My second ride to the Trona Pinnacles (Road to Tevis # 107)

Because Fire Mountain was River‘s first endurance ride, I blogged about her last week. (Read about River’s first 50 here.) This was Fantazia‘s third time at Fire Mountain, and the 11th AERC-sanctioned endurance ride we completed together. In 2022, Fantazia completed Days 1 and 2 at Fire Mountain, in 5th and 10th place. Last year we only rode Day 1 (once again to a 5th place finish). This time we did Day 2, which was my second ride to the Trona Pinnacles and Fantazia’s first.

(Jazz–now known as Maverick–and I rode to the Pinnacles last year, and won. It was his first endurance win, and mine… though that may have been only because we were less bothered by riding through a crazy storm than other horse and rider teams. Read below for more on the vagaries of winning.)

Fantazia came nowhere near winning–but she did great. We would have been top ten, had my knees not given out. I ended up walking five of the last six miles. Fantazia was 15th (38 started), and quite fresh when we finished. It was an absolutely beautiful day to ride in the desert. Of course, I wasn’t as amazed on my second ride to the Trona Pinnacles as I was on my first… Last year I had been absolutely gobsmacked to see them because I did not expect it at all. But it was still an incredible sight.

Fantazia’s long break

Because I was hoping to breed Fantazia, I had my farrier pull her shoes in April and gave her five months off. By June I knew she hadn’t taken, but I was busy with Jazz. (Read about some of our adventures here.) Fantazia doesn’t do well in the heat anyway. When Jazz was taken away, Fantazia did surprisingly well on her own. In fact, judging by how she didn’t even look at Jazz at the ride, even though they were in the same race and he passed right in front of her, Fantazia clearly doesn’t miss him. She has already bonded much more closely to River, even though they’ve spent only 4.5 months together.

I had my farrier put shoes back on Fantazia in August, expecting River’s arrival. Fantazia and I did one easy ride a week until River arrived on September 9th. Then Fantazia just ponied River, or stood and watched me work River. In October, I began to do longer rides with her.

Fantazia needs very little work to be ready for a 50. Because she has arthritis, I tend to pamper her. I never ride her down hills. Most of her conditioning consists of going up very steep hills at the pace she chooses. I do occasionally ride her in arenas, preferably with deep footing. She is so well-trained, it’s nice to just get on and push the buttons now and again.

The benefit of exercising two horses at once

As winter drew near, I began to take both mares out on long rides together. I’ve written before on the topic (read The many advantages of ponying your horse), and I’d like to add to the list of ponying-pros. It’s great for teaching new horses to go down the trail (and through water, etc.) It allows you to ride the horse most suited for the terrain. In this case, I’d begin riding Fantazia. She is 100% road-safe, so I could get River used to traffic and scary places along our road to where I enter one of the main cattle ranches I ride on.

Later, I’d ride Fantazia uphill and on technical terrain, and River downhill and for long trotting stretches. River would do more miles, because she needed them. The nice thing is that Fantazia, who is more relaxed with company, taught River to drink and go through water easily. River also got used to distance. On December 2nd, we did a 22.3 mile ride. I rode Fantazia the first 10.2 miles and the last mile. River did everything in between, just a bit less than Fantazia. Fantazia acted like she hadn’t gone anywhere afterwards. River was spent… it’s the idea of it!

In the end, Fantazia only did a few long rides (14-17 miles) alone. We took it easy. And yet she was not only ready for a 50 on January 13th, she was ready to top ten… easily!

Fire Mountain Endurance Ride, Day 2

Because I talk about most events leading up to the ride in my post about River, I’ll just note that because I hadn’t done a ride since the Buck Mt. Boogie in July, I had to scramble to find everything I needed. What’s more, Jazz didn’t need e-lytes during the ride, so I couldn’t find any of my syringes. Jazz preferred to eat his e-lytes on his pelleted feed. Fantazia most definitely needs her EnduraMax/Kaolin pectin mix and Cal MPK drench during rides! I couldn’t find syringes, flashlights, lanterns, you name it.

Luckily, once I was at the ride and started unpacking, I did find most things.

Fantazia had not been at a ride since March, and she was high as a kite. She knows the desert around Ridgecrest very well. She knows the ride… She’s old, but still hot as ever. She showed off for the vet and got all As. Since River was there, she ate well the night before… and was raring to go at 5am Saturday.

“Loop 1” of my second ride to the Trona Pinnacles

My second ride to the Trona Pinnacles began slowly. Fantazia was raring to go, but I was still getting my sh*t together at 6:30, when the ride started. Ride management had specifically asked us to try to get out on time so Nick could go to the first vet check. I started out from my trailer at 6:33, still arranging tack and appurtenances. Sigh. Fantazia and I started last, and we walked the first mile because she had had no warm-up.

I started my Garmin watch after I mounted just outside the gate, at 6:37am. Fantazia completed the 25 miles in 3 hours, 31 minutes (3:21 moving time) at an average speed of 7.1 mph (7.5 mph average moving speed). Her average heart rate was 103 bpm.

We started last but passed a lot of people. Fantazia was remarkably calm, she just steadily ate up ground. By thetime we got to the first hold at around 12 miles, we were midpack at least.

The social life of endurance rides

Towards the beginning I spent quite a bit of time riding (and playing leapfrog) with a Diane Marcel. (I’d forgotten her name but she told me on Facebook after viewing this!) It was really fun to ride together.

At one point the trail followed along a road. Because Fantazia is 100% road safe, I moved over and trotted along the asphalt, where the trail was smoother, with fewer ups and downs. (We had been specifically told at the ride meeting that we were free to pick better trails alongside the marked route.) At one point a rider on the marked trail came alongside me and told me “The trail is here.” I said “Yes, but it’s smoother here and my mare has arthritis so I pick the smoothest trail for her.” He grumbled that he was 80 and following the trail… and passed me.

Not long afterwards I returned to the marked trail and soon overtook the rider. He volunteered that he had told “Some woman” to get back on the trail. I said, “That woman was me.” We got in a discussion of the merits of not following the ribbons… When I explained myself, he said “That’s Trumper talk.” Hahahahahaha. First time anyone accused me of being a Trumper based on my riding choices. He and I went on to have some fun conversations over the course of the next many miles, when we leap-frogged continuously. I’d slow to a walk at every downhill stretch, and then catch him on the uphills. The rider was Crockett Dumas, whom I had never met.

Above: Left, Crockett Dumas with the Pinnacles in the background. He took a picture of me too, but I haven’t seen it. Right, more riders approuaching the Pinnacles. Crockett ended up riding ahead and they all trotted down that long hill while Fantazia and I walked.

We caught three other riders, but then I fell back as we neared the Trona Pinnacles via a long downhill stretch. They all entered the hold before I did, but Fantazia’s pulse was below 60 when I walked in at 10:08, so we ended up leaving nearly at the same time.

The hold at the Trona Pinnacles

I had sent a crew bag (by this I mean an old feed sack with elytes, mash, pelleted feed, and carrots for Fantazia, and a peanut butter and jam sandwich plus Hoplark tea for me) ahead of us. Fantazia mainly wanted hay and carrots. She didn’t drink much, but that didn’t worry me. It was cool, and she had barely broken a sweat. Jazz had come in not far ahead of us (Rachel trotted him out 10-15 minutes before my out-time)… but Fantazia was supremely uninterested in him.

Above: Left, the hold area at the Pinnacles just before I rode out. Right, Jazz aka Maverick trotting out of the hold while Fantazia watches calmly.

Last year, Jazz and I had stood shivering in the icy sleet and wind, waiting for the hour to be up so we could head back to camp. This year it was beautiful weather, and I was in no hurry to leave. Still, I wanted to be able to ride River, so at 11:08 I rode Fantazia out at a walk.

Looking back at the hold after lunch on my second ride to the Trona Pinnacles.

Above: Looking back at the Pinnacles on our way back to Ride Camp. You can see the hold to the right.

“Loop 2” or the ride back to camp

Crockett had ridden out about five minutes before I did, and he was walking, but the footing was such that I wasn’t about to trot to catch up. Rocky roads are not an option with Fantazia! Another three riders who had arrived before with him rode out after me. Either their horses had taken longer to pulse down, or they were taking it easy. Once they rode out, though, they went faster and soon passed me.

Once we’d gotten off the Pinnacles access road, though, I let Fantazia trot. Because there were a lot of uphills, we soon caught those three riders, Crockett, and a few more. At this point, I had no idea where we were in the pack. I never pay attention to these things, and though Fantazia is very fast, her arthritis makes riding to “win” not an option. That said, it was nice to pass people with a horse that felt fresh, calm, and had a consistently low heart rate. I decided to let Fantazia pick her pace, except on downhill stretches.

When rider issues affect the horse’s performance…

That all went swimmingly, and Fantazia was coasting along effortlessly… until my knees began to hurt. I mean really hurt. The Stonewall saddle that fits Fantazia perfectly has always been hard on my knees, and this time it was terrible. (I suspect I was less in shape than Fantazia!) When I started riding crookedly to protect my left knee, I knew it was time to slow down. Riding crooked not only would mess me up worse, it could potentially lame my horse.

I ended up walking five of the six last miles into ride camp. Five (maybe 6?) other horses passed us. Fantazia was amazingly calm and obedient, and didn’t fight me (too much). That is, until we walked past the Ridgecrest Regional Wild Horse and Burro Corrals… I was very glad we did that on the way home, when Fantazia had already gone 42+ miles, rather than on the way out, as Jazz and I had last year. Fantazia gets very excited at the sight of lots of loose equines! See my video of the horses here.

Above: The Ridgecrest Wild Horse and Burro Corrals.

Completion

Despite walking much of the way at the end, Fantazia finished at 2:42pm, in 15th place. I went straight to the trailer, popped three ibuprofens into my mouth, and untacked. Fantazia vetted with an A-. (Upper right gut was a B I believe. That’s usually her slow place.) She wasn’t tired. Of course, then I rode River, and that stressed Fantazia far more than the 50 miles she had carried me.

Take homes or lessons learned

Fantazia is an extremely talented endurance horse. I really over-trained her before our first ride. That undoubtedly worsened her already existing arthritis. Still, she can probably keep doing at least one ride a year until we make decade team (six to go). I really hope I can get her pregnant.
I shouldn’t bring both mares to rides. Fantazia gets far too stressed when I am riding River, and she doesn’t deserve that. River will probably do better without Fantazia screaming at the trailer too.
I need to make sure my physical condition is good enough to ride my horses as they need to be ridden. I held Fantazia back needlessly. I need to make sure my quads are strong enough to post in a saddle that isn’t ideal for many miles. They weren’t–my knee pain came from over-exertion of (primarily) my patellar tendon (actually a ligament but it’s patellar tendonitis) due to my quads not being strong enough to sustain the repetitive motion of posting.
Saddle fit to rider is as important as saddle fit to horse. My physical therapist had a lot to say about my saddle! I won’t be changing that Stonewall, because Fantazia is so hard to fit and she deserves to be comfortable. And I won’t be riding her that often in races. But I need to sort River out. I rode her in an old Circle Y Western saddle that fits her well enough, but is not the best for me. I hope the McCall I have on order fits us both!
Fantazia does well starting last. She far prefers overtaking to being overtaken, and once she sees she can do that, she really relaxes. And starting last in no way makes it harder for her to be top ten (though I did!)

On winning (or not) in endurance

Last year, Jazz (now known as Maverick) and I had arrived at the Pinnacles first, at 10:08am, exactly the same time Fantazia and I reached the hold this year. Although the trail was not the same this year, the distance was nearly identical. Jazz went perhaps half a mile more, but then he started 7 minutes earlier. (I cannot tell precisely because I stopped my watch for the hold this year but not with Jazz, and last year I ran out of battery on the way back.) Fantazia was in much better shape than Jazz at the hold.

Fantazia finished this year at 2:42, in 7 hours and 5 minutes (not counting holds; it will be 7:12 officially I believe). Jazz and I had finished at 4:02 last year, in 8 hours, 17 minutes riding time. Last year it was a 55. This year it was a 50. The difference may not have been exactly five miles, but it certainly wasn’t more.

I wasn’t “trying” to win last year. Jazz won because no one else went faster. Had I been riding Fantazia last year, I would have won. Had I been riding Jazz this year, I probably would not have won. He didn’t win with Rachel either–they were 6th. She was probably just riding Jazz’s ride.If my knees hadn’t given out, I expect Fantazia would not have been far behind him.

Fantazia probably could have won this year too, but I do not want to let her go as fast as she clearly can. I want the decade team award, not a few wins.

My point is, I’ve won a few races with both Jazz and Fantazia, but in all cases I was simply riding my own ride. I know some people ride to win, absolutely. That was very evident in the races I rode last summer. I am not in that league. (Yes, Jazz could have won those summer races, but I wouldn’t have wanted to subject his legs to that kind of stress.) But… even so, I’ve won some races. Condition your horses properly, ride smart, and you’ll get lucky some day! If I did, anyone can.

Above: It was a beautiful day in the desert, which still had so much green from last year’s rainy spring.