Wild West II (long)

["Nikki & Shannon" <jakar@phonewave.net>]

I thought I'd already sent this to ridecamp a few days ago, but I guess not.
Here's yet ANOTHER perspective for your reading enjoyment.  I've really had
fun reading all the stories coming into RC lately!  Thanks everyone:)
Nikki
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Here's a ride story for you "ride story junkies".  I haven't written one for
a few years so I guess it's my turn again.  To start this off, I'll tell you
I've been doing endurance since '82, but haven't done more than a handful of
rides since.  Hehe, a low AERC number amounts to a whopping total of about
400 lifetime miles in my case <g>.  I'm a single mother with a trustworthy
16 year old son, whom I now feel confident leaving in charge of the
household for a day or two.  I'm riding our family "pet Arab" Jakar who is a
nice steady 14 year old pleasure horse.

We'd just had a bout with a cold, rainy couple of days here in Fallon,
Nevada and I'd had a tough time at work... six days a week outdoors and
overtime on top of that.  (I'm a 42 year old mail carrier... hoofing it all
day.)  I'd already scrapped my plans to do this ride and had unpacked,
thinking I was going to be "thrashed" for the weekend.  Coming home from
another overtime day on Saturday, the Endurance Bug got ahold of me and
dragged me around like a rag doll!  It was funny... I was thinking on the
drive home, "It's kinda late now, it would take too long to get ready, I've
already unpacked and told everyone I wasn't going, BUT... I'll just put
Jakar in his corral and give him a good feed now Iike we are going to go and
we'll see how things work out".  Everything could not have gone more
perfectly:)  That Endurance Bug had me packing like a mad woman on a
mission!  We were on the road by 5:45 and arrived at Skillman Campground, in
the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Nevada City, three hours later.

By happy coincidence, I stopped our little rig right in front of the
check-in tent to ask directions on where to check in.  Maryben fixed me up
with my ride packet and Melissa gave me a quick overview of the map, grabbed
a flashlight and found us a perfect parking spot near the vet-in area, only
one spot over from my friend, Karen Chaton from Nevada.  I'd thrown in the
bare necessities and planned to sleep in the truck cab.  I was snug in bed
by 9:00 after putting Jakar's raincoat on and giving him a big pile of hay.
It had started raining up there Friday afternoon and didn't stop until late
Saturday, just before we pulled in:)  It's a heavily forested area and all
the flora and fauna was dripping.  It smelled great... not too cold
overnight either so I left the window open.  Skillman is a wonderful horse
camping area and I'd highly recommend it to anyone.

I think I was one of the first to get up and at 'em on Sunday morning.  I
fed Jakar and ate breakfast in the cab while familiarizing myself with the
trail map and other info in the packet.  I'd worn my riding clothes
underneath an outer shell and slept that way so there was no wasted time...
or exposure of delicate body parts to the morning chill... or other
campers:)  I took Jakar down to vet in at about 6am and then tacked up,
leaving time to go down to the bonfire and have a hot cup of coffee with the
ride's support crew.  I asked as to the whereabouts of Karen and then went
on up to meet her and have a good chat while we rode around camp warming up
our horses.  She's usually somewhere up front during competitions so we
don't get to ride together otherwise.

We started out on a wide gentle upgrade and topped out on a ridge with
gorgeous views of misty mountains with clouds tucked right into the trees.
The trail was muddy, but not treacherous and Jakar did a good job of keeping
his eyes peeled for obstacles so I could look at the scenery.  He also moves
along in a businesslike fashion so I'm not having to worry about a
too-overzealous first ten miles!  I don't know how some of those people do
it...  some of them blast past at a pace I'd have found unnerving.  I tried
helping one rider by steadying her mare behind good ol' Jakar (who never
goes in anything but a halter), but she wound up galloping on anyway.  She
DID finish okay though, so I guess she gained control at some point.

Jakar and I met up with a group of three ladies who were conscientious,
experienced endurancers on amicable mares.  They'd shown up to ride all
three days but they'd found out the hard way that the roof of their living
quarters in their trailer wasn't waterproof, so they'd scrapped the riding
plans on Saturday and went in search of a laundromat instead <oh joy>.
Their bedding and lots of their clothes had been a soggy mess.

We rode on in to the first vet check and hour hold at 25 miles but only
Kathy's mare, Sunshine, and Jakar were down together.  We spent the hour
bouncing back and forth between walking the horses and letting them eat.  It
was too chilly to just let them stand too long and Jakar was starting to
shiver under his blanket.
Hint:  If you're going to be doing out of camp holds and don't have a crew,
definitely bring two or more blankets so you have one back at the camp in
case the support vehicle doesn't make it back before you do.  I hadn't
thought of that ahead of time but lucked out because I HAD thought about
possible rain... DUH.  My guardian Endurance Bug was apparently watching out
for us.  Here in the desert, we condition in 90-100 degree temps this time
of year!

Kathy and I got separated from the our other riding companions at the hold.
On the second loop of eight miles, we encountered two coming up from behind
whom we let pass and then "drafted" at little distance.  Earlier on, there
had been a stretch of wet clay on a steep overgrown downhill single track
(so beautiful!), but Jakar set a safe jog/walk and we'd gotten through
before these other riders came along.  We followed those two for a bit at a
canter and high trot through some more wonderfully green single track
trails, mostly level, but winding.  What a blast!!

We got back to the vet check for the second time and moved right on through
again after a good water guzzle by both horses.  They'd been perusing the
handy water puddles along the trail also.  Jakar was happy to find they
weren't full of alkali like after a rain back home.  My glasses steamed-over
every time we stopped moving:)  We were glad there was only a ten minute
hold here since the temperature seemed to be heading south.  Some of the
first stretch out was along the highway right-of-way, crossing driveways and
following a nice trail through the trees along the road.  Sunshine wasn't
used to traffic, but did very well regardless.  Kathy and I took turns
leading the way and we crossed the highway onto a single track.  On through
the forest was another stretch of slippery downhill to negotiate carefully
and a lady on a pretty bay (another Karen) had caught up with us just before
that.  Her bridle had broken, she was using just the halter part, and her
horse DEFINITELY knew where the trailer was!  :-D  That horse should could
trot!!  We'd canter along to keep up and she'd occasionally tuck in behind
us when things got a bit too intense.  We came onto one short stretch of
road that had been literally turned to a deepish muck by the horses in front
of us.  It wasn't too slippery to trot conservatively, but we all paid
strict attention to where we were pointing our horses, and kept them in
check.  I'd heard this was usually a dusty part:)

We ran headlong into other trail users on the track along a hedgerow as we
neared camp and slowed to a walk to greet them and pass safely.  Some ladies
on pleasure horses asked if we were in a race and I told her "sort of"...
the point of the whole thing for most of us is to test how well we've
conditioned our horses throughout the year.  We also warned them of the many
more coming in behind us at a good clip.  We also met a group of mountain
bikers who courteously dismounted and moved to the side of the trail.  When
we told them about the teeming masses coming up behind, they sort of looked
at each other like they were rethinking their plans to use that particular
trail:)

I think the finish line popped up a bit too soon for the three of us.  We
were cruising along a gently downgrade chatting when all of a sudden we were
there.  We finished 13th-15th.  We got our horses a good drink of water at
the trough and then said our "see ya's" and went off to our camps in search
of blankets... brrrrrr!  Both ladies were planning to do the Monday 50, but
Jakar and I soon headed for home, having an family obligation for the next
day.  Jakar finished in fine shape and was down to 40bpm by the time we did
the finish check fifteen minutes after crossing the line.  We were both
started shivering in the damp cold though so I thought we'd better head
out... before it started raining or snowing :-O  It was hot enough here at
home in the desert that I was able to give him a good bath and let him dry
on the lawn before putting him away for the night.  I don't think we're
quite ready for winter yet, but it had been snowing just above ridecamp this
weekend.  It's almost time to get Jakar's snowboard tuned and waxed!

We had a great time this weekend and I'd like to thank everyone, from RM's
Robert and Melissa Ribley (excellent trails, camp, markings, etc)... to the
MOST helpful support crews... to the efficient vets (no vet lines at all
when we went through)... and to the very friendly riders, whom Jakar and I
had a blast "enduring" with!
There it is folks... hope you enjoyed it... it's your turn again:)
Nikki