Almaden Valley CTR

[julienne.rha.b@bayer.com]

Hey everyone,
In between all the discussion about the PAC I'd like to slip in my little CTR
story... :)

On Friday Bob and I headed to San Jose for our 2nd ever CTR ride.  I'd been
looking forward to the Almaden Valley ride ever since our first ride at the
Swanton CTR - we had so much fun and the people were so incredibly nice to us
newbies!  We weren't disappointed this weekend.  It was great to see familiar
faces again and meet new ones.  Only bummer was that I forgot my camera this
time around.. no dead dog pictures this time (Blade, our smooth collie, usually
comes along with us when we trailer out and completely konks out at some point
along the trip)

When we arrived in camp, we drove around for a while trying find a good spot to
park ourselves.  We finally settled in near the water troughs which was a
blessing considering the temperature this weekend.  Mornings were cold but
during the day it felt like it reached mid-nineties.  On one side of us we met
two lovely ladies who were attempting their first ride on a peruvian paso
gelding and a cute arabian gelding.  Bob and I got to share our (limited)
knowledge and familiarize them with what to expect.  We got camp set up - which
was a feat in itself.  We had to move Tavi, Bob's paint gelding, several times
because Isabella (who was in raging heat) couldn't make up her mind whether she
liked him or not.  If she couldn't see him, she'd pace around and whinny, and
when she could see him, she'd squeal.  ARGH.

After we signed in, there was a great potluck dinner (we brought cake and
brownies!).  Bob and I quickly realized that we didn't bring enough food for the
weekend, but with the dinners on both Friday and Saturday night and the
breakfast the morning of the ride, we did okay (we stole bagels for our lunch -
shh, don't tell).  However, next time we're definitely bringing more food, water
and Gatorade!

Knowing it was going to be hot, we electrolyted the horses the night before, the
morning of the ride, and afterwards.  At the pre-ride check in, I saw the vet
judge (Dr. Bob Young) was requiring riders to lunge their horses.  I was very
nervous about the lunging but Isabella was PERFECT throughout the check and I
got a plus for 'excellent lunging'.. WOOHOO!!

The first obstacle was to go through a gate which Isabella and I did fine (aside
from a little knee knocking - I was tempted to cry out in pain, but I smiled
instead and only got a 1/2 point off).  The trail was a mixture of wide fire
roads and single track trails.. and it was VERY hilly.  You know what they say
about never trying out new equipment at rides?  Well, I tried out my Ortho-Flex
crupper on Isabella and she did fine  (I know, I know.. 10 lashings for me) :)
I took the risk considering all the hills.. I did put it on her earlier in the
week to familiarize her with it, but I hadn't had a chance to ride with it on.
Both the P&Rs at the ride were after mandatory forward motions up long.. long..
hills.  Isabella and Tavi inched up those hills, taking their time and recovered
just fine at the checks.  Isabella and Tavi both received a 10/3 at the first
check and Isabella received a 12/3 at the second (both were higher than at
Swanton probably due to the heat).  Tavi was pretty pooped at the second check
and received a 14/3 and was marked off for 'labored breathing'.  Bob also let
him eat during the second check which may have contributed to the higher pulse
(he'll usually just stand perfectly still during the 10 minute hold and fall
asleep).

There was a judged mount (which Isabella and I did great because of a handy
dandy step we could use) and a spot on the trail where you had to go at an
extended trot, one at a time, to the vet judge.  There, your horse was judged on
breathing, attitude, and backing a few steps.  I got dinged for not looking back
and not using my legs (which I thought I did.. I guess I'll make it more obvious
next time).  They also judged us at one point going uphill (both Bob and I were
'behind in saddle') and passing by a truck on a fire-road.  You had to go on the
correct side - between the truck and the uphill grade.  There was some
controversy regarding this obstacle.. at one point the communications guy was
sitting in the passenger side and Robyn, a gal who was riding by herself at the
time, chose to go on the opposite side where he wouldn't be able to reach her
(which I probably would've done if the circumstances were the same) and she got
dinged points there.  Bob and I did great on time - we came in about 7 minutes
past minimum time so we improved on our pacing.  At the Swanton ride we had to
stop a few times for Tavi to catch his breath so we came in very close to the
maximum time.

At the final check, Isabella got dinged major points for edema on her back :(  .
The saddle pads I was using were too short for my saddle and caused pressure
points along her loins.  I was messing with the pads throughout the ride but
couldn't get them to fit correctly without them slipping along the hills.  I
felt horrible because it was my fault she had the edema and she would've gotten
a perfect score for condition and soundness if it weren't for those pressure
points.  She did receive an 'A' for attitude and Bob Young also gave me an 'A'
for attitude as well.. haha.  (When I got home I ordered a new saddle pad which
will fit! - hopefully)  On a side note, both horses were barefoot and did great.
The footing was pretty smooth aside from a few rocky parts. I was worried that
Isabella didn't have much concavity in the hoof going into the ride, but she
naturally trimmed herself during the ride and now her feet look great!

At the awards ceremony, I was shocked to find I had gotten a 3rd in Novice HWT
Horsemanship.  Isabella also received high point Half-Arab in the Novice
category which I was extremely pleased with (although I think we were the only
Half-Arab.. hahaha!).  Bob received a 6th in Novice HWT Horse, which surprised
him as well.  However, when we received our score cards back, I found an error
in addition on my Horse card and found that we were in fact 5th in Horse.  This
bumped the gal who got 5th place to 6th and bumped Bob and Tavi off the map... :
(  Bob wasn't too bummed - he said Isabella deserved it more than Tavi who
didn't handle the hills as well as she did.  He actually is considering buying a
horse who could handle the hills and distance better than his heavily muscled
horse.. but that would mean selling Tavi and I don't think he'd be ready to do
that anytime soon.  Tavi's his first horse and is absolutely
bombproof-beginnerproof... and a pretty palomino as well.  Nothing phases him
out on the trail and he'd be tough to replace.

After we got home on Sunday, we vegged out in front of the TV and got some
well-needed rest.  Thank you to all the volunteers who put on this ride.  It was
smooth sailing for us riders which I'm sure was due to a lot of hard work from a
lot of people.  Thank you to Sue Flagg and Kathy Nixon who put on this ride (you
really aren't going to do it again next year??) :) and Betty, the ride
secretary.  Also thanks to Dr. Young and Nora Cook, the judges - who were quite
amusing and tolerated the antics of us novices.. :)


Julienne
& Isabella Mari (amazing paso fino/arabian mare extraordinaire! 45 miles and
counting..)