Two surprise wins and one BC (Road to Tevis # 85)

I took Fantazia and Jazz to the Laurel Mountain pioneer ride last weekend and ended up with two surprise wins and one BC. Both were unexpected–I wasn’t “riding to win” in the sense of riding fast and/or trying to win. Both horses won mainly because no one was really riding competitively. We were not going that fast. But it’s also true that both horses were plenty fit for the ride. They deserved the wins, even if they weren’t pushed for them. I am especially thrilled with Fantazia’s win. I never expected to win a ride with her, because I always ride conservatively, and I never push her. In fact, I always hold her back, because she is very competitive.

This ride was great–the desert was beautiful, the trails perfect.

Update: I discovered by looking at my AERC record that Jazz did not receive BC, even though it was announced at ride night and I got my beautiful plaque. Not quite sure how it happened, but you can read my erratum here: Jazz received Top Vet Score but not BC. I’ve corrected heading below.

Fantazia’s win

I rode Fantazia on Day 1 primarily because she doesn’t eat when left alone at the trailer. Jazz does. So Fantazia is always going to be first. At Laurel Mountain, that meant Fantazia and I got to do a really beautiful ride. We started in front, as usual, but, not as usual, no one passed us. After a while, Scott Lucas caught up to us on his horse Stanley. He asked if I minded if he tagged along. I said of course not.

Then I didn’t say much for hours. I am not my best in the morning! But it was nice to ride with someone most of the way. I know Fantazia enjoyed it. She waited for his horse every time we pulled ahead. Once I had gotten over my morning grumpiness, we chatted. It was fun.

The Day 1 50-mile ride was an out-and-back trail, with an hour hold and lunch out in the high desert. The trail had a total of 3,862′ total elevation gain. Our average speed was 6.6 mph (6.9 average moving speed). The trail was very technical at times. We rode a long way down a (mostly) dry creekbed. On the way back, we had to pick our way through a minefield of volcanic rock. But where we weren’t picking through rocks, the footing was perfect.

Fantazia completed easily. We hopped off and led the horses in. Her heart rate was 52 bpm when we crossed the finish line.

Fantazia was first, but Scott’s horse won BC and it was well-deserved. He had carried twice as much weight going the same speed all day. Fantazia had her first–and probably only–win. After all we had been through, I was very happy. She deserved it!

Jazz’s win and best condition top vet score

The start

I had had no more intention of winning with Jazz than I had with Fantazia. Three weeks previously, Jazz had won his first endurance ride at Fire Mountain. (Read about it here: Jazz’s first endurance win–and mine!) Though I had not ridden fast (6.4 mph average moving speed), I received a considerable amount of suggestions regarding riding slower. One of these was to start 5-15 minutes late. So I did. It turned out to be a terrible idea.

I had planned to leave 15 minutes after the start, but there were so many horses waiting tied to the trailer that I decided to leave at 7:10, and lead Jazz the first mile. Ugh. I had pulled a muscle the day before, my left sartorius, the muscle that wraps around the top of the thigh. Jazz is never the best from the ground,a nd he pulled and danced and pushed the entire time. Other people were also leading, and walking more slowly. We caught up with several riders before I even got on.

Above: Kady Doody took this picture of Jazz and me at the start! He was being very annoying;-).

Getting on was difficult, partly because we were beside a shooting range and Jazz was acting bonkers. (No excuse–I shoot.) Mainly it was because I didn’t trust my left leg to pull me up on a dancing horse. With the help of a fellow rider, I managed to get in the saddle, and Jazz and I trotted off in a state of high irritation with each other.

Passing riders

I forced Jazz to keep his trot under 8 mph for the first several miles when we had a smooth trail. He was horrible to ride. He could see for miles in the desert and was fixated on the other horses in the distance. This meant that he didn’t notice Monsters until we were on top of them… This caused massive spooks. I was within a hair’s breath of hitting the ground several times. It wasn’t until we could see no other horses that Jazz began to relax.

Read my later post on Training my horses during competition.

I still did not think I had passed everyone. I was too fixated on staying in the saddle to count, and the LDs had started with us before branching off.

Riding alone most of the way…

My intention had been to ride alone and thus be able to better rate Jazz. Once we had passed everyone, we did that. Only a few times did another ride get close enough for me (or Jazz) to notice, and those times were when we were at watering troughs. We trotted away before the others caught up.

Eventually Jazz became a pleasant ride. (If I ignore the spooking at ravens, rocks, railroads…) Our average speed for the first loop was 5.8 mph (6.0 average moving speed). Because of the terrain we went from slowly picking our way through rocks to power trotting and occasional loping.

I rode with a heart rate monitor, another suggestion that came after our first win. Average HR for loop 1 was 92 bpm. Jazz’s HR at 10 mph hovers around 95 on the flat, for as long as I sustained it (about 2 miles then I needed to walk because rocks). It was 125 on a gradual grade then climbs as the ground does. I let him gallop up one short hill at the top of a climb to bring it to 160 (it has been stuck at 146 trotting.) Down to 60 in ten minutes walking downhill.

The second loop and a “race” to the finish

After an hour hold back at camp, we went out for the much short second loop. I had done the exact same loop with Fantazia two years before, so I knew it was easy. I let Jazz trot out. In fact, I let him gallop when I felt a ricochet whiz past my head behind the shooting range!

A few miles from the end, another rider–Richard–came cantering up behind me. I let him pass, but then he slowed down so Jazz and I passed. We were cruising along at around 9mph at the time. (Our average moving speed for the loop was 7.7 mph). Richard came up behind me again about a quarter mile from the finish at a canter.

I decided what the hell, I’d canter in for the first time ever. Jazz had plenty of fuel left (his heart rate was a steady 124 bpm). I did not know we were in front, and I thought Richard was doing the LD, so I figured it was a good low-stakes time to have some fun.

I let Jazz stretch out to a brief peak speed of 21 mph, but he was mainly around 17mph. It was a hand-gallop that lasted about 45 seconds. His heart rate went up to 144, and that might have been mainly surprise. We crossed the finish line slowing down and–in my case–laughing.

So much fun.

The aftermath

As soon as I hopped off and loosened the cinch, Jazz stuck his head in a water bucket and drank about 3 gallons. Then I weighed in for BC.

Jazz was under 60 in less than ten minutes. He got back to the trailer and started chowing down his mash. By the time we had to go stand for BC, he had finished it and most of a flake of alfalfa and drunk another few gallons of water.

The only thing I was worried about was that he had not peed. He finally did right before we left for BC. Abundant clear pee. Thanks to one of Bruce Weary’s posts on the AERC web page, I now know that may be due to over-electrolyting him. I had been preloading in his feed for four days, with extra the night before. Thinking I won’t do that again.

The best thing about Jazz’s day? He won BC too!

The best thing about the ride as a whole?

Both horses had clean cold legs the next day. Jazz looked mostly recovered before we got in the trailer the next morning. Fantazia had recovered her belly within a few hours of being back out on pasture.

Next up

Two surprise wins and one BC are definitely reasons to be happy, but they are also reasons for me to worry. Was it too much? Both horses were anxious getting into the trailer to go home, although in Jazz’s case it’s probably just because he’s second in and they both have serious separation anxiety. Whichever horse is second to go anywhere thinks I am going to LEAVE it behind.

So we’ll be heading back to the desert for the Western Mojave xpride in one month. Both horses will need to take it easy, because Cuyama Oaks is only two weeks after that one. I’ll ride Fantazia as usual–she does best starting in front and letting horses pass. With Jazz I think I will try a late start again, but this time I’ll outwait the late starters, even if I have to start half an hour late. We’ll see.

Jazz has his second annual wellness exam, which includes a full lameness work up, in two weeks. It will be nice to double check all parameters. But as far as I can tell, they are both recovering well physically and mentally.

Below you can watch me pass under the same railroad trellis in both directions, first with Fantazia and then with Jazz.

Fantazia

Jazz