Sully mostly got a break between Biltmore and Fort Valley. The weekend after the 50 I took Scooby for his first off-site small group trail ride. He proved to be just as expected, still no real desire to rush down the trail, nor did he worry about being left behind (AKA: slow walk). I got to experience his walk, trot, pace, and little canter. I will have to figure out how to ride his pace some – he would break into it when knocked off balance on the trail but go back to trotting pretty easily.
Given that he was so good, we made plans for Skyler’s first trail ride on him offsite with me and Sully the following weekend. Another local endurance friend met us there and we had fun for a few hours together. Unfortunately, Scooby’s hind feet got sore on the gravel (has front boots), so he was even slower the last bit in and I ended up off Sully, hand walking them back to keep things moving. After a check in with Jessica we found the foot soreness could be making his hocks sore, so the plan was put him shoes to see if it helps for the immediate future. I’m sure Skyler will tag a long with me a lot this winter as we keep fit for the next season. The goal is to get Scooby ready for longer rides and different terrain, both of them learning to camp, then an intro ride together and eventually an LD if she feels she wants to take that on in 2022 🙂 It will be fun to camp together, but I also know there will be a lot of extra stuff for me to think about with 2 horses and 2 of us to take care of!

Fort Valley was the last ride for us for the 2021 endurance season. A smaller season for us again this year, competing in only 3 of the rides I had on my radar for us; but it isn’t all about the numbers – it is about the journey. Sully and I have 2 years towards Decade Team and he has 3 years towards the Equine Longevity Award; a long journey ahead of us yet (https://aerc.org/static/LongevityAward_pins.aspx ). I finally reached 250 LD miles this year! 80 of them Tesla, the rest with Sully. I have several patches and pins now to figure out what to do with between the virtual challenges of the past two years, Green Beans, and now a rider mileage patch set! Should I put them on a jacket? Quilt? My crew bag or camping duffle?

So onto the FV ride story…
The week leading up was short – I had to leave on Thursday afternoon to ride in Friday’s LD so I could be home earlier on Saturday for our 16th anniversary ❤
The whole week felt rushed…does it ever get better? Packing up the truck and trailer started the weekend before, as well as I fit in both Scooby & Sully for a session with Jessica on Monday and all 3 with a hoof-day on Tuesday. Sully had worn his left side shoes unevenly, but overall was doing good. We have a different plan to try next year when it comes to timing of his stifle injections and see if that helps him as he moves into winter. Scooby was so much more relaxed this time for his body work. We did find some sore spots, but his body held the last adjustment well. So now we will just see if the shoes help his hocks or if there is some joint maintenance needed for him too. At the farrier appointment I sized him up for his own set of Blue Pegasos composites for next cycle, as I think the joint concussion support they give is something he could benefit from too.
I managed to get through my various checklists before Thurs, and was of course was armed with all that I learned at Biltmore, but still have not fixed my light situation yet on the trailer 🙄 headlamps and flashlights it would be again!

Thursday we headed out, about an hour later than I hoped due to some stuff at work I needed to take care of. I chose to go a slightly different way this time, a little longer, but seemed to have less hair-pin tight road turns. I apparently was the LAST rider for Friday to get my registration packet and the LAST one to vet a horse in that day. Sully happily ate grass while I set up his pen, but didn’t have an interest in the hydration hay before going to the vet-in. He vetted in well and then I continued to get set up for the morning. A few trips down to the crew area, the ride meeting, and then finally eating some salad for dinner by the fire with friends when I stopped running around at 8pm lol. We all turned in by 9, but I really didn’t fall asleep until after 3am…and then up at 6! This is why I bring iced coffee with me, and and will use an ‘energy’ version of the Tailwind elytes in my water for the first loop.

Friday our start time was 800, so I wasn’t really up at 0-dark-thirty in the same context as before, and the moon was pretty full so it was rather bright even without a headlamp. I kept the same feeding routine I did at Biltmore, and a generally higher elyte protocol as well. In fact I added a dose in mid-evening Thursday to make sure he drank well overnight. I went ahead with adding the Equipak CS pour in pads as well when he got his new kicks on Tues. I know FV is rocky, and with his recent gravel sensitivity at the end of Biltmore it was just an extra protection step for him. Sully ate his breakfast heartily, went for a walk and then I started to tack up about 715. He was good, though not super thrilled about his elyte dosing and got some on the trailer and me 😛 I moved my step stool to mount up and promptly slipped off of it, lol…Stephanie asked if I needed any help getting on/holding Sully and I replied no, it was user error! It turned out to be for the better as I moved Sully to mount again he apparently had needed to pee 🙂 Now with me mounted, Sully was on a mission walking about camp. We went over and checked in and then wandered around a bit, coming back to hang quietly with Amy and her junior rider Nevaeh. We left camp a bit later than most folks, and Frills was taking some funny steps. Amy hopped off to check her hoof and I handed her a hoof pick from my pack (I learned a while back to never leave without one!) which she used to extricate a huge rock, and then we were off again headed up the big gravel road climb. At that point Sully was now a dragon and we were in a pulling match. We caught to up a few more riding friends who had a faster walk and we finally settled in. The gravel was actually quite deep compared to last year, so an added toughness as you went up. We all made it to the top and headed onto the ridge into the sunlight. There was now a group of 4 of us together pacing well and chatting, laughing as went. At the first checkpoint with water Sully drank! a lot! I figured I must have done something right as he rarely drinks the first loop at all. He took a few Outlast cookies after and then we were off on the grass and gravel roads. We played leap frog with a Ride & Tie team throughout this part of the loop. There was a climbing gravel road which Karen & Bailey and Sully & I pulled ahead at a bit faster paced than Jennifer & Pete and Danielle & Jewel were doing. We had planned to stop at the top for water, elyte and wait for them there.

And that is where the ride started to end for us.

We missed a turn to the left.

No markers on the right to indicate a turn approaching, only on the left AT the turn, and we just weren’t looking that way. We ended up going all the way over the top and down to where the top-10 LDs were coming out the trail to realize we missed it. We headed back, fast, looking for the spot where we would now turn right into the woods. Karen went past it, but I noticed some markers a few trees in from the road and discovered where we went wrong and grabbed her back. We headed into the woods, now doing some nearly straight down and up embankments that thankfully were not muddy this year, as Sully almost went down going up a slick one last year! We found a spot with some downed trees to remount and elyted our horses, then found water later at the river. Sully & I went too hard too fast trying to find that missed turn, and I’m sure my concerned energy at the time didn’t help. He was breathing harder than normal, but still eating and drinking well. It came to a point where I knew he just didn’t have it in him to keep pushing and we just kept walking while Karen & Bailey blazed on to catch up with rest of the group. As we walked along together alone of course my mind was in 10 different trains of thought all the time. I took a deep breath and said to myself – We will RO at the vet check, no matter if he passes. I made my peace with that and we walked on, trotting where we could and when he felt good. We reached the last checkpoint and water before the 3miles back into camp, and he drank again. The drag riders were there waiting on us to head back. We learned we weren’t the only ones with a trail bobble, but still we were the turtle 😛 We started the last climb up and Sully was stopping often. I figured if we’re going to move that slow, I’ll give him a break and hopped off to hike it with him. I also dosed him with CMPK, but I think most of it ended up on my hands 😒 That climb was tough…I had to stop too to catch my breath often. I really admire those Ride & Tie folks! I also discovered from the team that passed us my ride card had fallen out of my pack. She had it and would leave it with the timers for me; not sure when/where it happened but I’ll have to change where I keep it. We made it to the top and it was all downhill from there. Almost as hard though, as your feet slip out from under you on the rocks or in that deep gravel of the road we had to go back down. I continued to walk him all the way in. I did a quick sponge to get some grime off and he was below pulse criteria as I expected. He was super hungry, and difficult to get to leave his stash. We stopped at the water tank on the way to pulse in, he drank some more, and then we headed over. April came to give me a big hug (which I def needed!) and I vetted him through with a Rider Option. I did not want to push him to try to make the cut-off time, nor did I see the need to do the 2nd loop with another big climb to finish over-time, and being completely alone he would have been hard to push onward if tired. We went back to our crew spot and he continued to eat for the next 30+ min while I just kept cooling him. I eventually took him back over to the trailer and made a few trips to bring things back from the crew spot. Sully continued to eat and drink and relax with his leg wraps while the rest of the ride finished up.
The rest of the day/evening was mostly relaxing and packing things to leave in the morning. A nice night by the fire again with friends, and then off to bed.

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Saturday am I woke up in time to to see off Jaime and Madison off on their 50, then finished packing and headed out of camp about 9am. I was against the clock with getting home with enough time to have someone help unhook (my jack is sticky) and then get to a soccer game. I got in just in time, with a few minutes to grab myself a sandwich and head back out the door to Skyler’s game. Doug left shortly after my arrival with Asher to get his soccer game. Skyler and I headed home after hers so I could finish unloading the truck/trailer and take a shower. After Asher’s game we picked up pumpkins to carve and went food shopping. Doug and I had “early” celebrated our anniversary with a lunch date, so we picked up a cake to share with the kids during our family movie night. I think the kids were more excited to see what we got each other than anyone else lol. It has a been a great 16yrs so far with many more to come! ❤

What did I learn this time?
– Well, I know I got something right with elytes – as Sully drank well even during tacking up. He likes the carrot juice mixture better, but still fights getting dosed.
– He might have needed more CMPK to start us out that morning; I only did 1 dose instead of 2 as it wasn’t very humid. While carrying some in a baby food jar in the saddle bag as backup did come in handy, the empty Enduramax syringe used to dose it didn’t work so well!
– Sully was probably too wooly for his cooling ability during the ‘sprint’ of extra miles. I did clip his neck & chest Wed eve, but as it was our last ride I didn’t want to do the whole trace clip. Next fall I should do more like we did last year.
– Umm… I AM SORE! Hiking that mountain up and then back down for 3+ miles my legs hurt in places I’ve never experienced before. I should probably do more steep hiking to be better prepared for it in the future.
– My heater will drive you out of the trailer, on low. It was just cold enough to want it on, but then I slept super close to the OPEN window to get a breeze lol (plus the door window was open by it for safety and I have a CO monitor).
– My old cooler is def done for past a day trip. I took it since it has wheels and I didn’t have help to get my new one from the house into the truck, as well as it was a shorter trip.
– I’m really looking forward to organizing more in the trailer this winter so I can lessen the chaotic feeling of stuff everywhere after a ride.

Things definitely did not go to plan for us this time, but that’s ok. Each ride is a learning experience. Just because you’ve completed the ride before, or gone longer distances before, doesn’t mean that the stars will align that day! Half the battle of endurance is just getting yourself, and a horse, to the ride 😛