Well, I finally got the easyfoam to set and the easyboots stopped twisting on her hinds, so the end result was the same as if I actually followed the directions. Right? :)

The weather was unseasonably warm. In the upper 80s or so. As I was telling people all day (I think in my delirious heat-ridden state) we're from Pacifica, so the warm weather was new to us. When we left the ranch, my little town was covered in fog and coming back it was the same way. The fog is like permanent AC, it's great! But not for conditioning for these hot rides.. I'm not really quite sure how to handle this for future rides.

Isabella vetted in okay. She got all A's except for a B on gut sounds. She was also 'slightly off' on her right front which neither got worse or better throughout the ride. After vetting and the easyboot debacle over, we settled into camp and relaxed. Isabella was having a field day with the grass in the field we were in and wasn't too interested in her hay or beet pulp. She wasn't drinking much and since she lived in a big hilly grass field, I let her eat as much grass as she liked throughout the weekend.

On to the ride! We had an 8am start after the 50s went out at 6:30 so we lounged around and watched the 50s start. I expected to see a more eventful start, but to my surprise, the riders all walked out calmly out on the trail, the horses all well-behaved and calm - much different than the 25s start where I saw several people cantering or rushing out. Isabella and I eventually left 5 minutes past the start time.. I was SO proud of her, walking out without a rodeo show. The first half the of the ride was AWESOME. We had one set of riders pass us at the start which left Isabella jigging and we had a subsequent "conversation", but after that was resolved, we didn't see anyone else until the vet check. The first part of the ride was pretty hilly, with the infamous cardiac hill looming in our path. We walked the first hour and a half or so before we were able to get to the flat portion of the trail where we trotted our little butts off. The trails were all big wide fire roads and every hiker or biker I ran into was very nice and courteous, letting us through with a smile. It was about this time that I started to get a slight headache, most likely from the warm weather, so I tried to hydrate myself with gatorade the best I could. I purchased a camelback earlier in the month which would've been PERFECT for this ride, but of course I forgot it along with my alarm clock (I awoke that morning to the slamming of the portapotty doors. Hey, it worked..)

I got off and walked Isabella before what I thought was the vet check. Unfortunately it was quite a ways until we actually reached the vet check and I was pretty pooped having to walk up that uphill grade in the sun. Just as I tighted Isabella's girth and was about to get back on, I heard someone yelling that the vet check was right around the corner and sure enough, it was! We walked in and Isabella pulsed right down. Once again she was more interested in the grass than the oat hay provided and I let her munch. She wasn't drinking but when we vetted in, her hydration was great and she recieved good marks, although that right front was still "slightly off".

Because we passed quite a few people at the vet check, we ended up somewhere near the mid/end of the pack with riders in front and behind us. Isabella became a bit worked up about this and began jigging to catch up to the riders in front. She has learned to cleverly disguise her jigs to be not-so-bouncy to me, but I could still feel her hinds jogging in back when I asked her to walk (her HR also shoots up 20 bpm or so when she becomes anxious to catch up to riders in front of us - Horse, I know your clever little game!). We passed two nice ladies who were having a grand old time chatting along on the trail and moseyed on our way up and down the hills towards the end of the ride. We met Chris and Rider who I had seen at the Fireworks ride, and ran into my friend Katie on her cute arab Shrimp riding in the opposite direction with Julie Suhr - she completed her first 50 Katie, not Julie - HOORAY!!).

I was absolutely pooped at the end of the ride. The last few miles were all down a slight grade and Isabella and I trotted slowly down to the finish. This was great for Isabella, she was holding up well with her ears perked and happy little feet scurrying down the trail, but not so great for my thighs and knees, doing the best I could to absorb the shock so I wouldn't slam into her back. We walked in and she took a looong drink. The P&R gal took a while trying to find Isabella's pulse (it's tough to find - her heart seems to be located somewhere in her abdomen) and said with all the gut sounds she couldn't find her pulse! Not a bad thing to hear. :) She found her heart eventually and we pulsed down and headed to the vet check after cleaning up. She recieved decent vet scores, although she recieved a 'C' for gut sounds, just 30 min after the P&R gal's comment. This of course left me paranoid and I spent the rest of the afternoon with my ear to her belly. Isabella is pretty used to this, being the worrier that I am, and she just munched her grass, tolerating her compulsive, crazy human. :)

We drove home that evening since we were only about an hour and a half's drive away. The temperature dropped about 20 degrees as we entered Pacifica. I let Isabella out into pasture and she trotted away with her tail up in the air, flipping her head around a few times before greeting her "boyfriend" and grazing alongside him.

My thoughts on doing a 50 after this ride: I was *quite* satisfied with the 25 mile distance. :) I couldn't imagine going out and doing that trail again, especially because I hate backtracking (and hills - but those can't seem to be avoided, unfortunately). I wasn't as sore after this ride as I thought I would be. After previous rides I had seriously considered installing a 'handicapped chair lift' for my staircase. I guess that's a good sign.. Soooo.. HOOooray, we made it! Thanks to Merryben, Trilby and Michelle for putting on such a fun ride. Completion awards were these beautiful fleece blankets Trilby had hand made. I may just shoe Isabella all around before the next ride so I don't have to mess with the easyfoam. We'll be at Cooley doing the 25, can't wait!

Julienne
& Isabella Mari