Western Maine Pioneer: July 25 – August 1, 2009

Written on August 5:

I’ve waited a few days, hoping inspiration would strike, but I’m just feeling BLAH about this one.  So here goes… short and sweet (for once).

We left home around 8ish in the morning on Friday July 25.  I stopped along the way to have my Trailer Guy fix something on the awning.  He spent 20 minutes trying to get it just right, before settling for “it works” and only charging me $5.

I stopped again to get some hay… which Zephyr proved he could get to no matter HOW short his tie rope was.  Hay guy says this isn’t his “good field” and he’s not happy with it, but we both thought it was great.

I arrived at the Fryeburg Fairgrounds, with Zephyr in tow, early in the afternoon.  I had to be there for the used tack sale to benefit our mounted search and rescue unit, and for the meeting later that night.

Zephyr settling into his stall:

The used tack sale:

I believe this was the day I went to lunch with Mary Coleman (of “Hawk The Mighty Morgan” fame) and her husband Charles, and their friend who was also named Mary.  Mary Coleman was there to ride, but she was also selling her rump rugs, bale bags, fencepost bags, and a few other things.  I have to put in a shameless plug for her sponge leashes… I got one from her on the last day I was there, and I tested it out today (8/9), and I LOVE IT.  Much better than my old biothane sponge leash that I bought the first year I competed.  It’s just a simple soft nylon web strap with a snap at each end, but I really do love it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Sunday I volunteered a bit for the 2nd day of the Crooked River CTR.  It rained a lot, and was extremely buggy… too many mosquitoes to believe!  I took some pictures on trail, and also did my first official stint as a Pulse and Respiration (P&R) taker.  My first horse belonged to Steve Rojek, and I learned a very valuable lesson… when you’re staring at their flanks to count the inhalations, and they look like they’re panting, check to see if they’re sniffing the air. 

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Sunday afternoon, I checked in with Jane, ride registration agent extraordinaire.  I had thought that in order to ride the “Pioneer” ride, I needed to ride the 50 on Wednesday, 55 on Thursday, and 50 on Friday.  It turned out that this was true, but that if I didn’t want to collect points for Pioneer rides, it didn’t matter which days I rode.  So I decided to ride Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and go home to hubby a day early.  Zephyr was going crazy (and getting stiff) in that darn stall anyway.

After that, I trimmed Zephyr’s feet in preparation for boot gluing.  He wasn’t standing very well, and wasn’t all that willing to keep his feet on the hoof jack, but I wrote it off to the fact that I was making him stand out in the light rain.  I did make note that the left front hoof ended up a touch longer than the right front.  I was trimming each hoof individually as it needed to be trimmed, and I really didn’t see any way to force them to be the same, so I let it be.  Afterwards, I put Thrushbuster on all four hooves. 

I have to say, this isn’t my best trim job ever.  You win some, you lose some. 

Left front:

Right front:

Right hind:

Left hind:

When it came time to glue the front boots on (with Goober Glue), I brought him under the barn overhang.  The only available crossties were awkwardly placed, with the barn-side tie attached right behind a top stall door.  That top door couldn’t be closed because there was a horse in that stall.  I can’t tell you how many times I hit my head on the bottom of that top stall door!  I seriously thought I might end up with a concussion, without ever setting butt in saddle.

This picture was taken later, while the glue was drying, but I want you to see how good he was to stand there with the door right in his face!

For this gluing effort, Garrett from EasyCare had sent me the new thick-toe shells.  At home, I had already drilled two holes in the bottom of each boot for the sole packing, and had trimmed the backs of the hind boots because his hind heels are lower.  The left-hand boot, below, is the one I cut down, and the right-hand boot is the same size but just a spare boot that I put on to draw the lines.  I wanted to keep the actual boots I was going to use as clean and dry as possible until it was show time.

So first, I put all the spare boots on and drew the lines.  You can see from two of the boots being shiny (front right, left hind) exactly how HUMID it was!

I was surprised to note that his left front foot, previously in a 2, was fitting loosely in a 1.5 (ie, the V didn’t spread, and when I pushed on the toe, it “gave” a bit… there was room between the hoof wall and the boot). Given the loose fit, I was even more reluctant to try to take off any more toe from that longer hoof, despite the fact that (as you can see in the above photo) the left front hoof was indeed a little longer than the right front hoof.  So I went ahead and glued both front boots on. 

First though, because it was so humid and his feet were wet from walking through the wet grass, I wiped them both down with rubbing alcohol to try to dry the sheen of water off them.  Afterwards I realized that may not have been a good move, given that Goober Glue can only be cleaned off your hands with rubbing alcohol!  Oh well.

I put the glue in the first boot and spread it out, then put it on the first hoof and spread it out.  I wonder… can you find a putty knife with a slightly out-curved blade??  The flat blade was awkward inside the boot.

While waiting for 10 minutes to pass, I put glue in/on the other front boot and hoof.  At the 9.5 minute mark, I began to put the first boot on.  The second boot went on at what I thought was also the 9.5-10 minute mark (for that boot).

After he’d stood for a while, I looked harder at that left front boot.  Oh, my.  If you looked at the heel, and at the line I’d drawn, the boot looked as if it was all the way on his hoof.  But looking at the whole thing from the side gave a different picture!  The front angle of his hoof was “broken” and the boot looked like it wasn’t all the way on.  Maybe I’d put too much GG in there?  Maybe I’d waited too long before joining hoof to boot?  There wasn’t anything I could do at that point, so I decided to just let it keep drying and see how the test ride went on Monday. 

I thought I took a side view picture, but apparently I didn’t.  You can sort of see what I mean because he’s standing with that foot turned a little to the outside.

He stood quietly with his hay bag for the whole hour that the glue needed to dry, then I put him back in his stall.  I would have considered putting in the sole packing (more Goober Glue) at this point, if I had realized that the sawdust in the stalls would get into the boots through the holes in the sole, but I didn’t think about it.

I think it was Sunday afternoon when Kathie Robbins and her posse arrived to claim their stalls for the week.  They came over to borrow a broom, so I lent mine, and for some odd reason they laughed at my “poor excuse for a broom”.  I don’t know what they were making fun of, my broom gets into the corners of the trailer way better than most brooms.  Most brooms are handicapped by the fact that they’re square across the bottom.  Mine has been custom-shaped into more of a sickle-shape.

Monday was a day off, so Sunday night a bunch of us partied!

I love this BBQ grill / toolbox…

As I recall, this is Patti Pizzo sending her first text message… to Steven Hay... on a borrowed phone.  Steven was at a different ride, and ended up texting our group for the whole duration of our party.

As the sun fell, we got louder.  Tom the ride manager (red polo shirt) eventually came over to ask us to be quiet, but we managed to suck him into our nefarious scheme to keep everyone awake.

 

When I got back to my trailer, I discovered many small bruises on my legs.  Not sure what they were from, except maybe from mosquito bites.  This picture does not do them justice.

Monday I got up and fed Zephyr, then went back to bed until 8:30 or so.  When I got up, Kyle and Caleigh wanted to ride.  We were out for a couple hours; we rode to the Saco River.  Both of their horses like to lay down in the water, which Kyle and Caleigh really enjoy.  I, not so much!  I had to turn Zephyr’s head away so he wouldn’t see.

 

Despite the funky fit of that left front boot, Zephyr was moving well in his front Glue-Ons and hind Gloves.  Monday afternoon, just as I was about to glue on his hind boots, we had a bad thunderstorm.  It was supposed to give us 60mph winds but nobody was sorry when it didn’t!  Afterwards, I began to glue his boots on, but I made the mistake of not looking at the clock before I started.  I began gluing at 5pm.  Vetting closed at 6pm and he had to “cook” in the stall until 8pm.  Dr. Otis was kind enough to approve late vetting.

I think it was Monday afternoon that Kathie came over and presented me with a new-to-me broom!  It looked just like my old one except that it hadn’t yet been broken in (though Kathie insisted that it was her old broom, so it was broken in).  She was so proud of herself, though, that I took it, and duly promised to throw away my old broom.  In the end, though, I couldn’t do it... I left it next to my stall for the next broom-less rider to claim.  I’ll just have to work hard to break in this new one.  (Kathie’s friend Pam(?) later came over and gave me a second new broom.  For some reason she thought it was funny that she and Kathie both separately had come up with the same gift idea.  *shrug*  I didn’t have the heart to say no, so now I have two new brooms to break in.

At the riders’ meeting, we found out that Tuesday and Wednesday would both be 55 mile rides, with identical trail, instead of 50 on Tuesday and 55 on Wednesday.

After the riders’ meeting, I did the sole packing for Zephyr’s hind boots, then went to bed.

The 6am start on Tuesday was laid back.  There were 19 riders; Zephyr and I ended up in the front 4 horses or so.  The first part of the trail was easy woods trails, then there was a long stretch of really deep mud through the potato/alfalfa/corn fields, then we popped out onto a paved road with no ribbons at all.  Good thing Steve Rojek was familiar with the trail!  He said turn left, and pretty soon we saw an arrow and ribbons sending us to the right onto a dirt road.  Then came more dirt roads as we entered the National Forest.  Several stretches through the woods had no ribbons either.  After a bit we came to “13 Bridges”, a trail so named because of the 13 wooden bridges along its length.  We’d been warned that they were slippery, so Zephyr and I went around the first bridge and then walked very slowly onto the second.

Unfortunately, as soon as all four feet were on the wet, slimy, mildew-covered wood, he completely lost any semblance of traction.  The rider behind me later told me that he did the splits with his hind legs and sat down, at which point I tumbled off over his left hip, landing on my already-sore left shoulder (and hip, and head).  He continued to fall, landing on his chest and rolling to the left a bit, before scrambling up and gingerly making his way to the far side.  Other riders tried to grab his bridle but he just walked slowly down the trail until I could catch up.

One of the other horses in our group, with steel shoes on, also lost traction and sat down.  That horse was able to get back to his feet without losing his rider, thankfully.

I had some trouble remounting, especially when he stood on my foot with his left hind foot (and stood, and stood), but eventually I got back on.  Megan, a vet who was riding AND vetting the ride, was with me at the time, and she said he looked ok to her… so off we went.  She and I both dismounted and walked across any of the bridges that we couldn’t go around.  I was so grateful for her company and patience!

At some point in this section, one of Zephyr’s Toklat hind-leg interference boots slid down around his pastern, as they sometimes do.  Megan said she would show me later how to trim them so I could tighten them more.  (She did show me at the hold, but I didn’t have any scissors… I performed surgery that night and VOILA, magic, they fit nicely now!  You just cut off the extra 1/4” of neoprene that sticks out beyond the metal ring.  It lets you tighten them just a smidge tighter, and it makes all the difference in the world.)

Written on August 9:

Loop 1 was billed as 17.4 miles, but most people agreed that it was at least a mile longer.  All I know is that it took me 3 hours.  When we got to the hold at 9am, I removed his tack and led him over to the pulse timer; he was already down.  He vetted in with all As.  The hold was in the sunny yard of a library, and my hold box had been placed somewhat near a crook of the building that had some shade in it, so I dragged it closer and we enjoyed a semblance of shade for our 50-minute hold.  I didn’t really miss having a crew except for not having someone to bring water over to my spot, and not having someone to hold Zephyr while I used the bushes.  Which is to say, when I did miss having a crew, I missed it A LOT.

There was a fair amount of discussion at this hold about whether the return trip back to camp (Loop 3) would cross the 13 Bridges again, like it was supposed to.  Several other people had been involved in wrecks and near-wrecks on those bridges, and I wasn’t the only person who was vocal in their preferences!  Ride manager Tom decided to send us back a different way, and I was glad for it.

Loop 2 was a lollipop that left the hold, went north into New Hampshire towards Evans Notch, and then came back on the same trail.  It was billed as 22 miles, but I had company for the whole loop and it didn’t really feel that bad.  Our group did get lost a couple of times due to “minimalist turn markings” but not for very long.

Nancy Walker’s horse:

Corey, a 30-miler:

We did get to see some nice scenery, when we remembered to look around:

 

Zephyr and I got to the second hold at 1:05pm… so that 22 miles had taken us 3 hours and 10 minutes.  I had the same spot next to the library building… but this time I got smart.  There was a heating oil filling pipe sticking out of the wall in an L, so I draped Zephyr’s lead rope over it and VOILA, he was sure he was tied!  I got to go take care of my business with nary a care.

As we left for Loop 3, I think Nancy and I were running 3rd and 4th.  Loop 3 took us back to camp via roads, instead of through the National Forest and the dreaded 13 Bridges.  This also shortened the time on trail significantly.  I was still riding with Nancy and Corey, and we boogied right along until we got back to the potato fields, which were maybe 5 miles from camp. 

At the potato fields, suddenly it was Larry, Moe, and Curly… or the No Evil siblings (See No / Hear No / Speak No Evil)… or SOMETHING.  Each of us had a clue that we were off trail, but none of us were able to understand the whole picture, so we were 2 miles off trail before we realized it.  Nancy thought we should have stayed in the fields longer, I thought it was strange that we were no longer following the popcorn trail on my GPS, and Corey was sure that the three ribbons tied around that tree back there meant we were supposed to do something.  But, we were following pink ribbons clearly hung to the edge of the potato field and then suddenly there was NOTHING.  No pink ribbons at all… not until we got a ways down the paved road, and suddenly there were pink ribbons again.  We didn’t think anything weird about that, because there had been long stretches earlier in the day that had been ribbon-less.  We were just glad to have found the ribbons.

We had just reached the bottom of a muddy, rocky, nasty downhill section when we came to a paved road and were met by Tom the Ride Manager, who had been alerted by Bill Rice (the volunteer horse ambulance driver) that we were off trail.  Bill had turned onto the paved road (the one we turned onto just as we left the potato field) and seen my shirt and helmet in his rear view mirror.  Somehow, he realized we weren’t supposed to be there, and actually turned his truck/trailer around to come and tell us… but by the time he could turn around, we were gone.  He called Tom, who sent Roy out on his motor bike, but Roy couldn’t catch us before we met up with Tom at the next road crossing.  Roy and Tom both escorted us back to the edge of the potato fields, where we discovered what had happened.

I had seen a series of three pink ribbons, one after the other, leading around a slight left-hand curve in the field.  We had followed those ribbons around the corner and then found a series of pink ribbons leading out of the field.  Unfortunately, that second set of ribbons had been from the CTR the weekend prior… they were NOT our ribbons.   OUR ribbons WERE the ones leading around that slight left turn… but apparently they were actually hung in three sets of two (two ribbons mean a turn) and they were supposed to tell us to turn right!

Nancy felt bad because her horse had wanted to turn right.  I felt bad because my GPS told me we should have turned right before we got to the edge of the field.  Corey felt bad because she had been saying “this paved road feels right” as she led us down the primrose path. 

We weren’t the only ones to get lost, but we were lost the longest.  At least eight riders passed us before we got back on trail, so instead of finishing 4th or 5th, and getting done before 4pm, Nancy and I finished 13th and 14th at 4:46pm.  I have to tell you, I was really upset, both because we lost the placing and because of the extra miles.  But I guess them’s the breaks.

When I got back to the trailer to cool Zephyr down for vetting, I was greeted by Lucy, my crew for the next two days’ rides.  I was thrilled to see her!  Among other things, she had promised to take Zephyr out of his dreaded stall and walk him every hour or two.  God bless the crews!

Zephyr vetted out just fine, and Lucy and I began to go over what I needed her to do for me during the next day’s ride.  Since the trail would be the same, and the forecast was for hotter temperatures, we drove out to the hold to drop off my First-Up canopy for shade.  She walked Zephyr for me while I repacked my hold tub, loaded the coolers in the truck, and we both went to bed at a reasonable hour.

Wednesday’s ride started at 6:30am, with only 9 or 10 riders.  I was in the saddle by 6am to warm Zephyr up, worried that he might have gotten sore overnight because of the accident on the bridge.  I was alarmed when he acted very reluctant to walk; I dismounted and led him straight to Dr. Otis, who recommended that I just get back on and continue warming him up.  Dr. Otis’ instinct had been right, Zephyr quickly warmed up out of it, and trotted sound on pavement as we headed to the trail.

The trail was the same, except that we hadn’t gotten rain the night before, so the bridges had dried and were now safe to cross.  Hallelujah!  Zephyr and I played leapfrog with several other horses on Loop 1, and arrived at the first hold in due time.  I believe we were running 4th but I don’t really know anymore.  Zephyr took a few minutes to pulse down, but I attributed it to a lack of coordination between Lucy and I.  She had never crewed before so it wasn’t a pretty sight.  He ate relatively well at this hold, and had been drinking well all morning, so I was happy.

We left for Loop 2 alone.  Loop 2 was completely different on this day, or at least it seemed like it.  The hills were bigger (up and down), the air temperature was higher, the sun was brighter, and there was less breeze. His Highness was not pleased, and kept walking super-slow or stopping and refusing to walk on.  I was annoyed but not worried, because he does that at home sometimes.  The more I ask him to go forward, the more PO’d he gets with me, and the less willing he becomes.  The solution is usually to just let him rest for a few minutes until he forgets why he’s mad, or just get off and lead for a while.  I did both. 

Finally, it seemed like we had settled into a rhythm.  Lucy met us several times on the second half of this loop, and eventually we met up with a mother and daughter team who was trying to do all five days of 50/55s.  Zephyr perked up a bit once we met up with them, but was still occasionally dragging.  His attitude was flipping back and forth between perky and PO’d, but he was still eating and drinking very well.

At the second hold, he told me he was done.  His pulse took a while to come down, his respiration was still fast even after our hold time, his eyes were dull, and his ears were pinned back.  Either it was just too darn hot for him, or he was sore from his accident the day before, or both.  Technically he would have been allowed to continue, but it wouldn’t have been a good idea, so I chose to pull “Rider Option”. 

It sounds so simple here in print, but it seriously hurts to see your friend and partner that way.  It hurts even more to think back about all the signals he gave, knowing in hindsight what they meant.  I’m pretty sure I cried.  After a hug from my friend (the ambulance driver) Bill, I led Zephyr over to the trailer so Dr. Ron and his vet assistant could get him set up with a bag of fluids just to be on the safe side. 

It took maybe 45 minutes to do that, and then we were on the road back to camp.  Zephyr was already starting to come out of the sedative by the time he got on the trailer, and back in camp he was all set.  But I do think he slept a lot that afternoon!

I had already planned to stay until Friday morning, because my friend and massage therapist Cathy Hatch was scheduled to arrive Wednesday night and do horse/human massages through Saturday night, so I opted to stay and let Zephyr rest under vet supervision until Friday.

Wednesday night I got Cathy set up in her two stalls, one for horses and one for humans… the human stall complete with massage table and hot stones.

On Thursday I went out to the hold, this time at a church, and helped riders without crews.  This basically meant I held horses so people could go use the bushes.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t until just after I had answered my own call of nature… the kind you would definitely prefer a toilet for, especially given the voracious mosquito population… that I found out the church was unlocked and the bathrooms were available!  GAH!  Oh well, good thing I had Benadryl gel with me, I needed it.

I spent the rest of my day sitting under the canopy with the vet, farrier, and ride volunteers, sharing my food and eating their food.  It was the best thing I could have done with my unexpected day off.  Much better than moping in camp!

After the day’s ride, I sought out Dr. Ron to get my bill.  I had been seriously stressing about the bill, because I had no idea how much it would be.  When I saw the bill I was completely stunned and gave Dr. Ron a big hug.  Later I found out that he actually wrote the bill for only about 10-15% of what it should have cost.  Nobody would ‘fess up, but I think I know who my benefactor was, and all I can say is THANK YOU.  THANK YOU so much!  Someday I will pay this forward.

Cathy was determined to work on my sore shoulder for me, but that night, there was so much demand for her massage services that she couldn’t get to me until after 9pm.  So it was more like a mosquito-ssage!  Her little lamp was the only light in the whole barn, so the mosquitoes were drawn to us.  I literally stayed completely covered by the sheet, even my head, while she worked on my shoulder.  It was SO worth it.

Zephyr and I left the fairgrounds around 9:30am on Friday, after he got his second massage in two days.  He was scheduled to see his chiropractor on the way home, which I had arranged for via cell phone after our adventures the day before. 

Dr. Reynolds found that two of his cervical vertebrae were out of alignment, his sternum was rotated to the left, his left hip was rotated forward, and one of his ribs on the left side (just behind the shoulder blade) was out of alignment.  Apparently, although of course none of that is good, the rib was the most painful for him.  I could see that he felt better after she worked on him.

Our next stop was Zephyr’s vet.  I had asked Dr. Ron if I should have his blood tested, and what to test for, and he recommended that I test for levels of Selenium and Vitamin E.  Because it was only $15 more, I decided to also have them test him for levels of the various electrolytes.  Today is Sunday 8/9 and I still don’t have the results… I’m really interested to see them!

Zephyr’s hind boots came off in the pasture on Saturday August 1, six days after application.  It was the first time I ever used Goober Glue, and it was the first time he’d been turned out to pasture with two other horses, so I don’t know what happened.  I still haven’t found them, but then it’s a big pasture.  I can tell you that the right hind boot didn’t wear through at the toe after 95 miles, but the left hind had begun to wear through.  The gap was maybe an inch long.  His front boots stayed on well, and gave me a bit of a challenge to remove them on Sunday August 2, but they were still much easier to remove than when I glued them on with Vettec Adhere.

That’s it, folks.  Hard to think of it as a success, even though we did complete Tuesday’s 55-mile ride. 

I guess I’ll have to just mark it down as “I learned something”... and I got a couple of new brooms.

PS… I didn’t think of this until I was all done, so I’m adding it here because I know some of you are curious.  Starting Monday night, Zephyr got a heaping scoop of EnduraMax electrolytes in his grain at the fairgrounds each afternoon/evening/morning.  (Normally I would have started a day earlier, but I moved my rides up by a day.)  On Tuesday, he got a dose of Lyte Now at each of the two holds.  On Wednesday, he got four doses of Lyte Now throughout the ~40 miles we rode, including at the second hold… one at the first hold, two during Loop 2, and one at the second hold.  This is different from our usual protocol of dosing with applesauce/EnduraMax via syringe at holds and on trail.  I’ve had these Lyte Now’s in my fridge since last summer and wanted to use them.  Call me paranoid, but I’m not sure I’ll use Lyte Now again!

Technorati Tags: easyboot glue-on,endurance ride,hoof boot testing,goober glue

Healthcare “Reform” *

* This was originally written as a response to a friend’s Facebook post, where she posted a video of Keith Olbermann taking some Republicans to task for being given campaign money by healthcare and health insurance companies.  My response was too long to put as a comment in Facebook, so here it is.

And do you know for certain that no Dems have been given money by the healthcare industry?  As long as ANY company, or industry, or lobbyist, is allowed to contribute to political campaigns, we are always going to stumble on relationships that have become controversial.  There’s no way to know in advance which industries will, in the future, be seen as having been a bad contributor.  For all we know, 5 years from now the electric car battery manufacturing companies will be “evil” for creating hazardous waste, and any of the politicians they contributed to will get lambasted for having accepted their money.

On a related note, why do you suppose that the healthcare industry is against this supposed healthcare "reform"?  Do you think maybe it's because they know Obama's administration really is, in the long term, trying to bring us to a single-payer (ie government-run) healthcare system?  Don't listen to what they're claiming in speeches now, look at what they were saying BEFORE they became elected/appointed into this administration (including Obama).  Do you really want to lose the kick-ass insurance we get at UMaine?  You will... whether it's next year or 5 years from now or 15 years from now.  They WANT you to be forced to use the government healthcare plan.  (But of course they themselves don’t want to be stuck with it.)

As for why I think their idea of "reform" is a bad idea... all you need to do is look at the government's track record with estimating how much something will cost.  I'm a little foggy on this one and can't find the statistics online right now to back me up... but, back when it was created, Medicare (or Medicaid?) was supposed to cost something like $13 million.  It ended up costing more than ten times that ($130 million) in that time period.  Then there's the Cash for Clunkers program (which I AM sure of).  They thought $1 billion would last 90 days, and it lasted a week.  They've just approved $2 billion more (for a total of $3 billion, or 3x the original estimate).  The government-sponsored Postal Service is constantly on the edge of bankruptcy.  Government spending goes up every year, and by much more than can be explained by inflation.  Can you think of a single government entity that knows how to operate efficiently and cut costs????????  Having this "reform" plan cost $1 TRILLION ($1,000,000,000,000) is bad enough, but having it cost 3-10 times that amount would be disaster nobody wants to witness.

Another reason I think it’s a bad idea... just look around.  Canadians come to the US for many of their healthcare needs.  Look at Sweden and the UK... look at the others... can you name ONE country with government-run healthcare where the citizens are actually PLEASED with the system?  And it’s not low-income Canadians who are coming to the US, it’s the wealthy.  The ones who can afford to pay $14,000 out of pocket for a hip replacement when the government wants them to wait 18 months before they can have it done under their system.  If you want to increase the divide between the healthcare situations of the wealthy and the poor, the current healthcare “reform” bill is a good way to do it.

I cannot believe that the Dems are stooping to trying to pass off the anti-"reform" movement as a fake, a healthcare-industry- and Republican-sponsored version of a true grassroots movement.     I cannot believe that they're saying anyone against their idea of reform must be getting a payoff from the healthcare industry.  I can assure you that nobody is paying me to write this.

I also cannot believe that they're actually asking people to report their neighbors and friends for suspicious activity and/or suspicious correspondence regarding healthcare reform (ie anyone who doesn't agree with their viewpoint).  Ohhh, you better report me to the White House for this post.  I'll save you the trouble of looking it up... the address is flag@whitehouse.gov .

Finally, I cannot believe that the anti-“reform” people are actually still referring to this mess as Healthcare Reform.  They are legitimatizing it by calling it Reform when clearly they’re against it BECAUSE it would be a bad move... and therefore not a “reform” at all!

Technorati Tags: health care reform,politics

Settling in for western maine

Settling in for western maine pioneer. Got here sat pm, volunteered for fryeburg ctr today, glued front hoof boots on tonight.

Pine Tree 100 - A Weekend of Firsts!

Last month, I entered Zephyr in a 3-day 80-mile ride to work on fixing the “race brain” that he has developed since we started racing 50s in 2007.  I knew that was the last step I wanted to conquer before trying again for a 100.  He did great so I decided to go ahead and enter the Pine Tree 100 on June 27.  I figured that with his race brain fixed, more advance planning, and terrain that is more similar to our home trails, we had a much better chance of finishing than in Vermont last year.

We did have some shoeing issues during the 3-day ride (lost both front shoes within a mile of each other on day 2 and finished the last 23 miles of the day barefoot in the front) so I made the tough choice to do an abrupt about-face and switch him to Easyboot hoof boots instead of shoes.  I posted a few updates about this transition earlier this month.  I had been planning to do the ride in Easyboot Gloves but was having some trouble getting the gaiters (ankle straps) to fit him properly, and I was worried about rubbing over the long distance, so I decided to just glue the boots on instead. 

Since it was such a last-minute decision, I didn’t have any of the glue, so I called my farrier and he came over to help on the Tuesday before the ride.

We did the front left boot first, and unfortunately we had it all the way glued on before we realized that we had forgotten to use the heat gun to help dry his hooves out AND the fit on this boot was looser than it had been for the last two weeks... I must have trimmed that hoof a little smaller on the last touch-up.  So of course I started to panic.

The rest of the boots went on perfectly, we remembered all the steps and the whole process took 2 hours.

 

Putting the glue inside the boot... you have to move FAST because the glue hardens within 45 seconds!

 

 

 

 

 

After all the boots were on, Nate squirted sole-packing material through holes in the sole (which I had drilled ahead of time).

 

 

 

 

 

The finished boots weren’t pretty, but I was sure at least 3 of them would stay on just fine!  The front left boot was iffy, I thought, but I emailed Garrett from EasyCare afterwards and he said he’d bet money it would stay put... so I stopped worrying (mostly).  I did bring the Gloves along as spare tires just in case!

 

 

 

Since we were doing the 100, I wanted to get to camp on Thursday so he could rest in camp as long as possible before the ride start.  I had done a lot of the packing already, but was still up late on Wednesday night and therefore slept in a little on Thursday morning.  We pulled out of the driveway at 8:30.  It was foggy over the river!  (Don’t worry, there wasn’t anyone behind me so I stopped to take this picture.)

We played leapfrog with a couple of windmill propellers all the way down Rt. 3 to Augusta.  These things were taller than an 18-wheeler trailer and probably 3 times as long!  Really amazing to see them on the road, especially since Maine’s highway weight limit means they have to keep to the back roads.  I took a whole bunch of pictures in an effort to show you the sheer size of these things, but none of them really do it.  This one comes close, although the front 25% is cut off behind the hill.  At one point I had stopped at the feed/farm store to buy white half-inch electric tape (to replace the nearly invisible yellow tape I used last month) and one of them drove by at 40-50 mph and I had the chance to take a picture, let the camera reset, and take a second picture before it had finished driving by!! 

I think we got to camp around 12:30 or 1:00.  There were already 6-8 trailers there, most of which had arrived the day before and were completely mired in mud up to their axles!  Steve Rojek’s trailer was particularly noticeable.

Normally we can park two rows of trailers in the big side of the field, one against the road and one against the tree line, but this year we only had the front row.  Roy Drinnan, the Parking Czar (hey, why not, apparently being a Czar is the new thing!) came over and we talked strategy.  There were a couple of spots right in the middle of the line where there was some higher ground, and we decided if we could thread our way back there I would be all set.  Roy asked if I wanted to park it, or if I wanted him to do it, and I decided to let him do it in the interest of speed!  I’m good, but I’m slow and tentative even with someone directing me.

I got a little nervous when the front of the trailer got within 3-4” of hitting the edge of the pavement as it backed down the slight hill, but soon the trailer wheels were back on the uphill side and everything was good.  We were able to park it on a really nice high spot, pretty far back, well behind a lower wetter spot.  I wish I had pictures of the setup, but I forgot to take any this time!

It was hot and sunny, so I wanted to get Zephyr off the trailer as soon as possible.  I didn’t dally in setting up the pen.  I had to make it fairly small because camp was so crowded, but I was confident that it was large enough for him to be safe.  If I make it too small he’s likely to roll and get caught up in it, or spook at something and hit the tape before he has a chance to remember where he is!

While I was setting the pen up, my first crew member stopped by... a local woman named Molly who had responded to the plea for help that I had posted on the Maine Riders Forum.  She and her horse Possum compete in Hunters, a jumping event that focuses on form and technique.  While she has no direct experience with crewing or with endurance, she’s used to the hard work and dedication it takes to prepare a horse for high-level shows... and from talking to her on the phone, I was sure she’d get along just fine with both me and Dad!

After Molly left and Zephyr was settled in his pen, I set up the awning and relaxed for a few minutes with a cold brew before walking around camp to meet the neighbors.  I struck up a conversation with a very nice man from Canada, Simon, who was there to crew for his wife Louise and her horse Danny, who were also riding the 100.  Louise and Danny were out on a warm-up ride at the time.  On my other side, Jennifer and Debbie were also there for the 100.  Steve Rojek, Kyle Gibbon, and Hernan Barbosa had parked between the round pen and the farm house (completely mired in mud, right up to the floorboards), and they were in the 100 as well.  In fact, I think almost everyone who had come early was there for the 100.  It was a nice relaxed atmosphere, but then I’d expected no less.

Dinner on Thursday night was lobster, but I don’t eat lobster so Tom the Ride Manager had ordered chicken for me.  There was a lot of chicken, so I shared with Louise and Simon, who didn’t really enjoy their lobster but hadn’t realized there was an alternative. 

After dinner I didn’t really know what to do with myself!  Normally my first night there is the night before the ride, so I’m usually packing for the holds and preparing my gear.  I hung out for a while at the Party Trailer, but by the time I got over there they were in full swing and there were a lot of running jokes that I didn’t get because I wasn’t there for their inception.  I finally got sleepy and headed back to my trailer, where I fed Zephyr a late meal and then read for a little while before falling asleep.  For the first time ever, I slept soundly even though Zephyr was in the electric pen.  I think I’ve finally gotten to the point where, as long as I remember to make the pen big enough, not blanket him with something that will make him itchy, and not leave his fly mask on at night, I don’t worry about him running through the fence.  At least as long as there isn’t a thunder/lightning storm that registers 6.0 on the Richter scale, that is!  (More on that later.)

The next morning, I drove to town with Louise and Simon for a few supplies.  I wanted more Ensure... I’d brought a six pack in Chocolate but I wanted a second flavor... and they needed apples and carrots.  When we got back, Louise and I rode up the hill on the warm-up trail.  I’ve ridden the 50-miler out of this field a couple of times before and I’ve always HATED that hill.  You leave camp with six miles left to go, and the horses do not want to leave camp at all, let alone climb that hill.  Last year Zephyr and I rode out of that hold alone, and it took all my energy to get him to the top!  Louise and I were disappointed that this was the only trail available for pre-riding, but I have to tell you, that trail isn’t as bad when you’re fresh.  Yes, it was muddy and rocky, and yes there were places where the stream actually ran down the trail, but it wasn’t as long as I remembered and even if you just climbed at a steady walk it didn’t take as long as I remembered.

When we rode back down the hill a couple hours later, my Dad’s car was parked next to the farmhouse just uphill from camp.  He wasn’t there so I figured he’d be at my trailer, and sure enough, he was hanging out in a chair under my awning for a snack.  I got Zephyr put away and Dad helped me put up the EZUp canopy so he could have some shade in his pen.  I had never done this before, because usually Zephyr is such a curious and mouthy troublemaker, but I had recently discovered that he didn’t bother the trailer or my tack when his pen was set up with the trailer as the third side of his pen.  So I figured he’d leave the canopy alone, and he did!  It did take him a few minutes to realize that standing under it kept him cooler, but once he realized that, he loved it.

Pretty soon Molly showed up, so I made introductions while digging out my homemade macaroni salad to share for lunch.  Yummy stuff... macaroni with diced red peppers, carrots, celery, and hard salami... grape tomatoes... miracle whip, salt, pepper, and cider vinegar for a little kick.  I’d packed two big tubs of it, thinking I’d pretty much live on that during the ride.  It slides down easy, and has three of the four food groups.  What could be better?

After our snack we walked Zephyr up the hill to ask for a preliminary trot-out before I went to the registration camper to finish paying my fee and to pick up the ride packet.  He’d felt a little unbalanced and un-rhythmic on our warm-up ride, so I wanted to be extra sure that he was sound.  Hank the ride farrier watched him trot, then picked up all his feet and noticed that the heel area of the boots (hinds especially) went a little bit up over the soft tissue of his heel.  He used his hoof nippers to nip the back of the boots down lower, then we trotted him again, this time downhill on the paved road through camp instead of in the grass field.  Everything looked good, so I went down and paid, and got my packet.

Vetting opened at 2pm and I had Molly go ahead and do everything... which consists of holding him while the vet checked his pulse, trotting him down the field and back, and holding him again while the vet listened to his gut sounds, checked several measures of hydration levels, ran his hands all over him looking for soreness, and re-checked his pulse (for the Cardiac Recovery Index - CRI).  Zephyr scored As on everything.  Molly did a great job on the trot-out because Hunter competitors are familiar with this process as well, but the farrier and I did remind her to hold the lead rope a little more loosely so that his head could move freely.  If a horse bobs his head at a trot, he’s lame, and a handler who holds the rope too short can make him look lame when he’s not.  From then on, she did it perfectly.  It was great to be able to stand with the vet and see the same things he saw.

After vetting in, we packed the truck with everything we would need throughout the ride.  Dad remembered where he had packed everything at our 2008 attempt at the Vermont 100, so they were able to do it right for optimum convenience from the start, instead of having to repack everything once they realized how it SHOULD be done.  Then we all headed out to find all the pit crew stops and the ‘away hold’ location.  I sat in the back seat, Dad drove, and Molly, who knows the area, navigated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We went to the away hold first, where I showed them the layout... where the in/out timer would be, where the pulses would be taken, and where the vets would be for the vet check and trot-outs.  Based on that, we decided they would meet me at the in timer, what they should bring to the in timer, and what they should have ready at the truck when I arrived.  Some of these details were in the crewing instructions that I’d emailed to them earlier in the week, but it means more when you see it in person!

Dinner on Friday was on our own, so on our way back we stopped to get sandwiches at Melby’s, the local hot spot general store, which is right down the road from the Waterford Fairgrounds where the Crooked River ride was held last month.  Melby’s is locally famous for excellent food, huge portions, and reasonable prices.  I got a haddock sandwich that was as big as my head, and some fries.  It started to rain as we left Melby’s... oh GREAT... just what we needed! 

We ate our fries in the truck while we looked for the last couple of pit crew stops, and brought the rest back to camp to eat.  Dad went to have a nap in his tent, and I didn’t see him again until the next morning.  I was glad he stocked up on sleep... I knew he’d need it!  Molly helped me braid Zephyr’s mane and clip his bridle path and withers (his treeless saddle sits forward on his withers and it irritates him if the hair is left long enough to get pulled on).

The riders’ meeting was at 7:30pm under the big tent, and Molly came along to take notes.  At this point we found out that the trail had been changed to avoid some really bad mud.  Our first three loops would be the same as the 50-milers’ first three loops, and then we’d repeat the blue loop twice, and the pink loop twice.  The pink loop would have glowsticks hung next to the marker ribbons, for riding in the dark.  As part of planning for this ride, I had done a spreadsheet the week earlier that predicted how fast I would do each loop, what time I expected to arrive at / leave from each hold, and what time I thought I would finish.  The spreadsheet predicted that I would leave on the glowsticked loop at 7:20, well in advance of twilight.  I did NOT want to get caught on a non-glowsticked trail before dark!

Molly went home after the riders’ meeting, and I finished packing my saddle bags, filling water bottles, and making sure I had all the personal care items I would need.  I also pre-loaded with Aleve and some really good multi-vitamins!  I laid down in bed to read for a while but almost immediately had to get back up again because it started to rain.  When I got outside I realized it wasn’t raining as hard as it sounded from inside the trailer, but Zephyr wasn’t blanketed so I tried to coax him under the canopy.  No go!  He didn’t like the sound of the rain on the fabric, nor did he like the drips off the edge.  It was warm and it wasn’t raining that hard so I just left him and went back in.  No sooner did I take my boots off then it started to pour!  I put them back on and went back out to put his bright yellow rain sheet on.  I figured that would keep him dry AND would make him more visible if he managed to run through his fence.  After all, now that he wouldn’t go under the canopy, his pen was nothing more than a narrow L, and he didn’t have much of a margin for failure if he spooked.  He did also have his nifty reflective halter on, as well.  Love that thing... got it from horseloverz.com for $1.70 after all the discounts.

After the blanket was on, I went back into the trailer.  This time I had gotten my boots off AND I had climbed up into bed by the time the thunder and lightning started.  It was pretty sudden... one minute there were some distant rumblings, and the next minute it seemed like it was right over our heads!  I threw my boots back on and ran back out.  This time I tried to load Zephyr onto the trailer, but the canopy was in just the wrong spot.  In order to get the right angle to load on the trailer, he’d have needed to walk under the canopy... which wasn’t happening.  So instead I stood under the canopy and held on to his halter while the storm raged.  And it was a BAD storm, too, that lasted over an hour!  Lots of simultaneous thunder and lightning.  It was so loud the ground shook every time the thunder boomed.  There was one lightning strike in particular that everyone agrees must have hit just up the hill from us.  Dad even looked outside his tent to make sure the tree he was under wasn’t on fire!  No high winds or hail, thank GOD, but I heard later that there was something like 3” of rain in about an hour and a half.  The ground was already saturated BEFORE this, from 3 solid weeks of rain!

After a while I started to feel foolish standing outside with Zephyr.  From where I stood, I didn’t see anyone else up and about, and all the other horses were just standing there eating.  So I moved Zephyr’s hay and water out from under the canopy where he could get to it, and went back to bed.  I don’t know how much I slept, because I laid there listening to the storm all night, but I remember a lightning bolt hitting Zephyr’s canopy... which obviously didn’t happen... so I must have been asleep and DREAMING that it was storming out.

My cell phone alarm went off at 3am and I only snoozed it once before getting up to check on Zephyr and feed him.  Normally I then immediately eat my breakfast, so that I don’t run out of time to do it, but there were some last minute things that I’d forgotten to do the night before and I wanted to get them out of the way.  So it was almost 4 by the time I ate my cold oatmeal and milk.  I walked up the hill for coffee but it wasn’t under the big tent like last year, so I turned away disappointed.  I later found out it was in the barn a little further up the hill, where we’d eaten dinner on Thursday night.  Oh well.  I needed to go change my clothes and tack up anyway.

Molly arrived at around 4:15, about the same time as Dad came down the hill from his tent.  Molly helped me tack up and Dad loaded the last few things into the truck.  I warmed Zephyr up for 20 minutes and was at the start line with the other 9 riders in plenty of time for the 5am start.  It wasn’t dark out, but this picture makes it look like it was, because I hadn’t yet shown Molly the setting to use in low light conditions!

I was so incredibly happy and proud of Zephyr’s behavior at the start.  In the past, he’s fought me for the first 20 miles, asking to go faster and faster.  But like I said earlier, the 3-day ride apparently had done what I intended... he now knew that he should trust me, because he didn’t know how many miles he’d be doing, or how many days he’d be out there! 

I’m familiar with the start, as I’ve done it for the last two years in the 50.  It goes down a slight hill on the paved road from camp, then across Rt. 118 and up a very mucky and rocky hill that you pretty much have to just walk up.  He behaved well going up the mucky hill, but when the horses ahead of him got out onto the road at the top and trotted off, he started to canter in place.  Usually when he does this I hold him back until he offers to trot instead of canter, but this time I tried something new.  I let him canter, but very slowly, until he caught up to the group... and then I enforced the trot.  It worked great and I felt a lot safer than I usually do, which really was important!

We all pretty much rode in a pack for the first 5 miles or so.  I moved Zephyr back and forth in the group... sometimes last, sometimes middle, sometimes up front.  The only time he really got mad was if he was in the middle of the trail and two horses passed him, one on each side.  That blew his mind a little, but not too bad. 

We did stay with Louise and her horse Danny for all of that first loop.  It seemed as if the two horses would indeed be a good match for each other, and Louise and I were definitely getting along, but at this point we were still playing the ‘wait and see’ game.  It’s very important to ride your own ride and never get pulled along or dragged back by another horse. 

The first loop was 11.4 miles, and I would have to guess that a little over half of it was dirt road.  The crews had an opportunity to meet us on trail but Louise and I had each told them to head right to the hold, because the horses wouldn’t need anything so early in the ride.  We did this loop in an hour and a half, which comes to 7.6 miles an hour.  I was thrilled!  I had hoped to hold him back to 9mph but didn’t think I’d be able to go any slower.  This was the perfect pace... fast enough that he felt jazzed and motivated, but slow enough not to burn too much energy early on.  As the vet check came into view, Louise and I both dismounted and loosened our girths to walk the horses in, allowing the horses’ heart rate to begin to drop more quickly than it would if we were still mounted. 

I could see Dad and Molly from a long way off, because they were both wearing their hand-decorated yellow T-shirts.  I’d written “Z S CREW – PINE TREE 100” in green magic marker on the front, and on the back of one it said “ARE WE HAVING FUN YET?” and on the other one it said “I’VE HAD FUN BEFORE.  IT WASN’T LIKE THIS!” in honor of the endurance vet Dr. Art King, who has a great story with that as the punch line.  Since he was at this ride, I figured he’d get a kick out of that.  He says I owe him royalties!

Dad and Molly met me by the in timer as we had discussed, and they had the wagon with the water buckets, but they had forgotten the sponges.  We rolled with the punches, pulling tack immediately and sponging with the one that I carry on my saddle, before going almost immediately to the pulse timer.  He was down to 52 (64 required) by the time we got there, so we could have taken him over even sooner.  We did work on this throughout the day, but our pulse time continued to consistently be between 3-5 minutes after our arrival time.  It wasn’t a big deal because we weren’t racing, we were just trying to be as efficient as possible because the mandatory rest/hold time doesn’t begin until the pulse is down to 64.  And honestly, I’m not sure how we could have gone any faster!  We got so good at it that I would pull tack while Dad and Molly sponged/scraped, one on each side, and then as soon as the tack was off we’d slowly walk to the pulse timer and his pulse would be down to somewhere between 44 and 60.

At the vet check, Zephyr started as he meant to continue... while he was standing still for the vet to do his evaluation, he fell asleep.  His eyes were closed and every few seconds his head would twitch... his neck would bend at the poll (the joint just behind his ears) and his nose would twitch towards his chest.  Everyone laughed that he really knew how to rest when he got the chance!  He continued to do this all day at every vet check.

He got all As at this check, except for a B on capillary refill (which is a measure of hydration).  I knew he would start drinking within another 5-7 miles so I was sure that would improve fast.  Then we headed back to the truck for our 30 minute hold time.  Zephyr ate at this hold, but not as enthusiastically as I wanted him to, so Molly walked him around a bit so he could have some of grass.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As planned, while Molly took care of Zephyr, Dad took care of me.  At this hold, that meant asking me what I wanted to eat / drink, and when I said “no thanks, I don’t eat until the second or third hold”, speaking sternly to me (he says he yelled but I don’t remember that) and practically shoving an open bottle of Ensure into my face.  I think Molly was probably surprised, but right about then I remembered this was exactly what I had asked him to do!  So I sat down, shut up, and drank my Ensure.  He also got me to eat some of the macaroni salad, and just one bite of some kind of protein bar that he swore was so good for me that it would do me good even if I had only one bite!  After a quick visit to the woods for a potty break and to reapply the wonderful Monistat Anti-Chafe Powder Gel that I rely on, I tacked Zephyr back up with Molly’s help.  Louise had waited an extra minute or two until I was allowed to leave, and we rode out together onto Loop 2 at 7:04.  Our crews (Dad, Molly, and Louise’s husband Simon) stayed at the field because there was no crewing allowed on Loop 2... the roads were too narrow.

Loop 2 was awesome and really flew by.  I think it was mostly narrow soft dirt roads and sandy woods trails, but I don’t remember for sure.  I just know we did 11.8 miles in just under 1.5 hours... which is about 7.9mph... a steady and REASONABLE pace!  All RIGHT!  We made sure to include a fair amount of cantering so that the horses’ trotting muscles would get some relief.  Also, Zephyr started drinking on this loop, which of course made me happy. 

Louise was full of compliments about Zephyr, including one I hadn’t heard before... she says sometimes he looks like a wolf when he lopes!  I don’t know what wolves look like when they run, so I Googled it.  I didn’t find much; this is actually the best one (believe it or not).  She also said that Zephyr is only the second horse that Danny has been able to ride with for any length of time at an endurance ride; his easygoing Steady Eddie personality was a good fit for Danny.  We resolved to stick together as longa s we could, even if it sometimes meant one of us would wait for the other. 

I THINK the photographer took these pictures on Loop 2?

We arrived at the second hold at 8:28am and managed to get over to the pulse timer in just 3 minutes this time, with a pulse of 56.  He got all As from the vet, and ate like a vacuum once we got back to the truck.  Dad once again sat me down and made me eat and drink.  I think I had a can of veggie V8 and more macaroni salad?  Maybe another Ensure, too.  He promised me that at the next hold, which was back at camp, he’d have a BLT from Melby’s ready for me.  Yummy!  After a 40 minute hold, Louise and I left right on time at 9:11am.  The rider ahead of us, Jennifer, had left 10 minutes earlier, saying that she would ride slowly in hopes that we would catch up to keep her company. 

Loop 3 was 19.3 miles, and took us back to camp.  It had less dirt road and more trail, which meant a slower pace because of all the mud and rock.  It also rained pretty hard for the middle part of this loop.  The worst part of it, though, was the huge tree that had fallen across the trail the night before.  There were tracks around it to the left, and Louise got off to lead Danny up the embankment to the stone wall, but when she got up there she couldn’t tell where the tracks went.  They seemed to disappear.  While she was hemming and hawing over this, one of the rocks from the rock wall rolled down and smacked into Danny’s left hind foot, which of course didn’t help Louise’s nerves.  She finally realized that the others had crossed over the top of the stone wall and bushwhacked through the trees to the other side.  As she began to cross the wall, she told me she really thought it would be better if I dismounted.  Since I wasn’t able to see anything up there, I took her at her word.  It turned out, though, that I would have been better off to stay mounted.  Zephyr was uncharacteristically upset at being left behind, and refused to wait until I was out of his way before climbing up after me, almost trampling me in the process.  I was able to lead him around and back to the road successfully, and was trying to get back on him when a group of three 50-milers came along.  Zephyr was visibly upset and circling me, but the 50-mile riders, who had stayed on their horses for the detour, just took off trotting again when they got to the road.  I would have appreciated it if they had waited; it would have been good trail etiquette.  Once they were out of earshot I was able to calm Zephyr enough that I could mount.  I must admit, I was ticked off, so when we came around a corner 200’ later and found them all stopped at a puddle to drink, I broke protocol and trotted right past.  It was uncharitable of me, but I’m still having a hard time feeling sorry about it, especially given that it didn’t seem to phase them or their horses at all.

We never did see Jennifer out there, but our crews were able to meet us twice along the way.  Actually, they split up to share the burden... Dad and Molly met us 6 miles out, and Simon met us about 12 miles out.  We took the time at each stop to let the horses drink and have a few bites of food, and give them a dose of electrolytes.  At the end of the loop, we came down the long mucky hill into camp... the one we had ridden on Friday morning and would have to ride up twice after dark.  We did this loop in just under 3.5 hours, which comes out to 5.9mph.  Our arrival time was 12:33pm.  It took us 5 minutes to get his pulse down this time, because the sun had come out and we had to move some things out of the way before we could get him under the canopy for some shade.  I think there was a bit of a line for the vet, too.  But by the time we got there, his pulse was down to 44.  He got all As again!  Then it was time for both of us to stuff our faces during our 50 minute hold... though I did go change out of my wet clothes first.  Soon it was time to tack up and give Zephyr his electrolytes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We left for Loop 4 at 1:21pm, which was three minutes later than our scheduled out time.  This 17.5 mile loop was really tough.  Lots of mud and rocks, not as much road, and a bit of power line trail with several boggy muddy spots and a river crossing. 

This  picture was taken just as the river crossing came into view... if you click to make it bigger, you should be able to see it in the distance where the ground dips down. 

We had been told that the water would come up to about our knees, and I really was not excited about that.  With three more loops to go, some of it in the dark, I didn’t want to get my lower legs and my boots soaked.  I know from experience that even if I try to hold my feet up, it doesn’t work that well.

Just after this picture was taken, we came across Jennifer leading her unsaddled horse (whose name I can’t remember) towards us with Adam Jack, who had Jennifer’s saddle on his head.  It turned out that her horse had hit a deep spot, unseated her, and began to drift off downstream.  Adam had been posted there as river crossing guard, and he jumped into the water to grab the horse.  He and Jennifer had a really hard time finding a place where the horse could climb out, probably because he had drifted too far downstream.  When they did get him out, he got bogged down in some really bad mud.  I don’t know the whole story but apparently it took 45 minutes to get both horse and rider out onto dry ground.  Before Adam started walking back, he changed the trail marking sign to make the “optional alternate trail around the river” a mandatory one.  Louise and I were the last riders through there, and I would have chosen to go around anyway once I saw that it was optional, but it was nice that he took the time to do that.

After hearing this, we were more than a little freaked out.  Just on the other side of the trail around the water crossing, there were several large mud holes filled with water.  It took us a few minutes to get up the nerve to cross them, especially when Danny started to go down in a deep spot!

Further along... I think on on Loop 4?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s some proof that Zephyr really did do his share of leading the way... and also a cemetery we passed that I thought was nice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We got back to camp for Hold 4 at 4:35, for a loop time of 3 hours and 17 minutes, and an average speed of 5.3mph.  Simon said we were keeping a good, smart pace, and he was proud of us.  Zephyr had his shortest pulse time of the whole ride at this hold... just 2 minutes.  Our speed showed in his pulse, it was only down to 60, but that was still below the required 64.  He got all As again!  We brought him back under the canopy for our 40 minute hold, were he ate and drank like a champ again.  We left right on time at 5:17pm.

We really did feel like we had gone as fast on Loop 4 as we safely could have, but we resolved to try and do better on Loop 5, which would be a repeat of Loop 4.  I believe, based on the lighting, that this picture was from Loop 5. >

 

 

 

 

Our crews met us at the same two locations as they had on the last loop.  We were starting to spend more time at these stops now, making sure to get off and stretch our legs or take a potty stop while the horses ate. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It just so happened that I ended up controlling the pace for most of this loop, even when Louise and Danny were in front.  On the good sections we would trot along for a while, then I would call “walk 10 steps” and we would count our steps out loud before trotting again.  Sometimes the horses would decide when we would walk, but we usually stuck to the same 10-15 step rule.  We wanted to make the most of the good footing, but we also knew the horses would benefit from a few breathing breaks.

We definitely met our goal of speeding up; we brought our time down by 27 minutes, to only 2 hours and 50 minutes, for an average speed to 6.2mph!  Having seen the trail once before helped, as we knew where we could safely trot for a few steps before walking again for a tricky spot. 

We arrived at Hold 5 at 8:07.  Zephyr checked in with a pulse of 60 again, but this time, since the hold was only 30 minutes and it was starting to cool off, I had chosen to leave the saddle on.  The vet said that at the next (last) hold, even though it was only 20 minutes, I should take the saddle off, because having it still on made his pulse spike back up too much after his trot-out.  At this hold he got a B on ‘anal tone’, which I think is a measure of how tired he is but I’m really not sure!  He got As on everything else and still looked GREAT for his trot-out.  We put our lights and reflectors on and were ready to go on time for our 8:41 out time.  This was 1 hour and 20 minutes later than my timing spreadsheet had predicted, but given the trail conditions, we were happy!  Once we realized how tough the trails were, our goal had been revised to “let’s get onto the glowsticked trails by the time it’s dark”.  It turned out that we left right before dark.  We had heard that the re-routed trail was tricky in spots, so Simon coached us to get as much of the trail done before full dark as we could.  We were also told that at one point we would get to a T where the trail was marked both to the left and to the right... and that we should go left.  We repeated that mantra to each other several times as we rode out!

The lights you see below can be found at WalMart in the hardware section for under $7 each.  They’re about 4” long, yellow, and they have 2 LED lights pointing out the end and 2 out the front... the way I’m using it below, the lights on the front are turned on.  They give enough light that you don’t really need a headlamp if you don’t want to use it... their one downfall is that the power button is on the back, which is against the biothane once you attach it.  I used Gorilla Tape for that... sticks well even when wet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can see, in the picture at right, the difference in body type between Zephyr and most of the horses in the 100-miler... most of them are full-blooded Arab, and he’s half Arab and half Rocky Mountain Horse.  Look at that butt!  I will say, though, that Danny isn’t as much taller than Zephyr as he looks in this picture.  He was up on the crown of the road.

Both horses walked willingly out of camp and up the monster hill.  I’m sure our pre-ride helped with this.

Molly left at this point, as she had a 1.5 hour drive to get home and had to work in the morning! 

As soon as Louise and I got into the woods, we realized that the tree cover was going to make it much darker, and we really wouldn’t be able to see any of the trail before dark.  We caught up to a couple of other riders after a bit, and followed them for a few minutes through a really muddy mucky section and then onto some trail that was ok for trotting.  But at one point I didn’t duck well enough under a tree branch and lost my headlamp.  We had to go back a few paces, and Louise offered to get off and pick it up because her saddle doesn’t slide when she gets on like mine does.  The delay was ok with us anyway, I felt like Zephyr was too jazzed when we trotted, and might hurt himself on the tricky footing.  So we just decided it was best to let them do their thing and we would do ours. 

Dad and Simon met us four times during this 11.1 mile loop, which had been modified to be pretty much an out-and-back.  They both met us about 4 miles out, then Simon met us again 2 miles later (at the T where we had to turn left, thank goodness), then Dad met us 2 miles later where we were supposed to turn around, then we met Simon one more time at the T before we took a shorter route back to camp.  At each of these stops, the horses did nothing but eat and drink... many times stuffing their noses into the same small grain pan and not lifting them again until the food was gone.  At each stop he manned, Dad made sure I ate at least one bite of his special protein bar, and at most of the stops I also had an Ensure.  At one point, Zephyr stopped short in the trail and refused to move on, signaling to me that he smelled something in the woods.  We later found out that a bear had crossed someone’s path, but I have no idea whether it was anywhere near this spot.  We just shouted and whistled, and then the horses were willing to move on.

We got back to camp for Hold 6 at 11:27pm... Loop 6 had taken us 2 hours and 46 minutes, for an average speed of 4.5mph... I had predicted 5mph after dark, and that was with the assumption that the trails would be decent, so it was acceptable... but we knew we could do better on Loop 7!  Zephyr checked in with all As again at this 20-minute hold, and I made sure to remove his saddle so the vet could get a more accurate picture of his CRI (Cardiac Recovery Index).  He did great this time.  We were tacked up and ready to leave right on time at 11:50.

This time, the same trail took us 3 hours and 11 minutes at an average of 3.5mph.  We had been thinking that we could do it faster than the first time through, but when we got back out there, all the roots seemed taller and the mud seemed deeper and the rocks seemed sharper.  Our minds were also duller and I know I for one did start to feel like I was finally hitting the wall.  We just decided to take it easy... neither of us wanted to be pulled at the finish because our horse tripped and pulled something!  Dad and Simon decided to share one truck for this loop, driving to each of the four crew locations together.  At the turnaround spot, Louise asked for a bite of a protein bar, and ended up liking it so much that I think she ate the whole thing except for a bite or two that she made Simon eat so that he would remember she wanted those bars for her next ride!  The horses picked up the pace just as they left the turnaround but it only lasted until we got to the sections where we had to go slow because of the roots or the mud. 

We crossed the finish line to a rousing round of applause at 3:01am, tying for 6th place (ie, last) out of the 7 horses and riders who completed.  Zephyr got all As at his final vet check, and the best part is that for his trot-out he looked like he had done MAYBE 50 miles!  In fact, I know he’s done 50s where he’s looked more tired than that at the end. 

I think the Easyboot Glue-ons HAD to have helped him, with all that rock a lot of people were having problems with footsore horses.  One rider even got pulled at the final vet check because of that... talk about heartbreaking!  It’s not usually so rocky at this ride so most people didn’t bother padding their horses, and I heard that a lot of people lost shoes.

Dad gave me a hug, loaded my tack and a bucket of water into the truck, and dropped it off at my trailer before heading up to bed.  I took Zephyr’s rope halter off in order to change to the reflective halter he would wear overnight.  Just as I tossed the rope halter over the fence towards the big pile of gear on the ground, two nearby horses ran through their fence and started galloping around behind Zephyr’s pen.  He got really “big” and “up”, and started jumping around!  I was nervous that he had no halter on, and it really seemed like he was about to run through the fence and join them, even after running 100 miles!  I didn’t have time to grab the other halter, so I grabbed his head and just hung on!  Meanwhile the two horses were now running back and forth in the 4’-wide alley between Zephyr’s pen and the neighbor’s pen.  Their owners came out and caught them pretty quickly, but still, I was truly impressed that Zephyr had the energy to think about taking off with them!

I wanted to poultice and wrap Zephyr’s legs but for some reason I thought I needed something that was up the hill under my canopy, so I decided to walk him up there carrying everything I would need to poultice and wrap.  But when I got there, I realized I had nowhere to tie him so that he would stand still, and I had no idea what it was that I had gone to fetch anyway!  So I just loaded a few more things into the crew wagon and brought it all back to the trailer.

I was done with him and in bed by 4am, and I think I woke up around 6:30.  I didn’t get up right away, and by the time I got out there, Zephyr was standing up and looking for breakfast.  I fed him and started to slowly pack the trailer before the 7:30 awards meeting and breakfast.  Dad was still sleeping in his tent.

There was a bit of a wait for awards, but I enjoyed the coffee and danishes, as well as the company, while I waited!  Once awards started, Tom the Ride Manager started by thanking all the volunteers, especially Adam Jack, who had rescued Jennifer and her horse.  Then he got right down to the business of announcing everyone in reverse order of finish, which meant Louise and I were called up first.  He said our ride time was 19 hours and 31 minutes but I’ve done the math several times and I really think it was 18 hours and 31 minutes.  He then moved on to the next finisher but then afterwards backed up and said he had intended to also say that Dad and Molly had done such a great job, and were such a smoothly operating team, that nobody could believe they were new at it!  He also complimented Simon for always being there for anyone who needed anything; a lot of the riders didn’t have crews.  At this point he also made a point of telling everyone who hadn’t been awake how wonderful Danny and Zephyr had looked at the finish, how well they had trotted out, and that Zephyr had all As.  Then he announced the four-way tie for first place – Steve Rojek, Kyle Gibbon, Hernan Barbosa, and Steven Hay.

Later in the morning, when I came back from awards, this is what I saw.  If you can’t see it, he’s using fresh hay as a pillow, and he fell asleep with hay in his mouth.  Too cute.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really didn’t want to pack up.  It seemed really daunting to do on my own, even though I wasn’t that sore.  As they say, “slow and steady wins the race”... but I say “so does ‘just throw it in’”!

Unfortunately, right after I finished “just throwing everything in”, it started to rain AND I realized that my pocketbook was somewhere in the front of my trailer.  Oh.  My.  God.  I didn’t worry too much though, everything was already wet, so I just cursed and threw everything back out.

Unfortunately, there was no pocketbook.   OH.  MY.  GOD.  Did I leave it at Melby’s?  Did it get stolen?  Oh, maybe Molly accidentally grabbed it out of the backseat when she got her stuff to go home.  Called her... no go... freaked out and started crying... threw everything back into the trailer... let myself be consoled with the fact that there was only $30 cash in there and that the credit card companies and the bank would reverse any fraudulent charges... cried a little more... begged travelling money from Dad...

And then I calmed down, went back in the trailer, went through all the assorted clothes and such in the gooseneck area, and then as I was climbing back down, for some reason thought to look down next to and behind the big rubbermaid tub that I use as a step up into the gooseneck area.  Blue stripes.  HALLELUJIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We have a pocketbook!! 

Around that time, the farmer who lets us use his property came down with his tractor to see if I needed help getting out.  I told him I thought I could back under the hitch at a 90° angle and haul it out to the road over relatively dry ground if I hauled it at a diagonal.  He said I could feel free to try, as long as I knew that if I got both the truck and trailer stuck, it would be more time consuming to get both of them out.  I saw the logic in that and agreed to let him pull out the trailer with the tractor.

I had never seen this done before so I didn’t really know what was involved.  He had an iron hook on the back of the tractor, which rode up and down on a hydraulic lift.  He hooked the hook under the edge of the trailer’s hitch coupler, then lifted it enough that we could get the block out from under the jack stand and crank the jack stand all the way up.  Then he started to drive the tractor straight out to the road through a low spot.  He told me he wanted to take it out that way so that the trailer would be facing the right way and I could just drive away without having to turn it around.  Made sense to me.

Unfortunately, as the trailer wheels got into the lowest muckiest spot and dug in up to the axles, the bumper touched the ground.  I yelled to tell him so but he didn’t hear me.  I didn’t realize that it was important to press the issue... now I know... the dragging bumper gave enough resistance that the coupler was yanked right off the hook and the whole front of the trailer slammed into the ground with a huge bang!  I couldn’t believe Zephyr didn’t spook, but I was really glad he didn’t, because right about then I was busy seriously thinking about throwing up all over myself.

The farmer, though, just said “huh, I didn’t see that coming”.  I wonder if he saw by the look on my pea-green face that perhaps this was not the time to start swearing?

He turned the tractor around and put the bucket under the coupler, which was now like 2’ off the ground, and tilted it back towards him enough that the coupler would stay in it when he lifted.

At this point, looking at my 6000# trailer (which we are still making payments on) resting on the bucket of a rusty tractor, I seriously considered having a heart attack.

He lifted the front of the trailer off the ground, then backed up onto the road, pulling the trailer out at an angle.  It wasn’t until the jack stand was down on the block, the tractor had pulled away, and I’d laid down on the ground to look underneath for damage (there was none), that I started to breathe again.  Here’s the mess we made... one set of those tracks is from earlier in the day when Dad drove my truck out through the deep section because there was another truck in the way on the “good” side.

Dad and I said our final goodbyes and thank-you’s, and off he went.  I did a few last minute things, loaded Zephyr, and changed into dry clothes right there in the cab of the truck.  I’d have used the dressing room, but it certainly didn’t look any better after I threw everything back in for the second time. 

The drive home only took 4 hours despite a stop for coffee and a sandwich, and also despite yet another accident on the same stretch of road as the one that delayed my trip home from Crooked River last month. 

As soon as I got home, I unloaded Zephyr and went to bed for a little over two hours.  (Are you keeping track?  That’s roughly a total of 6 hours of sleep between Friday morning and Sunday night.)  Then I got up, ate the dinner that my wonderful husband had prepared, and started to ‘just unload the wet stuff for now’.  I planned to leave the trailer in front of the house and do the rest later... but it ended up ALL being wet so I unloaded EVERYTHING into the trailer, turned it around, and parked it in its usual spot.  I finally made it to bed around midnight. 

The alarm went off at 6am, and I was at work a few hours later!  I feel great physically, just a little sleepy.  Dad’s amino acids, my multivitamins, and the food Dad forced into me really did the trick!  My calves are a little tight, my inner thighs feel a little bruised but they’re not, and the back of my thighs is weak... I can’t take one boot off by putting its heel against the toe of the other boot.  Plus hubby says I’m walking stiffly and with a bit of a limp.  But really, it could be so much worse!!  Thanks Dad!

Zephyr seems to be doing just fine.  I haven’t asked him to trot (hey, I haven’t been jogging either) but he’s moving well at a walk and isn’t spending all his time laying down, so I figure that’s good.

Next month... Western Maine Pioneer Ride?

More later, but...

Zephyr and I finished at 3am this morning and both of us are doing just fine! I'm so very proud of him! More in a day or two.

@ hold 5 @ 78

@ hold 5 @ 78 mi.