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!

Audrey and Jazz High Roller 50 miler

Ever hear the phrase ‘Find your own adventure’? Well, Jazz and I had our own this past weekend at the High Roller AERC ride. At all my previous rides I’ve had a great support crew (Bobbie Jo Lieberman and Kenny Weber, the owners of the horses I ride). For this ride we had it all planned to take three horses with each being ridden one or both days, however 2 days before the ride all plans changed! Bobbie is on ‘stall rest’ to recover from a knee injury and Kenny needed to prepare the ranch for a new horse arriving that weekend. But I could borrow their truck and trailer, take Jazz (aka Dancers Southern Princess, TWH mare) to the ride on my own, by myself without crew or support system… Challenge accepted!

This was my first ride going by myself and to my knowledge the first time Jazz has gone by herself. This was a big confidence booster for me, since at most horse events in my life I’ve had a ‘crew’ in various forms. Growing up riding 4-H my Mom was always there to make sure my number was pinned on straight, in college I had friends to help me memorize the jumper course and in young adulthood my sister was the one who drove the truck and trailer. Though nervous and thinking of 100 things that could go wrong, I made my list, packed the trailer and off we went (didn’t forget anything either)!

Jazz and I take a selfie to prove we arrived OK!

The first major decision I agonized over was what distance to enter. High Roller this year was a combined FEI/AERC ride, and they were offering 50 and 75-mile distances along with the new Boudheib Initiative http://www.boudheib.ae/boudheib-initiative/. One of my endurance goals is to complete a 100-mile ride and my first attempt at 75 was its own adventure! (see previous post) Do I stay safe and ride 50 miles or push myself and go for 75 miles? I decided to stay safe and ride 50 miles and aim to do another 50 on the 2^nd day.

For the camp set-up I decided to sleep in the back of the stock trailer because while I have a tent, I feel more comfortable sleeping in a vehicle since loose horses will trample a tent. At this ride I counted at least 6 different loose horses (all were caught relatively quickly, and no one was hurt). At night I could hear everything Jazz was doing, eating, drinking etc. My favorite part of the ride happened at 1:00 am when I had to get up because Jazz had woken from a deep sleep and forgotten where she was! She started whinnying for her herd mates who weren’t there. With some gentle words and a calming touch, she relaxed and started eating again. It was gratifying to know she trusted me and realized she wasn’t alone after all.

Eating dutifully at the hold.

I wasn’t completely alone either, my riding friends John and Carol were parked nearby. Carol was one of the first TX endurance riders I met 2 years ago when I volunteered at a local ride. Fellow GB teammate Erin was also at the ride, but we always seem to miss each other and rarely get to meetup, which is why facebook is great to chat. The ride itself went well. Since it was cold (40-50 F) Jazz didn’t take a big drink until after 20 miles but then tanked up. I’ve learned to count the number of gulps she takes to help keep track of how she’s doing, 10-20 gulps are good. Her gut sounds were better than ever, and she got better at each vet check. I think using the supplement Outlast played a part in her eating better. Riding with Carol and another friend Kerry helped Jazz to stay strong and motivated all day. At the finish Carol and I had a friendly race-off and I barely won coming in 7^th place since her arab spooked at the finish flag! The final vet check went well but the vets encouraged me not to ride the 2^nd day since Jazz could benefit from rest after trucking through some of the deep sand. Since I couldn’t ride, I volunteered as a vet scribe and got to see some fabulous horses and work with wonderful vets. It was a great weekend despite having to be flexible with my plans and Jazz really impressed me. I know she’ll make a great partner for someone, she is for sale to just the right person (shameless plug)!  

Always buy the ride photo! credit: Saga Lifestyle Photography

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!