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Friday, Oct 24th, was a beautiful warm fall morning. I got to Kim?s around
8:30 and she was waiting on the ferrier to give Falcon & Red?s shoes a last
check before the ride. We got the horses loaded and were on our way to Base
Camp around 9:45.

We got to Base Camp around 11:00, checked in and headed out to find us a
place to setup camp. 

They were calling for heavy rain to move in around 4PM at the start of the
morning so we wanted to get setup as early as possible. We were very
fortunate; we ended up on the last row, with lots of lovely field which
spread out behind our camp. We were right in the middle between the vet
check and the main tent where the meals were served. Having all that quiet
space was great for the horses to get a good night sleep. It took about 30
minutes to get our camp totally situated with the pens up for Falcon & Red,
with the horses in them with lots of hay & water. We then got ourselves
organized and headed for registration. Once we got that done, we headed over
to the vendor area and where both of us got a new set of endurance stirrups.

What a difference those stirrups made on the ride. Those were the best
investment I have ever made! I have always ridden with English irons. I
don?t think I?ll ever go back for this type of riding.

A little later, Ed arrived. Shortly after that Kim & Ed headed down to Fort
Valley Stable to check into their cabin. I stayed at base camp with the
horses.

It didn?t? start raining until dinner was being served, somewhere around
7:00. We got back to the trailer somewhere around 8:45. At that point, we
lowered the tents we had up at camp so they wouldn?t get blown away during
the impending storm over night, and then Kim & Ed headed back to their
cabin. Overnight, we had heavy rain. The horses were blanketed, so they were
warm, but by morning, even the waterproof blankets we had on them were
soaked through.

Falcon, Kim?s youngster, woke me at 3AM hollering at something, but he
seemed OK so I went back to sleep. I woke up again at 4AM, so I just stayed
up. Everything in camp was soaked & the rain was still coming down hard.
However, it wasn?t really cold? A GOOD THING!

I poured myself a cup of coffee and proceeded to wake up, and then I got
something to eat. Kim & Ed arrived about 6:30 and we started getting
ourselves ready. We cleaned up the horses, tacked up and were in the saddle
by 7:30, walking around getting them warmed up for the start at 8AM.

It was difficult trying to figure out how much to wear out on trail. The
rain had pretty much stopped for the start, but it had been coming down hard
with the forecast calling for more heavy rain all day. 

27 horses were entered to start the 30 mile ride.

The start was a ?controlled? start with a lead car because we had a ride
about ¾ of a mile up a paved road. Once at the top, we headed up Milford
Gap. 

Kim had to do some fancy riding at the start. Falcon, her horse is young and
got caught up in the ?heat of the moment? and was going ballistic at the
start. She did a great job getting him under control before getting out on
the hard surfaced road.

My horse and I got boxed in at the start, so we had some catching up to do.

The first climb was about a mile long. Both of our horses were fighting to
go faster, but we still had 29 miles to go. We had to slow them down. 

The beginning of these races is be frenzied & difficult for young horses.
Even some of the most seasoned horses have to wait until after the pack has
left to start so their horses do not get all hyped up & blow all their
energy at the start.

We got to the top of Milford Gap and started our descent. Falcon is well
seasoned on this type of terrain & very careful, but my horse had not had
the rock climbing experience he has. Falcon was boogying himself on down
trail and Red was fighting me? wanting to charge down the mountain,
something he just doesn?t have the experience to do? We almost went down,
head first at one point.. But, we got lucky and I was  able to hold on to
the reins to support him through that really bad stumble. We had several
other stumbles climbing down the narrow bolder trail. Near the bottom of the
trail, the skies opened up again with a deluge of water..

Then, we were at the bottom and off we went again down a beautiful fire
road. 

The fall foliage was gorgeous! Fort Valley was at peak color. What a shame
it was raining so hard we couldn?t take our cameras?

We then headed down several private roads and were moving down trail at a
pretty good clip. It seemed like we had gone 10 miles in no time! Red kept
fighting me to go faster for that first 10 miles & Falcon was fighting Kim
to go faster. We had to be careful not to let them go on too hard, we needed
to have some horse left for the second loop.

Next we started the long climb to the ridge where we were headed back to
base camp. That was long climb and I could feel Red getting tired. We caught
up with a couple of  other horses. Our horses seemed to get energized with
having other horses to follow. It sure made the climb easier. Once to the
top, we got hit with another torrential rain and the wind kicked up. That
was a cold rain and we couldn?t move the horses out to stay warm because of
all the rock on trail. 

We made up time wherever we could, but there was a lot of rock where we had
to do a lot of walking. In spite of the rain, we could see down in the
valley and the views were breathtaking!

Finally we got back to the road and started passing 50 mile riders on their
way out on their second loop and we knew we were getting close to Base Camp.

We didn?t realize it until we got into the vet check when Betsy told us that
we finished the first loop, 18 miles, in 3 hours. We had come in just behind
the top 6 horses.

We had wonderful folks there to help us. Betsy is the seasoned veteran and
she was our ?crew boss?. We also had Tony, my daughter Sam?s boyfriend, Sara
my neighbor, Ed, Kim?s boyfriend and the ?other? Ed, Betsy?s significant
other.

Many THANKS! To all of you for your help! I could not have done this without
YOU!

At the VC it was raining hard. When I got off my horse, my legs felt like
Jello! It took a couple of minutes walking to get my legs back, and, I was
?brain dead?? I never did get my head together at that VC. If it weren?t for
our crew, I would have been lost!

Red was already pulsed down by the time we got to the other end of base camp
to the vet check. He pulsed in at 44, we had to make 60? My friend Jack
Weber made a funny comment? ?When are going to start riding this horse!?!?
Falcon had already made pulse as well, so we headed back to the trailer to
get Red & Falcon fed and electrolytes in them. There were also a slew of
apples and carrots waiting for them.

Both of our horses vetted well, Red & Falcon both with a vet score of A-.
Red?s ding was skin tenting. Thank GOD Red was sound after the way he
charged down Milford Gap!

Kim?s out time for the second loop was at 11:51, mine 11:56. Kim waited the
extra 5 minutes for me, but I couldn?t get my act together to get back on my
horse, so we didn?t leave for the second loop until noon. Then right after
we started the second loop, we got off trail. We went about a ½ mile before
we figured it out and headed back. We found the trail and off on the second
loop we went. 

The start of the second loop was very nice trail that where we made good
time. Red actually took the lead & stayed up there for quite a while. Then
we got about half way and had a boulder climb. It could have been an old
water fall where the water was rerouted by nature over time. Very steep and
nothing but rock, some of the step ups were about 2 ½ feet high, if not
more. 

At least we didn?t have to climb Indian Grave Trail. There is a 3 foot jump
onto a boulder at the top. The 50 mile riders did that in loop 2 and there
was a horse in trouble at the top. The treatment vet had to be dispatched to
the horse. Last I heard at dinner after our ride, the horse was doing fine.

Then we got hit with another hard rain. It?s amazing how well a pair of
water proof boots will hold the water in! When I got off at the finish, I
swear there was 3 inches of water in my boots!
A lot of loop 2 was very slick on the down hill. I was thankful that Red had
gotten his head together to let me collect him & get his haunches under him
for several mud slides down the steep muddy trail. We crossed a wonderfully
deep creek which cleaned most of the mud off the horses. It had to make them
more comfortable. During loop 2 there were 3 beautiful hay fields that we
skirted and a very nice pond dam we crossed. Then, before we knew it, we
were at the finish line!



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