River completed back-to-back 50s at Laurel Mountain last weekend. It wasn’t her first time there (she completed her second 50-mile race last year at Laurel Mt.) and it wasn’t her first time to finish two 50-mile rides in a row. But after a year of one problem after another–mostly to do with hooves–it was a triumph to finish two rocky rides without her getting footsore. On the less positive side, River was really bad about kicking. In part this was because she was so fresh.
Jump to:
River’s condition going into the ride (ferocious!)
Friday: windy, wet, and cold
Saturday: A slow 50 miles with a naughty mare
Sunday: Another slow 50 miles with a slightly better behaved mount
What’s up next?
River’s condition going into the ride (ferocious!)
It had been five weeks since our last ride. (Read about it here: Riding in the Eastern Mojave.) River had completed 50 miles successfully then, but her feet looked awful and I was worried about her soundness. After consultation with an old friend, a farrier who specializes in corrective shoeing, I asked my farrier to change River’s shoes up a bit. He watched my old friend’s video, recognized exactly what he was describing, and gave River a brand new look.
Above: River’s shoes: square toed, beveled to take pressure off sole, with wide heels, set back. This speeds up breakover.
Since then, River has been moving very well. She’s also been full of herself. Our last serious conditioning ride was 12 days before our first 50 at Laurel Mountain. We did 20.32 miles with 4,000′ total elevation gain in five hours. In fact, we did 18.5 miles with 3,896′ total elevation gain and she was still bucking, so I took her out to our broad-shouldered road to make it to 20 miles. We were trotting down the road when a car came up behind us. River spun and levitated into a decent capriole.
Yep, she was fit. The weekend before the ride we moved cattle, and then I used River as a turnback horse for my partner (this means I kept the cows from running out on him whil he practiced cutting). And rode 3.5 miles with 1,400′ total elevation gain. Total of three hours under saddle and River was still trying to buck and kick at the end.
If I had a racing license, a jockey, and a 7-8 furlong race in three months, I do believe River could win it. When I got her, I thought there was no way, but I can feel the race in her now.
She’s also fit for endurance, but I am being cautious about miles + speed until I know I’ve got her feet figured out.
The day before we left for Laurel Mountain
I work on Thursdays till 2:30. Because I am a professor and those are teaching hours, I cannot skip. Then I have to drive 1.5 hours home. When I got home that Thursday, it was wet and muddy. It had been raining for two days, and it looked like the skies were going to open up at any time.
I still had to ride, because River was so fresh… and I had to ride the saddle from the training barn to the horse trailer. No way was I going to carry it 1/4 mile! Luckily we have an indoor arena. I got about halfway through my clover leaf routine before the storm came. Of course River went from bored and lazy to explosive 😉 (Watch a video of River panting after the excitement in the rain!) And of course it was still pouring when I needed to take my tack to the trailer. I threw a rain sheet over horse and tack and led her up our muddy driveway.
River’s current feeding regime
River is an easy keeper and we’ve got a lot of green grass right now. She’s only on a few acres, but still too much, so I shut her in at night. “In” means in a large paddock half of which is under cover, so when it rains she spends most of her time there anyway. However, as soon as it’s NOT raining, she’s out gorging on green grass if I don’t shut her in. (And yes, she has a few flakes of Bermuda grass hay so she’s not starving!)
The night before we left for the right, I let her graze. A belly full of wet grass is ideal for endurance!
She also gets a pound of Purina Enrich every day, a pound of Purina Active Equine Senior, a scoop of KER Elevate Vitamin E, half a flake (two pounds max) of alfalfa, and a small flake of oat hay (4 lbs max), and all day (~10 hours) grazing.
Above: Slideshow of desert vegetation, starting with an out-of-place Joshua Tree. They don’t grow in that part of the desert, but this one was apparently from an old homestead. Later slides show the ruins of it, a close up of the plaques under the tree, and some cacti (beaver-tail and silver cholla).
Friday: Windy, wet, and cold
Friday dawned windy, wet, and cold. I was watching the weather at Tehachapi, hoping to avoid miserably snowy conditions. The road is usually decent, because so many rigs go over 50, but I didn’t want to be crawling at 35 mph. In the end though, I mainly tried to avoid getting soaked while loading at home. I finally left around 11, and it wasn’t too bad at Tehachapi. I always stop at the Love’s there, and this time I got a Subway sandwich and a bad station at the truck stop. The fuel hose didn’t work and I had to back out and move, in the nasty sleet!
The trip was uneventful though, and we arrived safely at Ride Camp around 3pm. Ever since the rains in 2023, it takes me 15 minutes just to drive from Brown road to camp! There wasn’t any real hurry, though. The weather there was as nasty as it was at home. Cold, sleeting, with winds guts up to 45 mph. I parked by a newly (since I was there last March) made fire pit that was conveniently near the portapotties and manure trailer. Unfortunately I didn’t gauge the wind right… I had to tie River to a twine looped around the ramp at the back of the trailer for the night. And I put her blanket liner on!
I was happy to notice I’d parked right next to Marci Cunningham. Scott Lucas was right behind her. (As it turned out, the Hellys were just beyond Scott, but I didn’t notice that!) The Tuleys were not far away to the south. All in all, my central location turned out perfect!
Above: Pictures of Ride Camp Friday evening. The upside of precipitation (sleet!) was a rainbow over the desert. As you can see, there is plenty of room to park in the desert, and we were all very spread out. In the second picture you can see River tied to “my side” of the trailer.
Our pre-ride, ride meeting, and a windy night
As soon as I got the trailer set up, I saddled River up. We set off down the road to the southwest as we would start the next day, and then turned off the road into the desert for a nice 3.5 mile loop east then northwest and southwest back into camp. (It’s always good to know the area well enough to choose your pre-ride!) 35 minutes, average speed 6mph. Yes, River was fresh and a bit naughty, but she held it together.
Ride meeting was at seven and by that time I was cold! I’d found Heidi and we agreed to ride together the next day, and as soon as I had the map, I headed back to the trailer. I had tied River to “my side” (the door to the tackroom/my primitive living quarters), but I moved her to the back of the trailer again. It was very windy by then, and the wind continued practically all night. When it died down around 2am, I got up and moved River to the side of the trailer.
At 4am the wind picked up, so I moved River to the back of the trailer and (since I was up anyway) fed her (including an extra 2 pounds of Equine Active Senior).
Above: Slideshow of pictures I took as the moon rose Friday night. Very pretty (and very windy and cold at the time!).
Saturday: A slow 50 miles with a naughty mare
River had eaten her feed by the time I went out at 6:30 and moved her back to my side of the trailer. I walked her around ride camp, and had some breakfast (Yerba mate, oatmeal, and two lemon bars). I saddled at 7:15 and was about to bridle when Heidi came looking for me. We were planning to lead our horses out calmly, after most people had gone out. (You can try to be last, but sometimes that’s just another competition. Marci had told me the night before that they planned to be last!)
Still, it’s always a good thing when I am riding with someone and they get me going. Unless I am riding Fantazia (who gets me up as soon as ride camp begins to stir), I tend to lose track of time…
This time Heidi and I started out at 7:33am, just three minutes after the official start. Unfortunately, I did not take any videos with my GoPro. On Loop 1, I thought I had made one long recording, but that turned out to be false. I On the second loop I didn’t even wear the GoPro, but I did take a few videos and a few pictures!
Satuday was a gorgeous day. The wind died down by eight, and the rest of the day was sunny and warm.
Loop 1
We led our horses for the first half mile or so. Just after I mounted, a jeep came by dragging some tires. When River saw it coming she bucked and did another of her caprioles (rear, jump forward, kick). I hopped off and we led another 150′ or so before climbing into the saddle.
Unfortunately, I started the wrong course on my watch. I started Day 3 Loop 1, and because it finishes the same way Day 2 Loop 1 ends, I didn’t realize I had the wrong track until we’d gone over 12 miles. (My watch just assumed I was doing the course backwards.)
River was too much of a handful for me to notice little details like doing a Garmin course backwards! She was a real snot. She kicked at everything: vegetation, sounds, horses coming up behind us, and even Heidi’s horse OP. Luckily that was a “playful” kick that caught OP’s hoof, so no damage done, but I moved her forward fast then spun her in many little circles. Of course River knew she’d been naughty as soon as she’d done it!
OP on the other hand, was very well-behaved. If you think this would be obvious in a horse with 6,500 miles, you’d be wrong. I’ve ridden with Heidi enough miles to witness OP be a real little stinker. Big stinker that is! River is a little stinker.
We went slowly most of the time
Heidi and I did a lot of walking, and when we trotted we tried to keep it to a job. River had to be in back because of her kicking, and she fussed the the bit the entire time asking to go faster. Too bad. We let OP and Heidi set the pace. Mostly we stayed between 6.5 and 7.5 mph, but OP gets faster when he knows he’s pointed towards ride camp. Because he’s ridden all the trails in the area, he always knows where he’s going! River had done the exact same trail last year (read about her first time at Laurel Mt.), but she didn’t appear to know where she was… Although I am sure that whenever OP got near an 8mph trot she figured it out!
We finished the first loop around noon. Both horses had pulsed down by the time we led them in.
I tied River up with her mash (soaked beet pulp and alfalfa timothy pellets and rice bran) and ate a delicious tuna salad sandwich.
Above: Though I did not take any pictures or videos during the first loop, I did get a few pictures during the hold. The mountains made a gorgeous backdrop.
Loop 2
Heidi and I had decided to ride Loop 2 separately. We had an essential difference of opinion about passing behind the Ridgecrest Gun Range. She was going to get off and lead OP. I wanted to go as fast as possible to avoid richochets. (When I rode Jazz behind it, I swear a ricochet shrieked past my head.) After vetting through (Dave insists riders vet at the end of the hour hold), we set off together. I mounted within 50 yards and River and I started off alone. No, River wasn’t happy about this. She wanted to be with OP! Once we got onto the single track leading west, she perked up.
River loves single track trails; always wants to trot faster than I will let her! This one was short though, ending in a road that we follow due north for about 1.5 miles before turning east to double back behind the gun range. River was much better behaved once she realizezd she was alone. No longer desirous of overtaking OP, she settled into an easy jog. By herself, River is uninterested in going faster than 6mph… unless she knows she’s heading home or back to ride camp.
The second loop of this ride is tough. After eight easy miles on good roads, the trail loops up through the desert on very rocky trails, then onto a road that is a long upward slog through deep sand. Most of the second half must be walked (at least, I walk it). Still, River and I made decent time, and finished not just after 5pm. She had pulsed down by the time we stopped. She had not taken one bad step the entire time.
That is, not one lame step, She’d made a lot of bad behavioral steps!
Some stats
Technically there were two loops out of ride camp, but I made three recordings on my Garmin watch. This therefore is an estimate.
Heidi’s and my average moving speed for the first segment was 5.1 mph. Total ascent was 1,473′. I did not put the heart rate monitor on River, because I knew I’d be going slow, and her heart rate is always very low.
On the second segment we averaged 5.0 mph (moving) and climed a total of 390′.
River and I went a teeny tiny bit faster on the second loop alone, with an average moving speed of 5.3 mph. Total ascent was 712′.
Above: I give my inner pyronmaniac free rein whenever Ride camp allows it (and there is no wind or easily inflammable vegetation).
Saturday evening
Fortunately the good weather held, and there was little wind. I took advantage to light a campfire. I then distributed lemon bars and lemons to anyone who would take them! (We have ten lemon trees and lots of lemons that will be rotting on the branch if I don’t give them away.)
After ride meeting (River and I came in before four riders, but I don’t remember our placing. Maybe around 18th), I grilled a couple of Wagyu beef hamburgers. One for dinner, one for breakfast. I boiled some water for my Thermos, rubbed River down and walked her around ride camp, and went to bed.
Sunday: Another slow 50 miles with a slightly better behaved mount
Above: Sunday morning was beautiful. I took the above shots across a big puddle to caption the reflections of moon, horse, and rider. I also took this video of their reflection.
Heidi was heading home Sunday, so River and I had to go it alone. I planned to do another slow first loop, and then let her move a bit faster on the second loop. As it turned out, River wanted to go slower by herself! It didn’t help that I started late (around 7:35, though I forgot to start my watch until 7:41). River was better behaved than the day before, but still full of energy, as you can see in the video below.
Loop 1
River and I left last, although after walking about half a mile, Scott Lucas came trotting back to camp. He had forgotten water! Later he would catch up and pass us. I mounted once we reached Brown road, and rode most of the rest of the ride.
As she had been on the second loop the day before, River was much better behaved alone. She settled into a nice 5.8-6.0 mph jog for much of the loop whenever we weren’t walking. She drank in all the puddles, ate whatever edible grass she could find, and pretty much just did her job. River even managed not to kick until the end of the loop, around mile 29, when we passed the Sage Shooting range. Someone fired some heavy ammo, she got angry, turned her butt towards the range, and double-barreled in reply. And no, she wasn’t scared. We have a range, and though we rarely shoot, our neighbors do so frequently.
Above: A beautiful morning in the desert.
Towards the end of the loop I got bored and entertained myself by making videos. First I made one for my late-start stats courses (for our introduce yourself online discussions). Then I made some “how to follow ribbons” videos. (Watch the first one here.)
Our average moving speed was 5.0 mph, with a total of 2,877′ total elevation gain. River came into the hold already pulsed down, with little sweat. After giving her the beet pulp/alfalfa-timothy/rice bran mash, I had a egg salad sandwich (Annie’s egg salad sandwiches are my favorites!) and a beer.
Loop 2
I started Loop 2 at 3pm. River was–not surprisingly–finally quite calm. We were last, and in no hurry. River had been very reluctant to trot out after the hold, so much so Dave asked me to trot her again. That made me wonder if he had seen an incipient lameness, which was enough to make me see disaster in every head bobble. About ten miles into the loop, I definitely saw a consistent bobble, and freaked out. Then I got off and picked up her foot. A stone had wedged itself sideways into her sulcus. After prising that out with a hoofpick, she was fine.
Above: River had several small stones wedged into her suclus, but it was the red one towards the back that was bothering her. Once that was prised out, she was fine.
We finished the loop at 5:45. Our average speed had been 5.0 mph again. River was tired, but not sore. She trotted out 100% sound again.
Heading home
I let River rest for an hour while I packed up. Normally I would stay the night, but the wind was going to pick up again. I didn’t want to spend another windy night in the desert, and I really didn’t want to drive home in 45mph gusts. I figured River would be happier to get home and have green grass too!
Above: River after her second 50-mile ride in two days. She loved drinking in that big puddle near our trailer. As you can see from her sweat marks, she didn’t work too hard or get at all excited on Day 2! In the final picture, she knew she was going to load into the trailer and wanted to drink as much as she could before heading home. (Watch a video of it!) She always takes care of herself.
What’s up next?
Today is Monday (despite my best intentions, I did not get this done by the weekend). River was reshod today, but that’s all she’s done all week. On Friday we’ll head to New Cuyama for the Cuyama Oaks. I plan to ride 50 miles on Days 2 and 3. (Last year I believe we did Days 1 and 2.) I’ll probably ride River Thursday evening so she isn’t a monster on our pre-ride.
She looks good. Very fit, sound, and somewhat calmer than before completing back-to-back 50s!
If all goes well, we’ll head back to Cuyama for the Treasure of the Sierra Madre ride April 19th and 20th. (Read about River’s 5th 50 at the first Treasure of the Sierra Madre ride last year.) We rode one day last year, because River was getting over a corn. This year I plan to complete both days. After that, River will get a break until Montana de Oro. We’ll see if we can complete it this year! (I rider-optioned last year. It was one of those times when following your gut turns out to be the right thing to do!)
Above: River showing off her easy jog as we make our way through the desert.