In my last blog post about River, I said that the Eastern Mojave xp ride was up next. (Read River completed a 50-mile ride with new shoes to protect her heels.) As long as our final rides the weekend before went well, I stated, we’d do the 50 on Saturday. Even then I knew there were other obstacles to consider. And yet, until the last minute I refused to accept the inevitable. Sometimes one simply can’t make it to an endurance ride.
I frequently hear or see people claim that anyone can ride endurance. This is generally followed by a story of how the speaker/author manages to do endurance despite (insert personal trials here). The implication is that with a little grit, gumption and sacrifice, anyone can. If they’re not, they just don’t want to enough.
It’s just not that simple.
Below I will enumerate the reasons why Eastern Mojave wasn’t in the cards for River and me… No, it’s not about grit or making things happen if you really want to. Sometimes riding endurance is not an option.
Above: River (left or first picture) is doing great. She feels good and her latest shoes (right or bottom) have kept her very comfortable.
River was not the problem!
Despite having completed over 500 endurance miles in two years, River has had one issue after another. Most of her problems have had to do with her hooves. The good news is that her last shoeing job has gone very well. Despite her recent serious corn, she completed the Day 3 50 at Fire Mountain well. She spent a few weeks out to pasture afterwards. The week of Eastern Mojave, she was sound, rested, and ready for another 50.
The ride wasn’t a good idea for me anyway
On the other hand… I was not fully recovered sound. I had bruised my tibialis anterior (the muscle to the left of my shin) while catch riding at Fire Mountain. Rest is the only cure, and I had not rested sufficiently. I still have not. Physical rest is not something I do well. Trotting long distances makes that muscle work too much for it to heal. Hiking up steep hills isn’t a good idea either.
I did see a doctor
On Thursday after Fire Mountain, I rode Fantazia. We trotted continuously for four miles. My leg was sore afterwards, but not too bad. The next morning it was very painful. I went to see my PA and said I needed an ultrasound. She said I had to have an x-ray first, but gave me orders for both. I called the office of the orthopedic surgeon I have been seeing about my hip and whined my way into an appointment the next Tuesday.
They made me do an x-ray. That’s such a waste of money. It was not a bone problem! Long story short, I confirmed that my muscle was bruised and I needed rest and ice. Sigh.
Was I ready for Eastern Mojave?
I had avoided trotting more than 5-6 miles, but I couldn’t entirely avoid using my legs. On Monday before Eastern Mojave, I did a few “test rides.” I trotted River five miles at a good clip, only stopping to turn. Then I rode Fantazia for an hour and a half, more leisurely. My leg was not entirely happy after the trotting.
I decided to see how I felt that week. Then I decided to do the ride anyway and get better afterwards.
Above: Scheherazade talks with the “big boys” Shop and Bill. Her cough (and reluctance to take her medicine) prevented me from going to the Eastern Mojave ride.
Then Scheherazade got sick…
Scheherazade had had a cough ever since I got back from Fire Mountain. After talking with my vet, I had started her on the cough syrup she recommended (Air Power). Scheherazade wasn’t a fan, but she tolerated it. (I love it. Might work for humans!) Unfortunately, she wasn’t getting better. Although she didn’t have a fever, her breathing was if anything worse. I scheduled a vet visit for Thursday.
I was working, but my partner was there. Upon inspection, my vet thought she was all right, but drew blood just in case. According to her, Scheherazade “wasn’t terrible.” According to my partner Jerry, she was fairly terrible.
Having given Scheherazade her baby vaccine and booster, I am inclined to believe the fairly terrible version.
Turns out she had an infection
It was a good thing they got blood, because Scheherazade’s WBC was very high. My vet prescribed SMZs. Unfortunately, the old bottle I had was nearly emptied and long expired. I had to drive to the clinic to pick some up.
At this point, it was Thursday afternoon at 3PM. I was on my way to pick up Fantazia at my parents’ place. I had to take her home, exchange rig for car, and go to the clinic which is 40 minutes away.
River was not going to get ridden. But it probably wasn’t going to matter.
Above: I counted out nine SMZ tablets and placed them in the separate vials for my partner to give Scheherazade. Those handy little glass vials came in the Flaviar Whiskey Advent Calendar my brother and sister-in-law gave me for Christmas! Best gift ever, and look how useful! You just fill 1/3 with warm water, shake to dissolve, add 1/3 maple syrup, shake, pour in glass (rinse with a bit more water), suck up with syringe.
Scheherazade was not a cooperative patient
My vet suggested I mash up the SMZs and put them on her feed with molasses. That evening I mixed them in Unbeetable mash with a bit of molasses. Fail. She had eaten about half by morning. I then tried her usual feed (Enrich and Ultium Senior) with molasses (fail) and then maple syrup (fail).
Clearly I was going to have to use a syringe. On the bright side, it is almost impossible to mash up SMZ tablets. They dissolve quickly in water. On the dark side, Scheherazade doesn’t like things put forcibly in her mouth. I’d had to grab her tongue and hang on to worm her.
At this point, I knew Eastern Mojave wasn’t going to happen. As it was, I would be gone from Monday around 10 till late Thursday afternoon. It simply wasn’t fair to make Jerry (my partner) deal with my bratty yearling.
Above: Scroll through the slideshow for pictures of my ride on Fantazia on the weekend of Eastern Mojave. You can see the new halter I made her in the first picture. In the second, we are looking over a pond. Fantazia waits at the top of a rocky slope while I make sure she can get down it in the third. The last picture is a cool reflection of a tree in a pond.
So I made the best of it
When you can’t make it to an endurance ride you’ve been counting on, you have a lot of “free” time. Ten hours I wouldn’t be spending driving, for one thing. We went on a hike. I rode River and Fantazia. I hung out with my parents. I worked on getting Scheherazade to accept SMZs in a syringe without being a monster.
The best news? Scheherazade has learned to be very good about syringes
I experimented with many different additives. It was soon clear that Scheherazade preferred maple syrup. By Saturday evening, she wasn’t trying to smash me or run me over when the syringe got within striking distance. The first two times I had to grab her tongue. After that, I could just put a finger in the corner of her mouth and hold the halter. Monday morning she didn’t try to pull away.
When I got back on Thursday, she bent her neck around me, looking for the syringe.
I cannot take any credit for this. Jerry clearly worked with her extremely patiently while I was gone. When I got back, he watched to make sure “it worked with me too.” She just bends her neck around, takes the syringe in her mouth, and puts her head on your shoulder after getting the medicine.
When I got back this Thursday, he was giving it to her without a halter. Thursday evening was her last dose, and I tested. No halter needed.
This is going to be so good when it comes time for elyting!
All clouds have silver linings.
Above: Left or top, My dad and me. Right or bottom, my mom holding Fantazia. Time spent with my parents is always well-spent.
Grit, sacrifice, and the “right’ priorities don’t add up to doing what you want
I decided to write this when reflecting on the claim that anyone can do endurance if they try hard enough. Yes, it’s mainly an update on my horses. I can do endurance, mostly. Maybe not all the rides I want to do. Since coming to California in June 2020 and getting Fantazia, as much has gone wrong as has gone right. The story is in this blog!
But for most of my life I could not have done endurance.
Most of my adult life I did not own a horse. To be honest, most of the time I didn’t want to. I didn’t have the money, and riding other people’s horses has a lot of benefits. I consider myself extremely lucky to have ridden so many different horses for so many different people, doing different things in different countries.
And yet, most of the time I did not have either the money or the time (or both) to own a horse and compete with it. Now that I do, life still gets in the way. I have to work. I take care of my parents. My horses get injured or sick. Life happens.
I believe that people who say “you can do endurance if you prioritize your horses, ride through the pain, get help, etc.” mean to be encouraging. But it doesn’t always come off that way.
The reasons someone can’t make it to an endurance ride are countless
Money, time, sick horse, injured horse, family obligations, sick self, injured self, demoralized self, relationships…
And endurance shouldn’t always be the top priority. To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven.
Above: On the day I had planned to ride River 50 miles at Eastern Mojave, Fantazia and I had a relaxed ride on a beautiful day.