Last weekend River completed her first 50 after her 6-month layup. (Read about her lameness after Montana de Oro last June. The vet counseled a few months rest, I chose to give her six.) Despite my misgivings during the ride, River finished sound. I still opted not to ride a second day, in equal parts due to the cold and River’s hooves. (Details below.) I loved riding in the Eastern Mojave for the first time, and plan to go back next year.
Jump to:
River’s condition going into the ride
Riding in the Eastern Mojave was new for me!
The ride: River’s first 50-mile completion since April 2024
One day was enough!
Aftermath
River’s condition going into the ride
River had completed the 25-mile ride to the Trona Pinnacles three weeks before, easily. I turned her out in our big pasture with Fantazia and gave her a week off. When I next rode her, River was full of energy! We did several rides in the arena and shorter(5-6 mile) conditioning rides. Thirteen days before our ride in the Eastern Mojave, we did a serious conditioning ride: 19 tough miles with 3,271′ total elevation gain. It was slow (4 hour 41 minutes), but we tackled several steep slippery hills. (Watch a video of our slippery-hill-practice.) River did well. She’s learning to navigate technical terrain safely.
River’s cardiovascular system is very efficient
River has a slow resting heart rate (generally around 32-34). I’ve known that for a while. What I’ve only just begun to realize is that her heart rate remains low during all but the most strenuous exercise. This is partly because she stops when it gets around 130 bpm at the trot. If I let her, she will self-monitor, slowing to a walk when her heart rate gets to 128-130, walking until it’s down to around 65 (about two minutes), then picking up a trot again. With the exception of the first five miles or so of competition, or when it’s crystal clear we’re heading towards home and there are only a few miles left, she does this.
When she feels good, River is quite happy to exert herself at the canter/gallop. She will happily sprint up a hill (if we’re heading towards home). Possibly because she raced on the track, she seems to accept that tiredness will happen to her at a three-beat gait. (Presumably also at a four-beat gallop, but I have never let her get that fast!) She doesn’t believe in getting too tired at a trot.
It can be difficult for me to gauge how she’s really doing in a ride
Once we’re done with the excitement of the start, and until we are nearing ride camp at the end, River doesn’t want to go too fast. Because she had hoof issues last winter followed by the lameness pull at Cache Creek Ridge and later lameness, I am ultra-sensitive to anything that might be a limp or even a misstep. (We spend a certain amount of time trotting in tight circles;-) I also pay close attention to the heart rate monitor. Trotting on the flat at 8 mph, River maintains a pulse of 100-110 for at least two miles.
The trouble with the heart rate monitor
Unfortunately, paying attention to the monitor doesn’t always work. When it’s cold and River is relaxed, it stops detecting a pulse after about 15 miles. At this point I have to reapply gel (or conditioner, or bag balm, or water). Even when it’s working it can seem like it isn’t. At Fire Mountain, I was convinced it was malfunctioning because it said her heart rate was hovering around 78 at the trot for several miles. Yes, it was a big downhill, but still. Then it said her heart rate was 58 going into ride camp.
Turns out it was that low. When I took it by hand after dismounting, it was 52.
The trouble is, how do I know when she’s hurting vs. just getting tired? Either way, her heart rate doesn’t get very high. I don’t want to be freaking out every time it takes more than a few minutes to fall under 65… or 70… or 75…? Depending on how far and fast we’ve come!
In any case, River was ready to go 50 miles
On Thursday before the ride I got home at 4:30 amd immediately got River out and rode. I wanted to be good and sure she was sound before driving five hours!
We did our usual arena ride, one mile of walking/leg-yielding, two miles of trotting/jogging/bending in large and small circles, and two miles of loping with eight flying lead changes. She was sound and full of energy.
We would leave the next morning as soon as it was light. (Turning my headlights on makes the trailer brake at the moment… so no night driving! That should be fixed this weekend.)
Above: Views from CA58 north of Barstow and I15 on our way north. The drive to ride camp near Cima, CA, was pretty. With the excepetion of Barstow traffic, it was an easy trip.
Riding in the Eastern Mojave was new for me!
My trip was longer than I like, a full five hours including my usual stop at Love’s in Tehachapi. It was an easy trip though, with pretty views. Ride camp is just a quarter mile off I-15, though I had Dave-Nicholson-invoked anxiety about driving on the wrong road to get there. I had to stop by the gas station to make sure I didn’t go up the Wrong Driveway!
Ride camp was full of rigs when I got there, and I drove around in circles for a while trying to find the right piece of desert to park in. There was plenty of space, but I wanted an easy out and to avoid smashing desert plants. Even with my best efforts, I ended up driving over a creosote bush.
Above: Slideshow with images of ride camp amongst the Joshua trees on Friday evening.
It was a beautiful location
There were Joshua trees everywhere. I couldn’t get enough pictures of ride camp! There were also cacti (mainly pencil cholla) waiting to snag naughty horses that boogered off the trail. River and I had a very short pre-ride. She was quite rambunctious and I preferred to lessen my chances of pulling cactus needles out of her legs.
It was also cold. I wanted to light a campfire that first night, but it was a bit too windy for campfire comfort. I ended up staying in the the trailer with my Mr. Heater Little Buddy on, reading. River, as usual, was calm tied to the trailer. She never moves much, which is good for my sleep (Fantazia always keeps me up all night), but not so good for her. Her legs used to stock up, but that has stopped happening. (I have no idea why… she is eating the same!)
Above: River towards the beginning of the ride, settling down but still touchy about getting near other horses.
The ride: River’s first 50-mile completion since April 2024
The ride started at 7:30am. I got up at 4:30 to feed River (taking advantage of a bathroom trip) and tacked up at 7:15. For once I was on time, and I led River out of Ride camp at 7:30, well behind the front runners, but not last. (OK, maybe in the last quarter, but that’s closer than usual to the front!) I led her for half a mile before looking for a high-ish place to mount. (She’s only 14.2 hands, but still…) We started trotting at one mile (after some small circles to turn River’s brain on).
Above: Early morning trotting through the desert, with commentary
The first section
Because the hold was out of camp, we didn’t really have “loops” although the entire ride was sort of a figure 8. The first half of the ride is easy, with a total elevation gain of 1,378′, primarily in the first gradual 13 miles. The footing is good, with sand that is deep but not too deep, and few rocky parts. It was a nice cool desert morning.
River was excited for those first five miles, especially whenever someone passed us. I let her trot out more than I usually do on rides: we averaged 8 mph at the trot. However, I made her slow down to a walk every time her pulse went above 120, and kept her at a walk until her heart rate dropped to 65. This is what she does by herself when calm, so I decided to enforce it while she was too excited to take care of herself properly. After six miles or so, she settled down into her usual intelligent self-pacing. Trot for half a mile or so, walk for a few minutes till heart rate drops, trot again.
It was a beautiful morning!
Riding in the eastern Mojave is amazing. There is an abundance of Joshua trees… though at one point we rode through a desolation of dead ones. I have no idea what happened to them, but guess drought. There was no evidence of a fire. Fortunately there were some baby Joshuas coming up through the dead vegetation.
Above: Top, or left: Riding through many Joshua trees in the Eastern Mojave. Middle: Dead Joshua Trees,; Right/bottom: River’s hoof.
… Until River started limping 😐
Around mile 20, in deep sand, River suddenly started limping slightly. I immediately got off and looked for rocks. She didn’t have any, but her front hooves were packed with sand. I cleaned them out and led her out at a trot. No limp. Hmm. That is exactly what would happen when she had a corn last winter. She would be sound as long as either (a) her hoof packing was intact or (b) her hoof was clean. (See a picture of the shoe made to protect her corn and read about it here in my post about the Treasure of the Sierra Madre ride.)
I didn’t like the look of her hoof either. The lateral sulci were deeply cut up the back of her bulbs. When I pried at the outside one with the hoof pick, she flinched. Hmm. I decided to try to avoid deep sand and ask the vets at the hold.
I got back on and she trotted out sound. Still, I was worried. The rest of the first section, I would trot only on hard ground and walk on sand. I lead her the last mile into the hold (very accurately guessing the distance from a windmill!)
The hold
Of course, River’s pulse was well below 60 when we walked in. She drank a lot of water (and played in the troughs!) I gave her some mash and alfalfa, and asked Dave to look at her. He looked at the hoof and said trot her out. She trotted sound and I could tell Dave thought I was imagining things. (It’s just like taking your car to the mechanic and them telling you it’s fine!) River was very relaxed and eating well.
Above: River at the hold for the Eastern Mojave 50-mile ride on Day 2. Far right/bottom: Dave Nicholson exploring what must be a cistern of some sort.
After 50 minutes, I vetted River through with Rebecca, to get a second opinion on her soundness. Once again, she trotted sound. In fact, she looked great. I put the bridle on and led her back into the desert for once exactly on our out-time.
The ride back to camp
Because I was paranoid about River’s soundness, I planned to go slow. River planned to go even slower! We had passed through the hold in the morning, so she knew the way back to camp. When I pointed her the long way back, she started dragging her feet. At one point we turned back in what she thought was the “right direction,” and she wanted to speed up. I was glad when we turned away, because River can be quite naughty when she wants to zoom home!
The rest of the way River wanted to mosey, and I let her. (Watch this video of her mosey!) We had plenty of time and I wanted to go slow… And to be honest, I was too lazy to ask for more. She decided she was starving about ten miles from camp and started stopping to grab every single marginally edible grass in our path. I enjoyed the non-edible vegetation: the desert was full of Mojave yuccas and Joshua trees (which are also yuccas, so two Mojave yuccas!)
Above: Slideshow of vegetation typical of the Eastern Mojave
River finally realized we werre near ride camp about 3 miles out. She sped up a bit, and, thankfully, was trotting sound. We finished easily a bit after 5pm, and she vetted through with no issues.
Some stats
Section 1: Average speed: 5.9 mph. Average moving speed: 6.0. 1,378′ total elevation gain. Average heart rate: 91 bpm. Max HR: 165 bpm (while loping).
Section 2: Average speed: 4.2 mph (hahaha). Average moving speed: 4.4. 761′ total elevation gain. I took off the heart rate monitor!
Above: The beginning of the ride back to camp, after the hold.
One day was enough!
I told Annie that I was going to wait and see how River was the next morning. I trotted her around 8pm, and she was not lame but she was sore. Because River doesn’t move when tied to the trailer, she has a propensity to be a bit stiffer than Fantazia has ever been. (Fantazia dances around all night.) I try to lead her around ride camp at least once during the night after a ride.
But it was too cold!! By ride meeting, I was questioning the idea of staying another night. By midnight, chilly despite my super sleeping bag and very unwilling to open it even a crack, I decided I didn’t want to ride the next day. I made sure not to look at River at 4am and 7am when I led her around, hahahaha. In my defense, she had done a great 50 miles the day before and didn’t really need to do the LD. I had wanted to chronicle more vegetation but I could do that next year.
The next morning I loaded up and we headed home.
Aftermath
When I released River in her pasture, she was a lot less stiff than I expected, and seemed to be trotting soundly. (See a video of her moving out right after I took the halter off.) The next day, I saddled her up and rode my tack from the trailer to the training barn (you laugh, but it’s nearly a quarter of a mile). I then trotted her in deep sand and on hard ground to test her soundness. She was sound all the time on hard ground and mostly in the sand arena. Only when trotting in tight circles did she seem to favor her right four once in a while. (Every 3-5 strides her head may have bobbled a bit.)
I cleaned her feet well and carefully applied some 10% iodine solution. Even though her feet looked dry and there was no obvious sign of thrush, I strongly suspected it. I also suspected that the only reason she wasn’t lame was that both front feet were tender.
It’s almost always the foot!
I had originally planned to ride Sunday and have River shod Monday on my way home. I recheduled with my farrier for two reasons. First, I wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to end up taking River to the vet and having them potentially pull a shoe. Second, I wanted to wait and shoe her closer to my next ride (Laurel Mountain). I had toyed with the idea of riding 60 miles at 20 Mule Team, but after her fleeting lameness on Saturday, I knew I needed to figure out her feet. Riding 20 Mule Team was going to mess up my shoeing schedule.
Here’s the thing. River’s feet grow out from under her. No matter how she’s trimmed and shod, at 3-4 weeks, she’s got too much toe and not enough heel. My old farrier, who sadly retired last fall, did improve her somewhat from when I bought her, but not as much as we hoped. The problem is you cannot reshoe a horse every 3-4 weeks. By 5 weeks, River is really not in a good place to ride 50 miles. I am wondering if I will have to try boots. Next Friday I will take River to the farrier and consider options.
I’ve got a new farrier now
When Wayne retired, I started taking River to be shod by the farrier who had done Dillon and Ron. He had done a great job with both. Dillon is easy, but Ron has a club foot. Problematic, but easier than River!
River’s feet look awful now. It rained nearly four inches in a few days last week, and in this video you can see how awful they look the day the rain stopped. On the day I took that video, River did not favor any leg, but she was possibly a bit tender on both front feet. The next day, I saddle her up and took some videos in the round pen (see below). Again, not lame (certainly not lame enough to take to the vet and block). Possibly tender.
Above: River one week after riding in the Eastern Mojave. Includes slo-mo footage.
Why am I so sure it’s her feet?
It usually is… And they look awful. Last winter, River’s only issues were her feet (stone bruise and mild corn). But more than anything, there really isn’t any good reason to suspect anything else. River is coming off a long lay up, and she hasn’t done anything that would cause any new injury. Yes yes, I know that mysterious pasture injuries happen. But she really doesn’t move around THAT much. All that said… who knows. If she is still not 100% after fixing the hoof issue, we’ll go to the vet. She’s due for an annual check up anyway soon.
Suggestions for shoeing from an old friend:
Above: and old friend from my days at the track recorded this video for me (he’s in Argentina now) on how to shape a shoe to address River’s problem.
What’s up next?
If all goes well, I plan to do two days of riding at Laurel Mountain, March 15-16. Probably two 50s, if River’s feet are good!