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Julienne wrote:
> Thanks to Nick Warhol and Laura Fend for putting on such a fun ride!

Agreed!!

> ...There was so much wildlife we saw this weekend: young bucks, wild boar,
> garter snakes, bees, and bulls.  We'll be back next year..

You saw boar? No fair!

The bees I could have done without - I got stung three
times on the leg, Zini got stung a couple of times and
Judy Long's horse, Color, still had bees in his ear when
we reached the first vet check.

The bulls were, er... "interesting" - especially when
we found them blocking the trail coming in to camp
and wondered if we'd be stuck on the wrong side of
them and unable to get in.

By strange coincidence, Judy and I rode behind
Julienne and Isabella (and Jackie Floyd and James)
for quite a bit of the first 25 miles of gorgeous
trail, after stupidly starting nearly 25 minutes
late on the 50.

Unfortunately, my ride didn't exactly go as planned.
Our pacing wasn't too bad and we were riding pretty
slow, but sped up to try and make up some time towards
the end of the third loop. Zini was cheerful enough
coming in to the 38 mile vet check at ~4 pm. She pulsed
down OK and got all As - but a C in gut sounds. :(
And then she didn't want to eat or drink, and a few
minutes after that decided that lying down would be
a better option. Uh oh.

The vets did another exam on her - guts sounds quiet,
CRI 52/52 - which shows how pulse can be so misleading.

By 4:30-5:00 she wasn't pulling out of it, was still
wanting to lie down (and her lying down was looking
less like fatigue and more like discomfort) and her
gut sounds were more or less non-existent, so head
vet Rob Lydon and I decided to start treating her.

She got a couple of bags of fluids and some banamine
which made her a lot more comfy. By 8 pm, although
somewhat better, she still wasn't bouncing back the
way we'd like (she wasn't nearly crabby enough <g>)
and her gut sounds were still pretty quiet. Although
my original intention that weekend had been to stay
the night at ridecamp so Zini could rest properly and
refill, vet Rob wasn't staying overnight and I didn't
want to be caught having to figure out where Peninsula
Vet Clinic was in the middle of the night if Zini took
a turn for the worse. So we agreed the best thing was
for me to start for home and drop in at Loomis Basin
Vet Clinic (45 mins from my home) on my way.

At Loomis at midnight Zini was looking decidedly non-
sick compared to the badly colicking horse that was
being treated there. Pulse was 40, but gut sounds
still quiet. They ran some bloodwork that didn't turn
up anything outstanding - just mild dehydration. A
rectal exam didn't reveal anything interesting either,
but to be on the safe side, the vet tubed her (not fun),
gave her a couple of gallons of water and oil and then
hooked her up to another couple of bags of fluid.

By 3 am she was looking much better and wanting to
eat hay ravenously. At home around 5 am, she hopped
out of the trailer and trotted off down to the barn
to help herself to the hay pile. Today she's her
usual crabby self and looking completely normal.

It has often been said that you learn a lot more in
this sport when things go horribly wrong. Thankfully,
in this case, it seems that Zini suffered no more
than a mild colic and thanks to Rob's quick action,
she was treated far faster than she would have had
this happened at home. I, OTOH, have a lot to think
about.

Hindsight being what it is, I'm still ruminating on
the whole experience. Obvious holes include her not
drinking great the night before (it was quite cool
overnight) or during the ride - particularly during
the last loop which was quite long; not spending
longer at holds to make sure she refilled properly
(this is linked to not starting late to begin with
and therefore getting in a time hole); our speeding up
during the second part of that last loop after a long
steep climb (this is a big part, I suspect); me being
MUCH more aware of my horse and her intake and avoiding
getting swept along by the desire to "keep moving";
re-examining my electrolyte protocol (she gets elytes
in her sloppy BP supper the week leading up to the
ride, then in her BP the night before, then again in
her BP at lunch, but I don't syringe); re-examining
my conditioning program (I probably need to push her
a little more during training instead of mostly doing
LSD - in my paranoia to avoid leg injuries, I've gone
too far the other way. I also need to be much more
consistent - she isn't getting the riding time she
should due to the fact I'm rehabbing another horse)...

Still, I live and learn - and hopefully will continue
to learn. East Bay was a fun ride... well the first
part was, at least :)

One complaint, the trails were too well groomed in
places.



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Lucy Chaplin Trumbull
elsietee AT foothill DOT net
Repotted english person in the Sierra foothills, California
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