Longstreet's Charge

[Jim Holland <lanconn@tds.net>]

On Saturday, Sunny and I, with my crew of Joan Tipton and Gabe Buckler,
took the short 2 hr trip over to LaFayette in Northwest Georgia for the
Longstreet's Charge 50.  This was my first trip to this ride and was
looking forward to the nice trails in the Crockford-Pigeon Mountain
Wildlife Management Area.  This area is owned by the State of Georgia,
managed by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and has Civil War
historical significance.

Campsite was just off a paved road.  We decided to set up the corral
against the trees and block it with the trailer and vehicles just in
case.  Spotted Sarah Engsburg and tucked our stuff in next to her
trailer and corral...also against the trees. Turned out this was a good
choice.

The ride was a 13 mile trail to Sawmill Camp on top of Pigeon Mountain,
a 15 mile and 10 mile loop back to Sawmill, then a 12 mile trail back to
Ridecamp.  Looked like a fun ride. Joan and Gabe took off on the 50
minute drive to Sawmill Camp while I finished setting up the camp and
helped another rider with her horse who seeming to be "ouching" a
little. Broke out the farrier tools and we pulled and reset the shoe and
pad.  Whatever it was went away.  Two really nice guys from the DNR
wandered into camp and talked with us for a while. We talked about trail
maintenance, rescue, how they managed the WMA.  Seems the trails are
mostly maintained by the local Endurance riders.  I asked about hikers,
hunters, etc. on the long trails and how they handled emergencies.  Said
they didn't need all that.  They just called the Endurance riders and
told 'em what they needed and where to go and they handled it!  I'm
impressed!  Great relationship here. Jerry Fruth, send 'em an "attaboy".
:) Gave the guys my number and offered to help clear trails sometime if
they needed me.

First glitch happened when I went over to pick up my ride packet and
realized that I didn't have my Coggins.  Suddenly remembered I had
copied it for the OD Entry and probably left it in the scanner. Left
Gabe to vet-in Sunny and made the 4 hr round trip to get it.  Got back
just as the Ride Meeting was starting.  Good job by Joe Harris
explaining the trail and how the checks would be handled.  Nice "Ride
'Em Like You Stole 'Em" T-shirts. Vets Otis Schmitt, Duane Barnett and
others did a great job.

Made stir-fry chicken for me and my crew and crashed for the night. 
Woke up to the sound of running horses about 3:00 AM.  Bounced out in my
skivies to make sure Sunny was OK and they weren't headed for my corral.
They were headed out of camp, so trailed along behind for a while then
realized what little I was wearing was on backwards and that I needed a
few more clothes or even MORE horses (or even some of the riders) might
get spooked. <grin> 

Turned out the horses were capured, but Ride Manager Joe Harris was
severely injured when he was run over by one of the horses while trying
to prevent them from reaching the highway. He was taken to the hospital
in an ambulance. You can email Angie McGhee (rides2far@juno.com) if you
want to check on Joe's condition. 

Decided there was nothing else I could do, so returned to camp, wide
awake now, worried about Joe and hoping he's going to be OK. Not a great
beginning here.  Gave Sunny a light feeding and lay back down for a few
minutes before tacking up for the 6:30 start.

Took off at 6:30 AM headed up the mountain on the service road in first
group of riders.  When we reached the single track climb, Susan
Kasemeyer who was familiar with the trail took the lead and paced our
group till we reached the top. Good job Susan...probably saved some
people from getting pulled later by keeping the early pace reasonable. 
Stopped for a moment with a rider whose horse lost a shoe to be sure she
was OK and didn't need help with the easyboot.....  Rode in and out of
what seemed like "thermoclines"...areas where it would suddenly get very
warm, humid, and "greenhouse like".  Cool when we reached the top.
Walked into Sawmill camp with Sunny down immediately.  He seemed to be
having a "bad hair day" and I was not pleased with his attitude. Not a
lot of water on this trail and he passed up some opportunities. He
seemed distracted, and was not paying attention to his footing...or me.
Didn't eat anything at the first check. Not a good sign...but vetted out
OK. Grabbed a ham biscuit and OJ and checked with the rider whose horse
lost the shoe to see if she wanted me to put it back on, but she didn't
have a shoe and decided that she would go with the easyboot.  Noticed
that it wasn't cut down and helped her get that done and on tight.

Took off on the blue loop, hoping Sunny will get his act together. 
Rhododendrons on the mountain are in full bloom...just spectacular. 
Beautiful trails, rocky and rolling, lots of single track.  Should have
padded for this ride.   Must come back in the winter when the leaves are
off.  Views would be forever. Steady trot, slowing for the bad spots. 
Riding behind several others....very dusty.  Lost a shoe a couple of
miles from the vet check on his already damaged right front.  Put on the
easyboot and eased on into camp, still about the middle of the Top Ten. 
Vetted Sunny in with the easyboot, then got out the Equithane, rebuilt
the wall and put the shoe back on.  However, he was still off. 
Consulted with Duane and decided to just give it up. Obviously, he had
bruised the foot when the shoe came off and didn't want to further
damage it. Thanks for your help, Duane.

While I was out on the second loop, Joan and Gabe have been helping
everybody in sight, sharing our water since we have a tank, explaining
electrolytes to some first time LD riders, holding horses, and helping
riders without a crew.  Just gotta be doing something every
minute....what a pair! You guys are amazing!

Sunny had finally decided to eat, so we made him comfortable and left
him with Joan. Gabe and I took the long drive back to camp to get the
trailer.  Sarah Engsburg pulled her mare here also and rather than both
of us going back, she would wait with Joan and Sunny and ride back with
us.  Winding narrow roads with switchbacks, followed by gravel and
dust!  Got back with the trailer 2 hours later, loaded up and as we
headed back to Ridecamp, it began to rain. Back in another hour,
unloaded Sarah's stuff and packed everything up in the rain....naturally
it stopped just as we pulled out to go home. Only postive note was that
I didn't have to ride the last loop in the rain.

This is a great ride, well managed and marked, with challenging trails
in a great setting and I was disappointed I didn't get the do the rest
of it.  However, I WILL be back....! Since I left early, don't have any
results to report.  Maybe someone who did the ride will post the
results?

Of interest....

On Sunday morning, I attended to Sunny's foot. At the previous shoeing,
a small area of white line on the inside quarter had been removed,
treated, then filled with Equithane. The heelbar was non-existent on
this side and the heel area was weak.  There was just not a lot of hoof
on the inside BEFORE the shoe came off.  Now, the only thing left on the
inside is a small piece of hoof just behind the quarter.  I have
experimented with the Equithane products for some time now, and decided
to try "building" him a hoof on that side...AND a shoe...with the new
Equithane product called "SuperFast".  I cleaned an already dry foot
thoroughly, removing any loose or soft material with a hoof knife. 
Next, I washed the hoof with denatured alcohol and dried it with a heat
gun.  Making a dam out of duct tape, I rebuilt the hoof wall with
Equibuild, rasped it off smooth, then used two layers of SuperFast where
you would normally nail a shoe.  Rasping the SuperFast off until the
foot is balanced leaves what looks like a normal shoe except that it is
made of SuperFast. I don't think you could "boogie through the boonies"
with this like a normal shoe, but it seems to work just fine to support
the foot till the hoof heals and you could probably trail ride (walk)
OK...maybe use an easyboot over it.  You can see how this looks at: 

http://www.horseshoes.com/supplies/alphabet/equithane/application/application.htm#5

You might want to consider this if you have a severely damaged hoof that
needs time to heal.  It's tricky to use and takes practice...having a
calm horse is almost essential.  It's not cheap...but I'm impressed so
far. 

My spring ride season is over.  I don't want to risk further damage to
the foot. Hopefully, Sunny's hoof will grow out enough this summer to
allow competing in a few fall rides. My humble thanks to my crew Gabe
and Joan.  I know all the other folks you have helped will miss you.
You're awesome!

Jim and Sun of Dimanche