Sunriver 100 - Just about the best day I could have imagined!

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