Home On The Range : the pre-ride story

March 27, 2010, the Home On The Range endurance ride has a new location just outside Washtucna WA. This ride is the nearest location to my house of all the rides in the PNW this year. Straight north about 85-100 miles. I had been excited about it since last year when I realized I could start riding again. I rode all winter every weekend - no excuses - to prepare. I felt more ready for this ride than I did in 2008 when I last attended this ride.

This year there were four of us that had set our sights on attending. Ruth, my co-worker and ride partner. Heather, who was pregnant and realized she probably could not make any other rides this year, and Heather's sister Hope. There was only one minor problem; Ruth was the only person among us who owned a horse trailer and it was a 2-horse. How to get 4 horses to the ride? It was a predicament. Even if we could find a trailer to borrow, what would pull it? I had the Suburban, but it was badly in need of tires and beyond that the 6" lift caused more wear and tear than average - we've replaced the front end on it twice since we bought it.

As luck would have it, Matt uncovered an ad on craigslist for the truck of my dreams. Yes, it was old and ugly, but it ran and it was a crew cab dually with a 454. Even better, the guy wanted to trade it for a motorcycle! We just so happened to have a motorcycle. So that worked out just a month before the ride. We hurriedly made a list of everything that needed to be fixed in order for the truck to be tow-worthy. A new radiator, tailpipe, additional welds to the hitch and adjusted the clutch, to name a few.

Now how to solve the problem of the horse trailer? I have been wanting my own since I first got a horse and it just never worked out. With the addition of a truck to haul one, I started browsing craigslist myself looking for a trailer in my price range. I should mention my price range is just on the border of what is acceptable for hauling horses! From all my browsing I came up with a list of what I wanted in a trailer. I needed escape doors on both sides, head doors for the horses on both sides, tack door on both sides, and it had to be extra-tall and big enough for a horse that isn't easy to load. I found a couple. Some did not meet my criteria and others were just a bit more than I wanted to spend. When I had lost hope in finding a suitable trailer for this ride I got an email reply from ad ad I had inquired about earlier. The trailer met all my criteria, not only that it was a one-owner trailer that had been maintained. The owner was a PNER member to boot!

Matt had a motorcycle he wanted to look at in Yakima so I sent him and Levi on a mission to pick up my trailer in Washougal afterwards. They left at 10 am. They got to the trailer about 5 or 6 pm. After two hours of driving back towards home Matt called me and said he was having two problems: the trailer was bucking an awful lot and the oil pressure in the truck was dangerously low. So he stopped and rested for an hour to let the truck cool down and then started out again. After 15 minutes of driving he called me again to say the oil pressure was too low. He also felt the axles on the trailer and it seemed to him like one brake must be locking up because it was much hotter on one bearing than any other. At this rate it would take him days to drive the remaining distance (which should have been another 2 hours). So, at approximately 4 am I told him to drop the trailer and come on home. He needed to sleep and we could set out for it the next day.

Monday I took some time off work and we drove back for the trailer. In the meantime Matt had talked to his dad and thought the bucking could be from the brake controller being adjusted wrong, and perhaps fixing that would help the oil pressure in the truck. We held our breath as we approached the rest area where Matt left it. My biggest worry was that it would be stolen, or someone would take the tires. It was there and all in one piece! Relief! We hooked up and Matt made some adjustments. It seemed to be pulling much better, but the oil pressure was still lower than Matt would like it to be. We stopped at Boardman for gas and food (and a diaper, I had forgotten the diaper bag!) and ran into Dale McKain at the eatery there. He was driving the bus for a girl's softball team. Because of all the girls it took us about 40 minutes to get our food, and another 20 minutes to get the rest of our order (Levi's grilled cheese and a chocolate cherry milkshake). So the truck had plenty of time to cool off. We also purchased a quart of 30 weight oil which Matt added.

We ventured out again. It pulled well for about 15 minutes and then again we had to stop. We pulled off at a truck stop, Matt was hoping to buy an oil pan and heavier weight oil and do an oil change right there at the truck stop. He came out of the store empty handed, no pans of any kind for sale and no heavy weight oil either. Unbelievable.

So onward we drove. Matt's blood pressure was visibly high over the state of the oil pressure but somehow we made it to Pendleton, and then Milton-Freewater and finally home. Whew! I went back to work for a couple of hours and when I came home Matt went to bed, so I took the kids and the truck and trailer out to Heather's. Her husband Gary came out to take a look at the floorboards. Ruth was also there and offered some feedback. I left the trailer there and headed back home.

Did I mention this was all happening a week before the ride? The trailer went to Heather's on Monday. Tuesday Gary did his research on replacing trailer flooring, Wednesday he got started and noted that the screws were rusted into the frame pretty badly. He was able to get the center board out and agreed that it was lacking in integrity. Thursday night Gary and Eric and Matt all worked hard to get my floor replaced and they got it done!

Thursday afternoon Matt changed the oil in the truck. We went with SAE60, a racing oil, hoping that would solve our problems. No time to test it out.

Also on Thursday night my father-in-law came over to work on the propane furnace in my camp trailer again. He had spent a couple of hours on it about a month ago but didn't get it working. So this was the last chance he had before the ride. After Matt got home from the horse trailer, he helped his dad on the camp trailer and I went to bed after a very busy evening of packing.

Friday morning dawned upon us and I worked all morning getting everything together and ready. I had hoped to go out and give Sinwaan a bath but it was far too windy and cold for that. I left the house shortly before 11 am - went by the bank for gas money, went by and picked up my horse trailer after admiring the new floor and putting the mats back in, then out to get Sinwaan. I loaded all my stuff and then loaded him and took him back to Heathers. Dropped him off and went home to meet my mom. We both drove down to put gas in the rigs. On the way there my mom noticed that the blinkers on the trailer were crossed. When I put on the left turn signal for the truck, the right turn signal on the trailer would come on. AAGH!

We got back to the house and hooked up my mom's Explorer to the camp trailer. Immediately the trailer brakes came on and I couldn't move it. We did not have time to deal with all of this! Our goal to leave was by 1 pm. It was already 1:45 by now. So we unhooked the lights. It was decided that I would drive the Explorer with the camper in the center of the convoy, Matt would drive the Ugly truck and horse trailer in front, and Ruth would follow up behind in case one of us had a problem.

We loaded up the rest of the horses and tack and misc. stuff for the weekend and we were off!! Heading out we took Highway 12 through Waitsburg and Dayton, and then 261 through Starbuck. Crossing the terrifying bridge before Lyon's Ferry was the worst part of the journey, I don't think it was meant for anything other than compact cars. However there was so much curvey winding up and down roads, it was not my first choice for hauling horses. At one turn I saw the trailer jumping a bit and I knew Sinwaan was scrambling and I hoped he would be ok on arrival. We took 260/261 into Washtucna and then followed 26 over to Beckley Road (promptly missed the turn, despite the ribbons and sign). So we had to turn around. I am not sure where Matt turned around but I found a spot to back into off the highway and made fairly quick work of it. By the time I was set to head back the other direction Matt was coming up the road so I fell in behind him.

Another big climb and we were there, Ride Camp! What a journey!

Washtucna weather

The endurance ride this coming weekend is in Washtucna, WA. Here are the weather predictions. The rain on Sunday worries me just a little. I would rather have no rain in the forecast at all.





I have my list(s) and keep adding to it/them. Hoping not to forget anything important.

March 20 2010

Today was the last chance I would have to ride Sinwaan before our first LD of the year, next weekend. I decided an easy ride would suffice. We did the short loop which incorporates a lot of hills. Today I did not bother with the HR monitor. Instead I wore my GPS unit that my brother got me for Christmas, year before last. It is the first time I have tried it out. (It's about time! But last year my excuse was a broken leg and then a pregnancy)

It was fun using it now that I am figuring out how to work it. I still need to read the manual to learn all the settings but basically the big number at the top is our total ride time and then the smaller numbers at the bottom are distance and rate per mile. I am going to have to get better at math because looking down and seeing 15 min per mile (walking) or 4 min per mile (gallop) requires me to translate that into MPH and let's face it, I am not great at that!

Sinwaan did fantastic leaving the barn, he seems to be over his herd-bound attitude which is great! He does still want to run for home once we turn down "his" road but he is very manageable and I enjoyed our time together today.

We stopped in for a visit at Jenee's today and I was proud that I got Sinwaan to sidepass over to her gate opener on the second try.

Our ride today was 6.11 mi and we came in at 1 hr 15 min even according to the GPS. Can't wait to use it on the ride! ;)

March 14 2010

Today I got a real treat - Ruth trailered us out to Bennington Lake for a ride.

Our earlier plan was to ride on the road. Three of the ladies - Ruth, Heather and Hope had mapped out a ride from Heather's house out to her mom's which was approx. 13 miles. They had planned to rest the horses and eat lunch there, and then ride back, making the complete ride 26 miles and a good test of if the horses were ready for our endurance ride coming up.

I knew that would be too much time to be away from the family on a weekend so I planned to trailer out and meet them after lunch and ride back into town with them.

Heather got sick - and Hope had homework - so with both of them canceling, Ruth and I decided to do our own thing.

The weather was perfect and we parked at the bottom. We went out and did about two loops around the Lake and an additional trail on the other side of the dam. Otto had a good spook which sent Ruth up on his neck but she stayed on and we had a nice ride together. I could have stayed out there all day!

It's a beautiful day

It was a high of 57° today - a fantastic day to be outside!

We repeated our short 5.8 mi loop today with a new saddle. Ruth loaned me her spare Wintec endurance saddle to try out. It took me a couple of months to track down a girth that was the right length. (It's a weird 38")

Sinwaan is starting to shed out (but not enough for the weather lately)

The saddle was interesting. As soon as I mounted up I felt like I was riding a much taller horse. It has a soft seat (and I have been drooling over all the d-rings) but something about the flaps are more slippery than I am used to. I felt my stirrups riding forward frequently. On the first hill I had to stop and tighten the girth - I had not added the breast-collar or bothered with the HRM today.

My rhythm was all off and it affected Sinwaan too. We just couldn't get into our groove today. I spent most of the ride concentrating on my form and felt like I was failing miserably. At the canter there was an odd 'whooshing' sound and Sinwaan let me know he was not happy about me bouncing around. I just couldn't sit deep and ride him out the way I normally do.

We finished the ride at 1 hr 10 min and I was happy with that given the elevation changes on that loop. We also had a slow start, a lot of stop and go as we tried to figure it all out.

After the ride I spent about an hour doing some dirty work - removing manure from his enclosure. Sinwaan was so cute, as soon as he saw me coming in with the bucket and the pitchfork he came walking briskly over to see what this was all about. He then proceeded to hang around and watch over my shoulder. He is quite a personable horse. It is nice to have the opportunity to just hang out with him and learn more about his personality.

I am feeling good about the upcoming ride. Only three weeks away now.

Last day of February

Had a great ride today. Started out alone and met up with Heather on Last Chance road. The weather was awesome, sunny and mid-50s. T-shirt weather, and I even got to wear some normal socks today (bye bye wool)! Probably because the weather was so perfect, everyone was out and about. Lots of traffic, and we saw numerous cyclist - Sinwaan hates those because they sneak up on us. I feel his haunches gather up underneath of him and he is ready to BOLT when they come up behind us.

Heather and Quincy set a great pace, a nice easy steady trot that kept Sinwaan's HR in the low 90s. That was just what we needed after our solo stop-and-go start.

On what must have been the end of Valley Chapel, Sinwaan had another good spook over the same type of dark mound that sent me airborne last weekend. I stuck with him this time although my calf again got pulled pretty darn good and even my hip hurt for a couple of minutes. It's better than the alternative, however, and it was soon forgotten.

On Stateline Road we saw a cow giving birth. That was probably the most noteworthy visual on today's jaunt.

Heather had mentioned adding on a couple of roads to my loop last week that would add a couple miles. I was game and off we went. From Beet we added on Springdale Road to Old Milton Hwy over to Bussell and that put us back at Mission. Sinwaan took the lead on Bussell, and sensing we were headed the "right" direction, gave me his power trot which put his HR up into the 120s.

Heather turned back and headed for home shortly onto Mission. Sinwaan did his power trot most of the way, pulling on my arms and asking for more speed. He slowed down on his own towards the end of the road and did well for me going over the Last Chance bridge, with its strange echoes, it is unlike other bridges in the area. We had a bit of a canter or two heading home on Stovall and I walked him the last 1/2 mi in.

I dismounted, let him grab a bite of grass, took off his bridle and let him scratch all over me, and then checked his HR. 49. Yeah! He got some more time to nibble on the spring greens coming up and then I turned him out to his paddock. He went and had a good roll, as always, and then settled into his 'lunch' that I had unkindly removed him from earlier.

12.9 miles in about 2.5 hrs. Yes, it was a good day for riding. I can't wait for the ride. I am confident now that we will do just fine.

Sunday ride

Today we went 11.2 miles. Our time was 2 hr 15 min.


It was a great day to be riding - the sun was shining and the temperature fantastic (46°). Not t-shirt weather, but not so cold that you are uncomfortable.

I think the HR monitor was fairly accurate today. Sinwaan was in the low 100s (110) at the trot (with fairly good recoveries when we slowed to a walk), until we headed back towards home (Beet Rd). He had a spook at some dirt (of all things!) and I went flying off (I believe that is the first time I have come off him). I was glad to have landed on soft ground, but it felt like I pulled both calves pretty good. I stood and stretched them out a bit before remounting. After that he was really moving out and his HR went up to the 120s. Finally, working.

All in all we had a great ride. I feel like I need to step it up to have him ready and continue to do this loop, or one similar to it in distance, every weekend between now and the ride (5 weeks away). He seemed a little tired when we got back home today. In the past when we were done he still was ready to do more. I was able to walk him in on a loose lead the final mile or so to cool him out a bit. He also seemed a little fat today so his caretaker and I had a conversation about cutting back slightly on his night time feeding. It would help if he wasn't carrying any extra weight.