It wasn't long until the locals started talking about "the weather moving in." I've been checking the weather faithfully all week... weather? What weather? Oh...severe thunderstorms between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. with chances for hail. I'm thinking this is great. Journey is penned next to a steel trailer (lightening rod!) and I'm in the trailer. WE WILL SURELY DIE. But it is only two hours of suffering. We can suffer for two hours. After all Journey is a livestock animal and I am "Endurance Granny". So I figure the rain, hail, and trailer tumbling wind will be over in time for the ride management to call us to the ride meeting. It was raining by this time and I was huddled in my trailer waiting to here the signal (blowing car horn) that the meeting was going to start. It rained.....and it rained....and thunder was rumbling, but I'm thinking no hail this is good! I had a contingency plan to load Journey into the trailer in the event of large diameter hail. I'd put my helmet on, we'd survive the day. So boredom set in as 4 p.m. became 7:30 p.m. and it was still raining buckets. Finally at 7:45 I crack open the trailer door thinking it was clear enough they should be having a meeting soon. Only to discover they had already had the ride meeting. Early. No horn blowing. In the rain. Early onset heart palpitations. So I scramble to find an LD rider to discuss the order of the loops, the time of departure, and something about clothes pins. Clothes pins? The way the route was configured we were to ride out, go to a designated place off the loop, retrieve a clothes pin from a bucket, and bring it back as proof that we did the entire out and back loop. My mind reels. WHAT IF I LOOSE THE FREAKING CLOTHES PIN? Back to my trailer to figure out a bullet proof method of getting the holy grail (I mean clothes pin) back safely to ride camp. Then I find out that not only do I have to bring it to the in timers, I also have to collect it from the out timers and take it back from whence it came with my info on it in ink. O-M-G! What if I loose the freaking clothes pin! So I select clothing with sturdy zippers.
Eight o'clock still raining. Journey is starting to shiver as the temp has dropped suddenly. I get her "rain proof" blanket on her, and she looks happier. Sort of. Nine o'clock, now it is raining, no that is an understatement, it now pouring buckets of rain....ten o'clock, yeppers....still pouring. Journey is looking rather dejected, head down, river of wet misery dripping off her nose. I finally dozed off at midnight as things began to lighten up....only to awake to an even heavier onslaught at one a.m. Journey is in the same sad position, hasn't moved a muscle, just looking at me like " you can't be serious" I've never been rained on in my life. Journey will not eat food that has been rained on. By two a.m. I'm getting concerned that my horse will not have sufficient bulk in her gut to make the 25 mile ride come later in the morning. So I start handing it out to her a bit at a time. Three a.m. I figure I can try to get some sleep now, the alarm is set to go off at five a.m. I drift off into exhaustion to realize that I've missed the start! No! Wait! I wake up. Four a.m. Thank goodness, I haven't really missed the start, but if I go back to sleep I might actually die, and miss it. Decision to stay up. I have a bowl of cereal in the dark only to discover the texture isn't completely right. Journey's hay has fallen into my cereal bowl in the earlier feeding through the door episode. Nothing like a little fiber to get you going in the morning. Chug a bottle of Frappacino for my caffiene fix. I eat a banana. Did I mention that it is STILL RAINING. Maybe I should think about rain gear? By five a.m. I've tried on a slicker, a rain poncho, and a disposable rain poncho. Choice A is heavy, choice B is light, but I'm hot, choice three makes scary ruffling sounds and I'm getting my body parts wound up in it. Heat exhaustion or hypothermia? I choose hypothermia and put on two tank tops, and a nylon vest with zipper pockets for the clothes pin. Oh, and the zebra tights. They are slick nylon and should at least not cling to my skin too bad. I use the ripped up plastic disposable poncho to make a plastic cover over my helmet. By now it is time to get Journey ready. We had the foresight to boot her the night before. She looks a little soggy, but the boots are still on tight. I get her tacked up and strip off my sheepskin as it is STILL RAINING and that would get soggy. Cover my saddle temporarily with the remainder of the disposable rain poncho. The fifties are soon heading out, so time to start warming her up.
Who is this horse? She is goosing along, head up in the air, and we are doing one-rein stops in the wet grass, and yes...IT IS STILL RAINING. I maneuver her up to the front gravel lot and we start doing circles until her brain kicks in gear. After all she is sleep deprived, spent her night with torrents of rain channeling off her nose, and hasn't eaten anything dry in the past twelve hours. It is time to start, and we must go in search of the elusive clothespin...it is barely daylight, and I'm not wearing glasses as it is STILL RAINING.
Okay. Let's make this simple. It rained the WHOLE TIME. Temperature in the mid sixties, and we are slogging through slickened clay mud, slipping uphill, and sliding down hill. Journey has suddenly developed a 10 mph trot that has never been seen in the previous year. She tries the old I'm gonna gallop and you can't stop me trick, and I retaliated with the yes you are going to trot or else trick so that we both survive the day. We worked it out. I kept Journey's rump warm with a rug. Can't have the horse getting hypothermia.
We slip and we slide, and the ribbons take us where we need to go. I grab a clothespin and secure it into the zippered pocket, and check that it is still there multiple times coming back. We present it to the in timers, and it takes her about ten minutes to reach pulse criteria. She has an appetite but she wasn't drinking and we were half-way now. The truth is she probably never wanted to look at water again in this life time! Her impulsion is lack luster at the trot out, but they pass her to go back out. We collect the clothes pin with our letter "C" on it and head back from where we came to take it back. The going is a little slower this time, but that means more time out in the mud and the rain....we deposit said clothes pin into the bucket to prove we rode the out and back to the end, we reverse, we come back. Half naked in the rain woman is starting to develop cramping calves as I'm kind of braced up against the cold, but we manage to make it back.
I love the Zebra tights!
ReplyDeleteI would have had the exact same thought about the clothes pin (because I'm one of those people that tends to loose ANY kind of small item...no matter WHERE I am).
....and my boy is also VERY picky about his food. If it's wet he won't eat it. If it smells "different" he won't eat it. If it's the wrong color he won't eat it....and if it's in a pan or tub he doesn't particularly like, he won't eat it. I can totally understand...it's frustrating!
I am also a chicken little in T-storms (so we have a lot in common. When I am able to ride in my first ride, I would love to have you as a ride buddy ;-D).
Congratulations on completing your first LD with Journey!!! I'd say you did great considering all the cold and wetness and "not eating" that you had to deal with. If Journey does this well when the weather is crappy, hopefully that means she will do awesome when the weather is good ;-D
Wow! What a start on LD's. You two believe in doing things the hard way. I'd say you two fought hard and won! The zebra tights almost make me want a pair of riding tights - almost. I think you look pretty darn good for completing an LD in the rain. Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteBionic Cowgirl
It was one wet, foggy, off\on gusty day. Where the ride takes places is on of the highest points at Henryville and the clouds were hanging low. Down in Henryville (town) not as much of a damp feeling.
ReplyDeleteHorses and riders coming in with mud and more mud. If I recall the first 3 (finishers) LD riders were pulled. These were 1 1/2 hr times for 13 miles of hills and mud. One I know was for lameness. We had talked alittle before he packed up for home. One horse threw a couple of shoes and good ole Journey lost a boot. While watching a 50 miler getting ready to leave at leave you could tell he was checking his horse as he walked. I thought the horse seemed off in the back. He was gone maybe 2 min and came back, saying "He's off". Went over to vets with his horse. Soon came by and told timers he was calling it a day. He made a wise choice and put the horse first. Made me think this would be a good time for a big blue ribbon award for "Pulled: My choice, Horse first."
Temp. never did get above 55 for the actual ride. Not really cold but considering last weekend was high 90's and humid this was one big swing. I had what I needed: chair, rain jacket, coffee, close bathroom, blanket (for me till horse comes in), pulse monitor. Folks to talk to and watch the activities of the day.
Considering the conditions everyone seemed to take it in well since it is all part of the sport. Nice time, great staging location (as always at Henryville). Considering the damage to the park from March I have great respect for those that pulled together, and put on TOR.
No hoof no horse. No ride mangers no rides. Kind of go's hand in hand.
LSEGH
Great ride story! I'm so happy for yall, and I think you look great in your pics!
ReplyDeleteJust catching up... you were so intrepid to get through a night like that and still get out there, complete and come through with a healthy horse despite it all. Great jobs. BTW- I think with those tights, you should change your blog name to Sexy Endurance Granny!! HAHA! Love those tights.. !
ReplyDeleteSexy ~E.G.? Not for at least twenty years....but it did make me smile.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE my zebra tights. They had mud splattered all over, and I was thinking they were ruined. But I pre-treated before I washed them and they came clean. I was so happy ☺
Evelyn's tights are the only pair I have that fit right and don't go creeping down and have me yanking them up all day. I'm hoping to eventually get her to make me another pair....maybe brown Appaloosa spots? Ha!