The Wild West Pioneer Ride: Road to the Tevis Cup # 43

The Wild West Pioneer Ride was my last chance to reach the 300-mile rider requirement. It was also my last chance to prove that Fantazia and I were ready to ride 100 miles. Well, we’re not, and I didn’t get those last 50 miles. And although I believe the 300-mile requirement is problematic (see my post linked above) for me (and Fantazia) (not) meeting that requirement and my own goals for determining our readiness happened to coincide perfectly.

The 50-mile ride on Thursday (day 1)

Fantazia and I rode with Karol Mancini and her mare Cece. At least, we rode the first loop, about 19 miles. We got off 1/4 mile before the finish (I had stayed in the saddle the entire time, except to give Fantazia electrolytes at a water trough). Fantazia had been trotting 100% sound the entire time, and we had ridden conservatively. I loosened the girth and took off the bridle. We had walked about 200 yards when Fantazia suddenly jumped and kicked her left hind leg several times, as if stung by an insect. I looked for an insect but found nothing. We continued walking.

Fantazia had pulsed down by the time we got to the water troughs. We walked to the trailers, left our saddles, and went to do the vet check. Pulse, trot out… Fantazia was obviously lame, left hind. Lamer, in fact, than she had been at Cuyama Oaks (when she pulled a muscle in her right side behind, high up: see my post about it and heart rate monitors here) and at 20 Mule Team (when that injury had not yet healed). When I told the ride vets about the “insect” and that she had been sound, they said it was probably a cramp. They gave me till the end of my 45 minute hold to resolve it with massage and elytes. They hypothesized that it was caused by an electrolyte imbalance.

Above: Cortney Bloomer trotted Fantazia out so I could see her lameness

By the end of my hold time, I was exhausted (it’s hard work to massage a horse!) and I knew there was no way she’d be sound. I had also identified the spasming muscle and knew it would go away. She’d give me about 5 sound steps immediately after massaging, and I’d only been working on her 25 minutes.

Post-ride improvement

By that afternoon, Fantazia was trotting sound without massage. I pulled her out of her pen just before four, and she flagged her tail and trotted beautifully. I talked with the vets again, and they suggested I wait till Saturday to ride again. Since I had planned to stay and volunteer all day Saturday, this was perfect. I’d volunteer Friday instead.

I walked Fantazia periodically Friday evening and when I wasn’t busy Saturday. I trotted her every time and she was sound. Because I wanted to drive down to Grass Valley to visit old friends (Debbie and Eitan Beth-Halachmy, founders of Cowboy Dressage), I vetted in for Saturday around 3pm. Perfect trot.

The next morning we trotted under saddle for the vet. Still sound.

Volunteering on Friday

Using a pen

I love to volunteer at endurance rides. I especially love scribing for the vets, because you can learn so much from them. My first scribing experiences were with Dr. Jim Baldwin in Oklahoma. I could write several blogs about what I learned from him, not only by scribing, but by listening to his many stories about horses and endurance. I’ve also scribed quite a bit for Jeanie Hauser, often at the same rides as Jim Baldwin. At Wild West, I scribed for Drs. Natalie Sundstrom and Joanna Proctor. I had a great time helping them… and I loved the post-COVID no-vet-cards system.

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The best thing about scribing in general is that you learn a ton about endurance horses and potential problems. Hydration, for example, is something I know so much more about now. And I have a better idea of what constitutes lameness deserving of a pull in endurance. I watch every horse as it waits to trot out, try to guess if it’ll be lame (you can tell by the stance), and once it’s trotting, try to guess whether the vet will judge it lame, and what grade.

Using a stethoscope

At the Wild West Pioneer Ride, I scribed on Thursday, after Fantazia was pulled. On Friday, I did pulses… that is, I listened to the horses’ heart rates to verify whether they had pulsed down. The criteria were 60 bpm for holds and 64 bpm for the finish. 60 bpm (beats per minute) is very easy: you just have a quick listen and notice whether the heart is going faster or slower than the second hand on your watch. (ALWAYS HAVE AN ANALOG WATCHFACE!) I don’t actually tell riders the heart rate, I just do “You’re good” “Not quite” and either “Lots fast” or “Way high.” I never count.

I have to count for 64 bpm. And I need to be reminded that I’m listening for 64, not 60.

I don’t always love doing PR because some riders get stroppy. There’s always someone who says, “You’re wrong, I just checked and it was down.”

On the other hand, it’s good stethoscope practice. Every horse owner should feel comfortable measuring the heart rate and listening for gut sounds. Even if you don’t do endurance, heart rate tells you whether your horse is distressed, and gut sounds are very important if you have a colic. You should know your horse’s normal heart rate and gut sounds so you can tell when it’s in distress.

Taking pictures

(Alicia Berardi was the real photographer for the Wild West Pioneer Ride. See her wonderful pictures here.)

I usually take lots of pictures when volunteering. (See my post about volunteering at 2019 AHA Distance Nationals–actually two posts because so many photos!) I took a few at the Wild West Pioneer Ride (some above, some below–feel free to download or shoot me a message asking for a full sized image). Then I got distracted and busy.

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The 50-mile ride on Saturday (Wild West Endurance Ride Day 3)

Fantazia was trotting sound and raring to go on Saturday. We rode with Julie (surname unknown to me), who was riding Fantazia’s ex-owner’s horse. At least, we rode with them until I went ahead and got lost… And then again, after I caught up and until Fantazia starting trotting slightly off, about ten miles in. I noted it in my back first, and started worrying. Just when i was about to ask Julie for corroboration, she asked me if Fantazia felt right. I said no! Julie went on ahead, and I got off.

I led Fantazia the rest of the way back, about 8 miles (I took some short cuts). It was the same loop we’d done Thursday. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see a new trail (except for when I went off trail).

Above: We found a beautiful view off-trail.

Fantazia became progressively more lame, even though I was leading and we walked slowly. It was the exact same muscle spasm.

Where do we go from here?

Clearly, we have much to work on. This is not a problem of fitness… Fantazia has done harder rides at home in the last two months, with no repercussions. Of course, I don’t give her electrolytes at home. More importantly, she doesn’t get all keyed up at home. Emotions do affect muscles and metabolism. If you doubt it, just think how sore you can get while driving in rain and traffic vs. driving down a nice clear sunny road. As Debbie pointed out to me Friday afternoon, everything changes for a horse when the herd dynamics change. Fantazia gets very nervous when at a ride, especially when she sees other horses. This means the start, and any time horses are ahead or (worse) behind us, she starts grunting and wanting to go go go.

Above: Fantazia loves zooming down the trail!

In the short term, Fantazia will be turned out to pasture. Oh, I will probably ride on the trail after she’s had a few weeks to recover, but no endurance events. It’s hot, and I’ve got too much going on in my personal life for anything less than Tevis. I meant to have bloodwork done Monday, but then Beroni colicked (Saying good-bye to Beroni). Fantazia will get better anyway, with rest, even if she did tie up. When we start training for another race, I will take a close look at e-lytes, shoeing, feed, etc.

See my later post on Everything I was doing wrong that led to the pulls at Wild West.

The good take-homes from the Wild West Endurance Ride

1. Fantazia does well in a pen. I had been worried she would pace, but she stood quietly. She did get squealy at the horse next door, kicked and gave herself a new surface wound on her right hind (again). Next time she’ll get standing wraps! But I know now that investing in a pen would be worthwhile.
2. Fantazia was much better at the start. She’s been getting better every ride, and this time she barely jigged. Instead, we watched Karol’s Cece be naughty because she wanted to be with her buddy/
3. Fantazia did better on the ride. She let me rate her without pulling or cantering sideways. We started out ahead, and then let 7-8 horses pass us (Karol and I wanted to ride conservatively). Other than grunting and pushing a bit too much from behind, Fantazia behaved well.
4. She drank well, even from her bucket (it was in her pen… better than tied to the trailer, I guess!).
5. Fantazia ate better than usual, though still not well.
6. She looked really good. Because Fantazia’s old home was Auburn, people knew her, and remarked on how much weight she had gained, etc. Dr. Sundstrom didn’t even recognize her, and she’d treated her and was familiar with her issues.

Above: Fantazia stood patiently watching Karol work CeCe in a circle around us.

Then there was the way home…

Because my brother had come down for a visit (he always seems to choose endurance ride weekends to visit my parents), I decided to drive home Saturday afternoon. It was hot, but Fantazia had walked most of the loop, and was drinking and eating well. It should have been 5.5-6 hours, it was 8, but more on that in a later post! (See the details of our trip home!)

More photos from the Wild West Endurance Ride below!

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