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.
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.
Thanks again Val - great recap!
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