Pink Flamingo Day 1

I felt like I hardly slept a wink on Friday night, and awoke on Saturday morning with that heart-pounding light headed feeling that only sleep deprivation can provide.  My nerves were admittedly a little on edge--not only was this going to be our first two-day-in-a-row ride, but I was going to attempt to do it completely barefoot AND bitless.  

A friend of mine and I had arrived early on Thursday and taken our ponies out for a light leg stretching, and Jasper had spooked at every rock, stump and puddle during the short three miles.  I was concerned this trend was going to repeat itself on ride day and leave both Jasper and I exhausted.

On saturday I was once again the last to leave camp and hand walked Jasper out.  I was hoping to be able to mount once we were out of sight of camp, but this wasn't the case--the whinnies from lonely horses traveled quite a ways, and Jasper felt obligated to answer almost every one.  Just as I was anticipating being able to mount, the front-runner 50-milers started passing us at high speeds going back towards camp.  Jasper's heart rate again spiked to 150 and I had a frantic time-bomb on the end of the lead rope again.  The first loop was a 22 mile lollypop, and although the stick portion was short, we had left camp at the perfect time to see the fastest riders canter back into camp for their first hold.  I thought, "Oh, well," and figured the uphill walk would help warm us both up for the ride.  Eventually, he calmed down at the sight of the passing riders, and as soon as we made it up to the base of the "pop" I was able to mount and continue.  Surprisingly, Jasper was unconcerned with the logs and rocks and puddles anymore. 

That first loop had a lot of elevation change and was primarily on roads.  The footing was excellent and Jasper was moving out incredibly well.  About halfway through the loop, we started to catch up with some of the slower riders.  Every time we'd see another ride, Jasper would perk his ears and start to speed up.  I had to hold him back to keep him from cantering, but we were soon passing small groups of riders.  When we got to a larger group and could not pass immediately, Jasper threw an enormous temper-tantrum with head tossing, prancing and side-passing.  I was not impressed, and realized I hadn't done him any favors by passing riders as soon as we came upon them.  As soon as I got him straightened out from his tantrum, I dismounted and walked--we were now going to watch all the riders we passed trot past us.  Jasper was not impressed, and did his best impression of a snorting, prancing show pony.  Once everyone had passed and he calmed down, I remounted and we set on our way.  Unfortunately, we caught up with the riders fairly quickly, and I again had a situation on my hands.  Instead of perking up at the sight of the riders, Jasper started to snort and head-toss immediately wanting to go much faster to catch up with and pass the riders.  Again, I dismounted and led him down the trail and allowed the riders to go on ahead.  I probably walked about 5 miles of this first loop, and much of it was (very) uphill, hot, and buggy.  When we reached the top of a steep climb and waited to catch my breath, I was feeling exhausted and emotional.  My legs were trembling from the effort of the climb, the attempt to keep Jasper from circling me on the hill, and the stress of having to deal with his excitement.  I considered throwing in the towel at this point, but knew we'd have to get back to camp anyways and so we pushed on.  I think our break had given many of the riders a chance to get further ahead, as well.  

The remainder of the loop was much better.  When we did catch up with riders, I asked Jasper to pull in behind them for a while before passing at a very slow trot.  He head tossed a bit, but I ignored him and he seemed to eventually understand that we were going to pass when I decided and not when he wanted to.  We made it back into camp with a first loop ride time of about 4 hours.  Not terrible for all the walking I did!  He vetted through with all A's and a comment from the vet about how excellent he looked.  He ate and drank extremely well during this loop, snatching bites during every walking break and drinking like a pro at all the water stops.  One of my goals for this weekend was to sponge more--I think it contributed to his excellent recoveries.

Unfortunately, since our ride time for the first loop had been a little long, it was quite hot during our break.  Wayne and Obsidian had gone out for a trail ride and so I was left self-crewing.  Although all checks were in camp, our campsite was further than I wanted to walk for a 50-minute hold.  I had packed my vet check bag that morning, and was pretty happy with what I did bring--I drank a cold ensure and gatorade and two bottles of water.  I took off Jasper's saddle and gave him a sponge bath once I had finished my "lunch."  We reapplied bug spray for both of us and sunscreen for me.  Surprisingly, we actually left the check on time!

The second loop was a quick 10-mile loop that I was familiar with from last year.  The total elevation for the loop is 400 feet, and I LOVE this loop because it's over before you know it.  It starts on the road into camp and turns off through a meadow.  A nice jaunt through young pines in the woods with a beautiful water stop at a cool stream and you end up on a "trail" that travels the periphery of another beautiful meadow.  Once through this the trail goes through more woods and ends up on the road a half mile from camp before you know it.  Jasper and I left the check alone and caught up with another rider on a small grey gelding that could amazingly do a 13-14 mph trot.  I thought we'd play leap frog for this loop, but she left us in the dust as I didn't want Jasper going that fast.  He was very good about this--much better than I would have expected.  He raised his head and perked his ears and watched them leave, and when I said, "Let 'em go," he relaxed and did just that.

We came into camp again and Jasper looked great.  He kept snatching bites of grass on the side of the road, and ate like a piggy while we were in line for pulse and the vet.  He drank deeply at the water tanks, and seemed to want to sample from each one.  He finished again with all A's, and again the vet commented how great he looked.  I was so proud of my boy!

Things I learned:

1. We have to work on passing and being passed by riders.  From now on, I will pull in behind a rider and make Jasper respectfully pace behind until he relaxes.  I'm not sure how to help him with being passed unless it's to start earlier in the pack.  Problem is, I don't want his little brain fried too early in the race.

2. Bring face wipes for the holds--being dusty and sweaty and having to reapply sunscreen and bug-spray was not a pleasant feeling.  Blech.

3. Bring a tarp to put my saddle on during holds.