Renegade Rendezvous - Ride Day

Morning arrives and I am awake before the alarm. I think the time is a little before 5 AM. I had set the alarm for about 5:30 thinking that would give me an hour and a half to eat and get Sinwaan ready. I went out first thing and fed Sinwaan his breakfast at the trailer. Man, it was COLD! I was shivering. I went back in the trailer and put some water in the kettle and turned on the stove. I think Ruth may have stirred but thankfully Matt and Levi were both sleeping. I made myself some hot oatmeal and choked down some strawberries. By then Ruth was up and also ate some oatmeal. I had dressed in my ride clothes the night before so I didn't really have to worry much about getting dressed but I did pull a jacket out of the closet before I went outside again.

I groomed Sinwaan but he really didn't need a whole lot of attention since he was still shiny clean from the day before. I checked his feet and everything looked good. I could see the 50s and 75 leaving and I watched them as they followed the ribbons around the perimeter of camp and then down to the creek and crossed. I wished I could take photos but I didn't want to make more noise going back in the camper and risk waking up Levi. I put the saddle and breastcollar on, then the HR monitor and it gave me a reading of 47. Good, it's working and he's reasonably calm. I tried out the baling twine loop-to-girth and it looked like it would hold up. (Endurance person's motto: you can fix anything with baling twine and duct tape) Well I am discovering that is indeed the truth! I still had about 15 minutes until I wanted to mount up to warm him up, so I went back in the trailer and discovered that Levi was awake and had been watching people out the window. I made him some oatmeal and strawberries and fed him and we hung out together for a little while. When it was time to go I tried waking Matt so he could come out and take some photos for me. He said he would, but looking at his state I didn't believe him. So I took the camera out and showed Ruth how to use it and she said she would get some for me.

Ok, time to warm up. Sinwaan calmly put his head down for me into the bridle. I mounted up and walked him over to the water trough. It was then I realized I had forgotten to attach my sponge. I walked back to the trailer and asked Ruth to hand it to me. Alright, now I think we're ready. I guided him up towards the start line at a walk and he was antsy prancy and raring to go. He whinnied out to Topper and we walked all around camp and on the gravel road leading in and out of the registration area. He was tossing his head and dancing in place and acting a bit like a brat but I accepted the challenge and was eager for 6:00 so we could start really moving. We walked past the start line several times and once he did a little half-rear and I heard a woman say "well now that is not what you asked for!" and I said "no..." but we continued walking around to warm up. I had him do some tight circles to think about what *I* wanted him to do and that helped for about a minute. I heard the timer call out "1 minute for the 25s" so we walked past the start line up the road and had a little trot and then turned around and came back and then it was time to go!

I called out "21" and the timer nodded me on and we left at a BIG trot. Here we go... I was expecting more people to be leaving with me but only one horse was ahead of us and none following yet that I could tell. We were really moving out and soon overtook the horse ahead of us. The woman said to me something along the lines of "well this never happens, we are never out front." What a rush. It was COLD out and I had left my jacket at the trailer. As we came around the bend I saw Ruth and waved to her. Then we made the turn and approached the creek. Sinwaan was not too crazy about getting down in there because it was like a dirt/root step down into mud and then the water. With a little encouraging he got closer. I heard the lady I had passed ask me if he would follow her across. "He'll do it," I told her and sure enough just then he did. I didn't want to hold people up but beyond the water I could see a very tight single-track trail. Across we went and then the trail wound around through the trees and brush and it was incredible riding. Some rocks, but not too bad.



About 1/4 mi in I saw the first climb. Up up up we went at a trot and Sinwaan held steady. We lost the woman for a little while on the uphills. A couple of miles in I was overtaken by Dory and Lori and was glad to follow them for a long time as they kept up a very nice steady trot. I also got to learn some great trail etiquette from them. When they would slow down they would raise up their hands and say why they were slowing. Hill (down) or Rocks or Water. We kept a safe distance from them but rode as a pack for some time.

On one switchback Sinwaan hesitated a couple of times and the last time the woman behind me said "It looks like he is trying to drop...does he have to pee? I will wait here with you if you want to let him try." I was very thankful for her kindness, and glad to finally meet her. He did indeed have to pee and was able to do that with her waiting with us. Sally rode a TWH named "Flash." It was nice to ride with her from then on because she set a comfortable pace, and would take the time every so often to stop and encourage her horse to graze on the grass alongside the trail. "Dr Jen wants you to have good gut sounds...so eat up girl!"

We pulled into the vet check at 12 miles in 3rd and 4th place about 8 AM. I was greeted by Patty Peck, and it was nice to see her smiling face. I don't think I have seen her since the Lakeview ride last year. Another gal came over and handed me a little silver horseshoe, about 1" in diameter. Courtesy of a club, but now I can't remember which one. Sinwaan pulsed down quickly. He took a long drink of water and after Flash met criteria we walked together over to the vets. Someone was asking for a knife and I yelled out that I had one. This is the knife I found on the trail while out riding up Cache Hollow. Gail came to get it from me and said "boy you don't mess around, that's a KNIFE." Yeah well...

Sinwaan scored well on his vet check, all A's with one B for gut sounds. We waited for Flash to vet through and Jennifer commented that she was slightly off on the left fore and to take it really easy on the downhills. She also wanted Sally to do another trot-by before we left our hold.

The vet check and hold area was in the middle of the woods in a level clearing with LOTS of grass for the horses to graze on. I took Sinwaan's bit out but didn't untack because the hold time was 45 minutes and I figured it would take me about that long to take it off and put it all back on. I checked his hind end to see how it was looking. Not a hint of injury. (YES!) I offered him some apples but he wasn't interested in those or the hay that was available. He did eagerly graze on the grass, so I dug into my crew bag and got out my hotdogs. I was surprised that they were still quite cold, and even with just a little mustard they were delicious. It felt strange to be eating "lunch" at 8 in the morning. I also ate my peaches and transferred my ice cold gatorade into my almost-empty water bottle in my saddlebags. I saw the carrots in there and gave one to Sinwaan, that he did enjoy. I also gave one to Sally for Flash. Flash was chowing down happily on her mixture of hay, beet pulp and cob. After Sally took Flash over to tack her up I let Sinwaan munch on what was left and he really seemed to like it. (Note to self: learn more about this beet pulp that everyone seems to use). I walked over to the porta-potty and Naomi was there and held Sinwaan for me while I relieved myself.

Just when we started to wonder where the heck everyone was, they started pouring into the vet check. Probably 15 riders came in while I was resting and waiting for my hold time to be up. One woman arrived with two juniors and I heard the one girl excitedly say to her friend/sister (?) "they said we are in the top ten so far!!"

Some of Sally's friends came in with their TWH and I overheard them talking about needing something. So I asked what it was they needed. Sally said the one horse had lost an EasyBoot and I told her I had a couple, what size did she need? I told her to go ahead and dig around in my crew bag and the black ones were size 1. So she took one over to her friend and I guess it looked like it would work for them. I was glad someone could make use of all the stuff I packed since it didn't look like I would be needing any of it. You just never know...

Sally's out time was later than mine by a couple of minutes but Sinwaan had done so well pacing with her on the way in that I wanted to keep riding with her. I also knew that since Dory and Lori would be out a couple minutes (at least) before me, Sinwaan would never catch them. Better to take it easy and keep him in high spirits with a partner.

We rode up to the out timers and they told Sally, "you have another minute yet" and she responded "yes, but Jennifer requested a trot-by." So she rode over and trotted for "Dr. Jen" as Sally fondly referred to her throughout the ride. Still slightly off, so instructions to take it "REALLY EASY" on the downhills. Time to head out again!

I need to comment on the trails before I forget. There were places where it looked like it had been rocky, but someone had gone out there and moved all the rocks off the trail for the horses. Incredible! Some of the trail was tight single-track across a mountain so you had an incline looking to your left and a decline to your right and no way to get off the trail. Some spots the edge of the trail even looked a little soft and I feared slipping down the mountain. There were some rocks but I very rarely had to slow down and walk for rocks specifically. The main challenge on this ride I think was the elevation changes. Gail told me later she thought maybe the 25s had done about 2,000' of climbing up and down. The trail also did not just go up the first half and down the second half, it was up and down all the way throughout the entire ride. We would wind around through the trees and a couple of times I worried that Sinwaan would knock my knees on those trees but he never did, even at a trot and cutting close around a curve. He did so well, I am incredibly proud of him.

We stopped at the watering hole and Sinwaan took another nice long drink. That was about 12 1/2 mi out I think. Not too long after leaving there we heard approaching horses, and they were coming fast. Sally and I had been walk/trotting up a rocky incline which was an old service road. It was pretty rough. When we heard them coming Sally said "oh my God." We could not believe anyone would be moving that fast on that surface. They cantered right by us and we saw it was a woman and the two junior riders. They were moving. Sigh, there goes 3rd place.

We caught up with them when we went off road back onto a mountain trail. This time it was double track and the three of them had stopped right in the middle of the trail and it seemed like the one girl was having a problem with something. The woman told us we could go on by, but I had to wait for her to move aside to fit past her. Sally and I went onward and not long after Sally had to pee. So we stopped and the party of three passed us by again. Another mile or so in and we passed them because one of the girls had to pee. We played leapfrog with them for a little while until they finally lost us.

A fair amount of the second half of the ride was on service roads so it was pretty level and wide and easy going. Sally had a GPS watch and she let me know we were trotting at 7 mph. Well, Sinwaan was trotting, her horse was just gliding along. We had some nice conversation and I enjoyed riding with her. We stopped to let the horses graze, or slowed down for pretty scenery and photos and really had a lovely ride. We were overcome by more riders, usually in pairs, and each time Sally would tell me, "you don't have to worry about me, I have to take it easy so we can get our completion, if you want to go on ahead and follow those riders, feel free." And I tried, once or twice. But each time Sinwaan would get on up the road and then stop and turn around and look for Flash. He was in love with her. And she was a fine match for him. She powered down the hills and helped to pull us along and we led up the hills and helped to pull her along and I think they made a great team. We had a system going and it was working really well. So after that I gave up on my Top Ten fantasy and stayed with Sally.

We were cruising along through the woods at a trot and I heard this strange sound. At first I thought it was kids screaming. But that just didn't seem right, so far out in the woods. Sinwaan heard it too, and realized Flash had fallen behind so he stopped to listen and to wait for her and then it sounded like crazy huge birds. Sally and I came to the conclusion that it must be birds. Back at camp during dinner Dory asked us if we had seen the elk. Disgruntled I replied no, I had only seen two chipmunks the entire ride. She responded that I should have been riding ahead of them or with them and I could have seen all kinds of things. Being the front-runners, they scared them all off, but Dory did tell us that they had an entire herd of Elk cross over the path ahead of them. What a sight that must have been!

At one point, and it may have been about 15 or so miles into the ride, we came out from a tight mountain trail onto a smooth service road and the three people ahead of us let their horses out and they were cantering off. Sally said "let's canter" and she took off in her Walker-style canter (running walk?) and Sinwaan cantered right along behind or next to her for a good 10 minutes or more. Sally told me we were moving at 14 mph and I was surprised because it was a slight uphill and our horses weren't exactly fresh but they did awesome and I was happy Sinwaan was using a different set of muscles. Those GPS watches are sure neat! So we made up some time there.

At what must have been the last watering hole a couple riding TWHs (Don? and ?) caught up to us and asked us if we knew about the woman that fell off her horse. Apparently this lady and her horse had charged up one of the steep inclines and she had tumbled right off the back of her horse and rolled right back down the mountain. Her horse had continued the charge on up the hill, and thankfully was caught by her husband as he went galloping after it. She made the climb on foot and got back on and finished the ride. We left the water before the couple did but they soon caught us and passed us (again Sally had to pee) ...I was certain I was out of the Top Ten then. But not worried about it at all. We were doing well on time and the completion is really what I was counting on. The woman I loaned the EasyBoot to also had passed us at some point.

We were out riding around on these little trails and around a bend and there is a horse trailer through the trees and Sally said "we're there," and I couldn't believe it. Coming around the last turn I saw Matt standing there with the camera, bless his heart. It felt too early to be done. In reality it was 11:10 AM when I crossed the finish line. Matt asked me if I had seen Ruth and I told him no, I hadn't, so he walked down to the camp trailer to make sure she wasn't back already.

Someone came over and offered to take Sinwaan's pulse so I let her, knowing it was really too early. She told me it was still pretty high and to get some water on him, so I led him over and started sponging. He sucked down some water and started playing in it. A lady advised me to get some cool water on his inner back legs if he would allow it, and he seemed to enjoy that. I am not sure if the same lady came back over to take his pulse again but I do have photos of Aarene taking his pulse so maybe it was her all along, I am not sure, (and I am sorry! I am still learning who people are). He was still over 60 but not too far so she suggested I get the tack off him to really bring it down fast. Well that did the trick and she called out that #21 was down (to 56) and they called back the time and it was 11:17. We completed in under 4 hr and 25 min of ride time on some of the toughest terrain I have ever ridden on. But it was a BLAST. While I was waiting in line to vet through, the staff made the annoucement that everyone there was in the running for Top Ten. I didn't believe that applied to me since I was sure a number of people had passed me on the trail.

As it turns out we placed 13th out of 33, and 22 people had completed with 11 pulls for overtime or metabolic issues.

So where was Ruth? We had seen a number of Trail Riders come across the finish line but I knew many of them had chosen the 10 mi ride option and Ruth wanted to do the 15 mi ride. After Sinwaan was vetted through and settled into his paddock with some hay and water I grabbed a chair and went back up to the finish line with the camera to wait for her. She never did get any photos of her on Topper at the HOTR ride and I have felt bad about that for the past 3 months. I was bound and determined to get one today!!

After about 15 minutes or so of sitting and chatting with Naomi while we waited (me for Ruth, she for her husband whom she was crewing for today) here came Ruth, all smiles, riding Topper at the walk to the finish. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do and one lady told her she should get the saddle off and get him sponged down. Ruth told me she had walked a large portion of the ride and didn't really want to untack so I showed her how to use the sponge to cool his neck and shoulders. Once he was pulsed down she led him over to the vet and only had to wait for one person in line. He trotted through sound and passed everything with good scores. So we led him back to the trailer and Ruth untacked and tied him to the trailer with a bag of hay. I think he was there about an hour and then Ruth put him back in the paddock with Sinwaan. They ate some grass hay and seemed tired enough to get along, at least for a little while.

In the meantime I ate some more food and laid down and tried to take a nap. I wasn't able to sleep because Levi was playing around on the bed with me and then I heard one of the horses grunting. I could see Sinwaan out the open door of the camp trailer and I didn't think it was him so I sat up and looked around for Topper. He was acting slightly agitated, pawing and acting like he was going to lay down. Finally he did lay down, and rolled, and I kept watching him. Then he stood and started kicking at his belly. Uh oh, trouble. A lady grazing her horse not far away hollered, "it looks like your horse has a bug on him" and then I saw Ruth walk into the paddock and check him out. She could not see any bugs and he was trying to lay down again and roll. I told her it didn't look good and she said "Yep, time to go back to the vet." So she haltered him and walked him up there and I followed along in my new boxer shorts from ma (sorry, my jeans were too hot!) A little embarrassing but I wanted to be there to support Ruth and hear what the vets had to say.

Ruth talked to Dr Andy and he took the vitals - elevated HR and his gut sounds were flat. We could see Topper's sides contracting so he figured it was a metabolic colic and was treated for such. His neck was shaved and a line inserted for the IV of fluids. I think he also got some painkillers and I am not sure what else. Dr. Andy said he sees this a lot this time of year, horses go out for rides and sweat out too much and get into trouble. Dr. Andy found a tree in the shade with a high nub and he tossed up some baling twine (great use #2 this weekend) and tied the saline bags to that and got the drip going. Topper was very well behaved and stood quietly. All told he received 40 liters of saline. After the first 20 liters his gut sounds were coming back and his sides had stopped quivering. He was looking much better but still not 100%.

Dr. Andy wanted him trailered down to his clinic outside of Yakima so someone could keep an eye on him overnight. About 1/2 way through the second set of IVs he was concerned that his heart rate was hanging at 60. By then we had brought some water, chairs, and Sinwaan back up to the shade (figured the shade would be a good precautionary measure for Sinwaan and maybe Topper would appreciate the company). Dr. Andy listened to Sinwaan's HR as a comparison and it was at 32. He felt Topper needed a shot of calcium to help bring it down. So once the IV drip was empty Ruth brought her truck and trailer around and loaded him up and took him to the clinic.

I was very anxious during all of this because of my past experience - having lost my first mare to a torsion colic. But I was also very relieved to see Topper making such a quick recovery. We had talked a little bit with some people who stopped by to see how he was doing, and to each other, trying to work through how this had happened. Ruth said Topper did not drink at the first creek crossing, or at the second water stop, but that at the top of the climb he had drank extremely well, and at each water stop from then on. She did not push him very hard, it sounds like they did some trotting but the majority was at a walk so she hadn't ridden him irresponsibly for the terrain. She had even dismounted to walk ahead of him during one stretch (and almost stepped on a rattlesnake!)

Ruth was gone at least two hours but did return in time for the famous BBQ ride dinner of Ribs, Salmon, corn on the cob, salad, dessert and fruit. A feast for a king, and boy were we all starving! Levi even liked the salmon and kept trying to steal my fork to help himself to a larger portion.

After dinner was the Awards meeting; T-shirts were given to all participants with this year's ride logo. Top Ten riders also received a horse bucket. The Top Junior got a camel-back and I don't know what the other prize was for BC. I believe Dory placed 1st in the 25 with Lori Walker in 2nd. Somehow Sally placed a couple spots above me, I think because I allowed the PR to be taken before Sinwaan was ready, and in the meantime a couple other people must have pulsed down. It was fun to learn the names and put faces with some more people. The woman who passed us with the two junior riders took BC in the 25. The two 75 mile riders went off course and weren't able to find their way again so came back without completing, but we all cheered for them anyway.

In conclusion, as far as tack, it looks like I am stuck with my Wintec Dressage saddle. It worked really well on this ride, even without a crupper. As long as I am going to keep using it for endurance I may look into finally getting a sheepskin cover for it, and maybe add some more d-rings if possible.

*Check back later for more photos*

Renegade, here we come...

Friday morning I awoke after a good nights rest, but Matt said he could not sleep at all thanks to a new alarm clock I bought on clearance at Wal-Mart. I guess the tick tock tick tock above his head was too much for him. I had set the alarm for 8 am to test it out and was disheartened when it went off at 8:15 am. I had taken the day off work to get packed and ready for our trip north to Naches, WA for the Renegade Rendezvous ride. It was surprising how much I already had accomplished by 10 am!

Ruth had to work until noon so that was my goal time to have everything ready other than Sinwaan. We touched base about 9:30 and then again about 12:30 when I was heading out to the barn. I was able to bathe Sinwaan and shampoo his mane and tail, but only got about half of his mane braided before Ruth arrived. We loaded the trailer and I looked around for anything I might have forgotten. Didn't see anything pertinent so we headed back for the house. Mom's Explorer was already hooked up to the camp trailer (Jet) and ready to go. All that was left to be done was to pack the cooler and buy some ice on the way out of town.

As a side note about Jet, we had attempted to fill the water tank earlier this week and much to our dismay discovered a leak(s) in the pipe(s). Looks like we're going to do without a shower again this year. Oh well.

On the road at a reasonable hour, we were able to make decent time and arrived just about when Google maps said we would (about 3+ hrs). The gravel road in was easy to find, directions were direct and there were signs out pointing the way. There was lots of daylight left when we pulled into Ride Camp. Seeing people parked precariously along the edges of a grassy meadow in the shade, we decided to settle in close to the "honey bucket" as mother calls it, and a watering trough. It may not be shady, but it was level, and grassy for the horses' portable corral.


What a delightful location for a Ride Camp! This ride is situated in the Wenatchee National Forest and it felt so good to be in a REAL forest again! Huge trees everywhere you looked, and mountains! We could hear a creek from our location in the center of the meadow, and when you looked straight up the sky was blue and cloudless and enormous. It took me back to my childhood, camping in the woods on the east coast. I have loved all the rides I attended up to this point, but I just knew this one would be special. No sagebrush, and the smell of pine trees.

After unloading the horses, I held onto their leads so they could graze while Ruth set up the corral, Matt put the jack stands under the trailer and mother tended to Levi. Our home base was ready in record time. I couldn't help but notice that Sinwaan's tailhead had some sort of weird mohawk going on. I put some detangler on it and brushed it out before we vetted in.

Maybe in part because I was wearing my Team Miaa Miaa shirt, I had a number of people come over to me this weekend and tell me how much they enjoyed my videos on YouTube - referring to the photos I put together with music from the Lakeview Ranch ride. One lady even really liked the one Matt made of Cache Hollow Rd. I guess I need to get busy and create ones for my last two rides now also!



I asked a passer-by where the registration was and a kind lady directed me towards a specific tree on the other side of numerous trailers lined up. The horses seemed content and relaxed. Might as well go and get vetted in before the ride meeting. It wasn't hard to find. They had some orange cones set out to mark the trot-out area in a clearing nearby. We were pre-entered so it was just a matter of picking up our vet cards and written instructions on the ride. Matt tagged along to take some photos, and Mother and Levi inspected pine cones and horse manure on the walk up.



A young man came over to mark our horses with the grease stick and asked what color we would like. I noticed he was holding a red one so I said "Red please!" and he said OK and went over to mark Topper first. I think Ruth may have liked a different color but this guy was quick. In no time flat he had put a "T1" on Topper's rump to designate her as the first-entered trail rider. She thought maybe that would have to be her special number since she was T1 at HOTR also. Sinwaan and I again got our lucky #21.

Sinwaan vetted through with straight A's on his card and a pulse of 40. I was pleased. Topper also vetted through with good scores, although I can't recall specifics. I chatted with Andy Denome DVM a little bit before we headed back, he told me his wife used to ride endurance, and now this was their first time to be vetting a ride. They were both very nice. Ruth and I put the horses in the paddock and fed them their dinner and hoped they would get along ok. I prepared dinner, which was our traditional Friday-ride-night haystacks with fritos, beans, cheese, lettuce and even mushrooms, olives and avacado this time.

We knew the ride meeting was supposed to be after 8 pm, but didn't really keep an eye on the time. I assumed they would blare the loud horn that they used at the HOTR ride, since I had seen that gigantic RV near the registration area. We busied ourselves outside after dinner by braiding our horses' manes and I also made some tack adjustments. I noticed that I had forgotten my loop-to-girth. Whoops! At least that little problem could be fixed with baling twine! Well we never heard a horn and later we heard people shouting/cheering/laughing and then a little while later saw people walking back to their trailers, carrying chairs. I asked one if the ride meeting was over and they replied 'yes.'

DRAT! I couldn't believe I missed another ride meeting. I told Ruth we had better go and talk to Gail and find out anything important that we may have missed. Well I was sure glad we took the time to do that because as it turns out, they had moved the start time UP for everyone - 25 mi riders were now starting at 6 AM instead of 7. Trail riders starting at 7 AM. The 75s and 50s were starting together at 5 AM. Gail quickly explained that this was to try and beat the heat since the temperature was supposed to be quite warm for ride day. Well that sounds fine to me, so long as I am at the starting line on time. :) I also asked her about the gear bags for the out check and she pointed to a large pile and said it would be going out on a truck at 6 am.

Not wanting to worry about that in the morning, I went straight back and packed my gear bag, and saddle bags to have them ready for tomorrow. In my gear bag went my lunch - two veggie hotdogs in buns. Matt had picked up some ketchup and mustard for me from a fast food place so I wouldn't have to worry about it spoiling, but I couldn't find them and he was already asleep! (Second item forgotten - pillows!) There was one mustard packet on the counter, so I packed it. I also packed Sinwaan's skid boots (praying I wouldn't need them) and three of my EasyBoots. I have never used them with shoes and wasn't sure what size I might end up needing, better be safe than sorry, right!? I also packed a can of peaches for my lunch, and some carrots for Sinwaan. I also packed spare reins, a frozen bottle of gatorade and an additional full water bottle. I took my gear bag back up to the pile and saw that it had already been loaded in a truck. One of the guys told me to put it in a different truck that was about 1/2 full.

My saddlebags were still mostly packed from the last ride but I swapped out the melted granola bars for 4 fresh ones, a baggie of apples for Sinwaan, a packet of tissues, some toilet paper, a knife, one of my EasyBoots, the ride notes for the 25 loop, my vet card, and water bottles with fresh cold water. It was getting fairly chilly outside by now so I hung my saddlebag on Ruth's truck bed, thinking that should help keep the water cold. I also carry a hoof pick and emergency poncho. There are so many pockets in my bag it is easy to forget what is in there, and where.

I think we went to bed about 10 PM. I set my Wal-Mart alarm knowing full well it may not even go off. Ruth set her cellphone as a backup. I could not sleep. I expected as much. I think I had finally drifted off when I heard a hoof clunk into the water bucket and I shot up in bed. The boys were at it again. Topper was having fun running Sinwaan around in circles in their paddock. Well I knew he would never be able to lay down and sleep in the paddock, so I took Sinwaan out and tied him to the trailer, thinking some rest standing would be better than none. I didn't need a tired horse in the morning, as this is rumored to be a tough ride, and all one needs to do is look at past results to know that to be a fact.

Oh bother!

The more recent update for this coming weekend's weather for the Renegade Ride is as follows.



I find it particularly interesting that weather.com chose to use the word "abundantly" to describe the sunshine for ride day.

The following is from the NOAA website;

Friday: Sunny, with a high near 82.
Friday Night: Clear, with a low around 50.

Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 95.
Saturday Night: Clear, with a low around 55.

Sunday: Sunny and hot, with a high near 100.
Sunday Night: Clear, with a low around 55.

So, looks like we're in for a scorcher this ride weekend. Then again, the weather report called for wind, rain AND snow for Home On The Range and that didn't scare me off, and it ended up being a delightful day for riding. So maybe we'll get lucky. :)

I am already dealing with the after-effects of toting my toddler around on my back during an hour-long dog agility training session last night. My thighs are burning. So Sinwaan likely will not get his mid-week ride that I had planned on. I also have a "bad toe" currently, having stubbed it twice hard enough to bend back my nail.

We are still hopeful at a third consecutive completion towards this year's PNER "rookie horse and senior rider" award.

Wish us luck!

Sunday Ride with Ruth

Ruth picked me up today about 10 am and we headed out to the barn for a ride. It was a gorgeous day, really lovely weather. It was warm but the cool breeze circulating around was delightful.

As I walked into the barn I saw one of Darold's palomino mares tacked up. I wondered what that was about, and soon found out as I was bringing Sinwaan in. A woman named Julie was visiting from Tennessee and was getting ready to ride. She asked if she could join us and I said sure! Darold introduced us and told Julie that I was an endurance rider. Julie replied "well now I really want to ride with you!" I laughed and told her I wasn't sure what pace we would be setting today since I was riding with Ruth and her horse was young.

We headed on up the road and the horses did well together. Sinwaan was very mellow today, happy to be in the company of other equines. We did a lot of walking on the gravel because Darold's mare was barefoot and I wasn't sure how tender she would be. She went right along and gaited faster than our geldings walked.

Topper was acting up a little bit so Ruth chose to keep him to the walk most of the time. We encountered a pickup truck parked long-ways across the dirt road at the junkyard but were able to maneuver around it without much difficulty. I could see some people walking in the distance. We eventually caught up to them at the intersection where we turned around to head back. Julie decided to let her mare out a little to see how she would do and soon lost us as Ruth and I continued walking. Sinwaan had a small spook and I turned and saw a small pickup driving up behind us. Ruth and I got off the path (she dismounted) to let it by and we saw the same people that had been walking away earlier. They drove up to the larger truck blocking the path and jump-started it. By the time we reached them again they had it going and we got off the path again to let them by.

Heading for home back on Elliot, we let the geldings trot and Topper had a bit of a canter. It was starting to get warm now as we had lost our breeze. Julie was already untacked when we arrived back at the barn. I opted not to hose Sinwaan down today as he had hardly broken a sweat.

I am considering riding him again mid-week if I can fit it in before Renegade. Because today was more of an LSD day, I don't think another ride this close would zap too many of his resources.

I was able to try out some new water bottles today that I found at ShopKo. They have a center that can be removed and frozen. I am hoping they will work out well for me on the out-check next weekend.

Back in the saddle

Yesterday I was out at the barn helping Lara load up hay for her trip east, and was able to turn Sinwaan out for a couple of hours to nibble on weeds and stretch his legs. Lara decided to turn Imaginn out with him and he promptly whirled around and kicked her. Nice.

This evening graced us with delightful weather and I knew I needed to get Sinwaan out on the trail again and keep racking up those miles for our next ride. A quick glance at the calendar and WOW, Renegade is only a week away now. Yikes!

Sinwaan was happy to see me and practically put his head in the halter tonight. I groomed him and tacked up with my Wintec. I have decided I am just going to stick with this saddle and I am not sure what to do with the Abetta. Lara was supposed to borrow it to see if it fit her horse any better but I don't know if she was able to get to it. Because I had adjusted the breastcollar for the Abetta last time I was out, I didn't bother with it tonight - not enough hills anyway. When I checked his front hooves, I didn't see any caulking blocking debris from getting under his pads so I wondered about that. It didn't take long to tack up and I was quickly in the saddle.

Riding down the driveway, I saw a little pickup headed our direction on Braden Road so I stopped and waited for it to pass. The little truck slowed and put on it's blinker to turn into the driveway, so I had Sinwaan walk on down the road. Well then he spotted a horse-eating stroller so he stopped and stood and just stared at it. It was heading our direction - a double jogger with a small woman pushing it. She was talking to her kids, which I think helped. With a lot of encouragement Sinwaan hesitantly walked down the opposite side of the road and she was soon past us. I heard the mother say "Yes, that girl is riding her pony" Grrr.

After that the prancing and head tossing began as I held Sinwaan to a walk going away from the barn. Since he hasn't actually bucked, I find it somewhat amusing that he suddenly has such a tantrum when he is alone. We just work through it. I make him walk on the pavement and then once we get to the gravel we trot onward and from that point he was really good this evening. I noticed the field to the left had been cut and baled (alfalfa) and the wheat on the right was looking close to being ready. We did a lot of trotting, and my goal was to get in a seven-mile ride in a reasonable amount of time. Since Sinwaan was doing quite well tonight (no stop-and-go away from the barn) after the first mile or so I pulled him over so he could have a bite of fresh alfalfa along the edge that was missed by the cutter.

Tonight I decided I would take him straight to the end of Elliot Road before turning around and then making a left onto the dirt road. He did well, with a lot of trotting. Not his big trot, but he was moving right along. At the end I let him graze a little and we had our back to the paved road that intersects with Elliot (gravel). All of a sudden his head came up fast and off we went at a dead run. It sure caught me by surprise, I was leaning back and had my hand with the reins pulled way up over my head trying to slow him down. What a spook! The first thing I thought was "Oh crap! Woah!" and then I thought about the downed barbed wire fence hidden in the weeds so I did what I could to get him back over on the gravel road right away. Soon I had him under control and stopped and turned to look around at what might have scared him. There it was, a cyclist zooming down Birch Creek Road. Sinwaan hates bicycles.

Well now we are headed back in the direction of home so Sinwaan gives me his huge ground-covering trot, and soon breaks into a canter. I pull him back to a trot and we make the turn onto the dirt road. He feels good so he continues with his big awesome trot. I could hear him clipping on the uneven ground and hoped he wasn't loosening up his shoes. This was the best part of the ride this evening, trotting along the wheat field with the sun setting in the distance. We made it almost to the end and then where it gets really rocky it was also quite wet tonight from the sprinklers so I turned him around a little earlier than planned. There was a mud puddle that he sniffed at and then played in, which resulted in a big glob of mud on his nose.

After turning around we were headed for home again so here is his giant trot, which it seems he almost shifts his front end to the left in order to make room for the drive of his hind end. It is interesting to ride. We had a little bit of cantering when it was safe and soon were back to Elliot with a mile and a half to go towards home. Sinwaan was still feeling good so we cantered on down the long stretch and then I encouraged him into a gallop for about 1/2 mile. We crossed the railroad tracks and walked for a little bit, letting him nibble on stray alfalfa occasionally. Then we trotted again, most of the last stretch.

He wanted to trot on the road all the way home so I got him over on the shoulder where it is at least dirt and he wouldn't risk slipping. We walked up the driveway and called it a job well done. He was pretty sweaty this evening so I put him in the cross ties after untacking him and hosed him off. I did notice tonight that he had clipped his hind fetlock on the right side, it was bleeding and the size of a nickel. His left hind seemed fine. I noticed the horses had been fed while we were out, but I turned him out into the bigger paddock anyway so he could be in the sun to dry. Of course he had to lay down and roll right away but at least it was in dirt and not manure. :)

While he was turned out, I mixed up Grace's medicine (bute/applesauce) and pulled her out of her paddock. She takes her meds really well and that was quite easy. Then I hand-walked her for about 15 minutes. Lara is out of town visiting her mom right now so asked me to look after her new mare. When I got back with Grace, Sinwaan was ready to be put back in his paddock, so I did that and he dove right into his dinner of grass hay.

It was a great evening.

Looking ahead to Renegade

I have mailed in my pre-entry and am now checking out directions, maps and weather forecasts.



Jennifer LeBlanc has provided me with a lovely write-up of what to expect on this ride and I am excited. Ruth will be going with me and hauling Sinwaan. My mom, Matt and Levi will also attend. This is likely to be the last ride for me of the year, due to my horse budget, and that's ok. The only other ride close to home for me is in October - the Lakeview ride I did last year. I would like another chance to complete that ride ON TIME but probably not this year.

Track Day - FINALLY

Lara and I have been aiming to go to the track and race our horses around for fun for the past two weeks and each Tuesday it dumps buckets of rain down upon us and we have to reschedule. Well today was gorgeous weather, as nice as we could ask for. Temperatures were in the high 60s with a breeze. At first I worried there may be too much wind, as it was whistling at the barn - but the track was fairly calm and quiet. The fairground crew had set up concrete barriers in the rodeo area for the demolition derby tomorrow night but there was still room to ride two abreast between that and the grandstand so we had full use of the entire track.

Arriving at the track about quarter 'til six we unloaded and tacked up quickly. Matt and Levi were there so Matt could video tape the experience. About ten after Tyson showed up to take photos.

We warmed the horses up by walking a full loop and then did some trotting. They were hot to go but the walking helped to put them in a more relaxed mindset. We both had to dismount and tighten our girths before increasing our speed. Finally it was time to let them out. We walked along the grandstand going clockwise and asked for the trot as we reached the turn. Then a canter and into a gallop as we passed the post. Lara made her usual Man From Snowy River noises to encourage her horse to go faster and Sinwaan was happy to run along behind.



I understand now why jockeys wear goggles - they are not just for mud. There were actually some stones in the dirt on the track and every once in awhile when I was behind (which was most of the time) I would see them fly up at us from Imaginn's hooves and a couple even zinged off my helmet.

The first go-round we were somewhat cautious because we weren't sure if the horses would spook at Tyson's position or how they would react to running in a new place. They had a great time and it was hard to slow them down on the opposite turn. We again walked them past the grandstands up to the turn, then asked for a trot and then the canter, this time I heard Lara say "at the post" and I said "ok" and we got to that post and I shouted to Sinwaan GO GO GO GO!! And he really dug in and gave me all he had and we were flying down that track. It was the fastest I had ever ridden him. It took a little while but Imaginn did dig in and take off once she saw us pulling away and then overtook us before we hit the end of the straight stretch. Lara joked that Ima wasn't serious about it until she saw us getting away and then she lit up.



We had two more go-rounds down the one stretch, each time the horses giving us what they had, but not quite as fast as the time before, yet still hard to slow down on the corners. It didn't take long before they had figured out what we wanted and were eager to oblige.

It was a very exciting evening for us and we were so glad to have taken the opportunity before Lara moves away next week.

New shoes

I met the farrier at the barn today at noon and brought Sinwaan in for his new shoes. He started shivering really bad so I pulled out a fleece blanket and put it on him and that seemed to help. Today we put pads on his front end in preparation for our Renegade ride the end of this month. That was interesting to see, as Chad uses a caulk to seal it off when he is done. Since the weather was cold and rainy he did both front feet first and then put duct tape on them while he did the hinds.

Sinwaan was pretty well behaved today, Chad commented he was getting better about his hinds, when he first started shoeing him he was jerky and he didn't notice that today. So that was good. I was sure glad to have him in the barn today because the weather was nasty, a TORRENTIAL DOWNPOUR, the likes I have not seen in a long time!

Then on my drive back to work the rain stopped and the sun came out and it started warming up. I could not believe it. We have had some truly CRAZY weather 'round these parts lately.

We were planning to meet at the track for a fun race this evening but probably will postpone until tomorrow.

Two points recorded

I checked in to the AHA website today and noticed to my delight that Sinwaan's second point has already been recorded. Yee haw!!

Last trail ride with Lara

We had a nice ride today, almost felt like I had my old dependable horse back :)

Lara picked me up on her scooter and we rode out to the barn about 10 am. It took us awhile to get ready today because of tack adjustments and getting the boots on Imaginn. Lara had Ima's shoes pulled yesterday to help her with hoof growth and recovery and since we would be riding on a lot of gravel roads she would need protection. There was some question about what size boot she needed, we tried on both the size 0 and 1 and finally settled on using the 0 (Sinwaan's red boots). I made more adjustments on Sinwaan's breastcollar with the Abetta saddle and also put the crupper back on him today. He didn't seem real happy about it in the barn and tried to sidle away from me.

Emily is another boarder out there and she joined us today on her lovely bay Arab mare 'Stormy' who is a beautiful show horse.

Finally we were mounted up and riding out about 11 am. We headed up Elliot road and just walked for Ima's sake. Lara showed us a new little loop she had found along the edge, and then through, an alfalfa field. We trotted most of that loop but did slow down to a walk for one stretch where there were numerous gopher holes. Back onto Elliot and at the 90 degree left we saw the farmer out in the field on his tractor, fertilizing. We did not trot again until we got up to the other dirt road bordering the wheat field. Then Sinwaan kicked into a nice big trot and then I heard "you lost a boot" and Emily who was pulling up the rear told Lara that Ima had tossed one off. So Lara dismounted and took off the other one since she didn't want her horse to be unbalanced and she didn't need them in the dirt anyway. It looked like the farmer had just graded the road so it was level and a bit wider this time. Perfect for riding. Well after that we picked up the big trot again and Sinwaan felt real good and even tried cantering a few times. Since Stormy is a show horse she is used to doing slower, collected gaits, and was not moving as fast. After we walked through past the 'junkyard' the mares took the lead and Sinwaan had to try and collect himself and move much slower. He did ok (considering) but soon took the lead again. Not long after we hit some rocks and Ima limped a few steps so we all walked again to the end of that dirt road.

Just before we hit the other gravel road at the end, we turned around and headed back down the dirt road the way we came in. We were walking along chatting and having a nice time. All of a sudden I heard Lara growl at Ima and make her really start working, walking in circles and trotting and then she cantered her away from us back the way we came. I asked Emily what happened and she said they had been riding next to each other when Ima just reached over and tried to bite Emily's knee. So Lara was discliplining her by making her work for being so bad. Earlier when Lara had been cinching Ima up, she had reached around and bit Lara on the thigh (which Lara said really hurt bad!) so enough was enough and she was putting her back in line. After that Ima was very good.

We had a bit of a canter and I could head Ima coming up beside us on the left. She got ahead of us and then Sinwaan put out a surge of power and tried to run into her from behind so I was trying to pull him up, or over to the side and then I felt his hindquarters come up and I wasn't sure what was going on with him. I think he was trying to be a little competitive and then got upset or maybe at the faster speed the crupper was bothering him, I am not sure. But I growled at him to get him back in line then also. By then we were about back to the point where Lara had left the boots so we stopped for a couple of minutes to put them back on Ima before the long walk home. Sinwaan happily munched on green wheat while we rested.

The mile and a half back home on the gravel went by slowly at the walk, but it was such a gorgeous day. Weather.com reports high of 71 degrees and partly cloudy. Perfect riding weather! Other than the one instance at a gallop, Sinwaan had been his usual well-behaved self although he does seem to have more energy when I ask for more speed.

Just as we were cresting the last little hill on the way home I heard a throaty engine and I suspected it was Matt. Then I caught a glimpse of it as the car took Stateline onto the gravel section. I told Lara and Emily that I was going to try and catch him. Lara was worried about me trotting off until she realized Emily would keep riding with her. So off we went. By the time we got to the gravel on Stateline Rd, Matt was turning around a ways up the road. I got Sinwaan to canter towards the car with a slight hesitation about going away from his horsey friends AND the barn. Matt pulled up and I talked to him a little and then he asked me "want to race?" And I said "no, when we hit the pavement again it will be too slippery to be running, and the car may scare Sinwaan." And Matt said "well that's good because you only have one horsepower and I have two hundred and twenty!" Ha ha. So he drove on ahead of me to the barn and we trotted back until we hit the pavement again and then I slowed him to a walk. By now his horsey friends had gone out of sight, and he was headed home. So out came the evil horse. Well, not so much evil as antsy to get home. He started again with the head tossing and dancing, tail swishing and asking to go faster. He sort of walk-trotted the rest of the way back to the barn. When the footing was safe I did let him trot. He is better behaved at the trot than a walk (hmmm maybe because he thinks he is getting his own way and getting home faster)?

I untacked him and fed him carrots and he tried a peppermint from Lara but after biting it into many pieces, spit them all out on the barn floor. Ok so he's not a fan. Seems to be an acquired taste. Matt had come to pick me up because he found out his family's post-graduation picnic was at 1, not 2 like we discussed. Sinwaan had gotten hung up on something a couple days ago and Lara's opinion was that it needed to be soaked and cleaned and flushed to be sure there wasn't any debris under the scab. I had planned to do that but with Matt there didn't really have time, so Lara offered to do it for me. I tied Sinwaan in the wash rack, thanked Lara and headed out.

We will probably be out again tonight to get more video footage of Ima so I plan to check on his neck again then.

I was happy to log about 2 hours of riding time today. Our next ride is planned for Tuesday at the race track.

Exciting Evening Ride

Today my mom was in town so I had dinner with her and the family before heading out to the barn about 6 PM. I decided to put more miles on my Abetta saddle tonight, and hook up the breastcollar and crupper to see how they worked. I had a little trouble with the breastcollar, it did not go short enough when hooked to the saddle where I thought it should be attached. So I moved the clips up to the higher rings and then I was able to adjust it to where it felt about right. The crupper was easy to put on and Sinwaan didn't seem to have an opinion about it so we headed out for a nice evening ride.

The weather was perfect and I was in a t-shirt and black jeans. I know, I should have changed into jodhpurs. We took Braden Road a very short distance to where it ends in a T at Stateline Road and then a short jog to the left and then a right onto Elliot Road which is a gravel road with very limited traffic. Sinwaan was just raring to go. Very unlike him! He was fighting me to trot and tossing his head and really acting up.

Once we got onto Elliot I dismounted and removed the crupper, thinking either he was hot to go or the crupper was causing him to act up. If it was the crupper, that was an easy fix. Well it was not the crupper. Even with it removed he just wanted to GO. I have never experienced SO MUCH ENERGY astride this horse before. And, he was very keen on proving to me how STARVING he was by sidling up to the green wheat on the left side of the road to try and munch on it. I don't think so!

I have felt like I am losing my stirrups too often, (although I have not moved my EZ stirrups over to this saddle yet) and I am always losing my footing. So I steered him over to the edge and let him munch while I adjusted my stirrups (moved them up 2 holes) without dismounting.

Then we were off again! He was happy to trot the gentle hills on this road and when we got to the sharp left he took off and we had a very fast gallop up to the railroad tracks (1000 ft), where I slowed him down to a walk to cross them. When we were about 2/3 of the way down this stretch he snaked his head out and down and acted up like he wanted to buck. With a sharp AAATTTT!!! he remembered his manners and we continued. Then it was his big super-fast trot all the way down to the first homestead. We have always walked past this house when riding with Lara in the past because there is a lot of big farm machinery surrounding it and sometimes dogs barking or sprinklers going off, lots of stimulus for a horse. It is just a short jog from there to the turn off where we turn right and take the dirt farm road around the perimeter of another wheat field. Last time I rode this trail the wheat was just little blades and now it is fully headed with green wheat and about knee high - just the perfect height for Sinwaan to try and sneak bites. We trotted some on this path but footing was not great due to recent rains and he was really acting up badly trying to eat all the time. So we made it as far as the isolated junkyard of misc. farm vehicles and then we turned around.

Sinwaan always knows when we are headed for home and he wants to HURRY UP and get there! So he was dancing and tossing his head and swishing his tail and trying to show me how very mad he was that we had to WALK back on this dirt road. He has never been so misbehaved in all my hours of riding him. If the footing was better I would have turned him around and made him trot the other direction, but really I just wanted to get back on the gravel road. So on we went, with a AAATTTT! reminder every so often for him to knock it off. WOW. This was not my horse.

When we got back to Elliot Road I turned him right, instead of left towards home, and made him trot to the end of the road where it intersects with Birch Creek Road (County Road 550) and just ahead is a big grain elevator where the trains load up with grain. This is neat country, a lot of things to see. Well that was as far as we could go on that road so we turned around and headed back.

We started out with a flying trot which soon turned into a canter but I didn't mind, better to get out the bugs while it's safe. There was a sprinkler wetting down the road at one part so we slowed to a walk to time it just right to get through that section without getting wet, then we trotted on to the homestead, walked past it and then galloped the rest of the way back to the railroad tracks. Wow! When he started tiring and slowing down I encouraged him to keep going. If he was going to be bad and try to run all the way home, then by golly I would keep him running! I figure he galloped about 3000 ft (about 1/2 mi)

From the railroad tracks I would have been happy to let him walk and cool out but it wasn't long before he was ready to trot again. Trotting was easier than trying to keep him from ambling over into the wheat field so trotting on we went. We alternated between trotting and walking (but not much of it) and even had another little canter on the way home.

From looking at the map, I would guess we did about 5 miles tonight but I don't know how fast because I had no watch. Needless to say it turned out to be a very fast exhilarating ride!



When we got back to the barn I untacked him and turned him out into the pasture so he could nibble on weeds and grass while I busied myself with putting things away, sweeping out the barn, filling his water tub and mucking out his paddock. It was nice to be there doing this manual labor, and I realized I had missed it. I don't know why, but there is something rewarding about cleaning up after your horse. Sinwaan came back over to me when it was time to put him away and I gave him a little handful of grass hay for a reward which he took eagerly. He has lost his spring grass belly and is looking good.

I feel that due to his performance tonight, he really needs more turnout time, so Lara has agreed to turn him out for me while she is there grooming her mares every day. If that does not make a difference, I will cut back on his grain, although in talking with Lara she does not feel his grain (SafeChoice) is a hot grain and should not be causing the problem. So I guess we'll see. He could always use more riding time, so I will have to see what I am able to do.

Stateline road turns into gravel not far from Darold's so next time I may go up that road to explore and see how the footing is. I may be able to put in more miles going that direction.

I did notice that after tonights ride I am a little chafed and that surprised me with this saddle. Maybe it had more to do with the jeans but I don't know. I am starting to wish I had just bought a nice sheepskin saddle cover for my dressage saddle and that likely would have solved all my problems. Now I have too much invested into this Abetta, but figured I would need it at Renegade because of all the D-rings. We will need to do more rides with the crupper so I can be sure that is working, and I need to move over my EZ stirrups as well. Maybe this weekend I can get all that accomplished.

Sinwaan's First Point

Well I am totally excited. I had mailed in my form from the Home On The Range ride about 2 weeks ago to AHA. Well yesterday I emailed them to ask if they had gotten it and if I had done everything correctly (there has been some confusion between Lara and I about two different forms, one of which has to be accompanied with a $3 fee) and sure enough they wrote back and said everything looked good and his competition record had been updated. Wahoo! Sinwaan's first point towards his Legion of Honor "+" Sure we still have 74 points to go but maybe we'll make it.... (actually 73 points to go once they log the info from the Owyhee Fandango ride we just completed)