This past weekend, Isabella and I returned to NATRC by attending the Silver Spurs ride in Cool, CA. We had taken a 3 year hiatus where she had become a pasture ornament, being ridden twice a week, while I spent the years spending more time with non-horsey friends and partying (hehe). I felt we were finally ready after conditioning this year so we went ahead and entered us into this ride which we had done before in 2001.

First off, thank you Russ and Dale for putting on a great ride.. the volunteers were angels and the food was absolutely delicious! It was so cool to see the familiar, friendly faces from when I rode in the years previous.

The last time we attended this ride, we almost didn't get to start because of a slightly swollen fetlock. After re-vetting after a night and early morning of hosing, we were allowed to ride and Isabella then went ahead and finished 2nd place horse in that ride. This time was not without its trials and tribulations as well.. it was clearly one of the best times and worst I've had on horseback in one weekend.

One of the major obstacles during this ride was going solo. I signed up for USRider insurance because I'd be trailering a lot this year and it really put peace into my mind that if anything did happen out on the road I wouldn't be alone. At the Friday night dinner I sat with two couples, Marlene who was riding CP and Bob who rode Open, and Jill who was in the Novice division as well and her husband (who I can't remember his name, but was one of the funniest people I've met!). After Bob and I chatted about our respective mounts, we got into an in depth conversation about golf clubs, driving ranges, and errant destructive golf balls. Very entertaining!

The next morning started at 5:00am (ouch). I was lucky enough to be camped next to Denise and her chestnut arab and she got me up nice and early for the day. "Julienne! Time to wake up!" *groan* I tacked up Isabella and hopped on her to ride around camp. She hunched up a little bit at one point to act her naughty little self, but after I returned to my trailer to drop off my jacket and got back on her, she was great and even walked to the starting line on a loose rein. What a difference from the endurance ride last month when she was bucking and acting like a crazy loon. Little did I know she was conserving her precious energy for the first half of the ride where she jigged and jigged and jigged. Suprisingly, there were no acrobatics involved, but she just couldn't settle into a walk.

After about 7 miles, we seperated ourselves from the pack and Isabella turned into a different horse, obedient and quiet. It was also quite warm (mid-90s) and Isabella and I both were sweating quite a bit. We passed an judged uphill by the vet judge, Greg Fuller DVM and horsemanship judge, Jim Ferris. Later in the day we were judged on a steep uphill/downhill around ribbons, and negotiating a ditch where we had to choose the easiest spot to go through (of course I chose the steepest, hey, I thought, Isabella can do it!).

There were about 3 spots where the photographer took our picture, and I realized at this point that I had not only worn my shirt inside-out, but backwards as well! Must've been due to the lack of functioning brain cells so early in the morning.. it took all I had to get my breeches on correctly. I looked around and found there were no horses/riders nearby and quickly readjusted my clothing (and gave the Cool residents a good flash if anyone happened to look out their windows). The one good photograph I purchased from the ride is pretty entertaining - Isabella jigging, Julienne with a strained look on her face and her inside-out backwards shirt on. Lovely!

Lunchtime came around and Isabella was still not drinking. She was very interested in the leftover hay on the ground and I gathered up a pile for her to graze. Because she wasn't drinking, I elected not to electrolyte her, but as we left she took a looooong sip and my electrolyte syringe had been left with my lunch! Argh, Mistake #1.

Around 2pm it began to get very very hot. There were a lot of climbs without shade and it was beginning to take a toll on both of us. Isabella *hates* uphills.. she'll stop every 5 feet if she feels she's being overexerted. I had her heartrate monitor on and made her stop every time she'd climb over 135-140 as well. Towards the end of the ride we got very lost. We missed a turn and continued on a path called 'Rollercoaster Trail', and that it was. There were 3 *very* steep hills we climbed up and down before noticing there were no ribbons, no riders. That's another thing about riding alone, you really have to be paying attention and I was getting very tired at that point. We turned around and went back up and down those 3 tough hills before finding the trail again. Mistake #2.

Soon after returning to the correct trail, I met up with Jill and her lovely pinto mustang which lifted my spirits immensely. We dismounted and tried to cool off in the shade while our mounts caught their breath. The heat and all that climbing was causing both horses to pant.. and there was no horse water for the end portion of the ride which was badly needed in the sort of heat that day. We slowly climbed up to another P&R where there were a handful of horses being held because they were over criteria. Isabella was inverted at 10/12 after 10 minutes, but we were able to go on. As soon as we left there were .8 miles to camp and Isabella's ears picked right up. Jill and I were worried about time so we trotted all the way back to camp, laughing as we came in (on time!). The horses were eager to make it home.

When we arrived back, Isabella took long, long sips from the cold trough water. Mistake #3. I took her tack off, hosed her down, and she immediately began to cramp up as she was standing there. Her stomach muscles tightened and her breathing became very labored. She wanted to lie down badly, but afraid of colic, I wouldn't let her. I walked her around and at one point she began dragging her right hind leg. With tears in my eyes I searched frantically for the vet and ran into Dale Lake and the ride secretary (I'm forgetting her name - she was so helpful and nice!) who reassured me and helped me grab a hold of Dr. Fuller. By the time Dr. Fuller arrived back in camp, she was noticably better. She was alert and looking around again, nickering to old friends, and breathing normally. He advised me to keep giving her soupy beet pulp/mash and keep her hay away until her gut sounds returned to normal - they had quieted down a bit through the cramping. I learned another lesson the hard way.. next time I'll offer her horse water which had been heated throughout the day back at my trailer rather than ice cold trough water and keep her walking after she drinks. Dr. Fuller said I'd still be eligible for completion if I kept her comfortable and she kept improving.

By the time our final vet check rolled around, she was back to normal. She was a very very tired horse, no doubt from doing all that extra work from getting lost. We vetted through perfectly, her hydration and vitals were great.

Denise let me use her new camp tent shower to freshen up for the awards ceremony - wow. What a difference it is to have running hot water when you return to camp! It was awesome (thankyouthankyou!). All of the riders were pooped after the long, hot day and most were falling asleep after dinner as we waited for the ride results. They passed out completion awards which were nice hankerchiefs (good for dusty trails), and the first place horsemanship awards recieved a nice travel backpack and horse awards were a big bucket of horse treats. Sweepstakes and high point recieved beautiful etched window panels which were done by Mike Lance. I was so happy to have finished and to have accomplished everything solo for the first time that I was taken by suprise when I got to take home all three prizes (high point was won by my camp neighbor Denise, yay!). It just isn't sinking in.. Isabella and I have done 4 NATRC rides before without even taken a first, let alone two! So I guess a crazy jigging horse and inside-out backwards shirt wearing rider *can* do this stuff alone! :)

Early morning Sunday I drove back home and let Isabella out in the arena to loosen her muscles and relax. The weather was completely different, being foggy and chilly in the Oakland Hills. I put on her blanket and she had a few satisfying rolls in the arena before running around, snorting at the world.. one of the most beautiful sites I could see after the weekend. I love my little girl.