The most important part of my end-of-year summary for 2021 is that Fantazia and I might still be on the road to the Tevis Cup. It’s been a rough year for many reasons. Fantazia started out so strong at our first ride in February that I was sure we’d make it to Tevis. Then I made a series of errors, starting at the Cuyama Oaks xp ride (see my post on using a heart rate monitor at Cuyama and a later one on everything I was doing wrong in summer). There was no way Fantazia would be ready for Tevis.
As it turned out, she might not have been able to complete anyway. I’ve only recently learned that she has partial anhidrosis; she does not sweat when it’s hot. Because she sweats copiously when it’s cold, it took me a long time to realize this. Honestly, part of the reason I didn’t see it was that I just couldn’t wrap my head around the idea of an Arabian living in dry California having anhidrosis. But rare does not mean impossible.
What about Tevis?
I do not know if I can get her anhidrosis controlled enough to sustain the heat in the canyons at Tevis. At other rides, I can just ride fast enough in the morning when it’s cool that we can take our time in the heat of the afternoon. We’ll see. I have been toying with the idea of breeding her anyway. I wasn’t sure her cramping issues would resolve, and I don’t want to push her into lower limb lameness. She’s currently sound, but she’s also 14 with a couple of mystery years and some very slight arthritis in her joints. Unlikely to be an issue, but she’s such an excellent trail horse I don’t want to risk her.
Also, she’d make a nice foal.
If Fantazia cannot do it, I would like to find an Arabian on the track. But I need a better job first.
Anyway, the point of this post is to summarize our rides. Fantazia has come a long way since this time last year.
End-of-year summary of miles completed at AERC and WDRA events
Totals:
WDRA completions: 200 endurance miles, 25 LD.
AERC completions: 150 endurance miles, 25 LD.
Pulls: 3 lameness (one right hind, two left hind, all muscle spasms); 1 metabolic
Laurel Mountain xp ride, day 2 (February 5: 50 WDRA miles)
50 WDRA miles. 4th place, completed in 5:30:00.
See my blog post about our first ride!
Above: Our very first ride was a learning experience. I forgot flashlight, headlamp, attachment for propane stove… Fantazia was anxious, didn’t eat or drink until ten miles into the ride. But she finished strong! And I survived sleeping in my boyfriend’s stock trailer 😉
Eastern Mojave at Coso Junction xp ride, days 2 & 4 (March 10 and 12: 100 WDRA miles)
Day 2: 50 WDRA miles, 3rd place, completed in 6:09:00
(I stayed at camp watching it snow on Day 3.)
Day 4: 50 WDRA miles, 4th place, completed in 5:15:00. BC.
Cuyama Oaks xp ride, days 2 & 3 (March 26 and 27: 50 WDRA miles + LD)
Day 2: 50 WDRA miles, 6th place, completed in 6:30:00.
This should have been my warning for anhidrosis. After an overly enthusiastic morning, Fantazia was very flat in the afternoon for the first time. At our rides in the desert, she had gone into the second loops as strong as she had in early morning.
Day 3: 25 WDRA miles, last place, completed in … seven hours? She had a cramp that didn’t cause a regular gait irregularity when I came in, so we got the LD completion, but by the time I loaded her in the trailer it looked terrible.
20 Mule Team (April 10, lameness pull)
Yes, I should not have entered. In my defense, not even the competerized gait analysis detected an issue, and my vet encouraged me to go ahead. But… she stepped on a rock (jogging slowly) around mile 15 and I could feel her off after that. It was the right hind, upper croup, again. Very slightly lame, but regular, so lameness pull at mile 19, first hold.
Wild West Pioneer Ride (June 17 and 19, lameness pulls)
I had planned to ride the 17th and 18th, and volunteer the 19th. On the 17th I rode with Karol Mancini, and we did not hurry–both of us just wanted to finish. Fantazia was sound when we hopped off 1/4 mile from the finish. I took off the bridle and we started to walk in. After about 20 yards, Fantazia suddenly jumped and kicked, swishing her tail as if she’d been stung. We continued at a walk, she pulsed down right away, and we walked back to camp and the vet check. At the trot out, she was lame, left hind.
I could feel the knot in her muscles, right beneath her tail. Vets thought she’d cramped from e-lyte imbalance, advised Endura-max and massage. She trotted sound within an hour, but I could still feel the knot. I decided to volunteer the next day and ride her Saturday, if she stayed sound. She trotted out fine every time, but on Saturday she started to feel off after 11 miles. I hopped off and lef her. It was a long walk! And she was lame when we got in.
The week after that I lost my other horse, Beroni. (See my post “Saying good-bye to Beroni.“) Coping with that, plus some other issues, was enough; I just turned Fantazia out for nearly six weeks of rest.
Above: Ponying Fantazia from Beroni. She misses him, but not nearly as much as my sons and I do. He was a great little horse.
The Quicksilver Fall Classic (October 2, metabolic pull)
When I got back on Fantazia, she was sound. She seemed nearly as fit as before, although between the rest of my life, the heat and the fires, we didn’t get that much serious conditioning done. Still, she was plenty fit going into the Quicksilver Fall Classic. In fact, her heart rate was lower than ever when we vetted in (44; previously she had always been so keyed up that it was never below 50). She breezed through the first loop, was at 50 per my heart rate monitor when we walked in, and by the time the volunteer had taken her pulse, she was at 40. We had finished the loop in 3:09:00.
But when we rode out around 11am, Fantazia was a bit flat. Although she figured out that we were doing the same trail, backwards, right away (I never had to guide her), she got calmer and slower as the day heated up. It took us four hours to complete the loop. I got off and led her for five miles towards the end. Her heart rate hovered between 52 and 57 in the last quarter mile (just checked my Garmin record now!). But she was hot though not swaeting (warning sign), and when we stopped at the water troughs, it went up to 65. I grabbed a sponge–out of the hot water for sponging–and sponged her. Her pulse shot up to 73, and it took ten minutes to get it down to 60.
We walked to the trailer, I let her eat some alfalfa while I took the saddle off. I led her straight to the vet after that, and her heart rate was 64. Hosing her made it worse. She did not pulse down. (See my post about the ride.) It was very strange; I knew I had not overriden her. I started to wonder if she was sweating enough.
Sesenta Años pioneer (November 11, 12, 13: 100 AERC endurance miles total, 25 LD)
For the first time since March, we successfully completed a ride! It had been almost eight months. I signed up for all three days, hoping I’d be able to do 50 miles on at least two.
On the first day, Fantazia was very strong in the morning, but once again, seemed too calm in the afternoon. And she didn’t seem to be sweating at all. I couldn’t tell for sure, because I hadn’t taken the saddle off between loops, but her skin seemed hot and dry. Worried about her pulsing down, I went very slow. Despite this, we finished the 50 in 8 and a half hours, in 7th place.
I signed up for another 50 miles the next day. This time, I went slowly. I took the saddle off and rinsed her so I could tell if she was sweating in the heat of the afternoon. She did not sweat AT ALL, despite the unseasonal 90F heat. We went slowly (taking 10:35:00) and came in after dark. The good: Fantazia ate her grain for the first time at a ride!
The next day she was stronger, but I was not. We did the LD.
Above: The Cayuse Endurance ride had amazing views of Santa Margarita Lake in San Luis Obispo County.
Cayuse (December 11: 50 AERC miles)
Our final ride of 2021 was the very cold Cayuse ride. Cold = bad for getting up and going by 6am, good for horses with partial anhidrosis. Fantazia completed by 3pm, despite me being the worst guide ever and making her do an extra 4.2 miles. It was an amzingly beautiful ride though!
Best thing about 2021?
Fantazia has turned into a very reliable mount on any terrain. She’s fit enough I never have to worry about getting lost or going the wrong way (and subsequently doing too much). She ground ties anywhere. When alone, she’s 100% ratable and thinks where she places her feet at all speeds. When at rides, she still wants to go FAST, but she’s much much better. She’s starting to eat well at rides. She even comes to me in the pasture–occasionally! And she’s really trained for arena work.
Plans for 2022
Barring surprises, our next few rides will be
- Fire Mountain (I plan to do the 50 on the first two days).
- Laurel Mountain (We’ll probably do two days there too).
- Twenty Mule Team (aiming for the 100….)
- Cuyama Oaks (all three days?)
- Huasna (both days)
- Montana de Oro
- Tevis?? I don’t know. Not if she’s still not sweating in the heat.
What about you? Share your plans for 2022 in the comments! And Happy New Year!