Sunriver ride was great, start to
finish great!
We got there on Thursday and Kandi and
I rode our horses both days. Bunny felt great, not just good but
really, really good! She wanted to go but she listened, she felt
free and loose and had a big nice floaty trot, the kind she usually
gets after she's gone 5 miles or so, she had it from the get go.
My only concern was myself. Bunny and I
had a little mishap the Sunday before. We were riding with a group
and a skunk ran across the trail between me and the horse in front of
me. I stopped Bunny and we avoided getting sprayed but while we were
waiting for the skunk to amble off she stepped on a downed tree limb
and got her foot stuck in it. Then she stepped back and got a hind
foot stuck in the other part of the limb. She was calm but trying to
figure out some way to get a foot loose, I wasn't sure what to do. In
the end she rolled over on her side, I scampered off, she came loose
and all was well. Except somehow in the whole process my pelvis had
gotten tilted and I was walking crooked. Kandi took one look at me
and said, you have one hip higher than the other. She worked on me
and fixed that on Wednesday but then I was sore. I was a little
better on Friday and was hoping it wouldn't slow me down on Saturday.
But at least I was even now and felt confident I could ride even.
The morning of I got up, went through
my morning routine; breakfast, stretch me, stretch Bunny, saddle up
and warm up. She was ready to go but calm and good.
I decided since there was 22 starts in
the 100 and like 8 starts in the 80 that I wasn't going to start in
the front. I would let the speedy people go and then see how it
looked. I waited till it looked like all that was left was a few
people who really wanted to be in the back and then I went.
I passed two people who had stopped to
adjust something so a bit later they passed me. The first gal was
going faster than I wanted to go so I let her go and hand Bunny hang
out for a minute. Celena Pentrack was next and she looked to be going
about the speed I wanted to go, so I asked if I could tag along.
I was so proud of Bunny, she was calm
and relaxed. She has happy to be going but didn't feel the need to
pass Celena's horse. Occasionally we would get to a good wide spot
and she would let me know she'd pass if I said the word, but when I
told her no she just settled right back in and followed nicely.
We were going at the faster end of what
I wanted to go but Bunny felt great, loose and relaxed and so I just
went with it. We got down to the river (18 miles) in just over 2
hours.
When we go to the river she pulsed
right down. Celena said she intended to speed up heading back to camp
and I wanted to slow down a bit. I knew that was going to be a big
part of our climb for the day and I wanted to take it easy. I let
Celena go and stayed at my hold a few minutes extra to let Bunny eat
and let Celena go. Then Bunny and I set out on our own back to camp.
At the water stop we had a little
lesson in standing still. She got away with some bad behavior at Mt.
Adams because I was too sick to make her mind and I intended to put a
stop to it. So I insisted she stand stock still for me to get off and
on. Later in the day I would stop her to get off and electrolyte and
she would just let out a big sigh like, okay I'll stand still.
With a few extra minutes to eat and a
few extra minutes to remember how to stand still, we got to camp just
about when I wanted to (including the extras, 1:45 for 12 miles). We
got to camp, pulsed down and had our 45 minute hold.
She was a bit distracted and I had to
take her out at one point to graze after she was done with her mash.
Last year I had a problem with low gut sounds at this ride but this
year every time I would come in the vet would comment on how well her
gut sounds were. That made me feel good!
So then we were headed back down to the
river. Just out of camp we caught Laura, who we rode with on our
first 100 and she kept us company down to the river again. I was
glad! Doing all that downhill again was not my favorite and it was
nice to have company.
I took it a bit slower this time,
partly because the trail had been torn up and in places the footing
was deep and rocks had gotten churned up. So we go back to the river
in 2:20. Again she pulsed right down, vetted great and ate like a
champ. I got some lunch and chatted with my friend Dean. He had
gotten pulled and was waiting for a ride back to camp. He held Bunny
so I could refill my water and use the bathroom, all that good stuff.
Then he said, “You know you are in second place, right?” No I
didn't! When I had heard there was so many starts on the 100 I
figured I would be lucky to top ten. I won't lie, I was hoping for a
few extra points, but riding my own ride is more important to me.
But I never dreamed I would be in second place!
I decided I would do the best I could,
I wouldn't go any faster than I felt I should but I would do my best
not to waist any time and if that kept me in second place, great and
if not, oh well.
Laura's time out of the hold was five
minutes behind mine so I told her goodby and headed out on my own. We
had about 14 miles to the out vet. We were over 50 miles into it now
and Bunny had a huge, big floaty trot, a great attitude and we just
had a blast. At that point I felt like she was more efficient in that
floaty trot and slowing her down wasn't going to help her. We would
slow down for anything that was significant up or down and otherwise
we just floated along. Occasionally she would stretch out on a good
spot in the road, she would lengthen her stride, bring up her back
and really stretch all out for a few strides. At first I was worried
she was going to use up precious energy using that but I was pretty
sure she was doing it to stretch so I let her.
Bunny and I leaving the river, 50 miles down, 50 to go!
We were averaging a bit faster than I
had planned and that worried me a tiny bit. It was well within the
range of what we condition for, I just tend to be conservative. But I
felt like as loose and as free as she was she was more efficient at a
little faster trot.
Recently I had someone tell me that you
sometimes have to be prepared for the fact that your horse might be
more fit than you thought or the weather might be better or some
other factor that means it makes sense to go a bit faster than you
planned. It felt like that advice had come at just the right time. I
am always willing to go slower and be cautious but I think sometimes
I work to hard to make her go slower when she is fit, happy and
efficient at a little faster speed. So I went with it.
We did that leg in about an hour and a
half and go into the out check out in no mans land. She pulsed down,
vetted great and settled in to eat. I should also mention that I made
a point to always strip her tack at every check. I didn't have to but
I felt like it let her cool and rest better. It was worth the extra
effort.
I realized at that check that I had
made one mistake. I knew there was people water out at the river but
forgot to ask about there. There wasn't people water. I had a little
left in my pack and a juice I poured in there. Not as much as I would
have liked but it would work. Note to self, always ask!!! I realized
about three miles out of the check that I could have checked Dean's
out bag. He had water and had gotten pulled so I could have grabbed
his. Oh, well.
Now it was 16 miles back to camp. We
left right on time and away we went. We had a great time. Toward the
very end of the loop I felt like she was getting a bit tired but so
was I. We took about 2:10 minutes to get back to camp. Once again she
pulsed right down and vetted great.
It was time for supper, clean socks,
glow sticks and last minute prep for the last loop. We had 20 miles
to go and we would be done! I was hoping to leave camp on the last
loop by 7pm and we were going to head out just after 6pm. I was so
excited and yes, we were still in second place.
I told my mom to expect that last loop
to take us 4 hours. I felt she was getting a bit tired and I wasn't
going to push it. If we made better time, good but I just had a
feeling it would be 4 hours. I was also okay with it being more. The
important thing was finishing with a horse who still looked and felt
good.
So out we went out by ourselves. We
trotted right out of camp but then she slowed down a bit and we
walked all of the up hill. We go to see all the people behind us as
they were coming in on the same trail. That was fun and gave Bunny a
second wind.
So we made great time from there to the
first water, about 7 miles. Anything that was significant up, we
walked, or I got off and walked on foot. Significant down, I got off
and ran with her. I was so proud of myself that I felt good enough to
do that. We also stopped several times to eat for a bit. She was
pretty hungry by this point.
So the rest of the loop went like this.
Stop every now and then to eat. Trot the flat spots or the slight ups
and downs. Anything more walk or me get off and walk or run. Looked
like our average speed was going to put us just about 4 hours, just
like I thought but most importantly Bunny and I were doing well!!! My
hip hadn't bothered me all day!
There was a new part of the trail that
Lois had told me was going to be a bit tougher to navigate in the
dark. I was thrilled to get through that at dusk!
At one point we had a bat following us
for a while. He was swooping all around us from side to side.
At about 9:40 or so it got dark enough
that I turned on the low light floods on my headlamp. It was just
enough light so I knew where I was and could see the trail enough to
know what it was like. The other nice part was I had ridden this part
before. It was great. I trusted Bunny and we just kept trucking
along.
About a mile or so out of camp I got
off and ran down a fairly good gravel hill on foot. I was so proud of
myself. Then I hopped back on back on for the home stretch. At one
point I though I heard someone behind me, but there wasn't anyone.
I got to the last little bit before
camp and got off and walked her in on foot. I could see the camp fire
and people waiting. My mom saw my light and yelled out, “Heather,
is that you?” As soon as I said yes, a huge cheer went up. We were
surrounded by people congratulating us, helping me hold her so I
could strip her tack. Telling me how great she looked and what good
job I had done. Honestly it couldn't have been that much better, even
if I would have come in first. I couldn't believe how nice and
consistent we had ridden all day, how well both of us had done and
that we were finishing in second place just a little over 20 minutes
behind the winner! Our total ride time was 14:09.
I held my breath as Melissa looked her
over for the last vet check. She told me she looked great. That she
was really happy with how she looked and that I had taken great care
of her. She even finished with an A on gut sounds! I admit, I cried a
little bit. It was a fantastic ride, start to finish and I couldn't
have asked for more.
Oh, her 10 minute CRI was 52/52, in
case you are curious. The next morning I showed her for best
condition and her CRI was 44/40. We lost to Carla's horse but I
didn't feel to bad about that. Bunny did great and someday we will
win a BC.
It feels really good to see your hard
work pay off. To see all the improvement in your horse and yourself
in so many ways and to have such a fantastic ride! I am blessed to
ride such an athlete who gives me her all and loves every minute of
it. I am blessed to have friends and family who know how much this
means to me and help me in so many ways so that I can do this. And to
have so many fans, it feels like I'm a celebrity! I am a lucky girl.
The season's not over yet and can't
wait to see how the rest of it goes! Next stop (if all goes as
planned) 80 miles at Santiam!
Bunny doing what Bunny does best, floating down the trail!
Photo by Cassidy Rae
