I wanted to practice another nice and
easy start. I had heard the ride was going to be tough with lots of
elevation changes, so I was planning to average 7mph on the first
loop (25 miles) and then take it from there. Finishing this ride
meant we would have more than 250 miles for the season, 285 to be
exact. I was excited about that. That was one of my goals for this
season. Finishing this ride was also important since essentially it
was my depletion ride for doing 100 miles at Oregon 100 in three
weeks.
So we got to the ride and set up camp.
That was a bit of a challenge. I've never had such tight camping
spaces. They did a great job squeezing people in, but it was tight.
It took us a bit to figure out how to make it work. But we got it
done and got everybody settled in.
My friend Kandi came along to do her
first LD (Limited Distance) 25 miles ride on my sister's horse Belle.
Kandi and I pre rode the first 3 miles of the trail. Bunny was good
but pretty full of it. I've learned over the years that when it comes
to riding, Bunny doesn't see other horses as her buddy, she sees them
as competition. We've been training with Belle the last couple months
and it's been good for us. We've been leap frogging and doing lots of
things to try to help Bunny chill. I think we are making progress but
we still have a long ways to go.
Bunny is intense when she is with other
horses. I was thinking about it after out last ride. I honestly feel
there is a switch inside of her that flips and she feels she must
catch and pass every horse. She's such a people pleaser I started to
wonder if I could make it clear to her that I really her to relax
maybe it would make a difference. It had to be something other than
just holding her back and making her mind. So that was in the back of
my mind as I prepared for our ride.
In the morning it was hard to keep her
calm. It was a small camp, emotions were high and there was no place
to get away from it. We did the best we could, stayed away from as
much as we could and nicely trotted out of camp 10 minutes after the
start. She was good, but not as calm as she would have been had there
been a place to get out of the riot.
So we headed out nice and easy. She
was pretty good but every time we would see another horse she would
try to yank my arms off in her attempts to catch them. I keep toying
with the idea of trying another bit on her. Someday maybe I'll fill
you in on my journey with that so far. I keep tossing it around in my
mind. I would like to be able to get through to her without pulling
so hard but then at home she has got the lightest mouth ever and I
don't want to ruin that.
Once we got about 10 miles out we
headed up on a pretty good climb. There was lovely grass on the side
of the road so we started trotting for a quarter of a mile or so and
then getting a bite to eat. At first it took a minute or two to get
her out of her “must fly down the trail mode” so she would take a
bite. But after we had done it a half dozen times or so she was
getting pretty good at it. Each time I praised her and patted her and
each time she relaxed a bit more.
This was huge progress for her. Before
I've had a hard time getting her to eat without just parking her off
the trail and getting off and giving her a few minutes to realize we
are here to eat, not keep going down the trail. This was the first
time we were successfully grazing on the go.
It was a great way to break up our
climb too. The few seconds she took to take a bite would help her
heart rate drop and then we'd be back at it again.
Oh, did I mention that the first loop
you climbed a mountain, went around the back side of it and then back
down again? Good stuff. I was so proud of how well my horse did.
Us at the vet check.
I came into camp right on time for how
fast I planned to ride that loop. My horse was down when I got to
camp. She ate pretty good, not quite as well as I would have like but
pretty good. We had a 1 hour hold and then we headed out on a 15 mile
loop.
This loop we did a bit faster, it
didn't have quite the elevation changes that the first did. I ended
up having a guy ride behind me most of that loop. At one point after
a water stop he headed out in front. I tried following him but Bunny
got all chargy and stupid and didn't want to listen to me, so I let
him go. Later on some climbs I caught him again and he followed me
into camp. Bunny has no problem with horses who follow her in a sane
manner, she just doesn't want to be the one following. Maybe someday,
or maybe not.
When we were coming into camp at the
end of the second loop we met like six people and Bunny got a little
hyped going into the vet check so it took her a few minutes to pulse
down. She vetted great though and we headed to our trailer for a 45
minute hold. This time she dug in and ate everything in site! We
headed back out on our last 15 mile loop, the second loop backwards.
I felt like I had more horse than the previous loop. We met some
people finishing the loop the other way but that was about it. We
spent most of the time trucking along by ourselves. She was feeling
good!!! I sang and thought a lot about how amazing my life is. I have
a wonderful family, great friends, all who help me do this sport I
love and even though my current financial situation is not what I
wish it was, life is good and I feel like I'm living it to the
fullest, oh and I've been blessed by a wonderful horse. Doesn't get a
whole lot better than that, of course I was thinking this was going
through some beautiful country as well.
Us heading out on our last loop. Still plenty of horse power.
Toward the end of that last loop my leg
started to hurt. You see about six weeks ago I strained my left
hamstring. I was talking it though with my PT friend. She said her
guess is that hurting my foot (the left one) and walking on a crutch
and boot and limping for a long time that all the muscles in that leg
shortened, with all the miles I've done the hamstring has stretched
out a little faster than it was ready to. My friend taped me, which
really helped. The hamstring itself didn't so much hurt as feel week
and tired, but I think it caused me to ride a bit off which meant my
calf on that side got really tight and the last couple miles my shin
started to hurt too. Something that hasn't happened in a long time.
So I slowed down a bit for me.
We crossed the finish line 20th
place out of 34 starts in 7 hours and 35 minutes. My horse vetted
great including good gut sounds! She would have been happy to head
right back out again. We now have 285 miles for the season which
makes me happy. I love meeting goals, it's just part of my
personality.
Now I'm looking forward to my last goal
of the season. On September 20, Bunny and I are going to try to go
100 miles at Oregon 100. Currently I'm the most concerned about my
leg. My PT friend said she's going to help me figure out how to
manage that the best way possible. Also right before this last ride I
way over did it with some intense kickboxing, no more of that.
I've thought a lot about it. Would I
rather do something like a 75 at Jubilee, which I know we can do with
no trouble? The answer is no. I really want to try a 100. I just
want to do it. It's hard to explain. I've been working toward it all
season and we are going to go for it. If we have to pull for me or
for her than we will, but if not you'll us coming into camp sometime
after dark with big smiles on our faces!
So I'm going to spend the next few
weeks rehabbing my leg and getting all the advice I can to formulate
my plan for the ride. If you have advice, feel free to tell me!!!
Till then, I hope you are reaching for
your own goals, whatever that may be. And just maybe getting out of
your comfort zone a bit.
No comments:
Post a Comment