20 Mule Team 100 2021

 Some trails just feel like they're out to get ya.

The 20 Mule Team ride is known to be fairly easy to moderate and not particularly challenging. That did not mean the trail didn't eat us.

We arrived in camp late Thursday night for our Friday ride. I knew camp was going to be very full and parking at a premium so I wanted to get in early so we'd be able to find a suitable spot. With the help of the ride manager, we parked at the far end of camp along the "road" through camp.

This turned out to be a poor choice. We spent all day Friday watching horses and people walking hither and thither past our camp. And Demon, on the Hi-Tie, was right next to the road. It didn't take much inattention on the part of a human to end up bringing a horse extremely close to him. If someone came from the rear, they could be unaware Demon was even there before he had seen them and nickered. So Demon wound up being on high alert in camp all day Friday, and although he ate and drank well, it still felt like he didn't get as much relaxing in as he usually does.

Saturday morning ride start was 6am. I carefully went over the map and cut off times and established the times I was shooting to get in to each check. Quick, but not super top ten quick. I was shooting for a 6.5mph average.

Ready to go in the pre-dawn light.

I got us ready and we were out the gate at 6am. Demon was on the muscle immediately, which isn't unusual for him. It can take a little while for him to settle in, so I wasn't concerned. But, he was going much faster than he usually does and he wasn't paying attention to his footing like normal. He was all eyes about the other horses.

The earliest part of the trail is pretty even, so despite being goofy, I felt cautiously OK about letting Demon more or less have his head. I knew he'd settle after a while, surely before we got to the heavy rocks. Well, more the fool me. He did *not* settle down.

We somehow ended up in the lead. I snuck a look at my GPS to find we were averaging Ludicrous Speed. I wanted him to slow down. He did not want to slow down. We were starting along the trail along the highway when he finally decided he could slow down, which allowed another horse to pass us. I figured at that point we'd be OK, he'd let others pass and drop back to a more rational pace. But no.

At this point we were getting to the rockier stuff where attention to where he puts his damned feet became important. I kept asking him to slow, he kept bulling on. Walking was all but out of the question. He'd walk a bit then the jigging would start. Reluctant to end up in a war, I did my best to meet him in the middle and allow him to trot. But of course making him slow down had meant other horses passed, and I don't know where this hyper competitive horse came from because he's not the one I'm used to riding. 

We were up on the old rail road bed when he tripped hard in the canter. He caught himself and barely unseated me, and kept going without turning a hair so I didn't think much of it. He looked fine.

Then a little later, I found myself doubting. I thought I saw a head bob. I thought I felt his hind end not right. I hovered over the saddle and watched, trying to determine if I was right or if I was playing tricks on myself. He looked good. He felt good. He kept wanting to go. So, go we did.

I tried to get him slowed down for the last mile into the vet check at 19 miles, and he was just not thrilled with my plan. We had some moments trying to take it easy and not gallop in like Bonanza. When we got to the road, I did allow him to trot for a good stretch, just to settle my mind that he looked and felt sound.

I was tired. I went to get off as we arrived, and ended up hooking my right foot over his hip to get myself over. Hooray for a well broke and tolerant horse! We got our time card and walked over to the pulse takers.

I finally was able to get a good look at my GPS. We had a 8.5mph average. Yeesh. Quite a bit faster than I'd hoped to go.

I knew before the P&R volunteer said a thing that we were in trouble. She spent far too long with her stethoscope against his side. I knew he was not recovered, and that was not a good sign for Demon. He typically will be in the high 40s for his heart rate coming in as we did, even with all the excitement. So when the volunteer said he wasn't down, I knew in my heart our day was over. It only took a few more minutes, and we went to the vet.

After the physical exam (which he passed with flying colors) we trotted out. I spooled out the line and let him get ahead of me, as the sound of his footfalls behind me was not quite right. Just barely, he had a bit of a head bob. 

Back at the vet, she completed the exam and we talked about the lameness. The vet said she watched him trotting up the road and if that had been all she had to go on, she would have pronounced him sound. She wanted to see him again and see if he was better at the end of our hold time. I agreed, although I really did not think it was in our interests to try to continue. We hung out and he ate and drank. I picked up that left front foot and probed at it, but nothing was obvious (yet). 

Waiting for our ride, watching other horses come in.

We went back to the vet, and he was a little better. I was told we could continue, but I declined. I already had a suspicion it was a stone bruise, it just hadn't developed enough to find with my bare hands. We waited for our ride back to camp.

While we waited, I went and picked up that foot again. And lo and behold, now I could feel the mushy spot. Not sensitive enough to get a reaction from thumb pressure, but definitely the source of the issue. I was just as glad we were having a trailer ride back to camp.

At least I knew what the problem was and could address it at home.

We spent a few hours in camp chatting with others before packing it in and heading for home so Demon could spend the night in his nice big turnout rather than tied to the trailer.

On Sunday, I lunged him and he was completely sound. Took him to the barn and pulled the front shoes. I thought I'd just put pads under the shoes he was already wearing, but decided they were not quite big enough with pads, so he got a new, larger pair. Which of course got me wondering: Should I have taken him up a size when I shod him? Maybe? I did have to do more work than usual to make these fit. I know I should have reshod him more than 1 week before the ride....

The bruise is barely visible just next to the shoe at the 2nd nail. I had to manipulate the color to get it to show.

Second guessing is part of the game. I'll never be sure if he would have been OK if I'd used larger shoes, or if I'd padded him to start, or if we'd parked somewhere we weren't having the Parade of Horses past the trailer all day, or if I'd laid back and not started right at the beginning of the ride and got hung up with the leaders, or if I'd managed to slow him to a more rational speed, or, or, or, or, or.

Home, and not pleased about it, either.

In the long run, he's fine. I stuck the pads on him and he's been in his turnout ever since, bored for 3 weeks. He's done some trotting in his pen and he's sound. We'll get some saddle time this weekend and assess where we are. I plan to make some changes for National Championships in June, though. First is those bigger shoes. Second is pads on his fronts, even though he has done just fine without pads for 5 years. We'll park where there's less foot traffic. We'll give the leaders a good 5 minutes to get ahead of us. If we finish, of course, there's no way to know what elements make a difference and which don't, but this really isn't science.

This marks the 4th time we've been to 20 Mule Team. Of those 4 times, only once, the National Championship in 2019, did we finish. I'm starting to feel like this trail has a vendetta against us in particular. Maybe 5th time's the charm....