Up at 6 am and getting ready. I ate some scrambled eggs with vegetarian sausage. I had my checklist so I brought in my saddle and started loading up my bags. My disposable poncho seems to be missing but it didn't look like rain today so I didn't worry about it. In fact the weather was awesome. A bit chilly, but the wind had died down and it had the makings of a beautiful day! I carry a spare hoof-pick, a knife/pliers, a compass/whistle, my HRM, a GPS, chapstick, toilet paper, my vet card and map of the ride, granola bar, trail mix, dried apricots, 2 water bottles, a camera for trail photos, an emergency 'blanket' which folds up to the size of my hand. I forget what else. What I need to add to my collection is a first aid kit! I also attached my rump rug, which I had been awarded for Rookie Horse in 2008. I was looking forward to using that and my GPS on my first ride out since obtaining them.
We were all ready to go by 10 minutes til start time. Hope and Ruth had both lunged their horses. We rode over to the start at a walk and I dismounted to have Sinwaan trot out for the vet. There was a line already because of the 75 and 50 milers coming in for their first vet check and hold (they started at 6 and 7 am) Our start time for the 25s was 8 am so it was a busy area to be in. I trotted Sinwaan out for Dr Jen and did not notice anything but she said "He is favoring that leg." I asked her "What does that mean?" She said she could definitely see it and I needed to think about it being the first ride of the season, she didn't feel like he would warm up and work through it, she anticipated it being worse after the first 16 mile loop. I don't think she was telling me that I couldn't start, but it was a warning about what it could mean if I did. All this work and preparation and anticipation and now it's over before I even begin.
With a heavy heart I told the timers that #21 was rider-option pulling at the start. They said their apologies, and I waved the other girls onward. "Bye," I told them. "Have a great ride." It was hard not to sit down and just burst into tears at that point. Matt had come along to take photos so he rushed over to ask what was happening. I was crying a bit as I told him what the vet had said. It was a very sad moment.
I led Sinwaan back to the trailer and untacked. Settled him back into his corral and then went in and hung out with my kids for awhile. Since I hadn't gotten any sleep I was pretty tired so I laid down for a bit but with a 10 month old crawling around on you, sleep doesn't come easy. I kept an eye on the time and when I expected the girls would be coming in I headed out with a chair and the camera.
I hiked up a hill and down the other side and not 5 minutes after I got there I looked up and saw three riders coming at me. It was them! I snapped some ride photos for them and then ran back to the vet check. I gave Hope some pointers since this was her first ride, then seeing the line for the vets, ran to the trailer for some hay. I did a small amount of crewing and watched them all trot out. Otto and Quincy were cleared to continue but Dr Mike noticed that Jules was off in the right hind. He got a second opinion from Dr Jen and sure enough when he went over her she flinched and jumped away when he touched the area. So Hope's ride was over for the day at that point. I told Hope "we're 2 for 4, that's no good!" A most unfortunate turn of events for Hope as well. The vets recommended she use electrolytes. Bob Westergard was crewing for his own horse ridden by Joe, so I talked to him a bit about what he uses.
The 45 minute hold for this ride went by in a flash, thanks to the lines at the vet area. I asked Ruth and Heather if they wanted me to get some food ready and they said they didn't have time to sit around and eat, their out-time was only 10 minutes away, so they decided to eat when they were done. I headed out on foot to get ahead of them with the camera. I jogged and walked and jogged some more as the trail followed the road and then crossed over it. Riders would come by and I would take their photo since I was out there anyway. I just kept going and finally got up on a bit of a knoll. Ruth and Heather trotted by and I took their photo. I headed on back to camp but people were just pouring past me, so I took photos of all of them. I was worried about running out of card space! One guy hollered at me "I'll buy it!" so that gave me the idea that perhaps I should sell these and make some money to buy SHIPPING BOOTS for clumsy Sinwaan.
I had just plugged in the camera to the laptop in the Quonset hut when Matt walked in. I had been gone a long time (I really did get a ways from camp). So after downloading the camera we walked back to the camper together. It was nice to hang out with the family and be leisurely. Matt wanted feedback on his driving. I told him he had done a fine job. There was one turn that I noticed the trailer bouncing a bit and that is probably when the injury occurred. But it's a fact that Sinwaan doesn't travel very well. I don't blame Matt, or the trailer for this. I just need to take more preventative action any time I trailer him.
Hope headed over to crew for the final check and a short time after she left, I grabbed the camera and went to get the final photos. They were in line when I got there. The horses were eating well and looked good. Quincy had pulsed down first but during his trot out the vet commented that he looked tired. He is an older horse and he was just done for the day. But he did complete! Otto probably could have gone on and done more miles.
We headed back to the trailers and got lunch going. It was probably about 1 pm. They had made good time on this ride considering they walked the first two miles out. We ate hot dogs, potato salad, pasta salad, fruit and cookies. Sensational!
It was a restful afternoon. Dinner was from 6-8 so the other gals headed over to eat about 6. After the dinner everyone piled into the Quonset hut for the awards meeting. It was packed but we had gotten there early enough that we had our chairs against the far wall. First there was a drink contest between the teams. The pirates had a grog, and there were two other entries (including a pomegranate martini) but the grog was the winner.
Gail started with the 75s and some of them were still out on the trail. Then the 50s. It was a very long awards meeting because there were over 70 entries in both the 25 and 50 mile distances. Ruth and Heather placed in the 30s (mid-pack). There was a very small % of non-completions in all distances. There were a couple of injuries to riders.
Everyone seemed excited about the new ride location. We look forward to coming back next year.
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