Karen and Tigger’s Virginia City 100 Endurance Ride Story, Pt 4

I didn’t know it yet, but this part coming up was going to be the best part of the ride, and the worst part of the ride for us.  I always try to look at everything as positively as possible.  For example, I knew that we had 22 mile left to go.  Why, that’s not even a LD ride!  Plus, all I really need to think about is that if I go 11 miles out then I”ll be at the farthest point, round the turn and cruise on in only 11 more miles….plus, once I got to the Cottonwoods vet check, I would only have 8 more miles to go and would be headed back to camp.  Piece of cake!

Earlier this year I rode the 20 Mule Team 100 on Bo and rode along with Dave and Tigger.  I think Tigger handled the VC ride a lot better than he did 20 MT.  I’m not sure why as the 20 MT ride is much easier, though Tig had a winter coat plus was carrying more weight (on his back) than now.  Either way I thought about this and knew that we had a good chance at making it through in time and in good shape.

I was really looking forward to getting out there and challenging this last part of the trail.  I felt better now than I had earlier, the hour break had been good for me.  I think I had finally found our groove and managed to keep the momentum going so that my back was happy.  Trotting at times was an interesting sensation, almost like being drunk as I felt floaty on top of Tigger as he negotiated his way through dips and uneven terrain in the dark.  I felt so comfortable and safe on him that I didn’t even try to guide him other than in the proper direction.  He was confident enough to pick where to place his feet and did so without tripping or stumbling in the dark no matter how uneven the ground was.

Erasmo and I left camp together.  We were both having a good time and our horses did well together.  We had gone a few miles when we saw headlights ahead.  It was Amy and Dave C. bringing out an Easyboot for Erasmo’s horse!  They were worried that his mare might step on a rock (ya think!) and come up sore this close to the end of the ride.  We told them we’d meet them at the water which was just a few hundred yards up the trail (give or take).

The horses drank well while Erasmo tried putting the boot on.  It didn’t fit.  They were going to crimp the teeth down and I stopped them saying to hold the boot up to the bottom of the foot first while I shined my headlight on it – good thing because the boot was too small and would never have gone on.  Darn!  Dave and Amy drove off heading out to the Cottonwood vet check to pick up a larger size.  They met us later on the trail as the trail was actually the road they had to take to get out there and back.  Tigger stood patiently (imagine that!) while Erasmo got the correct size boot on his mare, and we were off again!

As we left the lights of the city behind the stars above flickered and lit the way for us.  The ground was illuminated from the starlight and it was so magical riding through this area of trail.  The Big Dipper was as bright as I’d ever seen it.  The air was clean and clear and the temperature comfortable.  It was definitely a beautiful evening to be riding a horse!

We passed some of the same riders on their way in on this loop that we had passed earlier on their way out from camp and our way in on the last loop.  The last two we saw were Matt and Colton.  They said they hadn’t seen a horse since passing us a few hours earlier.

Erasmo’s mare tripped and fell, so he got off and led on foot the rest of the way into the vetcheck.  He did a pretty good job jogging along to keep up when I let Tigger do a slow trot.

One more turn towards the check and Tigger was drawn over to the right – ha – a cattle trough full of water.  He wasn’t about to pass that up, even in the dark.  He drank really well.  The vet check was very close and we walked on in.  We heard them cheering for us.  I think they were happy to see riders as it had been about two hours since they had a horse come in.  Wow, things were really spread out!

Tigger dove into the hay as soon as we got there.  He didn’t want to drink again.  As soon as I got his card back from the in timer I went over to Susan McCartney to vet.  Trotted Tig out and he had a 56 pulse and passed the vet check.  He did do something funny that we weren’t sure about – he held his head out and curled out his lips.  I’ve had geldings do that when in the presence of a mare, and since we were riding with a mare I thought that might be it.  Turned out, that wasn’t it….

We had a 15 minute hold so I sat down while the vet check volunteers put a blanket on Tigger and kept an eye on him while I rested too.  Tig was munching on hay but spent the last few minutes resting.  Before we knew it, it was time to go.  Erasmo and I headed out, looking forward to the last 8 miles.  I hadn’t gotten very far before Tigger coughed.

Uh oh.

He coughed again.  And again.  I said “something is wrong”.  I got off, turned my headlamp on and looked at Tig’s head to see him coughing and spraying out globs of hay and green goobers.  It was like the jolly green giant was barfing.  Tigger was choking!  I walked him to see if he might get the rest of it out and be okay.  He walked okay but couldn’t trot so I decided that I had to go back to the vetcheck.  There was no way I could risk continuing on.  I bid Erasmo a farewell and watched him disappear into the dark.

Tigger and I turned and headed back to the vetcheck.  He was walking alongside me okay and seemed to be breathing allright.  Still, I knew that something was definitely wrong.  We got back into the vetcheck and I told them that my horse was choking.  Susan came over to check him and asked me what I wanted her to do – tube him – or …. ??  I told her to do whatever she thought was best.  She said that it didn’t look like he was in any immediate distress and that maybe we should wait a few minutes to see if it would clear on it’s own.  I started massaging his windpipe under his jowl and almost immediately felt a large spasm and then Tigger swallowed.  Right then his ears went up, his eyes looked clear and hopeful and he relaxed – big sigh.  In an instant I knew that whatever had been causing the problem had cleared in his throat and that now at least, he would be okay without needing the vet to stick a tube down his throat.  I still wasn’t sure that we were going to be able to go on though.

Fortunately, Carolyn was there waiting to crew for her riders (Gina–her mom, Dave and Carol).  She offered some wet mash for Tigger.  I wasn’t going to let him eat any hay but went over to a quiet area in the dark with a pan of mash.  You could tell that Tigger was a little apprehensive about eating, though it was obvious that he wanted to.  He reached down and took a little nibble, lifted his head up and closed his eyes as if he was savoring the bite.  I think he was just being careful.  When that went down he bent down and did it again, taking a larger mouthful this time.  In a few minutes he was digging in and enjoying a good meal of the wet mash.  What a relief!

Carolyn came over and told me that earlier in the ride two other horses had choked the same way and that it cleared, just like it did just now with Tigger.  Bless her! I was relieved to hear that.  The other two horses were still on the ride.  So maybe I thought, just maybe – Susan will give me the go ahead to continue the last 8 miles.  But I wouldn’t go if she thought I was taking a risk or if something might still be wrong.

Soon the rest of the ride came in.  I mean “the rest of the ride”.  It turned out that there were only going to be 18 finishers.  I mainly stayed over in the quiet area though did walk Tigger over to the water (he drank well) and back again while the other horses were being vetted.  I never cared about where I placed so wasn’t concerned with spending that much extra time in the check letting Tigger eat.  I think it turned out to be really good for him.

Once Susan was done vetting the group of horses I went over and had her check Tig out again.  She said he looked good to go and knew I would take it easy.  I told everybody that if I wasn’t sure he was okay I would turn around and come back.

I led out of the check.  Tigger looked bright eyed and bushy tailed – no more jolly green giant goop coming out of his mouth and he was behaving normally.  I mounted and just then Connie and Andy caught me as they were heading out from the check too.

I know how a horse can seem totally fine one minute, and then isn’t the next.  I tried to keep the positive thoughts and focused as much as I could on Tigger hoping that if something did go wrong I’d pick up on it and be able to get him back to the check or where he could get help if he needed it.  Who me, worry?  Ugh.

We had a very enjoyable and relaxing ride into the finish alternating walking with an easy trot.  It sure seemed a long way to go on the uneven rutted up road in the dark.  Tigger was still going through it as gracefully as he had 22 hours ago and I was breathing a sigh of relief that he still felt so good and happy that we had managed to get through a very scary few minutes back there.  I’d never had a horse choke on a ride like that before and it was a pretty harrowing experience.  It was especially disturbing to me because I knew that Tigger was scared.  I knew he was also as relieved as I was when it was over.  I kept giving him more pats and praise, he deserved it.

I knew that in spite of the challenges we had faced and conquered throughout the entire ride that it was meant to be that we finished the ride.  Well, not just finished but that Tigger was going to be healthy and sound.  I kept thinking positive and believing that everything was all right with my horse and before I knew it, we were approaching the finish line at the cemetery!

I had already told Connie that I didn’t care where I placed.  She was 9th, and I was 10th.  Andy just behind us, 11th.  It was 4:01 a.m. and we were in the top friggin ten!  Of course, that doesn’t sound like such a big deal with only 18 finishers but there had been 42 starters in the ride.  Wow, I thought…that’s only like a 43% completion rate – way lower than normal for this ride.  Plus the ride times were really slow.  During the ride I really had not passed many people.  I moved up through attrition.  What a surprise!  Even more so the next day when I found out that I was also first in my weight division.

We were handed our vet cards back with the finish time on them and told to watch out for the guy over in the woods walking back and forth.  Turned out, that was the ghost that Amy saw.  See story about that here.  Apparently the ghost went away when the horses went through, but then came back.  I wondered if it might be Al Beaupre, coming back to watch over the ride and make sure we all made it safely through?

Connie and I rode back through the streets towards camp.  What a magical and emotional experience the entire ride was. Tigger knew he was going back to camp and couldn’t stop his enthusiasm from exhibiting itself in the form of “tigging”.  Walk, now?  Ha, no way – we are going into camp mom I can’t wait to get there, come on let’s go….

I got off near the trailers in camp and Tigger stopped to pee.  Shined the light again to make sure it was the right color.  Yep.  Good!  I couldn’t believe that Amy was still up this late, but she was.  Awesome!  I was so excited and high from having such a fantastic ride that I was almost jumping out of my skin.  So I knew how Tigger felt!  Amy and I got Tigger’s tack stripped off immediately and I went right over to vet.  I was the first one in my group of finishers to get there (thanks to having Amy right there, yah!).

Susan greeted me and asked how he did and I told her he did great and didn’t appear to have any more issues from when he choked.  She vetted him through and he got pretty good scores – I think some B’s but also lots of A’s and after trotting out, a 44 pulse and an A on gait.  All the vets agreed that he passed – which was good because they had to pull a couple of horses at the finish.  I’m glad that my horse wasn’t the third one in a row to have that happen!

Tigger the morning after the VC 100!

I think Tig looked a little tired but thought he still trotted out nicely considering what he had just done.  I was so proud of Tigger and knew that this was one of the best rides I’ve ever had. He got the royal treatment – blanketed, cleaned up, well fed and tucked into bed with lots of hugs and kisses and praise.  He even had the added bonus of Dave and White Cloud coming in just a couple of minutes behind us so he had a buddy next to him to commiserate with.

By the time I ate something and got more fluids in me, cleaned up and into bed it was close to sun-up.  From the time I left camp at the start until I finished and got back into camp, 24 hours had passed as had 100 miles of challenging trail and incredibly rugged country – all seen through the ears of one really special super cute little brown horse.  I went to bed with a big smile on my face and got about two hours of sleep before it was time to get up again.

Final results and more to be continued….