The last La Grange Ditch 50 (Road to Tevis # 100)

I caught a lot of lasts this year. Most were xprides, because the Nicholsons have decided to stop coming to California. Jazz, Fantazia and I rode at the last Laurel Mt, the last Western Mojave, and the last Cuyama Oaks (which wasn’t even in the Cuyama Valley. Thank goodness Fantazia and I rode two days in Cuyama in 2021. (This post concerns that ride, though it’s about the advantages of using a heart rate monitor.) On July 1st, Jazz and completed the last La Grange Ditch 50.

Jump to:

About the Ride
The last La Grange Ditch 50
Loop 1 (holding Jazz back)
The second loop
A slow third loop
Should we have won the race?

About the Ride

Audra and Solomon Homicz put on the first La Grange Ditch 50/ Weaver Basin Express 25 in 2014. They started working on the project long before that, because they had to justify the creation of a ride camp in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. I’m not sure of the details, but I believe they needed to show that it would be used, and then create it with the help of the US Forest Service. They certainly put a lot of thought into how to run an endurance ride from the beginning.

(While staying with my cousin near Trinity Center after the ride, I learned that Trinity County is–weirdly in a county known to be where people go to hide and do what they want–very strict about development. Putting a well in, for example, is not something you can just do. This probably has something to do with its history of growing weed.)

The ride was a fundraiser for the California State Horsemen’s Association endurance program.

The locale

The Weaver Basin has an extensive, well-marked trail system, with sign posts all over the place. There are lots of hikers and some bikers; all were very courteous. (Unlike at the Montaña de Oro ride, the bikers rode conservatively. That may be because the trails in the Weaver Basin are very narrow. A careless biker would go flying down the slopes.) There were many low bridges that Jazz just didn’t get (a horse could step over the tiny ditches), but were probably designed for bikers. (Click here to watch this video of Jazz crossing the little bridges.)

Above: On the left (top), you can see one of many signs in the Weaver Basin Trail system. On the right (bottom) you can see a view of Mt. Shasta from afar. It’s the peak just to the right of the tree above Jazz’s right ear.

Ride camp was set up so that you rode through it to the pulse station and vet check at the far end. There were two pulse pens. From there you walked around to the vetting area. Very organized. Instead of having the numbers drawn on our horses, we got armbands which also served as meal tickets. A great system.

I did do a lot of walking, because I was parked fairly close to the entrance. I arrived early enough to pick a nice spot next to some trees and a port-a-potty, with the truck positioned for an easy exit. Jazz, who was starting to believe he might be the last equine on earth, was delighted to see other horses. Unfortunately, he was also more worried about being left behind. It was a great experience for him to spend a lot of quality alone-time with me, but it definitely left him more anxious about being alone than ever.

The last La Grange Ditch 50

Jazz was doomed to be alone much of the time, because only six of us started the ride. Apparently many more had entered, but the heat scared them into dropping back to the LD. That’s a pity, because most of the amazing views were on the first loop, which the LDs did not do.

Above: The three loops of the last La Grange Ditch 50. Ride camp is the trailer icon at the bottom right. The green track is Loop 1. (Notice I accidentally went far past ride camp on the way back. I did an extra 1.5 miles on the first loop.) It’s covered by the overlapping Loop 2 (green) and Loop 3 (orange) along the bottom. The orange Loop 3 completely overlaps Loop 2, which was just some miles longer. You can see that I took lots of pictures! Scroll through the slideshow below to see some taken on the first loop. The sunrise was beautiful.

Above: Scroll through my slideshow of some of the pictures I took in the La Grange Ditch 50. Most if not all of these are fromt he first loop.

Loop 1 (holding Jazz back)

The first loop had great trails–goat trails Audra called them, though they were not that bad. It also had some gorgeous views of the distant mountains that were especially nice with the early morning light. In the GoPro video below you can see some of the views. You can also see me snapping pictures with my phone as Suzanne passes me and expresses impatience when the trail goes off road to access higher ground (and a better view).

Above: Jazz lets Suzanne and Ezprezzo7 pass with fairly good grace as I take pictures of the dawn light.

Jazz behaved very well at first. We set an easy pace of around 7.5 mph. Suzanne and Ezprezzo kept close and occasionally passed, but Jazz did not mind because she never crowded just behind him. Jazz is not overly bothered by horses passing, but he hates it when a horse folows in his tracks. I don’t know why, but it makes narrow trails an issue.

Jazz starts feeling claustrophobic

When we entered the forest on narrow single-track trails, I slowed Jazz down to let Suzanne get ahead. I did not want him coming up behind her, getting antsy, and annoying Ezprezzo. Looking back, this might have been a strategic error on my part. Jazz was perfectly capable of going much faster than we were going. After two weeks of training in steep terrain, he could have cruised through those trails effortlessly. Instead, I slowed him so much that we soon had another horse and rider on our tail. It was our neighbors, Beth and TP Al Rojo Vivo… I can’t remember Beth’s horse’s stable name, but I loved it. I want to say Buckwheat, so I’ll call him that, but I might be misremembering!

As soon as Buckwheat got within a few lengths of us, Jazz started feeling pressured. (You can watch a GoPro video of him disintegrating here.) Unfortunately, that made Beth nervous. She pointed out that he had stepped off the trail (didn’t bother me a bit, as I’ll come back to later). She very nicely said she was here for me if something went wrong… I not-so-graciously responded that the best she could do is give me more room. In the end, she said it was no fun to be behind me and witness Mr. Naughty, so I held Jazz back and let her pass. I saw that ShaoLan was approaching, so I let her pass too.

I then turned Jazz back and returned to the creek we had just forded.

That did it. Jazz started neighing, rearing, dancing around, and otherwise turning into a basketcase. I took him in the middle of the creek and hopped off. I told him we weren’t going anywhere till he calmed down. It took 15 minutes. Six minutes for him to stop dancing around, and nine more minutes for his heart rate to drop to 50. I then got on (see that process in the video below) and we walked for twenty minutes.

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In the end, Loop 1 became a training ride. It was beautiful, with great trails. Our average speed was 5.4 mph. average moving speed 5.9 mph. Total elevation gain 2,457′. Jazz’s average heart rate was 104bpm, max 175bpm. We did an extra mile because I am very stupid and didn’t recognize the way back to camp. I started following the ribbons that had led us out earlier. Sigh. Jazz and I reached the sponging buckets at 9:05am.

The hold

Because I had done an extra mile, Jazz and I came in a bit flustered, but his heart rate was 60 so I hopped off and went straight to the pulse pens. Big mistake. That was far away from the other horses at the time. Jazz started neighing and dancing around. His pulse shot up, but honestly, no one could have taken it anyway because he was being a butthead. I took him back to the trailer, hoping to find another horse to walk down with us, but there was no one. Finally I grabbed some carrots and resigned myself to training.

It took nearly ten minutes to get him to hold still for the pulse volunteers. The good news was that he was well below 60 bpm by then, and we zoomed through the vetting with As.

I was nearly an hour behind Suzanne when I rode into camp. By the time Jazz pulsed down ShaoLan was long gone. (Beth’s horse had failed to pulse down.) On the other hand, Jazz and I had plenty of time to finish the second half of the race. Jazz ate his mash and I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, then we headed out at 10:23.

The second loop (taking it easy and seeing the sights)

The day was heating up by this time, but it was still nice. Jazz and I came across many people doing the LD. Most of them were on their second loop. At one point, I was letting Jazz drink out of a little stream, and two riders came up behind me. Jazz jumped so fast my GoPro came off my helmet! I very nearly came off the horse! Fortunately I realized I was missing the camera after about a quarter of a mile, so we didn’t waste too much time going back for it.

Jazz and I also crossed paths with other trail users. They were mostly hiking, some with dogs. We saw several bikers as well. The many little bridges for bikes I mentioned above were on this loop. There was also a pretty, longer bridge that we crossed several times. You can watch a video of us crossing it here.

Our average speed for this loop was 4.4 mph (moving speed, 4.8mph). Total elevation gain, 1757′. Jazz’s average heart rate was 86bpm, with a maximum of 139bpm when we cantered up a hill. He was very relaxed when we got back to ride camp, and had pulsed down by the time I got off. I still made sure he was below 50 before leaving the sponging buckets, just in case he decided to be naughty in the pulse station again. But he was good!

Above: Slideshow withasome pictures from Loop 2.

A slow third loop (being lazy and making videos)

By the third loop, it was getting hot. I was hours behind the leaders (*no incentive at all to hurry in the least). We had plenty of time to finish… so Jazz and I walked most of the way. I got bored… and decided to record a few videos reflecting on Loop 1.

Here’s the thing. I was not worried about falling off the trail because I knew that Jazz was simply not going to have a problem. I had spent the last few weeks cementing Jazz’s technical terrain savvy. Our time in the Marble Mountains included many tarils that were much more challenging and dangerous than any in the Weaver Basin. Jazz can go at speed along any trail as long as I don’t interfere with his balance.

True, you could argue that slowing him down does interfere with his balance. But still, as I argue in the following video, horses come with 4-wheel-drive 😉

However, you do have to take the time to engage the 4WD by training your horse in precarious terrain! I explain something about that in this second video:

As you can imagine, Jazz had a very easy time of it on Loop 3. Our average speed was 3.8mph (average moving speed 4.1 mph). Total ascent: 1,293′. Jazz’s maximum heart rate was 126 bpm, average 76 bpm. It was steady around 55 when we finished at a walk. Amazingly, we were third place. As mentioned above, one horse had been pulled. Two people came in a few hours after I did; we never saw them.

Should we have won the race?

There is no doubt in my mind that Jazz could have won this race, easily. He was at that time very fit. Now, I did not want to win. My goal, inasmuch as I had one, was to be best condition (BC). I was hoping to come in just behind the first few horses. The thing is, whereas winning BC is prestigious in the endurance world, being first place tends to get you lots of flack along the lines of “you went too fast.” As in, there is no way a beginner like you could possibly have prepared your horse well-enough to actually win a race.

Previous wins had turned into a headache

Jazz and I won our first race at Fire Mountain in January. (Click here to read about it.) We did not go fast. Everyone else went slowly, because there was crazy weather. The weather didn’t bother me, nor did the sloppy terrain. Neither was Jazz. We’d been training in worse. So I knew I had not overridden my horse, even though while riding I kept doubting, just because I was in front. And I knew that I would hear about it. (Read my post about it: On winning an endurance ride.). But I heard a lot from the peanut gallery on the AERC Facebook page.

Jazz and I went on to win two more races. Even Fantazia won two races (the second of these was definitely due to luck–others went off-course! Read about it here.) I fully believe my horses deserved to win. They are good horses, and they were fit. But honestly, I don’t like the flack. And mainly, I am in it for the plants and the vistas! So I had definite plans to not win the last La Grange Ditch 50. Truthfully, that was part of the reason I let Suzanne go ahead.

But deciding not to win may not have been the best thing for Jazz

Jazz did not have fun during that first loop. He had enjoyed riding in the wilderness, on the Pacific Crest Trail, in the snow on Mt. Shasta. He did not like being forced to stay behind. Jazz did not like another horse getting too close to his heels. He would have been happy to cruise down those trails and leave the other horses in the dust. And it would probably have been better for him. Getting worked up is not good for a horse. The worst thing was that he started the next ride, the Buck Mountain Boogie, in a worked up state, probably due to this experience at the La Grange Ditch.

Yeah, I regret that decision. I shouldn’t make decisions about my horse based on what I’m going to have to hear from other riders. Given that I have now lost Jazz, it makes me sad to think his last two rides with me were more stressful than they needed to be for him.

On the other hand, he ended up 100% sound physically, and he did get valuable experience with horses on his tail. So I suppose it wasn’t all a bad thing! And I loved the La Grange Ditch trails! It might have been the last endurance ride there, but we can still use the campground, and I plan to. After all, my cousin has a cabin only about 30 miles up the road.