WE Did it! OD 100

[Sarah Ralston <ralston@AESOP.RUTGERS.EDU>]

I tried sending this yesterday-guess it was too long, so here is an
abridged version.
Getting an Old Dominion 100 silver buckle has been my dream for 24
years-since the
first time I was recruited as a vet student to do P&R's at the ride. 
When my mare, Fling, was born, I declared to one and all that she was going to
be my OD 100 horse. Well 13 years later, she proved me right!

In February I started to bring her back but time constraints were such that
I was 
only able to ride an hour or less 3-4 nights a week in a ring or my back yard,
and occassionally doing some good training rides in a local state park
(Allaire).
We did the Bunny Hop 25 and the USA East 50 in early spring. Though we didn't 
win any prizes, her recoveries, attitude and soundness were such that I
decided to
at least enter the OD 100. I started riding at night, in the dark, as often as
possible, since I knew, if I even got that far, I would be climbing the 
infamous Sherman's gap at night. The people at the riding center across the
street thought
I was nuts-I would go over at 8 or 9 in the evening (usually bareback) and
start 
going round and round, zig zagging around the jumps and jumping them with
the arena 
lights out. I even hiked up a 1000 foot climb while away on business in
Switzerland 
to get my "mountain" muscles at least challenged.

My friend and former student, Susie Novotny, who had crewed the ride for
Stagg and Cheryl
Newman, graciously volunteered to be my crew. My graduate student to be
(starting in the fall)
Shannon Brady also volunteered but was commandeered (with my blessings) by
the VPI
research team to help with the data collection.

We set out Thursday morning, arriving at the 4-H camp at about 2PM. Since
we were 
relatively early, we got a nice site with a shade tree near the barns (a
minor miscalculation
here-my truck, in which I was sleeping, was right next to the driveway to
the next major
campsite-it was like the Santa Anita Freeway Friday night for some reason,
with deisel trucks and
cars going by al most continuously until midnight-not good for trying to get
to sleep when you are already excited!).

Talked to Lynn Coleman and Winky McKay-Smith. Both of these wonderful women
with numerous OD 100 buckles, gave me the same advice, Start slow, keep a
steady
pace and you'll get there. For me to start "slow" means starting after the
pack left because
Fling gets competitive early on if other horses are around.

Went over to Teddy Lancaster's Running Bear concession to pick up a spare
sponge (mine was getting a bit thread bare).
Noticed a light weight halogen lamp designed to be fixed to the breast
collar. 
Teddy said this, if  hung on the lower strap would not decrease the horse's
night vision, 
but would help me see the trail. Since all I had was a head lamp, that did
interfere with Fling's vision,
I decided to buy one instead of the glow sticks that most people were using. 
Fling vetted in. Dr. Amy Worrell said she looked great. 

I'd volunteered Fling for the research project, so we weighed her (a
whopping 884 lbs)
and she stood quietly for her first blood sample.

Rider briefing after dinner Friday night by John Crandall: dire warnings
about 95+ heat and high 
humidity, gory descriptions of long, rocky climbs, long hot stretches with
minimal water 
(Though John did say there was plenty if you looked for it-there was, but
you'd easily have
missed it if going fast-it was off to the side). As I walked back to camp
with Susie 
(Shannon was working!) I said I might as well pull now, we'd never make it.
Susie convinced me
to at least try.

Fling had gotten her usual rations, though slightly more of her extruded
pellets, the two days before. 
Though she didn't eat very well Thursday afternoon and Friday Morning,
leaving most
of her soaked cubes to ferment in the hot sun, by Friday night she was
cleaning up her food. 
I did give her 3 separate electrolyte doses on Friday (AM, Noon, PM)
because I wasn't happy with the
amount of water she was drinking, plus we hand grazed her a lot and she got
carrots "on demand"-
meaning whenever she nickered at me! Saturday Morning, 4AM, fed Fling her
usual breakfast, which she 
didn't eat very well-she knew something was up when Henry Mulbaur blasted
Reveille over the PA! 
We double dosed her with electrolytes...

Susie helped me saddle her. Henry played something loud and up beat over
the PA. Fling didn't like
his choice of music and started trembling. I "hid" her behind the trailers
and encouraged 
her to graze, which she eventually did. By the Time Henry Announced "Ladies
and Gentleman, the trail
is now open" and played the traditional Chariots of Fire over tha PA, she
was happily munching grass.
I waited until I could not longer hear the horses going down the tarmack,
put her bit in, mounted
(with Susie's help), Checked in with Henry and we happily walked out to
start the OD-100! Fling was calm
and focused as we trotted up the first hill. My spirits were soaring. We
caught up to another rider 
going down the other side. She was tailing her horse who was dancing and
prancing in front of her. Asked to pass
she said no problem, trotted happily about 100 yards and came to the first
stream. Fling was thinking about
drinking when the other rider came flying up, mounted, around the corner.
Forget drinking, Fling said, let's race!
Well, we rode together for about 10 min, but Fling and the other horse were
feeding off each 
other's energy and we were going much faster than I wanted this early in
the game. I'd planned to average
around 5-6 miles/hr and we were flying at better than 14. So I pulled Fling
back and told 
the other woman to fly on, which she did. Fling, God Bless her, did not
throw her usual fit. 
We stopped until the other horse was well out of sight and continued on our
merry way. 
 At Liberty Hall (the last vet check, 4 miles out, not officially open in
the AM) the owners
 were standing outside. I stopped and asked if I could offer 
her water at their tanks which they graciously said yes to. She didn't want
to drink, so I 
got out my dose syringe and squirted some water into her mouth and over her
neck (Didn't use my sponge
because the water was extremely clean and I wanted to leave it that way!).
We were trotting happily
along when we saw three riders ahead of us. My immediate thought was "darn,
Fling's going to want 
to catch up". Guess she has learned from our previous rides- she
voluntarily slowed to walk 
(before I even told her too) with the attitude "Gee, Mom never let's me
have any fun.... We cruised across the 
Shenandoah River at McCoy's Ford and on up to the first major climb,
through Milford and Veach gap.

We'd done that climb in the 50 last year, so I knew what to expect. About
1/2 way up I got off and 
started leading Fling, who was puffing and sweating up a storm.  I had a
camera with me, so while we'd stop 
periodically to catch our breath, I'd snap pictures of the phenomenal view.
As in last year's ride,
someone had put up signs(pie plates on trees): ""Check out the view to the
left!", 
"You are almost there", "Get off your horse and save your ass-Burma Shave",
"Have you hugged your horse yet?" and, at the top, "Ta-DA!". Down the other
side-stopping 
at the stream near the bottom for a good drink and sponging.
The last 100 milers were leaving Fitchetts as I arrived (about 9AM- 24.5
miles out) 
and a couple of 50 milers passed me on the way in.
Susie had everything set up in the shade-we pulled Fling's tack, gave her
one dose of electrolytes and checked her pulse. Darn, it was irregular
again, quickly 
pumped a double dose of electrolytes. She was happily munching grass.
Checked her in 2-3 minutes-heart rate 48 and regular! YAY!. Flew through
the P&R and vet check.
Went back to Susie's car and let her select from the wonderful smorgasbord
Susie had set out-2 types of hay
(Plus some alfalfa Susie scrounged from an abandoned site), both soaked and
dry cubes and pellets,
carrots galore. Fling went for the alfalfa and the soaked slop while we
sponged her. I drank lots of juice
and had a banana. All too soon, it was time to leave. I switched her from
the snaffle bit I always start with
to my beloved "German martingale"-a german version of a bosal. Her heart
rate had steadied, she was picking 
at her feed and drank pretty well. Though she had not urinated yet, I
wasn't too worried. We were only 
about 30 minutes behind the last three riders and well within time limits.
It didn't feel too hot yet.

After some nice forest trail we started up another climb. And up.
Clambering over boulders. More rocks nd up.
She was puffing, dripping sweat and starting to slow. Got off to lead her.
Up. More rocks and up. Stopped to
catch our collective breath and take pictures. the look in her eyes was
"please, Mom, let's go home NOW".
I felt terrible. We finally  reached what appeared to be the top and I got
back on. More rocks. She refused 
trot over or even around the rocks. Everytime her foot would slip on a rock
she'd stop. 
The drag riders caught up to us and asked if we were ok. I said yes, she's
just going slow.
 So they backed off the 200 to 300 yards they had been instructed to keep.
BUT, Fling
now knew she wasn't the only equine out there (One of the drag riders was
on a mule) and kept looking back for
her new potential friends, not paying attention to the trail, slowing down
even more. I thought we would
NEVER get off that ridge. At least a nice breeze was blowing and there was
a lot of shade. To make a long story
a bit shorter, 3.5 hours later we finally did get into Camp Roosevelt. I'd
been out there so
long that the rumor was started that I'd once again gotten lost and would
probably be disqualified! 
I was ready to quit too. Susie pointed out that I still was almost two
hours ahead of the cut off. 
Fling recovered quickly and passed the vet check with flying colors though
she still wasn't urinating (poop
was normal). Darn. This was a no vehicle pit stop, and Susie had not
brought the wine (It was now about 1 PM). 
Double darn. It was only a 20 min hold but I stayed an extra 10 or so,
because fling was wolfing down 
her soaked food. The next shift of drag riders introduced themselves and I
asked that they follow 
at least close enough so she wouldn't keep looking back for them. We spent
the next 10 miles with 
her fretting about the horses behind her, me fretting about her attitude.
At least there 
were no major climbs. But there were some really rocky sections where
Fling's new found aversion continued 
to be a problem. At one point she tripped and almost fell, her head hitting
a rock and scraping her 
just above the left eye. This was the long, hot section that most people
went through at high noon with 
no shade, but by the time I got there, there was plenty of shade and we
found several of the water 
spots John had mentioned, where she drank deeply and I gave her a double
dose of electrolytes.

When we pulled into Hickory Lane (50+ miles) at about 4PM (Cut off at
5:30PM), I wanted to quit. 
Fling still hadn't urinated, was acting depressed and I hurt.  But her
pulse came down, was regular 
and the vet's said she looked great. She finally urinated-it looked good!
She was happily eating grass 
and smorgasbord (with multiple doses of electrolytes) for over 30 minutes
(it was a 45 min. hold).
 I sat on the tail gate of Susie's car, drank some juice, ate a can of tuna
and drank a couple glasses of 
wine. Went and asked Heather Hoyne if it were her would she go on. 
She thought Fling looked great and said she would but was worried about me
riding in the dark alone. 
SO we put Fling's stuff back on and I went out. As we set out up (again)
the road, 
to my surprise she strode out at her usual strong trot and was happy as a
clam! We hit some rocky sections 
and she happily zig zagged around the ones I asked her to and walked much
more confidently over the rougher
sections.  By the time we met Susie at the fly by about 6 miles out I was
singing her praises again and super
confident! We sponged her off, I had more juice and wine and we set out for
another major climb. No problems. 
Got off and walked when she asked me too, she was strong and confident. One
factor in this "turn around"
may have been that after Roosevelt we were once again heading north toward
base camp. 
Fling has an incredible sense of direction...

Got to the next stop (Little Fort) just as it was getting dark. Meg Sleeper
was still there plus 
about three other riders-though they were going out soon. It was a 45 min.
hold again.
Fling came down within 5 min and vetted out beautifully. Though it was
again a no vehicle
hold, Susie had Fling's smorgasbord, which she dove into with more gusto
than any of 
the other holds. Susie also brought me my juice and wine in a water bottle.
I ate a banana and
a ham sandwich. Life was good. We put Fling's tack back on, this time
adding reflective leg 
bands and the breast collar halogen lamp, I put on my reflective orange
vest and head lamp
and set out happily up the rode in the dark, alone with my once again
beloved mare. 
Not far out she said let's go down here, I said no-this must be the way 
(my eyes weren't well adjusted yet). Well, 500 yards down the road we were
on dead end. Switch
on head lamp. No markers. Go back down, and there, plainly marked, was the
turn Fling wanted to take.
That was the last time I doubted her judgement! We were trotting happily up
(again) another road about
20 min out and see a rider leading her horse toward us, crying. Turns out
he had developed 
a saddle gall and she was pulling. But there was no one left back at the
vet check. We discussed what
she should do-I tried to use my cell phone to call for help for her, but
couldn't get a signal. She told
me to go on and tell the next check she'd wait for them at the Little Fort
parking area.
I was worried about that but hurried on. I went charging on down the trail,
thinking 
I'd better get to the next stop ASAP. Fling was fabulous. All those night
rides we'd done were paying off. 
This section was not as rocky and I basically let her go, the halogen lamp
shedding enough light for me 
to see the ribbons and low branches. We caught up to 3 women who had been
going very slowly because
their "leader's" horse had come up lame. They were VERY impressed with my
halogen light and asked
if I wanted to ride with them, in the lead. Fling thought the company was
swell. My well lit
pony let them proceed a bit faster to Pickett Springs, where we only had 10
min to pulse down before the cut off time(midnight). The two remaining
women, Amy on Larry, a horse that had done the OD 100 seven (!)
times and Debbie on Amy's young horse (First time 100 for both of us) once
again asked me to lead. 
We really needed to make time over Sherman's gap in order to make it back
into McCoy's ford in time. 
Fling was AWESOME! She bogied right up the gap, didn't ask me to get off
once! I did get off at the 
top and walked her part way down. We were having a grand time-Amy and
Debbie were good company. 
My batteries gave out just as we got off the mountain and I really missed
the light. But we charged on, 
hanging on for dear life, since both Fling and Larry knew this section of
trail.
We got into McCoys with about 30min to spare! We actually made up time over
the dreaded Sherman's gap!
Susie got my spare batteries while I got Fling vetted (All three horses had
great recoveries). Fling
dove into her slurpie, never came up for air until it was time to leave, 5
min later. Unfortunately,
the research crew (with Shannon) wasn't able to get their blood sample at
this stop. 
Fling had been so hungry on the trail I didn't want to disturb her for even
a second before 
we had to take off. We were letting them stop for mouthfuls of grass and
water at every chance, but our 
time was so short I wanted to minimize any delays.
We flew off to the next, and last check at Liberty Hall.  Amy was really
worried 
we wouldn't be able to make the cut off. We got in with about 30 min to
spare. Meg Sleeper was 
just leaving-alone. All three horses recovered beautifully-Fling dove into
food, coming up
for air only to drink or get her electrolytes.

We had 1 1/2 hours to complete the last 4 miles. There was still one steady
but, 
by OD standards, fairly good footing climb to the Finish. Amy had said she
really wanted walk 
up the hill and would insist on walking down, because it was rockier. But
all three horses wanted 
to trot. They could "smell" home! We caught up with Meg, who joined our
merry group, led by the 
well lit Fling up the last major hill. Amy asked that we walk down-so we
did for a while on the 
way down-Fling motoring happily ahead, putting greater and greater distance
between us and the
other three. Meg came trotting up, saying "We'll never make the cut off at
this pace".
I assumed Amy and Debbie were close behind, so let Fling pick up a trot
too-we flew down 
the mountain, along the birm of the tarmack (thank god for dressage lessons
and leg yieding), 
up the last little hill through the woods! I let Fling go-Strong floating
trot, yelling and 
laughing-"Hey, Meg-catch up-let's cross together"! Crossed the line at
4:52!!!. John Crandall 
came up smiling, saying, "want to weigh in? You are tenth and therefore
eligible for best condition judging!!!". I almost fell down. Weighed in in
a daze. 
Meg, Amy and Debbie all got in on time, thank god. I owe the top ten to my
Halogen light!

We all vetted in fine-Fling was a bit off on the left front-I think she
wrenched her back/neck again 
slipping on the rocks, but was overall A! Let them take the blood sample
and weigh her-She had only 
lost 20 lbs (Average loss that day had been over 309 lbs, I think). Decided
not to stand for BC, however,
because I knew the time differential was such that even if she got a good
score, between her lameness issue
and time I figured I didn't have a chance and she had been poked, prodded
and examined enough. 
I just wanted to let her eat and rest before the long long drive home!

Final note and Thank you: Roger Rittenhouse gave a "Rookie horse/rookie
rider" award: 
New V-Max heart monitors, to both Debbie and me! Wow!

The drive home was long-Shannon did her best to keep herself and me awake,
but we got in at 7PM-38
hours after we had last slept. Fling was glad to be home, immediately
rolled and trotted off.

Next goal: to finally COMPLETE the NY 100 NEXT year. As they say" After
you've OD'd, everything else is
down hill!

PS: Am wearing my dreamed of silver buckle with the unexpected top ten
button as I type this!

Sarah and my fabulos 100 MILE IN ONE DAY partner, Fling (Shut up, Mom and
let me eat)