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[RC] Shame on me...(part one - long) - FASTGraphic I guess I now know what it means to "override" your horse. My beloved
Solitaire ended up on IV fluids at BVS this past weekend - even though I
neither "race" nor "compete." I ride just to finish, and finishing with a
healthy
horse is truly my idea of what this sport is all about. I'd like to share my
experience in hopes that another newbie might learn from my shameful mistake.
Solitaire was in the best shape of her life going into this ride. Our
feeding and conditioning programs had been adhered to and she was FIT! Though
she is a Standardbred and not an Arab, I believed she could manage this ride -
though I had been told repeatedly how "very difficult" the ride is. We left
home Friday morning in great anticipation of the challenge.
Friday afternoon's pre-ride Vet check netted straight A's and more
people than I could count commenting on her beauty and how fit she looked.
That
afternoon she went out with me on a pre-ride and was superbly obedient and
willing. That night she ate like a pig...drank like a fish....even happily
slurped
up a healthy pre-dose of E-lytes after drinking a lot, and she seemed
perfectly happy in her portable corral and the strange surroundings.
The start on Saturday morning was civil and uneventful, but I got what
SHOULD have been my first warning sign in the very first 15 minutes. We were,
even in that predawn hour - already running into pockets of very warm, moist
air! It had been chilly in base camp - somewhere in the low 50's I'd say - yet
even before the sun came up, the hills were holding in heat from the day
before. It was going to be a hot day - and with the thousands of feet of
elevation we would be climbing, I knew to slow down and "save some horse."
After
allowing her to trot out behind some others for another few minutes to get over
her starting anxieties, I backed off and, being the well mannered girl she is,
she slowed down for me. Good thing too, because people were not exaggerating
the difficulty of the ride. Hills were followed by hills which were followed
by more and steeper hills. I was beginning to realize that although she had
completed other rides rated as difficult, this was going to be a uniquely
difficult challenge.
The first vet check was 20 miles out. At about 15 or so, she was
struggling with the hills that just kept coming. The trails were incredible.
The
ride was beautiful. But I was realizing that it was, perhaps, not her ride.
Not her day. We slowed even more and I got off and ground walked her as much s
I could. She drank beautifully at the plentiful water stops along the trail
and at one, the drag riders (God bless 'em) caught up with me. We rode
together for the last couple of miles - at what was for them I'm sure, a
painfully
slow pace. Finally the vet check loomed ahead and I got off again and walked
her in the last 100 yards or so.
My crew, my blessed friends, met me with looks of concern. I was much
later than anticipated. As they approached, I answered their concerned looks
with a grimace. "I think we're all done. I think she is exhausted." I was
fully ready to pull or be pulled. I was disappointed, but really had no
regrets. It had been a beautiful ride.
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