell some of their 11+ herd she and her husband have accumulated. It's a great partnership.

Here is the good, the bad and the ugly from Saturday’s 25-mile ride on ‘Leggs’ the Missouri Foxtrotter mare (who is available for sale to the right home).

At the start, ready to go.

 The good: I couldn’t be more pleased with Legg’s performance. This was her first Ride experience and she thought it was the best thing ever. I rode in an S-hack and she stayed with me mentally the whole time, didn’t get too excited, overwhelmed or race brain and no spooks! She was even pretty good with me messing with her boots (see below) and people passing us. Despite all the rocks, she didn't take one bad step. All A’s at the final vet check, with a B on muscle, which is to be expected with the difficult rocky hills.

The bad: Boot problems. Either boots can shrink over night or hooves can outgrow boots more quickly than expected, they fit fine a few days before. We left them overnight in the colder trailer and maybe that had an effect? At the start the left front (Renegade Viper) was very tight and they are supposed to fit more loose. After the 2^nd time that boot came off, I put on the spare Scoot Boot and it held up wonderfully and we switched both fronts over to Scoot Boots at the hold. The rear Easyboot Gloves (only brand small enough to fit her smaller hind feet) both came off after going up a steep set of rocky steps. I put them back on but after going up the next set of steep rocky steps the gators, which hold them on, were destroyed. We did the rest of the ride barefoot behind.

At the hold, note two different types of front boots and no rear boots.

The ugly: Don’t wear riding tights because they look pretty and match the rest of your outfit. The ‘Irideon Issential Piping Hot’ tights have a nice blue piping that matches my shirt, however I don’t think they’re as breathable as my ‘Irideon Synergy’ tights. BodyGlide is your friend. I got through the ride, but was not as well setup for the 50 miles the next day as I could have been.

What we learned: put hoof boots, and pads someplace warm overnight so they aren’t as stiff in the morning. Make sure all boots fit the night before ride morning so you have time to adjust if needed. Leggs is probably ready for a 50 and may be my favorite horse in the barn right now even if she’s not as fast as the others.

At the finish, both smiling.

Favorite take-away experience(s): 1. Enjoying the scenery, once everyone passed us (because of the boot problems) we were alone and could just relax and enjoy the view from the top of the hills (that is until I got off to walk down the steep loose rocky hill). 2. Endurance riders are so friendly. Each time I had to get off and fix boots, everyone who passed made sure I was ok and offered to help. 3. Making new friends. I had a great unexpected conversation about neuroscience research (my day job) on trail with new ride friends and I look forward to seeing them at future rides.