Audrey and Jazz first back to back 50's - or not

My goal for this ride season is to complete a 2 day 100, that is 100 miles over 2 days, or back to back 50’s. Jazz (Dancer’s Southern Princess), the TWH mare and I have done many 50’s together, often placing in the top ten and it’s time we started to do more multi-day rides. Owners Bobbie and Kenny opted to stay home since they were not enthused by the >6-hour drive to Athens, TX, questionable cooler weather and they had a lot of work to do prepping their TX ranch for sale since they’ll be moving to NM soon (see Bobbie’s series of articles in Equus magazine about building a ranch from scratch). Being younger, enthusiastic, and undeterred by a poor weather forecast, with lofty goals of back to back 50s, I packed up the stock trailer, loaded Jazz and away we went to see what adventure the weekend would bring!

Sat. ride photo courtesy of John Nowell, Remuda Photography

I got to camp with no issues and parked next to ride friends John and Carol. Vetting-in went well, though gut sounds were a B, and I realized I had forgotten to offer Jazz the Outlast grain supplement which is supposed to aid gut sounds and promote eating. Lesson learned for next time.

Ride camp set-up with tent on the other side of the trailer.

The superstitious braids: Part of my usual ride prep the night before is braiding Jazz’s mane which wouldn’t be necessary if it was going to be a cooler temp. John, Carol and I were constantly checking the weather which varied widely depending on the source. It could be a high in the 60’s or a cold front could move in with rain. Now I’m not a superstitious person, I am a rational, logical scientist and I know that braids should not necessarily make a difference between a completion or not. Except that I am also a neuroscientist/psychologist and I know that maintaining routines and healthy mental prep prior to a ride, might make a difference. So, I stayed up on Friday and braided her mane in the dark. 

On Saturday morning Jazz was calm as a cucumber as I tacked her up, a change from previous rides where she’s been a little dance-y with excited energy. Have a ride plan and strategy but be flexible. On a typical ride I start with the first 10 riders since Jazz has no problem keeping up with the Arabs and I’d rather not have to pass riders unnecessarily. However, since Jazz was riding 2 days, I knew I had to take it easier and the plan was to aim for middle of the pack and ride with Carol, who was also planning on two days. The start sounded with the first riders out and Carol was no where in sight! You must ride your own ride and I knew Carol could take care of herself, so I headed out. 

At the 1st hold showing off our best condition cooler (humble brag).

This was a very technical trail, called the knee knocker ride because the trails were so narrow and if you weren’t careful, you’d end up with black and blue knees from the closeness of the trees and hairpin turns. Within the first 5 miles I learned to follow the trail markings, not the horse(s) in front of you! A whole group of us 7-10 riders all in the front would be going along and realize that we missed a turn. We turned around with the person at the end of the line now leading the way until we found the turn and headed off again. This happened about 5 times and I soon found myself riding with the top 5 riders, so much for middle of the pack! Eventually we came to some open stretches of road and I eased off on speed, letting the other riders pull out in front so we could go our own easier pace. Despite some mishaps of missing a few turns, following the red ribbons back to camp when I should have followed the road and following the road when I should have gone back to camp and getting lost on the pink trail and then mysteriously finding our way back on track, we made it to the first hold and Jazz had all As.

The second and third loops went well without too much to comment on except that it was cold, 36 degrees, so I rode with a rump rug and it was nice to meet a fellow greenbean Breanne on trail. There was also a memorable moment when it was just myself following fellow 50 miler Jen. I looked behind us and 3 dogs were running, barking and snarling coming up fast! I called to Jen, there’s dogs! My instinct was to just go faster and if one got too close, Jazz would kick it. Jen turned around in the saddle and in the loudest voice yelled ‘Get back, go home!’ and those dogs cowered and ran for the hills! When dogs attack, make yourself big and loud. The rest of the ride went well with Jazz gaiting and cantering nicely throughout. Despite my strategy of coming in middle of the pack, we ended up top ten out of around 20 starters, averaging 5.8 mph. We stood for best condition, mostly because I wanted to have one more vet check to make sure everything was ok. The weather was officially cold and crappy (temp in the high 30s and a light misty rain), but that’s part of endurance and my goal to do a 50 on day 2 was unchanged.

We stood for best condition because I wanted a 2nd vet check.

While it did go below freezing overnight, I stayed warm in my tent cocooned in all my clothes, heavy duty sleeping bag and emergency heat-radiating blankets. Surprisingly, I wasn’t that sore and never got that chilled-to-the-bone cold that many other riders experienced. I’m not sure what to attribute this to other than the fact that I was single-minded in my goal (mind over matter?) and I lived 6 years in Ontario and often rode in single digit temps where 28 degrees can be considered a nice spring day; it’s all about perspective. On day 2 I was ready to do the second 50 miles up until 5 minutes before the start. 

Just before the start, another rider approached and informed me that we would be the only two 50 milers and there were only a few 30-mile riders. Would I consider dropping down to the 30 with her? With so few riders, points wouldn’t count for much, we’d be done sooner, the weather wasn’t looking good for the rest of the day. It didn’t take much to convince me and not because of the weather. Upon hearing that there were only two of us, I had flashbacks to the Quitaque Climb ride last October, where on day 2 I was one of only two riders and while I completed the 55 miles it was one of my most difficult and painful rides mentally and physically. I did not want to repeat the experience. My goal of completing back to back 50’s could wait and a completion of 30 miles on day 2 would act as an excellent conditioning ride.

In hindsight, boy am I glad for that decision! It was cold, the water troughs were iced over, my hydration vest water tube froze, it was wet, my stylish blue riding gloves that matched my blue tack were damp and cold and not meant for winter riding, my feet were damp and cold, but we rode on, happy to follow the leader who was on a fresh horse. Around 6 miles in I had to stop and get off because I had left my girth too lose (apparently, I didn’t learn my lesson from a previous ride, see previous blog post, maybe this experience will hammer the lesson home!) and the dixie midnight pad was about to fly out the back. This took about 5 minutes and Jazz was a saint and stood stock still for all my fussing and wrangling of tack. We rode on alone and made it to the hold.

At the hold I was able to warm up in John and Carol’s LQ. They had decided not to ride on day 2 but were gracious to offer me hot tea, chilli and John even gave me some warm gloves and winter socks! That really hit the spot for me, but I was worried about Jazz. At the vet check she had a tight right hind muscle (a B) and I knew it was because I was cantering too much on the right lead, which she prefers, and I have a heck of a time trying to get her to pick up the left lead. I gave her some extra CMPK (calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium mix) in her elyte syringe before heading back out for the last loop. I didn’t let her canter at all this loop and we stuck to gaiting on the flat and walking up and down the hills. In the future I will have to do some more arena work and dressage on the trail to get her to pick up the left lead more consistently so that we can switch muscle groups more easily. 

Note our lovely, unnecessary braids.

The last loop was challenging but luckily, we weren’t alone. While the leader of the 30-mile LD had gone ahead, there were five of us that mostly stuck together, leap frogging here and there, persevering through the freezing rain, sleet and snow that was sticking to the ground and coming down at a steady rate, complete with thunder. Jazz had one moment of ‘stubborn, do I have to go?’ when the trail went through camp and straight back out without a hold and I could hardly blame her mind-set. An Arab ahead of us also didn’t want to leave, but with a vastly different reaction then Jazz’s stubborn, ‘I’m not moving my feet unless it’s to eat grass’. The Arab was half rearing, cantering in circles, shaking its head while the rider was yelling and trying to get it to move forward off her spurs and crop (a firm, but not excessive use of force). They did eventually move on down the trail which I tried to take advantage of to get Jazz to follow. She didn’t, still stubborn, standing stock still eating. Patience is my middle name (figuratively not literally). In the end she got tired of my nagging and pleading to go forward (no spurs, just squeezes of encouragement and gentle taps of the crop) and we walked on down the trail. I could have gotten off and hand-walked her out, which I’ve done in the past, but didn’t need to this time. This experience reminded me that I’m thankful to be riding an even tempered gaited horse as opposed to a hot-blooded Arab. I caught up with the other riders and we did the last loop together as a group. Jazz and I finished turtle in 6^th place! Her muscle tone was now A with A’s on most everything else except B- on guts. I was very pleased with her performance and she was eating and drinking well.

Since we were done earlier than I expected I had to decide if I should drive home that day or wait until the morning as was my original plan. I felt pretty good (still not that sore), Jazz looked good, the tent was covered in ice, the ground was one big puddle, my ride friends with the LQ had gone home and the weather was not expected to warm up. After consulting with Bobbie on the phone, I decided to pack up and start driving and if Jazz didn’t look right (lack of EDPP - eating, drinking, peeing, pooping) then I’d stop half-way at my friend Carol’s, who has just started a horse hotel-type business (https://www.cedargrovetx.com/). While driving home I was very aware of the possibility of developing a condition of ‘get-there-itis’. This silly sounding condition is a real term used in aviation and is responsible for many plane crashes and accidents. It is a state of mind that occurs towards the end of a long flight/drive/ride where the pilot/driver/rider is determined to reach their destination (i.e. to ‘get there’) despite dangerous conditions such as harsh weather or tiredness. Being aware of this I stopped for gas after a few hours and Jazz was looking ok, drinking sweet water and eating treats with pee and poop in the trailer (Yay for bowel movements!) and so we pushed on to make it back to the ranch around 10pm. 

The rest of the trip was uneventful except that when I got to the ranch, Kenny informed me I had driven all the way home in 4-wheel drive! Whoops! Another lesson learned and hopefully not to be repeated. The main reason I write these blogs is to reflect on my experiences, the good, the bad and the ugly. Speaking of ugly, the next day I awoke to find some strange bruises on my arm and right knee, guess I didn’t get away unscathed from the knee knocker trail, but Jazz and I got our completions even if we didn’t get our back to back 50’s. Maybe next ride I’ll braid only half her mane and that will appease the superstitious gods! Until next time, May The Horse Be With You!