Faye's Big Adventure-Or Camp Far West Here We Come!

When I found out that a friend was going to be hosting an endurance ride in Sept, I wondered if Faye could be ready for the 25 mile LD.  Was it possible that Baby Faye could go that many miles?  Could she even trot fast enough to make time cut-offs?  She's a little mare with a little stride & I wasn't convinced.  But I started riding with a friend every Wed, first walking & then finally adding some trotting.  Faye was doing pretty well, even trotting up our local hills.  But was she trotting fast enough?  I wasn't convinced we were trotting faster than 5mph & that wouldn't be fast enough to complete a ride in time.  Still I entered Faye in my friend's ride, scheduled for Sept 13th.  Four weeks before the ride I rode with a friend who has a GPS.  I'm sure she was tired of me constantly asking "how fast now?".  It was such a great day because Faye was trotting between 7-7 1/2mph, & even pushing an 8mph trot.  I was beginning to think we might just finish our LD on time.

Two weeks before out scheduled ride, I had planned to go to an endurance ride & just do their 8 mile "fun" ride.  It'd be good experience for Faye to be camping with the "big boys & girls", plus a couple of friends were going to meet me & ride as well.  But somewhere in the dark recesses of my mind was an evil whisper telling me to "just do it".  Really?  Just go & do the 30 mile LD?  Was that whisper nuts?!  It kept creeping in & nagging me.  For a week it worried me.  Nope, not going to do it.  I was going to stick with my "fun" ride plan.  So I packed light, expecting for a fun day & to be home by early afternoon.  Driving to the ride I kept hearing "just do it".  Finally I told myself if I didn't see ribbons marking the trail at the farthest point (meaning the trail cut lower by the road & thus shorter), I'd think about riding the LD.  There were ribbons marking trail at the farthest point, so no LD for us.  Then I got to ride camp.  I looked at the trail map, questioned the water situation, got prodded by a few people, & before I knew it, we were signed up for the LD.  Actually that was ok because knowing the area like I do, I knew I could cut back to camp at any time if I thought it was necessary.

Saturday morning didn't start off very well.  I had a major backache from trying to sleep on a downside slope.  So with no sleep, hunched over with a backache, I tacked up Faye, questioning my sanity.  I started last because I didn't want anyone running pass us.  I had no idea what Faye's reaction would be to other horses in a competition setting.  Down the gravel road we went at a bit of a spider-legged trot, as a friend calls the green horse unsteadiness.  We passed a couple of horses & Faye settled in to moving forward.  When we arrived at the 1st creek crossing there was a gal who was having trouble with her horse.  It was about a foot drop into the creek, through some brush.  She'd had to lead her horse & couldn't get back on.  Faye stood quietly while I broke dead branches off to give us a better spot to step into the creek.  Then she stepped down into the water like a pro.  A couple of 50 miler friends caught us there & when they pulled on ahead, Faye stayed at her pace & didn't fret.  As I rode along, I told Faye about all the times I'd ridden this trail on Wraff & that she was following in his hoofprints.  I told her how awesome it felt to be out there with her & that we were making our own memories.  There were times, as I looked down at the fleabitten spots on her neck, that my heart swelled with joy.  Here I was on the mare who I'd carried down the pasture the morning she was born.  She hadn't even taken her first steps.  And now I was riding her on an LD.

Throughout the first loop we played catch up with a couple of chestnut horses & their riders.  They had much faster trots but because Faye was trotting consistently along, we'd catch up when they slowed.  At the gun range it sounded like a war zone with cannons & machine guns.  The chestnuts' riders had to dismount & barely got by without being trampled.  Faye was nervous but she was steady.  THANK YOU to my neighbors for shooting their guns all these years.  As we came into camp for our 1 hour hold, we stopped in the creek & I sponged Faye for the first time.  She was so good & never spooked as I dropped the sponge over her shoulder.  I had told myself that IF I got into lunch by 11:30, & Faye looked really good, I'd go back out to finish the ride.  We pulsed down at 11:08.  Her CRI at the lunch stop was 52/48, B's on her right side gut sounds & A's on everything else.  Only 7-8 miles to go.  Horse looking fantastic, rider looking questionable.

Back down the gravel road we went after our 1 hour stop.  Faye moved right along.  When we entered the hill section of trail, we ended up behind the 2 chestnuts once again.  Faye happily followed them, but was well behaved when I asked her to walk the uphills as they trotted on.  I knew I'd catch them again.  On that last loop we passed 4 other riders.  Seriously, Faye PASSED other horses on her very first ride.  Up over the mountain we went, keeping a steady trot on all the flat & some of the downhill, walking the uphill.  The last couple of miles is a long, red dirt road.  A very hot & defeating road.  It felt mentally daunting to me, but Faye just trotted on, ears up, mane blowing in the breeze she created.  We walked across the finish line with 45 mins to spare.  After a very long drink, Faye pulsed in at 56.  We were officially finished.  I took her back to the trailer, unsaddled her, sponged her off & fed her.  Then we went for our final vet check.  She had a B on mucous membranes & gait, everything else was A's.  Her final pulse was 44.  What an AWESOME little mare.  A hidden treasure that's been hiding in my pasture, right before my eyes.

This morning she looked really good.  In fact, she's looking & moving much better than her rider.  It's really a good thing riders don't have to pass vet checks.  I'd have been pulled for a sore back, a tied-up left calf, & dark urine.  Yeah, next time I'll go prepared to ride, complete with plenty of electrolytes & substance foods.  One chocolate pudding for breakfast doesn't go very far.

Faye really came a long way on her 1st LD.  By the end she had a nice steady trot & knew where her feet were.  Previously we only trotted short sections because our local trails are hilly.  Our local trails are mostly single track & it was surprising to get out in the open on a green horse who has NO idea how to stay on the beaten path.  Twice we almost crashed through ditches & once her hindend stumbled into a ditch, all because she just went straight, even when the trail curved.  She couldn't figure out why we couldn't just go everywhere in a straight line, including under the low hanging branches.  By the end of the day she was following the trail pretty well.  I learned that while Faye likes hydration hay at home, she refuses to eat it at a ride.  She wanted less boring feed & she got it.  A little rolled oats, beet pulp, carrots, wheat bran, whatever she wanted.  I even begged some different feed from friends.  And after the ride, every time she saw me she'd demandingly nicker for more carrots.  Who was I to refuse this wonderful little mare who packed me through 30 miles of heat, rock & horrible roads?