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