Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Back into McCoys Ford thru the mud....Magic was waaaay down when I
arrived....couldn't make any time in the mud.  I passed the lady who had
lost two shoes earlier....she had lost another shoe....and was looking for
the easyboot that had come off in the mud bog. :) Good vet scores, and off
to Liberty Hall, actually glad to be on the pavement and out of the mud and
rocks.  Rode with a couple from Pennsylvania from McCoys Ford to the
finish....had a great time.  Dang, I'm terrible on names.  Liberty Hall Vet
Check was not a pleasant experience....more on that later.  Out of Liberty
Hall with a lot of horse left....well pleased with Magic.  Crossed the
finish 33rd....but I think there were some pulls at the finish. I was
pleased.  I think Magic could have easily done the 75, but I was happy to
finish and I learned a lot about him.

Since awards were Sunday at noon, we picked up our buckle Saturday nite, and
left early Sunday morning hoping to get home before dark. Unfortunately, we
got stuck on I40 for two hours due to repaving and arrived about 8:30.

I love this ride! We had a great time!  Thanks to all the people who worked
so hard to make it successful. The food was great.  The vets were an
"international" crew, a little unorthodox at times, but helpful and fun to
work with.  Head Vet Art King did a great job, and was just everywhere. 

Some thoughts and observations regarding OD...JMHO....no offense intended...

It seems strange that the OD allows riders to arrive early for the
ride....but when the horses are tired at the end of the ride, we have to
leave by end of day on Sunday.  Since the awards are Sunday at noon, if you
have to travel some distance, you must drive at night with a tired horse,
especially if you did the 100, or find somewhere else to stay if you stay
for awards. IMHO, this is ridiculous. OD needs to consider the welfare of
the horse and arrange to let riders stay until Monday morning.  If I can't
stay until Monday, there is no way I will EVER attend the awards ceremony.
Geeeze!

Trail marking leaves much to be desired. For a ride of this stature, this is
unacceptable. I have done the 50 three times, and I always get lost at least
once.  Turns should ALWAYS be well marked....if you're gonna get lost,
that's where it will be.  Turns should be marked well BEFORE the turn,
preferably with three ribbons on the side of the turn, followed by a
confidence ribbon on the right immediately after the turn.  Burying the turn
marker for a left turn in a bush on the right side for a left turn is asking
for riders to get lost.  (The turn up Little Crease was this way) Adding a
pie plate is also helpful. If you don't mark anything else well, AT LEAST
OVER MARK THE TURNS!

A couple of other thoughts on trail marking:

Please don't use blue or green ribbons if you need only one color.  They
disappear into the greenery.  I have trouble seeing the little blue arrows
at Biltmore at all.  If the trail is technical or you are going fast, they
are easy to miss. Use orange or red ribbons and pie plates whenever
possible, especially at turns.

It is common practice to put water tanks on the roads at a turn off the road
onto a trail. Please put the water tanks down the road a little way BEFORE
the turn marker.  When you arrive at the water, you are concentrating so
hard on getting your horse to drink that when you leave, you forget you just
saw a turn marker and are likely to continue on down the road. Again, use a
confidence ribbon immediately after the turn.  I missed a turn like this at
Liberty Run.

FYI...What's the best marked ride I have ever attended?  Leatherwood....

Quite a few of us were really upset by the Vet Check at Liberty Hall.  It
was disorganized, the timers were confused at times, and they were
unreasonably hard on crew and riders.  This is a tiny place and there were a
lot of riders.  They did not allow crewing on the road. They even chastised
riders for stopping to allow their horses to just DRINK at their truck along
the road! There were three water tanks in the Vet Check, without much water
in them when I got there.  Unbelievably, you could not let your horse drink
directly from the tanks....buckets only. Huh? Suppose you didn't have a crew
and therefore no bucket! I guess your horse left thirsty and didn't get
washed.  Since those of us who had a crew and water tanks on our trucks
could not crew or water our horse from the road (or share our water with
other riders), we HAD to use the water in the vet check....since we were
parked far away....which further reduced the available water supply for the
people who DIDN'T have a crew. The first year I did OD, my crew shared water
along the road with a lot of riders and then dumped what was left in the vet
check water tanks when they left.  This year, I was so annoyed, I didn't
offer.  In addition, the "water police" were not "nice" about it.  I was
about to get in somebody's face until Joan talked me out of it. <sigh> 

The buckle is different this year.....I really liked the solid brass ones
better....

There is normally not a lot of water along the trail....except for this
year.  After the first few miles, Magic will drink from a hoofprint.  There
were lots of puddles....and Magic would have drunk out of most of them.  I
was disappointed that riders were so inconsiderate about stopping for him to
drink. Even if you don't think YOUR horse will drink, at LEAST allow others
the opportunity, even if it is just a puddle. 

My mentor taught me long ago that you should never assume that if your horse
drank out of the last water source that he won't drink out of the next
one...and that just because he didn't drink out of the last one, he won't
drink out of the next one!


Jim, Sun of Dimanche+, and Mahada Magic (Next year, the OD 100!)




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If people would just think of the hoof as the foundation for the horse like
a house foundation.  when your horse plants his foot down in the ground and
pushes forward if the foot isn't 100% balanced your chances of injury go
up. 
~  Paula Blair

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