All summer, my friend Cathy and I had been eagerly talking about our next endurance ride. We were getting "the itch", but since Covid hit we hadn't done an endurance ride since Sesenta Anos in 2019.

We'd been averaging about 20 miles a week training rides in the mountains, with myself on Sierra, and her on Gallant, so we figured why not give Fire Mountain a shot! The horses aren't as conditioned as I would like, but we planned on just going for fun and completion, we had planned on "turtling" or coming in last place, settling on a nice easy slow pace for the horses as to not over stress them. Well, as Murphy would have it, the weekend before the ride we were on our last conditioning ride in Cuyamaca and suddenly 5 miles in Gallant comes up dead lame on his right front foot. This is a leg he's never had any problems with before, so after walking back, cold hosing, and pondering a bit, we decided he must have clipped it with his back leg. Well poop! We decided to rest him the rest of the week, and then decide Friday morning if he was sound enough to go. He wasn't, so we decided last minute to take Ares instead. We had planned on taking him just to camp, and experience everything, as it would be his first overnight trip ever. Cathy was bummed she couldn't ride, since Gallant was out, but she had prepared herself mentally all week for volunteering instead.

The entire drive up I was pondering if Ares could possibly be ready? Could he do it? Was he ready? Is he fit enough? Was I asking too much? How would he be camping? Would he be a good listener, or would he lose his mind around all these other horses? I decided that I would determine once we got to camp, and I could see how he was behaving.
We arrived early Friday with plenty of time to pick a spot, get camp set up, and get the horses settled in. We did just that, and as the afternoon wore on I debated back and forth with myself... should I enter the ride on Ares and let Cathy ride Sierra? Or is he not ready? I watched and scrutinized his every move. He was slightly nervous being in a new situation, but really taking everything in stride so well. He was eating and drinking like a champ, and had no qualms about peeing or standing tied to the trailer for so long. I finally decided, based off his demeanor and behavior, to enter on him.

I talked to Cathy and let her know that our plans had changed yet again. I could tell she was ecstatic! I was nervous but figured if we went slow and calmly, that Ares could handle it. I was happy with my decision, but nervous. How was he going to act in the morning with all the horses leaving at the start!? We also found out while we were registering that it was 30 miles, not 25! It had been listed as a 25, and that's why we had planned on riding Saturday. We were nervous about the extra distance since the horses aren't as conditioned as I like. (We found out after the ride that it was actually 33 miles!)
After a long night, the morning of our ride was finally here. Ares camped incredibly well, standing tied at the trailer all night and consuming all of his alfalfa, mash, and most of his Teff. A moment to interject here that Sierra must have camped at some point in her past life, as she was cool as a cucumber, and I couldn't have asked her to be any more perfect! Not one ounce of nervousness to be seen. She was the best camping companion for Ares possible! She is an incredible mare.

We woke up, ate breakfast, and got ready for the ride, our LD start time was 8:00am, which was nice that it wasn't too early. Ares was slightly nervous, but no more so than at home, or in the mountains, or anywhere else. After tacking up, I did some ground work with him to see where his brain was and he was perfect! Attentive and listening to me well!

We started the ride with Rebecca, whom I have ridden with before, and was glad to have her company and her sweet mustang mare Josie. Josie and Sierra were calm as could be and were such a great influence on Ares. I hand walked about a quarter of a mile then got on. Ares stood quietly for me, and although at first he was just a little prancy, he was listening to me perfectly. We all walked calmly for about a mile or two then slowly picked up the pace to a nice slow comfortable trot. Ares was doing great and listening to me so well. We slowed to walk often, and especially over rocks, the deep sand, and when the incline increased. Ares is 8, so he's physically mature, but he isn't conditioned for fast riding yet, so I wanted to take the utmost care with him. In a bit Rebecca continued on a little faster, and we were content to pace and ride by ourselves.
Both horses were strong and happy. We went up into the mountains, over dirt roads, through some pretty steep inclines and declines, and through some beautiful terrain. Truth be told, I hadn't trotted on Ares this much, so I really practiced on keeping him straight and remembering to switch my diagonals often. Also, truth be told, this was the first time I had ever cantered on Ares outside of an arena. He was so incredibly smooth and was listening so well. He's an absolute dream to ride.

We went around the college, down the long back side and then happened upon the ride photographer! Woohoo! My favorite part! But wait, what's that!?! Oh no! There's 3 hikers in bright clothes with lots of gear and walking sticks! They're going to ruin our pictures! We each ended up retrying the approach to the photographer about 3 times, as our horses kept shying and going wayyyy around the group of people that were now standing right at the photography station. We called it good, then headed on. At first I was mad, but then Cathy mentioned, "hey they might actually be BETTER because the horses were a little amped up". LOL! I conceded, and didn't let it bother me after that.

We were pacing well, not pushing the horses at all, and watching our clocks to make sure we would arrive at the vet check on time, which was at mile 15. We were making perfect timing, not too fast, not too slow. The horses were strong, happy, and moving extremely well. Ares "looked" a lot at all the hikers, bike riders, motorcycles, and other horses that we'd come upon or pass, or that would pass us, but never did he falter.

We finally came to the road crossing, which was about 5 miles from the vet check, (10 miles in), and I got off and walked, as I didn't know how he'd be with the ground changes. We waited until there were no cars at all, then safely crossed. No issues! He was amazing! I remounted on the opposite side of the road, and we continued on our way.

HOWEVER, mayday at mile 11.5! We had just been walking and decided to trot again, I was on the first or second step of Ares going into a trot, and on the upswing of my post, when my right stirrup completely snapped in half! It happened so quickly, and because I was on the up tick, not the down swing into the saddle, it completely caught me off guard, and off balance! I tipped to the right and felt myself going off his right side. We were on a hard packed dirt road at the trot. As I was falling, in the air, about half way down, he got spooked, of course, and kicked out and caught my leg with his back hoof. Good aim! I hit the ground HARD, but quickly stood back up, and as I watched my horse trotting off into the desert, I desperately called to him... he did a big loop around the three of us standing there, (myself, Cathy and Sierra), and then came trotting right back up to me. I'm sure I hugged and kissed him. I asked Cathy to hold him a minute so I could sit down for a second to regroup and stop shaking. I was pretty sure nothing was broken, just sore, so after a couple minutes I decided we needed to keep moving if we were to keep our finishing pace. However, I quickly realized I wasn't going to be able to walk fast enough to get to the vet check and be on time, so we took stock of the broken stirrup and thought about what we had on us that could fix it. Eventually I decided nothing would hold the weight of my leg, but figured out I could at least get my toes into the cage that was left dangling, so we could make it to the vet check. That was all that was on my mind, just make it to the vet check. We found out from a passing rider that we were still about 3.5 miles away. Well that's nothing (quick) if you're trotting, but everytime we started even a tiny little trot, I would get shooting pain in my ribs. Not to mention my foot was barely in on the right side. So we ended up walking the entire distance in.

After a little bit, I decided we weren't going to be able to keep up our pace to make it in to the vet check on time. What should I do? Should I try and call someone and have them bring another stirrup? Even if I did get another one, would we be able to finish on time to complete? Another slow mile goes by and I've decided I'm going to RO. I'm in too much pain, even with a new stirrup, to trot 15 miles back home. ANOTHER slow mile goes by, what about Cathy? What should she do? Should she go ahead without me? No, both horses would freak out if separated. What about once we're at the vet check? Should she try and make it back in time? We're finally getting close to the vet check and look at the time, the last 4 miles, plus the 30 minute vet hold, will have robbed us of almost 2 hours. That means after we vetted in we'd only have an additional 2.5 hours to go 15 miles to get alllll the way back to camp. The horses aren't as conditioned as I'd like. I don't want to push them. I don't want to compromise Sierra. I tell Cathy, and she agrees. We decide to RO and pull. Both horses vetted completely sound and happy and were vacuuming up all the hay and water at the vet check. Everyone there is astounded at the way my stirrup snapped. They are less than a year old! And the left side is cracked at the rivets! I'll be contacting the company for sure.

We are happy with our decision, and even though I'm in pain, I'm happy the horses are happy and healthy, that's what matters to me. The people at the vet check were amazing. One remarked how well behaved Ares was and what a nice horse he is. They all regaled us with amazing historic ride adventures and prior life experiences. I wish I could remember each and every one of their names, but I can't. But I'm thankful for them taking care of us and the the horses and for staying with us until the truck and trailer came.

#firemountain was an incredible ride. Everything was amazingly done and put together, and even though it didn't turn out as planned we couldn't have asked for a better experience. Thank you to Gretchen Montgomery ride manager, the vets, and all the volunteers, for the wonderful weekend!

​And most especially thank you to my incredible Ares, for being such an amazing horse, with an incredible bond, and for doing so well, and for doing so much that I ask of you, even though you're so super green. And thank you for taking care of us (and yourself!) and for not running away in the middle of the desert. I love you.

​We rode Sesenta Anos! Finally a new ride, and man was it TOUGH! Huge hills and sketchy terrain! Cathy rode Gallant, and I rode Rio. This was Rio's this endurance ride and my first one on him.

​Myself on Gallant, Cathy on Rio.

The Spring Fling NATRC ride. I took my friend Kasea and she rode Rio, I rode Gallant.
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Fire Mountain 2019

Gallant wasn't ready for any endurance rides so my friend Tina let me ride her horse Demo. I took my friend Kasey and let her ride Rio.
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Winter is here and I definitely love this time of year more than summer. The only problem is that even though it is cool enough to ride, it literally gets dark at 5:00 pm. So by the time I get off work, go to the gym, and get home, it's already dark. EVERYTHING I have to do is done in the dark, from riding, to exercising, to all the farm chores. It's quite annoying, and I wish we had the cooler weather, but with more daylight hours. That would be perfect for me!

My health issues continue to improve, and to date I have lost 30 pounds. I am so incredibly happy and thankful I figured out something was wrong, and was able to take steps to fix it. I am especially thankful the heat tolerance is improving, and that I'm just overall feeling better. I still have a good 30 more pounds to lose, but I'm well on my way!

We found out last week that when Gallant slipped, back in October, he must have struck his front left leg with his hind hoof. He ended up hurting his tendon, it's a small .5 cm x .6 cm lesion in the tendon but affects about 50% of it. So that is quite a blow. The vet rated it as moderate, and has him on hand walking twice a day right now. We will re-ultrasound in a month and see how the healing is coming along. I'm bummed because this means no 50 mile rides, and no Northern California rides, this year like we had been planning. Maybe we'll be able to do some LD's by the end of the year, hopefully.

I guess this means I get to bring Rio along, and start getting him conditioned, to see if I can complete easy LD's on him. Hopefully he will continue to stay sound, and get stronger as time goes by. I will know as long as there are no tendon injuries, and his stocking up gets less and less, that he is getting stronger. He is doing great to date.

I've posted my tentative ride schedule below, and there are also two NATRC rides in there I'd like to go to. There are fewer and fewer rides available to us down here in Southern California every year and it's very disheartening.

Even though we've had a setback, I am still planning on having a fun and busy endurance season!

30 pounds lost so far! So happy!

​Summer 2018 is here, and that means my least favorite time of year. At least we are sort of settled down on a rental property where I can have all my animals, and more into a somewhat normal way of life, rather than craziness it's been the last few years!

I LOVE the later daylight hours, but here in San Diego where I live, if it's still 100* at 9 pm, it's still too hot to ride. I am the kind of person who doesn't do well in the heat, ever since I was in the military and had heat exhaustion, I just can't handle it. However, it has been getting worse and worse over the last few years to where, even for normal everyday activities, I would have to wet my head to try and stay cool or risk overheating, even when everyone else around me was fine. It was quite beyond annoying, it was horrible.

I found out about some health issues that I had, that I didn't really know about. Long story short I developed ulcers from taking too much Advil, (from my neck and headaches, that I have been remedying with Chiropractic), that caused me to develop a B vitamin deficiency. I had quite a few symptoms from that, including chapped lips, lethargy, and intolerance to heat! Once I figured it out, and got it corrected, my heat tolerance (and sweating ability) improved dramatically! Which is awesome! I also don't get nearly as hypoglycemic as I used to and don't need to eat nearly as much, in fact since I've been diagnosed, I've lost 10 pounds! I can't wait to do some endurance rides now that I've got things more squared away.

The Bill Thornburg Endurance ride is just over 5 weeks away, and I have been planning on this being our first 50 miler! However, I am getting nervous, as we didn't ride much in July and August because of the heat! I have heard this is a nice, easy, flat, good first 50, but hot. I think with there still being 5 weeks left, we can both get some really good training rides in and get our fitness back up. I've been seeing a trainer twice a week, and I think as long as I get out there and REALLY ride we can be ready!

I miss my friend Maggie as she ended up moving back home to the East Coast, but she is so amazing she is going to fly out for it to be here with me!!! YAY!!!! So excited!

​There isn't really a lot of endurance rides available to us, especially once you get past spring and into summer, so I decided to try out a NATRC ride, just to get the experience, and cross training and mileage for Gallant.

Unfortunately, our Endurance ride that was scheduled as the same time as this one was cancelled. That was my favorite endurance ride, Descanso! The one I've done twice before. They said the expenses were too high, and not enough riders entered, so they had to cancel it. NATRC stepped up and offered this one in place, which I thought was awesome! So away we went! 

I had never ridden at Los Penasquitos preserve before, but come to find out it was only like 30 minutes from my house, and has amazing riding! I'll definitely be back here to ride some more. Plus a cool feature is that it has a TON of water crossings!

I got there Friday eve, as par for course, and Maggie and came to help me get everything set up and volunteer but went back home for the night since it was so close! Liz also came the next day and volunteered! It was great having my friends there helping me.

I wasn't exactly sure what to expect, but Maggie filled me in on most of the details that she could remember. The ride meeting and managers were amazing! They were super funny and the ride was very well run and managed. They did a great job of explaining what they were looking for and why (which was all related to safety, and having a good time). They give you two separate large cards, one for horse, and one for horsemanship. I won't go into too many details, but it's all done in good fun with safety in mind and in the forefront of their actions. I'm honestly surprised that more endurance folk don't do these. I think they're great for starting a new horse (or rider!) learning to camp, after an injury to "get back into it", or even just simple cross training! Plus I met some really nice people! The ride was a 10 mile loop, then back to camp for lunch and vet check (just like an endurance ride). Gallant vetted well. One interesting thing about these rides is that they are timed, and so you have to come in to the checks with a 15 minute window! This was seriously my biggest concern, but Maggie helped my by writing the timing for each check on my map, and by me following the rest of the people I was able to do it without issue.
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We left vet check out onto the second loop and it was a 15 miler. Super fun all the way back down the canyons and back to the lake! Up and around the houses and back down into the canyons. Each loop had several "challenges" where the vet and managers "grade" you, but it's all in good fun and in mind of safety for the horse and rider. We finally got back around 3 pm to camp, that was the slowest 20 miles I had ever done, lol! There was almost no trotting at all!

I am very glad I did this ride, I learned a lot, learned about my horse, met nice new people, and got to try something a little different! I highly recommend it for anyone with a horse!

​Our third endurance ride of the season was the brand new, first ever, FIRE UP Endurance Ride. Maggie and I went together, and she got to ride the horse she had been training, Warrior, for the last few months! It was super fun, and I'm so glad I got to go with her and ride with her. She is very knowledgeable, and kind! She showed me how to go through the vet checks quickly, and efficiently, without wasting any additional time! 

This was also a desert ride, but it was the first Fire Up endurance ride held, so we wanted to go support them, check it out, and have fun. We drove together, and got there on the typical Friday evening. However, there was one big learning lesson here, we took our time a little TOO much getting there, made too many stops, and drug the drive out too long! Both horses vetted in fine, but slightly dehydrated! I could not believe that after 4 days of cramming as much wet food, wet hay, water, and electrolytes into Gallant, that he could be dehydrated, but he was! We went for a short ride to loosen them up and then went to every water bucket we could find to get them to drink, and back to camp for lots of wet soupy mashes! I kept a good eye on Gallant throughout the rest of the day, night, and morning before the ride. Although he was eating, drinking, peeing, and pooping fine, I just felt like he was a little "off". He didn't have the "Eye of the Parakeet" as Bruce Weary says. He was just sort of subdued and quiet. He passed his vet in with flying colors, so we went ahead and started the ride. I was very lucky that nothing bad happened, but my advise is if there is something "off" even if you can't put your finger on it, to listen to that little voice. I just didn't have as much horse as I normally did. Looking back, I think it could have been a combination of mild dehydration, and having recently taken him off his ulcer medication, even though he did get the full dose of Omeprazole on the days we were gone. Gallant had been on ulcer medication (either ranitadine, or omeprazole) for months by this time, so I guess I thought they were healed. 

This ride was a very simple, easy, dirt road ride. The first loop was just 15 miles, and although I was hot and overheating (and dunked my head in every water trough I could find) I felt it was SO much easier, compared the the 35 miler we had just done the prior month! We got some pretty good pictures at the photographers stop (which was just a mile and a half or so into the ride), and enjoyed the cool morning start. Gallant was acting up a bit, which he normally doesn't do. He was so glommed onto Warrior that any time we got more than 5 feet away he would freak out and try to get back to him, it was really annoying, he wouldn't even drink unless his buddy was right next to him! Looking back, the other rides we started calm, cool, and collected, this one he was acting up! Again, ulcer related? The only way to know is to go back on his meds, and do another ride. And unfortunately, (because I like riding with people), Gallant seems to do MUCH better on his own, just me and him, without him worrying so much where his buddies are. I guess time and experience will tell!

We got back to the camp, and to our vet check hold. This was the first vet check I had ever done in camp, and it was pretty awesome! We vetted in fine, Maggie being efficient and quick at getting the horses cooled, watered, and in the vet line. She was so quick I was having trouble keeping up! She knew exactly what to and when! While I was still mildly confused, lol! Both boys were still showing signs of mild dehydration though, so we headed back to our camp site for our 40 minute hold and let them eat and drink, and tank up as much as possible; again, lots of really wet mashes! We were hoping to get as much water into them as possible. Gallant didn't really drink a whole lot the first half of the ride, as it was cool out. I didn't expect him to, because he usually doen't start drinking until it's hot out, and he is usually a REALLY good drinker!

After our hold we went back out for the second loop. By this time it was getting pretty warm, and I was overheating as usual. I was having fun, and though the trails weren't as pretty as 20 Mule Team, we were having a blast, it was a pretty easy trail and we cantered a lot of it! I had a quick boot malfunction as the cables snapped on one of my renegades, but I was ready with a, EZ-Boot as a backup! Quick change and we were off! Both horses were doing great and we got to ride a good portion with the guy that was ahead of us (who ended up in 1st place). His horse looked strong and amazing!

I suppose it would have been helpful to have a heart rate monitor, at this point, to monitor Gallant's heart rate, just in case anything was off or different. I had been on the lookout for one for quite a while, and finally found one this summer a couple months after this ride. It'll be great to learn all the differences and to be able to utilize it during the rides. 

We finished the last loop (10 miles) in short order, and Gallant finally started drinking well. Gallant vetted though decently, but not nearly as well as the last rides, he was sore and dehydrated. He just didn't do as well this time, but I'm not sure why; ulcers? heat? dehydration?

Any who, all the riders finished, and that evening we went to the Awards Ceremony where I found out we got second place in the ride! We were pretty sure we were up there, top 5 for sure, but didn't know the gentleman we had been riding with was the ONLY one in front of us. To be fair though, there was only 8 riders entered in the LD. It was a very fast and easy ride overall, even though I was exhausted and overheating (my health issues I mentioned last blog, that have now [months after this ride] been fixed, should fix most of these problems!)

Very fun, well managed ride, that I enjoyed doing with my good friend Maggie. The trails weren't as pretty as 20 Mule Team, but given a choice, I would definitely do this ride again! I just wish there would have been a completion / top 10 prize, like a mug or t-shirt, that would have been the icing on the cake!

​My second ride of the season was the 20 Mule Team Endurance Ride. I was super excited to do this one, as I heard it was an amazing ride. Unfortunately my two friends couldn't come with me, so I went solo with just Gallant. My friends Kimberly and Eileen were there and the 3 of us camped together. I didn't even bring a tent for this one, but slept in the truck, which turned out to be a huge mistake as I couldn't stretch out and got leg cramps the night before! This was held in February, and was a VERY cold ride! I stayed awake much of the nights cold and constantly had to turn the truck on and blast the heat. I would have been better off staying in my tent with warmer sleeping bags and being better prepared.

When I got up the morning of, after I had warmed Gallant up, and mounted, Eileen, myself, and Kim headed to the start line, and it was 27 degrees! I was freezing, but didn't want to over dress as I knew it would heat up soon.

The three of us started out and crossed the start line together. There were a lot of riders and the horses were feeling frisky and wanted to GO! A bunch of people took off and started out quickly. I held Gallant back with Eileen, as the first 6 miles or so is a long gentle uphill climb and I didn't want to wear him out as this was a 35 mile ride!

We finally got to the top of the rise and got to the first water stop and ride photographer. Eileen and I caught up to many of the riders who had gone faster in the beginning, and caught back up to Kim. I let those two ride together, and let them know I would be picking up the pace and going on ahead.

Even 1/3 of the way through this ride I could already tell it would be my favorite desert ride. The trails they picked were wide, safe, and had great footing with little rocks. The trails chosen were much prettier than any other desert ride I had done, and there was plenty of hay and water for the horses throughout. 

I caught up to a couple of 50 riders, two older ladies, and asked if I could ride with them/ behind them. They said it didn't bother them, so we stuck with them from about the 15 mile point to the vet check. 

Here is my ONLY complaint about this beautiful, well managed ride; the vet check, which is usually half way through a ride, was at the 25 mile marker. So I literally rode an entire LD before I got a break, then there was only 10 miles to the finish. I was so exhausted, that I actually fell off, while trying to get off, at the water stop before the vet check. I just kept telling myself 5 more miles, 4 more miles, etc. When we finally got to the vet check I was exhausted, nauseous, dizzy and didn't feel good at all. I was so glad to have a 30 minute hold. I took care of Gallant as best as I could, and had a vet check bag, so I was able to eat and drink as much as I could stomach. Kim was so sweet to give me half of her peanut butter and honey sandwich, and by the end of the hold I was feeling better. Even though I am "complaining" this really wasn't that big of a deal, we overcame!

HINDSIGHT: I found out 6 months after this ride that I had health issues that contributed to my not feeling well. I've spent the last couple months getting them sorted out, and am feeling much better, and should not have as much problems on my next ride, and in the future!

Gallant was strong, happy, and forward and we found our two 50 friends on the way out of the vet check. They were nice enough to let me continue riding with them, and I listened in awe to their many stories of Tevis, prior horses they had owned and ridden, and amazing stories they shared. The last few miles were a long downhill that we walked, and then we picked it up to a canter and fast trot to the finish line. There was a water there where we got off and let them drink until they were satisfied and then walked to the vet to pulse them out for the completion. The vet commented to me that Gallant looked great and that I did a great job with him. She actually said it twice! I was so happy and tired that I didn't know what else to say so I just kept thanking her.

It was about a mile back to the fairgrounds where camp was so we trotted back and then I weighed in and showed for BC. I thought I had a good chance.

This was also an FEI ride, and my first time getting to see the "professionals". They just blew me away! Their gear, horses, rigs, everything was just TOP NOTCH! Very humbling to a lowly newbie rider like myself!

We waited the eve for the awards meeting by watching the longer distance riders coming in and the vetting for them. They were all so amazing! They ended up not having the awards meeting that night, but rescheduled it for the next morning as many of the 100 riders were still coming in and they were still tallying everything up. Many people left, but we stayed! I really wanted to see who got BC! 

We ended up in 5th place, and as they were announcing BC for the LD, they called us so I stood up, but they said "WAIT!" I was like "what?!?" We ended up getting HIGHEST VET SCORES, but they gave BC to the first place rider. His horse looked fantastic, and as they were handing him the award they said "next ride you need to be in a 50!"

Overall, I was very happy, and this was an absolutely amazing, beautiful, well managed ride. I don't particularly care for Desert rides, but this one is my favorite and I'll definitely be returning to do this one as often as I can!

My first endurance ride on Gallant! I was so lucky to have BOTH my friends, Liz and Maggie, go with me to the ride, and help me and crew, and bring supplies and gear. At this point it had been 3 years since my last endurance ride, several moves, and everything had been packed away and long forgotten. I would not have been able to do this ride without these two!

Liz and I packed up and headed out Friday afternoon with both Gallant and Rio. I wanted to bring Rio to see how he camped and to keep Gallant company. For Saturday rides, I like to leave on Friday mornings, so we can take our time, not rush, and have plenty of time to set up camp, get the horses settled (and get them tanking up on food and water!). Then ride the race Saturday morning, rest, eat, let the horses recover, go to the awards ceremony/ dinner, and then sleep the night, and leave for home Sunday mornings. I like doing it this way, as even though it takes longer, I don't feel rushed and I can enjoy the whole experience more.

Laurel Mountain Endurance Ride was held in Inyokern, CA, up near Ridgecrest. I wasn't too familiar with the area, but remembered some of the names and areas from my childhood 4 wheel drive trips with my family. Maggie got there a little later in the day and we all set up camp and settled in for the evening and ride meeting. There were SO many things I forgot! I am so thankful for my two friends to bring supplies and gear, they made it possible!

I was so excited, yet so nervous, for this ride. I had only completed two LD's prior, and those were many years ago! We left the start line with my friend Laura Cunningham on her Missouri Fox Trotter, Carter. Gallant was amazing, calm, cool and collected! Nice surprise!

We walked probably the first mile or two, then started picking up the pace to a walk and trot. Gallant felt amazing and strong, but we kept it to a nice calm trot. About half way to the vet check I told Laura that I was going to go ahead, as I could tell her boy was getting tired and already wanting to slow down, and they were wanting to walk more than us. I let Gallant get into his fast trot, and we did that plus a little cantering into the vet check.

One really cool part of this ride, was that the 50 mile riders and the 25 mile riders got to ride together for a few miles on the way up to the vet check. It was humbling, and educational, and amazing to see just how freaking strong and fit some of those horses were. There were some that were already on their second loop and hadn't even broken a sweat yet! And some were moving at such a FAST trot. It really was cool to ride with them, and made me realize just how NOT ready for a 50 Gallant and I were. 

We pulled into the vet check, and Gallant vetted out great. Gallant was doing fantastic, totally sound, and his recoveries are amazing! Carter though was showing signs of lameness unfortunately, so we split ways here. It was SO awesome coming into camp and seeing all our gear and everything out and ready for us! Liz and Maggie did an amazing job! I'm SO thankful for them!

After our 30 minute hold we headed back down the backside of the mountain and passed quite a few people. Gallant felt amazing and strong and I let him canter some of the nicer, wider, safer dirt roads. I had my GPS on, and we were cruising along at about 17 mph at the fastest. Once we got off the dirt road, and back onto the trails I slowed him way back down to a comfortable trot. 

I don't particularly find the desert pretty, as I grew up in it, and I actually kind of despise it. I love trees, and green, and grass, and water! So needless to say the last 1/3 of the ride was pretty lonely and boring, lol. We were by ourselves, and the ground was ridiculously rocky, so we kept having to slow down, even though Gallant was shod with Epona's on the front, and had EZ-boots on his rears, he was still feeling the rocks. I just kept praying the protection I chose would be enough, and that he would not come up lame.

Finally we got over the hill and off the rocks and into some washes and dry riverbeds and could pick up the pace again. Just a few miles of this and we turned back onto the road to head back to camp! While I was tired, and hot, over-all it felt very short!

Here is my mini-rant. Take it for what it's worth, it's just my opinion. I had no clue who "The Duck" (the ride manager's nickname) was, had never done a "Duck" ride before, and had no idea of their reputation and experience. I just wanted to go see how it was, and make up my mind myself. I had heard they can be a little loose with the rules, as they just want people to come out and have a good time, which I'm totally fine with, I went expecting the unexpected, with an open mind.

I did not expect what I experienced though.

The first snafu, the last 1/3 of the trail for the LD riders was marked with the wrong color. No biggie, I had my map and was going by the trail markers listed on the map, so I knew I was on the right trails. And, there was only 1 water stop available to the LD riders, and that was about 8 miles into the ride, nothing after that. Not really a big deal either way, some rides are "bare bones", some are "fancy". These things didn't bother me.

The BIG issue. There was no "finish line". The "start" was from the Manager's trailer, and that is where the map said it ended, and where they said it ended in the ride meeting. I got back to the trailer and there was nothing there, no finish line, no people, no trucks, no vet? I was very confused. So I wandered around on Gallant to see if I could see anything on the outskirts of the camp. Finally, wayyyy on the back side, down a hill, I spotted the vet, truck, and my two friends. I headed towards them and they pointed back to the road and told me to go around the next hill and turn to them, which I did. This part of the ride was not on the map, no arrows, no ribbons, not mentioned during the ride meeting.... nothing. The picture below is us crossing the "real" finish line. About half the riders never made it to the "real" finish line, because they went back to camp, as the map said, and ended there. I listened to the two ride managers argue for HOURS as to what to do about this. They finally agreed on adding 15 minutes to everyone's time who DIDN'T go to the "real" finish line. 

Issue #2- There was no "timer" person checking numbers as we started the ride. I left the Managers trailer right at 8am exactly (exactly when the ride was supposed to start). The first place person came in 30 minutes before me, but I never saw them. Not at the start, not during the ride, not at the vet check, not at the finish line. How can you determine who finishes when there is no start timer? Whatever, I ended in 3rd place, I was fine with it.

Issue #3- The ride was advertised as a 25 miler. Every ad, ride calendar, etc., listed it as a 25, for months ahead of time. It was a 25. I had my gps on, and at the end came in at 22 miles... no big deal, they're not always exactly 25 miles. HOWEVER, the problem was when they FINALLY posted ride results, MONTHS later, they listed it as a 30!!! What the heck!

Ok, so I guess I was a little upset, probably just because I figured if someone has been managing rides for over 20 years, with the reputation and experience they have, there wouldn't be so many of these ridiculous mistakes. I felt worse for them that they were having so much stress over the ride, when if they had just done things right in the first place, it would have went much smoother for them! 

One redeeming factor for the weekend, besides my 2 great friends coming, and my amazing horse, was that we got BEST CONDITION! The vet commented when she was watching him do his trot out, "those 25 mile horses just don't look like they've even done anything". LOL! I knew I had a good chance when we were showing for it, but I didn't officially find out until it was awarded to us at the ride meeting. I was too choked up, and teary, to even say anything. It meant SO much to me after such a struggle and hard first few years of getting into endurance. I was crying so hard I think I even forgot to say "Thank you"! So I'm saying it now. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE THAT MADE THIS HAPPEN FOR US!!!

While myself and my friend Liz were riding in the Lakeside Riverbed, we heard a girl calling. We thought maybe it was some of the homeless people, as we couldn't make out the words, but much to my surprise an endurance rider popped out of the trees on a big grey horse! She introduced herself to us, and let us know she had just moved out here from the East coast, and was looking for people to ride with, and to show her the trails. And thus I met Maggie! I didn't know at the time, but she would become one of my very good friends! We started riding together often, and she was training a neighbors horse, Warrior, for his very first LD, while I was conditioning Gallant for our first LD.

Maggie has a lot of endurance experience, closing on 3000 miles of sanctioned rides! And I was really jazzed to have someone to ride with that I could bounce ideas off of, and ask questions. Maggie is a super cool girl, and lots of fun to hang out with, I love Maggie!!!

We went on lots of training rides together from the Cuyamaca's to Fiesta Island, I was so excited to show her all of our riding areas here, while listening to her enchanting tails of her amazing trails back home on the East Coast!

While Sunny did amazing during our 2015 endurance ride, I knew he was older and probably wouldn't ever be the competitor I wanted to be. He's a lovely horse, and great for beginners, so I gave him to my good friend so she could have a horse to ride. I then only had Rio for the few years in between, and unable to do much riding, and no endurance. I spent the time getting my life in order, as we moved around a bunch, and everything was pretty crazy for a while. I also spent the time letting Rio heal, and getting him healthy and back into some work. We started hand walking, long-lining, lunging, tack walking, and finally trail riding. Ever so slowly. We worked up to 10 mile rides over the course of a year or so, and now we can finally ride him again! He is doing SO good. 

However, I really wanted a "real" endurance horse, and had been keeping my eyes open for one for a long time. I had a small budget, but nothing huge, and most horses I wanted were over it, lol. Also, of note, one thing that was really important to me, that I never had before, was to have an "emergency fund" for all my animals, but in particular my endurance horses. I didn't want to ever be in a situation where my riding caused them to need veterinary care, and not be able to afford it. So I spent a long time building up a savings, and opening credit accounts, that I could use just for emergencies. There is a difference between being on a budget, and being irresponsible.

In July of 2017 a mutual Facebook friend (Gayle Pena) of my friend and mentor Eileen, told me about a lady (Dale Lawrence) that was looking to rehome her endurance horse, Gallant. I got her info and contacted her. She said she was older, and might not be doing endurance anymore, so she wanted to place him in a good home where he would get utilized, as he was too good to "just sit".

I went up to her boarding facility to ride him, and although we didn't go far I could tell I liked him. He was gorgeous, but hotheaded and underweight. I ended up bringing him home a week later for a 1 month trial to see if I wanted him. I really liked him a lot, but could tell there was going to be things that needed worked out. I had both my farrier, and horse chiropractor look at him and evaluate him. They both liked him, and agreed that after we got the few issues worked out, that he would be an amazing horse for me.

He was raced on the the track the first 7 years of his life, and he did have 100% clean x-rays after the track. After his racing career, he went on to do 6 endurance rides and LD's. Not too many, but he was very successful with them as well. He then sat for a few years and went through a couple owners before I got him. I didn't do a pre-purchase exam, or x-rays, (though I probably should have) and after the 1 month trail I bought him.

Probably the biggest issue I encountered with him was, a bunch of things all rolled into one, which turned out to be ulcers. He was extremely picky with his food, wouldn't eat much, wouldn't gain weight, and was very reactive and hot, crow-hopped, and was just quite a handful in general. My horse chiropractor, Dawn Fletcher, advised me to treat him for ulcers, which I started doing with Ranitadine, twice a day. I also treated him for magnesium deficiency. It took a couple months, but he finally started gaining weight, and becoming better and better with each ride. I knew he would be great, we just had to work out his issues. 

The second smaller issue was his feet. He had been shod his whole life and had long toes and no sole depth. When we pulled his shoes off he actually "had a mini coronary" according to my farrier, LOL. Not a real heart attack, but he did get VERY sore and bruised, and we had to keep him booted to keep him comfortable, even though his pasture was just sand and dirt. His feet eventually started strengthening and I was able to leave him barefoot except for our rides where I would still boot him. 

The third issue with him was tack. He is a very sensitive horse, and I hadn't really ridden in a few years, so there was just a bunch of trial and error to figure out what would work for both of us, from bits, to riding clothes, to saddle, to boots, it was quite a learning curve with this boy!

I do have to stop and comment about one thing. This horse is AMAZING. Not only is he FUN to ride, he is stinking FAST. I could tell he was going to be an amazing endurance partner. 

As time went on he just kept getting better and better, and we slowly got over one issue at a time. I fell in love with his feisty self, and after about 6 months, finally felt like we were ready for our first endurance ride!

​My second endurance ride ever was the Descanso Fall Ride LD in 2015. It had a lot of the same trails as the Best of Both I had done on Bella. Another bonus was knowing the trails from riding there on the weekends! I love having local sanctioned Endurance rides!

​I hadn't had Sunny all that long, but we had trained hard and he was doing well, so I decided to go for it! I had planned on keeping him to a nice medium pace as he was older.

We got up there Friday night and got to camp early enough to vet in and set up camp. My good friends Caitlin and Eileen got to come camping with me! It was super fun, and I was happy to have my friends be there to support me.

The ride started at 7 am, and I was one of the last ones to the start line. There was another gentleman next to me on a paint, and the ride volunteers asked us to wait. I wasn't sure why we were waiting, as the rest of the LD riders had left already, but I was abiding by what the check out timer asked me to do. A minute later the ride manager walks up and says, "are you guys doing the LD?", we said "yes", and she says "you better get going"! So we took off. I literally started in the very last place of this ride, and there was 53 riders that started! 

We came into the vet check and Sunny looked great. He pulsed down well and passed his vet check with flying colors! While we were there waiting I had a lady approach me and told me she had a juinor rider who's horse  was lagging and she couldn't keep up with the group and asked me to take her and sponser her for the rest of the rider. I said "yes" and got to ride with a very wonderful kid, Lyla Scoles on Lucky, the rest of the ride! She was very nice and respectful and a joy to ride with. We started out, and I would say we did 60% of the ride at a nice steady medium paced trot. However, there was a HUGE long downhill on the back side of the course that was ALL rock, horrible big loose rocks that were sharp and slippery, so we ended up walking that entire back section! In fact, it took so long, and we never saw another rider, that the junior and I commented to each other how we must be in last place! We came down off the rocky road and rode through some of the most beautiful trails in San Diego county. We got to the "cookie stop" and asked how many riders had come in before us, and they said just a handful, not too many. We were shocked! We trotted the rest of the way back into camp and finished in 17th and 18th place! Not too shabby on an older horse, and from starting in very last place! So happy with my beautiful boy. 

​While all of the crazy stuff was going on with Rio, I spent a long time not riding at all, a couple years actually. I missed it a lot, and without the availability of Bella to me, and Rio's health issues, I had no horse to ride.

My mentor Eileen told me about one of her neighbors horses who needed a home. Her daughter, and the neighbors daughter, grew up riding together, and this horse had a history of endurance riding. The only bad part was that he was 19, and (I felt) too small for me. He was older than I wanted, but I figured maybe I could get a few years of LD's out of him, give him a good home, and get back into riding. I ended up taking him out on a few rides with Eileen, and he was a very good boy. Smooth to ride, controllable, forward, and fun.

I agree to take him, and I boarded him at Eileen's house. We had lots of fun going on many rides together. We trained for about 6 months, gradually building him back up, and I got back into riding too!

​I wanted to post this story about my horse, in case someone else is experiencing something similar, maybe this will help...

In 2014 I purchased Rio to be my endurance horse. He was everything a girl could dream of, a tall, strong, handsome Gelding, with a killer pedigree. And the best part, he has the mind of a saint. In June of 2013 my trainer found me a very nice Arabian gelding as she knew I wanted to get into endurance. (I leased him until I bought him in 2015).

The horse was being kept in a pasture with other herd-mates and only fed hay, teeth never done, never dewormed, feet barely trimmed. We moved him to my trainers boarding facility where I leased him, took care of him, and rode him for six months. He kept having problems with flies and habronemiasis (and a swollen sheath) but was otherwise fine. He is an amazing horse and I fell in love with him.

Then literally the week I was signing the papers to buy him, the previous owner had him out lunging him and he pulled a tendon. I bought him anyway after having it ultrasounded, as the vet told me that it was very mild and he should be back to full work within 3 months.

I brought him home and did everything right for tendon rehab, hand walking, icing, tendon supplements, chiro, corrective shoeing, cold laser, later hot laser... But the tendon stayed "puffy" and several ultrasounds later showed that it was just healing very very slowly... no one could figure out why. Close to a year and a half later we still had heat and puffiness. He had always been a calm horse, but he became slowly more lethargic over time, but it was so slow I didn't really notice it. Also, he was still battling flies and habronemas, along with having a swollen sheath.

I finally decide to take his shoes off and start a natural trim with him, thinking maybe it would help. I was too inexperienced with horses to really know what was wrong, and neither my trainer nor vet could figure it out either. He was young, only 11, and his symptoms were vague and random. My friend Bethany recommended a great barefoot trimmer named Kimberly, from Los Angeles, and so she came and did his feet. She noticed he was very lethargic, (though I felt that was normal for him), and also alerted me to the fact that he has stretched white line on his hooves.

Hmmm, so now we have swollen sheath, tendons that won't heal, lethargy, and stretched white line. Now I am finally thinking something else is going on. At her suggestion we pull blood and test for Cushings, Hypothyroidism, IR, Iron, and do a full blood panel. I thought everything would come back normal because he doesn't really show any classic symptoms of any of these, plus he was so young.

Well we got the results back, and everything wasn't normal; he came up as having very severe insulin resistance (IR) with very high risk of laminitis. So that explains everything, but he never showed any classic/ typical symptoms. He also came back positive for Cushings (PPID), at 11! We were all very surprised. And again no classic Cushings symptoms, just the vague random ones.

The very first week we changed his diet, and already the tendons are back to normal size, and he is showing more signs of energy! I am SO happy we found out what it was before he foundered. We also put him on one Prascend pill a day to control his hormone (ACTH) levels.

Rio will have to be on Prascend the rest of his life, and have an extremely strict diet. He absolutely cannot have any sugar of any kind, no apples, no treats, almost no bagged feed of any kind, even rice bran has too high of sugar. His diet right now consists of about 15 pounds of Teff hay per day split into two meals in a slow feed net. He also gets a mash, twice a day, made up of a 1/2 scoop of LMF Low Carb Stage 1, a 1/2 cup of ground flaxseed, and either California Trace Minerals, or Arizona Copper complete. The two are almost identical, except the AZ has slightly less Copper and a bit more Zinc. I would love to add Heiro and vitamin E, but that's more money that I can't do right now.

At least we know now and we can manage it! Even though the bloodwork was $600, it was vital to his health and his life. We only have to pull blood twice a year now to double check his insulin, glucose, and ACTH levels. Which as of 2018 have been good, except we still need to bring down the sugar a bit. The  only way I can think to do that at this point is to soak his hay, which we may start doing.

So even though I didn't get my endurance horse, he has taught me so much and is so kind he can't help but be my heart horse. 

Our timeline looks like this: 2014 symptoms, 2015 getting diet and meds figured out, 2016 healing, 2017 tack walking and long lining, 2018 finally back riding!

We'll be walking the rest of the 2017 year to continue to strengthen him, and maybe, just maybe, by the end of 2018, if he's ready, we can do our very first easy LD.

I love this horse so much.

​Ever since I was a little girl I wanted to get into endurance riding. I acquired my first horse when I was 17; a purebred papered chestnut Morgan named Gold. I always wanted to participate in Endurance Riding with him, but I didn't know anyone involved in it, nor really have the money to do so. I had to sell him when I was 20. We rode a lot, but as a young adult freshly out of the nest I couldn't afford to own a horse and had to let him go.

When I was 31 we moved onto property with horses. The landlord had an extra horse that she eventually let me train and ride and race. I was finally back into horses after a 11 year break! I missed it so much. I was always the horse obsessed little girl, but my parents said they were too expensive and so I never had one as a child, nor had the opportunity to work at ranches or anything. I don't feel like I really knew much about horses until I started riding and learning with this lady. When I finally got back into them, I realized just how much I really didn't know! I started working at a neighboring horse ranch, and read everything I could get my hands on, from the AERC website and training guides, to endurance blogs. I also found out that a lady named Eileen, that I used to work with at the vet hospital, was an endurance rider, so I contacted her and she became my mentor! She started riding with me and showed me the ropes!

The horse I got to ride was named Bella, a 19 year old little black Paso cross. She was small, but mighty! I think she was around 14.2 hh, but could go all day and all night. She never tired. Before I started riding her, she was used for Gymkhana, and mountainous trail rides so she was very fit. We conditioned and trained for 6 months in order to prepare for the race. I was so fortunate to live on the edge of Hollenbeck Preserve so I was able to train and ride 3-5 times a week. I used online programs like MapMyWalk to map out a 9 mile, 12 mile, and 15 mile loop. They were amazing training loops. The terrain was extremely varied, and went from canyons, to hills, to sand, to oak groves, to meadows and shifted between fire roads and single track trails.

I didn't "overtrain" my horse, but definitely did a lot of training. I planned to do my first ride that fall, but I had never ridden more than about 12 miles myself, so I had no idea how long or how hard a 25 mile ride would be for myself or the horse, and I wanted to be plenty prepared.

We trained all summer and I felt we were ready. I signed us up for a 25 mile Endurance Ride called the "Best of Both" (25 mile Limited Distance Race) on October 5th 2013. I ended up being taken under the wing of another lady, Phylicia, and we went together in her motorhome and horse trailer (as I didn't have one yet). 

There were so many neat first experiences and things learned. Bella was strong and plenty fit all day. We started near the rear, but by mile 3 or 4 we were close to the front runners. By about 6 miles in we were in first place. We came into the vet check (at mile 12) in first place, and left in first place. There was a little trio of us that ended up riding together, Myself, Victoria, and Valerie. We rode pretty much the entire ride together and cantered in the last mile or two into base camp. Bella ate, drank, and pulsed down quickly and did great. We ended up getting first place! 

I think some people might have thought I was an inexperienced person to endurance and just went out and yahoo'd my horse and overrode her, but that was only if they didn't know us! They didn't know that we had literally been training for 6 months prior to this ride. Bella was so fit, she pulsed down within a minute or two at every stop. I was also given the good advise to "ride at the speed you train at", and that's exactly what we did.

All in all it was a great ride and I learned a ton! So thankful to my mentor Eileen, and my Friend Phylicia for making it happen!

The next year we ended up moving off the property, and Bella stayed with her owner.

When I was 17 I got my first horse, a Morgan gelding. I always dreamed of doing endurance with him, even though I didn't know what endurance was, the governing body, or even anyone who rode in them. I don't know where I got the dream, but I've always had it, and spent countless hours in the desert riding that horse hundreds of miles.

​Endurance riding is an equestrian sport based on controlled long-distance races. It is one of the international competitions recognized by the FEI. There are endurance rides worldwide. 

There are two main types of long-distance riding, competitive trail riding and endurance rides. In an endurance ride, the winning horse is the first one to cross the finish line while stopping periodically to pass veterinary check(s) that deems the animal in good health and fit to continue. In competitive Trail, it is not a race, but rather a judged, timed sport based on obstacles and horsemanship. The governing body of Endurance rides here in the United States is the American Endurance Ride Conference (the AERC). The governing body of competitive trail rides here is the North American Trail Ride Conference (NATRC).

​In the United States, most endurance rides are either 50 or 100 miles long. Shorter rides, called Limited Distance rides (LD), are organized for new riders to the sport, or young horses being trained. They are generally 25-35 miles long. However, LD's have evolved into a competition of their own, in which more experienced riders and horses also participate. There are also longer, usually multi-day, rides as well. As with human marathon running, many riders will participate to improve their horse's personal best performance, and consider finishing the distance with a proper vet completion record to be a "win".

Winning riders can complete 100-mile (160 km) rides in 14 to 15 hours. But most rides are typically much slower than that.

Any breed can compete, but the Arabian generally dominates the top levels because of the breed's stamina and natural endurance abilities.
​
Worldwide, rules vary. Endurance rides and races can be any distance, though they are rarely over 100 miles for a one-day competition.