Barefoot in New Mexico 2023

 For Thanksgiving weekend, we decided to try to sneak in one last ride before the end of the AERC ride season.

The results weren't entirely what I was hoping for, but we had a good time anyway.

This was the first time I've ever "trailer pooled" with another rider. What started this was my friend, Alex Collier, who is currently in New Mexico, was also hoping to get in another ride or two. So the initial plan was I would bring Demon and Halo, the horse she has been riding owned by TJ Davis, and we'd meet at the ride. Well, then TJ decided she'd really like to go, too. And there was another rider, Mari, who was hoping to get in another ride or two. So in the end, TJ packed up her 4 horse LQ, loaded Halo and Pazzport, and picked up me, Demon, and Trey.

Trey had done so well at Bill Thornburgh, and was looking so fit, I thought it would be pretty cool for him to complete a 50. This ride was a good choice for a first 50, being largely flat and good footing, so Trey could be expected to do well barefoot (as the ride's name suggests, hoof protection is not especially necessary).

Travel to the ride was a bit more eventful than anticipated, but that's a story for another time. Suffice to say, we persevered! We arrived in camp late morning on the Friday.

My initial plan was to tie Demon and Trey to the trailer next to one another. Trey, however, did not give me confidence he'd behave if we went with this plan. Not interested in a kick-fest, I ended up tying Demon to the truck.

Fortunately camp was small enough, and water close enough, we didn't need to have the truck unhitched to use to transport stuff around.

Day 1

On Saturday morning, we had 4 riders and 4 horses to get up and out of camp. In the chaos of getting everyone ready and out of camp, we both forgot our helmets, and TJ her protective vest.

We were already 5 miles out of camp when we noticed. Had we been closer to camp, we might have circled back and gotten those items. Things might have gone differently if we had. As it was, being that far out of camp we carried on.

The trails are absolutely superb, and despite the "flatness" meaning one can pretty much see ride camp all day, the views are so amazing it's still a really nice ride.

Unfortunately, Demon and I did not finish.

About 8 miles in, we turned along a two-track paralleling the railroad tracks. There was a cargo train going by. For some reason, I did not give this much thought. Neither Demon nor Trey has (well, had) *ever* seen a train, let alone trotted alongside one actually in motion. But Demon was handling it well, if a bit tense, and TJ didn't holler, so I didn't pull up.

We were 5 or 6 cars past the engine when the conductor blew the horn.

Demon was doing well right up to this point. That train horn undid him. 

Now, Demon is known for his 3 second spook. It's too bad it's about 2 seconds longer than I could stick.

Demon startled hard sideways. He hopped twice. I realized I was not going to stick it.

I'm told I was initially headed off in the "lawn dart" position, but got myself flipped over and landed on my right hip/low back. Somehow I managed to both hold my head up from hitting the ground and maintain my grip on Demon's reins.

My first reaction was to promptly get back to my feet. This was quickly revealed to be unlikely. Instead I laid myself back on the ground, still holding onto Demon's reins, the train clattering on by, oblivious to our situation.

From somewhere close by I could just hear TJ shouting, asking if I was OK. I tried to answer, but she's pretty hard of hearing, and the train was loud. She yelled at least 3 times before I was able to communicate effectively that, although I wasn't doing a whole lot of moving, I was broadly OK.

Trey had also spooked, although TJ was able to stick it, but when he saw me laying on the trail, he evidently decided that was more than he could handle and was determined to exit, stage right. So TJ got off.

As I laid there on the ground getting myself together, Demon stood over me, looking down at me then over at the train incredulously. Eventually he positioned himself between me and the train. He certainly seemed to conclude the train was at fault for me being on the ground, and he was determined to protect me from it, despite his ongoing fear.

Damn, I love that horse. He was legitimately, understandably, terrified. And yet, he was more concerned about protecting me than about escaping the source of his fear.

My fall was not Demon's fault. Nor was it the conductor's fault. The conductor blew that horn because he is federally required to do so. He was approaching a crossing.

No, my fall was entirely on me. I should have pulled up and dismounted. We could have hand walked the horses on down the trail until we separated from the tracks or the train had completely passed.

By the time I was able to get myself up, Alex and Mari had caught up. As I stood, I felt a little dizzy, my ears were ringing, and I had some vision disturbance. It was quickly clear I should not get back on my horse. So we called back to camp, and a trailer was sent. Demon and I walked back to the crossing, while the rest of the riders went on. One of the ride volunteers shortly drove back to me, having been alerted about my fall, to stay with me until I was collected.

It was the end of my ride, but it wasn't the end of the story.

TJ and Trey continued on. They stuck with Alex on Halo and Mari on Pazzport. While I rested in camp, snuggling with TJ's dogs in the trailer, I received occasional updates on their progress.

Trey did pretty well out there with the group, even able to drink at the same trough with the other horses (a skill Demon is still working to master).

The group came into camp with happy horses, and we got them vetted then back to the trailer to rest and eat. After their hour hold, the three headed back out on trail.

About halfway through the loop, Pazzport started showing lame, so the trailer was dispatched to collect him and his rider.

After Pazzport had to be pulled, Halo and Trey were a bit less enthusiastic. For Trey, it was his first time riding with a horse who isn't especially forward to start with. At his age and stage in his development, he's easily influenced by the horses around him. Halo is one of those horses who is more whoa than go most of the time, but does pretty OK either by himself or with another horse, if that horse is reasonably motivated. With Trey not being confident to go forward, and Halo having little motivation, they made their riders work for it.

They came into camp as the sunset faded from the sky.

Both horses passed the final vet check very well.

We made an observation about Trey that I found rather amusing. He is *very good* at the trot-out.

When he was about a year old, Beth wanted to take him to a show, and in preparation got him trotting in hand pretty well. Now, he trots out for the vet check as if he's trotting in a show. It's definitely not a bad thing! He looks very good doing it.

Day 2

I was really hoping for Demon to finish another 50 for the season, but I wasn't going to be able to ride. So we initially planned for TJ to ride Demon and Alex to ride Halo. In the morning, we discovered Halo was quite lame. This meant a change in plans. Alex would ride Demon, and TJ and I would both take the day off.

Demon and Alex left camp at a smart trot. Demon looked great. Alex updated me regularly on their progress. About 3 miles out of camp, she messaged that Demon didn't feel right. I instructed her to slow to a walk and continue on in.

At the vet check, Demon was clearly off. We took him back to the trailer to rest, the vet having asked me to bring him back for a final decision, but I wasn't optimistic. An hour later, I had Alex trot him away from me and sure enough, he was lame. Certainly more lame than should head back out on trail.

The vet agreed, and we spent a little time trying to determine what had gone wrong. The vet quickly identified swelling in his right stifle as the culprit.

Demon's right stifle having been a problem in the past due to a breeding injury, it wasn't terribly surprising. Considering how well he'd been doing, though, I don't believe it to be an overuse type of thing. I think he did it when he spooked on Saturday. Maybe if he hadn't tried to do another 50 it wouldn't have become an issue, but given the amount of swelling he had, I'm pretty confident it was there when he started on Sunday. He just hadn't noticed it yet. It took 20 miles for him to notice.

So, we spent the rest of the day socializing and playing card games (TJ's favorite pastime).

We joined the ride hosts for a lovely dinner of homemade enchiladas and cheesecake. Even those of us who did not complete got completion awards, transformed into "participation awards." 

It was a truly wonderful ride, and I'll absolutely be back. I'm hooked on the scenery, the trails, and the people.

Just, y'know, if there's a train, I'm getting off on purpose.

2023 Sesenta Años Ride

We had such a good ride at Bill Thornburgh, I decided to take Demon to the Sesenta Años ride in Santa Ynez.

This ride is held at Rancho San Fernando Rey, a private ranch on 37,000+ acres. Most of the ride is on the ranch, although some little bits venture off here and there. It's an amazing property, largely undeveloped, mostly used to graze cattle. Lots of wildlife make their homes there as well. 

We arrived at camp on Thursday afternoon about 4pm, having left just late enough to miss most of the morning traffic, and early enough to miss the afternoon traffic. I got lucky to park where my trailer was level side to side right from the start. All I had to do was unhook and level front-to-back. Got the hi-tie set up, gave Demon food and water and a nice bran mash, and got the everything set up. Vetted in well before dark, then headed over for Juan and Nina's taco-fest.

It's always nice when Juan and Nina are cooking. It was extra nice that I didn't have to cook Thursday or Saturday night because they were. If you're ever at a ride and they're cooking, go. They make awesome tacos and it is their absolute pleasure to feed people. Heck, Juan scolded me for not having come over sooner!

Day 1

Ride start was 6:15am, late enough to have daylight to start in, and early enough to take advantage of as much daylight as possible over the course of the day.

At the last minute, I decided to go ahead and put Hoss's tack on Demon. This meant adjusting everything, since Hoss was larger than Demon. It also meant we started a bit late, but we don't care much about that.

We hit the trail at a smart trot, Demon more than happy to get out there. We passed some other horses as we went along and eventually came to a ranch gate.

This gate was familiar. We've passed through it numerous times in previous years. So I cheerfully hopped off and opened it, going on through. I was walking up the hill, looking for a good place to get back on, when several other riders came trotting back towards us. We'd all gone the wrong way.

Andy Botello was among those of us who'd gone off course, and he spent some time perusing his map on his phone and figured out we weren't meant to pass through that gate. We all went back through and proceeded the way we were supposed to go.

The first loop was largely on very flat land. This made for a very fast course. We were riding through large sections of pasture. At one point we were doing a fair imitation of chasing young steers. 

I'd been warned by Pat Helly that there was a pasture with 20 mares in it. I wasn't super concerned about this, as in all likelihood those mares would be bred and not especially interested in the stallion passing through. Demon is well trained enough he'll continue on regardless, so we'd only be in trouble if the mares decided to accost us. When we got there, the mares were bunched up and watching as all the ridden horses passed through. They all looked varying degrees of pregnant, and decidedly uninterested if not outright hostile to the strange stallion. We were riding with a mare who was very interested in Demon, so he was certainly not worried about the broodmare band.

Fairly early on, we encountered John Parke out with one of his Pyrenees acting as guard while he marked trail. Uncharacteristically Demon spooked at the dog, despite having several just like him at home. But once other horses passed the dog, Demon decided it couldn't be that bad and proceeded down the steep, sandy hill.

We dropped down to the river, passing through a section of trail another rider aptly described as a "car wash." 

After one gate, I was walking trying to find something to get up on to mount up, and realized I'd be walking awhile and the horses behind would end up catching us. So I took a chance on getting on from the ground.

Thirsty, but want to go with the others, too

I was surprised to find I can get on from the ground again. Took 3 years since the last hip replacement, but it's definitely a happy discovery. It's possible taking the horse's joint supplement is helping, too.

The river crossing was rocky and slick, and finding a good place to cross was tricky. Demon resolutely headed in and plowed across. Unfortunately he slipped badly enough to go most of the way down on his knees, his head splashing into the water, before he caught his balance and finished the crossing. I managed to keep myself in the middle and stayed as out of his way as I possibly could.

Coming back down toward camp, we found ourselves back at the "wrong" gate we'd tried to come through in the morning, along with Andy Botello. After quite some swirling about, and several other riders catching up, we found ourselves trying to figure out where we were meant to go. Alison Farrin fortunately had her GPS going and was able to get us all headed the right way.

The first 25 miles went quick and we completed in about 3 and a half hours.

Lunch hold.

After our lunch break, we headed back out at a much more sedate pace. 

The second loop headed up to the top of a mountain. It was a long pull up. We switched between trotting and walking, just keeping going enough but not trying to go super fast. Most of this climb we spent with Gretchen Montgomery and Alison Farrin. A couple other riders joined us as well, but I don't recall their names, if I ever heard them.

Making our way up the mountain

At one point we were all trotting along nicely with a mare moving out well just in front of Demon. I turned to look at someone I was speaking to and felt Demon suddenly lurch. That mare had put on the brakes right in front of us.

It's a really good thing Demon is such a well mannered fellow. He simply turned his head and stopped until that mare could be convinced to continue on her way.

Once we'd hit the top of the climb, we were able to make better time going downhill.

Demon chugged along nicely. I started just letting him pick the pace. He'd trot along for some time, then slow back to a walk, picking up the trot again not long after. We even had a few good canter stretches.

We completed the second loop in about 3 hours and 45 minutes, for a little over 7 hours completion time.

We came into camp with Alison and Gretchen. 

I was surprised when we were asked if we wanted to show for best condition. Turned out we'd placed 7th! I went ahead a presented Demon for best condition. I figured you can't win if you don't play, so might as well play.

I was very pleasantly surprised when Demon was awarded Best Condition at the ride meeting that evening.

Best Condition!

Day 2

We saddled up and hit the trail again at 6:15am, Demon feeling much less energetic than he had on Friday. Our trot stretches on the road out of camp were much slower and shorter. 

This time, we were supposed to go through the gate. So of course what happened was we (as well as many others) turned instead. When I saw the group of horses ahead, I quipped to the riders we were near that there was either water or a conference ahead.

It was a conference. We'd all gone the wrong way.

Once back on the correct trail, Demon and I were rapidly left behind by the majority of the other riders. Demon was happy to go pretty slow, and I was fine with that. This loop was more elevation change than the prior day's first loop. 

Demon definitely wanted a lot of water. He dragged me off to every stock tank we passed and drank at least a little. He also wasn't especially interested in going particularly fast.

At one water tank, I noticed Demon was breathing pretty hard for the conditions and the speed he'd been going at. Not something I'm accustomed to seeing with him. We continued on, slowing considerably.

Tanking up under the rising sun
Photo by Karen Stilwell

Then we got off course. And we were off course for a while. Demon was *not* pleased, especially since I was reasonably sure we were going the right way and he was sure (and right) we weren't. Eventually we turned back and found where we went off trail. We turned up that way and kept going.

Demon continued to breathe pretty hard, eventually stopping for a rest. I hopped off and checked his heart rate. 64. Not super high at all. But it wasn't coming down, either. And Demon just wanted to stand there or turn around.

I think we were off course...

I concluded he was somehow overheated, which would be a first. He's never overheated. His winter coat is pretty thin as winter coats go, and the temps were maybe high 70s or low 80s. But he was breathing hard, and he wasn't happy. 

I had no idea how far we'd have to go to get to the next water, where I would be able to pour water on him and help him cool off. I admit I kinda freaked out about the situation, having never encountered it with Demon.

Making our way back to camp

I elected to turn back to the last stock tank rather than try to continue on and possibly be too long before we got to water.

We arrived at a tank and Demon started drinking. I hopped off and started scooping water onto him with an empty water bottle. His breathing slowed quickly and he perked right up, ready to go to work.

At this point, we'd already added at least 4 or 5 miles to the 25 mile loop. Had we proceeded on course, likely we would have had another 2 extra miles. I decided to hang it up and we moseyed back to camp to pull. We could have finished, but I didn't see much point in slogging on.

Back at camp, Demon vetted fine and we went back to the trailer to eat and rest up.

Day 3

Demon was alert and happy on Sunday morning. Before brushing and saddling, I walked him to a good roll spot outside the gate to camp, where he proceeded to roll enthusiastically enough to pull the lead rope out of my hand. He must've turned side to side 5 times before standing and shaking himself off, pleased to go back to saddle up.

Then there was a problem.

While I was brushing him off, I noticed he was subtly avoiding my touch across the middle of his back. I ran my fingers down the sides of his spine lightly and elicited a strong negative response. His back was sore.

It's not in me to saddle up and ride a horse who's already telling me something is wrong. We did not ride and instead headed home.

Lessons

By the time we arrived home, Demon's back was much better. I gave him a bath and looked him over. Found that the injury on his nostril was bigger than it had looked once his face was clean. 

Demon's bloody nose. He'll live.

My suspicion is that his saddle needs a refitting. Since then, I have put it on him and discovered I was right. Did some adjusting of the fitting cushions and it looks much better with less rock.

A couple days after we'd come home, I noticed Demon had been licking his salt block, which is unusual. Usually the things just gradually erode away without him bothering to touch them. This leads me to conclude it is likely I did not get his electrolytes correct for this ride. I'd gone into without enough tubes of his usual electrolyte concoction, but had felt comfortable between what I had of the syringes and the powder I had on hand there was adequate coverage. Clearly not. I'll be assuring he has enough of the usual stuff on hand in the future.

The ride year is nearly done, and I feel like we've hardly hit the trail. So we'll be going to Barefoot in New Mexico for Thanksgiving weekend, see if we can't put up a few more miles.

2023 Bill Thornburgh Ride

 Having reached 5 years of age, and having gotten some schooling in being a riding horse, Trey made his endurance debut at the Bill Thornburgh ride.

TJ Davis rode Trey while I rode Demon. We did the 25 on Sunday.

I arrived on Saturday afternoon right around 4pm. I'd had a meeting at church I needed to attend, so I took the horses with me. They stayed in the trailer, munching happily on hay and watching the meditation group wander around, while I participated in the meeting. The church has a nice traffic circle I was able to park in, where I could see the trailer from the room the meeting was held in.

Watching the world go by at church!

Once we arrived at camp, I unloaded and got the boys hay, water, and sloppy bran mashes. Got our rider packets picked up and paid the entry fee. Then TJ and I took the boys to vet in.

Almost immediately, I traded horses with TJ.

TJ is often considered hard on her horses. I think anyone who thinks she's hard on her horses, hasn't paid much attention to how hard *I* am on my horses. I gave her Demon and took over Trey because I didn't think she was being hard enough!

Trey needed a little bit of schooling before we were able to go to the vet and behave like a good horse.

Overnight, the wind kicked up. The horses' hay all blew away. The vent on the trailer rattled and flapped. And it blew. All. Night. Long.

Good boys eating their dinner

In the morning, I was giving serious thought to not trying this nonsense. The wind was still blowing and my boys weren't able to eat much before it blew away. But, in the end, we saddled up and went.

We're endurance riders. Our tolerance for bullshit knows no bounds.

Our plan from the outset was to start at least 15 minutes after ride start. Our numerous trail rides with Trey had taught us he'll do best if he starts out at the back, rather than trying to have him lead. Especially being out on trail with a number of unfamiliar horses.

Trey, saddled up and ready to go

While we were mounting up, TJ discovered her stirrups weren't where she wanted them, so she hopped back off to adjust them. Trey was a little hopped up and moving around, so I got off Demon so I could help hold him for her.

Unfortunately when I did this, I lost my grip on Demon's reins. He noticed before I could get them back. And decided he needed to go make friends.

Demon took off running for a couple trailers nearby. I set off after him, knowing I wouldn't get to him before he found a horse to be "friends" with. Fortunately, he's not a mean dude. When he found his target, he just snorted and sniffed noses while I snuck in and got a hold of his reins and pulled him away.

So now we were about 20 minutes past start time. TJ elected to lead Trey out of camp, as he was not able to focus while going between rigs and tied horses. Once we were out on trail, she mounted up and we were off.

Despite the lead time we'd given everyone else, it didn't take more than 30 minutes before we caught up to riders. Demon and I were leading, so I hollered that we were passing. The riders pulled off and we kept up a smart trot to get by.

No ride photographer, so just crappy cell phone pics

We passed several more riders, all while moving along at a good pace. This is a really good first ride for a young stallion as its all on 2 track and there's a whole lot of desert to head into to give a wider berth.

We finished the first loop, about 15 miles, in under 3 hours.

Headed out on the second loop, Trey was more focused but still needed led out of camp. We got going again and made very good time. 

As we trotted along, I kept looking back to check on Trey, expecting he would start to show signs of needing to slow down. He never did. While he's not as fast as Demon (yet) he's definitely plenty fit.

Trey's biggest difficulty to now as been water. Both crossing it and drinking it. So it was nice to watch him go directly to the water tank and drink very well several times. And when the trail dropped off the rail bed, we discovered we were walking in a very shallow but broad stream. While there was plenty of "not water" it wasn't quite possible to walk through without stepping in water. It can't be said Trey *liked* this, but he handled it well. Helped that it came close to the end of the 25 miles.

At the finish, despite the distraction of other horses close at the vet check, and TJ needing to do a lot of asking for space, Trey's heart rate recovery was less than a minute after Demon's.

We pulled a sub 4 hour 25 for Trey's first ride.

TJ and Trey after a successful finish

This was also the time the wind decided to stop.

After vetting through and getting some food into the horses, I let them rest for about an hour before we headed for home.

Demon waiting for food and untacking

All in all, a great ride. I'm super pleased with both of my boys!

TJ and Trey share a post-ride smooch

Moonrise over ridecamp

Laurel Mountain 2022

 Fire Mountain having been barely a month before, and Twenty Mule Team coming up in 2 short weeks, meant Demon and I would do Limited Distance rides, just to help make sure everything was working right.

Shortly after Fire Mountain, my wristwatch died. I sighed and considered what I might do about this. Then, I was thinking about a friend who is using a heart rate monitor and really likes it. I'd used one years ago, and found it difficult and inaccurate. So I had long since given up. My friend assured me the Polar heart rate monitors work much different from the V-Max I'd used so long ago. So I looked into it, and it was in the back of my head as I thought about what I might do about my watch.

This led to looking at smartwatches which could pair with the Polar HRM. It became one of those things of well, I have to get a new watch, so I might as well get one of these newfangled smartwatch thingamajiggers. Then, if I'm gonna have a smart watch, I might just as well get the HRM, too.... Ultimately, I ended up with a Garmin Instinct watch (which I can use to share my location as I'm riding, which others who worry about such things really appreciate) and a Polar HRM. 

Before Fire Mountain, I had added studs to Demon's shoes. I knew this had the potential to not work over time, and the only way to see what would happen was to ride him. And at Fire Mountain, one of the vets thought he saw something in Demon's right front foot. Which made me worry about that time he'd tripped on the first day of the ride, and had seemed really sore for a few steps. So I wanted another outing in the same area to continue to check out the studs.

We arrived in camp as the sun sank in the West. I quickly got everything set up, unhooked the truck and leveled the trailer, got food and water. Demon was quite happy to be at another ride, munching happily and watching the world go by from his Hi-Tie.

While setting up, I went through the processes of turning on the appliances. Punched the button for the refrigerator, flipped the switch for the water pump. The water pump, though, it just kept running. And running. And running. I turned on the tap, no water. Uh oh. Shut off the pump, went around outside and discovered the water line had come free of the tank. All 27 gallons I'd carefully stored up had been spread all over the highway somewhere.

Not one to be easily dissuaded by adversity, I fell back and punted. I found an empty gallon water jug and filled it from the 55 gallon drum in the truck. This would make flush water. I had plenty of bottled water for drinking and cooking. I could use the 55 gallon drum for wash water and such, plus, if I managed to get the fitting back in the water tank, I could put a little water in it and have enough running water to get by the for the couple of days we were there.

We got vetted in and settled in for the night.

Day 1, 25 miles

I've gotten to where I really like to let the hotshoes get out of camp before I hit the trail. I figured we'd be middle to back of the pack speed. Still aiming for around 6-6.5mph average speed, but nowhere near the 7-8 the leaders are usually pulling. 

I had to fiddle with the HRM and watch and figure out how to get them to "talk" to each other, but managed it handily enough once I got the hang of it. To my surprise and pleasure, they worked well all day.

About 5 minutes after the start, Demon and I ambled out of camp. It was the quietest start Demon has done yet, walking out on a loose rein. 

For the most part, things were very good. Demon did very well over the even ground, uphills and downhills weren't challenging. But when there was rock, or particularly uneven terrain, he'd slow way down and pick his way gingerly over the trail. I had a suspicion those studs in his toes weren't doing him any favors.

I was really surprised when we hit the vet check and it turned out we were leading. That's not usual. But, as I said to another rider who was equally surprised to find herself out in front, where you place depends a lot on who shows up. Evidently everyone else was going a good bit slower to that point!

Most of the rest of the riders came in about 10 minutes after. Once our hold was over, and I'd allowed Demon to sample my egg salad sandwich (not a fan), we vetted and headed on down the hill toward camp.

It took a little while to find a bit of dirt high enough to get me back on. We walked down the hill until the trail got more even. Another pair of riders passed us jogging down the hill, but Demon was happy enough to go ahead and walk. 

Once I got back on, we trotted smartly on and passed the other two riders. We were just trotting at a sedate pace when another rider, Tammy Simpson, came barreling up and passed us like we were standing still. They continued on at a solid canter until they were out of sight somewhere ahead, finishing some 20 minutes ahead of us.

Like I said, where you place depends on who else shows up.

We finished in 2nd place, with a solid 4 hour 25 miles. Which is typically not fast enough to top ten, but was this day.

After we'd finished, I took the time to crawl under the trailer and fiddle with the water fitting. It took some doing, but I was able to reattach it well enough to put some water back in the tank. It wasn't enough for showering or washing dishes, but enough to flush the toilet so I didn't have hike all the way to the porta-john in the night.

Day 2, 25 Miles

After the first day went as well as it did, I was happy enough to set out for a second day and let it be a bit more sedate. We were, after all, only riding to make sure we had all our gear working right. No need to race for that.

I again left well after the start so we could set a quiet pace. On the road, Demon took a couple of bad steps, enough other riders commented on it. I slowed him down on the paved road, electing to let him make time on soft trail instead. By now I was convinced I had a problem with the toe studs.

The first loop was 17ish miles, so it was a long morning back to camp. We kept a decent but not fast pace, aiming to finish the loop sound. I had plans to remove the toe studs when we got in for lunch.

At the lunch stop back at camp, I applied my multi-tool to the task of removing as many of the toe studs in Demon's shoes as I could. It wasn't as many as I'd hoped. I did, however, get out the ones I thought were causing the most problem, so between that and knowing the last 8 mile loop was relatively flat and sandy, I was feeling good about finishing the ride.

All I really wanted to know at this point was if removing the studs had changed anything. So when we headed back out, I deliberately asked him to trot over rocky spots he'd wanted to pick his way slowly through. I felt him expect to get a zinger a couple of times, and gain confidence as that did not happen. He was still not as good as I'd like him to be.

The last 8 miles went quickly enough and we finished our second day.

After we finished, I was feeling pretty dirty and like I really could use a shower. But, I didn't have enough water on the trailer. But I *did* have enough water in the truck. And I just so happen to have a portable pump shower head. So I put the pump on the solar panel to charge up. Once it was done, I heated water on the stove, and, using one of Demon's buckets, took a shower in the horse box. I hadn't used that water pump in a long time, and I'm really glad I thought of it again. It's also good for giving the horse a bit of a bath on a hot day, too.

Day 3, 25 Miles

I was feeling pretty good about getting a third day finished, but it was not to be. I got the HRM set up and we started on out on trail. Demon was trotting clean but not with much enthusiasm. When we turned up on to rockier trail and passed behind the gun range, he spooked hard at a gun shot, tripping on a rock. After that, he was not quite right. By the time we got to Dave, parked out on trail to watch the horses go by, he definitely felt like we needed to not do this.

Dave allowed as he thought Demon could manage, but I decided it wasn't worth it. We headed back to camp. I did get off and lead past the gun range, since whatever boomstick they were firing off was making me flinch, too.

It was still an excellent two days, and with 2 weeks until Twenty Mule Team, plenty enough time to correct the issues with the studs. Otherwise, everything was going well, right down to a remarkably reliable HRM.

Fire Mountain Pioneer 2022

There was no small amount of trepidation coming into Fire Mountain this year. After he scared me at Sesenta Años, and then not getting to start due to an abscess at Cayuse, I was quite stressed about getting Demon through this ride. I had also added QuickStuds (a traction device) to his composite shoes, as I felt he had less traction than he rightly ought to. Adding (or reducing) traction always has the potential to be wrong. I had ridden him 14 miles and he felt fantastic with the traction, but 14 miles isn't 50 and I wasn't completely convinced I'd done the right thing by him.

We arrived in camp later than I'd hoped due to issues with my new water carrying plan. I'd purchased a modular truck rack and half moon water tanks. After assembling the truck rack, we put the tanks on and I finally filled them on Thursday morning. By the time I'd driven the truck down to load hay, that modular truck rack had revealed it's weakness. It was not going to do the job. The tanks had to be drained and the truck rack pulled off. I got one of my 55 gallon drums and put that in, filled it, finished loading, and we were finally on the road by 10am, arriving in camp about 2pm.

Camp was downright packed. It took several fits and starts before we were able to park. The ride manager later said it was the first time camp had filled up to the point people were camping on the road outside camp. I got us squeezed in as close to our neighbors as I could in hopes of leaving enough room for more rigs.

Day 1

In the morning, I saddled up and headed out for a civilized 7am start. It's my habit to leave after the leaders on rides like this. I do not like to let Demon get caught up with the leaders and seeing who of the hotshoes was there, I was not eager to leave before they were well up the trail (a solid 5-10 minutes after the start). By the time we hit the trail, the controlled start had reached its terminus and the hotshoes were off up the trail. 

Demon was plenty ready to go while being controlled and careful about it. He did get a little goofy when I finally asked for the trot. I definitely had a lot of horse!

The first loop went by quickly, and we were back in camp for the first hold around 9:30am The second loop was harder to keep Demon motivated. He's got this habit of getting what I call "midday doldrums," during which time he would just.... rather not. This time period is generally between 11am and 3pm. Once the sun reaches its zenith and begins to descend, he starts to perk up. But this is not especially conducive to completing rides, so I've been working on getting him past this particular habit. I started using intervals with him to keep him moving. We'd do 10 minutes trotting, then 10 minutes walking, terrain permitting. He perked up with this method, especially once we reached the apex of the hill and started back down. On the third loop, he was still kinda dopey, so we continued with intervals until we got back to the downhill and he fairly cruised himself in.

After the last year we've had, I very nearly elected to pack it up and head home after succeeding in getting a completion. It felt rather like tempting fate to continue. But, I stuck it out. 

Day 2

This was a 55 mile ride, so the start was at 6:30. The sun was just brightening the sky as the leaders once again made their way out of camp. The first loop was a very long, 40ish mile go. The first vet check was in the middle of the loop, so an out check. I made sure to pack a bag (the one with my little three footed folding stool in it) with hay and a bucket for the 30 minute hold. 

As we were riding through "town," the most bizarre thing happened. Demon and I were trotting along perhaps 100 yards behind the next rider, when a small pickup truck drove onto the trail, honking at the rider to stop. By the time we caught up, this person was interrogating the other rider about what we were doing, why he'd seen hoof prints on the trail days earlier, on and on. I shrugged and said it's a permitted event, and people are allowed to ride horses on the trail, something to that effect, and rode on. I hoped the other rider would follow suit, but she did not. After a few strides, I turned back and told the guy to go back to ride camp and ask for the manager, since he wanted to "be informed," then took off again. Later in the morning, as I was passing by Brian, one of the ride officials, I told him about this encounter, just so he'd know what was going on.

We'd been told the first check would be about 20 miles in, and we'd pass through at 15 miles, do an additional 5, and have our hold. Well. The first time I arrived at the hold, my GPS showed 15.5 miles. OK, not so far off. Then as we were riding along, I was thinking it was gonna be a lot more than 5 miles to go around the hill and come back. I'm reasonably familiar with the area, having done several rides there, and 5 miles seemed a bit of underestimating it. When we ultimately arrived back for the hold, my GPS showed 24.5 miles.

After our hold, I got us going again and used more intervals to keep our pace up. We crossed the highway and made our way on the fire roads. The ribbons were pretty sparse on this section. At some point, I managed to lose the trail and I'm pretty sure I missed a check point, but we muddled through and made it back to camp. I couldn't trust my GPS reading since we'd been off track, so I don't even recall what it was. 

After our hour hold, we went back out and did the much shortened third loop from day 1, finishing strong and passing the vet check well.

Day 3

Day 3 trail was Day 1 trail in a different order. So we headed out for the longest loop of 20 miles at 7am, feeling good and happy to be alive. We did more intervals, this time doing 10 minutes trotting and 5 minutes walking. We finished the loop in good order, and there, as I'm riding into camp, is that guy from the day before, parked just inside the gate and watching. I called Brian over and informed him he was there so it could be dealt with, whatever "it" was.

After our trot out, the vet, Mike Peralez, said he "saw something" on Demon's right front 2 or 3 times during our trot out. This immediately made me a bit paranoid. He had tripped really hard on the first day, and I'd been dwelling on it despite a lack of repeat performances, to the point I am suspicious the problem is one of the studs in his right front shoe is sunk in too far. So for Mike to point out that particular leg... well it made me a bit spooky.

After our hold we set out on the second loop, this time feeling kinda like we were taking time to pay attention to our surroundings. I was a bit nervy since being told "something" was going on, even though I felt and saw absolutely nothing. I abandoned intervals for the time being, focusing instead on going fast enough to complete. 

Somewhere on this loop who should show up again but Mr I Wanna Be Informed. He was on a motorcycle, and he was talking to the riders ahead of us when we came down the hill. They left him shortly before I arrived, and I started Demon trotting after giving him a long look. He said something about having seen us at "start/finish" and I told him, why, yes, I'd seen him, too. He took off shortly after I passed and when I caught up to the other riders I asked what he'd said to them. Evidently he claimed he was the security guard for the big property out there in the middle of nowhere we'd passed, and tried to talk the riders into going over to the compound so he could take pictures of them in front of the house. They sensibly declined and continued on their way.

You meet all kinds in this endurance thing.

When we got in for the 1 hour hold, I presented Demon to Susan McCartney. After our trot, while she was finishing the exam, her scribe mentioned the note Mike had put in earlier about "watch right front." She scowled a bit, looked at the card, looked at the horse, then shook her head and said "I didn't see anything." That certainly put my mind somewhat at ease. I've had Susan vet my horses many times and I respect her judgment and lameness detection skills. Still, Mike had called out a leg that had already done something weird, so I couldn't entirely dismiss his observation, either.

Our third loop we did a bit more enthusiastically, having been judged completely sound by Susan, but I still didn't push super hard. But once we were headed downhill back toward camp, Demon perked up quite a lot and we rather sailed into camp. I had to hold him down to a walk for the last mile. He vetted through fine, although Mike did once again note something about that right front.

Overall it was a fantastic weekend and it went off without a hitch. I'll have to pull his shoes (he's about due a trim anyway) and see if my suspicions about that stud are correct. Maybe with the studs I'll be able to get a reset and use the same shoes for Laurel Mountain. We'll do LDs at Laurel, since the plan is the 100 at 20 Mule Team.

EasyShoe Versa Grip with 5 QuickStuds

I also think we've got the electrolyte thing handled. I gave him a tube of electrolytes at least 3x per ride day, plus more if it seemed like he needed it. He was doing very well and his recoveries are much more in line with what I expect from him. It's just a matter of being sure to remember to administer them!

Oh, and during that 3rd loop, I was asked what my favorite colors are, to which I cheekily responded "gray and blue." As many know, I ride in green and yellow, and my horses wear green and yellow. Over the years, there has been many a guess, from Green Bay Packers to John Deere, none correct. Well, there is a story, and I wrote about it lo these many years ago here.

And, if you're interested in the story of making it through escrow, you can read all about it here.

Cayuse 2021

 This ride turned out to be an excellent lesson in reading the materials. I didn't do that. And it bit me in the behind.

I knew we were going to be late hitting the road. The home purchase *still* had not closed, and I had finally managed to find an engineer to re-inspect. The engineer was coming at noon on Friday before the ride.

I did email the ride manager to alert her I knew I'd be very late. In my mind, this meant I'd told her I wouldn't be there in time to vet in on Friday night. But I didn't read the ride materials with any particular care, and largely skipped over anything that wasn't explicitly labeled as "rules" for this specific ride. After 18 years competing in endurance, it seems like everything is largely boilerplate and it gets very easy to skip over stuff which looks like what comes out of every rider packet ever received.

Once the engineer left, with assurances he was happy to write a compliant report so we could close the world's most absurd real estate deal, I got us loaded up and on the road. It was 2pm by the time we were on our way.

The Cayuse ride being around Santa Margarita meant we had to slog our way through LA traffic to get there. There's a reason I tend to treat rides north and west of LA as non-existent. When it takes 9 hours to travel 300 miles, they may as well be on another planet. It's not that I mind driving for a long time. I don't. I mind driving for a long time and not making much progress. Plus stop and go traffic is hard on the horse. I don't like it.

We arrived in camp at about 10pm. It was hard to tell what I was looking at in the dark, and despite suspecting I was parking in an "off-limits" area, I took what I could get and we all went to bed for the night.

In the morning I wandered around until I found some semblance of ride management. I allowed as I thought I was parked improperly, and was directed where to move. A quick loading up of the horse and moving about 50 feet, we were in the clear. 

Feeling confident I had properly alerted the ride manager to my expected tardiness, I went about my morning preparing for the ride. 

It turned out, had I actually read the directions, vetting in the morning of was not permitted. The vets had to leave camp to be ahead of the leaders before the ride started, making early morning vetting impractical. I was disappointed, but, well, my own damned fault for not reading carefully. I did suggest in the future such a requirement be moved into the numbered ride rules and bold faced and a day of the week rather than a date used to bring attention to it.

I was prepared to just spend the day in camp volunteering. I'd brought a friend for her first experience at an endurance ride, so it would make for a good opportunity to start showing her the ropes. Then, the vet for the LD ride arrived. The ride manager came up and told me if I could get vetted in, we could at least do the LD ride.

So I saddled Demon back up again and we presented to the vet. After the examination and trot out, the vet said it looked to him like Demon was a little off in the right hind. I had my friend trot him out and it was subtle but there. The vet would have allowed me to start, but I elected to bag it. I'm not a fan of starting out on a horse with a bad step going on, even if it could just be something he'd warm up out of.

We spent the day in camp, had a good time watching the vetting and hanging out with friends and visiting, and headed for home in the morning. It wasn't the start to the 2022 ride season I had hoped for, but at least we were going home in one piece.

A couple of weeks later, when I finally got around to reshoeing Demon, I found a dried abscess in the outside heel of that right hind foot. Just as glad I didn't start him that day.

Tl;dr: Read the ducking directions.

Sesenta Años 2021

2021 was a year. Due to pandemic conditions, Demon and I did not get much opportunity to compete in AERC sanctioned events, and when we did, conditions conspired to prevent us from crossing the finish line. Sesenta Años was our last opportunity to complete a 50 before the end of the ride season.

To be clear, we *did* finish a couple of AERC sanctioned LD rides, and even won a BC on a WDRA LD. Not completing a 50 didn't mean a thing, outside of not completing a 50. With AERC LDs already completed, Demon remains in the running to achieve his Longevity Award. It's nothing more than a point of pride on my part, to finish a 50 each competition year. Alas, it was not to be.

By the time the ride rolled around, it had been a couple months since I'd been able to do any serious riding (I don't think I did any real conditioning between Virgin Outlaw and this ride). We had gone into escrow to buy the property we've been renting for six years, and it became a challenge quickly. In the last week before the ride, I was spending my days trying to find someone who could repair a poorly built deck in a screaming hurry and having no luck. I finally decided it didn't matter, I was not going to get it done, and figured I'd salvage at least some of the weekend by going to the ride. I packed up, loaded up, and we arrived late on Thursday night, with plans to ride the LD on Friday, the second day of the ride.

In the morning I scrambled around and got the entry done and Demon vetted.

After saddling, I noticed one of my stirrups was damaged. It took me a little bit to figure it out. I finally realized it must have happened when we fell at Virgin Outlaw. Sure went a long way to explaining why I'd felt slightly off balance! Not having replacements on hand, I had to go ahead and deal with what I had. 

Demon was looking good and I was really pleased with how controlled he went out of camp. I did have to kind of laugh as people commented it looked like he was giving me a rough time, all while on a loose rein and Demon was doing what I asked. He was making a good show of looking like he was out of control, while really being a perfect gentleman.

About halfway through the ride, a couple other riders caught up to us. We chit-chatted a bit, discussing shoes and saddles and such, when one rider observed Demon was missing a shoe. I was a little surprised by this. Demon was feeling perfectly fit and sound. Usually the loss of a shoe will result in at least a little mechanical unevenness.

I realized the shoe he was now missing was the one I had nailed on at Virgin Outlaw with just 4 nails and floated the outside toe quarter to relieve a suspected stone bruise. I had every intention of reshoeing him before this ride, but never got 'round to it, and threw him in the trailer with dodgy shoes! Despite my assertions that composite shoes are much less likely to be lost than steel, he lost the one I hadn't nailed on completely. And here I'd been discussing this not 3 days prior to the ride.

Due to the lost shoe, I slowed us down quite a bit. I knew I had a new set of shoes in the truck and didn't want to badly damage the foot while riding. So just getting through it was the order of the day.

I had no idea how far out in front we were.

After we went through the weird little extraneous pasture loop and got back to camp, I found out we were in first place! We'd mostly walked (although Demon had plenty of opinion about that and we did a good deal of trotting if I deemed the footing forgiving enough). 

I chose not to present for best condition, as by that time I could feel an alternation in Demon's gait, and I wanted to reshoe him. I knew I wouldn't get that done in time to present, so I elected not to do so at all.

It took me a long time to get Demon reshod, spending an awful lot of time distracting myself by making friends with other riders parked nearby. By the time I got it done, Demon had dumped my nails in his water and lost my clinch cutter. But it was done before dark!

I entered us in the 50 for Saturday. Demon was feeling strong all day Friday and I had no reason to think he'd have any problems on Saturday.

It was not to be.

The first leg of Saturday's ride involved a long, heavy uphill pull. We largely walked, although we took every slightly flat section to trot enough to keep our overall speed up reasonably.

By the time we reached the top, Demon was breathing pretty hard. I let him stop in the river crossing and cool off, having a drink and resting while the cool water flowed around his legs. We soldiered on, making our way relatively quickly back downhill.

Back at camp, it took several minutes for Demon to recover to under 60bpm criteria. I found this disturbing. Demon has never taken more than moments to recover, and having walked in he ought to have been recovered to well under 60, if not under 50. During our hold, I contemplated whether I ought to give him electrolytes, or if I should pull him and give a go on another day. He passed the check, and I decided to go ahead and keep going. We were riding with a new friend, and always pretty close to camp, so I felt comfortable we could go out and return safely if I decided I didn't like it.

Demon definitely felt like he'd had all his stuffing pulled out when we headed back out. He was a little encouraged by the presence of another horse, but he sure was falling back. There was a lot of water available on trail, and every time Demon got a drink, he'd rally for a bit before falling behind again.

I decided to turn back for camp when he scared the hell out of me.

We approached another tank, and Demon had a good drink. We walked away a bit to let the other horse finish drinking, and Demon started casting about like he was looking for grass.

Turned out he was looking for a place to have a lie down!

Demon laid down right there, under the tree, in the shade. I quickly stepped off, and he just chilled there. My heart was pounding as I waited to see what he'd do. It probably did not take the eternity it felt like, but he got back up and shook himself off.

I told the other rider we were going to head back to camp. No way was I continuing to ride a horse who felt tired and spent enough to straight up lay down. It took us a while, but we walked back to camp.

By the time we arrived, Demon seemed more his usual self, but I still felt like he wasn't quite right. The vet looked him over and declared him OK, so we went back to camp and I watched him like a hawk.

After some time, his heart rate had not recovered as expected, and he was picking at his food with little enthusiasm. I debated with myself for a while, then went ahead and slugged him with a tube of electrolytes. Within half an hour, his heart rate dropped and he was plowing through his food.

I spent a lot of time second guessing myself, thinking at first maybe I'd overdone the electrolytes, until I concluded it was far more likely I'd under done it. Demon isn't exactly a spring chicken, and while he needed minimal electrolyte support a few years ago, he clearly needs more now. As with everything related to horses, nothing remains the same except change. So I recognize he needs more electrolytes going forward. Thankfully he's really good about getting his electrolytes syringed and even seems to enjoy it. Now I just have to refine our electrolyte protocol.