Battle of the Flatlands @ JBLM

 

Battle of the Flatlands @ JBLM

Roy, WA

April 9 2022

 

Heather and I have been doing training rides on Sundays for the past couple of months. She has been a huge help to me in getting Amira going as an endurance horse. Setting goals, learning to rate our speed, only increasing speed or distance at a time, not both, etc. Since December when I bought her I have been able to put a pretty good (gradual) fitness foundation on her. Because both of our horses are fairly young (7 yrs) and mine is green as well, our priority has been to maintain a good mindset with the horses. If they are acting spooky or naughty, take the time to slow down and work some circles, do some bending exercises, bring them back to the horse you want to ride. If you see a problem area, work on it. If you ignore your issues at home, they will only be amplified at the ride.

We decided to do our depletion ride two weeks before the endurance ride. This was a 15 mi ride with a goal of maintaining a 5-6 mph pace to see where the horses are at in their fitness and allow their bodies time to recover before the big day. On our first loop we had a bit of a challenge as Amelia threatened to kick and Amira spun around and leapt, and I fell off and landed backside on some concrete. Amira ran away through a plowed field and finally stopped and let us catch her, so I got back on and we resumed our ride but the horses were feeling pretty spooky that first loop and we took a time-out to work with them before continuing our second loop. I had been recovering from that and hoping it wouldn’t be an issue.

Heather has a local endurance friend, Dean, who has a big trailer. He had asked her if she wanted him to haul her horse. They worked that out and I followed with my truck/trailer because I wasn’t sure if my horse would get on his trailer with a rear tack compartment. We met at her place about 8:30 am on Friday morning. We convoyed over to Roy WA together which was a great relief to me just to have another adult nearby in case of any issues.  The drive was uneventful. We had a pit stop in Ellensburg to fill up on gas and then we made it over Snoqualmie pass with clear roads. Then we had some torrential rain and after that some pretty heavy traffic (20 mph on the interstate) and then what seemed like town driving that went on for quite awhile and before we knew it we were driving along the JBLM (Joint Base Lewis-McChord) and I even saw two horses at a water stop doing a pre-ride and then I really got excited.

We arrived about 2:30 pm and they directed us to park past the tree, I let Dean pick his spot and I pulled in next to him with enough space for the horse corrals between us. We unloaded and let the horses graze a bit, the ride camp was in a beautiful pasture and the grass was lush! We then set up the portable corrals that Dean had brought, and he was so kind to loan me one for Amira. I used to use electric tape for Sinwaan, he always stayed in it really well, but every horse is different, and they made the announcement that they would not be allowing it at the next ride, so people must tie to the trailer or have a portable corral.

Heather asked if I wanted to do a pre-ride once we got camp set up and registered, and I thought that sounded like a great idea! We were really glad we had time to do that because on this ride you walk down the road a bit and then the entrance to the trails is this large hump, gully, hump and then it flattens out. At that same corner is a road sign and some stumps/large rocks to give the horses something to eyeball. Some horses had an issue with this entrance. Heather led Amelia and they had a look at the obstacles and decided it was ok to proceed. Heather led for about a half-mi and then mounted up and we rode on to check out the trail. What we saw initially was primarily double track with great footing, smooth gravel with some occasional rocks. There was a mossy forest that was just magical to view. It was all so pretty. We turned around and headed back after about 2 miles.  When we got back Ellie wanted to ride so I had her hop on and ride around ride camp for a little bit and then we untacked, did some grooming and then took the horses over to be vetted in.

The pulser noted that Amira was at 60 and that had Heather a little concerned. 60 bpm is typically the criteria your horse has to meet to continue on and if that is her baseline there may be a chance she would take longer to meet that after our ride and get a completion. (For example Amelia was 37) So I waited a couple minutes and asked for a re-check. Again it was 60, so Heather suggested I ask the vet about it. We had Dr Cassee vet us in and she said that yes she was running at right around 60 but not to be concerned unless there were other signs for alarm. She scored all As on her card and I was very happy about that. I decided she must keep all her excitement on the inside, and I would just see what tomorrow brings as we had a good plan for a conservative ride.

Meanwhile Ellie (my daughter who is 12) was doing a great job capturing everything with photos and video! She had a couple of cameras and was following us around and getting footage whenever we were doing something.

After all that was done, we had some time so we ate dinner and kept an eye on the horses as they settled into camp and before too long it was time for the ride meeting. They honked a nearby car horn and the Beagles started howling. It was pretty cute.

Heather Costigan was the ride manager and spoke about the base, and if we were to encounter anyone out there the military always has the right of way. The ride camp was on her personal property, she was glad to have us all there for a nice easy (flat) ride. To please be welcoming to the newcomers, there were a lot of them registered (50?) Sarah Aleshire made announcements regarding the trail markings and answered questions before they introduced the vets. Mike Foss DVM spoke about the importance of EDPPMF in your horses – Eating, drinking, peeing, pooping, moving freely. These are the things you want to see them doing. They also stressed having a blanket or rump rug available since horses can cramp up if their muscles get tight standing around in windy cold weather. Dr Cassee hung around to answer any additional questions from newcomers and the rest of the people dispersed.

We hand walked the horses after that and let them graze a bit and then it got dark and we all went to bed around 8:30 pm. It seemed silly being in bed that early, but it was cold and dark and there was nothing else to do. Ellie and I had made beds in the back of the truck and we were warm enough, although I was not able to sleep very much from the excitement.

Ride day dawned and I got up about 6:30 am. Dean was already mostly tacked up and trying to loosen his breastcollar on Creedance. Creedance was excited and ready to get moving! Dean mounted up and walked him around waiting for the trail to open at 7 am. There were about 13 entries for that distance. They were doing the 15 mi loop twice and the 20 mi loop once.

Ellie and I had decided on yogurt, fruit and granola for breakfast so that is what we had and then I got dressed and ready to go. Heather and I decided to tack up around 7:30 since the out time for our distance was 8 am. I was strangely not nervous like I used to be. I was feeling very Zen. Maybe it was because I was pretty sure my horse would not go through that giant water crossing (at only 4 mi in) or maybe because I thought we would lose a shoe, or her pulse wouldn’t drop low enough in time. Any rate I had pretty low expectations going in and apparently that really helped my mental state.

I tacked her up, she was a little excited due to all the camp commotion, but I mounted up and walked her around just to start warming up and give her a chance to see how we handle rides. Yes, there is excitement, but no, you don’t have to worry about it. At about 8:05 when the LD riders were going down the road and starting on their ride I heard a bunch of noise and I look over and see a horse crashing through the brush (NOT on trail) and I hear his rider say “HELP ME!” and I see the horse running away with her and then a horse trailer blocked my view and when I saw them again it was only the horse. Someone else was trotting that direction to go catch the horse and the rider was somewhere behind the trailer. Oh dear that is not a great way to start out! All the commotion had some of the horses still in camp all excited and one horse that was tied to the trailer broke free and ran all around camp and I think another horse may have busted out of their containment system too, so it was a bit of a ruckus. It is good this ride camp is basically a pasture, it is completely fenced except for the entrance gate, so loose horses can’t get too far.

Heather and I had decided to wait about 10 minutes after the start time to head out, to avoid all the nonsense of competitive horses and riders. I was especially glad when I saw all that. Thankfully while I was riding around camp I realized I had forgotten to put on her little bell boots so I rode over and put those on. She was starting to clip her front feet with her hind toes and I did not want to risk an injury. By then it was a good time to leave, camp was pretty well clear, and we walked on out.

There wasn’t a very big shoulder on the road to the trail, and Heather led Amelia down to the up and down lumpy entrance and through it and walked awhile, and also jogged with Amelia and when the horses felt good and solid she mounted up and we began our 15 mile loop. It was double track for quite a while and then we got into single track and it was very twisty through the woods and brush and the scenery was constantly changing (and so was the weather haha) and at times I wasn’t sure it was actually a trail but then we would see the ribbon markers and know we were on track. We aimed to keep the horses to a slow trot most of the ride to both complete on time and not over stress them. With Amelia in the lead this was easy as Heather can keep her nice and consistent at 5-6 mph. When I was in the lead we would creep up to about 8 mph and either Heather would ask me to notch her down a bit or I would catch on and slow her myself.

We came upon the water crossing and it was magnificent. The nice thing about it is that the footing is very solid since it is usually a crossing for vehicles. We knew we were not going to get stuck in mud, and it would be safe. We heard hollering and realized the photographer was knee high in the water at the other end, ready to take photos of the great event. Heather and I had made a plan for this ahead of time. I was just going to pull over and give Amelia time to get in the water. Once she was making good progress then I would come down and attempt with Amira. It only took a couple of minutes for Heather to convince Amelia that this was a good idea. After that it was no problem. Amira didn’t want to be left behind and plunged on through. Once we were safely on dry ground on the other side and walking along I teared up a bit! Such a great relief that my ride was not already over!

I can’t say enough good things about the trails. They were ever changing, from double-track to single track, from gravel to dirt, and the scenery was always changing and always beautiful! Very few elevation changes but there were a number of downed small trees so it was good to keep an eye out when in the heavy brush single track trails. We rarely slowed to a walk, but did as needed for any technical parts. We saw the photographer again, this time in a meadow. I let Heather go on first and followed along, trying to rate Amira but I don’t think I got her going easily or collected how I wanted for a photo. Oh well, maybe next time.

When we came cruising back towards ride camp we dismounted and loosened our girths and led the horses back down the road to help them lower their pulse as much as possible before we got to the timers. We discovered Amira loved the oat water tub, she would try to nibble out all the oats.  I asked for the recipe and was told “we literally just poured a bag of oats into that water tub.” Ha! I let her drink a bit before asking for pulse. She was down to 60 within 5-10 minutes and thus started our hold time, with an out time of 11:55.

The vet check went really well, although since I had tried to unsuccessfully give her electrolytes (Heather did manage to get some in her mouth before the ride) when the new vet attempted to check her capillary refill she just raised and tossed her head and did not want any part of that. Otherwise she stood very good and still for all the other items on the card to be checked. She was responsive to my request to trot for the vet, and she did what was asked. Good mare!

The hold time was a flurry of activity as we were given 45 minutes. Some of that time is used in the vet exam and following that we walked the horses back to the trailer and put a buffet of food in front of them. Alfalfa hay, grass hay, water, grain, carrots, etc. Heather asked Ellie to please keep an eye on the horses and if they were not eating to let us know. Then we, the riders, took care of ourselves. I ate a granola bar and downed some Gatorade with a fizzy people electrolyte tablet added to it. I also made sure to use the restroom. Amira was acting like she wanted to roll (itchy) and I didn’t want her to damage my saddle so I put on her halter and had Ellie hold her outside the pen so she could graze on the grass. My mom showed up and wanted to feed me but I told her it would have to wait until after my second loop!

Before we knew it the hold time was up and we were headed back out for our second (10 mi) loop. It was mostly single-track through the woods and there was a lot of things for the horses to look at so Amira took the lead as she has more confidence. We worked on setting a steady trot and just ate up the miles.

 Towards the end there was a hailstorm! We encountered a lady leading her mule. I felt bad for her but she said her mule just did not want to go. We came upon a group of riders who were out doing the trail ride and they pulled over to let us pass which was very nice of them. We played leapfrog with another pair of riders but soon decided to just let them go on ahead since we didn’t want them running up on our tail when they decided to canter. Then it started raining sideways and it was in the horses’ faces and they hesitated to keep going. We were close to the trees at that point so with more encouragement we were able to get out of the worst of it and then not long after it cleared up. At that point Ellie texted me and wanted to know how far away we were. I texted back 1.5 mi. It went by really fast and before I knew it we were all done!

We again dismounted and loosened girths before heading back down the road to ride camp. Amira’s pulse was a little high – I think 62? So we went to the oat water and I let her drink and play in the tub while I removed her saddle. When I asked for the recheck it was 54! Yay! Good deal, she passed and got a completion time. Then we headed directly to the vets. My mom and Ellie were ready with horse blankets in case of a line but we got lucky and did not have to wait to vet through. Amira scored really well on everything except for gut sounds, she got a B on one side and a C on the other. I asked if that was going to prevent us from earning our completion and Dr Mike said no worries, just let her eat and rest and she should remedy that herself. At this ride they held onto the ride card for scores and placements. I knew we were at the end but I wasn’t sure if I was the turtle or not. Some rides give a special award for turtle.

Heather says per her GPS, our active riding time was 4 hr 30 min for the 25 miles. I am really happy with that.

We put the blankets on the horses and walked them back to the trailers and let them eat and continued to watch them but they were hungry and tired and alternated between eating and resting. “Now mother, I will take you up on that picnic!” She had brought pasta salad and hoagie fixings and cotton candy grapes and juice and home-made chocolate chip cookies (with no walnuts) and it was all very delicious. Quite the treat to have such a feast after riding 25 miles. We enjoyed some sun and conversation and then (as was the norm here) the wind picked up and the sky darkened and my mom decided not to stick around for bad weather. So we bid her good bye and she left.

At some point Dean returned, he was in 3^rd for the 50 mi distance, and Heather helped him with Creedance for the vet check and after care.  His son and family stopped by later and Dean went with them to dinner.

When the last 50 mile rider came in much later they decided to have the after-ride results meeting. They started with the 25 mi distance and announced the top riders and best condition winner for the special awards, and then asked, “if you are here and want your completion please raise your hand and tell me your name.” Many of us did but it was quickly apparent that the results did not go past 16^th place so if you were lower then that your placement was a mystery – for now. They then did the same for the 50 mile riders. They had a really nice turtle award for the 50s – a $100 gift certificate to an endurance vendor. Wow! What a great prize. Then I was even more curious if I had gotten the turtle award. Sarah told me she would be working on the full results over the next week and could let me know my placement but they did not have an award for the 25 mi turtle.

After awards Heather and I made some more food for dinner and sat under her canopy and had a nice time chatting. Around 7 pm a car pulled up and asked us about the awards meeting. We told them it already happened, and they were upset because I guess it was posted somewhere it would be at 7 pm and as they were local they had come back for it. Then a couple more ladies showed up, the person who won the 25 mi distance and a friend. I messaged the RM Heather and she said she would be back to pass out their completion awards since she was headed to the store. At that point the weather got cold and windy again so Heather and I went and sat in the back of the horse trailer and drank hot tea and enjoyed some conversation.

When RM Heather returned I was able to have her sign my AHA form for Amira’s first point towards her Achievement Award. My goal for her is to earn a “+” after her name. You can do that by earning 75 points. You get a point for completing a LD ride, and can earn more points per ride by either doing longer distances or by placing above more riders.

All that taken care of it was starting to get dark. Dean had returned so we took the horses for a walk and graze around camp. It had emptied out quite a bit with people packing up and heading home. The horses really enjoyed the grass and were tucked in for bed as night fell.

The next morning I heard Heather up and around so I got up, I think it was about 6:30. We packed up the truck and trailer and took the horses for another walk and graze before leaving camp by 8 am. Since I had been getting texts about accidents closing down Snoqualmie for 5 hrs on Saturday, and the current conditions looked like a lot of snow, we decided to head south through Portland and the Gorge for the drive home. This added an hour (at least) to our travels but better to be safe then stuck, or worse.

The drive was uneventful, I was following Dean and he missed the exit at Troutdale so I pulled off anyway since I was getting low on gas. They ended up stopping at Hood River and by the time they were ready to get back on the highway I was passing their exit so we joined up again for our travels. Arriving back at Heather’s I realized we never got a photo of the three of us so we posed for one and then I headed the last mile home.

Amira stepped off the trailer and dove into the grass, I let her eat, removed her blanket, groomed her a little and then took her to her pasture with Sinwaan. He was very happy to see her! They took a little trot around the pasture, had a roll and a drink and then settled back into grazing side by side. Amira did EDPPMF and I could relax. All was well.

Special thanks to Heather for being such a great riding partner, we have had many things to work on and she has provided many tips that have helped us a lot. Thanks to Dean for convoying over with me, and loaning me his corral panels. To my daughter Ellie for being such great crew – film and for the horses. Appreciation to Heather Costigan for putting on a great ride, and Sarah Aleshire for answering all my questions both before and during the ride. Jala Neufeld for the wonderful photography. And my mom for stopping by with more food! Thanks to Maureen for taking great care of Sinwaan while I was away, and my husband Matt for caring for the dogs in my absence. It takes a village!

 

Happy trails. Next stop, Prineville!