{"id":3013,"date":"2016-08-22T10:27:38","date_gmt":"2016-08-22T10:27:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newpromisefarms.com\/?page_id=3013"},"modified":"2022-02-12T01:38:31","modified_gmt":"2022-02-12T01:38:31","slug":"iron-mountain-jubilee-2016","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/newpromisefarms.com\/?page_id=3013","title":{"rendered":"Iron Mountain Jubilee 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

We’ve had a grueling summer here in the Northeast.\u00a0 In our area we set a record for the highest average temperature for July.\u00a0 And in August we set records for humidity and real feel temperatures.\u00a0 I have not ridden much at all since Muckleratz due to the heat, humidity and going away for a week vacation to Las Vegas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And to give my life a little twist, we recently purchased new bedroom furniture and the mattress is killing my back.\u00a0 In fact, I am going to blame the following dream and resulting panic awakening, on the mattress!<\/p>\n

It’s Monday morning (five days before I leave for the ride) and I awaken from a dream that caused me panic and dread.\u00a0 At hold #1 (an away hold) the horses’s food and water was stolen and my cooler of food was gone.\u00a0 I had nothing to eat or drink.\u00a0 At hold #2 (an away hold) my saddle was sabotaged and the girth was stolen.\u00a0 Because I had to run around begging a girth, my riding partner left me and went on out alone.\u00a0 Miss Daizy and I left the hold with only two hours to complete the course, alone.\u00a0 Cindy was in the dream, crewing for me and she told me that Miss Daizy could do fourteen miles in under two hours, get on the horse and ride.<\/p>\n

Yep, not a good morning, because on top of the nightmare, my back and left knee are screaming when I wake up.\u00a0 I hate this new mattress.<\/p>\n

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n

I AM REWRITING THIS STORY … every one that has read version #1 was sad … and I never want anyone to be sad on my behalf.\u00a0 STAY TUNED!<\/p>\n

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n

\"melting\"<\/a>By Wednesday morning, I was in a funk about the upcoming ride’s weather forecast.\u00a0 As I don’t do the heat well, I had decided I should not go to the ride and suffer.\u00a0 This is what I do in the heat … and I can’t imagine how balanced a puddle of person will be riding over the mountains in western Virginia.\u00a0 I asked Miss Daizy how she felt about letting Steel go to the ride by herself and I got some serious attitude from my horsie.\u00a0 She told me to quit being a baby and just do it.\u00a0 Later in the day, I read a post from a dear friend of mine that reminded me there may never be another chance to do anything, ever again, so I thought about that all night and when I awoke on Thursday morning, I grit my teeth, planned on how to keep myself cool during the ride, and I let everyone know that I was going to go to the ride (and melt)<\/p>\n

Renee was driving down early in the morning so I asked her if I could follow along behind her.\u00a0 I am having some health issues which the doctors cannot resolve, which include dizziness and vertigo.\u00a0 I wanted to be traveling with someone who would miss me.\u00a0 I *believe* Renee would miss me if my rig suddenly disappeared from behind her.<\/p>\n

LOL<\/p>\n

\"driving\"<\/a>It was a very long drive.\u00a0 The radio was playing some awesome tunes, and I was rocking away in my truck, but it was still a very long drive.\u00a0 The heat was going to be brutal so I didn’t bring Poe with me, and that made the drive seem even longer … she’s usually very good company on a long ride, she has great conversations with\u00a0 me about chew bones and stealing kitty-box crunchies, and chasing the chickens.<\/p>\n

Even with the beautiful views of Virginia (and the back of Renee’s trailer) it was a very long drive.\u00a0 At one point, I had to give in to the heat and turn on my air conditioner.\u00a0 Renee was actually kind enough to point it out to me.\u00a0 A\/C on the big black button means Air Conditioner, not All Clear.<\/p>\n

Gee, I never knew (chuckle)<\/p>\n

\"camp\"<\/a>Ivanhoe, VA – a horse camp that is well worth the visit (if you live in the area) There were hundreds of trucks and trailers here and I thought … WOW … that’s a lot of entries to this ride.\u00a0 Then I found out later that it’s a public horse camping grounds and many of the trailers there were not with the ride.\u00a0 Very cool place with a river to play in and trails to ride on.\u00a0 Believe it or not, Renee and I did get two parking places next to each other, and not all that far from where they were vetting the horses for the weekend.\u00a0 Granted, it was right in the sun with no trees for shade, but it was together.<\/p>\n

Some camp photos …<\/p>\n

\"river1\"<\/a>\"river\"<\/a>\"view\"<\/a>I should have had a premonition (to add to the whole dream thing)<\/em> when we got ourselves situated and the horses settled for camping.\u00a0 When we rode in Renee’s nice air conditioned truck up to check in, I found myself entered into the 30 mile LD instead of the 50 mile END.\u00a0 She pulled my entry out of the box and I see, in my own handwriting, that I had checked off the 30 mile ride, not the 50 mile ride.<\/p>\n

WTH?<\/p>\n

She quickly adjusted me to the 50 mile ride and I didn’t think about it any more.\u00a0 I should have thought about it some more.\u00a0 The energies around us have been sending me signals all week about this ride.<\/p>\n

Back to our camp and then we get the horses all nice and clean so we can go up and get vetted in.\u00a0 We stopped at the scales on the way to vetting and Miss Daizy weighed in at 890, 14.1 hands and Steel weighed in at 856, 14.3 hands.\u00a0 Let’s remember those numbers for the end of the ride.\u00a0 Rule of thumb, one pound lost for every mile ridden.<\/p>\n

Here we go, one more time I should have had a premonition.\u00a0 Miss Daizy vets in great and then, during the trot out, she starts bucking and twisting and carrying on like some greenie.\u00a0 A huge (and it was the size of a small mouse) horse fly was biting her on the butt and she was desperately trying to ditch it, using her best rodeo horse impression.\u00a0 She scared that horsefly so much that he flew over to Bailey and Cindy smashed him flat.<\/p>\n

That was exciting.<\/p>\n

\"girth\"<\/a>So now we go back to camp and spend some time before dark getting Kathy’s gear adjusted to Steel.\u00a0 She had a fuzzy girth and I knew that the last time we did a ride with a fuzzy girth, Steel got the most horrible girth sore ever, so I started digging around in my amazingly full trailer tack compartment to find a suitable girth for Steel.\u00a0 Well, the shortest one I could find was still a little long.\u00a0 Kathy decides she will put some holes in her girth to accommodate the long girth on the skinny Steel.<\/p>\n

Kathy poked a hole in the palm of her hand.\u00a0 OWIE!!!!<\/p>\n

The days are shorter and it gets dark around 7:45 pm.\u00a0 We sit around chit chatting then decide we are really beat from the heat and go to bed.\u00a0 Amazingly, I fell right asleep and slept until 4:00 am.\u00a0 I can’t get over that my camping mattress is more comfortable than the new $3000 mattress we just bought for home.<\/p>\n

Bah!<\/p>\n

I get up and feed the girls and play some chess on my Kindle waiting for everyone else to get up.\u00a0 It’s dark.\u00a0 And it’s getting muggy already, this early in the morning.\u00a0 I keep singing a mantra in my head, “I will survive, I will survive, I will survive.” while trying to get my riding tights on over sticky sweaty legs.<\/p>\n

\"start\"<\/a>We tack up and we’re ready to roll.\u00a0 As usual, we wait until the bulk of the people are gone before leaving camp.\u00a0 A trio of color.\u00a0 Me in canary yellow, Kathy in light green and Renee in sharp blue.\u00a0 We look amazing!<\/p>\n

We hit the switchbacks a mile and a half from camp, where they told us we would have to walk to preserve the trail.\u00a0 Miss Daizy is NOT happy to be walking, she wants to go go go.\u00a0 After getting through there, I let her go and she’s working like a tank.<\/p>\n

After climbing for about half an hour, I can hear Joy breathing like a freight train behind us.\u00a0 Renee is concerned for that so I slow Miss Daizy to a jog and we keep climbing.<\/p>\n

We rocked out the first loop in two hours and twenty-five minutes.\u00a0 Fourteen miles up and up and up.\u00a0 Working at about 6 miles per hour is a good speed because the humidity is coming up already and it’s freakin’ hot.\u00a0 Nancy’s farm is where all the holds were located and it was beautiful.<\/p>\n

\"cow_pasture\"<\/a>Coming into the first hold, last couple miles, were actually riding through Nancy’s cattle pasture.\u00a0 At one point, right on the trail, were these couple cows and a baby.\u00a0 The cows were not moving for us to travel through.\u00a0 In fact, one cow was contentedly eating the ribbon trail marker where we were supposed to go.\u00a0 We went around, and Miss Daizy was the brave cow pony on this ride.<\/p>\n

(chuckle)<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

I knew something was wrong when we got into the first vet check because Miss Daizy’s pulse was not dropping like a stone.\u00a0 She drank and drank from the tub when we came in, so she should be cooling off.\u00a0 Okay, it is very very muggy, but she has a pulse that drops really fast and it was hanging around 66.\u00a0 I couldn’t tell why her pulse was hanging because she wasn’t really breathing hard and she didn’t look stressed and she was still perky, checking out all the other horses in the vet check area.<\/p>\n

We had a young lady named Laurel helping us out and she sponged and sponged.\u00a0 Pulse finally came down to 52 and thru the vet check we go.\u00a0 Everything was A’s and the vets complimented her on how well she was doing in the heat.\u00a0 Apparently they already had a couple pulls due to metabolics.<\/p>\n

Okay, so why wasn’t her HR coming down (hmmm, something to think about on loop 2)<\/p>\n

Back to the tent and none of our horses wanted to eat.\u00a0 It was getting hot and not eating is not good!\u00a0 They did all drink well, so we decided they were resting up for the next 20 mile loop.<\/p>\n

Bad horsies…<\/p>\n

We saddle up to leave out on the second loop and meet up with Cathryn.\u00a0 She had ridden behind me and Ro at the Mustang 75 last year and today her horse Epyc was giving her some trouble going out on the second loop.\u00a0 I invited her to join our trio and make it a quartet.\u00a0 She broke into a big grin and hopped in line.<\/p>\n

And we’re off.\u00a0 The second loop was amazing.\u00a0 Coming out of camp, we rode up and up and up for about seven miles.\u00a0 Not a steep climb, but a climb none the less.\u00a0 But the footing was remarkable and we trotted along with ease.\u00a0 Miss Daizy was being a wonderful leader and I didn’t have any competitive issues with her at this ride … not like at NEATO<\/a> where she lost her brain a couple times.\u00a0 She rode soft and easy for me all day.\u00a0 We all kept commenting on the trail … it was awesome, wide enough for two horses side by side and nice and easy.\u00a0 Couple places were some rocks and we had to slow down, and one place was a complicated for about 2 miles.<\/p>\n

That was fun!<\/p>\n

Then we got into the hospitality area and all four horses were eating eating eating at the green grass growing there.\u00a0 We saw one young (and well endowed lady) getting her boobs duct taped.\u00a0 This should have sent alarms off in my head (see the very end of this story).\u00a0 We all got a good chuckle out of that.<\/p>\n

Cathryn decided to try and go out on her own because we were taking our sweet ol’ time in the shade letting the horses graze.\u00a0 When we decided enough was enough and we needed to get rolling again, we very quickly met up with Epyc, who has decided he was going NOWHERE without his trio of mares.<\/p>\n

(snort)<\/p>\n

\"saddle<\/a>Kathy and Steel had one malfunction on this loop.\u00a0 We were coming down a complicated and steep switchback and Steel tried to jump down the edge.\u00a0 When she did this, her saddle slipped up onto her neck.\u00a0 All we heard behind us was Kathy shout, “HORSE!” and when we turned around, she was riding on Steel’s neck.\u00a0 That was an interesting turn of events.\u00a0 Renee got a photo, so I put it in this story.\u00a0 not to embarrass anyone, but to give you a smile.\u00a0 It’s very rare for Steel to have any kind of adventure … at all.<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

Coming back into the vet check #2, we killed that 20 miles in three hours and twenty-two minutes.\u00a0 Still working at a nice 6.5 mph pace.\u00a0 There were times we were motoring on the nice open trail, and times we were walking.\u00a0 It all averages out.<\/p>\n

Miss Daizy is struggling at vet check #2 … her pulse is not dropping.\u00a0 She isn’t breathing hard so I know she’s not hot.\u00a0 Laurel came back to help us and we sponged and sponged.\u00a0 (If you read this story Laurel, please know that I am the most grateful rider there this weekend that you came and helped me!!!!)<\/p>\n

Finally, Miss Daizy’s pulse dropped down and off to the vet check we went.\u00a0 All A’s except for her back.\u00a0 A C- … that’s barely passing to go on.\u00a0 The vet told me to take it very very easy on her the last loop if I wanted to finish this ride.\u00a0 The vet also told me to try riding the rest of the ride in a two-point position.<\/p>\n

Uhm, no … first, my torn back can’t do that position and second, have you tried riding a two point downhill for 14 miles?\u00a0 Not happening.<\/p>\n

DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMIIT.\u00a0 After seven different saddles, the only conclusion I have is that I am a horrible rider. Because when she does get sore, it’s always in the same place.\u00a0 The vet has done work on her, the chiropractor has done work on her and they both tell me she is not broken.\u00a0 Has to be me and my horrible riding style.<\/p>\n

I believe I really have to make the decision to either only ride Miss Daizy for CTR’s and the shorter distances or sell her to a lightweight or featherweight rider so she can keep doing this sport.<\/p>\n

We leave on the last loop.\u00a0 Both my water bottles are full, I have a snack, and we should be able to get back into camp before 5:00 pm.\u00a0 Miss Daizy left out of camp well, even with her back being sore.\u00a0 Ears up, tail up and trot trot trot.\u00a0 All was well until we started up an ascent.<\/p>\n

Screech…..she stops trotting and starts walking.<\/p>\n

Huh.<\/p>\n

Renee and Cathryn were pulling ahead of us and I waved them on.\u00a0 Kathy stayed with me (made tears in my eyes that she would stay back and travel a wee bit slower than anticipated) She said it was fine, we weren’t running top ten so what was the big deal.<\/p>\n

So after walking up that small ascent, we started down a small descent and Miss Daizy swiftly picked up her trot again.<\/p>\n

Huh.<\/p>\n

I babied Miss Daizy back to finish, letting her set whatever pace she wanted to set.\u00a0 She walked up the hills and trotted down the hills.\u00a0 This sets me to thinking.\u00a0 I stopped on trail and changed my stirrups a hole shorter.\u00a0 Yes, this is going to make my left hip and right knee unhappy, but it will keep me off her back when we go up a hill.<\/p>\n

Now here’s the thing.\u00a0 She was totally happy trotting down the hills.\u00a0 She was totally NOT going to trot up the hills.\u00a0 This is a tough ride because we have had absolutely zero flat work to let the horses rest their backs.\u00a0 Now I have to think, do I need to get myself a good back brace and ride with a shorter stirrup so I am not banging her loins when we go up a hill?<\/p>\n

Hmmmmmm<\/p>\n

The ride was well run, the trails were well marked, and I loved loop #2 (the 20 mile loop).\u00a0 The trails were phenomenal on loop #2.\u00a0 Yes, there were some rocks, nothing worse than we routinely condition on.\u00a0 Yes, we were either going up or going down, but nothing really steep and crazy (except for this one 50 yard down hill on the last loop that was seriously washed out and very dangerous … oof)\u00a0 And for the most part the trail was all in the woods (Say, Renee???) so we were in shade all day in that horrible heat.<\/p>\n

I had a lot of fun but I am very sad.\u00a0 That last 14 miles took us three hours to finish.\u00a0 We came in at 6:15 pm.\u00a0 I am hot.\u00a0 I am very hot and I’m doing my best not to complain about it.\u00a0 I filled my two water bottles before we left but I had them both empty about halfway through the loop.\u00a0 I tried not to complain about that, too.\u00a0 I was nauseous and I was lightheaded.\u00a0 I tried not to complain about that, but did warn Kathy if she heard retching, not to turn around and look!<\/p>\n

Walking on my horse (hard on my left hip) My left leg has gone numb.\u00a0 I seriously cannot feel my lower leg and foot.\u00a0 I think it’s still in the stirrup.\u00a0 Down through the switchbacks, which seem much steeper coming down than they did going up, my right knee starts singing, “You’re gonna need some real drugs soon.”<\/p>\n

Hot hot hot humid (and no water) and the longest fourteen miles I have ever ridden … ever! And when we reach the last mile, which is flat and has a ton of water, Miss Daizy keeps trying to turn around and go back up the switchbacks.<\/p>\n

WHAT?????\u00a0 Mare, you’re insane.<\/p>\n

When I dismounted at the finish line, my leg leg was completely numb and I collapsed.\u00a0 I managed to pull myself up by holding onto Miss Daizy’s mane, and it took two hours for the leg to get feeling.\u00a0 I was dragging it along behind me to supper. My left knee quickly recuperated once I was on the ground, so I didn’t need real drugs after all.<\/p>\n

BUT WAIT!\u00a0 For the most part, my back was good and the rest of me was good.\u00a0 I like the new saddle, it treats me well, even if I was in it for 11 hours today!<\/p>\n

Cindy was the most marvelous crew helper at the finish line.\u00a0 She was standing there waiting for me and Kathy and crewed Miss Daizy cool then trotted her out for me.\u00a0 We got a completion.\u00a0 25th out of 38 starts.\u00a0 Only one rider behind us, so we almost got the turtle.\u00a0 We finished at 6:15 pm … the second longest time to do 50 mile ride for me … almost the full 12 hours to “get ‘er done”.\u00a0 Again, I am very thankful that Kathy and Steel stayed with me on the last loop.\u00a0 (Remember that dream I had????\u00a0 Holy Moley, I need to start listening to my dreams)<\/em><\/p>\n

Dang, I would have appreciated getting the turtle award.<\/p>\n

One major malfunction, read the below story at the end, was due to wearing a bra.\u00a0 NOW LISTEN TO ME!\u00a0 I normally do NOT wear a bra so do not send me messages about good bras to wear.\u00a0 The problem occurred because I was wearing a bra. Riding 50 miles braless has never caused me a problem and I will never step up to wearing a bra while riding again!<\/p>\n

\"leg\"<\/a>A second malfunction was a piece of velcro on my saddle pad wearing a hole through my riding tights and into my leg.\u00a0 It actually was bothering me starting out on loop 2 and then it went away.\u00a0 It looks horrible but doesn’t hurt at all.\u00a0 This photo is taken on Thursday after the ride, it is healing nicely.\u00a0 I am going to have to find a pair of half chaps, me thinks.\u00a0 They’re hard to fit to me because my leg is short but my calf is wide.<\/p>\n

Dang it.<\/p>\n

Miss Daizy, even with the pain I was causing her on her back and struggling to get her pulse down because of the pain, had an okay rider card.\u00a0 And she cracked 500 endurance miles at this ride.\u00a0 WHOO HOO!\u00a0 Finishing weight?\u00a0 542 (lost 48 pounds)<\/p>\n

\"vet_card\"<\/a>\"Daizy\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Steel and Kathy had a marvelous rider card!\u00a0 Steel was a champ all day and took very good care of Kathy.\u00a0 Steel is 17 years young and one can expect her to have at least one B on her card.\u00a0 I love this little gray mare.\u00a0 Final weight?\u00a0 501 (lost 55 pounds)<\/p>\n

\"vet_card\"\"steel\"<\/a><\/p>\n

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n

BELOW IS THE ORIGINAL STORY … ABOVE IS THE REWRITTEN STORY<\/p>\n

By Wednesday, I was determined to send Steel with Cindy for Kathy to ride and I was going to stay home.\u00a0 They’re calling for temps in the high 80’s with 90% humidity.\u00a0 I will die.\u00a0 I cannot do anything in the heat, let alone ride a horse for 50 miles.\u00a0 Cindy and Kathy talked me into going, said that they would take very good care of me and keep me cool.<\/p>\n

Hmmmmm<\/p>\n

I gave in to peer pressure on Thursday and asked Renee if I could follow her down.\u00a0 That way, if my truck blows up or if I die from the heat while driving, someone will know about it.\u00a0 And we can park together since we will be starting the ride together.<\/p>\n

She agreed and let me follow her all the way, eight hours, to Ivanhoe, VA.\u00a0 This is her trailer in front of me as we’re entering the mountains close to the ride.\u00a0 Thank you so much, I felt much safer following along behind someone that would miss me if I suddenly disappeared off the road.<\/p>\n

Ivanhoe, VA – a horse camp that is well worth the visit (if you live in the area) There were hundreds of trucks and trailers here and I thought … WOW … that’s a lot of entries to this ride.\u00a0 Then I found out later that it’s a public horse camping grounds and many of the trailers there were not with the ride.\u00a0 Very cool place with a river to play in and trails to ride on.<\/p>\n

I sit here and I am not inspired to write this story.\u00a0 I have lost faith in myself as an endurance rider.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I should have had a premonition (to add to the whole dream thing)<\/em> when we got ourselves situated after arrival and went to check in.\u00a0 For some odd reason, they had me in the 30 mile ride, not the 50 mile ride.\u00a0 She pulled my entry and I had checked off the 30 mile ride, not the 50 mile ride.<\/p>\n

WTH?\u00a0 They quickly adjusted me to the 50 mile ride and I didn’t think about it any more.\u00a0 I should have thought about it some more.\u00a0 The energies around us have been sending me signals all week about this ride.<\/p>\n

The ride was well run, the trails were well marked, and I loved loop #2 (the 20 mile loop).\u00a0 The trails were phenomenal on loop #2.\u00a0 Yes, there were some rocks, nothing worse than we routinely condition on.\u00a0 Yes, we were either going up or going down, but nothing really steep and crazy (except for this one 50 yard down hill on the last loop that was seriously washed out and very dangerous … oof)\u00a0 And for the most part the trail was all in the woods (Say, Renee???) so we were in shade all day in that horrible heat.<\/p>\n

We rocked out the first loop in two hours and twenty-five minutes.\u00a0 Fourteen miles up and up and up.\u00a0 Working at about 6 miles per hour is a good speed because the humidity is coming up already and it’s freakin’ hot.\u00a0 Nancy’s farm is where all the holds were located and it was beautiful.<\/p>\n

Coming into the first hold, last couple miles, were actually riding through Nancy’s cattle pasture.\u00a0 At one point, right on the trail, were these couple cows and a baby.\u00a0 The cows were not moving for us to travel through.\u00a0 In fact, one cow was contentedly eating the ribbon trail marker where we were supposed to go.\u00a0 We went around, and Miss Daizy was the brave cow pony on this ride.<\/p>\n

(chuckle)<\/p>\n

I knew something was wrong when we got into the first vet check because Miss Daizy’s pulse was not dropping like a stone.\u00a0 She drank and drank from the tub when we came in, so she should be cooling off.\u00a0 Okay, it is very very muggy, but she has a pulse that drops really fast and it was hanging around 66.\u00a0 I couldn’t tell why her pulse was hanging because she wasn’t really breathing hard and she didn’t look stressed and she was still perky, checking out all the other horses in the vet check area.<\/p>\n

We had a young lady named Laurel helping us out and she sponged and sponged.\u00a0 Pulse finally came down to 52 and thru the vet check we go.\u00a0 Everything was A’s and the vets complimented her on how well she was doing in the heat.\u00a0 Apparently they already had a couple pulls due to metabolics.<\/p>\n

Back to the tent and none of our horses wanted to eat.\u00a0 It was getting hot and not eating is not good!<\/p>\n

Bad horsies…<\/p>\n

We saddle up to leave out on the second loop and meet up with Katherine.\u00a0 She rode behind me and Ro at the Mustang 75 last year and her horse was giving her some trouble going out on the second loop.\u00a0 I invited her to join our trio and make it a quartet.\u00a0 She broke into a big grin and hopped in line.<\/p>\n

And we’re off.\u00a0 The second loop was amazing.\u00a0 Coming out of camp, we rode up and up and up for about seven miles.\u00a0 Not a steep climb, but a climb none the less.\u00a0 But the footing was remarkable and we trotted along with ease.\u00a0 Miss Daizy was being a wonderful leader and I didn’t have any competitive issues with her at this ride … not like at NEATO<\/a> where she lost her brain a couple times.\u00a0 She rode soft and easy for me all day.<\/p>\n

Kathy and Steel had one malfunction on this loop.\u00a0 We were coming down a steep switchback and Steel tried to jump down the edge.\u00a0 When she did this, her saddle slipped up onto her neck.\u00a0 All we heard behind us was Kathy shout, “HORSE!” and when we turned around, she was riding on Steel’s neck.\u00a0 That was an interesting turn of events.\u00a0 Renee got a photo, so I put it in this story.\u00a0 not to embarrass anyone, but to give you a smile.\u00a0 It’s very rare for Steel to have any kind of adventure … at all.<\/p>\n

Coming back into the vet check #2, we killed that 20 miles in three hours and twenty-two minutes.\u00a0 Still working at a nice 6.5 mph pace.\u00a0 There were times we were motoring on the nice open trail, and times we were walking.\u00a0 It all averages out.<\/p>\n

Miss Daizy is struggling at vet check #2 … her pulse is not dropping.\u00a0 Shse isn’t breathing hard so I know she’s not hot.\u00a0 Laurel came back to help us and we sponged and sponged.\u00a0 Finally, dropped down and off to the vet check we went.\u00a0 All A’s except for her back.\u00a0 A C- … that’s barely passing to go on.\u00a0 The vet told me to take it very very easy on her the last loop if I wanted to finish this ride.<\/p>\n

DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMIIT.\u00a0 After seven different saddles, the only conclusion I have is that I am a horrible rider.\u00a0 I babied Miss Daizy back to finish, letting her set whatever pace she wanted to set.\u00a0 She walked up the hills and trotted down the hills.<\/p>\n

I told Renee and Katherine to go on.\u00a0 Ride your own ride and don’t stick with me because I’m going to be turtling it back to the finish line.\u00a0 Thankfully Kathy chose to ride along with me, because doing fourteen miles, at mostly a walk, all alone, in the heat, would have driven me mad.<\/p>\n

(chuckle)<\/p>\n

I am hot.\u00a0 I am very hot and I’m doing my best not to complain about it.\u00a0 I filled my two water bottles before we left but I had them both empty about halfway through the loop.\u00a0 I tried not to complain about that, too.\u00a0 I was nauseous and I was lightheaded.\u00a0 This last loop is killer.\u00a0 Walking horse (hard on my hips) and hot (and not water) and the longest fourteen miles I have ever ridden … ever!<\/p>\n

I adjusted the stirrup length to one hole shorter because Miss Daizy wanted to trot down the hills.\u00a0 It got me to thinking that maybe riding with the stirrups long may be the cause of her back issues because I can’t really “post” correctly, I kind of half post.\u00a0 Maybe I need to take some riding lessons and learn to post better.\u00a0 Why do I keep breaking her back???\u00a0 Am I too heavy for her?<\/p>\n

sigh<\/p>\n

All that walking on the last loop and my hip was trashed.\u00a0 When I dismounted at the finish line, my leg leg was completely numb and I collapsed.\u00a0 I managed to pull myself up by holding onto Miss Daizy’s mane, and it took two hours for the leg to get feeling.\u00a0 I was dragging it along behind me.\u00a0 For the most part, my back was good and the rest of me was good.\u00a0 I like the new saddle.<\/p>\n

Cindy was the most marvelous crew helper at the finish line.\u00a0 She was standing there waiting for me and Kathy and crewed Miss Daizy cool then trotted her out for me.\u00a0 We got a completion.\u00a0 25th out of 38 starts.\u00a0 Only one rider behind us, so we almost got the turtle.\u00a0 We finished at 6:15 pm … the second longest time to do 50 mile ride for me … almost the full 12 hours to “get ‘er done”.\u00a0 Again, I am very thankful that Kathy and Steel stayed with me on the last loop.\u00a0 (Remember that dream I had????\u00a0 Holy Moley, I need to start listening to my dreams)<\/em><\/p>\n

Dang, I would have appreciated getting the turtle award.<\/p>\n

On a brighter note, Steel was a champ all day and took very good care of Kathy.\u00a0 Her completion was a most excellent score card of all A’s and one B.\u00a0 Her B was on skin tenting, and she was a B on that all day!!! Steel is 17 years young and one can expect her to have at least one B on her card.\u00a0 I love this little gray mare.<\/p>\n

I had one – just one – major malfunction at this ride.\u00a0 On Sunday morning when I woke up, my boobies were very painful.\u00a0 I couldn’t see what the problem was but I did notice I was raw underneath on the top of my belly.\u00a0 I drove home aching and aching in my boobies.\u00a0 When I got home and hopped in the shower, Marc came up to do a tick check on me and gasped.\u00a0 He literally gasped and said, “Holy F*&^, Dodie!”<\/p>\n

\"boobs\"<\/a>What?<\/p>\n

He took a picture so I could see.<\/p>\n

I blame this on wearing a bra for the ride.\u00a0 I don’t usually wear a bra.\u00a0 I wore one because Kathy wanted to keep me cool (I don’t do heat well at all) and she had a plan for stuffing me full of frozen sponges.\u00a0 Which actually worked well, and I loved it in the holds, but the whole bra thing is a no go.\u00a0 I will have to figure out a way to stay cool without adding the bra as a sponge holder.\u00a0 I have to tell you that I really wasn’t sore anywhere … except my boobies.\u00a0 I really do like this new saddle, it seems to work well for my old achey body on the rides.\u00a0 (And on day 2, I am feeling perfect … no soreness, no pain, just my poor boobies, and they’re actually feeling much better by the end of the day Monday)<\/p>\n

And if\u00a0 you read this story all the way to the end, you will realize that I actually enjoyed the ride (well, the first two loops) and even riding the longest 14 miles of my life at the end, I still enjoyed the ride.\u00a0<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0My final conclusion is that I need to sell Miss Daizy to a FW or LW rider so she can do this sport that she really loves to do.\u00a0 I have put her for sale.\u00a0 If you know a FW or LW rider looking for a kick ass horse, please have them contact me.\u00a0 dodie@newpromisefarms.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We’ve had a grueling summer here in the Northeast.\u00a0 In our area we set a record for the highest average temperature for July.\u00a0 And in August we set records for humidity and real feel temperatures.\u00a0 I have not ridden much … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":5162,"menu_order":6,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3013","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/newpromisefarms.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/newpromisefarms.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/newpromisefarms.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newpromisefarms.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newpromisefarms.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3013"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"http:\/\/newpromisefarms.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3013\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5193,"href":"http:\/\/newpromisefarms.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3013\/revisions\/5193"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newpromisefarms.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/newpromisefarms.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}