The Last Hurrah (Point Chaser 2010 - Part 1)

End of loop 2, 50 miler

This is it.  The final ride of the MN distance season has come and gone. It was a great weekend of many miles and memories to tide us over the long winter till May.

Point Chaser is a 3-day ride, and I actually had the opportunity to go for the entire weekend.  Given that, I planned to ride the 50 on Friday, take Saturday as a rest day, and then ride the 30 Limited Distance on Sunday.  Rhio & I have never competed more than one day in a weekend before, and this was his first competition since June, so I wanted to maximize our chances of completing the 80 miles.

Start of loop 2, 50 miler

I started him on beet pulp about two weeks before the ride, so his hindgut would be used to digesting it, and added a small amount of alfalfa pellets starting several days before the ride, as a yet another source of readily-digested fiber and also for its calcium content.  Calcium is an essential electrolyte for muscle activity, and also can help buffer the acidic stomach environment to reduce the chances of ulcers developing.  Rhio has been prone to very loose manure at rides in the past, and I hypothesize he may be one of the many horses that develops some stomach ulceration with stress.  He also gets plain salt and a prebiotic/probiotic powder starting the Monday before the ride and throughout the ride (I replace the salt with a balanced electrolyte powder the day before the ride).  I only give e-lytes in his beet pulp mashes, and he eats it readily.  So far, this strategy has worked well for us.  At the ride, he gets as much hay as he wants, plus the beet pulp + alfalfa pellets + a handful of senior feed + electrolytes + probiotic mixture morning, night, and at every vet check.  Three of us travelled together for this ride (myself, Jodi, and Gesa), so there were three different hays for the horses.  They all seemed to prefer Gesa's hay!  Rhio's normal ration at home is hay (or pasture) plus a handful of "lite" pellets twice a day, and a vitamin E - selenium supplement.  So far, he hasn't need much in the way of extra feed for his endurance endeavors. And this strategy seemed to work well, as he did not develop the extremely loose manure than he has in the past.  Of course, other factors come into play as well, so it's hard to say if it's the change to his feed plan for rides or not.

Somewhere on the first loop

Point Chaser is held at St. Croix State Park in Hinckley, MN - about a 2 hour drive from home.  It's a nice horse camp with high lines, some corrals, and a building with electricity, bathrooms, hot showers, picnic tables, and 2 fireplaces.  The trails are flat, wide, and mostly grassy.  There are also multiple bridges to cross.  Due to AHA Nationals being cancelled, among other things, many more people wanted to come to the ride than had camping reservations.  There was a significant amount of frustration on the part of ride management, park staff, and competitors, but eventually most everyone was accommodated somehow.  We started with our horses sharing a highline with a friend's 2 horses, but ended up with Rhio & Paco sharing a corral (they're about 16' by 10').  The corrals do not have gates, and luckily we had a long rope in the trailer with which to pen them in.  I was slightly nervous as Rhio has a history of crawling out of non-electric fences, but decided with plenty of hay in front of him and his buddy to hang with, he'd probably be ok.  Thank goodness I was right!  It is always a relief in the morning to crawl out of bed and find your horse right where you left him.

Thursday night got very, very cold with a full moon and shining stars.  I was snug in my mummy bag in the trailer, and Rhio was snug in his layered polarfleece plus sheet.  There was ice in the water in the morning, and as we headed out just after sunrise into a frosty dawn, I discovered that water bottles can freeze while in my pommel pack and riding as a fast clip.  They were definitely NOT frozen when I put them in there in the morning, but the first time I tried to drink I discovered a healthy amount of ice in the bottle!  Someone said it was 22 degrees just before dawn.  I wasn't dressed as perfectly as I could be, but as long as we kept moving out I was fine.  I got chilled when we slowed to walk or graze the horses.  It took a long time for the sun to feel warm, but by the afternoon I'd shed a few layers and it had turned into a lovely day.

Early in the first loop - a good spot to let the horses graze some of the frosty grass

We started out with our buddies Tracy and Diego (we did our last ride with them too), and rode the whole day with them.  Diego didn't want to leave camp and Rhio wanted to catch all the horses we'd let go out of camp ahead of us (most all of the other 50s) - so the start was a bit more intense than I like.  Rhio gave a couple of little crow-hops, but no major tantrum.  I did ride most of the first 3 - 4 miles with a VERY firm grip on those reins, though - not the easy, relaxed way Rhio usually goes, but I guess somewhat normal for the start of an endurance ride, especially one that was so crisp & invigorating.  It seemed that everyone had more horse than normal this day!

With Tracy & Diego, finishing loop 2

Both horses were completely barefoot, and our first (and longest) loop of about 24 miles included a fair amount of gravel road.  Rhio didn't seem to mind it as long as he could stay on the edge of the road.  Everything was covered in dry, crunchy leaves and trotting through them created quite a noise; whatever wildlife may have been around to see in the early hours definitely found somewhere else to be when it heard us coming!  It was so loud it made conversing quite difficult.

We ran into two potentially difficult situations on the first loop, both of which turned out fine.  The first was a particular bridge with a rubber matting over it (to protect the wood from snowmobile tracks with studs, I presume).  This bridge was completely frosted up, and I made a dumb choice and did not dismount to lead Rhio across.  He willingly walked onto the bridge, but almost immediately started scrambling with all four hooves unable to gain any traction at all.  There was absolutely nothing I could do, so I did my best to stay centered & balanced, and out of his way, so he could hopefully cope with the situation.  He did a marvelous job, staying calm and getting us safely across the bridge. Whew!  Good boy, Rhio!

Crossing the big bridge for the first time, on loop 1

The second situation was really a non-situation - a tractor came up to and passed us along a gravel road, and was then working on the trail we were supposed to take.  A misplaced beaver dam caused some flooding earlier in the year, and the trail had been rebuilt, but the heavy equipment used to do so had left deep ruts in the trail.  The tractor guy was smoothing the ruts out when we had to pass him, but the horses didn't mind at all and he even turned his engine off.

The last few miles of the loop are two-way trail, and also the end of the 2nd loop for the 30 milers.  We were unlucky enough to arrive to this section during a high-traffic time, and Rhio was once again difficult to rate and not paying attention to anything but those horses ahead of him.  We had several people blow past us, which wasn't helpful at all.   This is a very frustrating situation for me, as it is not much fun to ride a rocket poised to blast off at any minute.  He shakes his head and swings his neck around incessantly and I can feel him throwing us off-balance.  I am afraid that we will fall sometime because of these antics, but if I let him go, which is what he wants, then we're racing down the trail too fast.  I even got off and hand-walked (with him spinning around me in circles) for a while, which helped a little, until I got back on.  And all this was at the end of the 24 mile loop - I guess 24 miles isn't enough to settle him down AT ALL!

Our first hold was one hour, and we were down as soon as we came in, so were able to get our pulse and head back to the trailer to relax immediately.  We had exit exams with CRIs all day, so headed back to the vets and had to wait in line to vet through.  Our turn came, and Rhio looked fresh as a daisy with a CRI of 11/10.  Off we went on loop two, about 11 miles long.  I was about 4 minutes late getting out because of the wait at the vets, and Tracy & Diego had headed out at a walk waiting for us to catch up.  Rhio knew they were up there somewhere, and the ride photographers got some great shots of him as he was totally focused on finding them.  

Heading out to catch Diego on loop 2

Diego gave Tracy a couple of big spooks throughout the day, including one self-inflicted when Tracy pulled an overhanging branch down and it fell off, smacking Diego in the rump.  She managed to hang on - to his ear!  After hanging there in space for what seemed like forever, she realized there was no way she could get back into the saddle from her position and allowed herself to drop to the ground.  It probably didn't help that we were both laughing uproariously at the spectacle!

A few miles later, Rhio stopped to drink at a puddle and the first cart on the competitive drive came up behind us.  The driver was very considerate & waited for us to finish drinking, then followed along behind us for a little while (that little horse of his could FLY!).  We moved aside so he could pass, as it became clear that his little horse could out trot ours for sure.  Rhio was a little nervous watching "the contraption" approach us, but as soon as it was in front of us, it became a game of "chase."  Boy did Rhio love that!  He followed the cart for a mile or two, happily cantering along to the cart horse's trot, until we pulled our boys up to let the cart go ahead.  I think Rhio was convinced he'd find that cart again, just around the next bend, for the rest of the loop.

"Chasing" the cart

We again came into vet check already pulsed down, and started our 40 minute hold before our third and final loop of about 14 miles.  Another exit CRI (12/12) and we were off!  Rhio and Diego continued to pace well together, and traded off the lead more on this last loop.  Previously, Rhio had led most of the time.  Rhio found cantering to be his preferred gait when Diego led, as Diego's trot is a little faster than his.  I had the heart rate monitor and GPS on all day, and was curious to discover that his fastest comfortable trot was about 10.5 mph and his nice canter was about 12.5 mph, but he did both gaits at about 126 beats per minute. So, on this flat course at least, he could travel 2 mph faster by cantering, but apparently expend no extra effort.  We definitely need to work on the canter, though, as I don't think I'm as good at riding it for extended periods as I could be, and Rhio only uses his left lead.  We don't have a lot of good cantering trails at home, as we have lots of hills and what is flat and open with good footing for cantering is gravel road, which I do not like to canter on (it's a pretty hard landing, for one thing, plus I think it's too concussive for his legs.)  So, something to seek out next year is more opportunities to work on long cantering stretches.

End of the day, on the way "in" on the third loop

We finished almost exactly at 5 pm, vetted right through, and got our completions!  Rhio looked like he'd been out for a walk in the park, and I was feeling great, too.  I do think the 50 miles barefoot had taken a little toll, as the trot-out area was all gravel and he was less willing to move out at his trot out on that surface.  In retrospect, it would have been nice to have his boots on for the first loop, with the most gravel on it, but also could have been an issue with the frosty conditions and slippage.  All in all, I was happy with my decision to ride barefoot.

Enjoying our buddies

Our moving time, according to my GPS, was 3:31 for the first loop (24.4 mi), 1:36 for the second loop (11.4 mi), and 2:05 for the third loop (13.7 mi).  Our total ride time was 7 hours 12 minutes, although our official ride time was longer.  Our average speed was 6.9 mph first loop, 7.2 mph second loop, and 6.4 mph third loop.

Way to go, Rhio!  What a great day :)

Yummy hay (munching at a vet check)

All done! Poultice & standing wraps in place, ready to go back to the corral to hang with Paco

The Fishing is Good When it Rains

Rhio's got the eating part down pat! 

It always rains at the Maplewood West ride, and this year was no exception!  This is one of my favorite parks to ride in Minnesota, but it's about a 5 hour trip from home, so I only get there once a year for the endurance ride.  Rhio and I were going with Jodi & Rhonda again, and we loaded up on a foggy, soggy, chilly Duluth morning, having checked the weather twice and packed lots of extra dry clothes!  The trip was uneventful and we pulled into our reserved camping spot at the tip of the tear drop loop - our friends DeAnne, Jutta, & Donna from North Dakota were already parked across the way and Deb was going to join us on our site - cozy but good for socializing!

I didn't get to ride this ride last year, as I was vetting all weekend.  This year, the ride manager found a new vet who was interested in giving it a whirl, so I was able to share the vetting duties with another vet/rider and we each got to ride one day & work one day - what a great arrangement!  All three of us worked getting horses vetted in Friday night, and Donna was gracious enough to bring Rhio up to be vetted in for me.

Saturday morning dawned cloudy & humid, but not yet raining.  Rhio and I were doing the 50 miler, riding with our buddies Tracy & Diego.  Start time was 7 am, and our first loop was to be 25 miles.  This is a new trail layout for this ride, and gave us a 3-loop 50 (25 miles, 13 miles, and 12 miles) instead of a typical 4-loop 50.  I thought the trails were great - well marked and easy to follow.  Although we covered a lot of the same ground throughout the day, it was pieced together differently on each loop and sometimes we went the opposite direction over a section of trail that we'd been on earlier.  We never got bored!

Tracy & Diego leading the way down one of the least steep of the grassy hills

I'd decided to start the ride completely barefoot and see how the footing was before deciding whether or not to boot for the second half of the ride.  There are some really grassy hills we traverse, and I know from experience that wet grass, either from dew or rain, is very, very slippery in boots - so I wanted to avoid the dewy grass (there wouldn't be much I could do about avoiding rain-wet grass, but I'd cross that bridge when I came to it!).

We started well after the rest of the pack, making sure they were out of sight before ambling towards the trail head.  We left camp at a walk but not for long - Rhio took the lead and set a nice 10 mph pace.  We cruised along on a completely loose rein, definitely a first for us, and negotiated the footing with no issues.

Photo courtesy of Bob (I don't know his last name)

Coming into the boat landing water stop

About the time we hit the boat landing on the first loop, the rain started and I was glad I'd tied my rain jacket on the back of the saddle.  Rhio preferred to drink from the numerous mud puddles on trail, and didn't care too much for the boat landing as a watering hole.  He was content to stand in the water and cool his legs a bit, though, so I couldn't complain.  Diego amused himself by vigorous pawing and playing in the water.   One of the other rider's husbands was at the boat landing with buckets of water available for those horses that didn't like the lake - how nice!  He was there all three times we came through the boat landing.

Photo courtesy of Bob

photo courtesy of Bob

Diego's water antics

We completed the first loop in about 3 hours, which was a nice pace.  We had to walk past our trailer & camp to get to the timer & vet area, which Rhio didn't think was the best plan, but we were able to come back to relax for our hour hold.  Luckily the rain stopped for the entire length of our hold - which made getting him fed and actually taking care of myself much more pleasant.  I debated about putting on a dry shirt, but decided against it because the shirt I was wearing was a synthetic "performance" fabric and all my other shirts were cotton.  I was also hoping the rain was actually done, but that didn't turn out to be the case!

Rhio relaxing at our hour hold

We left for the second loop and discovered that the rain and the horses ahead of us had turned certain sections of the trail into mud slip-n-slides.  We let the boys pick their pace, and they automatically slowed to a walk where they needed to, then picked the trot back up as they could.  Many of the grassy areas are so tall that the horses barely need to lower their heads to grab a bite - so both horses made the most of every opportunity and grabbed snacks on the fly.  We picked our way carefully through some muddy sections, were able to move out nicely on the gravel access roads, and were happy that the horses continued to drink at almost every available puddle or pond.  We did have some distractions on this loop, as the fishing public was out en force on this rainy Saturday and Rhio was fascinated with all the boats - standing staring at them instead of drinking at several water stops.  My Dad always says the fishing is good when it rains, and that was apparently the case!  We also ran into several individual and pairs of hikers.

Rhio enjoying the smorgsaboard of delicious greens

The horses paced very well together, and changed roles leading and following pretty regularly, and I think maybe of their own choosing!  I don't actually remember deciding who was going to lead most of the time - we just travelled in whatever order our horses chose.  Diego seemed to enjoy rubbing his head on Rhio's tail, and even wore Rhio's tail as a decorative boa once, and Rhio, my boy who doesn't like anyone close to his rump, was completely at ease with it all.

The trails are a mixture of packed dirt or sandy improved trails through the hardwood forest, with some rocks scattered in but not "rocky," gravel access roads and gravely areas of improved trail, and grassy open prairie areas. This area of Minnesota is filled with small depressions (lakes, ponds, potholes) that hold water and rolling hills around them, left over from the glacial period.  I think there's a specific geologic term for this landscape, but I don't know what it is (despite living for 4 years with a geology major for a roommate in college!).  It looked to me like they are doing some prairie maintenance in the park, as we rode through at least one area that had clearly been burned this spring.

One of the many pretty flowers in bloom

I didn't take very many pictures because it was so rainy, but this gives a sense of the landscape.

The rain continued through the entire second loop, and slowed us down considerably as we negotiated the slippery areas very carefully.  It was very quiet during the rain - no bird song, no wildlife sightings, no wind in the trees - and the pattering of the rain in the leaves was almost too relaxing, as I started thinking about napping!

By the time we returned to camp for our second hold of 40 minutes, the rain had quit and the sun came out, heating things up quickly.  I'd had my sponge on my saddle all day, but the natural sponging effect of the steady rain meant I hadn't even unclipped it until our third stop of the day at the boat landing.  Diego was "sponging" himself in the lake, so Rhio & I availed ourselves of the buckets for a good drink and some sponging.

Close to the finish we had a deer come barreling down the trail on course for a head-on collision, but it executed a beautiful sliding stop, spun off into the woods, and was gone.  Rhio was leading at that point, and never even wavered in his stride.  We crossed the finish line with 8 hours of ride time, which I was pleased with.  We never pushed the horses all day, took it carefully through the slippery & mucky sections, and both finished with happy horses.

Rhio looked great at the end, and I spent some timing sponging him down to get the mud & sweat off at the end before presenting for our completion exam.  We'd done the whole 50 miles barefoot!  He had a little bit of soreness in his shoulders - I assume from the combination of hills and slippery footing - but his back was great and his feet looked great, too.

I settled him in to the trailer with his beet pulp mash and wrapped his legs with a new wrap I've just gotten called "Cold Flex."  It's a bandage meant to cool the lower extremities via evaporation, and seemed to work nicely.  I still got a little stocking up overnight (he wore the bandages for about 3 hours after the ride then was bare-legged overnight), which is pretty normal for him, especially as he lays down to sleep much of the night.  His right front leg, the leg with the hoof injury from the winter, stocks up the most and I have to wonder if it's related to the different weight bearing in that foot currently.  He doesn't show any heat or soreness in the leg, so for now I am just watching that leg after all our rides, training and competition.

Rhio with his mash and his Cold Flex wraps

We had a fabulous spread at potluck, and nearly finished awards before the down pour started.  I walked Rhio in the rain, letting him graze a lot, and finished up the nightly chores drenched to the skin. Boy did my dry clothes & dry bed feel fantastic when I finally crawled into them!  The rain stopped just at sunset, and although a thunderstorm rolled through nearby, we got only the sound-and-light show without any more precipitation.

A very dramatic sunset

Sunday morning Rhio was looking chipper, trotting a few circles around me as I walked him before starting the morning vetting-in of newly arrived horses and horses which had competed on Saturday (we require them to vet in the morning of their 2nd ride instead of the night before).  Vetting went smoothly, and I even had a chance to go shopping at Teddy's Running Bear mobile tack trailer; she stopped here for the weekend on her way to the Ft. Howes ride in Montana next weekend.  I think I feel about racks of rainbow-colored biothane tack what other women feel about shoes!  Drool, drool!  I restrained myself, coming home with only a new pair of SSG riding gloves and a human electrolyte to try for myself.

The weather was beautiful all day Sunday, and we had all riders in and accounted for by 2:30 pm, just in time to head home to arrive before dark.  We topped off the weekend with the traditional Dairy Queen stop, and got home around 7 pm.  I got my wet stuff unpacked & hung to dry, jumped in the shower, and watched Rhio enjoying his freedom in the pasture for the evening before falling into bed, tired and happy!

I am very proud of my little Rhio, now with two 50 mile completions (and two ribbons - tied with Tracy for 5th heavyweight this ride!) and to feel that he was entirely capable of what I was asking him to do was really wonderful.

To see lots of ride photos taken by a rider's husband (Bob but I don't know his last name!), see this link: http://picasaweb.google.com/kaleidobob/MaplewoodWest2010#

Run For The Border

Rhio & I head down the road to meet Jodi & load up

I decided on Thursday May 13 that my massive poison ivy rash was healed enough for me to consider riding at the Run For The Border ride in St. Croix Falls, WI on the weekend.  My friend Jodi was gracious enough to clean out the fourth horse stall in her trailer so Rhio & I could tag along with her & Ranna, Rhonda & Snickers, and Vickie & Scamp (otherwise known as "The Black Thing," although he is turning grey).  I took all my gear to her house in my car, then Friday morning I rode Rhio over there (4 miles) to meet up with her, load horses, and head out.  Rhio loaded right up into her trailer, which was a relief since he has been a bit reluctant about loading this spring.  

This is a close ride for us, only about 2 hours away, and we pulled in to ride camp around 5 pm.  It is a three day ride, so many rigs had come in Thursday evening and competed on Friday.  Thursday it rained all day, and apparently most of the rigs had to be towed into the field with a tractor.  We had to unload the horses to get into the spot we liked, but thankfully didn't require any assistance from the tractor.  Ride camp is situated in a grassy field near the back of the property of a tack store/boarding facility/riding stable.  

We got camp set up, including a tent for me because there are only 3 sleeping spaces in the trailer.  I was happy to try out my new self-inflating camping mattress from REI - two thumbs up for comfort & performance!  Also, I was able to pitch the tent on the far side of the trailer, so I could look out & see Rhio and Snickers tied to the trailer, while those in the trailer could easily see & get to Ranna & Scamp. This turned out to be a very advantageous choice, as Friday night Rhio rubbed the braided connection between his lead rope & its snap enough that the two separated - resulting in a loose horse!  In my tent, I realized I could hear a horse eating grass, which I shouldn't be hearing.  I peeked out, and there was Rhio happily grazing and not at all attached to the trailer!  I was able to knot the lead rope back onto the snap and Rhio unhappily went back to munching his hay.  

Ride map - start is in the lower right corner. We did the purple (pink) loop going up to the out check at the upper left corner, then the yellow loop back to camp.  Our third loop was red. 

I decided it was time for Rhio & me to move up in the distance riding world, and we signed up for the 50 miler.  I was especially interested in this 50 as it would consist of a 20 mile loop to an out check, 20 miles back to ride camp on different trail, then a 10 mile loop.  Most of our 50s are 4 loops total, doing 2 loops each twice, with all checks in camp.  I think that pattern can be more challenging for the horses mentally, as they have to continually return to & leave camp (i.e. their buddies, their food, their resting spot) and do lots of repeat trail.  Maybe I'm anthropomorphizing here, but it seems like it's less mental stress to go away from camp and stay out there for most of our miles. 

Rhio with his braids

We vetted through Friday night for our pre-ride check and I started to get ready for the morning.  Our start was 6 am.  I braided his mane, which he doesn't like at all & I heard a lot of "thwap, thwap, thwap" all night long as he shook his head and the braids hit his neck.  The forecast was for low 70s, sunshine, and no wind, so I expected it to be pretty warm out there.  We still have a little of our winter coat left, mostly over the rump!  And we did just have 3" of snow Mother's Day weekend.  Also, I had to pack a bag for the out check and get it on the right truck.  Ride management was providing water & buckets, as well as hay.  Great!  That means I just needed his beet pulp & grain, a bucket to make his mash, carrots, electrolytes, snacks for me, water for me, and what else?  It was hard to decide what to take "just in case," knowing that there was a good chance the truck wouldn't return to ride camp before we made it back for our 2nd hold and therefore whatever I sent to the out check I likely wouldn't have access to again during the ride.  I made sure I had my sponge & sweat scraper attached to the saddle, and I rode with a rump rug tied on but rolled up so that I could cover his big muscles as soon as we got into the check.  So I was covered for both cool and warm conditions!  

I met up with Theresa Friday night to see if she was interested in riding together.  I was hesitant to try the 50 completely alone, as I know Rhio goes better with a buddy.  We discussed our plans for the ride, and they sounded compatible, so we planned to meet up before the start and let the front runners get out of camp before setting off.  

Sunrise Saturday morning - this is about 5:30 and we were warming up.

There was a 75 miler and a 100 miler also running on Saturday, and they started together at 5 am, which meant ride camp was awake pretty darn early.  I rarely sleep much the night before a ride, and this ride was no exception.  I think I got about 2 hours of uninterrupted sleep & lots of dozing.  I got Rhio fed first thing, then got his hoof boots on.  I was unsure about the footing for the majority of trail, since I'd only ever ridden the 25 miler here before & our route was going to be almost all new trail to me.  I felt pretty good about using the Renegades on his fronts, even though he'd only worn them for 2 rides so far, both about 6 miles in length.  I put the Gloves on his hinds, and splint/fetlock boots all around just in case.  He certainly does interfere behind in the Gloves, although he seems ok up front in the Renegades.  I managed to lose my watch somewhere during my preparations, so set off with my heart rate monitor & GPS only.  Rhonda later found my watch ground into the mud where Rhio had been tied to the trailer - the band had popped off the face, but it seems no worse for the wear (albeit a little dirty). 

I was mounted up by 5:30, giving us a half hour to warm up.  I don't usually warm up this long, and think I was feeling a little apprehensive about the longer distance.  Rhio was relaxed until other horses started warming up, then he got a little wound up.  I walked him completely out of sight of the start to let the front runners go, then headed back to meet up with Theresa & her mare Queen and set off.  Queen was very anxious and gave Theresa some guff, including rearing, but once we were on our way, both horses settled in nicely.  

Rhio did a lot of leading, which he likes, and hesitated only briefly in a few spots - the tiny palomino mini running around like crazy in a round pen right beside the trail was probably the scariest thing we saw.  We maintained a nice 9 - 10 mph pace most of the time, with rest breaks for water and a little grazing here & there.  There was lots of grass available on trail, which was excellent for the horses.  We came into the out check a little sooner than we expected, and Rhio & I practically cantered right to it, as we didn't realize it was right there.  Despite that, which would not be my normal practice, we pulsed right down to the 64 criteria with no trouble.  Rhio dove into his beet pulp mash, had a nice drink of water, and munched some hay while I pulled his boots to check for any issues.  There was a tiny spot of rubbing on one hind, despite the fact that I'd coated his pasterns liberally with Desitin before booting up in the morning.  The whole trail was grassy or sandy so far, and so I decided to pull his boots and continue barefoot.  I sure hoped I wasn't making a poor choice, but it seemed like it would work.  I had packed some strawberries for myself and that was a great decision, as they tasted wonderful.  We were surprised to see all the 50s ahead of us still in the check when we arrived, but they started leaving pretty soon after we got there.  Rhio watched every horse leave from the opposite end of the check, and he was anxious to move out & follow them - the last 10 minutes of our hold after we'd done our CRI he couldn't even stand still for wanting to chase the horses that had already left.  We took off at a canter on loop 2 but were able to rate them back to a more reasonable pace within about a mile.  

Out check

Rhio enjoying his beet pulp at the out check

Loop 2 we maintained about the same pace as Loop 1, stopping to graze periodically.  As the day warmed up, the gnats came out and every stop included swarms of the nasty buggers around our heads & the horses' heads.  The horses continued to pace well together, with Queen occasionally giving Rhio the evil eye, but he pretty much ignored it.  The trail was almost all two-track, so we rode side-by-side a lot, as well as switching off leading.  We did play leap frog with one other 50 miler for a little bit on this loop, which I don't find very pleasant.  We eventually stopped for about 5 minutes to let him get ahead on a long open stretch where we could still see him for quite a distance.  Rhio seemed happy & relaxed the whole loop and was eating & drinking very well.  

Grassy two-track after leaving the out check.

The Settler's Cemetery which we pass near the river & the DNR horse camp

Sandy two-track through the pines - that's Theresa & Queen on the right.

Theresa & Queen drinking & sponging at the stream crossing.

The trail in and out of camp is single-track, two-way and shared by all competitors, which can make it a bit crowded in spots.  It's also really fun trail, winding through the trees and climbing up a couple hills.  We appreciated the shadiness and had fun cruising through the curves.  We came in to camp with 40 miles done and both horses looking good.  We pulsed down within a minute of each other, had our 40 minute hold and exit CRI, and were back on trail for the last 10 miles before we knew it.  The horses were definitely reluctant to leave camp at this point, especially as most of the horses we saw on trail were coming towards us and headed back to camp.  Once we got 2 miles from camp and stopped to sponge & drink at the stream, the horses picked up the pace and finished up the last 10 miles easily.  Our in time was 1:14 pm, with two holds of 40 minutes each, giving us a ride time of 5:54!  Wow!  I was impressed, as I was thinking something around 7 hours for our first 50 (well, technically our 2nd as we did one at Charity Cup in 2007).  We had to complete our final vet check at 30 minutes after finishing, so I let Rhio graze while I sponged him and we walked around a little to stay loose.  We had no trouble doing the last 30 miles barefoot and Rhio looked good for his final trot-out.  We had a little back soreness, but nothing too bad and not really unexpected since I'm riding him in Red's saddle and I know the fit isn't perfect.

Rhio napping while having his legs iced.

Rhio munched another beet pulp mash back at the trailer, then took a snooze while Jodi let me borrow her ice boots for his legs.  He thought those felt nice & was happy to stand in them for 20 minutes.  I had pulled about a dozen ticks off his legs over the course of the day, so I was diligent in checking for more ticks.  Later in the afternoon, he laid down to rest, which is completely normal for him but caused several comments from friends that were socializing with us on the other side of the trailer - "Ah, I can see a horse laying down on the other side of your trailer!"  

Rhio gets comfortable.

At potluck that evening, I found out Rhio & I had taken 6th place heavyweight!  Yay - a ribbon!  I still love to get ribbons.  I picked a MdDRA pint glass for my completion prize and completely overstuffed myself on the delicious food.  Jodi & Rana took 1st and BC in the LD, Rhonda & Snickers got a completion in the LD, and Vickie & Scamp had been pulled for lameness in the LD.  

"Roger" snuggled into my goose down sleeping bag.

I had a snuggly bunk mate for the evening, Jodi's new rat terrier puppy, tentatively named Roger.  We were worried he might jump off the bed in the gooseneck, so he curled up in the tent with me.  That is one smart little guy - he took one look at my goose down sleeping bag and climbed right in!

Rhio looking bright and hungry for his beet pulp Sunday morning.

Sunday morning Rhio looked good although he was stocked up in all four legs.  I do know he spent a lot of the night laying down, again something that is completely normal for him but does kind of set him up to be stocked up.  We walked the horses before breaking camp, and he was trotting along looking for the next best patch of grass.  We stopped for breakfast on the way home, and were happy to be home by noon.  Rhio trotted off into the pasture, had a good roll & a drink, and settled into grazing with his buddies.  He looked great and not at all like he'd gone 50 miles the day before!  

It's official - I'm now an endurance rider and I have an endurance horse!  Next ride Maplewood in 3 weeks!