Bare Bones – Another great 50 in which I could see a lot of progress!

I went into this ride not really sure what to expect, in a lot of ways. I knew the ride was harder than what we had done before but by how much? I knew it was going to be hot and humid and that would affect Bunny but again, how much? I also knew that I was going into it a little compromised myself, two weeks ago I managed to hyper extend my left knee and week later sprained my right ankle, so how were thy going to hold up to 50 miles? I've also been under a lot of stress lately. I run a daycare and had two sisters leave when their mom made the decision to stay home. I've been working to fill those spots but in the meantime my income has been cut in half. I was having a hard time focusing on this ride and not on all the rest of life.

We got to ride camp on Friday and got things set up. The kids came along too so they helped out and started scouting the possibilities for fun, including a nearby blackberry patch. After camp was set up I saddled up and took a ride.

I pre rode the first 3 miles or so of the trail. Bunny was the best she has ever been on a Pre-ride ride this season. She was excellent!!! The trail was so different than what we are used to. We ride in the wide open most of the time, these trails for little, windy single track through the rain forest, or what looks like it. Bunny's not really fond of corners she can't see around, that's pretty much the whole trail but she got over that in a hurry and was chugging down the trail like a pro.

When I got back I let her dry off enough so they could get a number on her and then headed to the vet. She vetted all A's except for a B- on gut sounds. That didn't make me thrilled. I talked to the vet about it a bit and he said not to worry about it as long as she was eating good, which she was.

I was kind of thrown for a loop when I realized that both of the holds would be out of camp. I had to scramble to figure out what to pack out food wise for me. I'm on this restricted diet to try and help me control the migraine headaches I've had for the last couple years. It's working really well but has meant that all the ride foods I used to eat, I can't eat, primarily because I can't eat nuts, chocolate or most berries. Add to that being allergic to milk and that rules out most easy to pack foods. I was saved by the fact that I had my little lunch cooler from Sunriver last year and I was able to pack some fruit, hard boiled eggs and protein smoothie to supplement my home made protein blondies. I also had to scramble to figure out how to get enough water out there for me since they didn't have people water. Once I got all that figured out I was good to go.

Ride morning Bunny was nice and calm. I did her stretches saddled up, rode over to give them our number and then did our warming up out and away from everyone. I waited 5 minutes after the start, saw another couple head out and gave them a few minutes and then hit the trail. We walked the first bit and then picked up a nice easy trot. She was good as gold!!! I was so thrilled.

We caught the couple a few miles down the trail and passed them without indecent. I was so proud of her and marveling at how calm and nice she was, that is until a fire breathing dragon caught up to us, not it wasn't Aarene. Some gal had forgotten her vet card, started late and was in a hurry to make up time. She came galloping up behind me and Bunny was not thrilled. We found a spot to pull over and the crazy horse almost rammed into us so the rider followed me for another mile or so till I found a spot to get way out of the way to let her by.

Now my nice calm horse was gone, she was rattled, wanting to chase the other horse but still listening pretty good. It took me a few miles to settle her back down and wouldn't you know it, just about that time three riders who had gotten lost come loping up on our tail. Great, now she wanted to chase them. Then about the time we settle down we hit a spot where there is someone taking numbers, the three riders stop to complain and make me sit behind them.

I let them go for a few minutes and then resume my ride. Got my mare settled down and away we went. We were averaging 7mph which was exactly what I had wanted to do. We were trotting the good stuff and walking the rocky and the really steep parts. We met several other horses and passed them very sensibly. We had one old guy on a gaited horse follow us for a while and Bunny didn't mind that at all.

We got to our first vet check, I let her drink, sponged her neck, walked her over to the pulser and she was down! I took her to the vet and she was all A's. I was thrilled.

We had a 30 minute hold, she ate well, I ate well, we both got more electrolytes and then headed up the trail for what I knew would be the toughest 20 miles of the ride. There were some fairly steep climbs. We walked those or I got off and walked on foot. I tried to tail some, she would got ahead for a bit but then spin back around to face me again. We need to work on that a bit more.

Then we hit the rougher downhill. There were some rocky switch backs. We walked anything steep or rocky and all the good sections, even fairly short ones, we trotted. We made good time and other than two other horses we would see at water stops occasionally we were on our own, the way we like it.

We got into the vet check, let her drink, sponged her off and walked her over the pulser. She was down!!! By this time in the day several Arabians were having trouble pulsing down so I was proud of her. I think the neck shave helped.

We headed to the vet check and she had a less than stellar trot out. She got a B- on gait because she took a few off steps. Otherwise she was mostly A's with an A- for gut sounds, not too concerning considering the tough 20 miles we just did.

I was a little bit concerned about her B- on gait but not overly so. I figured it was most likely the fact that we had just finished coming off of a long section of rough, twisty downhill (which by the way she had picked her way down like a pro, a couple of years ago we could have barely come down that section alive let alone in good time). I figured with a rest that she would be good and we would continue to ride conservatively for our remaining 10 miles home. We had plenty of time left so if she felt off at all we could take it SUPER easy.

This time we had a 45 minute hold. She ate off an on a bit but didn't really dig in till almost the end of our hold. We stayed a few extra minutes to let her eat a bit more, not like we were racing, and then we headed back down the trail.

She felt 100% so we went back to our 7mph average, trotting the good stuff, walking the rough stuff.

Things were good till we caught up to a group of three riders. I passed them and they decided to follow, in a way that made Bunny crazy. They would hold back for a while and then lope up behind us. Bunny just wanted to go faster and faster so I pulled over and let them pass. Then I made her stay at a water stop for a few minutes to give them some lead time.

She was less than thrilled. She wanted to race those horses so bad. I've never had her be so competitive so far into a ride, I think she's getting more fit. I finally got off and walked her on foot for a few minutes. She tried to charge over the top of me so I gave her a few little “we aren't going to play this game” whacks on the nose with her reins. She got the picture and I was able to get back on and she was much better.

Less then a mile from camp we had to cross a muddy spot that we had already been through a few times. Mud isn't her favorite things. She starts looking left as she's going through it, walks right and bumps into a big rock scraping her back leg. At least we were almost home.

We came into camp. Crossed the finish line, pulled her tack and took her to the vet. She had a B for gut sounds, her gait was back to an A and she had a few A- on hydration stuff. Considering how tough the ride was I was okay with that.

Our total ride time was 7 hours and 10 minutes and it was a wonderful 7 hours and 10 minutes. Great country, wonderful time by myself just focusing on the ride and taking care of my horse and myself. Going into this ride I'd also been a single parent for 10 days since my husband was doing his teen camp thing. It was so nice to be out in the woods by myself for a while, no stress!

I was proud of Bunny, particularly how sure footed she was and how well she did on a technical trail. I'm not kidding when I say that a few years ago she would have really struggled with that trail, to say the least. She's come a long ways. Her fitness is coming right along as well. She was really strong through that entire ride!

I'm looking forward to riding her at Mt. Spokane at the end of the month. If all that goes well I think we are going to go for a 100 mile ride in September. Which one I'm not sure, it depends on which ride my ride picks.

I'll post pictures if I can get one from the ride photographer.

Until next time, ride safe!