Rattlesnake Ridge ride - heat and humidity! (kind of long)

[Steph Teeter <step@fsr.com>]

First of all thanks to ride manager Karen Vining and her helpers - they did 
a fantastic job putting on Ratttlesnake Ridge this past weekend.  As far 
as I could see there were no glitches at  all - nobody got lost, minimal 
lines at the vetchecks, friendly P&R folks,  tons of water, great potluck 
and awards - from a rider's perspective they did a perfect job.

The ride was held at the Anderson Ranch in south central Washington - 
sagebrush and grasslands - it was beatiful - green grass, wildflowers,
views of the snow-covered Cascade range, and really a nice course.
This is one of those rides that is harder than it looks - one really big ridge
to climb in the morning, and then the 'flat' loops, which really aren't 
flat at all - lots of hills and canyons that add up to a pretty challenging ride.

And it was HOT! Record 90 degree temperatures. And the real kicker
was the humidity. It was probably nothing by south east standards,
but mighty rare around here. Sometimes we get 90 - 100 degree stretches
in the summer - but rarely first of May, and rarely coupled with humidity.

I missed the awards, so don't know who most of the top finishers were - 
maybe Karen can post something later. The 50 was won by Kathleen
Fischer and Yokum - a cute little pinto/arab. Arlene Morris and Tourmaline
placed second. I think there were 30-40 starters, with at least 10 pulls.

The 75 (and BC) was won by Ona and Dandy McCoy (whose ride time
was 2 hours slower than their win last year on a cool rainy day!) , followed
by Dori Jackson on ??, Suzanne Hays and AM Lively Dance, Janet
Frederickson and Sharteka (Akhal-Teke/Arab) - 14 started, I think
11 finished. 

I had heat problems on the 75 with my big black horse, Kruschev.
This was a first for us, so I'm hoping it was just because of the drastic 
weather change from cold to hot, and not enough time to acclimate. We rode 
the first 50 miles with Suzanne and Janet, and he felt great until about 
45 miles - after a long steady climb and temps were at their highest - he 
started feeling sluggish, and didn't even perk back up when we headed
downhill towards camp. He pulsed down ok but CRI was 60/66 and his
trot out was not very bouncy. 

I thought about pulling, but decided to give him some extra time at the
hold and see how he looked. He rested a while, ate and drank well,
so after 2 1/2 hours I saddled up and took him back to the vet for a
check over. He looked ok, but it was still really hot and I was scratching
my head trying to decide what to do when Dennis Summers came over - 
his super horse Raymond Blur was having a bad day too - not taking the
heat well - so he was planning to wait until evening and the air cooled
down before he went out for the last 25 miles. We had tons of time
left, and it really sounded like a good idea, so I took Kruschev back
for another 2 hours of rest and food. Thank you Dennis! - that was one
of the smartest things I've ever done- and a valuable lesson. We rode
the last 25 miles in around 3 hours - kind of poky for the first 8 or 10 
miles and then as it got cooler their systems kicked in and we blew
through the last miles. They finished strong and happy - pulse was
48 when we presented for completion.  Very satisfying. 

Always something new to learn. And it looks like I'm going to have to
get serious about heat management. Body clipping, conditioning
during the heat of the day ... all that big black horse stuff. 

Any advice or tips are welcome!

Steph