Alone and unafraid

Last July, Luba and I rode the Vermont Moonlight 50. This is truly a special ride, as the endurance ride is held in conjunction with a 100 mile ultramarathon. The only thing crazier than riding a horse for 100 miles is running a 100 miles on your own two feet!

The ultramarathoners are allowed to have a pacer at mile 70. You know, a friend who is willing to run a marathon plus 4 miles to help you get through the last 30 miles of your run. We kept meeting up on trail with a particular runner who had no pacer. He always had a wave and a smile as we rode past. The morning after the ride, I saw him walking up the hill towards his campsite, carrying all his ultramarathon running and crewing gear. I saluted him, and told him how amazing he was to have run the whole thing alone. He smiled and replied, "Yes, I am alone and unafraid."

During the Stormont Ride last weekend, I had occasion to recall Mr. Alone and Unafraid....

Just getting to the ride felt like an ultramarathon. My daughter started school last week and promptly caught a cold. This developed into an asthma attack and we spent Friday morning at the hospital. Thankfully, it was not serious and we left the ER after only a few hours.

I headed out to the farm in the evening to check on Luba and do some final packing. To my horror, poor old low-on-the-totem-pole Luba was sporting a nasty bite just behind her withers on the left side of her back. There was a small wound (a tooth scrape) about the size of a toonie with edema all around it. When I touched it, she dropped her back. I got a package of chopped spinach from Lloyd's freezer and put it on the would for 10 minutes every hour for 4 hours. I sprayed on some Dermagel, rubbed arnica around the scrape, tucked Luba into a stall for the night and went home hoping for the best.

The next morning, my trusty crew, Kara, and I breathed a sigh of relief to see that the swelling had gone down and Luba was less sore. We kept up the cold therapy and the arnica and left for ridecamp hoping for the best, with a cooler full of ice packs.

I really wanted Luba to work hard enough to sweat as a way of preventing tie up, but I didn't want to put a saddle on the sore back just yet. Luckily, Kara is about the most athletic person I know. She took Luba for a run in hand for about an hour in the afternoon. Bless your soul, Kara!  We iced Luba's back one more time and then headed over for the FEI inspection and vetting.

Photo: Pat Kuffner

Luba got a B for wounds, but all As otherwise and was cleared to start the ride by Dr. Don Hamilton.  We celebrated with a round of cosmopolitans, ripple chips and dip! Dr. Heather Hoynes suggested keeping the scrape well covered with vaseline for the ride.

Wayne, another member of Team Luba, arrived just after 7am Sunday morning, as Luba and I were warming up.  We started out at the back of the pack of 7 horses with our soul sisters, Lysane and Mae.

Photo: Pat Kuffner

We kept a steady 7 mph pace for the first 18 mile orange loop.  Luba had a nice lemondade pee about 2 miles from base camp, so I knew we had made it through the danger zone for early tie up. She celebrated by stepping on my left big toe at the water trough ;)

Mae, however, was looking a little off in the hind end.  Lysane tried to massage the cramp out, but alas, they were pulled at VC1.

Luba vetted through with a CRI of 52/44 within 3 minutes of arrival. The scrape on her back was unchanged and not bothering her. Having two focused crew members was amazing. I stuck my bruised toe in a bucket of water and sat eating and drinking for most of the 40 minute hold. Bliss!

Our out time rolled around all too quickly, and we headed out of camp on the 14 mile yellow loop at a trot and then a canter, with our friends waving and cheering!  Alone and Unafraid.....

Photo: Pat Kuffner

....until Luba realized I wanted her to go down the road away from camp. She veered left and then refused to continue on down the road. Since we were riding FEI, I was not allowed to carry a crop. Luba can be very stubborn, so I hopped off and she happily trotted along beside me as I ran. I ended up running about 2 miles until we turned onto a wooded abandoned railway line. I mounted back up and we made some good time until we got close to County Road 9 when she got worried and stopped again.

I led her a bit more in hand, and after the water stop at Homestead Organics, I got on again. We made good time most of the way to the away crew spot - although Luba kept losing steam on the gravel roads.  Kara and Wayne were a sight for sore eyes at the away crew spot at Doug Lowe's Garage.  This continued for the rest of the 14 mile yellow loop. Good speed in the bush, but me on foot on the gravel roads.

By the time we finished this loop, I was not having much fun. Luba vetted through with a CRI of 48/48 within two minutes. She was not tired. She only had gut sounds in one quadrant, so Dr. Sinclair asked for a recheck. She ate like crazy, got her guts moving and had a CRI of 36/36 for the recheck. How can you not go back on trail with a horse that is fit to continue (physiologically anyway) and has a CRI of 36/36? We had been the turtles all day for the 75, but the 50s were now on trail. So I figured that someone would catch up with us sooner or later and Luba would find a new friend to run with (instead of me!!)

We left camp on foot for another trip around the 18 mile orange loop. It was mainly bush and hayfields, so it wasn't long before I was back in the saddle :)  Kara and Wayne crewed us again at Doug's with some extra sponging help from Melody.  We took a good break, refueled and Luba hit the road with renewed energy. This was all good while we were heading towards Roadapple Ranch (RAR), which we use as home base for training rides. But when we turned down the road to go away from RAR, the wind went out of her sails.

As usual, she perked up on the bush trails, but as we got close to the trailhead parking lot and water stop at County Road 9, she slowed again to a walk. At this point, I noticed that my left eyelid felt weird. I was having an allergic reaction, and both my eyes were swelling up. But for now, I could still see :)

Sherry, the road crossing spotter, assured me that the front runners for the 50 were not far behind me, and their next loop was also the 13 mile white loop. She said, "Don't give up on yourself, yet, Nancy".

Before long, Stephanie, Monica and Krista came across the road. Their horses gave Luba the lift she needed and we cantered a mile or so with them, before settling down to our own race pace. We ran into Jacques, the ride manager on the Dump Road, and asked him to please find out what drug I would be allowed to take for my allergy.

We arrived back in camp much later than we had planned to a very worried crew, but met parameter in under 2 minutes. Luba's CRI was 52/56, so Dr. Sinclair said that she might be more physically tired than I was giving her credit for, though obviously not exhausted.  Maybe I just needed to ride her more aggressively, he suggested?

I have never ridden Luba aggressively, so this was a new concept for us. I thought about it during the long 50 minute hold while Luba devoured everything in sight.

Photo: Kara Stelfox

Colette researched the drug protocol and determined that I could take Reactin for my allergy. I was back at the camper, taking out my contact lenses and changing into fresh clothes when Maura came by. She said, the daily dose for Reactin is one tablet, but Colette says given the way you look, you should take two. Bless them both! I used my neti pot, popped the two allergy tablets and headed back to the crewing area.

We were going out on trail again, Alone. Now was time to become Unafraid.

The first trip around the 13 mile white loop was the Guyatri Mantra loop. I again walked Luba out of camp, and mounted up on the road. I started chanting at the top of my lungs and low and behold, she started trotting. DOWN A GRAVEL ROAD! Hallalujia!!




We stopped to graze in Oscar's hayfield when Wendy and Firefly came cantering up the side of the field. Finally, a friend to ride with!  We met up with Stephanie and Rammit near Neville's woods. Steph was feeling pukey, so we gave her some Tums and brought her along to Doug's where we had a quick crew stop with Kara and Wayne. A few more riders were not far behind, so we knew Steph would be okay when she decided to slow down and walk. Firefly and Luba flew through the last half of the loop, hunting glow sticks as dusk fell upon the forest.

With the faster pace, Luba took almost 7 minutes to meet parameter with a CRI of 52/56. Everything was looking good. Just one more loop to go! Even if we had to ride Alone, we were now Unafraid :)

Kim and Farley, who had been well ahead of us all day, were still in camp, as was Dessia, who was riding a slow 50 on her young mare, Kiera. They hit the trail maybe 5 minutes before our out time. So even though Luba and I left at a walk (with me foot) for the final trip around the white loop, I knew we had a chance of catching them as soon as we got going.

Luba was happy and forward in the cool dark night with a full moon rising. We caught up with Kim and Dessia after about 3 miles.  I knew we would make it home safely, as these ladies were the ones who marked the trail :)   Kara and Wayne crewed all of us one last time at Doug's and were home free!

We cantered over the finish line - Turtles in the FEI** and Open Endurance Canada/OCTRA ride and Reserve Champions AHA Region 18 Championship event. The next morning, we were also awarded Best Condition for the AHA ride.  

Photo: Kara Stelfox

To finish really is to win!