Well, I'm back from the Sand
Hill ride -- my first venture into the Southeast region. I left last
Thursday and the further south I got the warmer it got. By the time I
reached camp, it was around 88 degrees. I sure was glad I decided to clip
off the rest of Widget's winter coat before I left home.
The campground there is huge,
but all the slots under the trees were gone. I parked next to the riding
ring and ended up by coincidence right next to a fellow Virginia rider and right
next to where they would be doing the vet checks AND right next to the showers
and bathrooms. A very convenient spot! Fortunately, there was a
great breeze blowing and the trailer provided enough shade for my horse. I
also got there early enough to grab a stall.
Friday was another hot, sunny
day, but the breeze held and it felt very comfortable. Friday
evening during the ride briefing, a front blasted through bringing a downpour
and a decided drop in temperature. I was glad to have a stall to put my
horse in that night. I was also glad to get him away from the trailer for
the night as he spent most of Thursday night scratching various parts of his
body on the corner of the trailer, setting the whole rig to rocking while I was
trying to sleep! I'd yell at him, he'd stop for about 20 minutes .........
just long enough for me to get back to sleep......... and then he'd start up
again.
Our ride started at 8:00
am. I'm thinking I really do like the shorter distances because we get to
sleep later! The 100-milers started out at 6:00, the 55-milers at 7:00 and
us wimpy 30-milers at 8:00.
The trail was totally
different from the rocks and hills that we are used to. The terrain ranged
from hard-packed sand to medium-soft sand to deep sand. Guess that's why
they call it Sand Hills! There were no mountains to climb -- the terrain
was gently rolling to flat. You were either on wide forest trails or
very wide sand roads. We gaited and cantered most of the ride, walking
through all the deep sand and up most of the inclines. I found it easier
to canter on the soft sand and gait on the hard-packed sand. Widget pulsed
down immediately at both vet checks. He got all A's at the first check and
one B at the final check for gut sounds. There were water tanks set out at
various places along the trail as there is not much water on the trail at
all. We were warned not to go into any of the ponds as there was
quicksand abundant. There were a few places we could get water, but I was
wary about letting Widget near natural water as he likes to splash right in
rather than drink at the edge.
The pine trees were beautiful
-- much different from the ones we have in Virginia. And I couldn't
believe the size of the pine cones! They were huge!!! We had a
pretty strong wind on ride day, which helped keep the horses cool, but it also
constantly blew pine pollen and sand around. My eyes felt gritty all day
long. I don't think this would be a ride for anyone wearing
contacts!
I can't remember our ride
time, but I think it was a bit over 5 hours. Hey ... we ain't fast but at
least we are no longer finishing at the back of the pack. I'm just out to
have an enjoyable ride. At the end Widget felt really good --- I felt that
he could have done the 55. Maybe next year.
After we got our completion,
I headed back to the trailer. I gave Widget a good hosing down, let him
roll and left him munching on a snack while I headed off for a hot shower.
I came back, put some stuff away in the trailer and when I came back out a few
minutes later, Widget was laying on the ground. Very
unusual............ I got him up and took him out into a field that had
nice grass to see if he'd graze. We had been there a few times before and
he had gorged himself on the grass. This time he just looked at it, lay
down again, got back up, pinned his ears back and had a very pained _expression_
on his face. This was not good! I headed back to the vet check to
have him looked at as he definitely was NOT feeling well.
The vet looked him over, said
his gut sounds were fine and his heart rate was fine. He gave him a shot
of banamine and said to keep an eye on him and come back if he doesn't
improve. We went back to the trailer and I could tell he was feeling
better. He drank water, munched his hay, ate some food and was fine after
that. Sure scared me, though and I still have no idea what the problem
was.
I stayed over Saturday night
and headed for home on Sunday morning, following a fellow rider from
Maryland. She and I decided to travel back together and we had a great
time. We stopped for breakfast, stopped a rest stops to let the horses out
to eat and drink, stopped for lunch. It was definitely a very leisurely
drive home.
Widget was glad to be back
home. He went out and immediately rolled in his favorite spot and then
headed out to the pasture at a gallop. Aside from Widget's little
"incident", it was a wonderful weekend at a very well-run ride.
