Midnight Rider

Friday, September 9, 2022

 AERC Day Ride

Mt Adams, WA

Ride Manager Bobbi Walker, Secretary and co-planner LuAnn De Young

 

Dr Mike Vanzwol and Dr Mike Witt

 

Where to begin the story of this ride? I have wanted to do a ride at Mt Adams since way back when I was riding Sinwaan 2007-2012. For one reason or another we never did make it there. My friend Ruth did the ride one year and since the completion shirt was red, she gifted it to me since it was “my” color. I have always cherished that shirt for that reason.

It was announced June 8 that the Midnight Rider event would be done at Mt Adams. This was unfortunately a bit late in the season for some folks who had already made other plans for their ride season, so I think the turnout was a bit less than was hoped for. Bobbi did a great job of promoting the ride. They had amazing donations for prizes; they flew Bruce Weary in for a clinic on night riding; they had a multi-day ride weekend with options to do an intro ride, 25 mi or 50 mi on both Friday (day ride) and Saturday (night ride). With all the time off Amira had for her medical leave in July, this ride was timed about right for us to make it out again.

Plans don’t always work out the way you think they will, and such is what happened this season with my daughter and her pony. But Ellie is a good sport and enjoys documenting with photos and video, so even though she wasn’t planning to participate in the ride she still wanted to attend and camp out with me, and I was glad to have her along.

I did a solo ride on Amira on Monday (Labor Day) and the 7 miles went well. When I first started out with her last winter she would do a fair amount of hesitating and refusals. That could have been linked to her ulcers. Now that those are resolved, she is not quite as bad about it. She may walk a lot slower than I would like leaving home, but she is walking and we will keep training on the sticky spots. I had a plan in my head that we would ride our own ride, solo, at Mt Adams and see how that worked out.

Ellie and I packed up Thursday morning and left around 12:30. It took us about 4.5 hrs to make the trip since we stopped twice for gas and restrooms. Amira travels quietly but does not eat in the trailer, I think due to stress. I am not sure how to encourage better habits on the road. Since we got to camp later then I hoped, we set up camp and then vetted in before I had a chance to pre-ride. The ride meeting was at 6:30 and after that I tacked up to at least get a look at the start before the next day. Amira had a couple of moments of halting and questioning why we were going out alone in a strange place when it was almost dark outside but once we got to the single-track trail she was ears up and moving forward at the trot. I figured ride day would work out just fine.

Our camp neighbor was a lady named Beth with a Saddlebred mare. She was also doing the daytime 25 mi ride. She offered to ride with me but at that point I declined because I wanted to try and do it solo.

Ride morning I was able to e-lyte Amira without any issue by using applesauce in her syringe. I saddled up and then hand walked her for about 10-15 minutes to let her graze before the start. She does not eat well when she is in her portable corral. She is turning out to be a bit high maintenance when traveling!  When it was almost time for the trail to open, I put on her bridle and mounted up and rode closer to the start. She could see the horses milling around, excited to get going, and she was calm. She stood there and grazed while I waited for the front runners to clear out.

I didn’t want to wait too long to get going however since I knew I would need all my allotted time for this mountain ride. I saw Stace and Marlene Moss walking up, so I decided to ride out with them. I knew they would stop soon for Stace to get on and I would see how Amira did at that point. Stace found a stump or something, so they pulled off the trail and I encouraged Amira to walk on. Well, she wasn’t too sure I knew what I was talking about. She started halting and then giving me a baby step or two. We weren’t making much progress when along came Beth on Foxy and Lindsey on Mia. They had planned to ride together and were at the tail end. I asked if I could ride along with them after all and they were very kind to let me tag along to get out of camp.

The single-track trail was awesome and in no time we were at an intersection. There was lime on the ground and an arrow, and I would have gone left had I been alone. I think I made the mistake at my first ride with Lara about crossing over the lime line on the ground! We had some discussion and decided as a group to go right (the wrong way) which was the way in back to camp. I am not sure how much time we wasted doing an extra loop back around to the start but there we were.

On the trail I got to know my riding companions better and enjoyed their company. Lindsay is a vet tech and had trained her QH herself from a feral 3 y/o. She was great about verbally reminding us to keep to a steady gait of around 6 mph. We took turns leading and Beth’s ASB liked to go faaassst. I was hopeful that between the stretches of fast trotting/cantering and the steady pace of the QH we would balance out for the walking downhills and get us back in time.

The first loop, named “Bumble Bee” for the black/yellow ribbons, was a true mountain ride with 1,773 ft of elevation changes. It was a 15 mile loop. At 8 miles in you are at the “top” of the climb for that loop. The ride up is a combination of single track through the woods and a gravel road that has a long steady climb. Amira did really well on that long climb, the horses seemed pretty well matched and needed breathers about the same time.

Periodically we would check in with someone stationed out there at the intersections to make sure we did the full loop and not head back early on a shortcut. I think it was the second check point that Lindsey’s horse teleported sideways under her and I heard her scream behind me. I was not sure what happened and then I saw horses and riders on the other side of the tree line going the opposite direction. We were on a gravel road, and they were just off of that on a dirt single-track and with all the foliage we did not hear or see them coming!

During this loop there were two small creek crossings, and a large wooden bridge, which is where the ride photographer Merri Melde was stationed. The first creek crossing was about as wide as a horse and not very deep. I was hoping Amira would just walk across like a sensible mare, but she had other ideas. After pausing and evaluating the distance she decided a donkey leap over it was in order. I do not know how I stayed on, it was the largest jump I have ever ridden, much larger than the situation called for. Ha! When we approached the second creek crossing, I took a look at the mossy rocks and decided I didn’t want to land on them and cripple myself should she take a giant leap again, so I dismounted and led her across. There were lots of rocks and stumps to give a boost at this ride for remounting so that was a plus!

The wooden bridge looked a little sketchy to me, and we were the last in line to cross it. I held her back a little to space out for the ride photos. She went right across like a pro. I was relieved!

Water was stationed at all the intersections as well as periodically throughout the loop. I never once thought “I sure wish there was water,” and I was so pleased to see Amira drinking from about the 2^nd tank in on the ride, and most every tank after that!

Donna Lacey-Bacon was the refreshment coordinator on the Bumble Bee loop and she did a great job! Coming back down the mountain one of our stops had her greeting us with water, chips, candy bars, and apples for the horses. I had not packed anything other than a water bottle so I was thrilled with a mini Snickers at that point in the ride, and Amira started following Donna around once she figured out this nice lady would feed her apples. Ha!

Headed back down the mountain it started out quite steep and with rocky footing, or roots across the path on a tight woodsy trail. It was not ideal for any amount of speed. We did a lot of walking. Downhill trotting was also tough for Lindsey with her tailbone injury. We ended up walking a lot more than we should have. Lindsey had decided that she would rider-option pull at the hold, and wanted us to be aware of that ahead of time. She encouraged us to get back to trotting, and make up some time. About a mile or two from camp Lindsey decided to walk the rest of the way in. Beth was leading and would get ahead of me with her mare’s big trot but then she would walk and I would catch up. I used that as a training opportunity to hold Amira back to a slower trot and not get swept up with another horse. I made that mistake with my first horse, Sinwaan. She was amenable but I think she was also tired.

When we were about a half mile from camp, we dismounted and loosened our girths and walked the rest of the way in. I was expecting Amira to be at criteria, so I was frustrated when she did not want to stand still for the pulser. She was being a real pill. I took her over to the oat float and let her get a good drink and nibbles and then tried again. I was feeling bad about the fact she kept swinging away from the pulser, and not standing still, when she had been much better behaved at our previous rides. The pulser had enough difficulty that she tapped out and asked another person to try. The second person was able to get a pulse on her and said she was at criteria. (Watching the video later I realized it was really blowing hard - windy so that may have factored in, but still, she needs more training to stand still!)

We didn’t waste any time heading over to the vet because by now I have already burned through a lot of time. I was trying to focus on being calm, and just getting through the vet check so we could move along to our hold. Amira didn’t want to behave for the vet either. She was not standing still. She would turn and look the other direction, or swing away. Dr Mike said to stand on the same side of the horse as the vet, so I will have to work on making that a habit in the future. He finally held up her front leg so he could get a good listen to her gut sounds, which he said were pretty quiet. “Make sure she eats well on the hold” he commented. Otherwise he said she looked good.

I took her back to the trailer alongside Beth and her mare Foxy. I put her in her pen and took off her bridle. She stood there and looked around. She did not act interested in her hay. I made her mash and she ate that but not with any gusto. At this point I was really watching her closely. Since we had a bad colic in July and have been dealing with ulcers, I was not wanting to risk her well-being. I thought I saw her flanks tense up. I don’t know what a horse tying up looks like but I didn’t want to wait around and find out. I took off her saddle and led her back down to the vets. Dr Mike did another through exam, this time she stood still for him, and said she looked fine to him. He had no concerns. So at this point I was thinking I would rider-option pull from the rest of the ride. I led her around camp and she would graze but I was concerned she wasn’t getting enough in the time that we had.

I checked the time and it was about 12:30. Only 90 minutes to finish for a completion, there were still 10 mountain miles left with 921 ft of elevation changes. I knew that wasn’t happening. I headed back to the trailer and passed Beth on her way out. I let her know I would probably pull out at this point, but I still wasn’t 100% decided. I wished her a good ride and thought maybe she could complete with how fast her horse trots.

After I thought it over for a couple minutes, I decided I was ok with just doing the 15 miles and consider it a great conditioning ride to bump up our fitness. I wanted Amira to eat more so I could stop worrying about her. I walked her around for an hour or more, to the oat float, to the grass near Mia’s pen (she seemed to be most relaxed over there) and she grazed most of that time. I thought for sure Beth would be back any time.

Beth came in over time, and it turns out most of the second loop was gravel roads. She had been unable to get Foxy’s hoof boots on that morning and she got sore from all the rocks. But she was sound on the grass and Beth was glad that she finished the ride this year, even if it wasn’t a completion.

Carlos Martinez was the cook and meal planner for the ride weekend, and Friday night was chicken fajitas. Every rider and volunteer were fed. Carlos was kind enough to make me some veggies without the chicken. I was able to spend some time talking to him before the meal and he was very impressed with all the people who come together and volunteer their time to put on this ride.

After dinner I spent more time walking Amira around so she could get more grazing in. She seemed to be doing well by the evening, so I think I was worried about nothing. Dr Mike had given her a B on gut sounds, and I never looked at her card until after I made my decision to pull out. I thought him saying she was pretty quiet was worse than it actually was. Well live and learn, and since this was her first ride back after recovery I don’t have any regrets.

Saturday morning we had some time to kill between when we got up and when Bruce Weary was scheduled to speak. After Ellie and I ate breakfast, and I led Amira around for grazing for a bit, we tacked her up so Ellie could get a look at some of the trails closer to camp. I took her out the Bumble Bee loop and made the circle around back to camp that we had done the day before in error. Then we walked away from camp on another dirt road towards the Mt Adams horse camp. Amira had some moments where she wasn’t sure she wanted to walk away from camp but we got her going, Ellie aboard and I on foot, and probably went about 2 miles. 

Then it was time for the night riding clinic. Bobbi stood up and explained how this came to be. She based much of this on her experience with the Tevis educational ride. You pre-ride the end of Tevis in the daylight so when you get to it on the real ride in the dark it is more manageable. She explained that the night ride for the LDs that evening would be the same loop twice. I didn't understand the benefit the first time she said it. But then she explained that the first time you ride it in the evening (light) and then the sun goes down and you get some night riding in on familiar trails. That sounded pretty smart to me and I think I might be willing to try it out next year. Bruce Weary told his story of his adventure to get to camp with his flight changes and lost luggage and somehow he ended up where he needed to be with his saddle and everything else so that was a relief. Bobbi also has volunteers on this ride as "trail angels" who wear glow lights and ride behind everyone so no one will get lost or left behind in the dark. 

The ride was well marked, and the trails were pretty neat. Even with limited trails this year compared to previous years, I can see how this ride is a favorite for a lot of people.