Pictured above: Chanses winning the 3* 100/160km

Jeremy and I did our usual booting ritual.  We booted up all 5 horses that we were taking to Broxton Bridge, except Mo who was still wearing his boots from Gator Run.  We did our booting effort on Monday as we were planning to drive on Wed.  The weather was pretty cold as we glued all the guys up. Wed it was suppossed to rain all day so we were glad to be doing this and getting it done while it was dry out.

As we were booting the horses with their Easyboot Glue Ons we got a call from the ride manager. It was now official that no one should drive to the race on Wed as there were ice storms and really hazardous driving conditions.  Oh boy.  Well that bought us a free night and a spare day:)

On Wed evening I drove Cleo over to Lisanne's.  She would drive to the race with her.  Our trailer was full and Lisanne was awesome to be our overflow.  We gave her the best one to not have any hassles, although none are a hassle:)

On Thursday morning just before we left, Wendy came over to fit my Reactor Panel saddle to Chanses. To check this out: /www.reactorpanel.com>www.reactorpanel.com  Originally I was not riding Chanses, Jeremy was but at the last minute I was riding him.  She got the saddle fit and we caught the horses and loaded them up.

The Broxton Bridge ride was a 2 day FEI event.  On the first day, Friday, Jeremy would ride Most Likley in the 1*, while Nicki and I rode Chanses and Cleo in the 3*. On day 2 Jeremy would ride Kowboy on a 2* and Nicki would ride her horse, Btash also on a 2*.

Thursday we had an uneventful drive, it took about 6 hours to get to the ride.  When we got closer there was snow dusting the shoulders of the road.  Great.  Super chilly by our standards!

We got the horses settled, Nicki, Andy and their crew Michelle were already there as well as Cleo.  We set up easily and then went for a short pre ride followed by vetting in.  That night Lynn Kennely had made a great meal for all of the riders.  The ride briefing was next, followed by hustling off to our warm trailer. 

On Friday morning the 100 mile riders started at 8 am and the 50 miler at 9!  The ride manager wanted the frost to have a chance to thaw at some point in the day so we started at a very civilized hour.  Even at this hour I started with a rump rug on Chanses and Cleo, which we never do.

The loops flew by.  Our awesome crew, Skip, Heather, Andy, Michelle, Lynn and Misty were awesome as usual.  They were right there exactly when we needed them.  Chanses and Cleo recovered great all day long.  We were in the lead group all day.  Jeremy and Ellen Olson were riding with us and as a herd we galloped along.  The horses enjoyed having company.

Mo was doing stellar as well.  It was his first 1*.  He hasn't been in top training as we have been so focused on the 100 mile horses that are all aimed at vying for a spot on the USA or GBR team for the WEG this summer.  (There are 5 in full force training.) Mo just went along doing his thing.  By the end of his 50 he was still with the leader.  The pace increased and when it got up to a good run Jeremy decided to pull up and save it for another day.  Mo won Best Condition.

On the last loop of the 100 Jeremy Olson, Nicki and I all left together.  It was dark and parts were muddy as it had rained so much the week leading into the ride and we were riding the same loop that we had ridden the 2 previous loops so it was getting chewed up.  With our headlamos it was hard to tell what was lumpy sand and what was truly mud. 

My headlamp, which was a really bright one with a battery pack, decided to go on the fritz.  It would be great and then go black for a few minutes and then decide to work again.  Very entertaining while galloping along. Chanses didn't care he kept his pace for me.

At one point Shade was in the lead and a whole large group of deer came leaping out!  Shade handled it like a pro, he only spooked a little.  I think he wanted to maintain his cool image in front of his two new friends so he pretended to be brave;)

When we were about 3 miles from the end Cleo slowed down a little and Shade and Chanses continued on.  In the end I asked Chanses to accelerate and it became clear that Shade was not going to make chase.  Chanses won with a ride time of 8:33.  He and Shade had very close BC scores.  Shade did end up with BC.

In all it was a very successful day for us.

Day 2 Jeremy Reynolds got up and saddled Kowboy in the rain.  It was looking aweful.  Nicki was also out saddling up Btash (after riding the 100 the day before), both were doing the 2*, 75/120km race.  The trail conditions were now deep from all the horses doing the trail the day before and from the steady rain.  It was pretty chilly and wet.

The day wore on, Kowboy did most of this race alone and in the end Kowboy won and got Best Condition with a ride time of 6:51.  That was a great time considering the deep going.  Unfortunately Btash had a tight hind end from all of the deep going and cold conditions and made it to the finish but did not get a completion.

On Sunday after the awards and breakfast and sorting through all of the wet gear to try to pack the trailer up,  we loaded up to head home.  We were pulling out of the race and our Freightliner was shifting through its gears (it's a 10 speed) and the truck stopped shifting at 5th gear.  Great, we were now only able to go 22 MPH.  We drove on.  I made a few phone calls and it was decided it would be best to continue towards the interstate to try to find a service garage.  About an hour into our very slow drive the truck decided to work.  We thanked our truck and promised to take it in when and if we made it home. 

The truck was taken in yesterday and it is now fine.  It got us home without any further issues:)

When we got home we turned everyone out and then headed over to pick up Cleo.  When she made it home and got turned out she took off bucking!  She looked great.  Btash was also fine by then and he looked great. 

Broxton was a great event.  The best footing, when you're doing the first day, as the grounds manager grooms the entire track.  I thanked him for that, it is truly awesome.

Hope we see you at FITS.

Heather

Eagle pictured above at vet check one.

On Wed Jeremy and I booted Mo and Eagle for the 50 with Easyboot Glue ons.  They love getting the boots on, every time after they get them they go tearing around!

On Thursday night we celebrated Jeremy's birthday with friends at a sushi place in Ocala.  It was a really fun time, Lynn Kennelly even brought him a "Birthday Boy" party hat!  After dinner we drove home and I looked in the side mirror of the Olson's truck (we had borrowed to pick up Jeremy's birthday present, a Nordic Trac treadmill that goes up to a steep grade for uphill but does downhill as well. It is his Western States training buddy!) and I noticed something flapping in the wind.  I looked harder in the dark and saw that my Smith sunglasses were hanging out there in the wind as we drove on the freeway!  Lynn reached out and grabbed them.  I guess that I had dropped them when I got out of the truck before dinner and some nice person had hung them so I would find them.  I found them!  

Late that night a rider from Berkeley, CA was flying in and would be riding Eagle on his first 50 at the Gator Run ride.  Her name is Betsy Aden.  Betsy is trying to get her 300 miles so that she can do the Tevis this summer.  Betsy arrived at our house around 11:30 pm. 

Friday (I forgot to mention that I started getting sick on Wed) Jeremy, Betsy and I went riding.  We rode Mo, Eagle and Honor and then rode again on three others for an 11 mile ride.  Every time I posted I had a pounding headache.  I was suppossed to ride the 50 the next day with Betsy but Jeremy offered to ride instead so I took the opportunity to rest.

Later, Friday afternoon, we went to town to the grocery store to grab any items that we needed for the ride, on our way home we went by the ride camp and got our ride packets.  It was really fun because we got to see Robert and Melissa Ribley who were out here, Melissa vetting and Robert riding.  That night we relaxed and I made dinner.

Sat morning Betsy and Jeremy trailered the horses over to the ride and I kept sleeping.   I went to the ride in time to crew the first vet check.  Mo and Eagle were doing great.  It was really cold out and they were going slowly so it was no surprise:)

The trail was really flooded.  Jeremy estimated that 40% of the race was in water, varying from fetlock to belly deep.  Good thing they were planning on a slow ride any how, it would have been an aweful trail to go fast on for the sake of footing and taking risks.

Between the first and second check I ran into town and did a couple of errands, then came back and waited.  I had pretty much lost my voice so trying to hang out and talk to anyone wasn't really an option.

The last vet check the two horses kept eating like crazy, as they had the first two checks.  Betsy and Jeremy left for their last loop and I read my book adn tried to nap.  When the time got closer I hiked out to the finish and waited for them.

They both finished without a problem and Betsy was 50 closer to her goal, she was now at 150 miles. Eagle had finished his first 50, so he was now a real endurance horse;)

We vetted and loaded up the two guys to head home, as we live less than 10 mins away.  The two horses galloped into their pasture when we let them go.  They looked great.

We got cleaned up and headed into town to go to the best restaurant that we have in Dunnellon, Don Pepe's a great Mexican restaurant.  It was fun.  Then back to the house to go to bed.  I had set Betsy up with another horse for day 2 as I thought Eagle would appreciate only doing 1 day.

Betsy snuck out of the house really early for another 50 mile day.  Jeremy and I took it easy on Sunday.  I did get dressed to go ride and then Connie, the ride manager called and asked if Jeremy would come put a shoe on to a horse at the race that had lost a shoe.  The ride farrier didn't show up so there wasn't any one else at camp that could do it.  We went over to the race to help out and it started to rain.  Jeremy did that one horse and as we were standing around getting ready to leave another horse came in missing a shoe.  Jeremy did it too.

As Jeremy was working on horse 2, Lynn Kennelly started sharing pictures of a cat she was getting that day.  I commented on how it was cute.  She proceeded to scroll through a lot of other cat pics and asked "which one do YOU want?"  Apparently there was a person breeding Siamese cats who got out of it and had left over older cats (1-1.5 yrs old).  I thought about it and we did want another barn cat that we could lock in the tackroom on occassion as we had a lot of mice in there and Bob isn't exactly a cat you can direct!  So Jeremy and I picked one out.  A male, he is a Flame Point Siamese, so all the parts that are usually dark on a Siamese are orange.  He is cream with peach/orange ears, muzzle, tail.  He has bright sky blue eyes.

Our cat was delivered later that afternoon, bathed and all!  We set him up in the tackroom and named him Oats.  He is really sweet.  He also got neutered that evening!  It is great having small animal vets as friends:)

Betsy got through day 2 with another completion!  Up to 200 miles, getting closer;)

Sunday night we had another relaxing, stay at home dinner. 

Monday morning our friends, Nicki and Andy and Nicki's dad arrived here.  Nicki was here to go riding on her two horses, Cleo and Btash.  Jeremy and I caught up with them and got the horses ready.  Before we headed out we said our goodbyes to Betsy.  It was really fun meeting her and spending time with her.

We went on a great ride and then Jeremy and Nicki rode 2 more times. The rest of the day we stayed at the house.  Nicki and Andy drove south to Ft Lauderdale and I got ready to go to Mike and Connie's for dinner.  Melissa was makig dinner and we were going to go hang out and catch up.  Jeremy decided that he should stay home.  His treadmill that we bought from Sears didn't work and he had found the same one on Craigslist so he was waiting for it to be dropped off by the person he was buying it from.

I went without him.  It was great seeing Robert and Melissa.  Good times.

Our next ride is quickly approaching.  The Broxton Bridge 2 day FEI ride should be a great race.  We have 6 horses going.  I hope we see you there.

Heather

Pictured above: Easyshoe after completing the 50, worn by Honor.

Jeremy and I glued EasyShoes onto Shai and Honor in preparation for the Greenway 50.  The new Easy Shoe is super cool.   I really think this is a way to keep your hoof healthy while protecting it at the same time, a great compromise to total barefooted horses when your terrain won't allow for that. It is still in the testing phase so you may see them soon. You can see the EasybootGlue ons at this website: www.Easycareinc.com

Our young rider, Emma Orth, came to visit over her Christmas break and is still here with us as I write this:) Emma and I would be riding the 50 on day 1, with Shai and Honor.  I was super excited to be riding Honor, he hadn't raced since Ft Howes in June of 2012. 

On Thursday, the day before the race, Wendy McCoubrey came over to fit my Reactor Panel saddle to Honor.  I love my Reactor Panel, it is really comfortable for my horse and I. (click here:�www.reactorpanel.com>www.reactorpanel.com�)

It was raining all day on Thursday so we opted to trailer over the morning of the race, Friday.  We got up super early and gave Shai and Honor their mash and then loaded them up to head to the race. 

We checked in and saddled up, I ride in a Reactor Panel with a Toklat Matrix pad. It was really cold.  We warmed up the horses and then the trail was open.  I initially thought we could trot a ways to continue warming up but immediately after the ride manager said that the trail was open, a bay horse came barreling by, out of control and very shortly after whizzing by it dumped its rider.  Honor was fired up now!

We put the horses into an easy canter and just went with it.  This was a conditioning ride for Shai and Honor for the Broxton Brdge ride at the very end of this month.  My plan was to just practice a pace between 12.5 mph-13 mph whenever the footing was safe and ride accordingly when it wasn't.  It was a very easy pace for both horses.

The strange thing about some of the East Coast rides is the choice of how to mark a trail.  At this ride you would be on one color heading away from camp and then the color changes when heading back towards camp, for example, loop one was red out and blue back.  This is different for sure.

Loop one was 25 miles, it was fun.  The two horses were very relaxed and cantered easily along.  Loop one did have a lot of lumpy footing and roots, so we did a fair amount of trotting and jogging.  Then we had a 50 min hold.  Jeremy was there waiting for us.  He helped us pull saddles and had coolers there for the horses.

We electrolyted our horses with our mix that has Redmond Salt in it and then headed out on loop 2, yellow to purple, 15 miles.  This loop ended at a trough and then you were just suppossed to know that it was time to turn back and start following purple.  A sign would have been great...

Another 50 min hold.  Both horses looked great.  The trail was really fun.  It was still COLD.

The last loop was pink to green, 10 miles.  This loop had the best footing so we really covered some ground.  Both horses were effortless.

We finished the ride first and second with a ride time of 4:35 and the horses were ready to continue with ease.  We vetted and they both passed no problem.  An hour later, with a less than clean horse, we showed for BC.  It was too cold to get the horses wet so we scrubbed their shaggy coats with brushes the best we could.

Shai was schooled before hand as he hasn't been worked with enough for a great BC trot out.  By the time Emma showed him he was pretty good.  Honor showed really well.

Before the results were calculated we left, we were too cold and needed to get home to blanket the horses in our pasture.

Later that night our friend, Elaine Lemiuex, Honor's previous owner called us, Honor had won BC.  I was very happy.  It was a great comeback ride for him.  He is my favorite guy, so fun to ride.

We had a great day of riding.  Hope we see you at the Gator Run ride on Jan 17 & 18th. 

Heather

Pictured above: Gold Dust Rising with Jeremy Reynolds and Chanses with Heather Reynolds.  Picture taken by Becky Pearman

Jeremy and I have been busy riding, riding and more riding getting preparred for the NAETC 2013.  The race would be only 15 mins from our farm in Florida, in the Goethe Forest with camp at the Black Prong Equestrian Center.

Dust was having some big hoof issues.  He is of French Arabian bloodlines and his feet leave a bit to be desired.  Lucky for us Easyboot has just come out with the Easyshoe.  We glued a pair of those onto Dust's front feet leaving his hinds barefoot and we were in business.  Without those on his feet he would not have made it to the starting line this year.  For the 5 weeks leading up to the championship Dust trained aggressively in his Easyshoes.  Life was good.  The best part was when we took them off it was clear that his feet were able to greatly improve while doing heavy training, that's a first!!

Jeremy and I had taken in 3 horses for training the month leading up to the race, two of which would do the championship.  It was not our intenet but we now own one of those horses.  We liked him so well we just went for it.  We now own Kowboy CS, we bought him from Canadian rider Yvette Vinton.

Chanses, Kowboy and Dust all trained exceptionally well.  They were all ready to rock and roll.  It would be Kowboy and Dust's first 100.  Kowboy and Dust had both done several 75's.  Our friend Nicki Gilbert who is a Great Britain rider would ride Kowboy, I would ride Chanses and Jeremy would be on Dust. 

Chanses had won the 100/160 in New Mexico in late Oct but I wanted to have 2 consecutive completions on him as we had been sorting out a hind end issue that is now resloved, New Mexico as proof.  I needed this race to show the selectors for the USA team that we had truely fixed the issue.

The Sat before the race, so 6 days before the race, our good friend Dixie Snyder from CA flew in with her daughter Heather.  Dixie has done amazing work on Jeremy and I as well as our horses.  She worked extensively on our horses Kutt and Marvel, before the World Championship in London as well as our Tevis winner, Riverwatch before he won Tevis with the Haggin Cup.  Dixie had agreed to come out and have a stay in FL while helping our horses be ready for a great race.

On Sunday we booted the three horses in their Easy Boot Glue Ons and clipped them all as well.  I clipped a heart on Chanses hip, a lightening bolt on Dust's hip and the letters "UK" on Kowboy's hip.  I know I should have written GBR, but you try clipping that;)

On Monday we packed things up and then Dixie, Heather, Jeremy and I went to the Rainbow Springs head spring and went for a refreshing swim.  It was so great, there wasn't really anyone in the water but us, and that water is crystal clear.

Tuesday the horses had to be in the stabing area, at the race by noon.  The race was not until Friday but that was how the race was written so that is when we all had to be there by.  The South East Team had a really cool area to camp and hang out.  The team had rented a cabin that had a barn attached to it, there were also nice paddocks near the cabin for the horses.  The amazing Lynn Kennelly hosted the team and was AWESOME.  She made sure everyone had what they needed and she kept us all well fed.

We went home and left the horses at the race on Tues night as they were in a very safe solid permanent paddock.  We did have to make the paddock smaller with some hot tape as the size was regulated by the officials. 

On Wed morning we came out and someone had run through the hot fence.  No one looked like they had an issue.  We grabbed Chanses and Dust to go for a ride and as I was grooming Chanses and noticed a lump on his neck.  He was also shivering. I texted our team vet thinking that he had been the one to go through the fence so she could check on him when she arrived.  We went for our ride and Chanses felt like garbage.  When I took his tack off he was still "shivering" but just on his shoulder/neck.  This was a real problem, not shivering.

Dr Anne Christopherson checked him over and it was decided that it was actually a reaction from his Pentason Shot he had been given on Tuesday morning.  He also had a temp of 102.4  Anne went to work with her accupuncture.  She got his fever to break.  Scott Hie came to check him for me chiropractically just in case he had additionally gone through the fence. 

After that he had ice on his neck 25 mins of every hour.  On Wed Nicki, Andy and their friend Michelle arrived as well as Skip.  Opening ceremonies, followed by a dinner happened Wed night.  When I went to sleep on Wed night I really thought I would not be racing Chanses.

Thursday morning Chanses looked a lot better, still had a lump in his neck and still couldn't reach the ground but he looked bright and perky.  I took him for a ride to make my decision.  He didn't feel perfectly normal but he didn't feel stiff and jerky either.  I decided that with a whole day ahead of us that I would try to race him.

The day went by in a blur of last minute preparations.  Thursday night I was ready to sleep.  I slept soundly until the 3:30am "feed the horses" alarm went off.  We hiked out to the paddock and fed the three guys and then tried to fall back to sleep.  I didn't sleep well from then on.

When it was time, we got up and tacked the horses and started our warm up.  Our horses had their Toklat Matrix pads and Reactor Panel saddles.  We had given the horses their Redmond salt in their early morning feed so we didn't have to electrolyte before mounting.

It was really cold so we warmed up with the polar fleece blankets under us draping the hind quarters. 

The start was easy, Chanses and Dust parted ways and I just went along on Chanses.  He felt decent.  He'd rather do a big trot than an easy canter because of his neck.  I was so happy that both Dust and Chanses had on their Easyboot Glue- Ons as there were stretches of sharp limestone roads.  About 10 miles into the 20 mile loop Dust caught up to us with a large group.  Dust was happy to see Chanses.  We rode together from then on.  The two recovered great at the first vet gate. 

On the second loop Dust and Chanses cruised around the 15 miles easily and again recovered fast.  On the trot outs Dust looked questionable so he had to recheck before we left. Luckily he looked good on the recheck but it made Jeremy really qustion if he should continue.  We kept a close watch on Dust on loop 3.  After a few miles we realized that we had forgotten his splint boots.  Then we thought that maybe that was a good thing.  Dust has big splints and maybe the boots were rubbing them and soring him up.  Dust never looked back.  Loop 3 was 20 miles.  The two recovered great again. By this time Chanses finally felt like Chanses, it only took 55 miles!  He still had a small lump on his neck but was moving how he should be.  It was at this check that Kowboy was later pulled.  We later found burn like marks that were ozzing on three of his legs (I guess it took a little to show up, as we had not seen this before) from what we assume was him being the one that took down the hot tape a couple days earlier. 

Loop 4 the horses cruised another 15 miles through the heat and sand.  The whole trail is sand, some of it is pretty darn deep.  Chanses and Dust felt great.  We were averaging 12 mph or 19.2 Km.  They recovered great again.  At this check, mile 70 the vet looking at Chanses wanted to recheck Chanses for gut sounds and gave him a C for gut sounds.  I wasn't worried as Chanses was really hungry and ate great the whole check.  

I went back for the recheck and there were 3 vets to vote on his metabolics.  No big deal.  His guts had gone from  C to a B.  His vet scores were all B or better.  His trot and impulsion were an A-, his CRI was 52/52.  The vets were also talking to each other while vetting, which if they are voting they are not supposed to do.  With all of that you can see why I was was really surprised when I was told he did not pass.  In my whole career of racing I have never thought I had been judged unfairly until this.  My Chef asked the vets why I had been pulled.  The vet didn't have a precise response.  He said that they felt he was declining metabolically.  Then my Chef pointed out the horse had gone from a C to a B.  The vet then said that they might have been hearing an inconsistent heart murmur and maybe I had an electrolyte problem.  I walked away.  As I walked out spectators were also shocked that I had been pulled and offered video footage to show how good the horse looked.  I had my team vet listen immediately to his heart, at that time, less than 1 min later it was perfectly fine, this horse has never had any heart murmur and still doesn't.  We then did immediate blood work.  That was all within normal range as well.  I have NEVER complained about a vet call on my horse until this.  That's all I have to say about that. 

Dust left out on Loop 5, another 15 mile loop.  I missed his departure as I was getting my bloodwork done.

When Dust came in to the last hold he had made up more time on the leader Nicki Meutin, who at one point had been over 20 mins ahead of him.  At this point she was now only 5 mins ahead.  Valerie Kanavy and Kelsey Russel were also in the hold all in close contention.  Dust looked great and ate like a champ for the 20 min hold.  Then off he went. 

Our amazing crew started to take down our vet area.  To name a few, hopefully I don't forget too many: Dixie Snyder, Daughter Heather, Elaine Lemiuex, Lynn Kennelly, Misty, Leslie Goodyear, Andy Thorne, Michelle and then the Team Vet Anne Christopherson and Chef Otis, as well as a few that came and went throughout the day.  This crew was amazing!!!!  Not enough thank you's in the world for them..

After a bit we all went to the finish to see what the outcome would be. 

Out on trail, Jeremy was gaining on Val and Kelsey.  He stopped to feed Dust at a trough and could hear them talking.  He caught them (around 6 miles into the loop) and they all rode together for a while.  Then they caught up to Nicki, (about 8 miles into the 15 mile loop) who had gotten lost without a headlamp.  Nicki rode along with Jeremy, who did have a headlamp, for a couple of miles but then Dust pulled away.  At 8 hours and 20 mins of riding, out of the darkness came a bright and happy Dust!!  Soo excited for Jeremy and Dust:)  This was Dust's first 100/160.  He looked just awesome.

The next morning at BC Dust looked spectacular.  He flew and floated around his trot out.  The head vet told Jeremy later that it had been really close and that Dust had moved amazingly well.  In the end BC went to the horse Kelsey had ridden, belonging to Valerie Kanavy, My Wild Irish Gold.

In all it was a great weekend for Reynolds Racing.  Jeremy won the Individual Gold as well as being part of the Gold Medal Team. 

We will see you all at Greenway Getaway.

Heather

Eagle pictured above

This weekend we went to the Boggy Creek CTR.  This event is so cool.  It is a benefit for the Camp Boggy Creek program.  This is a camp for seriously ill children.  The goal of Boggy Creek is "for you to forget what you have".  It is a camp set up for kids to reallly DO things, sometimes for the first time, like a kid who has been hooked to oxygen for their whole lives can actually go swimming at this camp.  There is a place for them to plug in their oxygen so they can remain on oxygen while they swim.  There is also ziplining for kids in wheel chairs.  The kids who have been stared at when they go out can relax and have a fun time with other similar kids, no one is staring or asking what's wrong with them.  It is also a great relief for families who get to have their kids go to this camp as the camp is fully staffed with expert doctors who look after the campers.  This camp is a non profit if any of you want to check it out, I'm sure any donations would be happily accepted.

I was reading the directions to the ride on Thursday night and realized that we didn't have to be there until Saturday, the ride would be Sunday.  I'm so glad I read that!  Jeremy would have killed me:)

That was a relief as we had only been in Florida since Tuesday evening and we had been super busy for the couple of days we had been home and this would give us another day to do things before going to the ride.

On Saturday we loaded up Eagle.  Poor Eagle, we have only ridden him 3 times since we bought him.  He was ridden one time and then did the Harvey Bear LD with our young rider, Emma.  Then I rode him 1 time and drove coast to coast and now he would do this 27 mile CTR.  I'm sure he thinks we just like to ride way too much. 

We arrived at the camp just before 1 pm.  We unloaded Eagle and then I had to head over to the judges meeting.  I would be judging for my second year in a row and Jeremy would be riding for his second year in a row.

The meeting was brief and we went over details of the ride.  A short while later the ride vet, Courtney and I started vetting in all of the competitors.  CTR forms are a bit foreign to me but after I looked it over it started coming back to me.  It rained off and on during the vet in.  We vetted in the 48 horses and then got ready for the ride dinner and meeting. 

Dinner was a potluck with the ride providing the meat and mac 'n cheese.  The ride also has a HUGE raffle and auction that goes on throughout the weekend.  The raffle started during dinner.  SO many cool prizes.

Jeremy and I went to bed shortly after the meeting, not skipping the ice cream however!  There is a cooler of ice cream at this ride that is self serve. 

Sunday morning I headed up to the starting line to watch the competitors start.  Eagle looked cool and calm.  Very good considering he had been in Florida all of 4 days and then had to camp alone and warm up alone for the start.

The ride started at 6:30.  The first one to start was Maris who was driving her horse, as in driving a cart.  Then after a 10 min gap the rest of the field, in numeric order, started in 30 second increments.  Very different from endurance.  There is also a set time for when you should finish.  The ride times for this 27 mile ride were between 4:15-5 hours. 

The ride volunteers headed out to the out check after all the horses started.  My job was to watch the horses trot out from the check after their hold was over.  CTR's are different.  The horses arrive at the check and exactly 10 mins later they get their pulse.  It needed to be 60 or lower, otherwise you would get a point deduction.  The goal is to keep all of your points without any deductions.  You start with 100 points.  After the pulse you get your metabolics checked.  When 20 mins are up you leave the check and trot away for a soundness check. 

All good, no one was pulled here.  After the last horse left we went back to camp to see the finishers and do the judging.  At the finish the horses must trot the last 1/4 mile.  Then exactly 10 mins after they finish they get their pulse.  While getting the pulse there is a CRI.  Then they head over to the vet to get their metabolics looked at.  Then an hour after they finish they get looked at very hard by us again.  This is where we really score them on the score cards.

There's a lot of calculating in this sport as far as the paperwork on who will win the event.  Kind of crazy:)  I was not incharge of that part however, I was just judging the horses in the flesh, a much more fun job.  I was trying to be as consistant as possible but it seemed so subjective even while trying really hard to be consistant.

After we judged all the horses we were done.  Jeremy and Eagle finished and looked great.  Jeremy was just riding for mileage only as I was a judge it wouldn't really be fair to be riding for a score. 

After the ride we hung out and waited for the awards and the rest of the raffle.  We won a few raffle items and had a great time.  If any of you get the chance to support this event please do.  I hope to be at this ride next year.

Jeremy is headed up to New Jersey this weekend.  He is not too excited about getting back in the truck for another LONG drive but he is going.  He will ride the 2* on Shai and Nicki Gilbert will ride her new horse Btash on the 1*.

Shai Pictured above

We packed and packed our stuff from our 6 month stay in CA.  We would be driving back to Florida and on the way we would hit up the FEI 2 day in Las Cruces, New Mexico. (The ride is actually a 3 day, but has 2 FEI days).

On Tuesday evening we loaded up 10 horses, (Cleo and our 9 horses): Honor, Stirgess, Chanses, Mo, Liger, Shai, Eagle, Dust and Nixon (Smitty would stay in CA).  Liger was really cute, he hasn't ever been asked to go up a ramp before but he quickly got the hang of it and happily got in with his herd.

We also had our 3 dogs, Roo, Merlin and our new dog Poncho.  Poncho is a 3 year old Cattle dog mix.  He is a Border Collie, McNab, Queensland Heeler and Fox Terrier mix.  He was Mike and Janet Shackelford's dog.  They decided it would be good for Poncho to become super busy and live with us and I needed a good running dog so now we have Poncho.  We got Poncho 3 days before our big road trip, that's one way to get to know your new dog.

After we said some tearful goodbyes to our young rider Emma we got in the truck and were ready to roll.

We started to put the truck into gear and realized that we didn't have any running lights! We hadn't even moved yet and already had a technical difficulty:) Our friend Karl who is at the CA ranch helped us and Jeremy figure out that we had a blown fuse.  Ok, take two!  More goodbyes, this time dry eyed and happier, and we were rolling.

About an hour and a half into our drive we heard a loud explosion.  We had blown a tire on our trailer, which has big rig, semi truck tires.  The tire Gods were with us tonight though!  We could see the next exit and the exit had a big rig tire shop and repair. We limped over to the exit and pulled in.  The lady guided us into the bay and then let us know that the tech was on his lunch break and would be back in 10.  

I walked the dogs and a small stray came to say hi to us but was really too scared to get too close. After that we watered the horses and soon were ready to go.  In all it took about 2 hours but we were never stranded so who cares.

We happily rolled down hwy 5 listening to the comedy selection on Pandora, very entertaining.  At some point I went in back and fell asleep (our truck has a sleeper).  Poncho and Merlin joined me.  Around 4 am Jeremy was ready to sleep so it was my turn for a drive! 

In doing these long trips I have discovered that this is my favorite time of day to drive.  I am ggod from 4-7 or so then Jeremy is usually ready to go again.  As I drove I tried to remember usless facts like what horses were in our trailer the last time we did this drive?  And the time before that?  And who was in the trailer in 2008 when we drove to Virginia.  That was good for some mental work, then I found myself remembering a recap of our summer. 

This past summer we had a really packed and exciting time.  We started off with Jeremy running the Quicksilver 50 the first day we arrived, then going to Hawaii for Tim's wedding and the half Ironman Triathlon, we went on a houseboat trip to Lake Powell with the Redmond Salt company, went to New York to see friends and work on horses feet, my cousins wedding in Skytop Pennsylvania, Skyline to the Sea 30 mile hike with my family and Emma, Tevis, Jeremy did another half Ironman at Donner Lake, Volunteering at the Western States Run with my brothers, Ironman Tahoe, taking Liger to Monty Roberts for a one week clinic for young horses being started, Skyline to the Sea Trail race with Holly and Jeremy, flying to Illinois to pick out a horse for Emma, as well as riding a few other endurance rides, riding and hiking trails we love, riding on the beach in Salinas and having countless dinners with friends.  We also got to live with Tim and his wife Jody all summer.  So many fun times.  This summer we got to know our young rider, Emma Orth and her mom Giulia.  What a great summer, we already miss everyone.

As I was in the middle of this deep thought I popped a 5 hour energy...reality.  Around 7:30 Jeremy was back to driving.  The drive was an uneventful blur of driving and stopping to water the horses.  22 hours later we arrived in Las Cruces at the base camp.  The ride manager had saved us two large pens to put the horses in, what a life saver!! 

It was now Wed night.  We ate some food and then hung out a bit.  Becky and Judith had pulled in next to us and we saw a few other familiar faces.  We visited a little and then fell asleep.  The next day we got things organized and pre rode the horses.  The first two we rode were Chanses and Mo.  After that ride we were getting the next two when Nicki and Andy pulled up, perfect timing.  Nicki could ride her own pre ride on Dust now, and Jeremy would ride Shai. 

Andy and I went to check in while they rode.  Skip arrived as well.  After the ride meeting we went to town for showers and dinner. 

Mark Dial had recommended a place called what we thought was "Grand Central Station".  We looked around town a long while and found "Graham Central Station".  We took a look and there was a cash register at the door, as in there was a cover charge!  It was a night club, we wanted a restaurant so we kept looking.  Nicole told us about a steak house near her hotel so we went for that.  Nicole and Andre Ruggeri joined us as well as Emmett, Skip, Lynn Kennely and Marcia Hefker and her friend and her son Si.  It was a boisterous group.  Dinner was pretty good.

The next morning Jeremy rode Mo on the AERC 60.  Skip, Lynn, Andy, Nicole and I crewed for Mo.  It was great practice for him to have a mob of crew.  He handled it very well.  At the first vet check Skip and Lynn came from town with Starbucks and Skip thought he had missed Jeremy.  Skip told me he had handed Jeremy his coffee to him as he rode by then Skip asked me how Jeremy was doing and I told him that I hadn't seen him yet!  He was on a part of the course that came near the vet gate before the first check.  Minutes later Jeremy arrived at the first vet check.

As the day progressed Mo had a tight hind end.  Jeremy decided to run the last loop on foot.  We met him at a road crew point and Mo looked great.  We told Jeremy that Mo looked great and that he should get on.  He did.  He later regretted this as he was pulled at the finish for a sore hind end.  Total bummer.

After we took care of Mo we pre rode Chanses, Shai and Dust.  Chanses and I would be doing the FEI 100, Dust and Nicki would be doing the FEI 75 and Jeremy would be taking Shai through his first FEI ride doing the 50.

We went to the ride meeting.  The trail colors made for a great acronym.  I try to make something up at each ride so I can easily remember my loop colors.  This one was: Pissed (pink) Off (orange) Yelling (yellow) Orangatans (orange) with (white) Pistol Whips (pink and white).  How can you forget the trail with things like this to think about?

After the meeting we went to town again for showers and dinner. 

The next morning  I got up really early to feed the race horses, then I went back to bed.  An hour and a half later I woke up and got ready.  More Starbucks, Pumpkin Spice Late, very seasonal and festive;)

Chanses had a great first loop. He felt great.  The footing was pretty lumpy and rocky on this loop so I was really glad to have my Easyboot Glue Ons on Chanses.  Another interesting thing was after a lot of lumpy, rocky sandy trail there was a section where you could be on flat level pavement or lumpy, sandy rocky terrain and Chanses chose the pavement with his boots on as it was not too concussive, he was enjoying the safe even footing.  The day flew by and Chanses was recovering awesomely.  I rode the first several loops with Sue Hedgecock and Gwen Hall, then I rode a couple loops with Mae Chase Dunn.  The last loop I was on my own.  Chanses prefers company but he was willing to go if I asked him.  It was an out and back and we did see Sue and Gwen at some point.

Chanses won the 100 and looked great.  I think our ride time was a bit over 9 hours.  Dust had been pulled after 2 loops and Shai had come in 3rd on the FEI 50.

That night we went to town for showers.  Dinner was fun.  We ate with Andy, Nicki, Lynn, Skip and Emmett.  Very fun time, lots of laughs.  Great steakhouse with an awesome waiter.

The next day we did not have to ride.  We just had a rest day before heading East.  Dwight Hooten was available so he looked Dust over and it was decided after some blocks and icing the leg that Dust had more than likely hit himself on his old splint and had just made himeself sore, great news.

Skip, Lynn, Andy and Nicki headed off to the airport.  Jeremy and I packed up all the crew stuff and hung out.  We had dinner at the race and stole a shower.  We were thinking we would stop over at Emmett's to lay over and check out the time trial trail for the next WEG on our way home.  We decided that it would be best to load the herd in the daylight so we slept until it was very light out and then loaded up.  Liger was ready to go and was pulling me up the ramp this time!  He likes the rockstar life style.  Part way down the road we decided we couldn't go to Emmett's as we had a client horse arriving and we needed to be home for that.

We started our drive at 8:30 am Monday morning.  The rest of our drive was uneventful.  Hurray!!! Around 3:30 am on Tuesday morning I drove and Jeremy slept.  Hours and hours, watering after watering and reloading of hay bag after hay bag we arrived in Florida.  We pulled into our house at 4 pm Tuesday.  Jeremy took the quad out and drove around our fence line and then we unloaded and set everyone free.  The horses were soooo happy and they all took off running and bucking, what a difference it makes having air ride and comfort floors in the trailer!

We have been home for a few days and we are headed off to the Boggy Creek CTR that is this Sunday.  I will be a judge and Jeremy will ride Eagle.  This ride benefits severly sick or disabled children.  When I volunteered I thought we were returning to FL in the early part of Oct, oh well, it will be fun. 

For the last 3 days we have been non stop getting our over grown place back in order and unpacking the trailer and truck. 

Next weekend Jeremy, Nicki and Andy will be driving up to New Jersey for the Mustang Memorial FEI ride!  No rest for the wicked:)

Mo pictured above after his 50 mile win with Best Condition as well.

This weekend we booted up and went to the Quicksilver Harvey Bear ride at Harvey Bear park.  The three dudes we took were Mo, who would do his second 50, NOS doing his second LD and the newest guy named Eagle to do his first LD.

We have only owned Eagle for 2 weeks so we had him carry our lightest option, our young rider Emma Orth.  I would ride NOS with her and together we would ride with friends Hillorie Bachmann and her young rider Pepper.

We drove to the ride late Fri afternoon and got to the race around 4 pm.  I went to check us in and saw that the vet line was crazy long so we decided to wait on that.

Hillorie arrived shortly after and she brought A LOT of cupcakes!! Hillorie is the recent owner of a very cool bakery called "Just Cakin' It".  The treats were delicious.  If you are in the need of a cake call Hill!

Hillorie and Pepper took care of their horses and then all 5 of us headed to town in search of dinner. I had followed Jeremy over in our car as we weren't wanting to unhook the semi and this ride is only 35 mins from the ranch.

We Googled a restaurant.  When we got there the worker/only person in the place looked shocked that there were "SO MANY of us..."  There were 5 of us.  This WAS Friday night, right???  He then informed us he only had food to go.  It just seemed too weird so we left.  As we got back into the car Hillorie and I, at almost the same time, concluded that this must just be a front to launder the guys money;)

We continued on and found a sushi place.  It was decent.  We had a fun time chatting about pretty much nothing and enjoyed every bit of it.

We got back in time to vet in before the ride meeting.  All three of our guys vetted in fine.  Eagle had practiced his trot out with Emma earlier in the afternoon and when he vetted in he was like an old pro.

The ride meeting went by and we headed off to our trailers to get ready for bed. We did decide to take the dog pack for a walk before bed.  We had Jeremy's brother's dog, Tyson, with us.  Tyson, Roo and Merlin went walking along with Hillorie's Chihuahua and hound.  The pack had a great time.

We went to bed and tried to sleep.  Sleeping in the particular trailer we were in was a lot like Chinese water torture.  The acoustics are crazy LOUD so each time a horse hits a water bucket or hay bag you think that a disaster is happening outside.  We didn't get much sleep. 

In the morning Jeremy had a 7 am start time and us LD riders had a wonderful 8 am start time.  I sort of woke up with Jeremy but really got up about 6:30.  Emma and I hung out and ate a little while we waited to get ready.  Around 8 we started walking over to the start, trying to be late so we wouldn't push our luck with NOS and Eagle.  Hillorie's two seasoned horses were great babysitters.  Although Eagle and NOS were both really good it was nice to have two veterans with us.

The first half of the ride went by and we all had a really fun time.  There was perfect weather and a lot of cows and calves.  Eagle looked a little confused around the 11-13 mile mark.  Then we had our vet check.  Eagle was 48/48 and NOS was similar.  Both horses ate well but NOS was frantic.  I have never seen a horse shove hay in his mouth like this, he was literally SHOVING it into his mouth.  He couldn't physically get any more into his mouth.  I was worried he was going to choke!  He was foaming and drooling green froth from his mouth.  Very hungry.  It was a bit entertaining.

After the check Eagle had a new found focus and determination in him.  I think he saw that we were heading back in the general direction from where we had started so he understood what we were doing, or at least where we were headed.

In the end we all 4 finished the LD in about 5:30.  It was really hot and hilly but super fun riding with friends. NOS and Eagle both looked really great.

Mo finished just after we vetted through.  It took Mo and Jeremy 10 mins LESS than us to win the 50.  Mo looked great.  He was floating around in his EasyBoot Gule Ons.  He looked effortless.  He had a great CRI and trotted out easily for BC, although he wasn't sure of the crowd gathered around to watch him.  

Jeremy later told me that from the halfway point he rode Mo in just a cavasson and a single rein clipped on like a leadrope because Jeremy kept getting on and off to run in the hills.  Most of this trail was single track and Mo doesn't have a left eye.  Super cool 6 year old, ex race horse!!

The Quicksilver Club hosts this race.  They provided lunch on Sat.  There was also the Deputy Sherrif's of Santa Clara County group that cooked an awesome BB-Q for dinner for all.  The chicken was unreal!

The race was very fun.  After the awards we hit the road. This was our last California race for a long while.  We won't be back in CA in 2014 for the summer.  We are going to stay and train in Florida next summer.  We will miss everyone.  We might come for Tevis but probabaly not.

Our next race will be in New Mexico at the FEI race Oct 25,26,27.  Hope we see some of you there!  We will be there with our ENTIRE traveling road circus as we will then continue on to Florida from there.

Heather 

Erebus on day 1 pictured above

Emma Orth, (our junior that has been helping us out all summer) and I loaded up the four guys on Friday morning.  (Jeremy would not be joining us, as he was going to do a big triathalon training weekend with his brother.) Emma and I were heading to the Mendocino Magic, 2 day ride.  We took Kings Gold, aka Elvis and Erebus for the first day 50 and Gold Dust Rising aka Dust and Most Likley (this is how you really spell his name) aka Mo for the second day.

The drive was uneventful in the semi truck, although driving the big truck on the road from Willits to Ft Bragg, (hwy 20), was like trying to ride an elephant on a single track.  We got there without any issues.

After setting up we checked in and then vetted and pre rode the day 1 horses.  I would ride Erebus and Emma would be on Elvis.  It was very foggy but not cold.  Mendocino is very beautiful so I was really looking forward to the rides over the weekend.  It would also be my first race with Emma who has been helping us ride all summer.

After the ride it was just about time for dinner.  We headed over to the potluck, which had way too many great choices, and found familiar faces to eat with.  It was great seeing all of my West Coast friends. 

That night I hardly slept as our crew of horses found a talent in banging buckets on the side of the trailer and clanking the high ties around.  At one point one of the dudes even starting rocking the trailer significantly by scratching his rear end on the side of the trailer.  Oh well. 

In the morning we got on and headed to the start.  At this ride there are two ways to the start, one was going down the hill to the meadow the same way you will come out of the meadow when they let you start, the other was going around the back of the meadow and circling around to the start.  We went down the way you come out on day 1 with the two seasoned horses.  Erebus and Elvis warmed up like pros.  Both were very well behaved. Looking professional in their Easyboot Glue Ons and Reactor Panel saddles. (There were a lot of people sliding around on the grassy slopes but the boots we had did awesome).

When it was time to start they both trotted smartly down the road and then up the first big climb.  It is so nice being on horses that are relaxed.  The day went by in a beautifully scenic way.  The fog was heavy in the morning, my ride picture from the morning was so thick in fog you could make out my helmet and my smile and Erebus's star!  Then the fog lifted to show you spectacular views of the ocean below.  Also the forest was amazingly serene in the fog with the redwoods and ferns and even some Aspen with the sunbeams filtering through the fog.  Very magestic. 

At vet check one both horses vetted right through and we relaxed at the trailer, then on to loop 2 which had a tremendous climb which in turn gave us more stunning views.  The lunch hold came and went.  The ride provided lunch to the riders which is always a relaxing treat as it is one less thing that you, as a rider need to worry about.

The last loop was super fun.  We were the 2nd and 3rd horse out of the vet gate.  We caught up to the front runner shortly after leaving the check.  Then there was another really long climb so we took advantage of our horses fresh feel and went up the hill rapidly, then for the rest of the loop we flew, passing LD riders, 50 mile riders and Ride And Tie Teams.  The horses loved this, although Erebus was wondering how they had all gotten ahead of us!  The trail on this loop was a single track of twisting, rolling tight trail, very fun.  I would call out to Emma things like, "Watch your head", "Watch your Knees", "Watch your face!"  Very exciting trail.

At the end of day 1 we were 1st and 2nd.  When we weighed in Emma weighed as much with her tack as I do by myself, first thing in the morning!!  We got the horses ready for BC and then showed them.  They both looked great.

After taking care of the horses and showing for BC we saddled up for round two and pre rode the day 2 horses.  Mo and Dust were very happy to be doing something.  After the ride we headed to town with Emma's mom Giulia and brother Luca for some hand made ice cream at the local ice cream shop.  I had, once again, the mushroom ice cream that they make.  It is made from a candy cap mushroom and tastes a lot like maple. 

Then it was dinner time and awards.  Erebus ended up with BC but Elvis had only lost BC by 1/2 a point so he won the high vet score.  Super day.

That night I slept much better as I was now pretty tired.  In the morning we saddled up and took the round-about way to the start, and about 5 mins late to avoid getting Mo excited on his first 50.  Emma was riding Mo as she has been riding him a lot this summer and really wanted to ride him.

Both horses started really nicely and we had yet another great day. This day was warmer and less foggy.  The views were even better and the trail was amazing.  Emma and I counted 12 different varieties of wild flowers on this day and we only started counting from the second loop onwards.

Mo was playing a game during the ride that each time we would get to a water bar he would tuck up and hop across, this was pretty funny considering we would be walking along, come to one and he would tuck up and hop and then go back to walking.

On our last loop we let the horses move out a bit and there were a number of small streams so Mo got to jump over them and have a great time, it was a game he liked even though he can walk across he had way more fun leaping at the canter over them. 

At the end of day 2 we came in 10th and 11th.  Pretty cool considering we were just out taking in the scenery and hiking a lot of the down hills.  On Mo's final trot out, he trotted out and then cantered back.  I guess he had a good time:)

Before dinner we took Roo, Merlin and Shasta (the Orth's dog) down to the pond for some fun.  Roo and Luca went swimming while Shasta ran at top speed around the pond, falling in sometimes as she went.  It was a super fun time.  Roo was having a blast with his water frisbee too.

The final dinner was fun saying bye to everyone.  Emma and I had a really fun time.  If you get the chance to do the Mendocino Ride I would recommend it to anyone.  It is very well run, well marked, beautiful, great food and great prizes.

The last night there was also a fire with a lot of story telling.  That was fun as it was like the old endurance rides I remember as a junior.

Monday we drove home, stopping at Starbucks of course.  When we got home all four of the horses rolled and then took off.  They all looked great.

Hope to see you at the Quicksilver ride at Harvey Bear on Oct 5th.

Heather

Well another crazy Tevis has come and gone.  It was a juggling act of entries for us.  I entered the ride with Elvis, Jeremy was entered on Cleopatrah and our friend Nicki Gilbert was entered on Erebus. 

Three weeks out Elvis had something happen out in pasture where he was found dragging a hind leg.  He took 5 days to become sound and then I took him for a ride at the 2 week out mark and he was great but the next day looked funky.  I decided with only less than 2 weeks before Tevis to scratch him.  I moved on to Surprise Moment, a horse we have only owned for 2 months (he had done endurance before we bought him), knowing that he might not be willing to pace well, as he has some issues with being anxious and wants to pull my arms out to go faster.  I did feel like he was making some head way so I decided to take the chance with him.

On Wed, the week leading into Tevis we booted Cleo, Surprise and Erebus and I clipped all three of the horses as well.  The plan was to relax on Thursday and have everything mostly complete by the end of Wed.

On Thursday morning we got an email from Nicki's husband asking if he could purchase Cleo for Nicki as she was really in love with the horse (she has ridden her at the last 3 FEI rides and is fully qualified for the next World Championship with Cleo).  He wanted to surprise Nicki with this.  Sure:) On to plan B.  Jeremy decided he would rather ride Chanses than my Anglo, Erebus, so he booted up Chanses and I clipped Chanses, so much for taking Thursday off;)

In hind site, if I had not had tunnel vision on taking Surprise to Tevis I should have stepped back and looked at my options, I should have taken my well prepared Anglo, Erebus.  A horse who we have had over a year and is willing to pace!

On Friday we headed up to Tevis with our two back up horses and Cleo who now belonged to Nicki Gilbert. All three horses traveled well.  Rusty and Kevin had saved us a great parking spot at Robie so we set up and got checked in and vetted in just fine. The ride meeting and dinner flew by and we headed to bed.

We were all in pen 1 so we warmed up together.  The horses were all fine.  When it was time to walk down to the start Nicki and I seperated from Jeremy.  We would go a little slower than him in theory. 

Cleo and Surprise were good at the start and the start was very controlled and easy going for all surprisingly.  A nice relaxed pace of trotting.  Then it picked up a bit and Surprise was pulling like a mad man.  When we got to the spot that Cleo fell off the trail last year she got pretty anxious but Nicki got her past it.

The Granite Chief area was pretty dry compared to some years, although at the first bog Chanses did go down on his side.  Later Cleo had a good scramble over a big granite slab as well.

After fighting Surprise all the way to Robinson, feeling like I was water skiing behind him the whole way I was really happy to get off of him.  He vetted through but had gone faster than desired and had poor gut sounds.  I had Nicki go on without me to take more time with Surprise.

Surprise was much better after Robinson because we were completely alone.  He trotted very nicely.  He got cooled off by Rachel and Bret Lain and Adam Farmer at Dusty Corners then we rode with Hal Hall on the Pucker Point Trail.  We had a good time.

At Last Chance, Surprise still wasn't really eating, however he was drinking really well. I stayed a long while and cooled him and gave him the chance to eat even though he didn't really eat much here.  (I left here with Andre Rugerri and we rode together from here to the bottom of Volcano Canyon.)  At Deadwood he finally was starving and ate super well.  I stayed about 30 mins here to let him try to start catching up.

From Deadwood on Surprise ate with gusto.  He climbed down the canyons and up the canyons and finally we were at Michigan Bluff.  My crew was awesome and cooled him here really well. Then I headed up to Chicken Hawk where more crew awaited.  They are so great:)  Surprise was well cared for.  He again ate really well and we vetted through after chowing down and headed out.  On my way out my friend Nicole was having trouble getting her big guy cooled out, she has an awesome Friesian Arab cross that weighs about 1200 lbs.  His pulse was only 52 but he was breathing faster and the vets didn't like it.  My parents used the rest of our ice on her horse and then he was ready to rock again.

Surprise and I cruised down Volcano Canyon.  I was on foot jogging, I managed to jog down every canyon this year.  At the bottom I scooped him off in the creek and then up we went to Bath Road. I had crew at the bottom with nice cold water to put on Surprise.   Then we trotted up the pavement looking great.  At the trot out at Forresthill the vet saw a hind end funkiness and wanted to recheck him before we left.

During the hold my crew worked on him.  I told Skip that if there was any question that I wanted to pull him as we still had 32 miles and the next vet check was a really long ways and then if I got pulled there, at Franciscos, it was a 3 mile uphill hike to the trailer (I did this last year when Stirgess broke a blood vessle in his leg).  In the end I didn't take him back out.

Cleo and Nicki, unfortunately had to make the 3 mile uphill hike from Franciscos to the trailer.  Cleo had hit something with her shin and had a small cut and a huge lump on the front of her leg.

Chanses made it to 96 miles, the Lower Quary and could see the leader at that check when he arrived. When he trotted out he was off.  Darn it.  Better luck next time.

I would like to thank our awesome Crew: Jean and Howie Spinner, Mary Reynolds and Aunt Leslie, Bret and Rachel Lain, Mike Shackelford, Rebecca Silva, Emma Orth, Karl Knuchel, Tim and Jody Reynolds, Jeff Townsend, Albert, Skip and Heather Lightfoot, Andy Gilbert and Kelly Couch and his friend that I have forgotten the name of (sorry). Also a thank you for the use of Hillorie Bachman's life changing shower at Forresthill.

Congratulations to Rusty Toth for another spectacular year, last year on a different horse he won the Haggin Cup and this year the Tevis Cup.  Well done.  (I have to brag a little, I picked out the horse for endurance for Garrett Ford a few years back, and Rusty got this horse from Garrett:)

Congratulations also to Hal Hall for his 30th buckle completion!! I can't even imagine.  At the rate I'm going I will be lucky to get 10!

My next ride will be Camp Far West.  Jeremy will not be there as he is getting ready for his Ironman that he is doing in late Sept.

Hope to see you there.

Heather

Pictured above: Jeremy and Dust, Heather and Surprise

On Thursday we went to the airport and picked up our Floridian friend Lisanne Dorion.  Her plane was delayed and she landed at 12:30 am.  Long day for her...we had been celebrating Jody, our new sister-in-laws birthday so we were up late anyhow. 

On Friday morning we headed to the ranch and fed and then grabbed our 4 horses to head out to the Almanor Hustle FEI 2* 75/120.  We were looking forward to this ride as all of the horses were looking well and we knew we would have fun and see the beautiful trail enjoying the company of our two riders and good friends, Mae Chase Dunn and Lisanne Dorion.  The goal was to get the horses around and get a qualifiction checked off of the list of required rides for our horses. (I just have to share that I think I set a personal record with Surprise's passport.  I received the passport on a Wed night, had it filled out and stamped by my vet on Thursday, back in the mail on that same Thursday and had it back in my hand, 2 days later, on Saturday approved!)

The pairs were, Dust and Jeremy, Erebus and Lisanne, Elvis and Mae and Surprise and myself.  It would be Surprise's first time going over 50 miles.  For the other 3 it would be their second 2*.

On our way to the ride we had one tire detread.  We think it is because this trailer we are using has been sitting for  awhile, dormant.  Oh well.  We went right away to Les Scwab and replaced the spare in case we had another mishap. 

We got to the ride about 3 pm.  Mae and her mom Carolyn were there as well as their friend Cathy.  Carolyn and Cathy would crew, LUCKY US!!

After the horses were settled we went out on a pre ride to make sure everyones tack was squared away.  Then we vetted in and went to the ride dinner.  It was fun to see everyone that we haven't seen in a while.  Michele is healing up but her smile is pretty adorable at the moment.

Saturday morning we got on and warmed up the horses and had an uneventful start.  All 4 horses worked well together.  The only issue I was having was that Surprise hasn't been in our program very long at all and was having trouble cantering slowly when the group would canter.  He would do a big trot and then I would slow him down to canter and he would not understand why we would slow to canter... He will get it:) 

This ride was rockier than I remembered it being so we were REALLY happy to have our glue ons on all of our horses, it really makes a huge difference in their performance at every race.  It is especially apparent in really hard, rocky footing. (You will also see a difference the day after the race in your horses legs.  There is way less filling in the legs, if any at all after you race hard in Glue on Easyboots.)

The 4 horses vetted quickly at each check.  We were just going to go around but as the day went on we did each loop a bit faster than the last.  By the last loop our 4 were in 3-6 place.  We left the last check and cantered around the last loop.  We passed a rider and were now 2-5.  The leader, Andre Ruggeri had a 3  min lead on us when we had left the last check.  About 2 miles from the finish we could see him ahead.  We decided we would sneak up on him and see if we could take hime by surprise.  At the final water trough he was there and as we galloped towards him he saw us and took off.  It was fun scaring him.  All good fun.  Andre is a great friend of ours.  As we had 4 horses and all of them needed this race we weren't in a position to go hog wild as that wasn't the goal.  We did keep some pressure on him in case there was an opportunity to pass.  At the very final part Jeremy did try one more time to get him as Andre had started trotting but once again he was able to stay ahead.

After the race I told Andre we were just keeping him on his toes.  I have recently been coaching Andre so I think he got a good laugh from it.

It was a great race and the horses did well.  After the race I was very happy with how all 4 looked. Actually how all 5 of the top horses looked, Andre's horse looked good as well.

At the 1 hour mark we showed all 4 for BC.  They looked like a proud bunch, we were all very happy. In the end it was Dust who would win the Best Condition award.

The weekend was pure fun and the scenery was spectacular.  The ride camp is in a beautiful green high meadow with a crystal clear creek running through the middle of it.  The stars at night were amazing as well, there is no light pollution so it is truely stunning.

See you all at Tevis.

Heather