It had been way too long between rides.. the last ride we did was Fireworks, almost 2 months ago! I was definitely going through withdrawals, and this past weekend more than fulfilled my lack of ride time. :) In short, did we elevate? Yes we did. Did we complete our first 50? No we didn't. But it sure was a heck of a ride I won't forget for a while.

I arrived at Bort Meadows around 1:30pm along with my barnmates Becky Bianchi and her hubby Scott, who were doing the fun ride to 'break in' their new horse Batez, and daughter Julie who was riding the 50. We found an excellent spot next to a water spigot and the bathrooms (SCORE!) and got settled pretty quickly. I had a blast camping next to them.. they're definitely a warm friendly family and I never felt alone all weekend long.

Ok, I can never seem to write these ridestories without complaining about another rider, so here's my one real gripe of the weekend. As we finished settling in, a gal decided to squeeze her trailer between mine and my neighbor's. No one had parked in that spot as of yet because 1) Isabella was high-tied on that side leaving very little space and 2) there were 2 huge big holes in the ground! This gal decided to back over the holes and after reassuring me her horses were going to be no where near mine, she tied her horse right across from Isabella, in prime kicking zone. I asked her again about her tying so close and she began to get irritated, "Why is this such a big deal to you?" Uhhh.. well, because I don't want our horses to kick each other??? I told her Isabella was a mare and could very well kick the crap out of her horse if she didn't back him off (well, in nicer words) and her response was, "Oh, well he's a gelding that thinks he's a stallion, they should be fine." What?? I didn't understand her logic at all so I moved Isabella over to the other side after Becky and Scott offered to move their camp over. Later on during the ride, the same gal galloped past Isabella and I as we were walking and we later saw her at the vet check keeping her horse from eating any hay because "he had already eaten enough carrots". *sigh*

Ridestart was at 7am and we walked to the start where I saw some other barnmates of mine, Lisa and Rita, getting ready to do the fun ride. I chatted with them as the start timer took our numbers and once he called time, everybody just stood around waiting for someone to go. Finally Jackie Floyd took off with her CUTE grey gelding, James Dean, and people started reluctantly heading out. I tried to wait a while longer while I sat and talked with my barnmates, but Isabella was tossing her head and getting very anxious, so off we went! Isabella knew these trails quite well, having boarded at Piedmont Stables, and she was off like a mare on a mission. I'd never seen her like this. I got her to walk up the long hill that eventually would lead us to Redwood Park, but anytime I asked her to pick it up, she would go into this crazy ground-eating, fire-breathing trot that she never does at home. Insane horse!

We reached the first vet check at around 13 miles in about 2 hours for the 30 min hold. Isabella got all A's and a C+ on gut sounds, just like the pre-ride check in. Quiet gut sounds seems to be the theme with her. She devoured oat hay during the hold and drank a bit before we headed out again. We walked up the hills and trotted everywhere else we could, and again, the insane trot. The trails were very hilly, but with good flat spots interspersed to make up time. When we left Piedmont Stables the second time and headed back at camp, she turned into a different horse. She walked soooo slowly back up the hill into Chabot park, like she was dying. A few times she tripped and almost fell to her knees. What the heck was going on with her? Ahh, I finally got it.. poor Isabella was completely depressed. She thought we were done back at Piedmont Stables, where she was nickering and whinnying to all of her old friends. Once we got back into camp her spirits lifted again and old friends were completely forgotten. We vetted in with all A's once again and her gut sounds improved to a B. Hooray!

So, I had been thinking about elevating the first loop.. mentally preparing myself for trying our first 50. I asked the vet what he thought and he gave his opinion.. she was a little leg weary, but seemed to be in good spirits and great shape. Seeing that we came in 4th of the LDs (honestly, we weren't going that fast.. we got in around 12pm!) we could take it slow on the second half and make it in on time. So I made the decision.. we're going to elevate! Eep!

We headed back to the trailer for our hour hold and Isabella napped/ate/ate/ate/drank while I refilled saddle bags and prepared for the second half of the ride. I cleaned her up and resaddled her about 10 min before our out time and suprisingly, Isabella followed me without hesitation, she was up for it. :) I ran into Katie Azevedo, who was the volunteer out-timer, and talked to her about elevating - I think she was more excited about us trying our first 50 than I was! hehe. She was very encouraging and wished us luck as we left for the 3rd (out of 4) loop.

On the way out, Isabella picked up a good trot and we happily went along, waving hello to Sandy Holder and Julie as they were coming back from their 3rd loop (they came in top ten!). We got passed by a few other elevator riders and then came to a 3 way intersection. I read the paper plate that said 'All riders up hill to the left' and I obediently turned Isabella up Cottontail Trail. It was a long hard climb, a rise of 1000' feet in 1/2 a mile in the hot sun. Once we got to the top we turned down the trail where we ran into another top ten rider. She asked us if we were running in front and I said nope, we're holding up the rear! We got our maps out and she informed me that I took a wrong turn.. we weren't supposed to go up that crazy hill! Ugh, we lost about 40 minutes figuring all of this out and then making it back to the original trail. I re-read the sign and found that it read 'All *FUN* riders up hill to left" and a plate above it that read "50 am riders straight" DOH!! It was very discouraging and I think a little part of me gave up around then. I had planned to make it back around 4pm for the 4th loop so we could take our time on the last leg and now we were way behind schedule. Isabella was pretty pooped going up that long, hot hill and there were plenty of more hills between us and ridecamp. :( I didn't want to tax her anymore in the heat and so we took our time going back, me thinking the whole time - what the heck was I thinking? Why am I doing this to my poor horse? Ugh, I should just quit this sport, I can't do 50 miles.. I was in very low spirits.

We walked into camp at 5:15pm. I told the in-timers that I didn't think we could make the 4th loop and there was some discussion about when the cutoff time was. 6:30pm or 7:00pm? In any case, that would mean going out for another 12 mile loop, the first 8 miles being just as hilly as where we just came from. I led Isabella over to the vet for our final check where Isabella recieved mostly A's.. he asked how I was doing and I had one word for him, "POOOPED!!" He laughed and asked me to trot her out. I made my best attempt at trotting her out just managed going in sort of zig-zaggedy stumble across the field. He chuckled at my feeble-ness and I suggested someone else trotting her out.. He agreed, and one of the nice P&R volunteers trotted her out for me. The vet said when I trotted her out she looked lame! But with the other gal Isabella trotted out perfectly sound. haha! Sad. He noted my Rider Option pull after I told him I didn't want to go on (toooo tired and didn't want to push the last loop), and I recieved some encouraging words from the P&R gal saying "Good for you for taking care of yourself and your horse!". That made me feel so much better about my decision. :)

We learned a lot this past weekend. Unfortunately our first attempt at a 50 was a non-completion, but I think we went about 40 miles in some hilly terrain no worse for wear. I was very proud of how my girl did. She ate and drank all day, and even in the heat of the afternoon when I was feeling so bummed, she would perk her ears and give me an animated, happy little trot when I asked. I knew she was feeling good when she was spooking at ribbons after riding for 10 hours.. still.

Back at the trailer she snoozed and ate and ate and ate and drank. I was so pleased with how she did. That evening I let her out in pasture and she didn't even pause to say goodbye, she just flicked her head out of the halter and trotted away from me, screaming her head off calling to her herd.. haha! It was so good to see her feeling like that.

Me, on the other hand, I can barely walk today! Honestly, I can only manage a pathetic hobble at a 1mph pace. And STAIRS!! Forget it!! I have to crawl up them.. so pathetic! Well, hopefully I'll be recovered by the end of October for Lake Sonoma, which will be our second attempt (yikes, did I just say that?). Until then, Isabella gets some well deserved TLC and hopefully I'll be able to walk normally again soon.