River’s first pull at Cache Creek Ridge (Road to Tevis #113)

I was hoping to give her a perfect completion record, but no such luck. River’s first pull was at Cache Creek Ridge last Saturday. There was certainly reason for her to be sore, and honestly I was not sorry to stop after 25 insanely difficult miles, but still! On the whole though, River did great. She was very well-behaved, and in excellent shape at the half-way mark (not counting the lameness). Two days later she had no trace of lameness or even muscle soreness, so hopefully she’ll recover well. All in all, it was quite an adventure!

Jump to:

Why the Cache Creek Ridge ride?
Friday: The trip north, beautiful weather, pre-ride
The Cache Creek Ridge 50… up to the halfway mark!
Aftermath
Where do we go from here?

Why the Cache Creek Ridge ride?

I decided to go to this ride because I needed to drop Fantazia off at the Woodland Stallion Station. She is there now, waiting to be bred to WT Bezarif. (More about that cross if she settles!) The Cache Creek Ridge ride is held just 45 miles northwest of the WSS, at Cowboy Camp. In fact, Cache Creek runs right by the stallion station. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone (if slightly more than one tank of diesel!)

(Fantazia was successfully covered and is still pregnant in September!)

Friday: The trip north, beautiful weather, pre-ride

Keila at Woodland Stallion Station had asked me to be there before noon, so I got up and fed the mares at 5am. I was on the road shortly after 6:30, with River delighted to have company in the trailer for change. The trip went well, and I was at WSS in five hours. Keila was in a call when I got there, so I unloaded both horses and cleaned out the trailer. There was time to walk the mares and let them graze before Keila came out. It was a great break for River!

After talking with Keila about Fantazia, I loaded River back up. I had asked on Facebook at at the virtual Ride Meeting Wednesday about the best way to get to Cowboy Camp. People were about evenly split between goiing up 16 (pretty but windy and possibly plagued by tractors) or back to follow I5 up to 20 (further but faster). I was somewhat inclined to take 16, so was happy when Keila wholeheartedly recommended that route.

It was a beuatiful drive. ot too windy, excellent road, and only one tractor (going the other way). I even spotted some dudleya growing along the road!

Settling in at ride camp

After driving around the loop once, I parked in the middle of ride camp, near the latrine. River hopped otu of the trailer and peed. This is great. I’m trying to encourage River to pee outside the trailer, which is difficult because River just pees whereever she is. So by “encouraging her” to pee outside, I mean saying “goid girl” when she does so as soon as I unload.

Of course, it’s great that River pees whereever. Healthy though messy. In general River is shaping up to be an excellent camping horse. She was already used to travel! What has improved is her behavior when tied to the trailer. She has gone to relatively relaxed considering it was all new, to completely relaxed, even though she knows well what is coming. Last Saturday she got out, peed, drank as soon as I offered water, and settled in to eating hay.

As soon as I had unpacked, I braided River’s tail. I was worried about other people and horses getting too close when we vetted in. As it turned out, it was a good thing she had her red ribbons, as there was a sizeable line. Fortunately there was plenty of grass for the horses to eat. River behaved better than ever with the vet. (Only some pinned ears and a tail swish when the stethoscope got too low.) All As, and a “she looks great!”

Above: Ride camp, with River at the trailer. You can see her in the first image, and again in the close ups. Very relaxed!

Our pre-ride

When it had cooled down a bit, I saddled up. I wanted to explore the area and inspect the local flora. It was a beautiful late afternoon/early evening. River and I followed the trail about 2.5 miles, along the route we were supposed to ride back on. This meant riding along then through Bear Creek, crossing a meadow, then riding up into the hills a bit. I saw lots of flowers, including what looked like a yellow fairy lantern (called Diogenes’ lantern according to my Seek app. You can see it below.) No dudleya though!

River was very well-behaved, even when other riders caught up and passed us.

Above: Left and top, Bear Creek on a warm afternoon. Middle, Diogenes Lantern. Right (bottom), yellow lupine.

When we got back to camp, I wandered around a bit. I talked with Karol Mancini, and finally found Kassandra DiMaggio, with whom I wanted to talk about breeding Fantazia to her stallion Tazer.

Ride meeting had happened on Wednesday via the Internet, so there wasn’t much to do. I fed River (her regular Purina Active Senior) and myself (peanut butter and jam on Dave’s Good Seed), and went to bed. Yes, it was early so I ended up listening to a good chunk of my audiobook 😉

Above: The track recorded by my Garmin watch. You can see how we followed ridges. Surprisingly (to me anyway), the creek we cross repeatedly is Bear Creek. Cache Creek is on the other side of the ridge.

The Cache Creek Ridge 50… up to the halfway mark!

The start was cold, dark, and wet

The 50s started at 5:30am, and I was up by 4:20. I wasn’t in a hurry, but we’d been told we had to be out within 15 minutes. River and I left at 5:38. It was still dark. Other riders were trickling out as well. River was very well-behaved… and I was very glad we had ridden the first mile the day before! We had to navigate the creek crossing in the dark. River already knew the way. She was also calm about other horses passing. She passed others calmly. This despite the fact that she was clearly feeling very well indeed! (Despite the rain!) You can hear her snorts in the video below.

Above: River snorting in the dark. It really wasn’t that dark at this point. We’d already gone a mile or so. But it looks dark through the lens of the GoPro. It was also raining. Horses passed us. River remained well-behaved. I was completely satisfied with her behavior!

And then it got colder and wetter (if a bit lighter)

The 50-mile ride was divided into four sections of ~12.5 miles each. The first section was tough. Ride camp is around 1000′, and we climbed, with some ups and downs, up to the top of the ridge at 2,182′. The trail then continued along the top of the ridge. That would probably be a gorgeous ride in good weather. On Saturday it was miserable. What makes a great view on a sunny day is exposed to the worst of the wind and rain in poor weather. By the time we headed down, I was soaking wet from head to toe.

The trail down from the ridge to the first hold is steep. I led River down the first steep bit, over half a mile. When the trail leveled out I got back on and rode for a few miles. Then it got very steep and slippery again. I got off and led River the two miles down to the hold. By the time we got there I had five pounds of mud on the outside of my shoes and small ponds on the inside.

It was made worse because on the uphill and flat stretches, I kept having to get off and retrieve my GoPro. The elastic harness that I use to attach it to my helmet is old, and once wet, useless. I lost it five times before I gave up and looped it over my horn. (Video of an incident captured on film!)

The good news was that River’s heart rate was 55 as we walked in.

“Loop” 2 was even more miserable

Because River was down when we walked in and she was uninterested in water, I climbed into the saddle and we continued the ordeal. It was a trot by on the way out, and River was fine per the vet.

But was she sound?

At that point, I really had no idea if River was truly sound. I had led her on all of the worst downhill parts. We hadn’t trotted since the level bit several miles back. On the other hand, I hadn’t noticed she was off, even though I was watching her like a hawk. I was worried about the corn she had had. On our last ride (read about it here: Treasure of the Sierra Madre), I had had to clean out her hoof once she lost the packing. So I was worried… and not only about the hoof. It had been a tough 12 miles. I was glad there was a trot and go hold, just to double check.

She did appear fine

Not only did she pass the trot out, but River most definitely trotted well up the hill out of the hold. She moved well *most* of the second “loop” or section. At one point, about halfway through, I led her about halfway down a hill then got on as we neared the bottom. Soon after I got on, River’s back feet slipped out from under her and she sat down completely. She got up at once. After a few wobbly steps, she continued down easily. When the trail flattened out, I trotted, and she seemed fine.

After this came the steepest climb of the second part of the ride. River motored up it well. By this time I was an icicle, so I admit I let her go a bit faster than I normally would have. At the top I dismounted to lead her down the steepest bit. When the terrain flattened out, I climbed on, and when I asked her to trot, she seemed stiff to me (on both sides). I got off, cleaned out both hooves, trotted her around me in both directions. (This is NOT EASY in slick grass and mud.) She was fine. Then she tried to eat grass and stepped on a rein. The slobber straps came untied, and I had to tie them back on with icicle hands.

It was excellent leap frog training!

At this point several other groups of riders passed me. We’d been leap-frogging the entire morning, because I go faster uphill than most people, but slower downhill. River was very good about all of this. She didn’t even try to kick anyone on narrow trails (though there was a lot of ear pinning!)

In the end though, I fell behind. The last mile and a quarter into the second hold was steep and I led River down most of it.

A scary creek crossing at the end

Right before the hold was a very rocky crossing of Bear Creek, so I got back on. It was rough going, because the water was too churned up to see the large rocks beneath the sruface. Right after stepping into the deeper section, River caught a boulder and slipped. After that she went very slowly, placing each foot with care and testing. (I don’t know if River will ever make it to Tevis, but if she does, she’s unlikely to have an issue with terrain. She is very smart.)

The creek crossing definitely rattled River. Her heart rate went up instead of down, to over 100. That’s not a lot, but it had been consistently low since the top of the ridge, and it usually goes DOWN in water. (She loves water.) But she seemed ok.

Above: Heart rate and elevation data recorded by my Garmin watch. Green line is elevation. Red is heart rate (sometimes my watch loses connection with the sensors). The blue line is 100 beats per minute. I love looking at these charts, because I’ve found that heart rate can tell you a lot about pain as well as fitness. (Read my post about the Benefits of using a heart rate monitor.) On this readout I can see no instance of sudden extreme pain. The weird part where River’s pulse goes up on a downhill was about where I remember her hind feet slipping out from under her. I really didn’t think she had injured herself then, but looking at that HR spike, I wonder…

The hold and River’s first pull

I was worried about River after the creek crossing, so I jogged her about 20 feet before dismounting to lead her into the hold. She was not lame. Her heart rate was at 55 when she pulsed down. I gave her some feed and carrots (she dug into it with gusto) and grabbed myself a sandwich. We waited. There was quite a line to vet, because there wrere only two vets, and one–the treatment vet–was busy dealing with horses that needed treating.

River had been eating as much grass as possible for the last two hours, so she wasn’t that hungry. When she slowed down eating, I took her to stand in line to vet. Was she lame already? I have no idea. She looked good. Her pulse was steady at 44. Someone got a blanket for her, so she was happy to stand in the rain and eat hay.

When I took her to the vet (I want to say his name was Cory, but I am probably wrong), he said she looked great. Hydration, muscle tone, gut all As. Then we trotted out… or rather, River hobbled out. It looked terrible! I had never seen her this lame. The stone bruise and corn had definitely left her sore, but nothing like this. The vet could find nothing. Lower leg clean, shoulder good. He offered to look her over when we were back in ride camp and he had more time and hoof testers. I thanked him and said he probably had enough work! I’d take her to my vet if needed.

River was very happy to hop into the trailer that took us back to Ride Camp!

And I was happy to wait in the cab while two more horses (rider options) were loaded up. Our driver–I believe her name was Abigail; I know she was very nice!–told me I needed to take River to the vet when we got back, and reminded me when I tried to ruch back to the trailer.

River was still lame, though not nearly as bad as she had been at the hold. She had low gut sounds, which surprised me, but other than that, was fine. We made our way back to the trailer. I was going home!

Aftermath

After the final vet check, I cleaned the mud off River and my tack, threw a blanket on her, and let her eat. Then I packed up the trailer. Around 12:30 I led River to water tank (she loves them) and let her drink and dunk her head. Then I listened to her heart (38) and gut (all four quadrants very active). She was clearly feeling all right, and had eaten and drunk well. I considered giving her bute or banamine but decided it would be better to see how things developed. I’d check her when I got near my vet (sort of on my way home) and take her there if needed.

River was happy to get in the trailer! (It was still raining and she was cold when I took the blanket off.)

The drive home was miserable

It rained on me all the way home. That is, from Cowboy Camp to 20, to 5, and then all the way south to Tulare. It poured most of the way down the valley. The going was of necessity very slow. It took me six and a half hours. I checked on River in Tulare, just in case I needed to take her to the vet. She was fine, cozy, eating, good gut sounds. I headed home. The sky was lighter and I could see the storm in my rearview mirror… but it was still raining!

River was eager to get to her paddock when we unloaded. I expected her lameness to be if anything worse, so I was astounded when she starting trotting alongside me… And was not noticeably lame. (You can see the video I took from beside her here.) She was happy to be home and immediately rolled.

Above: River enjoying a good roll back in her paddock.

The next day

I got River out early the next morning and put her in the round pen. She was not obviously lame, but I noticed a slight stiffness that appeared to come from high on the right shoulder. (See a video here.) I then proceeded to look for the problem. As usual, I started with a curry comb. When she didn’t react to a soft one, I used one of the pointy ones that River dislikes. She was slightly more sensitive to it than usual, especially along her semitendinosus on both sides. That however couldn’t explain lameness in the right fore! Only by virtual of palpating the entire horse, with some force, did I locate a sensitive area behind her right shoulder.

Above: In the left/first photo, I indicate the one part of River that was at all sensitive to poking and prodding. If I had to guess, I’d say trapezius muscle. It wasn’t much. River didn’t move away from me. She did shift her weight, and–what I found more informative–she then leaned into me and licked. I’m probably anthromorphizing, but I imagined it was a sore muscle and pressure felt good. In the right/bottom photo, it looks like she has swelling about her elbow. I didn’t notice that at the time, and am not sure if it’s an artifact of the image.

Of course I inspected the rest of the horse, with a focus on lower leg. I found no detectable heat (and I have a laser heat sensor). No pulse. No soreness. Sadly, I can’t find my hoof testers, but I texted my farrier. He agreed to be out the next day (Monday) at 9am. If he found a stone bruise, great. If not, I’d take her to the vet that morning.

Monday morning

The next morning I saddle River up at the trailer, in part because I needed to move the saddle to the tackroom. (I park 1/4 mile away from our training barn.) I also wanted to check saddle fit.

Above: River two days after Cache Creek, with and without her saddle pad.

Was River’s first pull due to a tack problem?

Many people on the AERC ride suggested that it could be the saddle. A few thought they could see white in the pictures I had shared where I indicated her sore spot (the same ones I posted above). One of the first things I did Monday morning was make a video of her back. You can watch it here. I could see an even spattering of white hairs everywhere, but especially where the saddle sits. It would be too soon for any white caused by the Cache Creek ride to appear, but after Treasure of the Sierra Madre, the skin under all of the saddle pad area peeled. So I wouldn’t be surprised to find white, and in any case, white takes a while to appear. River shed out early this spring, and any saddle-caused white will show up in fall.

Now, the saddle tree was fitted to River and Fantazia. Mostly, the tree fit both of them, but we shortened it to suit Fantazia’s extremely short load-carrying area. I made videos of both (here is River’s), but I didn’t place the tree correctly. Fortunately the saddle makers are used to that! Once I got the saddle, however, I found it fit River better.

But does it really? Was I placing the saddle correctly?

Have I been tacking River up properly?

I do believe the saddle fits well. But I have a bad habit of putting saddles on too far forward, assuming they will slide back into place. That comes from riding race horses, where you don’t tighten the girth until you are in the saddle and have walked a bit. Saddles tend to settle into the correct position, and then you tighten the girth.

Western saddles don’t slide back much. And you cannot tighted the cinch from the saddle. I tend to ride with the cinch very loose, so much so that I have pulled the saddle over when mounting from the ground. But unless I go up a steep hill, it won’t move much. At Cache Creek, the saddle probably was where it should be, no matter where I placed it. We went up some steep hills early on, and the cinch was so loose I could get my arm under it.

In any case, Monday morning I taked up as I usually do and took pictures. They are all below. You can also see where the breast collar hits.

Above: River’s saddle where I usually place it. I aim to have the front of the tree just in back of her shoulder blade. That’s where it is in those pictures. (Here’s a good video addressing Western saddle placement.)

Above: The saddle alone. I also took some pictures of the saddle on River without a pad. The homemade felted wool pad I used for the first time at Cache Creek doesn’t add much.

Hooves do not seem to have been the cause of River’s first pull

After I’d finished playing with the saddle, my farrier came. He first verified that she had no stone bruise. Her hoof was apparently fine. I trotted her out for him, and then he helped me do flexion tests. All good. I put her in the round pen, with and without saddle. No sign of soreness that I could see. If you see something in the video below, let me know!

Above: River trotting, a bit reluctantly, seven days after the ride. She was not really in the mood to move, but that’s typical! (And so different from Fantazia!) See her ignore my flag in this video. Here is another video of her trotting both ways.

Where do we go from here?

Right now River is resting. And I mean really resting. She’s got 2.5 acres, but since Fantazia is gone, River has little incentive to move. She’s the kind of horse that will only move enough to eat, sleep, and (fortunately) poop outside her shelter.

At the end of this week, I will ride her. After an easy day, I’ll do some serious work in the deep sand of our outdoor arena. If she’s got a soft tissue injury, I should see it. If that’s the case, I’ll have my farrier pull her shoes and she’ll get 12 weeks off. (I’d say eight weeks, but I am going to Spain so realistically speaking, it will be 12 weeks.) I’ll get her reshod in August and we’ll aim for the Huasna ride in early September.

If she’s fine this weekend, we’ll continue with my present plan: Montana de Oro on June 1st, then pull shoe and vacation till mid-August. Huasna would still be our next ride.