Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Having completed the first day, and with Bear looking so good, I figured we'd definitely go on day 2, if he still looked good in the morning.  I toyed with dropping down to the LD, being paranoid of overdoing it with him.  But then I realized that if we finished the LD and he still had plenty of gas left, I'd be kicking myself for not entering the 50.  And besides...I could pull him from the 50 at any point if I decided he was too tired.  Ross and Diamante were going to do the LD again.

 

We listened to the weather radio again...now not much chance of rain over night, 30 or 40% chance Sunday, and the severe stuff due to hit Sunday night.  Nice of it to hold off.  :)  Sunday morning we were up at 5:30 again, same breakfast, same light drizzle.  I had Ross trot Bear out, and he looked great.  I brushed him off, then approached him with the saddle.  The look on his face clearly said, "And you intend to put that WHERE?!?"  Yep, first time he'd gone out two days in a row.  <G>  We tacked up, then I took him down to the vets to trot out, as requested for horses going out again the second day.  He got a thumbs up from the vet, so we headed to the start.  Only 10 riders in the 50 today.  It was now heavy drizzle and blowing...where have I seen this before?

 

We had the same controlled start.  This time Bear walked (mostly).  When the group started trotting, I again pulled off and let them go on.  Two riders (Eron Howell and Donna Murphy) were holding way back, so I went on.  The loops and holds were the same as yesterday.  Bear felt good, not as much of a lunatic as the day before, but not tired feeling either.  We trotted and walked the first loop, trying to go a little slower than the first day.  I left an hour and 38 minutes on the table the first day, and planned to use them.  He wanted grass, so we took some grazing breaks.  We finished the first loop in about 2 hours this day, pulsed down right away, and trotted out.  Got a wave from the vet, so we headed back to the trailer for a few minutes.  Bear ate while I made a pit stop, drank an Ensure, and ate a snack.  I elyted him, and off we went on the blue loop. 

 

We negotiated the nasty downhill section and the steep uphill dozer trail.  Bear was still moving out well, and eating grass here and there.  Eron and Donna caught up with us on this loop.  We rode together very briefly, but then Bear had to pee, and I told them to go on.  They were trotting just a bit faster than I wanted Bear to go, and I was going to be very anal about my ride plan in order to complete.  We don't have hills in East Texas, and I had never asked Bear for two 50s in a row.  This was going to be a big effort for him, and I wanted to ride my own ride without worrying about whether I was slowing someone else down.  They went on, Bear fussed a bit, but then settled down.  We continued walking the downhills and steep uphills, and taking grass breaks.  We made it back to camp and P&Red at 11:38, about 35 min. later than the day before.  So far, so good.  Bear vetted through ok, but had a B on muscle tone.  Hmmm...

 

He ate like a pig during the hour hold, going back and forth between water, beet pulp, and hay.  We stayed a few extra minutes, then headed out on the orange loop, which had the keyhole back through camp.  As we headed down the entrance road, we passed Ross, followed by a couple of other LDers (one of whom's horse was very lame) trotting up the road.  Diamante and Bear saw each other, and little love hearts popped out everywhere.  LOL  Diamante was on a mission, and didn't slow.  Bear, however, slowed and tried to turn...I kept him going, and even though he was sulky, he continued on.  We stopped at a water tank, he drank well, then we continued on.  Since I would have ridden down the entrance road at a walk anyhow, I got off and led him down.  We got to the bottom, I hopped back on, and we finished the rest of the keyhole.  As we passed through camp, Ross and Diamante were at the trailer, and the two horses called to each other.  I finally got Bear out of camp, and w e finished the orange loop, P&Ring at about 3:15.  Bear again vetted through fine, and his muscle tone had improved to an A (same vet).  Going slower and more walking on this loop may have helped.

 

Wow...one more loop...we might make it!!!  Bear again ate well.  Ross had finished 9th in the LD and stood for BC just to get the vet score on Diamante, who looked like he hadn't done a thing all weekend.  <G>  He's definitely ready for a 50.  After our 45 minute hold, we headed out.  Or rather, tried to.  We got as far as the timer table, and Bear could hear Diamante calling, and refused to go farther.  I had to hop off and lead him out of camp.  Once out, however, he headed off down the trail.  We had 3 hours to do 12.5 miles.  I planned to use most of it...Bear was getting tired.  We eased along, jogging and slow trotting some sections, walking lots, and taking lots of grass breaks.  We did the steep rocky downhill, with me leading Bear the whole way.  Then we came to that long, steep uphill dozer trail.  Bear had carried my butt up that thing 3 times this weekend, and he was now getting tired.  It kills my knee to climb hills.  I won dered if he'd tail me...he'd never done that.  I hopped off, pointed him at the hill, and clucked at him...he started walking, I grabbed his tail, and walked along, still clucking.  He was confused, but kept going...I gradually exerted more and more pressure on his tail.  As he started up the hill, I let him start pulling me.  He looked back a few times, but then just put his head down and powered up the hill, pulling me along.  Good boy!!!  We made it to the top in great shape.

 

We eased along the rest of the loop.  Lots of grass breaks and walking.  Next think I knew, we were at the steep rocky downhill road leading to the finish line road.  I got off and led him down it, then started leading him up the finish line road.  My knee started giving out, so I got back on and rode at a walk up the road.  We'd made it.  He again pulsed down right away.  Final vet check...he felt good...would he pass?  YES!  He trotted out great, although tired, and looked good.  My flatland horse had done 100 miles in two days in the rugged Texas Hill Country.  I was proud of him!

 

 Day 2, 9 out of 10 50s completed.  Four were two-day horses...Hank Copeland won the 50 on Bearcat, a two-day horse, and got BC.  Kim Reeves and Debbie Stewart also rode their horses both days.  I don't know the stats on the LD, but Ross said that about 20 started.  Diamante, doing his second day, received second highest vet score, second only to the LD BC horse.  Ross was very proud of him.  A 50 is definitely in the works for them at Meanwhile next month, if nothing happens to Diamante between now and then.

 

It was a great ride...the weather held off (Sunday's drizzle quit mid-morning, and it was nice the rest of the day).  Severe weather (severe thunderstorms with rain, hail, and possible tornadoes) was on the way for Sunday night, however, so we pulled out around 9 pm, getting hom at 2 am.  We hated hauling the horses that soon after the ride, especially Bear, but figured it was better than leaving them out in the storms.  About 1 1/2 hours after we left, the radio said that there was a tornado warning for the county where camp was and the adjacent county, so we figured we'd made the right choice.

 

Looking forward to the next ride...Meanwhile Back at the Ranch, April 15!

 

Dawn in East Texas