Jazz’s first endurance win–and mine! (Road to Tevis # 82)

Jazz’s first endurance win came last weekend on the second day of the Fire Mountain Ride, 55 miles. I knew going into it that I had enough horse to win, but I did not really expect to do so. Generally, I get a bit lazy in the last loop of a 50 (or 55). This time there were no “loops” per se–we rode out to the Trona Pinnacles and back–but if it hadn’t been for the weather, I’d probably have slowed down a lot. I like to collect rocks and take pictures of plants, and the horses are generally tired enough after 30+ miles that they will happily wait for me.

This time, however, the weather was awful, with rain and freezing wind beating down on us for most of the 30 miles back to ride camp. That, combined with the fact that Jazz and I were actually frontrunners, inspired me to push on rather than slack off towards the end. It helped not to be riding with Allan Horn–the few other times I’ve been close to the front with Fantazia, he and Ruby have taken off and left us in the dust 🙂

Read about Fantazia’s successful return to endurance on the first day of Fire Mountain here.

My second ride to the Trona Pinnacles, on Fantazia, in 2024.

Jump to:

The way to the Trona Pinnacles
The Trona Pinnacles
The way back to base camp
Take homes from Jazz’s first endurance win

Jazz was a monster going into the ride

I had last ridden him January 2nd, an 18.5 mile ride with nearly 3,500′ total elevation gain. It was a hard ride, with a lot of steep slopes left sloppy and slick from rain. I had planned a short ride last week, but the weather did not cooperate. On Thursday I ponied him with Fantazia and was going to ride in the desert. By the time Fantazia was done vetting in, it was getting dark and I wasn’t in the mood. I figured he’d exercise himself at the trailer the next day.

Of course he did. He bellowed and reared and dug a huge hole. I had tied him with two halters and two leads, one of which he broke. He also ate most of a large flake of alfalfa and drank a lot, so I wasn’t worried.

Vetting in and “pre-ride”

You could tell Jazz was worked up after being abandoned at the trailer. He was twitchy for the vet, but allowed her to examine him. The trot out was flashy, and then we played in the arena for several minutes… trotting around snorting and whistling and prancing, with an occasional rear.

I didn’t really feel like riding him. I was tired, and Fantazia would get all worked up if left at the trailer. Given the crazy behavior, though, I thought I’d better at least get in the saddle. Jazz was actually quite calm as I tacked up, and behaved well riding around the trailers. I tried to stay where Fantazia would be comfortable, which meant just a bit of trotting. But that’s all I wanted… he just needed to think he’d been worked. For that, 20 minutes works as well as 40, which was all we had before dark.

The way to the Trona Pinnacles

The ride was broken up in four parts: a pulse down, check, and go at 12.5 miles, hour hold at 25 miles (Trona Pinnacles), a short hold on the way back at around 43 miles, 20 minutes shortened to 10 due to weather, and then back to base camp to finish.

Above: My Garmin map of the ride. My watch died at mile 48, so I don’t have the last bit of the ride, but the image on the left shows most of it. On the right you can see the region of the Pinnacles (arrow in the left image).

The start

Jazz started in a state of extreme nerves. He was fresh and worked up, wanting to get back to the trailer and Fantazia the entire time we walked in circles at the start (only ten minutes). For the first five miles or so, he kept trying to head back to camp. Then we got too far away…

At first, I tried to keep Jazz behind at least one horse. Partly because it’s good training but mainly because that way I didn’t have to worry about his monster spook. Sadly, I had to move out in front after just a mile or so. Jazz needed to keep moving along at a faster speed than the frontrunners were going. It’s not that they were going particularly slow (I think it was just under 8 mph). It’s that Jazz needed to be marching forward to avoid the Naughty.

I wanted to avoid the Naughty because someone had made a point of asking people with fractious horses to hang a red ribbon on their tails and avoid crowds. I didn’t have a red ribbon (Jazz hasn’t shown signs of being a kicker). He really wasn’t going to be a threat to anyone else… but I didn’t want to scare anyone. I’ve learned that other riders get disturbed when my horses spook or act silly.

We rode alone for most of the first 25 miles

And it was a boring ride! Mostly just dirt roads, and many miles along the highway. Less and less vegetation. The best thing was the view of the distant mountains.

Above: Jazz and I led for almost the entire ride. No horse tracks to guide us! Luckily we could follow the tire tracks of whomever checked the trail markings. And we had the Ride with GPS app, which made it easy. Jazz did amazingly well, once he was alone and realized we were NOT going back to camp and Fantazia. Sadly, my GoPro wasn’t responding, so I didn’t get videos of the BLM mustang facility. What with the galloping bellowing mules and horses, Jazz was too much of a handful for me to record with my phone!

Jazz didn’t drink as much as I would have liked. He has learned that troughs with nice clean water appear magically on endurance rides, so he was less willing to drink out of puddles than he is at home (although he did, when thirsy enough).

Above: Jazz loves the nice clean water to be found in troughs (freshest when you are the first horse to hit them!). He will drink out of puddles, and after all the rain, there were lots of puddles. In the afternoon, the desert was one big puddle. He drank lots of desert water before the day was done.

The Trona Pinnacles

As I’ve said, most of the ride out was uninteresting. Long straight dirt roads through the desert. But the Pinnacles made it all worthwhile. I knew we were riding “to the Pinnacles.” I had been told as much at the ride meeting. But I had no idea. Riding up on them after 25 miles of the boringest stretch of desert I had ever experienced was amazing.

Above: The signpost for the Trone Pinnacles on the left, and the sight of them over the train tracks on the right (reflected in puddle too). It was really really cool to ride up to them.

Jazz and I entered the hold at the Pinnacles in a light rain, five minutes ahead of the next rider, Lori Oleson on Fargo. Jazz’s pulse was well below 60 when I got off, but he was Very Disturbed by the Tiny Ant People climbing on the Pinnacles, so it was up to 64 when we got to the hold. But within a few minutes he was down and focused on eating hay.

Jazz’s first B on a vet card… and the elyte issue

Jazz’s card was all A’s the entire day except for muscle tone at the 25-mile hold at the Pinnacles and gut sounds at the last hold. That B at 25 miles was right in line with my judgment of where he was. He hadn’t drunk enough, had darker pee than I liked, and was starving. After eating lots of hay at the Pinnacles and drinking at many puddles, his next urine looked good.

I had not given Jazz anything but his normal hay, feed, and water. He really doesn’t like elytes shoved in his mouth. Oh, I can always get them in… but then he refuses to open his mouth for food or water or bits for hours afterwards. At the hold at the Pinnacles, he didn’t want any of his beet pulp/oat pellet mash. He just wanted the beautiful leafy alfalfa provided by the ride management.

Amazingly, when he saw Lori give Fargo some elytes, Jazz wanted some too! So Lori shared the remainder of the tube with him, and he took it willingly. (I’ll try that brand, and/or flavoring my enduramax/kaolin pectin mix with molasses, next ride.) Before I got back on, I gave him some CAL MPK drench. He doesn’t mind that nearly as much as elytes, and at least it has calcium.

The way back to base camp

By the time we headed out, it was raining seriously. There was a biting wind. Waters were rising. The trail led along the main access road, which was rocky, so I started slowly. There was also a surprising amount of tourists in cars. So we walked. I expected Lori and Fargo to catch up, and was waiting for them. Jazz is more enthusiastic with company… and it’s fun for me. I prefer to ride alone most of the time, because it’s easier to listen to my horse. But some company is good!

Lori and Fargo caught up shortly and we rode together all the way to the last hold, nearly 20 miles. It was miserable. Much of the roads were slippery, and we had to go slowly down all the hills. Within an hour I was soaking wet head to toe. (Yes, my fault for failing to plan for RAIN.) Fargo has a beautiful steady trot that eats up the miles, but Jazz walks a lot faster. Because of the footing, we were forced to walk, which meant Jazz got more rest than he otherwise would have–waiting for Fargo to catch up!

Above: A brief video of the flooding. When you think about it, Jazz’s first win was in crazy conditions. But honestly, he might not have won had the weather been good, because I would habe wanted to stop to smell the roses… or take pictures of cacti as the case may be!

The last hold, at around 43 miles

Lori and I arrived at the last hold together. I hopped off and led Jazz in. He had pulsed down by the time we got in. I vetted through immediately, but probably should have let him eat first–B on gut. He immediatel;y began stuffing his face with alfalfa. Lori had been telling me that Fargo was HUNGRY (and not tired), and I thought, seeing Jazz eat, that she knew what she was talking about. Jazz too seemed starving.

I was freezing, and very happy that it was only a ten-minute hold. Usually, I am 2-10 minutes late in leaving holds. I never seem to get it together. (Or I get confused as to my outtime-with Fantazia the day before I got it in my head our outtime was 12:38 rather than 12:28, so we were ten minutes late out.) This time I was in the saddle exactly ten minutes after PR, and riding down the trail only one minute after our out-time.

The long slog to the finish

Yes, it was only around 12 miles, but I swear those were the longest 12 miles of my life. Most of it was into the biting wind, and the rain felt like icicles on my face. Jazz was tired, cranky (he wanted to stop and put his butt to the wind), and waiting for Fargo. I thought I was going to have to get off and carry him for a while there. He didn’t know his way back to camp (Fantazia would have). He was DONE….

Right up until we crested the final hill and he could see base camp. His head came up. His ears pricked. He neighed, and took off at a power trot. I was grateful to no longer have to push him, but my arms soon tired of holding him back.

Of course, that didn’t last long, He was tired. After a mile or so he was happy to walk again. In fact, he was in that ideal state where he would walk if asked, or trot at any speed I wanted. Yes, we were both tired, but we trotted steadily in and finished first at 4:04.

Take homes from Jazz’s first endurance win

I learned a lot about Jazz on the ride in…

I knew he was a fast walker, and curiously, he is happy to out-distance a buddy at the walk. But not at the trot! Whenever we’d pick up the trot he’d wait for Fargo. I thought he was really tired… but then Fargo would catch up and Jazz would pull out a power trot.

Jazz would also pin his ears as Fargo came up. Lori said he was cutting them off, which I hadn’t realized, so I focused on keeping Jazz to the far edge of the road so Fargo would feel comfortable. I’ll have to keep an eye on that. Jazz is NOT a dominant horse, but in my experience the wimps are the most likely to pin their ears under saddle. I guess they think I’m gonna protect them!

I learned that once Jazz is tired, he’s quite lazy when alone, at least until he knows where the trailer is. This is entirely unlike Fantazia, who is all about Getting the Job Done. The only time Fantazia has ever been less than eager to trot was when she was overheated at Quicksilver last fall. (Read about our experience at that ride here: The Quicksilver Fall Classic.)

Maybe it’s just that Fantazia always knows where the trailer is. She’s got a fantastic sense of direction. Jazz gets lost. He even does that near home, on our local cattle ranches.

I learned even more about Jazz during the days following the ride

Jazz ate and drank well at the trailer. He slept well (he has started lying down to sleep at the trailer). His legs were clean after the ride and the next morning. I turned both horses out in their 33-acre pasture and they galloped off.

I thought they wouldn’t want to see me for days, but when I walked my dog in the pasture that afternoon, they came up to us. Jazz wanted to bite the dog, but other than that, was happy and seeking attention.

Today–the Friday after the ride–my farrier came to shoe Jazz. Jazz can be pretty naughty about shoeing (he gets twitchy and impatient) and I usually ride him before. Foolishly, I thought he’d be tired. Nope. He was full of it.

I still don’t plan to ride till next weekend, and then not much. We’ll be doing Laurel Mountain the weekend after next. I want to give any unnoticeable stress injuries time to heal. But Jazz is clearly fit, happy, and raring to go.

Read about the doubts I had while riding in front: On winning and endurance ride.