We walked into the first check at 60. I was totally shocked. I had prepared
myself with buckets and sponges and water up the ying yang because that first
check, when Malik is still quite excited is usually our nemesis. Not today. In
fact, he walked in DOWN at every check. BEST recoveries he has EVER had!!! Wow!
A's on everything but gut sounds which were B's and in light of the previous
day, that didn't concern me as he was still eating well though not pigging out
as usual. He was having fun and so was I. Unfortunately, Julie had to pull at
the halfway so we were on our own again. BUMMER!!! That is NO fun!! But within
the first couple of miles, I caught up to Amy Yatsko and we rode together the
rest of the ride and had a ball. She is a lot of fun and I enjoyed her stories
and insight about the sport (she's been riding since she was NINE!) and some of
the people we both knew (Jeanie taught her plenty of those naughty songs!). Her
mare is extremely competitive and gave Malik those killer looks...he wasn't
impressed and gave them right back. So much for the slutty mare syndrome! :) It
was still fun and the horses were really pumped. On the last ten miles, we
decided to keep up a steady, fast pace....every so often we would whoop and
holler a little bit and the horses would get excited and canter away. They knew
we were almost done. It was still early and we were looking at a ride time of
just over 5 hours. That suited me fine! Definitely an improvement over past
years! We passed up several people on this last loop. One of them was Robert
Plummer and Shark....he was off walking his horse. I was concerned that one of
them was hurt. Nope. He felt his horse had had enough and was going to WALK him
into the finish. Which at that point was another 8 miles at least! THAT is the
kind of rider we need more of in the sport!!! Kudos to you, Robert, for taking
care of your horse! It was HOT and the bugs were nasty and I hate RIDING that
last loop and I can't say I could have done the same...I would have had to pull
myself because I certainly couldn't have physically done it!
Anyway, to make a long story short, just when you think it's over, the fat
lady sings! We cantered in from the two mile mark, our horses (and ourselves)
having the time of our lives....Malik and Amy's mare were having quite a contest
of wills. They wanted to RACE. There was nothing to race for except the sheer
joy of running and the competition. There was certainly no top ten position to
vy for. They beat us by a hair and I had a helluva time pulling Malik up....I
think he would have kept right on running down the road on the 15 mile loop!!!!
I hopped off, exhilarated and a little nauseous (I didn't take good care of
myself on this ride and I didn't realize it until it was too late!). We
untacked, already pulsed down, walked over for a drink and a treat for Malik and
when we walked over for the vet to see his trot, he was LAME. Lamest I have ever
seen him!!! I knew immediately when and where it had happened....about a half
mile from camp I had felt a little slip in the rear (not unusual in that sand)
but in retrospect it wasn't IN the sand....it was in an area where there were a
few roots and I guess one must have had his name on it! He never broke the
canter or missed a beat. I was, of course, disappointed to not receive a
completion...we iced his hock but it was not to be for us. Though I appreciated
the advice of a few well meaning folks who seemed to feel this was a result of
the miles we have done in the last two months rather than a "shit happens"
accident, I do know my horse. I have very carefully brought him along for the
last 4 years. I have pulled him when he needed pulling. I have continued on when
I felt we could do it. I have even ridden when Nelson thought I shouldn't (and
won BC). I am totally in tune with this horse. We have had accidents that made
us stronger and taught us about relying on each other and "reading" each other.
Malik always comes back better and stronger than before. In light of his awesome
recoveries last weekend, I can't help but wonder how great he will be when he
comes back from THIS! The vet feels he will be fine in a week or ten days. I
will evaluate then and make a decision about our ride schedule for July. I do
appreciate Melinda Koskovich's time and expertise in helping us evaluate Malik's
injury and his ride schedule. As I write this, he is out in his pasture,
cantering and kicking up his heels with his mares and his son!
