Back to some endurance

I guess it is time I update folks on what Hank and I have been up to. A year ago this weekend, was our first trip to Colorado for a NATRC ride, and the real start to point chasing and traveling all over the country to rides.  The ride was near Colorado Springs, and Hank showed me he was a tough cookie, and won the highest award against horses who condition at elevation. He is a flatlander horse, who does not get much in the way of mountain training.

In 2005, he showed me just how tough he was, when we finished the Western States 100 miler, AKA The Tevis on my first attempt with Hank. I had tried the ride two times before, with different horses. The first time was back in 1988.   It is the most well known endurance ride in  the world, and also known as one of the toughest.  The following year we went back with my friend, Dolly, and Hank had a bout with colic at about 60 miles. While our ride came to an end there, Dolly rode on, and finished in her very first attempt at the ride.  We have kind of talked about the ride since then, with both of us mentioning we would like to go back.

So, three weeks ago, Dolly and I went ahead and sent in our entries for this years Tevis.  We have started to up our conditioning rides here on our local trails, moving out quicker, and some times a bit longer. Also riding in the heat of the day.  This weekend was an endurance ride down near Austin TX at a private 6000 acre ranch.  Some hills, rocks, and heat would make it perfect conditioning/training and a test on Hanks fitness level.

Left at about 4:30 AM Friday and headed to the ride, arriving around 10:30AM, securing a nice parking spot with an Oak tree to each side. Shade for both horses, and the dogs. 

The ride was offering two days of riding, but I had not decided about Sunday, as I was focused on the Saturday ride, and my plan for Hank and I for the day.  Get through day one, and I'd decide if I would ride Flag on Sunday, Hank again, or just head home.

The plan was to ride a bit quicker than I normally do at rides, trying to finish the 50 miles with a ride time of about 7:30 hours (plus the vet check hold times) At Tevis, the first 36 miles of the ride has sections you need to move out quickly where you can, as you then have sections where you have no choice but to go slow, walking and picking their way through rocks, mud / bogs and crappy footing.  I needed to know Hank and I could move out at that pace as needed.

Ride start, because of the heat was at 6:15 AM. We started with about  dozen horses out in front of us, and quickly found a pocket where we were pretty much alone. It is to easy to get sucked in with another rider and end up not riding at the pace you planned, and either be pulled along too fast, or slowed down.   I had my GPS along to check speed and distance, but tried to not look at it, and just ride at the feel of the pace I wanted to go. The trail was a mix of some ranch jeep roads, cross country, and cattle trails. We had creeks and water troughs for water.  Plenty of green grass for the horses to snack on along the way. Saw signs of wild pigs, and saw a few deer. What a lovely ranch!  I wanted to finish the first 15.5 mile loop that ended near camp in 2 hours, and  I came in almost exactly on my pre-planned time. Then headed out on the next 10 miles, wanting to finish it in about 1:30.  As we timed in for our first vet check / hold, it had been  3 hours and 15 min,  so a little quicker than planned, but I was happy with how he felt.  I went to my camp, stripped his tack,and headed down to the vet check. His pulse was down, and we headed to the vet.

His metabolics were good. Not perfect. After we trotted out for the vet, he mentioned seeing a little intermittent lameness every 4th step or so.  I headed back to the camper, to let him eat and drink, and to replenish myself. It was not even 10AM, and I am guessing it was close to 90 degrees. I had been good, and drank about 4 bottles of water in that first 3 1/2 hours, and had been taking my electrolytes.  After I ate and drank more, I headed out to check Hank over, and get his tack back on him.  I decided I should look at that left front leg the vet thought he saw a little something on, and found he had torqued a shoe a tiny bit, and one of the nails had came out a tad. The ride farrier was out riding the 25 mile ride, so I was on my own. I pulled the nail (so glad I bought the little tool to assist with that), and decided to put a standard easyboot over the shoe, to make sure it stayed on. Actually, over both front shoes, so he would be even and balanced going down the trail. I ended up staying in camp an extra 20 min. after my "out time" getting the shoe issue taken care of, and was mad at myself for forgetting to always check their feet at the start of a hold, in case you need to find a farrier, or fix things.

It was now getting super hot, and I decided I'd try to do the next 15 miles in 3 hours, which was a much slower pace, but I wanted to keep an eye on the possible lameness.  This part of the trail had a lot of ranch roads, some hills, and beautiful views.

  We had been riding alone for awhile, and as it got warmer, Hank started to pout a bit about being alone, and thinking no one else was out there. He would poke along, looking around for another horse.  I was not feeling a true lameness, but found that when we trotted, it was more difficult than usual to post on his left diagonal. It is always easier to post on the right, but when we did so on the left, it twisted my body more than the normal. We finished the loop right on my time I had set, and had done the first 40 miles in about 6:30 of ride time.  I headed right to the vet area, leaving his tack on him. His metabolics got better than the first check, but when we trotted, the vet saw he was off on every step now. I pulled the boots, to see if he moved better, but it was actually worse, so our day was done.

Back at the trailer,  took care of him, he continued to eat and drink like a champ. Decided I'd pass on riding the next day, and also thought it would be best to head home after it got dark, to beat hauling in the heat the next day. So, left around 9PM, and pulled in the driveway at around 3AM.

My plans for pace, dealing with the heat for both of us etc. went very well, and I am pleased with how Hank looked, how well he ate and drank. Now to figure out if it is just the torqued shoe that has caused the lameness.  I have an infrared thermometer, that you point it at a surface,a nd it gives you a digital read out of the surface temperature. Great to compare a horses legs, looking for hot spots, which could indicate an issue. Checking both front legs, I have not found any hot spots on the leg or hoof of his left front.  He had been a tad more lame 2 hours after the ride, but is now back to the slightly off that he was at the end of the 40 miles.  He does not look like he did a thing, and was cheerful when I fussed with him this afternoon.

Because it had been awhile since I had ridden as far, at that pace, in the heat, I was concerned on how I would feel. I was happy the heat did not kick my rear, and that I have very little muscle soreness. I broke out in a heat rash on my legs, even with some gold bond applied. But, not itchy or sore, just speckled!

So we do not have any planned events between now and Tevis. I will be back to this weekends ranch next month helping with a NATRC clinic if all is well with Hank and the lameness, I can get in some more good conditioning on those trails, in the heat. Might also haul up to Oklahoma to the mountains  for some riding. But first, I need to figure out what is going on with Hank. Will take him to his favorite vets at Lonestar Park (where he had his colic surgery) as they are awesome with lameness issues.  I'm not one to just wait for him to get better. I think it is best to take him to the vet while lame, so they can find the issue, rather than have something maybe reoccur because one did not check it out the first time.  Rather spend the money for the vet to say "he bruised his foot", than to find out that he had something more serious happen, that I ignored, just assuming it was something simple.

I always said the entry fee for Tevis is the cheap part. It is all the money spent leading up to the ride, and the travel that is so expensive. The horse needs to be 110% before I'd decide to load him in the trailer to head to the ride. You do not want to have ANY doubts about the horses ability to finish.  Of course, right now, I have lots of doubts because my horse has a little hitch in his get-along right now. And he is one of those horses who is rarely "off". Always a super sound horse. Never has lost any points for lameness at any of his NATRC rides.

There ya go. An update from Hank and I, and what we have been up to, and what we are planning. Of course *I* did not tell Hank ab out the whole Tevis plans, but I am guessing he found out somehow, thus the lameness issue.

If I never got that first pony......

..... my life would be completely different.

Mel over at Boots and Saddles had given me a blog idea weeks ago, and I am just not getting around to posting. She got me thinking about what my life would be like, if I did not have horses. Beyond the part on trying to figure out the types of things I might be interested in to fill that time my horses take, I realized it goes so much deeper than that. I've always joked that I'd have never been a ballerina,  and while I tried band in school as a youth, my talent was lacking, so I don't think I'd have become a great musician.  Never was really good with sports in school, although I tried a few. And maybe because I had the horses, made me not really put in an effort with the different sports to get any better at them. Crafts? Hobbies? I have some that I do now, but would they have taken up more of my time, that I use for the horses?

What I had never really thought about was that the day my parents brought that Shetland Pony home to me as a two year old child, my life's course was set. I can base almost all of my life's  directions and choices, where I have lived, and even who I married, due to that pony.

                                        Princess, my first pony with my dad



Princess was not just a passing interest. Getting that pony got me involved in riding all through my childhood, getting a bigger pony, then horses. They became part of my life. When my parents divorced, because I had horses, my mother had to find an area in So. CA that allowed horse keeping. We moved to a neighborhood in Glendale, near Griffith Park, where I rode constantly. My days were filled with horse activities. After school, I raced home to ride, and hang out with horse type friends, and rarely school friends. When I got old enough for a place of my own, I moved just down the street from my mothers house, and the horses still lived there at her place. I met my husband through a mutual friend, who worked right down the road. When we looked to purchase our first house, it had to be horse property.  Having horses made us start to desire a larger property, but that was not going to happen in So. CA. So, we relocated to Texas, where we got some acreage for the horses. If we did not have horses, chances are, we would have stayed in So. CA.  But, had I not got that first pony, I'd have not had horses when my parents divorced, ad my mom would not have needed to find horse property, and I'd have not lived in the neighborhood I met my husband, and I'd be bored to death, as I don't have any idea what things I'd do if I did not have horses.

So is there any one thing that has happened in your life, that you can see helped chart your life's course?

Wild Hare NATRC ride

Photos for this installment of "Trot On Hank" are provided by Jim Edmondson of Optical Harmonics. I forgot to take any photos again. I seem to do that at the local rides. Jim (and his partner Mike) have again captured some of the best photos I have ever had of my horses and I on the trail.




We had the local NATRC ride last weekend here on our trails.  Nice to only have a 12 mile drive to get to a ride!  While the weather forecast was all over the place leading up to the ride, it turned out to be a glorious weekend.  I normally don't really care for the rides on our training trails, as Hank and I are both bored with them. But, I realized I am blessed to have trails so close to ride on, as many of our TX distance riders have to haul much further to get in a good ride on a trail system.

 The redbuds were in full bloom, and just beautiful!


Saturday we rode about 28 miles, and Sunday about 22 miles. Our ride pace, which includes our stops for water, letting the horses grab bites of grass, and any other stops we make on our own was at 5.4mph.  That means, we needed to have our pace average out to that. A little quicker than some of our NATRC rides, and closer to a slow paced endurance ride.  I enjoyed moving out a bit more, and it was a good test to get a feel for how Hanks conditioning is going after so much bad weather, mud, snow etc. during the winter.  Hanks easy going trot, where he is most relaxed, and not trying to catch anyone is right around 8.5mph.  His walk is around 4mph if I don't ask him to move out quicker, or if he is not in a hurry. He can walk over 5mph if he is in the mood, but hard to maintain that pace.

Hank was in a good mood all weekend, and I was actually surprised he did not goof off, spook at things on the trail, or act naughty. He does these things the most on our local trails. Boredom factor usually sets in, and he can be unpleasant to deal with.  But instead of that behavior, I had a horse who was cheerful, not spooking, and actually did all the obstacles we were asked to do very well, and did not come up with "Hank options" like he sometimes does.  Add the spectacular weather on Saturday, and nice (although not as spectacular) weather Sunday, and we had a great weekend.

I was feeling not as focused on Friday before the ride. Almost scattered. I had to keep checking my list of things to do, to make sure I was getting everything done. I made this list last year, just as a reminder. Things like having his breakfast mash and lunch mash for the next day in buckets, fill water bottles, have map ready.  Just basic prep, that I do for every ride.  I kept thinking that I better be able to concentrate during the ride. But on Saturday, I felt much more in tune and focused as we timed out on to the trail.
 

During the weekend, we had a variety of judging observations / obstacles. Both from the vet, and from the horsemanship judge. Some were spots they just watched us negotiate something like we normally would as we went by, such as a spot we went down an embankment, and then back up the other side, or watching us open and close one of our many trail gates that are built to be opened and closed from horseback. We deal with the gates on all our training rides, so when asked to go through, I did not over think it. I just side passed Hank up to it, flipped the chain off, went through, closed it, and relatched the chain. We did it smooth, quick, and easy. Had I over thought the whole thing, and tried to do it super slow, Hank would have most likely figured something was up, and did something silly.  We had a trot/halt/back 5 steps. Easy enough, but it was interesting to see the mistakes many made. We had to position the horses in hand with their front feet in one jeep trail, hind in the other, and use the rise in the middle to stand on for an off side mount, and then side pass over to the left. Then walk into an area of trees, making an L turn, and stopping, and backing the horse back out the same way we came in. Again, I did not over think it, and just got it done. This worked So well for both of us this weekend, but hard to say if it would do that well at the next ride.  So maybe my unfocused mind on Friday, ended up kind of working well for me.

While I know if we get back to Tevis this year, I need to be super focused, and aware of not only how he is doing, how we are both eating and drinking, but super aware of our time, pace etc.  It is the most mental ride I have ever done. Shoot, one of the most mental situations I have ever dealt with.  I have found that caffeine does help me keep mentally sharp, and I do not have the hard crashes some people do from drinking it. But, I have to remember it is also a diuretic, and to make sure I drink lots of water when consuming things with caffeine in the hot weather.

When we finished the ride Sunday, I had really enjoyed the weekend, even if we were riding trails I have spent many, many miles riding.  Hank had been good, and he checked out sound, and with lots of energy. I have no doubts he is ready for a 50 mile endurance ride again, but now to figure which one to go to.

Dolly on Chance with us as we headed in on Sunday


I felt he had done well when judged, but one never knows until awards, and then when we see our score cards.  What I did not expect was to get the scores we got. Hank placed first, and also sweepstaked (meaning highest score of all the Open division horses) with a perfect score of 100, and had 8 plus marks on his card for doing well on different obstacles.  I won my 3rd horsemanship class in a row, and also had a perfect score of 100, with 6 plus marks. I can not remember EVER getting a perfect 100 for both the horse and myself at a ride with any of my horses. And, I will say, I feel that there is no perfect horse, and really, we should not see 100's, but I will also admit, it does feel pretty cool.

Next ride is in a week, in East Texas. A new NATRC ride.

A few signs of Spring

Springtime on the trails

Red Buds just about to Open up. Should be open by the end of the week and very colorful

The cattle are having their babies. Look at those cute little white face Young'uns!

The grass is coming in, and all the trees have blooms, buds, or leaves adding color back to the landscape

And just had to share Hanks new friend........

Spring Training

With the positive attitude that all that nasty winter like weather is behind us here in No. TX, I am taking the attitude that is is time to try to start with a better "spring training" program. Wait, I really don't like the word program, as that sounds too structured. And my life is rarely structured.  But with Spring weather starting to look like it is truly here, it is time to get down to business. Before we know it, the weather will turn to Texas summer weather, with its own issues!


I tried to keep Hank fit through the winter, making the best use of our rides, even if the weather did not always let us ride as much as we wanted.  And now we will have spring rains, which often make the trails to muddy to ride, but I am going to make myself get out on some of the local dirt roads if the mud is too bad, and ride anyway. I can cover up to stay dry. I just don't like to have us wet AND cold.  So no more excuses! (Uh huh, sure, see how this goes)



I had a friend who was training his carriage driving horse for international level competitions.  He would get up early each morning, go work the horse before he went off to his work, and then after work, went home, and worked the horse again. Usually each work out was at least an hour. Now, he did not need to do training out on the trail that can be time intensive like our distance horses, and had an arena to train in, but he did this all seasons, even when the daylight was short. He'd often be out there in the pre-dawn, taking care of the horse, and working with her. He used to say "Our competition has already worked with their horse today". He lived on the West Coast, and being hours behind his East Coast competitors meant indeed, most had done their morning work outs, and were heading towards lunch when he was in the middle of his training session. His motivation was knowing they had a jump on the day with working their horses.   While I do not have any goals of international competition like he did, often we need to find things that will keep us motivated to ride on some days when maybe things are just not absolutely perfect. While riding is a form of recreation for me, and I want to enjoy my ride, there are just times I need to suck it up and get out on the horse when it is not a perfect day. Otherwise, when we head to an event, that is testing the condition and fitness of my horse to travel over many miles, he will not be as prepared as I could have him.





So today, we rode 20 miles, and did get done before the bad wind and cold front arrived.  I hope to get him out tomorrow for another 10 to 15 miles.  Then this coming week the weather will not be an excuse to not ride, as it is to be warm and sunny. We have a NATRC ride on our local trails next weekend, so we won't do a bunch this week, but some short rides. Hubby will have a day ot two to ride.


As I try to get Hank in even better condition that last year, it is time for me to get back to doing a bit more for my condition. Plans to start back on that dang treadmill.  Also, I need to just get off and walk on the trail more with Hank at times. We have mileage markers on the trail, and even if I get off and walk ONE stupid mile, that is a mile more than I'd have walked otherwise.


OK, since I blogged about it, I hope that will be enough to motivate me. But don't call me on it. hehe

Photos frm the pasture

A couple random photos:

Every afternoon, Hank takes a nap. His rests his chin on the ground, getting dirt and stuff in his lips. But I still kiss his white spot on his nose. (after I dust it off!)

 That is Rockhe in the lead. He is about 13 now. As he ages, he gets more and more of those "flea bitten" spots. The other horse is Toby, the old man. I was pretty impressed it was keeping up with Rockhe, as he is getting old, and creeky. I think mid 20's, but I'd have to look.  Sounds like a bowl of Rice Crispies when he walks. Snap. Crackle. Pop.

Running, mudding, snowing, thinking

Our local trail system was built and designed with events in mind. Loops out of a single camp, that come back to the same location. Besides endurance and competitive trail rides, each year they have a "run", with up to 500 runners out on the trails, with distances of 13, 26 and 50 miles. Some years ago, I started volunteering as a "sweep" rider, where we follow the last runners on the loop, to make sure all get in to camp OK, and to let the aid stations along the way know that they can close up. This year it ended up that I was the only rider there to help out, mostly due to our WEATHER! Who would have guessed that for the first day of Spring, we had a huge thunderstorm the night before, dumping about an inch of rain on the area, and then cold, blowing wind, with sleet off and on all day, and then some snow. I stayed in camp most of the day, until the last runner headed out on the last loop of the 50 mile run. They had around 60 start the 50 mile run, but only SIX finished. The muddy cold conditions had the others drop out before the day was done. While those of us who do distance riding with our horses, know what it is to be pushed to our limits at time, I am always amazed at how some of the runners will challenge themselves. Those who started the races knew the conditions were horrible. But they are only making the choice for themselves. When we choose to challenge ourselves with a ride, we also must consider our horse, and his health, and safety. Because the loop I was riding was just under 10 miles, I figured we would be going pretty slow, walking much of it, and only out there 2 to 3 hours. I put on warm, waterproof clothes, had a rump rug to cover up Hanks hind end to keep it warm and dry if the weather turned really bad, and headed out through the slop.

I have been slowly conditioning in some mud, as I fear when we will be at an event, and the trails will get muddy. By doing some conditioning in the conditions, I feel I can prepare him both mentally, and physically for dealing with the mud. As I was saddling him, it started to snow. This is the first day of spring, and the day before it was almost 70 degrees, and now it was snowing and blowing! I guess I am really not surprised, as it seems just about the time the pear trees get their white blooms, we will get one more freeze, and then Spring will really arrive. Last week we saw the pear trees all bloom.

As I tagged along behind this lone runner, I watched him negotiate the trail, and how he was showing signs of being tired, and mentally spent.

I also noticed things that made me consider our distance riding. He had a water bottle in his right hand. I noticed that he was not moving as square and balanced due to one hand having the weight of the water bottle, and the other did not. He never changed hands. He dropped the shoulder to the side with the bottle, and moved a bit uneven. If we ride unbalanced, or have things on our saddle that are uneven and balanced, just what are we doing to our horses? How often might a lameness be caused from something we, the rider could do different? When you trot and post, do you remember to change diagonals to help balance the stress we put on the horse? Are our saddle packs even? A mile from the end, he actually asked if I minded carrying his water bottle. I gladly took it from him, and then watched as both arms started to swing even, and his stride balanced some as he jogged.

I could see the mental issues as he got tired by how he picked the routes to try to stay out of the worse sections of mud. Often I'd see him pause, and contemplate his route, and go off to the side out of the deepest mud, and other times, he'd just plow right through the yuck, even though there was a better path. I'm guessing he was having some periods of clear thinking, and others of just wanting to be done. As we get tired on a ride, do we continue to make the best choices for our horses? Keeping physically fit for the ride, also means most of us stay mentally fit. But when conditions are really bad, and we have had to think about the details more than normal, we can get mentally worn out, even though physically we are strong.

When people ask me about Tevis, I tell them it is a very mental ride. You have to think about so much, from footing, to timing, to concentrating on how well the horse is doing, that often riders start to mentally shut down. When that happens, they do not take care of themselves physically, and can start making mistakes with their horses. Keeping a clear head, and sharp thinking will help you tremendously. To stay focused for 24 hours of riding is difficult. Hopefully if we end up on the Tevis trail this year, I can still do that.