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My plan was still to do a 9 hour ride time for this ride. Which meant we were 
going to slow W-A-Y down. The second loop was 16.5 miles, so I figured I could 
do the loop in 3.5 hours. We moseyed on down the trail alone. Tanna was doing 
well. Strong, confident, happy. He did not drink, though. I was irritated and 
worried that he would not drink. I tried at most of the water opportunities, 
but he wasn't interested.

At one point we saw a couple riders headed back towards camp. I thought they 
were going the wrong direction, but they weren't! I had gotten my loops mixed 
up in my head and forgot which loop I was on. Goofy, April. I mean, I knew I 
was on the 2nd loop and I had been following the trail signs for the 2nd loop, 
but the map layout I had in my head was for the 3rd loop!

Shortly after we saw the riders, I passed an intersection that confused me. I 
was going straight, but a trail T-ed into the trail I was on. I was not sure if 
I should go straight or turn. So I pulled out my handy map of loop 2 and 
puzzled over it for a minute or two. I finally decided to make the turn and 
after I did so, I noticed a pie plate stapled flat to the top of a stump 
pointing for me to turn. Ok, so at least I made the right decision! I remounted 
and turned down the trail.

We continued to meander down the trail until I decided it was time for a pit 
stop for me. I hopped off and led Tanna a bit into the woods. We both took care 
of business and returned to the trail before a pair of riders I could hear 
coming from the opposite direction were in sight. We continued at a leisurely 
pace and I was getting quite concerned that Tanna was not drinking. It was well 
after 25 miles at this point and he should have been drinking long before now. 
But he still refused water. Even good water that looked like I might drink it, 
much less him.

When the trail looped back around to our pit stop place, I again stopped for a 
pit stop and checked Tanna's gut sounds. Not dead, but not the best either. I 
spent several minutes trying to get him to drink and sponging him off. I began 
to despair and decided we should probably pull at the next vet check. Tanna can 
take 15-20 miles to start drinking, but it had been at least 28 or 29 miles and 
he was not drinking and that bothered me very much. His attitude was good, his 
step was brisk, he was alert, his heart rate was normal. But his guts were a 
little quiet and he was not drinking.

We continued on and I began to earnestly look for grass for Tanna to eat. At 
this point, I don't remember if we found grass first or what, but around noon 
or so (5.5 hours after the start), Tanna and I were trotting along at a steady, 
but slow pace. I was day-dreaming and letting the reins dangle. Tanna glanced 
at a nasty looking lake to our left and kept trucking on. But not 100 feet down 
the trail, he stopped dead in his tracks and eagerly sucked up nastier stinky 
water from a hoof-print in the mud. I said, ok, fine, if you're going to drink 
yucky water, at least choose the BEST yucky water! And the source with the most 
water.

So I gathered the reins and urged him back to the lake. He did not want to go 
down the steep bank and we had a discussion about that. He backed up in 
response to my asking him to move forward, so I immediately changed my tactic 
and asked him to back down the trail. Tanna thought that was fine...until he 
ran into a tree. Then he decided I won and we'd go down the bank to the lake. 
As soon as he got his head down, he drank and drank and drank and drank some 
more. I could have cried from relief.

I checked his back legs to be sure his run-in with the tree hadn't hurt him and 
then we walked down the trail for a little bit to let the water settle in his 
stomach.

We came out where there was some grass and I hand-walked Tanna and kept asking 
him to eat grass until he saw some other riders leaving out on their 3rd loop. 
After that, asking him to eat was just a waste of time, so I mounted up and 
continued into camp.

We did that 16.5 mile loop in 3 hours 20 minutes (4.9 mph). Much closer to my 
estimation than our first loop had been. He, of course, pulsed down quickly and 
we vetted in. His CRI was again 56/48. His score was about the same as the 
first vet check except his attitude and impulsion were down.

Daniel and I took him back to the trailer and he ate quite well. He ripped into 
his hay and ate a bit of beet pulp and drank more water. Whew. I wasn't going 
to pull him if he was going to eat and drink like that. We could get through 
the last 15.5 miles. He ate for about 40 minutes of the hour long hold. I had 
thought both holds were 40 minutes, but thankfully, the second hold was 1 hour. 
I sure wish he'd eat like that on the 1st hold!

My second mistake (the first being starting with the pack instead of after it) 
was not electrolyting Tanna like I should have. I usually electrolyte before 
the start, at each vet check and at least once in the middle of each loop. 
Well, I had decided to not electrolyte during the loops. I think if I had, he 
would have drunk more sooner. Because he did drink a few sips on the first 
loop, I would have been ok to electrolyte him. I deviated from our routine to 
see how it would go and it didn't go well. So for the 3rd loop, I went out 
armed with 2 oz of EnduraMax and applesauce mixed in a syringe.

To Be Continued...
April
Nashville, TN


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