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At one point I had to pee as I had just about drained my camelback.  Pat was
so funny as he was thankful I needed a pee stop. I almost fell over laughing
in the wet sand as Jazzi peed with me!
The vet check was a mass of horses and humanity.  The volunteers were so
kind and helpful.  Jazzi, Lyric and Pat's horse dove into the food. Lyric
ate the grain as if she was starved. Jazzi did not want the grain; she
wanted the alfalfa.   Against my better judgment I let her have it.  Lyric
pulsed down immediately, as did Pat's horse.  But Jazzi stayed at about 60
and criteria was 56 (or was it 58?).  Long story short I lost 20 minutes as
I forgot to loosen her cinch.  It dropped the minute I loosened it.
Pat went on ahead so he would not be overtime.  Lyric vetting with out
problem and Jazzi had a B on hydration.  The vet wanted her to start
drinking.  So, what does she do after the vet tells me this?  Yep, she
started drinking!
This was a 20 minute hold and with the late start, extra hold time, we were
late.  The second loop is much tougher than the first and we are now in the
heat of the day.  Dani is soaking her cotton over shirt and I have refilled
by horse bottles and camelback.  We are off and trot the beginning, but
Jazz's heart monitor is showing 200.  She is strong and is fighting me to
catch up to the group ahead of us.  I am worried sick as it must be 90
degrees and the humidity is high for the west coast.  I slow us down and her
rate drops, but I can not shake by fear.  This, of course makes Dani mad as
Lyric is fine and ready to move on down the trail.
We pass the ride photographer, same place as last year.  And like last year
Jazzi thinks the camera is going to eat her. Dani gets Lyric all collected
up and she looks lovely.   We then cross the road and the hard part begins.
This part is steep with large, room size boulders with pockets of deep sand.
We are behind a wonderful older  "been there, done that" mare with a tough
young junior on board.  Jazzi puts her feet exactly were the lead mare
steps.  In places she has to let her back end slide down while the front
gingerly steers.  Thankfully this section is not long and we are done with
the slip and slide.
The rest of the loop is more up than flat with some very funny trail
markers.  "Turn off your AC"," downshift" are two I can remember.  Dani is
tailing a fair amount up the hills and Lyric is loving it.  I am keeping
Jazzi wet with water.  At one point I dismounted and re gelled my electrodes
which cured my too high heart rate. But Jazzi is tired and I an worried.
As I said, this is a tough section and the final climb out is brutal.  The
ride photographer is waiting to catch us as we climb out of the desert
canyon. The back ground is stunning and the picture of Dani and Lyric is
priceless. On the other hand Jazzi and I are more than a bit bedraggled and
tired.  More water at the top and finally Jazzi tanks up.  She drank for 5
minutes!
We waited 15 minutes to let the horses rest and recover.  Dani took great
delight in taking off her shirt and dunking it.  We were now late, but only
by about 20 minutes.  The rest of the ride is mostly a gentle downhill on a
dirt road and a bit of single track.  We can make it!
About 4 miles from the finish the front runner in the 50 came cantering up
the road to the 4th loop.  They were wet, but looked strong.  Later I
learned the front runners were lucky as someone pulled the ribbons on the
3rd loop and Jill ended up doing and extra 10 miles.
To the cookie and drink stand and more water. Turn left, down the single
track and back on a dirt road to the finish.  I kept an eye on the clock and
we were going to make it in time!  Jazzi and Lyric know we are headed home
and they perk up.  We meet some really nice folks on gaited and quarter
horses.  Everyone looks good.  Lyric is ready to race in.
We make it to the timers with about 5 minutes to spare, but they are telling
me we are 15 minutes over time.  Now I am confused.  We were under the 6
hours, right?  No, in endurance the ride time starts when the ride starts,
not when you start.  That's a CTR rule.  I was too tired to be very upset.
Dani took it in stride.  We made a difficult ride in 6 hours, our horses
pulsed down immediately and vetted out with no problems.  Jazzi's improved
her hydration and the vet was pleased too.
I learned many things on this ride.  First, just because a ride is billed as
easy does not make it so.  The trail had been changed by the tremendous rain
we experienced last winter adding more deep sand and moguls.  Loosen your
cinch even if you never needed to before.  Re-gel your electrodes at the vet
check.  The rider does better when she has lots of water too, just like her
horse.  Team Lyrelle is awesome and I am one lucky mom to be blessed with
them in my life.  Jazzi is vastly improved, but still needs more
conditioning and needs to learn to drink early in the ride.  I love it when
we pee together. I love my RV and it's comforts.  Yes, I am getting too old
for lots of stuff, but endurance is NOT one of them.  (I should have sold
the  tent at the garage sale.)
A BIG THANK YOU to Terry for being the ride manager extraordinaire, all the
volunteers who made this ride possible, my ride camp friends who put up with
me, my daughter who also puts up with me, my horse who carts my big butt
around and my husband who lets me be me and still loves me in spite of all
the dirt, horse hair and early morning feeds.
Nancy Reed
Lazy J Ranch
Elfin Forest, CA


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