Owyhee Fandango Day 1

Part of my plan to help Jasper be the best he could be included a fairly complicated plan for the week before the ride.  No more Platinum, plenty of exercise (including being ridden for the last time the Wednesday before), one ounce supplementation with Performance Equine, and arriving at the ride site an entire day early to allow him to settle.  I was especially happy to arrive at ridecamp early, as I believe I got one of the last good spots right next to Bates Creek away from the busy happenings but close enough not to require an arduous hike to get to the vet-in area.  I parked between a group from Canada and some nice women from Southern California.  Elroy from Canada was kind enough to help me back the rig in on Thursday night after I must have looked insecure and helpless enough to warrant him leaving his group to assist.  Laurie from So Cal helped me lower my awning on Friday morning when the desert sun became too hot, and Marina (also from So Cal), kindly trimmed Jasper's feet on Sunday evening after watching us fret and curse for a few minutes.  It was a wonderfully diverse and warm group over the weekend, despite the large group of FEI riders.  

Ridecamp on Friday morning.

I spent all day Friday doing positive thinking and solidifying my plan for Saturday morning's ride.  Hand walk out of camp, mount and walk down the road a bit, pick up the trot and keep it with regular walking and cantering breaks.  I visualized Jasper walking out with a loose rein and a lowered head.  I imagined me calm, focused and relaxed on my horse.  After the ride meeting, I went to bed and slept fairly well for the night before a ride.

Relaxing on Friday afternoon under the awning in the shade. That's one of the Canadian 100-miler horses in the background.

Saturday morning started beautifully--the sun was just coming up when I awoke, and Jasper hardly blinked an eye when the neighbor mares left for their 75 mile ride.  I calmly made coffee, ate my yogurt and granola, and started getting Jasper ready.  His hind feet had flared a bit since he had been trimmed (only three weeks prior), so I had to forego hind boots and only use the fronts.  I didn't think this would be a problem, as the last time we really didn't need them and I knew we'd be doing many of the same trails again.  Jasper was calm and determined to cram as much hay in as possible before our day of riding.  Wayne had wandered off to look something up on my laptop while I tacked up, and when he returned he announced that he had done so "with my fan club."  I looked up, confused, and was delighted to see Tamara of In the Night Farm walking with him.  We finally were able to meet!  We stood and chatted for a bit while I got ready, which was a nice distraction and allowed my mind to stay occupied (although I was still a bit of a dithering idiot) without being stressed.  I had promised myself not to even leave the trailer until 8:15 that morning, 15 minutes past the start time for the 25's.  Tamara left to get a good spot at the starting line to take pictures, and I finished getting ready and headed over.  

I gave my number to the table at the start and handwalked Jasper out, just as I had planned.  He spent the entire walk through camp trying to ease me over to the side of the road so he could reach grass, and seemed unconcerned that we were beginning another race.  Wayne kindly walked us through camp, which further helped my nerves.  He held Jasper and I mounted just out of camp.  We started walking while Tamara took pictures of us, and continued walking even when a woman on a speedy gray came racing up behind us.  I was very proud of my boy.  The woman made the first turn on the trail, and Jasper and I had a minor discussion at the turnoff over whether to follow her or not.  When he was convinced going straight was best, we picked up a nice relaxed trot down the road.  We were off and Jasper was staying sane!

Jasper and I leaving--see how relaxed he is? (Picture courtesy of Tamara)

Most of the first loop was fairly non-eventful.  We did eventually catch up with some riders, but kept them well ahead of us.  Jasper is really good about having people in front or behind, and although he'll pick up a bit more speed with folks in front, he listens very well and seems to be satisfied just knowing he's not the last horse in the world.  My GPS had unfortunately run out of batteries and so I had no idea how fast we were going at any given time.  I decided this was probably a good thing for the first day--I could pay attention to my horse and how he felt rather than obsessing over our speed and whether we were going too fast or not.  He didn't pee or drink much on this loop, but I tried not to let that bother me since he had stopped at the tanks on our way out and drank deeply.  He also drank when we returned to camp.

We got back to camp and he vetted through great, no problems or hiccups.  We returned to the trailer where he dug into his hay and a safe-choice mash and snoozed.  I left his saddle on but took off his interference boots and rinsed them and laid them out to dry.  I drank an energy shake and fussed over him until our hold time was up.  We repeated the routine from the morning on our second loop, although Jasper was quite convinced he had actually been done after the first loop, and took some steady leg pressure to keep him moving on down the trail.  I was beginning to get concerned I was going to tire from all the motivation when he spotted another horse out front.  His ears zipped forward and sighted their target and clicked into mega power trot mode (within reason--I did ask him to rate a little slower).  We caught up in no time and after a brief introduction asked if I could pass.  The rider ended up drafting us, and I tried not to be annoyed that our solitary second loop seemed to have ended.  She was very nice and was on only the fourth ride for the season (as in, total rides) on her ex-pack horse.  He was a very nice boy, although I began to be concerned about her keeping up with us.  Jasper and I kept a fairly steady 9 mph trot on this loop, and I was worried about her out of condition pony.  I decided it wasn't my concern, and Jasper lead through the whole loop (and I must say, I think he was quite pleased with himself doing so).  We did pass a couple of riders during one of our longer trot stretches, although they left us in the dust during one our walking stretches.  Jasper drank much better on this loop and even stopped to pee.

We returned to camp amid cheers from people who know what we've been through, although I kept reminding everyone that we hadn't had our final vet check.  Jasper pulsed down even faster than the first check this time, and we made our way over to the vet in area.  He did quite well with only a B on anal tone, and I almost held my breath during the trot-out.  Dr. Washington was very pleased to tell us we had completed!  Yay!  Jasper got a high-five on his forehead (I wasn't sure where else to do it), and he almost seemed as happy as I was.  We just about floated back to the trailer.

Jasper recovering from the first day in his color-coordinated wraps.