I rode Tony on his first 50 and my mom rode Embers on her first 50. We had
a ball - I've been trying to drag her to a ride all year - even bought her
a horse to do it on :->. We started about 5 minutes after everyone for my
safety (Tony is not quite "there" yet when it comes to being sane in a
group so I opt for the easy way out). We walked out past the starter, the
sun was coming up and shining thru the pine trees. We took off at a nice,
forward trot and never looked back.
The only black mark of the day was some sabotaged ribbons that led riders
to a dead end. Fortunately, most of the riders there had done this ride
many times. As my mom and I were bringing up the rear for the first loop we
were very glad to be met by about 10 other riders who were trying to find
the trail. They finally decided that "this was the way the trail usually
is so let's go this way" - we followed as it has always been my theory that
it is much more fun to be lost in a group :-> Anyway, that was the correct
way to go, no one was lost, mgmt was notified and the ribbons were
corrected.
The day began to warm up, the trail wound the woods on a trail so padded
with pine needles and sand you couldn't even hear the horse's footfalls.
Came into the first check, instructed my mom (veteran rider but not
familiar with the procedure) on what to do when, vetted thru with all A's
and pulses of 48 immediately (brag, brag <g>) and took a few minutes to
rest. Since it was so cool we were allowed to vet thru with tack on. At
this piont my mom (who was doing the 50 instead of the 25 with a little
convincing from me - this is important to remember <g>) is feeling good.
Course we'd only done 16 miles so far so everyone is feeling good:->
Go back out for the 10 mile loop - horses settle in to a good trot/canter,
start drinking at all water crossings and we're back to camp in a little
over an hour. My mom is muttering something like "wonder what the trail
looks like when it's not blurred due to high speeds?". I say if you wanna
look at the plant life and vegetation you can go back out on foot later
<vbg>.
Pull tack, go thru again with pulses in the high 40's - vets ask us if we
are even riding these horses :->. Now we're halfway thru and mom is
beginning to think may this was just the right amount of riding while the
horses feel like they are ready to go forever. Have to hold each horse to
get them tacked back up again!
Back on the 16 mile loop. Mom mentions that the next ride she is going to
outfit my helmet with a wireless headset so she can complain to me up close
and personal :-> Horses are feeling better and better and getting stronger
as day goes on, I'm **thrilled** with Tony's leg and recoveries, the
weather and the fact that I'm finally on the trail with my mom who's been
wanting to do this sport for years but due to family commitments, etc could
never find the time or the energy to make it happen. However, my mom is
sure she's going to just die and have to finish the ride tied to the saddle
with me ponying Embers across the finish.
Back at camp, vet thru, great scores again, my mom rebels and says we're
not going back out till she rests a little. I give in and allow her to eat
half a sandwich and go the bathroom :->. At this point I'm having to say
"okay, untack, pick up vet card, let's go to the vet check, umm, where's
your vet card? never mind, I'll go get it". Talk about role reversal <g>
So, we take an extra 5 minutes to refuel before going out on our last 10
miles. Horses are stronger now than they were in the morning (which still
just *amazes* me), I'm still on cloud nine about the whole day, and my mom
is saying something about how she gave me life and she can take it away if
I don't let her rest - or something to the effect <g>. I decide as long as
she's got the energy to talk like that I'm not too worried about her. Trot
and canter entire loop except for water stops (mom and horses) and get back
to camp in slightly over an hour.
The entire day we had seen virtually no one on the trail tho there was
about 70 riders out there - wouldn't you know it at the finish line of a
perfect day when I wanted to cross trotting next to my mom we run into
about 8 100 milers 1 mile out who are going just a little slower than us
with no way to get around (well we could have but that would have been kind
of silly to blow by a big group less than a mile out and besides my mom was
reminding me that I had to ride home with her and 6 hours was a long time
to be in the truck with a ticked-off mom <g>).
So we end up going across in kind of a slow moving mass of horses and
humans. By now my mom is asking if there's some rule against paying someone
else trot your horse out and is there a stretcher somewhere she can lay on
.....well, you get the picture :->
Anyway, the horses finished in great shape, we ended up in 12th and 13th
place (which was a total suprise - remember we started 5 minutes after
_everyone_ else and had no aspirations of doing anything other completing
in good shape and having a good time) with times of just over 7 hours - my
mom and I are still speaking, and she's wondering when she can make another
one.
All in all a fantastic ride!
Oh yeah, my mom made sure she was 12th and I was 13th <VBG>