Eventually I decided to take Sully to JD’s Carolina ride and go for another endurance ride/55 miles the last weekend of the 2020 season, which meant shoes went back on early Thanksgiving week after a ‘check in’ ride with him and our neighbor over the prior weekend. That check in ride he was a handful for the first part, as I hand walked the road up to a point where I thought I could get on — nope, he went spinning trying to head back home — so I hopped off and continued to hand walk till we met up with them. He still danced to mount, but then settled right away… some things there to work on, but tough to want to do it on the road as that is a hard fall if it happens!

Sully was super sweaty after that ride so I knew he would need to be clipped again to handle the SC ride. I put new blades on the clippers and wow that went fast! I was covered in soo much hair after… Still far from perfect or pretty when it comes to a clip job, but functional! Now of course this means he will be blanketed more this winter, but he is also at a really good weight right now so I know he is keeping warm 😛
When he got his shoes on I used the last (apparently) of the Equipak CS I had on the fronts as I had heard about the gravel, showing our farrier how that one works as he uses a different type normally. He used a marker to make Sully’s white line stand out, used the size 4 slim nails I suggested, and I was also able to show him how to use the clinching tool from Blue Pegasus (his own is on backorder). He was super happy about how much easier it was to get the nails where he wanted and clinching was easier too (that was the part that frustrated him with the shoes and Sully’s hoof conformation in prior sets). He has liked the shoes overall, just has been a learning curve for setting them, and now he is psyched about how they work for us.

As much as I worry about packing for rides and the logistics itself, I was way less stressed about this 55 than my first thankfully! Of course I had my lists and was going over the electrolyte plan with a friend and mentor for the week leading up to it, but I was sleeping well still. In the end, the only thing I forgot to pack was an extra feed pan for the Vet Check area. I keep enough buckets in my trailer to make that a non-issue though! 🙂

Sully has unfortunately developed a habit of being hard to catch when he sees the truck and trailer hooked up for a later day departure, but this time since I was leaving in the am I just waited to feed them until after I was hooked up so he was easy to grab and go after he was done. He jumped right on the trailer after he was dressed – I did quick trot in hand to make sure he was sound on our way up to it since I wasn’t seeing him run around away from me 🤦‍♀️ made sure we were good to hit the road at that point at least…

We hit the road Friday on time per my plan and the drive to SC was uneventful. I took a break about half way (5hr drive) to stretch my legs and let him rest a few from moving. We ended up pulling in with 2 other trailers and then got stuck sitting on the road waiting to find a spot to park the rigs for at least a half hour (no parking person around). It turned out to be Lynne and friends in front of us, and they walked over to find a spot to fit the rigs. I finally got Sully off the trailer after a maybe an hour past when we pulled in…Unfortunately he pawed a ton standing in there, and when I opened the door I found him with a pile of shavings and hay almost up to his belly! Quite a funny sight, but oye! I set up, vetted in, and then since Lynne and the gang were headed out on a tack ride I decided to join. Not something I had done before because I’m usually shorter on time from travel, but thought it would be a good idea to see the sand we would be dealing with the next day. Lynne ended up splitting off from the rest of us 3 early on, then I ended up coming back alone as Sully’s walk left the other 2 way behind. Eventually Amy, Madison and her family found me, so I finished getting my stuff together and we dropped it off at their crew spot and went to have dinner and hang with them a bit. On the way back to my trailer I stopped and chatted with April, Dawn & Lani and turned in to sleep around 830 I think after saying goodnight to the kids and Doug in the random spot I had signal… Early bedtime lol.. I actually fell asleep watching my downloaded movie, and while I woke probably every hour after midnight, I felt like I slept in between – so not too restless!

Ride day started with being awoken to rain drops on my roof at 515 am 😦 He was in his turnout sheet so staying mostly dry but ugh…Cool rain and tacking up makes one whiney! lol
At least I had a separate set of boots and extra rain jacket to tack up with kept in the trailer.
Sully got his breakfast and more hay, then I went and saw Amy & Madison off on their start for the 75 at 7am. I came back and delayed tacking up as long as possible for our 8am start … Lynne checked us in early so we could take our time getting up there. I ended up walking up (calmly!) in a a slightly soggy seat earlier than expected and briefly met up with Jen Stevenson to start the ride – Sully had different plans than I did. Eventually we ended up riding with Amy Whelan and had a nice time chatting as our boys were trotting along. I think Sully saw this trail as one big track! He was chugging along and feeling good – cool and rainy is easier on him, but there wasn’t much opportunity for him to need to walk (like in mountain rides), nor much in the way of water and grass to stop at, so I never ended up being able to give him a midway dose of electrolytes on the 22.8 mile first loop. He was too worried about horses around us leaving to drink well (clue #1) at the tanks that were out in one spot on the way out and back. Eventually he did walk a bit, and stop trying to catch that next horse…

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The last 6 or so miles we were basically riding alone, so he was much more responsive to my asks on speed and we walked a bit taking in scenery some. We came across Becky a second time and he had fun flying by her, only to spook at her truck 50yards or so later! lol

We walked back into camp nice and easy, where I promptly fell getting off at the in-timer! My left leg totally gave out on me as it hit the ground and I ended up on my butt looking silly but able to laugh at myself with the ladies around 😂🤣 Amy and Madison were just tacking up to head out on loop 2 of 4 so we wished each other well and then I began the task of tack pulling and cooling for Sully with Madison’s parents as they were still there to help too. His HR was hanging, but he dove right in to his mash and the water. I took about 20min to get him under 60, which was unusual for him (clue #2) – that had only happened once last year at Meadow Creek in the super hot sunny finish and took a bit of hosing to get him down. We went to the vet and pulsed in at 56 and 52 after the trot out – which he didn’t like the flapping tape lanes of! After the trot out his left side started to twitch and was told he was starting to “Thump” so we needed to recheck at the end of our hold time…well drat! I dosed him with our normal electrolyte regime when we came back from the vet (instead of waiting till the end of the hold) and he went back to eating. It had stopped raining and was getting sunny, but not too hot. I walked him a little bit, let him eat other hay and such that folks were sharing, and watched his sides. The thumps weren’t consistent, but I could see them on occasion. I knew if he passed the check I was going to Rider Option anyway to not take any chances. We went back and this time Dr. Bob rechecked him…his CRI had not improved as much as they would like to see after a 50min hold (note clues # 1 & 2 that things were amiss), and the thumps still present, so we ended our day with a pull. Bob told me to dose with CMPK every 30min until they stopped and let him eat alfalfa (which he gets offered at rides anyway); I was to give it a few hours and if not resolved with that tactic to come back. (Thumps can be caused by a calcium or potassium imbalance, the CMPK has both.) I took him back to his pen and set him up with hay, alfalfa, more mash and did the dirty deed of dosing lol (he really isn’t a fan of the syringing but will eventually stopped going giraffe!). His thumps were gone within an hour, he was EDPP just fine and I walked him often to help with any stiffness, as well as put on the Redmond ‘Red Edge Poultice’ I won at convention after some time in the equicool wraps. I don’t know how to properly wrap legs yet (worried about the correct pressure applied), so just had it on exposed to air. I’ll learn how to wrap for next season as I’m sure the compression and heat generation would help even more with drawing out any soreness. He seemed to enjoy the feeling regardless and I even put some on his back and he started yawning, so I would say another vote for ‘feels good!’

I spent the rest of the day/evening walking him, chatting with friends, and helping to crew for Amy & Madison – who recovered one horse with decreased gut sounds and had to baby her stone bruise after the 2nd loop/~50miles to go on and finish the 75 strong and hungry about 9pm! I heard lots of stories from seasoned endurance riders and how often they have “learned the hard way” or relearned the same lesson over and over through the years. Makes one feel better that you aren’t the only one to mess up…
I was up with the sun and we came home Sunday after another un-eventful trip to the outside of the house decorated for the holidays mainly by the kids … Sully promptly got his rolls in, then went to grab a drink, and back to eating 🙂

So, now what? Well, I beat myself a bit about changing things up this ride… I tried to go with a different approach that had worked for many and switched from doing his Enduramax the days leading up to the ride and morning of, to just salt with a buffer. I also learned from my talking with Dr. Bob later in the day during a quiet time that #1. I wasn’t using enough of the CMPK for him in my elyte mix, and #2. when giving CMPK with anything that is a buffer it becomes ineffective as buffers contain Magnesium and the Calcium will bind to it. I guess I lucked out before in what his needs were vs. the ride day here…

Thankfully it was a really mild case, I’ve seen much worse in passing on others at prior rides. Thinking back, I actually think that he had some thumps on the 3rd loop of Foxcatcher when he got wound up trying to keep up with some horses flying by. That ride we stopped and he ate grass a while, walked a bit, and recovered on his own. He was 100% at the final vet check so didn’t think much about it till now… For next season I will definitely go back to what worked before to preload, and use a higher amount of CMPK per Dr. Bob’s suggestions with how to give and space correctly around the other elyte mix during the ride itself.

So we didn’t get our completion, but that first loop was a great ride…good training miles and came away with some knowledge to help us next year – not at all a loss in my book. He is happy and healthy, getting some R&R, and then we will continue to ride through the winter as weather allows working towards 2021 rides 🙂

I’m thankful for so much this year, as crazy as it has been…It has afforded different opportunities and forced different experiences on me and our family; we have continued to be healthy, stayed sane through working through virtual schooling, and have jobs that give us the flexibility to deal with changes. Of course I’m thankful we had a 50mile completion this year, as well as a 30, and even for this pull – thankful it wasn’t too serious and we will be able to come back for it stronger 🙂 Oh and thankful I keep extras of things on hand in the trailer, like a pair of half-chaps (used by 2 different riders between Fri & Sat as they both managed to leave them at home), rain gear, and buckets galore!

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