High Desert Endurance Ride 2009

I decided to take only Bo to this ride.  Chief had just done four days at the Grand Canyon XP he needed a break.  Plus the vet came back out the week before High Desert and did some more work on his eyelid.  We hope this time will be the last time that has to be done and we’ll finally be over this injury.

The ride turnout at High Desert was small this year – when I got there around noon on Friday I think that I was only the fourth rig there.  I got Bo all set up, having one horse at a ride is sure a lot easier than taking care of two!  He was doing well eating and drinking and seemed content to zip around on the hi-line between the hi-ties.  I longed him before more people came.

The vet arrived just as it was getting dark.  I saw her pull in so quickly grabbed Bo and got over to vet right then.  I vetted him in barefoot – the area is gravely but I knew that Bo would be fine trotting out over the rocks that way so didn’t bother putting boots on.  Sure enough, he was!

I see a lot of barefoot horses at rides these days that are not even sound at a walk without having boots or boots and pads put on them.  I know that there are probably many shod horses that wouldn’t be sound either without hoof protection but it would really raise red flags for me if my horses couldn’t even walk or trot barefoot soundly.  Is it thrush, or feed –causing sensitive hooves?  Or having their protective soles trimmed away?  I don’t know for sure, but these riders really need to tune in and pay close attention to this.

Ride start was at 7 a.m.  The start is actually about a mile and a half out of camp so you need to leave early to get there.  I didn’t leave early enough, I left at about 6:43 and by the time I got there everybody was gone so actually it worked out pretty well.  I had forgotten how long it took to get to the start.  Note for next year:  Allow at least a half an hour.

For the first 15 miles I had my hands full with Bo, who wanted to go.  Fortunately he was rateable though at times it was difficult because other riders would pass us and then slow down, making it very hard to keep him at a consistent speed.  You know how they get when they *really* want to catch up to horses in front!  I really want to keep Bo under 10 mph at a trot and I knew too many times we were getting close or exceeding that.  We made it into the 15 mile vet check and pulsed in right away then vetted through.  I removed Bo’s bit so that he could eat.  He enjoyed having the boy scouts that were there feed him an apple and getting to visit with Tigger.  This was Tigger’s first outing since the Virginia City 100 and he did well with Dave riding him.

Bo and I left this check on time, or close to it – so got ahead of a few people there who were late getting out.  Fifteen minutes goes by fast when you vet through if you give your horse any kind of a real break to eat.

It was nice getting out on our own now because now I could let Bo travel at a speed I was happy with and without needing to put much effort into it.  He was going on a nice loose rein.  I let him canter now and then because the footing was so good for such long stretches.  We were having a great time and enjoying the perfect blue skies and fall colors.  We had a long downhill down a wash and that is where Gretchen caught up to us.  We ended up riding the rest of the ride together as our horses did very well together.  It was Spice’s first ride after having some time off.

Lunch was back in camp after having gone 30 miles.  After crossing the highway we had the choice of taking the road in, or taking in a new trail that the boy scouts and NASTR put in.  I decided to take the new trail and was glad that I did.  It was really pretty singletrack that went through the colorful cottonwoods alongside the Carson River.  It was a little bit longer this way but much more enjoyable, and cooler.

The weather was quite warm and I knew I needed to be careful with Bo because he had really fluffed up his coat in the last couple of weeks.

We pulsed in right away, criteria was 60.  I went over to my trailer and pulled Bo’s tack and his splint and ankle boots.  I used them on this ride because of all of the mud and water crossings, I didn’t want him to slip and ding something up.  Then I sponged him to cool him and get him cleaned up.  We went over after a few minutes and vetted through.  I ate lunch – some leftover chicken and drank a SoBe energy drink plus had some chips and a V8 juice.   Bo was going to town eating everything I put in front of him.

The hour went by quickly.  Somehow i managed to get Bo’s tack all back on and head out to the timer.  We were now going to cross the Carson River and do a 20 mile loop.  Crossing the river was fun.  It had really come up from the storm the week before the ride.  They told us to stay in the middle and not get too close to the sand bars, because they were soft and you would sink in them.  Like quicksand!  I made a couple of videos as we rode through the river – we don’t just cross it – we ride up to another point so the horses are in the water for a ways.  I could feel the ground underneath in spots was real sucky and at times Bo would sink a little here and there.  Still, his Renegade boots stayed on perfectly.  Gretchen’s horse Spice was also doing very well with the water crossing.  It was really warm out so good for the horses to get cooled off a little.

Now we were heading over to where the remains of the old Fort Churchill is and up a hill called “The Gym” for some more strenuous work.  This was the hottest part of the day so the horses were really working.  We headed up and around, then back down.  The scenery was sure gorgeous.  Now we were going down Fort Churchill road for a few miles then turned left, crossing a concrete bridge before heading through some sand under more cottonwoods before arriving at another river crossing.

On the way back in I again took the new singletrack trail in, even though I now knew it was the longer way in.  I didn’t care because I knew it was cooler and nicer to ride on – much nicer than a road!  I’ve previously GPS’d this ride several times and it was always at least 50 or more real miles.  This day it was around 52 miles.  I finished at around 4 p.m. and I got back to camp at 4:40, just making it over to vet within an hour of crossing the finish line.

I think I finished around 17th or 18th this day with Gretchen.  Dave, Connie, Gina and Gary were just ahead of us and we all walked in together from the finish line.  There were 26 on the 50 and a few riders on the LD.  I brought the 2nd day vet card with me when I took Bo over for his completion check.  The vet said he was good to go for day 2, so we completed and at the same time vetted in for day 2.

Got Bo cleaned up, ice booted him, took a shower then passed out ice cream bars to the hot riders that had finished.  It sure did hit the spot, on such a warm sunny day!  Dinner was great – fajitas.  Awards were rope halters with ropes in a choice of colors.  Very nice!

Karen and Bo at the High Desert Ride on Sunday

The second days start is in camp, so I didn’t need to be ready to go until 7 a.m. which was nice.  The day before when I finished I had washed Bo’s boots out so they were all ready to go.  I was quite impressed with how well Bo’s boots had worked the day before with all of the mud puddles and water crossings we had gone through.  I never touched Bo’s boots the entire day.  I put them on, and took them off – that was all I had to do besides rinse them off after finishing.

Putting the boots on the 2nd morning was a breeze.  Before I knew it I was mounted up and we were on our way!  We started out crossing the river first thing right out of camp.  Bo was enthusiastic about it enough at some points to try and pick up a trot, though it was hard going so I kept him at a walk.  Our first loop on day 2 was the same 20 mile loop we did the afternoon before.

We came back into camp after that first 20 miles and pulsed in right away at 60.  I was going to go to my trailer to pull tack when the vet said that it was okay to vet with it on – yay!  So that saved me a lot of time between going back and forth and de-tacking and re-tacking.  I vetted Bo through then headed to the trailer where he had a lot more time to eat and rest, and so did I.  Great!

The hour still went by fairly quickly. For lunch today I had a salad, more leftover chicken, an Emergen-C,  SoBe and water.  It was hot and I was trying my best to stay hydrated.

I only had to clip back the breastcollar, retighten my girth and reattach my crupper before heading back out for the next 30 miles.  I met back up with Sonya, who I had been riding with a lot in the morning and we left together on the singletrack forest trail.  This part was much more difficult than usual because it was so hot, and humid.  It was really tough on the horses.  We went a few miles out before reaching the vet check that we didn’t need to stop at until we did another loop and came back in.  I got off anyway and realized just how hot it was so stopped and spent about 15 or 20 minutes there letting Bo eat, drink and cooling him out while I drank more water.  It was a good break.

We went out for the next 6 mile loop and then came back to the check.  I knew that the heat along with the horses winter coats was making it tough on them and you could tell because it took Bo at least four or five minutes to come down to 60.  I put water on him to cool him.  All of the horses were taking time to come down and needing to be cooled.  I vetted as soon as I got pulsed in and Bo had continued to drop and was now at 52.  He was looking good!  I stayed a few extra minutes here too, before heading back to camp for the last few miles.

Finally some clouds came, with a sight breeze to help cool us off.  What a relief!  I alternated trotting on Bo along with walking through the deep sand.  He knew he was going back and had lots of enthusiasm still.  Sonja dropped back since this was Chip’s first ride in 8 years.

As we got closer and closer to the finish I tried slowing Bo down more and more so that Bo would cool out.  I knew the heat along with the heavy coat and 100 miles in two days was making this one of the toughest things Bo had ever done.  It made the one day 100 he did earlier this year seem like a walk in the park.

I caught up to Tom Sherwood, who was also trying to keep his horse calmed down.  We alternated slow trotting with lots of walking the rest of the way in to the finish.  I got in at about 3:14.  Tom ended up 5th and I was 6th.  We were surprised to be that far up.  I think others had also been slowing down and taking it easy.  A couple of riders ahead had also gotten lost and a rider had also been pulled at the finish.

I pulled Bo’s tack off and brushed him down good.  With the breeze coming up and the clouds getting darker I decided not to sponge him because I didn’t think he’d dry before dark.   I kept brushing him over and over to get him as clean and fluffy as possible.  I headed over to vet and got the final check taken care of as soon as we could.  Bo’s pulse was down well but I still felt that he’d been pretty heat stressed given the conditions.  Bo did a good job staying hydrated as he drank really well.  I was aware that he’d sweated a lot more than normal too, so made an effort to make sure he had salt added to all of his mashes which he readily ate.

There were 29 riders on day 2 in the 50 and a few in the LD.  I was really surprised that more people hadn’t come to this ride given the perfect weather.  The fall colors were so spectacular it was awesome getting to ride for two days in such a beautiful area.

A quick summary on the Renegade hoof boots (strap ons) I used on Bo – since I got so many questions about them at the ride.  I used the same four Renegade boots both days and they all came through in really great shape.  I never once had a single boot issue.  Cool!!!  The boots stayed on both days through lots of water and mud crossings.

Bo had no trouble at all walking into and through puddles.  The boots stayed in place perfectly.  I think that Bo has finally become mud certified too, he went through even the slickest stuff just like he knew what he was doing.  Finally!  It takes a long time to get a horse proficient in going through mud.  Because they are going to slip in the really slick stuff and that is what is scary – what counts is how they handle it.  Once they learn that and you know they know how to slip and slide without falling or panicking then it becomes a much more enjoyable experience.  I found I was no longer holding my breath when Bo went through mud or alongside the edge of puddles with banks on them.  It was a great feeling!  Bo’s pasterns and heel bulbs came through both days looking like he hadn’t done anything – the Renny’s are working fabulously on him not causing any rubs or sensitive spots, no scratches or sores anywhere.  I haven’t glued boots on Bo for months and months now.  He has been using the Renegade strap ons for all of his rides and for trail marking, though I still ride him barefoot regularly.  I’m really happy to have found a hoof boot for Bo that performs so well for him!