[RC] Eastern High Sierra 30 ride story - Part II - Typef
The vet check saw me spending most of it on the my
back with a bag of grain under my head, pouring water over my red face, as
my ever capable husband took care of my horse. Boy, do I love this guy! What
worry, just lay there. I was so pooped you'd think I was racing to win a
100-miler. What a wuss I am.
I found enough energy to get back on the horse and
finish the ride, but this time, I let my trio of fellow riders go out without me
so I could see how my new boy handled the trail by himself. I can tell myself
that's all I wanted, but my back was so trashed I just couldn't see that I could
keep up with them any longer. (Oh yeah, 5.6 mph is a real killer speed ...) But
I did find out my new horse knows his job. I let him set the pace and he trotted
where he could trot and walked where he needed to and watched where he was going
and just generally I couldn't be happier!!! I did try to get him to walk on the
nice jeep road back into camp but he was having nothing to do with that. He knew
we were on "trot ground" and almost there and he wanted to jog along the trail
and get there. I was going slow enough for the girl on the Paint to pass me
and that was great with me.
I managed to finish the ride 6th horse in, with a
ride time of 4:02. I was totally astounded. So ... where are all these racing
people RideCamp is always talking about? I saw none. Unless I'm it? Kelly
D'Andrea finished with a ride time of 3:40, first horse in. There were 38
starters and no pulls of any kind. My husband says the majority of the LD'ers
left the start gate 15-20 minutes after start time. Apparently, everyone wanted
to be last! :)
I will say I love my Timex GPS for training rides,
but obviously, you kind of have to take it with a grain of salt when you get to
a ride. It kept loosing the radio link for several minutes at a time so it's a
given that I was going faster than the 5.6 mph I thought I was. I did learn that
one should not totally rely on "toys."
The only concern I had at this ride was that Tank
would not eat after the ride for awhile. He pulsed down immediately and I took
him back about 45 minutes later for vet out. He got all A's on everything except
that his pulse was up a little. I asked if I could bring him back an hour later
and had him checked again, and it was still going up and down a little but the
vet said surprisingly enough he had great gut sounds and he was definitely in no
danger of anything, just tired. With only 10 rides on him this year, I was
feeling bad that I let him go as fast as I did. He's only been with me for three
weeks and not settled in yet. And I don't know his eating routine. Equine
massage therapist Tom Cerino was there so I made Tank a 2:00 p.m .appt. He LOVED
it! 45 minutes later, he was eating everything in site and he continued eating
all night long. Boy, was I relieved! I would highly recommend Tom to
anyone!
Our spaghetti and meatball dinner was luscious and
we had a wonderful evening visiting with our fellow Lodians Abe and Sharon
Kirkpatrick, who finished 13th and 14th in the 50, and who also took home
gorgeous horse blankets for having completed all of Jackie's rides this year.
Tank and I took home a lovely little first aid kit for our completion award.
As we left camp Sunday morning, I looked longingly
at the beautiful high peaks on the 50-miler's first loop, thinking how eager I
will be, to be back next year, to ride the 50 and experience all the Easter High
Sierra Classic has to offer.
Thanks again, Jackie, for doing such a
great with your ride. Looking forward to seeing you again next
year!!
