I arrived early Friday morning at Isabella's ranch to get a good start on the day. The trailer was hooked up, hay was packed up, and dog ready to go. I pulled out Isabella from pasture and gave her a good once over.. and discovered my mare, who NEVER throws shoes, decided she would throw one the day before the ride. Was she trying to tell me something? Argh! Trying not to panic I called my farrier who answered (and he NEVER answers his phone), and less than 2 hours later we were on the road. My farrier left us with wishes of good luck and we left him a big fat tip.

As I pulled into camp, we were directed towards a fairly populated area close to the vet check. Nice! I settled in and began making camp but noticed soon enough that my trailer was faced directly into the hot sun. After debating back and forth whether or not to turn it around, I decided to stay the way I was. I vetted Isabella in and went for a short cruise around ridecamp and the trail. When I came back, I discovered a small party on the other side of my trailer. My neighbors were sitting on my trailer and had their electric corrals set up less than 2 feet away from us! I spoke to two people expressing my worries that my dog (who is tied up on a longish leash) could get entangled in their corrals, but they brushed it off and just commented on what a nice dog she was. Grrr. I spotted my friend Shiela Kumar pull in the other side of camp which was quieter and sooner than you could say "Holy crap my dog messed up your corrals" we were packed up and relocated to a much better location with my trailer parked the right way. :) Ildi, one of Maryben's juniors, held my two critters for me while I made the move.. thanks Ildi!

Before the ride I ran into Barbara White who I was parked next to at the Diablo's ride. I was happy to get information about the trail from her, especially the 50. She mentioned that is was much easier to come in on time on the 50 versus the 25 due to hold times. That gave me a big sense of relief.. I knew we'd be going pretty slowly so the more time the better. Isabella is conditioned in a very cool environment and even with the cooler temps predicted this year for this ride, I was still concerned about heat.

After a good night's rest (thanks Benadryl!), we woke up to a muggy misty morning. I left the rump rug off of Isabella and tacked up slowly. I was in no rush and we waited about 10 minutes before we headed off. Even after dozens and dozens of ride starts, Isabella still jigs. Only difference now that she's older is that she'll jig on a loose rein, very controlled. I asked a rider in front of me who was walking along with her gelding, "So how long did it take for your boy to walk like that at the start?" She laughed, "It's only his first ride, he's always been quiet.." Hmm. Lucky lady. We soon were in a line with the venerable Julie Suhr in the lead. We made good time but I was concerned that the pace was too fast up the hills and soon fell back. This was enough to get the kinks out and Isabella was now paying attention to me and walking along at a good pace.

We soon arrived at the formidable river crossing. Isabella trucked through the water (which was high this year, my soles got wet!) while I kept steering her upstream. I opted not to get the pictures from this crossing because of the goofy look of concentration on my face and my reins all askew as I asked her to keep moving right. :)

As the day wore on, I eventually ended up riding with April Battles and Cindy from Berkeley. They were going the same speed as Isabella and I (slooow) and provided great conversation during the day. We also leapfrogged back and forth with John Parke and Remington. It boggles my mind to think about the number of miles these two fellows have (almost 10,000 together!). Did you know that Remington and Skoldjur both stop at a full on gallop to poop? Now you do.. :)

After the 1st 20 minute hold at the Dimeo vet check, we were about 5 miles out when Isabella began limping at the walk. We had just gone up a small hill. Was it my imagination? I asked her to trot then immediately stopped her when I felt she was definitely off on the right hind. I dismounted and checked both feet for rocks. Not finding any, I felt her over for any heat.. nope. I sighed, gave her a good pat, then turned around to walk back to the vet check. We passed April and Cindy (and successfully confused them into thinking they were going the wrong way) and then ran into John and Remy again. I explained what was going on and he remarked, "Oh, so she's not working out of it?" We parted ways and I kept thinking to myself, they can do that?? We walked a few more minutes then I trotted Isabella out. Sound! I trotted her out again. Yep! Woohoo, I climbed back on and turned around. She would later get a B at the lunch check for gait, a B+ at the 4th check, and an A at the final check.

The rest of the ride was fairly uneventful. I enjoyed exploring the parts of the ride I'd never seen before that the 50's get to experience. The views of the ocean were beautiful and with the cloud cover all day long, the heat was tolerable. The trails under the trees were downright cool. I had my Cool Medics vest on in the morning but it didn't really help being that it was pretty muggy and left it off at the lunch vet check. Isabella came down to 60 within a minute at every pulse check and recieved A's and B's all day long, EDPP'ing (eating, drinking, pooping, peeing) like a good little horse.

I'm not sure why, but those last 7 miles coming into came from the UCSC vet stop always seem like the longest ever. Maybe because it seems like it's all uphill? In any case, I was never more happy than to see the finish line. We came in at 5:30pm, 11 1/2 hours after we started. :) Woohoo!!

Isabella was ravenous when we returned. She scarfed up all carrots within reaching distance and made a good dent out of the hay supply. I vetted her out and made sure she was all tucked in for the night and settled into bed, exhausted, at around 10pm. All of a sudden I heard a big ruckus outside. I took a peak and Isabella was stretched out at the end of her hitie. She pawed at the ground and rolled twice, making "oh-I'm-not-feeling-so-good" sounds. Crap. I reached under her blanket to feel her belly, which was tight and slightly sweaty. Her gut sounds were still noisy, about a B, but she hadn't pooped or peed since we got back into camp around 6pm. In my pj's, I walked Isabella over to Michelle Roushe's trailer. By the time I searched through the trailer to find Michelle's trailer, Isabella was eating again. Michelle gave her a good check and said she didn't think it was anything serious, probably a gas cramp or muscle spasm. I could either just watch her overnight or give her a shot of Banamine to ease any discomfort (meanwhile Isabella was pulling my arm off trying to get at the grass..). I elected to give her a banamine shot and keep a close eye on her. I have a feeling it was the heat that eventually caught up to us in the end. Even a fellow rider mentioned that she looked like she had a winter coat. I will definitely clip for the next ride..

I woke up to a mess of poop that I was delighted to see! Hooray for horse poop. The next few days Isabella ate like hay was going out of style. I trotted her out on Monday and she was in good spirits. Awesome horse.. :)

China had a great time watching the gopher holes that littered ridecamp. She would stare intently then make a mad dash for a hole, only to be jerked back by the leash she was attached to. Hehe, cheap entertainment.

Thanks to the Santa Cruz Horsemen who put on a lovely ride. Due to Tevis being the next weekend, the ride wasn't nearly as crowded as it can be and I had a great ride in the cooler temperatures. Most importantly, we finished our 2nd 50! Yay!

Julienne
& Isabella Mari