Living the Dream: Riding on the Edge

Almost everybody who has messaged me about the Tevis Ed Ride has asked how crazy the trail was, especially the canyons.

Make no mistake. You and your horse need to be fit and prepared for the dramatic climbs and descents: 19,000 feet of "up" and 22,000 feet of "down" according to the Tevis Cup website.

But it is doable!  Julie Suhr says:  A Tevis completion does not require a super horse with a super rider. It requires a well conditioned horse of almost any breed with a rider who has her head screwed on right and a big dream inside it.

Here are a few tips I got from my mentors:

1. Make time where you can. 

Some places you have to walk, so if you can trot, even just a few feet, you trot. So practice walk/trot transitions at home.

We walked most of the downhills on foot, leading the horses. The footing is quite rocky in some places and I had to pay close attention to my own feet. We jogged a bit where the trail flattened out. The descent from Deadwood to El Dorado felt like an eternity. 

My shoes at after doing the canyons between Robinson and Foresthill.

We rode most of the uphills, but had to stop a few times to let the horses catch their breath. I understand that some riders tail their horses uphill through the first canyons. 

The climb to Devil's Thumb was the toughest. The trail passed through an area burnt by the fire, and it was like a fairy forest with white mushrooms growing on the blackened trees.

2. Be aware of the riders around you and be strategic about when to wait and when to move on. 

There is lots of trail where you cannot pass. So you could get caught behind a group of slower horses.    

Luckily, there was a small place suitable for passing, so we went by and made our way to Pucker Point.

This picture taken just before Pucker Point, as I was keeping both hands on the steering wheel!

When we arrived at Last Chance vet gate and go, there were only a few riders there. We watered the horses and let them eat a bit and suddenly a big group arrived and a long vet line started to form. We hustled over and got in line, so we could get through and out on trail as soon as possible. 

Parts of the trail leaving Robinson Flat were very dusty, so we slowed down a bit to stay back of the dust. 

So you can see how easy it would be to lose precious time if you are not aware of what is happening around you.

3. Stay hydrated and keep your horse cool!

It was hot and a bit humid for the Tevis Ed Ride this year, but compared to the heat and humidity we ride in in Ontario, not too bad. However, sometimes it can be brutally hot in the canyons, and the rock sucks up the heat and warms up like an oven. 

Make sure you carry ample water for yourself and some extra to squirt on your horse's neck. Lots of riders also had scoops and sponges. One mentor named Jeff, had 2 bottles of water in his pommel pack and 2 in his cantle pack for him to drink. He wore a camelback and has perfected the ability to suck a mouthful of water and spit it on to his horse's neck. So his horse was being cooled the whole way!

That's Jeff at the left of the photo.

On the second day, we rode from Foresthill to White Oak Flat, a piece of trail that is mostly ridden in the dark. It was another warm day, and we spotted some riders cooling off in the river, so we joined them. I leaned over to tighten Scorch's girth and he decided to head downriver to the deep water for a little swim!  I ended up getting off in the river to fix the girth, and also filled up empty water bottles for everyone so we could keep the horse's wet on the way to Fransico's and the long sunny climb to White Oak Flat.

My wonderful Day 2 mentors: Rebecca and Brooke :)

Scorch, just before he decided to take me swimming! Photo: R. Florio

4. Keep your eyes on the road!

A lot of the time, it felt like we were on a goat track on the edge of the mountain. Before I left, a friend cautioned me not to look down!  But I couldn't help it. It was a long way down! So then I would take a quick glimpse out and up to admire the view, and then quickly focused back on the trail. You really have to ride every stride.

Wish this had turned out better, but I guess I was in a hurry to get my eyes back on the trail!

I love this shot. It reminds me of all the work done by the Western States Trails Committee and my friend, Steve, who turned my recurring Tevis dream into a reality. 

Love this shot. So grateful to all the volunteers who maintain the Tevis Trail.

So you may have noticed that I have not discussed the Bridges at all yet. No Hands Bridge and the Swinging Bridge (my biggest fear going into the Tevis Ed Ride).  Stay tuned for Chapter 3 of Living the Dream: the Tevis Educational Ride Report...

No Hands Bridge

Swinging Bridge

Living the dream - Stellar Crew and Mandarin Oranges

So this time last week, we were just finishing the canyons at the Tevis Ed ride. Seems like a dream already.

I have been trying to compose one big blog post that would sum up the whole weekend, but that is an impossible dream.  So instead, I will just keep posting blogs until I run out of things to say.

Here is the most important thing I learned at the Tevis Ed Ride:

It's all about having Stellar Crew. And mandarin oranges.

I am the Chief Cook and Bottle Washer when we go to a ride. I organize everything for me, my kid, Karma the dog and the 2 horses. I pack, drive, ride, crew, drive home and unpack.

Being a guest rider of the Stalley's was a dream! First,  the luxury liner Lisa-moble motorhome arrived fully stocked with food.

Photo: J. Stalley

Then the Stalley-mobile showed up with the horses!

Stalley-mobile

Lisa was supposed to ride with me and Jennifer on Saturday, but the Horse Gods had other ideas. So she immediately stepped up to join the Stellar Crew. In fact, between the three of them, our Stellar Crew have more Tevis buckles than I can count on both hands.

Before we went to bed on Friday night, we had set up the tack and supplies I would carry on the saddle for the two horses I would ride on Saturday, and I had checked the brakes and steering on both of them. We had a great taco salad for supper and everyone went to sleep, serenaded by the mule camped next to us.

All I had to do was ride! And that was a dream, riding on an experienced Tevis horse and with an experienced Tevis mentor. When we arrived at Deadwood vet check and hold, Lisa and the Stalley's took care of the ponies, so all Jennifer and I had to do was sit down to eat and drink and rest with nice cold, wet facecloths draped over our heads. Mount #2, Limitless, was all tacked and warmed up and ready to go from Deadwood to Foresthill. Like the Pony Express!

Crimson and Lisa

Scorch and Limitless

photo: D. Cognée http://cogneephotography.com/Home_Page.html

And I discovered the delight of cold mandarin oranges. This will now be a staple in my crew bag!

Tevis Ed Lesson #1:  A good horse makes short miles, but Stellar Crew makes riding easy. 

And don't forget to pack the mandarin oranges.

Living the dream

I have a recurring dream where Luba and I are crossing the finish line of Tevis.

This photo is from http://teviscup.org

In my dream, I both see this from the saddle and as if I was watching it happen, like in this photo.

I randomly posted my dream on my FB. 

June 21, 2014. Recurring dream where Luba and I complete Tevis.

My Ragnar Del Sol van mate, Steve replies, Come out and ride the Tevis Education ride next year. We'll find you a mount.....

Well, I leave for Sacramento this afternoon. Over the course of 4 days, Steve has found me 4 mounts! Chuy, Scorch, Limitless and Jag. 

Stay tuned for the next instalment of Tevis: Living the dream.

Giddy-up!

If the horse is ready, then I'm ready

In an interview leading up to this year's Belmont Stakes, and his third chance at a Triple Crown win, jockey Victor Espinoza said, "I learned that if the horse is not ready there is not much that I can do. If the horse is ready then I am ready".

Well, Luba was ready for 50 miles at Summer Solstice. The trick was me having the courage to try.

It took us about 7 hours to get to ride camp, but the mares both travelled well. We were welcomed by our peeps who had saved us a nice shady spot. Both horses vetted through fine on Saturday morning, and Luba's HR was 32, lower than her usual 36 for initial vetting.  However, she seemed a little stiff in her transition. Dr. Bri recommended a big dose of BCAA, and I also kept her moving, stretching, backing up as much as possible and used the red light on  her.

And I started to lose my nerve. What if she was heading back to tie up territory? Maybe I should drop down to the 25 or pull the plug on the ride completely?

Lucky for me, my friend and mentor, Wendy, staged an intervention and talked me down off the ledge. She encouraged me to stay in the 50, and ride with her and Stephanie, who would be riding Mae, a TB mare in their first 50.  A slow steady bubble wrap 50. You can do this.

Luba loosened up as the day went on, and by late afternoon she had jello muscles. I took a deep breath and saddled up for an untie ride, using our new 5-5-5 untie ride protocol: walk 5 minutes, medium trot 5 minutes, fast trot 5 minutes. This protocol comes from Dr. Erica McKenzie of Oregon State, who does research on tying up in Arabian endurance horses. She says several riders now swear by fairly vigorous brief exercise to bring a horse back from a short rest, or tie up or to prevent tie up in the days leading up to an event - short enough not to overload or tie up the horse, but enough to avoid rest.

Luba felt great. 

If the horse is ready, then I'm ready.

On Sunday morning, we walked calmly out of camp after the front runners had taken off. My heart was in my throat for the first 5 miles of trail. After that,  I could feel the tension draining down and out my arms and legs as we floated down the trail. If the horse is ready, then I'm ready.

Walking out of camp at the start of Summer Solstice 50, Dufferin Forest, Mansfield, ON.                                              Photo: wendywebbphotography.com

Wendy's gelding seemed a bit off after 25 miles, so she headed back to camp.  Stephanie and Mae and Luba and I completed the last 25 miles together, with enough gas in the tank to do the last loop a bit faster.

Although we only had about a month of consistent conditioning and she hadn't seen many hills, Luba completed all A's. Big thanks to everyone who helped crew us: Charlotte, Rob and Camille, Maurice, Karl, Phil, Marcel, Kelly and anyone else whose names may have slipped my mind but whose kindness is always in my heart.

Not only was this our comeback ride after the tie up, but it also marked our 7th consecutive year of endurance riding and took us a step closer to becoming an AERC Decade Team, the Horse Gods willing.

Denny Emerson of Tamarak Hill Farm posted this quote and commentary that resonated with me upon our return from the ride. We can stay home and let Luba be a pasture potato, or we can dare greatly.

"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." ~ President Theodore Roosevelt

"Sure, it's taking a risk to try, because you might fail, but if you DON'T try, you've already failed, so what the hell, give it a shot.

Your mother will still love you! hahahaha"

Offering for the Horse Gods

Offering to the Horse Gods to ward off tie up

Luba's tie up at Cayuse Canter was exactly 4 weeks ago to the day, on May 17. 

Today, I made a shrine to the Horse Gods to bless our trip to Summer Solstice next weekend. We have entered the 50 on Sunday. The trail is two 12-13 mile loops, done twice, always coming back to ride camp for vetting and holds. So the plan is to ride one loop at a time.

Is Luba ready for a 50? That, my friends, is the $64,000 Question.

Luba went back to work on May 21, and I have been religious about consistent work and progressive loading in our conditioning. We had our first trip to St Lazare to ride with Wendy and friends on May 31, and went to Larose Forest and back to St Lazare last weekend, logging 21 miles over the weekend.

We have had a few schooling lessons too. Today, we worked on transitions, shoulder in, haunches in and had an intro to side passing in our group lesson with Teacher/Magician Sonja at Horses of the Sun. 

Then we ponied MissT at an easy trot for 6 miles on the perimeter track at the farm, carefully avoiding the part of the track near the creek after the horses were nearly carried off by swarms of deer flies the first time we went by.  We also walked on our way by the grove so as not to startle the equine therapy riders.

Energy good. Recoveries on track. And most importantly, muscles loose.

So I am making offerings to the Horse Gods and thinking visualizing a positive outcome for Summer Solstice. 

I believe in Pronoia - a philosophy that I discovered many years ago thanks to astrologer, Rob Breszny, and his Beauty and Truth Lab. Pronoia is the opposite of paranoia. 

Pronoia - The universe is conspiring to shower you with blessings. Really!

Check it out. PRONOIA.

And just for good measure, I also plan to create a shrine to Rabbit, the Fear Caller. Keep him happy, well-fed and snoozing for the rest of the ride season. 

NO BUBBLE WRAP.

GIDDY-UP!

"To some tribes Rabbit is known as Fear Caller because he brings whatever he fears most to himself. He’ll see Coyote and will tell him to stay away because he’s afraid of him. When Coyote doesn’t hear, Rabbit calls louder and louder until coyote notices, then preys on him." 

- Jill Stefko

Image: Sal Brownfield

http://tinyurl.com/px6zsv2

Fit to be tied

Here is what I have learned about tie up. I hope this never happens to you, but I am sharing so that other can benefit!

What is tie-up? Read this short article by Dr. Stephanie Valberg


Here is a description of what happens to the muscle cells from Dr. Sue Garlinghouse:

"The ion pumps (ie, sodium/potassium, calcium/magnesium and calcium/ATPase) in the membrane surrounding the muscle cell which move substrates in and out of the cell are disrupted, and so the interior environment of the muscle cells either cannot get rid of waste products of metabolism, OR has too much of a metabolic substrate to be able to function, OR can`t get enough of a metabolic substrate to be able to function. And so the muscle cell simply shuts down. When muscle cells shut down, they don`t do so in the relaxed position, they freeze up in the contracted position, which is why you get those rock-hard muscles. Biochemically, it`s not all that different from rigor mortis."

It is important to administer fluids because you need to help the kidney flush the waste products from damaged muscle cells. More from Dr. Sue (same reference: Exertional rhyabdomyolysis):

"The effect on kidneys comes in when the connective tissue (the sarcolemma) surrounding and enclosing the muscle cell is disrupted, releasing the contents of the muscle cell into the bloodstream. There are lots of different proteins and substrates and whatnot in a muscle cell, but the important one for this particular discussion is myoglobin. Myoglobin is a protein pigment which is responsible for oxygen transport in the muscle cell. Hemoglobin transports oxygen in the bloodstream, myoglobin transports oxygen in the muscle cell. When myoglobin is released from a disrupted muscle cell into the bloodstream, it travels to the kidneys and is filtered out. In being filtered out of the bloodstream (and keep in mind, there`s probably a lot of it from the kidney`s point of view), it causes (or CAN cause) kidney damage or even total renal failure by overwhelming and clogging up the kidney tubules and restricting the blood (and therefore oxygen) supply to the kidney tissue. This effect will be worsened if the animal is hypovolemic, meaning he`s dehydrated and therefore has a decreased total plasma volume. A decreased plasma volume means that in turn the blood is thicker and that the heart must work harder to circulate. And this in turn means that less oxygen to delivered to the muscles and organs, fewer substrates, less waste product removed, and so on. A vicious cycle sort of thing. So while myoglobin does not directly damage the kidneys, in great enough concentration it will cause damage indirectly by clogging them up and creating what is called myoglobinuric nephrosis and possibly renal failure. It`s also the myoglobin being filtered out that shows up as very dark urine." 



Here is advice that my vet, Dr. Hubbard, got from Dr. Erica McKenzie, a vet who does research on equine muscle disorders and is especially interested in rhabdomyolysis in Arabians.

1) The absolute most important factor known to date to be associated with tie-ups in Arabian horses (in contrast to other breeds) is too much rest between and after workouts/events. She recommends having no more than one consecutive day of rest between workouts. This isn't to say that the horse should be worked strenuously two days after a 100 mile ride, but they should be exercised for even 20 minutes on the longe line (can't rely on turnout alone) to keep the muscles working and loose. From the work she has done she has determined that most horses tie up after a few days of rest following an event or following training when they were not worked out consistently for the days leading up to it. My own addendum to this would be in acknowledgement that this isn't always possible... so at least really focusing on getting her an easy longe 2 days after an event/training and consistently for a few days leading up to one at the very least.

2) She believes that diet plays less of a role in Arabians although she still suggests a high fat, low starch diet. I know you've added rice bran in the past and she is also a fan of supplemental oil in the diet for non-sugar calories.

Note: Other advice I have been given includes dramatically restricting grass intake (dry lot your horse) the week prior to a competition. Cool nights and warm days make the sugar levels really high defeating the purpose of the low starch diet. 

From a diet perspective, I also use Equine Choice probiotic and Acid FX to help keep Luba's tummy happy and full of good bugs. 

3) She recommends a supplement called Topline Extreme or as a back up SuperSport from Purina.  Note: these products are only available in the US. The basic idea is a structural issue in the intracellular structural proteins within the muscle cell, so it contains some amino acids of a type that might be specially incorporated into those proteins. Scientific evidence based in human studies and currently limited (we know feeding protein supplements before and after exercise will upregulate intracellular synthesis, but do we know specifically this supplement will do that and in a horse, no, not at all, needs to be determined)."

4) She does believe dantrolene can help horses recover from tie-ups quicker, that it can prevent some muscle necrosis, and that it can be used as a preventative at the lower dose, always giving 60-90 minutes before exercise. She warns that overuse and high doses can lead to high potassium levels among the other known side effects.

We gave Luba 2 mg/kg of dantrolene twice a day after she tied up on Sunday. By Tuesday, her muscles were nice and soft. 

A protocol from the  University of Minnesota protocol says that once your horse's CK falls below 3000 U/L, you can safely start them back to work using dantrolene. By Thursday, Luba's CK had fallen to 2,000.

Here is the protocol that we are using now to return to work using dantrolene given 60 minutes pre-exercise daily:

2 mg/kg for 5 days (800 mg for 400 kg horse)
1 mg/kg for 5 days (400 mg)
0.5 mg/kg for 5 days (200 mg)

Once Luba has exercised successfully for 5 days at the lowest dose, we will stop the drug and check her CK 4-6 hours after the next exercise session.  Dantrolene must be withdrawn well in advance of competition (60 hours for a 5 day regimen of 1 g per day according to CPMA Schedule of Drugs)


5) Interestingly she has learned from her research that even some of the most fit, and successful Arabian endurance horses have abnormally high CK (up to 10,000) following events despite looking and acting clinically normal! She suspects a genetic link somewhere there, so the research goes on!

Walk

He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying.  
Freidrich Nietzsche

The footing has been great this winter, compared to the skating rink of last year. But is has been cold. Damn cold. Since December, I can count on one hand the number of days when the temperature combined with the wind chill felt warmer than -25C.

Okay, we did have that weird spell of warm weather right after Christmas and we had a musical quadrille ride in the sand ring. 

December 28, 2014

But mostly, it has been damn cold.

Since there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing, we found some great down-filled jackets at Value Village. Then we went to Bushtukah and bought Hot Shots hand and toe warmers in bulk. And that is how we became.....

Winter Weekend Warriors

I have been faithfully riding Luba at least once and sometimes twice on the weekend all winter. Same for Charlotte and MissT.

Our dog, Karma, usually tags along.             

February 1, 2015

Sometimes I pony MissT.

January 10, 2015

Sometimes we saddle up. Sometimes we ride bareback.

December 20, 2014

December 21, 2014

               

December 6, 2014

Sometimes we ride in voltage gear. 

But mostly we ride bareback because it is warmer that way!

February 9, 2015

Last weekend, we got really adventurous and MissT pulled Charlotte on her sled.  Next up - skijoring!

The bottom line is that staying inside gives us cabin fever.  Walking in the snow is good exercise for the horses. Walking in deep snow is like walking up hills! 

And since our horses live outside 24/7, they don't get too hot and sweaty from a nice walk. 

Show up.

Do what you can.

Dress warm and have fun!

Spring is just around the corner

January 10, 2015

February 11, 2015