Second place and Best Condition: Jazz’s first 50 (Road to Tevis 78)

As my brother pointed out, being too busy to ride worked out great. Jazz was second place and best condition at his first 50 this weekend. Unlike his first LD, 30 miles at the Bill Thornburgh ride two weeks prior (read about it here: Jazz’s first LD), this ride tired him out. Hopefully he will now have a more realistic understanding of his job!

Jump to:

Pre-ride(s)
The location
The first loop
The hold
The second loop
Take home: Second place and Best Condition

Friday’s pre-ride(s)

The horses….

As I had at the Bill Thornburgh ride, I took both Fantazia and Jazz. This is a mixed bag for Jazz. On the one hand, he is no doubt happier at the trailer with company, and it’s nice to pony him for a bit. On the other, he hates being separated, and makes a fuss during vetting and while we ride alone. For Fantazia, it’s torture. She hates being left at the trailer. She expects to do endurance, so she’s anxious, and then she doesn’t. Of course, she would also be unhappy at home without Jazz. And she’d drive my mother crazy whinneying.

I take both in part because I don’t want my parents to stress. But I also do it because I want to be able to ride both of them as soon as Fantazia is fit enough. I want her to learn that going to a ride doesn’t mean competing. I want them both to learn to wait patiently at the trailer. Also, this lets me condition Fantazia away from home.

Above: I started out my pre-ride(s) by ponying Jazz from Fantazia. They both enjoy this, even if Jazz can be really annoying (see video below).

If all goes well, I will take them both to the Cayuse ride. Jazz will do the 50 on Saturday, and Fantazia will do the 25 on Sunday. I’ve just started riding Fantazia again, but she should be able to complete an LD easily. (Providing whatever was causing her lameness has resolved. Read about it here: Figuring out Fantazia’s Lameness)

The pre-rides

I started by ponying Jazz with Fantazia four miles. I then left Fantazia at the trailer and rode Jazz four miles, looping around ride camp. (It’s really an advantage to know the locale for the preride!). He was a nut, screaming all the time and receiving answers from Fantazia when we were close enough for her to hear us. I then left Jazz at the trailer and rode Fantazia another three miles, doing a shorter loop around ride camp. Jazz made a serious effort to escape as I was leaving, so I put a second, stronger rope halter on him and tied him on a shorter rope. He wasn’t dead or loose when we got back. He wasn’t even sweaty. Hopefully he will learn patience.

On leaving my horses tied to the trailer….

Yes, they jump around and scream and make a fuss. I know Fantazia won’t actually escape (she did this when I left her just to walk across camp on our first rides). I figured it was a good time to test Jazz, because we were at a private ranch with the gates to the Great Beyond closed. He couldn’t go anywhere. There were at least two vets at ride camp who could stitch him back together if he suffered injuries.

And yes, they both tie well. Jazz sometimes tries to escape by rearing. This earned him many hours of being tied in many places at home. I tie with rope halters and leads that will not break. It’s really important that they not learn they can escape. Fantazia will pull ceaselessly at a nylon halter and drive me nuts at night when I am trying to sleep in the trailer. This is my fault, for tying her in a nylon halter to a blocker tie. She learned how to slowly make her lead longer. Sigh.

Above: The horses just after Jazz finished the ride. He looks tired, but it’s Fantazia who has lost far more weight, as you can see in the picture. Hopefully she will learn to wait patiently. I was told that she settled down during our second loop and stopped dancing at the end of the lead.

At first, I tie high enough that if something does break, the horse will just sit down fast. I don’t want a horse flipping over backwards and breaking its head on the ground. I also don’t tie a horse that doesn’t give to pressure at the poll. If true tying education has to happen, I use a belly rope.

Fantazia and Jazz need to learn to wait at the trailer quietly. Alternating horses for short rides is an ideal way for them to learn. And there is always someone at ride camp keeping an eye on things!

The people

One of the best things about endurance is the people. I’m not the most social person, which is why I love riding alone in the middle of nowhere. But I do like to hang out with fun people now and then. I’ve been slowly making connections in endurance. I had been looking forward to having dinner with Vicky Torres, whom I met last year at the Cayuse ride. She couldn’t make it, but she connected me with her friend and new endurance rider Katlin, who was there with her husband for the LD on Saturday. We ended up having a great time hanging out at the Horn’s trailer Friday evening with several others, including Robin who hails from near my own home town!

It’s also always a true pleasure to be at an xp ride. The Nicholsons are fantastic. I love the relaxed approach that allows riders the flexibility to focus on their horses’ welfare. Of course I also love the locations. It’s a privilege to ride on private land such as Rancho San Fernando Rey, where the Sesenta Anos ride is held.

The Location

This was my second time at the Sesenta Anos Pioneer xpride. Last year, I rode Fantazia all three days: two 50-mile rides and an LD the last day. She could probably have done the third 50, but I was beat! (Read about it here!) Riding all three days last year meant I knew Rancho San Fernando Rey quite well. I had already ridden all the trails Jazz and I rode on Saturday (if not in the same order or the same direction). I knew where the water was, and how steep the climbs were going to be.

Knowing the trails was a great advantage. It meant knowing how much horse I needed to have at the end. It meant knowing when I should worry about how much Jazz was drinking… and when I could count on water happening soon. Mainly, it meant knowing when a long, deceptively slow climb was happening, and when I could count on an easy downhill section of trail. It also gave a sense of security: I knew how to get back to camp the fast way.

Above: Rancho San Fernando Rey is a cattle ranch, and the terrain is not dissimilar to our home training ground. Jazz was much more comfortable than he had been in the desert.

Rancho San Fernando Rey is hilly cattle country. Though the vegetation is more sparse, it is very similar to my home trails. This meant that Jazz was much less spooky than he had been in the desert for his first ride. He still pulled a few big jumps and spins, but he was much better behaved on the whole.

Being tired after the first loop helped!

The first loop of Jazz’s first 50

When I rode to the start at 6:30, no one was there. In a few minutes, Susannah Jones, riding her Arabian/Mustang Eli came back up the road. The rest–there were ten total riders–started appearing. According to my watch, we started a few minutes after 6:30. Susannah and I headed out first, and we rode together off and on for much of the first loop. It was great training for Jazz.

Leapfrogging

Jazz was very happy when he was near Eli. He was calmest in front, but did all right behind, as long as we were fairly close. Unfortunately for Jazz, Eli is a Tevis horse, and much fitter. Sometimes Susannah would let him trot, and I wouldn’t let Jazz keep up. He’s just not ready. So he would go bonkers.

Above: Susannah Jones and Eli in back of us on the left, and in the left shadow on the right. I had a great time riding together!

By bonkers I mean neighing, cantering sideways, and occasionally trying a buck. He got in trouble. But it was great practice.

Other times Susannah would stay behind. This happened mainly at water holes, where she’d spend more time cooling Eli. (Jazz only got a little hot when we did the first long uphill climb. He has a fantastic heat-dispensing metabolism.) Sometimes I’d just trot off when Susannah was walking, for the practice. Jazz does fine leaving people behind. (More or less. He does tend to “wait” and try to look back.)

This was great training… right up until Susannah’s stirrup broke, and she decided she wanted to get back to ride camp ASAP. Then Eli left us in the dust, truly. Jazz had a minor breakdown, but finally settled down and finished the first loop well.

Keeping hydrated

I did not elyte Jazz at all before or during the first loop. I couldn’t find the butterscotch pudding enhanced EnduraMax/Kaolin Pectin syringes I had prepared. He hated the unsweetened versions of elytes I tried last time, so I decided to leave him alone. He had drunk very well overnight. As it turned out, he took care of himself. He sipped water at the first tank, and then wasn’t interested in drinking in the creeks. (He did eat wet grass and was obsessed with the underwater rocks!) However, at the first stock tank after the big climbs, he drank for a long time.

Above: On the left, Jazz sniffing every rock in the creek but not drinking. On the right, Jazz enjoying an algae-filled cattle trough.

The lost rider

Around mile 18, Susannah and I came upon another rider, to our great surprise. We were the frontrunners in the 50, and the LDs had left one hour later then we did. It turned out to be an LD rider on a very tired horse (we found her on a steep incline). She wasn’t sure how she had gotten off-track. Susannah told her not to bother going back down the hill, for her horse’s sake. I suggested she tell Dave and Annie, and they’d let her go back out to complete her 25 miles. That’s one of the reasons I love xprides, the Nicholsons’ flexibility! Hopefully the rider did as I suggested. In any case, Susannah and I rode on.

Update: Turns out the rider was not an LD rider, but a club rider on the fun ride who had got slightly off trail! She was riding a curly horse–which I had completelyforgotten about. Even though at the moment I marvelled that she could manage a curly for endurance. They must be so hard to cool. I should have taken a picture… when besides beong cool (if the rider allowed me to share) would have kept me from forgetting the cookness of the horse’s coat.

The hold

Jazz had pulsed down when I dismounted 1/4 mile from ride camp, and he was great during the hold! He drank extensively as soon as I tied him up. He ate hay and beet pulp. For at least half an hour, he dozed. He was tolerably good for the vet (just a bit twitchy). I did give him electrolytes right before saddling up (I used beet pulp water to mix). This turned out to be a bad idea. First, he spit most of the solution out. Then he clamped his mouth shut and refused to open it. It took me five minutes to get the bit in his mouth. Since I was taking my time, this meant we left camp more than five minutes after our out time.

Oh well, no hurry.

The second loop was a lot more enjoyable!

Leaving late meant Jazz and I were absolutely alone for a good half of the second loop. We did have some oncoming traffic at first, as the LD riders were finishing. Jazz was much better about this than he had been at the Bill Thornburgh ride. No wheeling happened at all!

In the pictures below you can see some oncoming LD riders:

Eventually we did catch up to Susannah and Eli. Once again we rode together for a while. Susannah said she was going to take it easy… but when Eli sensed we were headed home, he got enthusiastic. Once again, Jazz and I watched them gallop into the sunset (close to literally this time). Jazz had a minor meltdown, but he was far too tired to keep it up for long. We ended up walking much of the final few miles back to camp.

At one point, walking on a long rein, Jazz stumbled and went to his knees. I fully expected to eat dirt, but amazingly, he managed to get back on his feet after scrambling on knees and nose for a bit. Phew!

We finished around 25 minutes after Susannah, and I decided to stand for Best Condition. Jazz was clearly sore, and I wanted the benefit of a free vet once-over. As it turned out, after an hour of eating, drinking, and being groomed, he moved quite well. (And luckily, I think, Susannah didn’t bring Eli back for BC! Although I think I beat her in the weight department. She’s even smaller than I am!)

Above: I’ve traced some of the trail we rode up on in red. It was a good climb!

Second place and Best Condition

I was thrilled that Jazz got second place and Best Condition! Especially BC. Placing largely depends on the other riders, because I generally ride my own ride. Fantazia did the same distance (technically a bit more, per real miles) in almost exatly the same time last year, with more elevation changes, and we were 7th. Jazz was second riding at the pace he needed to go (with some exceptions when he turned into lunatic horse).

Of course, Fantazia is fast. Jazz will probably turn out to be just as fast if not faster. He’s extremely athletic and hasn’t got the use-related physical issues Fantazia does. More importantly, nothing dulls Jazz’s appetite (except being forced to swallow electrolytes, and that doesn’t last long). He drinks even without elytes. He’s a bit of a nut when other horses are in sight, because he’s herd-bound. But that will get better with experience.

The only potential issue…

Not surprisingly, saddle fit may be an issue. Jazz was a bit sore over the topline. It might just be because he did a lot more work than usual. He spent a lot of excess energy fighting me when he wanted to follow Eli. Lots of this was cantering (sometimes in place). That’s hard on his loins. I’ll wait to make any judgement until the next ride, which will be Cayuse in one month.

Above: Jazz at 6:15am, just before the ride, and around 5:20pm, not quite two hours after finishing. Not too much difference! He was good and tired… where good also means he wasn’t too tired. His legs were clean at the time of the picture, the next morning, and have been since.