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Tanna wasn't one bit interested in food. He ate maybe one carrot or two from
me. I was a little worried. I wanted him to eat! He hadn't eaten much at the
Chicken Chase vet check either, but that was only a 25 mile ride. This was
FIFTY! He had to go all day and if he didn't eat, he'd never make it. He had
no idea he was going all day, though.

We weighed Tanna before taking him to the pulse takers. 750 pounds. WOW! He
lost 32 pounds since the start of the ride! What a loss! I was getting quite
an education. I figure most of the 30 pounds was water weight that he had
gained overnight anyway. He just peed and sweated it out. I wasn't too
worried since he had weighed in at 752 the day before...before he began to
tank up. I'm glad I weighed him before he tanked up and after, otherwise, I
might have been worried. But I wasn't too much. Only if he lost that much
after every loop!

Tanna was right at 60 beats per minute when we got him to the pulse takers.
"Time on 54!" my pulse taker yelled. "Pulse time on 54," Nancy echoed.
"9:08." I thanked them both and we moved through the caution tape-marked vet
lines. I saw Kim and Jamie with their horses and helpers in front of me.
Tanna pretty much ignored my carrot offerings. He wanted the wisps of hay
trampled in the mud from horses before him. Silly goof. Nothing there, eat a
carrot. No way. So I stood in line with him and scratched his ears and face.

We had Kathy Eichelberger for our vet this time. She asked how he was doing.
I told her he was drinking a lot and trying to eat leaves from trees and
would grab grass when he saw it. She gave us a B on guts and A on the rest.
She was pleasant and helpful. I wasn't too concerned about his guts. I hoped
he'd eat when he got back to the camper, though. He had to have some food to
keep going all day. Even though we were going slow. From the start time to
our pulse time (when our 40 minute hold started) was almost 3 hours. Just
over a 5 mph speed. Course, we started 20 minutes late.

We got back to the trailer and we turned Tanna into his pen with his beet
pulp slop, hay and water. I grabbed some food while Daniel refilled my water
and gatorade bottles, checked my GPS batteries, and listened to me babble
about the ride so far. Tanna peed and only nibbled at his food. He'd eat a
little hay, a little beet pulp. He didn't go near the water. I wasn't
concerned since he was drinking well on the trail.

By the time we got back to the trailer after waiting in line for the vet and
walking back to our camper, our 40 minute hold time was more than half gone.
With 7 minutes or so left, Daniel and I started retacking Tanna. We took
awhile trying to figure out what was up with the breast collar and finally
got that straightened out, dumping the saddle off and then replacing it in
the process! I tightened the girth and realized I'd forgotten to place the
HRM electrodes. Argh! Loosen girth, lift saddle, place electrode. Agh.

I don't want to go back out, I complained. I can't even resaddle my horse!
I'm tired, the inside of my knees are raw from riding in those stupid pants
yesterday and this isn't helping. Tanna's not eating and he's gonna drop
dead from lack of food and I don't wanna go back out! Daniel patiently
continued to saddle Tanna while patronizing me and telling me it's ok, and
not as bad as I was making it out to be. Finally, I said, ok, fine, I'll
keep going.

Whew. Daniel e-lyted Tanna while I disappeared into the trailer to get my
helmet, GPS units, and hip pack. As I was in there, I heard Jamie and Kim
calling for me. I answered, but I'm not sure they heard me because I was in
my trailer.

I rushed out and Daniel held Tanna again while I quickly mounted. Tanna was
jumping around like he was going to buck me off. Something had to be wrong.
That's when he bucks...when something's wrong. Something as little as a
flapping nylon strap from my cantle bag. Daniel spotted it. The saddle pad
was slipped way to the right. Argh. I jumped off, loosened girth, replaced
pad, tightened girth, remounted. Tanna wasn't doing his "I'm gonna buck if
you don't fix that" dance. That must've been the problem. Ok, kiss hubby,
off I go.

We trotted quickly to the out timer. I called my number out to them and they
waved me on. Daniel had told me, go out to the road, turn left, then take
the next dirt road to the right. Ok, I came to the dirt road, but didn't see
any purple ribbons! AGH! I asked the closest onlooker if this was the start
of the purple loop. Didn't know. I called to another group. Yeah, yeah,
that's it.

I took off at a canter to catch Jamie and Kim before they got too far ahead
of me. I really wanted to stay with them. I watched for ribbons, and began
to panic. There were STILL NO RIBBONS. Here I was out on a ride, dead last
place, trying to catch my riding buddies, and I was cantering down the wrong
trail. Finally I spotted a purple ribbon. Whew. But it was awhile before I
saw another ribbon so I started to panic again and thought I had imagined
the first ribbon. When I finally started seeing ribbons more regularly, I
breathed easier.

I caught up with Jamie and Kim after awhile. They must've really been
moving. Of course, they also had a few minutes on me since I'd had to stop
and fix my pad. We did some more cantering on this loop. The road was wide
and boring. There was some sand that we had to slow down and walk through. I
cantered beside Kim and her mare for a good distance. Tanna would pull, but
not too hard. He was going strong and felt great. Still drank good. We gave
the horses opportunities to eat along the way when we could.

At our e-lyte break, I was able to pee behind a bush (not much of a bush,
I'm becoming more like you, Laura). I wasn't too worried because we were the
last ones and I didn't expect any guys to come up on us. I also finished a
tube of nuts I'd started at camp and had put in my waist band and forgotten
about. And Tanna's saddle pad had slid again, so I fixed it better this
time. I was still mounted and ready to go before poor Jamie got that silly
mare to take her e-lytes.

Off we went again. We were moving about the same average speed we had
before. That loop seemed longer to me. It wasn't. The first and second loops
were pretty much the same length, but the second one seemed longer. It even
took about the same amount of time  (if you discount our late start). I was
glad to see the road we'd come in on. Just a mile or two to camp. We trotted
and cantered in.

As I gave my number to the in timer, Daniel appeared. I dropped Tanna's bit
and passed the reins (now attached to the halter ring) to Daniel. Back to
the trailer to repeat our first vet check procedure. I went into the camper
and Daniel stripped Tanna and sponged him off. He was again down to 58 or so
before the saddle came off.

(to be continued)

April
Nashville, TN


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