The Feliz Cumpleaños Endurance Ride (Road to Tevis #127)

Last weekend River completed two back-to-back 30-mile LDs at the Feliz Cumpleaños Endurance Ride. Normally, I would have done at least one 50-mile ride, but River was recently diagnosed with and treated for EPM (equine protozoal myeloencephalitis). (Read my blog post Detecting subtle signs of EPM in horses.) My vet encouraged me to keep conditioning and competing; it would allow us to better gauge River’s recovery. However, I did not want to compromise her immune system with too much stress. Two LDs were a perfect solution.

(I accidentally hit “Publish” for this too early…. Sorry to all my subscribers for the gotcha!)

Arrival and pre-ride on Friday

We were lucky to have perfect weather for the ride, not too hot, not too cold. I had planned to leave early Friday to avoid the heat, but with highs in the low 80s, I took my time. Still, I was on the road by 8:45, ETA around 12:30.

The drive isn’t too bad

It generally takes me about four hours to get there, even with a stop and traffic on 101 through Santa Barbara. I go down I5 to 126 and take it to 101… usually! On this last Sunday, I could see from google maps that Santa Barbara was a traffic nightmare, so I went home via the Cuyama Valley. That’s the way we used to drive to the Morgan Regional Show in Santa Barbara when I was a child, before 126 was enlarged, so the drive always brings back memories.

Still, 126 is usually the easiest route, and on Friday I went that way. I stopped in Carpinteria to get a foot-long Subway sandwich. I’ve been doing that lately; two meals in one, and I wasn’t going to be able to have a fire to cook on. It was cool for the third weekend in June, but still too dry for open flames.

It’s a familiar location for me!

The Feliz Cumpleaños Endurance Ride is held at Rancho San Fernando Rey. Because the Sesenta Años xpride is held there in November, I am very familiar with the place. (Fantazia and I did all three days of Sesenta Años in 2021. Jazz completed his first 50 there in 2022, and Ron the National Show Horse completed an LD there last year.) This makes pre-rides easy; I can make loops around ride camp of various lengths and difficulties.

It’s a working cattle ranch, something my horses are used to. There are cattle troughs throughout, as well as Santa Cruz Creek and other streams and springs, so water is never a problem. (See River drinking out of the creek!) The fact that ride camp is in a big pasture that has a gate between it and the road makes it ideal for learning. Horse gets loose during the night? No problem. Nowhere to go!

The only problem are trail markings. Cattle knock down and chew pie plates and ribbons. I even saw a squirrel stealing a pink ribbon once!

Squirrel stealing a ride marking ribbon!

Above: A squirrel making off with a trail marking ribbon at the 2021 Sesenta Años ride at Ranch San Fernando Rey

Pre-ride

Ever since River tied up at Cuyama Oaks, I’ve been careful to ride frequently and ensure she breaks a sweat before competing. On Thursday we had completed 5 hilly miles (1,483′ total elevation gain) in the heat. For our pre-ride, I chose a 5.5 mile loop around ride camp. It was easy (only 522′ total elevation gain), but we went faster. River did sweat, and that’s no easy thing when the temperature is in the high 70s.

It turned out that my pre-ride included most of Loop 3 (our second loop both days), though I went counter-clockwise.

Feliz Cumpleaños Endurance Ride, Day 1 (30-mile LD)

Getting ready

One of the nice things about doing LDs is that you get to sleep more (we started at 8AM)… in theory. In the summer, it’s hard to sleep much anyway. I was up before six, and took River on a mile-long walk early. I did all her stretches, and then let her alone while I watched the start of the 50s.

Above: Scroll through the slideshow to see some pictures of the 50-mile competitors at the start.

River was very calm as usual. I saddled her at 7:40 and mounted at 7:45. After 15 minutes with me in the saddle walking around camp, I could safely trot at the start without worrying about her tying up.

Loop 1

The first loop was slightly over 22.5 miles with a total of 3,681′ elevation gain, most of which was in the first 7.5 miles. We started towards the end of the pack and trotted out of ride camp. (I thought we were last, but it turns out there were a few other people.) River was calm almost the entire time. She only got a bit excitable at gates where people would pile up.

It was a beautiful morning and an easy ride for River. Our average speed was 5.4mph (5.7 average moving speed). We did a lot of leap-frogging with other riders, and ended up riding much of the time with Katie de Jong and her mustang Tonka.

Katie is actually (fairly) local, and we did a training ride together way back in December 2020. (Read about my first time training with a buddy.) Tonka is great to ride with, because he in pretty much immune to emotional contagion from other horses. He just does his thing! River liked him and was happy to let him go ahead when I thought she should slow down.

At one point I had let Katie go far ahead, and then came upon her dismounted. Tonka had a stone in his hoof! About a mile afterwards, River began favoring her left forefoot. I hopped off and picked it up–sure enough, a well-lodged stone! I removed that and she was fine.

Above: That stone was so firmly lodged I had to prise it out with my hoofpick.

The hold

We completed the loop at 12:12, along with several other riders. As usual, River’s heart rate was well below 60 when we walked into camp. I don’t do well with a 30-minute hold though. (that’s one of the bad things about LDs!) By the time I had eaten the rest of my Subway sandwich and had a cold beer, it was already 12:40, and we still had to vet!

River vetted through with no issues and we started out just a tad late, with Katie and Tonka.

Loop 2

Even though River had trotted perfectly for the vet, her trot felt off to me as we started off. I couldn’t pinpoint it and kept standing in the stirrups. Katie noticed and had al ook at River’s trot. She could see nothing wrong! Within half a mile, the slight twinge in my back that usually indicates a buddinglameness was gone.

Loop 2 (technically Loop three for the ride) was 5.6 miles with only about 500′ total elevation gain. Because I was worried about possible unsoundness due to EPM, I let Katie and Tonka move ahead. River and I still completed easily with an average speed of 4.5 mph.

An imperfect trot-out

Despite my preoccupation at the start of Loop 2, River had not limped noticeably after that first mile. Still, the vet noticed that she was a bit off at the end. It wasn’t consistent enough not to earn a completion, and no one could even figure out which leg she was favoring. Rebecca asked me to trot her out once again, and noted her left hip was a bit higher trotting away, but trotting back she looked perfect. I was worried about riding the next day and we agreed that I would come back with a lunge-line when Rebecca was not busy vetting other horses.

I brought River back twice. Half an hour after completing, she trotted soundly to the left, to the right, and in a straight line. Two hours later she looked even better. I decided to ride the next day as long as she trotted perfectly before the start.

A calm afternoon and dinner

Another nice thing about riding LDs is that you are finished early and can laze around–and help out–all afternoon and evening. John had planned a birthday dinner (for himself and family members) with smoked ribs, homemade coleslaw, and cake. That would happen at seven, and I agreed to help Kent Tuley with the dinner set-up. In the meantime, I sat around and drank beer with Pat Helly (waiting for Heidi to finish the 50), Bart (who had completed the 30 ahead of me), Kent (when he wasn’t anticipating dinner prep), and others who came and went.

Dinner was delicious (I ate far too much!), but the highlight was discovering the riddles inside of Mickey’s big mouth bottle caps.

Above: The beer isn’t much to my IPA-addicted taste, but the bottle caps are so much fun! The men were really struggling with that one, but I got it pretty quickly. It’s my college drinking history 😉

Above: Not too long after our late start on Day 2.

Day 2 of the Feliz Cumpleaños Endurance Ride (30-mile LD)

Sunday was one of those days where I appreciate the fact that my head is attached to my body…

First, I beat my record for starting late.

Somehow I had totally missed the announcement the night before that the LDs would start at 7AM with the 50s. I watched “the 50s” leave at 7AM. Then I saddled River “early” because I wanted to make sure she was sound. I used my Zaldi saddle because it allows me to feel the horse beneath me slightly more than my heavy McCall western saddle. It would also allow me to see more of River as I lunged her.

River wearing my zaldi saddle at the feliz cumpleaños endurance ride

Above: River wearing my lightweight Zaldi saddle. We’d just gone through a gate from Cachuma Lake Park back onto the ranch, and there was a holding pen. The Zaldi saddle is fairly comfortable for endurance rides and fits just about any horse decently. However, it’s not very stable for mounting, and it’s not nearly as comfy as my McCall saddle for long slow distances.

The Zaldi did allow me to see more of River as I lunged her Sunday morning. She was feeling good and had no hint of lameness or soreness. I drew her in to me in ever smaller circles, but she did not take one short step.

I decided we could do the ride. It was just after 7:30. As I wandered around ride camp, Sarah called out to me, “Jessica, I assume you’re not riding today?”

WHAT?!?

Luckily River was ready to go! I ran back to the trailer, grabbed my hydration pack and helmet, made a quick stop at the port-a-potty, and headed out. It was 7:35.

Second, I forgot the map.

I had downloaded the Ride with GPS file, so I did have guidelines, but John had made a big deal about how The Map trumped all other directions. Ride with GPS had been good the day before, but it’s not always easy to read at a fine enough detail top know, for example, which side of a fence you should be on!

When you start with other riders, you have a fair chance of being able to follow someone else who knows where the trail goes. When you start more than half an hour late, you’re on your own!

I got off course twice (for a total of about half a mile extra). What cost more time was my waffling and debating and trying to track down destroyed pie plates when I was in doubt about going through gates!

UN molested pie plates tell us where to go

a cow-destroyed pie plate that HAD instructions on it.

Above: First, pie plates where they belong, helping indicate where to go. In the second picture we can see a pie plate that has been removed from its post, chewed, and trampled into the ground.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day for a ride!

River and I had a wonderful ride on Loop 1 (officially Loop Two for the Feliz Cumpleaños Endurance Ride). The trail led along Cachuma Lake, and we had many pretty views of the water. It was a mile longer than Saturday’s Loop 1 had been, and our average speed was a tad faster (5.5 mph, 5.9 average moving speed). River did it very easily, though I noticed she really didn’t want to go fast, even though she absolutely knew the way back to camp once we were close.

Above: A nice view of Cachuma Lake, a chance encounter with a hiker in the park, and River waiting patiently for me to close a gate.

And then (third) I dropped my phone

I realized after we got back to camp and River had tried to climb in the trough (after all, Sarah’s dog had been swimming in it!) I knew I had had it just before going through the last gate, so I wasn’t too worried. After tying River to the trailer with her mash, I walked back. Sarah was already looking for it; I found it right where I remembered last checking it. I probably dropped it when I took River’s bridle off.

The hold

A 30-minute hold is never long enough and it doesn’t help when you drop your phone. I ate one of the pink grapefruits that Marci had given me as I walked back to look for it. By the time I got back, there was no time for much else other than giving River some electrolytes. (I had forgotten those two in the hurried start that morning!)

River’s pulse was at 48 when we walked in and lower 25 minutes later when we vetted. She had had great gut sounds all weekend. The vet was impressed with her metabolic state but!! She said River was very slightly off on her right fore. Not enough to pull, but perhaps a bit footsore.

Loop 2, again

Of course that made me worried, but we’d been there, done that, when it came to soreness. That would explain why she hadn’t wanted to trot out on the way back to camp. Loop 2 was an easy 5.6 miles. We could walk it and still finish.

I watched River’s gait carefully. She trotted well out of camp, and for the first three miles. I should admit that after the first mile, we did a lot of walking, but still… It wasn’t until mile 3.02 that I felt her off. Yep, the right fore.

A shoeing issue

River was shod just ten days before the ride, and my farrier had FORGOTTEN to shoe her to facilitate breakover and support the heel. I didn’t notice till we were home. Because I only planned to do a few LDs, I didn’t bother to have him correct the issue. (You can see what works for her in my post about Laurel Mountain.) So I really wasn’t worried too much about her being sore. I was just glad it wasn’t some mysterious hind limb lameness that would probably reflect EPM!

So we walked most of the way back to camp

It was just 2.5 miles. River got impatient towards the end, so I let her do a fast half mile before getting off at the final gate. Her pulse was so low Sarah couldn’t feel it when we came in. I took her back to the trailer, unsaddled, and brought her back to vet.

Her pulse was 36. Hydration and gut sounds fantastic. River was clearly neither tired nor much bothered by having just completed 29+ miles. She was still a bit off on the right fore, though not worse than before the last loop. Inconsistent, but noticeable. (You can tell better when she catches a stone or stretch of rock.) The vet recommended some concussion relief for her hooves.

Above: Can you spot the riders? (From Loop 1, Day 1). If not, scroll to the next picture, where I’ve circled them!

Take home

River is turning out to be a bit of a metabolic monster.

She’s always had a low heart rate. In fact, many times I thought my heart rate monitor was broken during our first rides. Now I know her pulse will drop below 60 at a slow trot on a cold day. She doesn’t like having a high heart rate, and will fall back to a walk if it gets over 130 bpm… going away from home. Heading home she’s capable of sustaining a much higher heart rate, though she’ll stop if it gets over 160.

But she still needs careful attention from the farrier

Given her current shoes, I wasn’t at all surprised that she got a bit sore. I don’t know if she needs more than just careful shaping and placement of steel, but it worked for back-to-back 50s at Laurel Mountain, so we’ll hold off on any padding for the time being.

What about EPM?

Even though it went away, I am much more worried about the barely detectable, probably rear-end lameness Rebecca saw after we completed on Saturday. That may be EPM, especially since it hasn’t come back.

What’s next for River?

I will go into details of her EPM treatment in my next blog post. Here I will just say that because of that fleeting offness on Saturday at the Feliz Cumpleaños Endurance Ride, she will continue treatment for another 30 days. I’ll ride lightly over the summer (though I am considering a nice ride to Summit Lake in the Golden Trout Wilderness/Sequoia National Park, which is local.)

Next competition goal will be the Quicksilver Fall Classic on September 27th. That’s three months for River to finish her EPM treatment, have a relaxing summer, and get back in condition for a 50.

The Feliz Cumpleaños Endurance Ride (Road to Tevis #127)

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