Ft Schellbourne - Summer XP (long)

["Valerie Newson" <vnewson@tax.state.ut.us>]

Just returned from the Summer XP.  My sister, Steph, and I had planned to go down and do two possibly three days since the most our horses had ever done before was two days in a row.  Well, believe it or not, we each actually did all five days on the same horses!  I'm still wondering how that happened because 250 miles in 5 days on one horse just sounds like SO much.  

On Monday 105 (or 108 - not sure of the exact number) of riders started and by Friday there were only 32 riders still on the same horse and we were two of them.  We won really neat Pony XP jackets for going all five days on the same horse and we are going to have them our names and horse's names put on them, can't wait to get them back so I can wear it everywhere.  Steph didn't want to take hers off ever!

It was really neat being able to see Tribly get her 50,000 mile, history in the making and I'm honored that I was able to be there for it.  The whole ride was just fantastic....the trail is beautiful, excellent markings and maps, lunches were wonderful - spoiled us rotten, loved having hot showers waiting for me every night, and ride management was super nice. 

As we were finishing the ride on the first day, only a couple of miles from the finish, Steph mentioned that she thought Lady was doing really well and how pleased she was about that and that we could go again the next day.  Not 15 minutes later, Lady took a tumble and sent Steph off on a beautiful tuck and roll!  Lady skinned both her knees and scraped up her nose but luckily it was nothing serious, just superficial, missing a little fur.  Steph suffered some road rash but was okay - our friend, Bobbie, that was riding with us called her a poster child for helmets, definitely.  Barney said Lady was okay and we went on to day two.

After the vet check on day two, Bobbie caught the bug and asked what I thought about doing the next day, should we ride or take a day off or what.  You know sometimes people just have to learn the hard way.  At Gambler's Special this year I learned to be humble.  Bak and I left on day one and he was feeling fantastic and he was moving out and at 10 miles out I thought, man we're going to do two days, he's awesome.  At mile 20, he wasn't doing so well, burned out and sluggish, no food on the trail and I didn't bring him any, babied him into the water at mile 32 and prayed that I could finish one day, screw two days.  He drank lots of water but still not much food to be found out in the desert, 1/2 mile later he went down on me.  I managed to pull him back up before I slid out of the saddle and his legs were shaking, I'm feeling lower than pond scum.  We're less than two miles to vet check/base camp and now it's please let me get him to the vet so I can pull, we've exceeded our capacity today.  I hand walk him for awhile, tell my friend to go on in and I'll see her there, when he started yanking my arms out of the sockets I remounted and we did an easy light trot into the check and long story short I'd over-electrolyted (or he under-drank whatever you want to call it!) and while he was sound his heart rate was high and hanging so we pulled.  So now the ride isn't over for me until I cross the finish line and the vet tells me my horse is okay for completion.  The last 10 miles of the ride are more important than the first 10 and the last mile or last 10 minutes may be the most important of all for judging how your horse handled the ride on that particular day, my little lesson for the day.

Anyway back to Bobbie's question.  I told her that I just didn't know and that we'd see where we were if and when we finished and go from there, told her I wasn't trying to be vague on purpose and that I felt like it was bad luck to talk about it, after all look what happened to Steph the day before.  Well, go figure, 15 - 20 minutes later, Bobbie's horse spooks at a water tank that was sorta behind a bush and off she goes and pops her shoulder out of joint!  Dang it, I'm too upset to tell her I told you so and I dismount (getting good at flying dismounts now) and head for her on the ground, it's horrible to be the one who watches someone go off and there's not a thing you can do.  Steph dismounts and collects the horses.  Bummer, scrap Bobbie off the ground and she manages to get her shoulder back in joint but had trouble mounting, helped her back into the saddle and of course it's a non issue, she's going to finish the ride - no going back to the check and pulling after all we are "endurance" riders.  We took it easy on the way in and she spent the next day at camp with her shoulder iced and in a sling.  

Steph and I headed out again on day three, Barney couldn't give us any reason to not go the next day during our daily completion check so we just kept on going.  We'd get up in the morning as if we were going, take a good look at the horses, walk them around and weigh them and if they seemed okay and happy then we'd saddle up and head out.  Oh, Barney had a horse scale there (sponsored by Sportack) and it was extremely interesting to watch the horses weight change, we weighed them often, 1 hr after completion, before we went to bed and then every morning.  

By the third day people we asking us if we were riding all week, Steph had learned her lesson and neither one of us was saying anything either way.  We were just going to go day by day, actually from the start to the vet check and then the vet check to the finish line and completion and then we'd decide from there and based on how the horses looked in the morning.  It really seemed to annoy people when you didn't have an answer and in all honesty we just didn't know where the horses limits were and as soon as we hit the limit we planned on stopping no matter where that left us.  We've only got these two horses competition ready right now and I don't want the ride season to end too early this year.

Bobbie rode again with us on day four, sling and all, and another man rode with us who's horse was doing her first 50.  That's endurance for you riding with your arm attached to your body and only have limited use of your arm below the elbow. 

After we finished day four Steph and I were pretty excited about doing all five days.  Bak and Lady were sound but Bak was starting to get some scratches and Lady's left knee was a little sore.  Friday morning they looked alert and happy so we warmed up and headed out.  Really, REALLY, big hill to climb this day so we walked up and tailed up some of it, Steph more so than me, I suck at uphill but I can walk downhill all day.  We made it into the vet check and then to the finish line and it was just the most neatest accomplishment to think that we did it, that the horses did it and they still looked quite happy and content although a little tired and footsore.

Pacing, overall I think that pacing the horses so consistently is what helped us in the long run and getting off and walking the tough stuff.  If it's technical enough that Bak has to walk through it I may as well be on the ground walking with him.  Also we walked the horses for the first 45 min to 1 hr every day at the start of the ride so they were thoroughly warmed up and loosened up before we even attempted to trot.  Our ride times (not including holds) were:  Mon 9 hrs 15 min, Tues 9 hrs, Wed 8 hrs, Thurs 8 hrs 30 min, and Fri 8 hrs 45 min.  Those times are slightly longer than our averages for one day 50s and that's probably as it should be.

My advice for someone wanting to do a mulitday is to break it down in small pieces because it's easier to swallow that way and to slow it down, you're riding each day based on all five days not just the one day.  The ride was a TON of fun and it's really neat to have such a huge camp full of people like a little horse community.  I can hardly wait to do another one, not sure that one day 50s will ever be the same!

Valerie Newson and Bakdom (eating everything in sight)
No. Salt Lake, Utah