I had a great time at Sesenta Años last weekend despite having yet another issue with River. Full disclosure: I made the drive and started the 50 on Friday fully aware that River might not finish. The main hint had been her reluctance to do carrot stretches last weekend after months of flexibility. That suggests a flare up of EPM, because treating her for EPM had fixed the stiffness she’d had since I bought her.
However, there are many other potential explanations. It could be that the levamisole I used to address nerve damage from EPM also temporarily resolved other issues. Possibly the stiffness is a secondary shoulder soreness resulting from a lower limb injury. (She was lame on her left fore after she cooled down Friday.) I’m working her hard then taking her to the vet Friday, hoping she’s lame enough to block.
In the meantime, read below for details of our latest aborted endurance ride.
Clues that River was not all right
No River’s being pulled was not a surprise. Why?
Difficulty with carrot stretches
On Thursday the week before the ride, I noticed that she was not willing to do carrot stretches, and when she finally did, she couldn’t stretch your nose back to her stifle.
Now a year ago, I would’ve thought that was normal and not given it a second thought. However, one of the fascinating side effects of treating River for EPM in June was that after less than a week on levamisole, she was suddenly easily stretching to her stifle.
She had never done that before! Despite being quite food motivated, River had always been very slow to stretch for carrots and had never been able to get anywhere near her stifle. (Watch Fantazia stretching easily in this video.) Since receiving levamisole for 30 days, River had been stretching perfectly well to her stifle… All the way up until last weekend. Possibly she was already a bit stiff the weekend before: I forgot carrots so I’m not sure. I stretch her with hay and that wasn’t as much of an incentive so I didn’t really notice.
She did her other stretches with no issue, but not the carrot stretch. That was the first red flag.
Above: River before the ride Friday morning. Despite my worries, at this point she was in a cheerful mood and looked good.
Otherwise River seemed fine Thursday and Friday before Sesenta Años
But I was so busy I might have missed something!
I had a very busy week. (In case you don’t know, I work in Bakersfield Monday through Thursday. I have a tiny apartment there. When not working, I live 65 miles north, in Springville. Even on a normal week I am busy.)
This week was special. My aunt’s celebration of life was in Redding on Saturday morning. Redding is about 6.5 hours from my house, and I was staying Friday night with my brother and his family in Mt. Shasta City, another hour further north. I still had to make time for horses.
Gauging River’s state between family affairs
I got home Thursday midday and saddled up River. I rode in the arena and out in the road for a total of 5.5 miles in one hour, 13 minutes. (Average moving speed 5.6 mph.) River did great. The only issue was that she did not stretch fully for a carrot. She couldn’t stretch your nose back to her stifle.
On Friday morning River and I did what I called the Tower Loop, because we ride by two local utilities towers that are on nearby low peaks. On Friday the loop was 5.32 miles with 1,440′ ascent. We did it in an hour and twenty-one minutes, easily. River still could not do carrot stretches easily.
That afternoon I drove up to Redding for my aunt’s celebration of life on Saturday. (Beautiful ceremony in a Frank Lloyd Wright church, great o see family.) From there I drove home.
On Sunday there were more red flags
On Sunday morning River and I did another of our “loops”, a tough figure 8 along ridges to our north. Distance and elevation gain varies a bit. On Sunday the 2nd, River and I rode 12.6 miles, with 3,200′ total ascent, in three hours and 26 minutes (3:12 moving time). It’s a tough ride, climbing about 2,000′ in the first four miles.
River knows the route well. She still didn’t stretch well to the side again, but was otherwise normal before I mounted. I made sure to warm her up thoroughly; ever since she tied up at Cuyama Oaks in March I’ve been very careful. Once out on the trail, River was her usual self. She is never a fast horse unless heading home, but she was willing. She was very enthusiastic once I pointed her towards home, powering up hills at a strong canter when I let her.
Still, something told me she was not quite right…
No lameness or soreness, but River just wasn’t 100%. She didn’t drink as much as she usually does out on the trail. Not that she ever drinks a lot in 12 miles… but she drank less than usual and didn’t want to play in the water (red flag). Nor was she interested in snatching grass (big red flag); that was more alarming than the not drinking much.
It seems to me she also didn’t move out quite as much as usual. I’m not entirely sure my impression was correct, because as soon as I thought she wasn’t 100%, I started to get paranoid. I made her go little circles both ways, first under saddle and then around me both ways. She moved evenly in both directions. I trotted downhill… no limping. I let her power-trot uphill: perfect rhythm.
That evening, I commented to my partner that Sesenta Años might not be a good idea. He said see how she is tomorrow.
On Monday morning, River trotted soundly. I did all of her normal stretches. She completed everything but carrot stretches easily. She still didn’t want to reach back to her stifles.
But I really needed the break!
I thought it over during my hour and a half drive to work. River was not lame, just stiff. The only thing I could say for sure was that my internal horse-issue-detector light was flashing. And… I really needed a break.
A busy pre-ride Thursday
I teach from 8:00 to 10:05 AM on Thursdays, and last Thursday I had everything ready for a quick departure. Once home, I gave River some mash right away. Then I changed my clothes, cleaned pens, prepped food for Fantazia and Scheherazade, and checked that everything was ready in the trailer (I had loaded over the weekend). I stretched River (again no issue except stiffness for carrot stretches), jogged her down the driveway (sound), put her in the trailer and headed out.
The drive and the date (Daylight savings!) made us late…
I’ve ridden at Rancho San Fernando Rey many times now. I love the locale, and the drive isn’t too bad. Google maps always estimates it as less than four hours, but it usually takes me about four and a half hours minutes with a stop for fuel and traffic in Santa Barbara. This time it took four hours 45 minutes because someone decided to flip their car in Santa Barbara (just when the construction had moved south of the city finally).
I had left home at noon, but by the time I had unloaded River it was nearly dark. I vetted her through right away (zero issues). It would have been possible to ride after dark, but River would not have been happy. I handwalked her for 15 minutes (including five minutes of jogging), then let her chill at the trailer with dinner.
(And was invited to dinner myself by my neighbors 🙂 Always nice to hang out with endurance friends!)
The first loop of the 50 (and then some), Sesenta Años, Day 1
Before the start
As usual, I took advantage of feeding River at 4:30 when I woke up. (I seem to always wake up around 4:30 these days. Luckily I go back to sleep!) It was noisy–we had a few bellowing stallions at the ride!. River herself is very quiet at the trailer.
The start was at 7AM (despite my petitioning John Parke for it to be earlier;-). I got up around 5:30, handwalked River for 10 minutes, and took my time getting ready. By 6:30 I had River fully stretched, groomed, and tacked up. We started walking around camp shortly thereafter. Because I had not ridden her the day before, I wanted to make good and sure she wasn’t going tie up! I got on her at 6:45 and walked around. Everything was good.
The start went very well
At seven we rode out with everyone else. River was very well-behaved, though I did have to ride into the bushes and turn to face the people trotting up behind us after about a quarter mile. After that she was great. I may have discovered yet another issue with River, but she has improved so much with training and patient slow starts to endurance rides. Zero head-flinging and no attempts to kick other horses!
Above: River trotting eagerly but letting me pace her at the beginning of the ride. Here she was trotting steady at 7.7 mph.
River felt good and was strong and happy to be on the trail for most of the ride. At around nine miles, I went off-trail to offer her water in the Santa Cruz Creek. She was not interested. I was not too worried. There were three other horse and rider pairs there (always distracting unless a horse is really thirsty), and River was neither tired nor hot.
Above: Views from the Santa Cruz Creek are pretty!
I let the other riders leave, and River was not bothered. In fact, although I rode alone the entire ride, River and I did pass other horses and were passed by them. She was quite well-behaved, even when impatient to pass.
Above: Even when eager to power uphill, River was well-behaved. She didn’t even think about kicking another horse. (In retrospect, that might have been another red flag!)
I began to worry not quite halfway through Loop 1
The next creek crossing was not far beyond where I had detoured to the creek the first time, around 11.3 miles into Loop 1. This time River was hot and sweaty because we had powered up about 700′ in two miles. Again, River did not want to drink. I kept her in the creek for ten minutes. The three horses we had passed (Scott, Kerri, and a third person whose name, I am sad to say, I do not recall) continued down the trail. (Kerri had her hands full with Garnet!) River was happy to just stand there.
River was not interested in water and this is not normal
At this point I began to worry. River was strong, forward without being nervous, and 100% sound. But she was not acting normal. Not only was she not drinking, she wasn’t even playing in the water… And she wasn’t eating at all. She would not take carrots from me. This might have been in part because stretching is difficult for her again, but she also wasn’t interested in grass.
Above: I enjoyed the familiar scenery even though I was pretty sure by halfway through the loop that River was not ok. In the second picture above, you can see chalk dudleya plants I have been photographing for four years now.
At around 16 miles, we came to my favorite place in the ranch, a stretch of creek that winds by a giant wall of rock that is home to lots of dudleya. You have to ride through about 30 feet of the creek even when it’s relatively dry. I was sure River would drink there.
She did not drink. though was happy to stand in the cool water for ten minutes. In fact, she didn’t really want to leave it. This too was very unusual. Generally, River will spend a few minutes drinking, splash around for another minute or two, then insist on moving on down the trail.
Still, River was moving soundly
Not long after leaving the creek, I dismounted and led River down a long hill. I jogged with her, falling behind so I could gauge her downhill soundness. No limp and no evidence of soreness. By this time I was feeling paranoid, so I made her do small circles around me. No limp.
At a little over 19 miles and over 3 hours, 20 minutes, she finally drank in a cattle trough. I was relieved but under no illusions. She did not drink half as much as she usually would, and she did not play in the water. Bad sign!
Then I contributed to the problem by going off-course
At just over 23 miles, the trail left the dirt road to wind up into the brush. Not only did I know this, I am pretty sure I had ridden it at the Feliz Cumpleaños ride. But… I also know the ranch well, and at this point, worried about River, I just trotted on past and down the road towards ride camp. Not until I saw trailers–a mile down the road–did I realize I had gone off course.
Above: The map of our ride. You can see where I got off-course and added and extra few miles. The loop was supposed to be 24.86 miles, per the gpx track. River and I did 26.93.
Towards the very end of the loop River’s movement felt off
River did not want to turn around when we were in sight of camp. She was reluctant, but I ascribed this to wanting to get back to the trailer. As soon as she realized we were going another way back, she perked up. Then about half a mile from camp (that is, after over 26 miles), River started flagging seriously. I let her slow to a walk.
At the metal gate (fellow riders, you know which one I mean), I loosened the cinch and took off her bridle to lead her in. I could tell she was sore-footed or sore-shouldered (not an infrequent occurrence with River) though there was no limp. I tested lameness with a quick trot (nothing, just overall uncomfortable). I tested muscle soreness with stretches. Her leg stretches were fine but once again she wouldn’t bend for a carrot.
But River’s metabolic state was excellent
River drank when we got to Ride Camp, and by the time Annie took her pulse she was at 40 bpm. I told the vets (we had a luxury of three) that I did not think I’d be continuing, but I’d give her a chance to feel better.
Cooling down into lameness
At the trailer
When we got back to the trailer, River told me loud and clear she wasn’t okay with continuing. She wouldn’t touch food, even though I offered rice bran on Ultium which she normally loves. She basically just stood there looking pitiful. I took off the saddle, sponged her off, and tried to stick her front feet in ice water for a few minutes. (I had planned to do that in the last ride and wanted to practice even if we weren’t going to continue.) River opted out of icing and I let her because we weren’t going anywhere.
Back to the vets and a pull
After 45 minutes I took River back to vet out. I didn’t even bother to saddle. Rebecca (who knows River well) vetted her. She was metabolically better than fine. Great gut sounds and a pulse of 38. But when we trotted, she was good and lame on her left fore.
I took her back to the trailer and gave her 2 grams of bute. No, I wasn’t surprised, but I was very disappointed.
But it was worth the trip!
I had one of Annie’s delicious egg salad sandwiches and an imperial IPA. Then I decided to clean my saddle and bridle, which were filthy. Around 4pm I untied River and trotted her… still lame. This definitely suggests EPM, which affects nerves, but I was and am not convinced this is the only issue.
I had a great time anyway
I spent the afternoon and evening socializing, and that was the main reason I had made the drive even knowing River wasn’t 100%. Over the last five years, the people I see and hang out with at endurance rides have become “my people” in ways other groups have not. And this despite spending most of the time at endurance events either riding or sleeping!
Friday evening turned into an impromptu potluck at Nina and Juan’s trailer. Nina was riding till almost dark, but Juan made tacos. Many of us brought over what we had (in my case it was shrimp and madeleines from Costco). The musicians among us brought instruments and provided entertainment. It was a fun relaxing (early) evening.
Above: The musical talent! One of the greatest pleasures of endurance rides is the good company, especially when they are good musicians.
And I love xprides
Yes, I know that Sesenta Años is not a normal xpride. John Parke took over management of it a few years back. But I also love John’s rides (we have great talks about plants), and Annie and Dave were there. It was good to see everyone. I just wish I could travel to one or more of their Utah rides!
Now what?
River had eaten four flakes of hay and all her carrots by 5AM the next morning. She was not markedly lame when I trotted her out before loading at 5:45, though I could tell she was uncomfortable. When we got home, she was stiff, but did not limp. That afternoon, I tried carrot stretches and she simply did not want to stretch to the side.
Above: River struggling to reach for a carrot on Saturday after our aborted ride.
The evidence points to an EPM flare-up, but I am not convinced. It could be that she has something else going on that causes difficulty stretching. At the Fall Fiesta ride, River’s left pastern was swollen. That wasn’t the first time, so I wasn’t too worried about it. The only time River had been lame on her left fore was when she had a corn.
So I’ll be going back to the vet with yet another issue with River.
On Friday I plan to ride River hard (hopefully until she is lame), and then take her to the vet for a thorough lameness workup.
Yes, I realize that this is probably “just” EPM. In fact, my vet originally suspected EPM because of River’s fluctuating lameness. But I want to make sure we’re not dealing with something else too.
Based on what we find out Friday, I’ll decide what to do.
I am very discouraged.
It’s been one thing after another with River since I started doing endurance with her. If it weren’t for her fabulous metabolic capacity and weirdly low heart rate, I’d give up now.
River is a good horse. She’s carried me in the high Sierra, alone, in crazy difficult terrain, safely. She is good around cattle, happy to just stand or poke around, and is slowly getting trained. Although she can get marish and want to kick other horses, she’s 100% safe for humans. She’s great at rides; you can tie her anywhere and she is very quiet at the trailer. Her only flaw for me is that she is too calm. I love hot horses, and River is NOT hot.
So we will see. If all goes well, I will ride her at the Fossil Falls ride in December.