Our Old Dominion Weekend - Ride Story

[Linda Flemmer <bluewolfranch@yahoo.com>]

Our Old Dominion Weekend with a green horse.
CAUTION _ Ride Story Ahead:

Over the winter I had knee surgery & I haven’t
recovered as well as I’d like.  My dear husband agreed
to start working my green, soon-to-be endurance horse
for me.  After some really good training all Spring,
Mike felt that <he’d> like to ride Razz in the OD 25
as a training ride.  Mike has completed some tough 50
milers before (JD’s in S.C., the Biltmore) so I had no
worried that he’d take good care of Razz.  This would
be Razz’s second AERC LD and his third “mass public
outing”.  It was going to be mental training more than
anything else for him.  He’s doing 18-20 miles loops
at home with no problem.

In past years, I’ve always ridden the OD 50 & Mike
always crewed for me.  This was turn about!  I figured
that I got to buzz about the valley in a cool, air
conditioned truck while he got to slock thru humidity
& rocks.  Imagine my surprise to hear that the 25
riders got to go from the 4H center to McCoy’s Ford &
back!  For those not familiar with the trail, he had
one significant climb on each leg and crossed the
Shenandoah River twice.  Otherwise it was all nice
riding in the valley.  IT ISN’T FAIR!  He wouldn’t get
to see the big rocks & climbs.  He’ll never believe my
ride descriptions!  Top it off with the coolest,
driest OD I can remember...  

We got there Thursday around dinner time & found far
more trailers there than we had expected.  We pulled
in near where we generally park behind the quadrangle
& set up camp.  Our friend Holly Leaman from Windsor,
VA pulled in moments behind us.  We couldn’t have
coordinated the timing any better.  Razz has just
turned 6 and has been handled for about 18 months. 
Holly’s horse Chevy is loveable 4 yr old and who can
be a real handful at times.  We went to the Thursday
night social (BIG buffet dinner party compliments of
Roger Rittenhouse of VMAX).  We had the chance to
weigh our Rottweiler on the horse scales they were
using for the research project on the 100 mile horses.
 Our dog-brute is up to 116 lbs!  Wow!  I didn’t know
the horse scales would read that low.

As dutiful crew, I went shopping the next morning for
the things I forgot to pack like trail mix – Mike’s
“must have”, heart monitor leads & gel (sitting in the
tack room where I wouldn’t forget them), more ice,
etc.  Mike & Holly went out to pre-ride a little of
the finish & generally goof off.  As they returned,
folks were pouring in.  A total of 170 horses were
entered, one of the biggest OD’s that I can remember. 
After a few hours, it started to look like we’d need a
shoe horn to park everyone.

Before Mike took Razz to vet in, Karen Zelinsky from
PA came to do a massage on Razz.  Razz alternated from
purring to going to sleep.  BOY did he enjoy that &
move better afterwards.  I’ve never seen anything like
it.  As Mike & Razz went to vet in, a tent set up for
shade in the arena blew down.  (Remember this for
later.)  As old snorty calmed down, he allowed the vet
to handle him like an old pro.  However, he just
exploded into this huge animated trot for the trot
out.  All I can say is WOW!  He’s never moved like
that at home.  Poor Mike barely kept up!

About 10 PM that night, a later arrival came in &
parked behind us in what WAS the driveway between two
rows of parked trailers.  As they started to set up a
borrowed tent & hot wire corral, Razz went into alarm
mode.   That was JUST LIKE the tarp that tried to eat
him earlier in the day.  He was SURE of it.  As a good
crew person, I sent Mike to bed for the 3:30AM wake up
and I held Razz as the folks attempted to put up their
tent.  Nearly 45 minutes later they had found all of
the missing pieces & had it mostly up.  Razz had
gotten bored & was trust worthy off his lead again. 
No “hello, nice to meet you” or “we’ll be done soon”
from the tenters at all.  Not a good way to make
friends and influence neighbors.  Crews had a heck of
a time getting by their truck in the morning.

The 3:30 AM wake up came FAR earlier than it should. 
Razz was agitated that horses were leaving without him
but he really settled down as soon as Mike started to
tack him up.  The 100’s went out at 5AM, 50’s at 6AM
and 25’s at 7AM.  Razz was a bit tense as they warmed
up, but he settled down to working on a loose rein in
the arena before the start.  The ride was a controlled
start down a ½ mile of black top to the start of the
trails.  Razz wanted to RUN, but rated when Mike
asked.  After seeing them off, I headed for McCoy’s
Ford.  

The parking at McCoy’s Ford is tight, so ride
management only allowed the 25 mile crews in since it
was their only stop.  The 50’s had no crews, and the
100’s were a trot-by only.  We helped a few 50 milers
who needed water, horse holding, etc.  The last 50 was
pulling out as the first 25’s came in.  What a
beautiful sight, seeing horses wading across the
Shenandoah river in the misty light.  Mike & Razz came
in right on their planned schedule, maintaining an
easy 8 mph pace.  Holly & Chevy came in about 30
minutes later.

Razz wouldn’t come down to 64 for nearly 10 minutes –
NOT normal.  He had a small cut from a rock on one
pastern, but he was grade 1 on the other front leg. 
Very slight & inconsistent, but the vet asked to
recheck him before they went back out.  No swelling,
but he was slightly tender high in the suspensory.  We
iced the leg as he inhaled every bite of food and drop
of water around him.  You’d think we never fed that
boy!  At the recheck, he was still grade 1, but
slightly worse.  Mike & the vet agreed that it wasn’t
in Razz’s best interest to go back out even though he
technically could attempt a finish.

A very nice ambulance trailer driver took Razz back to
base camp.  Mike was extremely disappointed but he’d
made the right decision.  Razz had camped well, had a
calm start, rated well & maintained the pace he was
asked for, and was metabolically in great shape.  His
name was just written on a piece of black top for this
ride.  Mike can remember him slipping at least twice. 
Holly & Chevy finished 45 minutes over time, but Chevy
was sound, happy, and had a great training experience,
too.

As of this morning, the cut is healing and Razz isn’t
tender trotting free in the field at all.  A flexion
of the leg shows only very trace reaction.  All will
be well in a few weeks.  We avoided what could have
been a horrible tendon injury.

Don’t worry, we’ll be back!

Linda Flemmer
Blue Wolf Ranch
Bruceton Mills, WV

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