Cache Creek Ridge Ride

Hello everybodies, how are you? I am so fabulous, and in recovery mode. I went on my big adventure last weekend with my friends Hueypony and Waylonpony and Ticopony. We went to Cache Creek enduring pony ride, and *spoiler alert* I did pony riding for 50 miles! It was a hard day, but we've worked hard all winter getting my body ready to handle it, as well as working really hard on my brain and my behavings. I mostly kept my brain between my ears, and I did not kill Cyd, which she was really a bit concerned about. The first part of the adventure was having my yellow slippers glued on to my hoofies. Thanks Aunty V for holding my face and distracting me, and Aunt-T for helping with the gluing. I usually get a bath before events, but it was cold and rainy so not this time. 

Have to stand still while the epoxy dries!

Cyd brought my pony trailer to my house really early on Friday, and Hueypony arrived at the same time. Our people had already packed our saddles and pyjamas and snacks and their helmets, so we both got in right away and went to join the convoy of friends so we could all drive together. I was very calm and polite when we arrived, and hung out with Waylon while Cyd and Aunt-T quickly popped up the truck tent, cos for it scaring me. Once the noisy bits were done, my hi-tie got set up, and I got a mash and some water and my hayfoods. It was time for the people to go check in, so Cyd asked for our camp-mates to keep an eye on me just in case. Once she had her packet with the map and the vet card, she was heading back to the trailer and could hear Aunty D calling for me, and saw me walking towards her. I had broken the carabiner on my rope to go exploring. I got a new carabiner and reattached to my hi-tie, and the tent tarp got some string and duct tape on anything that might flap. I was ready to camp!

The vet people were going to start examining all us ponies at 4pm, but Cyd noticed they had already arrived so we asked if I could come over early before it got crazy busy with a long line. I was the first pony vetted in. This time, my pulse was 40! Usually it's really high cos for being excited but gets lower each ride. 60, 56, 52, 48, now 40. In my field it's 36, so that's getting close! I stood quite still, and the nice vet went slow for me. I did my trotting out pretty good, only cantered a little bit, and didn't do any dragon impressions this time. I got a number on my butt and I was ready to start!

Snacking on some grasses before bed time

Cyd got up really early to give me some breakfast and to get us both ready for the day. It was very dark, and I was a bit fidgety but mostly I stood politely. I could tell something exciting was happening. Before I knew it, Cyd was on my back, and Aunt-T was on Hueypony, and we were going somewhere in the dark.

Heading to the start

There were some glow sticks to show the people where to go, and it got light quickly, but the people couldn't see much when we first set off.

The first tricky bit was a scary bog. There was a line to go across because not all the ponies were super brave or excellently behaved. We let some riders come by us, and Hueypony took the lead in case I was nervous. Except that Hueypony had an out of character moment and said "No thank you, no bogs for me". Cyd put me in front to try and I said no too. I got a bigger boomp from her heels, kicked up my heels a little, got a growling at, then marched right through. Someone in the back of the line commented on what a good horse I was, which gave Cyd a big grin, they don't even know how bad I used to be at getting my hoofies wet.

The middle bit of water crossing, the peoples sussed it out the day before

We pulled over after going through all the water cos for about 15 horses being behind us and we didn't want to be rushed. We got more compliments as they came past on how good we did and that Cyd and Aunt-T did a nice job with us. Both us ponies bounced a bit, and wanted to canter after our new friends, but we compromised on really springy trots instead. The first few miles had a lot of passing back and forth with different people, and seeing good and excited and even some bad ponies. My winter brain training paid off, and while I wasn't perfect, Cyd was very impressed at how well I handled the commotion. With 103 horses in my race, we knew we'd be seeing other horses all day, but I've never started a ride like this before. Some more practice and experience and it won't be a problem for me. 

Most of today was spent going up the hills and down the hills and up the hills and down the hills. At the top of one of the hills was a photographer. He took lots of pictures of me, and I demonstrated how quickly my mood changes. I kept my ears up for the 2nd photographer, but I did spook at his ATV. I was happy and grumpy and happy all at the same time. Other pony riders laughed at me all day for being a grumpy guts, and said how mareish I was, and Cyd had to tell them I'm a gelding kind and I got laughed at more. I was really good with my socialability though, I didn't snap my teeth at anyone, and I didn't try to kick anyone, even though three different ponies bumped into me during the day. More training paying off. We worked hard for a reason! I was wearing my a-hole ribbon (the red ribbon that kicky ponies wear to warn others to stay back) and Cyd had to verbally warn a few people who didn't pay attention to my ribbon so they would give me a little extra room. Thanks for giving me space everybody, it helped me a lot! Here's my some of pictures from the first picture taker:

Dr Jekyll Bugsy and Mr Hyde Bugsy

Before we knew it, it was time for the first vet check. For this one, we had to go in on one side, have our pulse taken and make sure it is 60 or below (I was pulsed down as soon as we arrived), and then go out the other side doing trotting so the vet could make sure we were moving ok. We only had to stop for an exam if we were a bit wibbly but me and Hueypony were just fine and set off on our next leg. On this section I figured out Cyd did not have her dressage whip, which she usually carries in case I start being a brat pony. Uhoh! I was a bit bad for a couple of miles, but once we re-established that Cyd was still the leader I went back to being really good again. In fact, Cyd was having to hold me back most of the day, I wanted to go go go most of the time.  I was a good multi-tasker all day, and decided that as a good endurance pony I could save time by doing trottings and snacking at the same time.

It was getting more and more rainy, and the ground was getting a bit slippy. I had to be really careful where I put my feeties, especially when we got to the long downhill going to our next vet check. Cyd got off near the top to walk me a couple of miles. It was a narrow trail, and we were in a line of 9 horses counting me and Hue. There were also a ton of ponies who were faster than us and already did their vet check who were coming up the narrow trail. I was really polite and stepped off the trail wherever Cyd asked, and made sure I kept my butt away from ponies wherever possible, but sometimes we had to squeeze and I didn't get mad about it. Cyd hit a really slippy spot and started skiing down the hill. She didn't want to snatch my head so dropped my reins until she stopped. I just kept walking quietly and stopped when I got next to her so she could hold me again. She hopped on to ride me across the creek and up the little hill and we were at our lunch time vet check. This was 25 miles in, and we had to pulse to 60 again, and make sure our respirations were slow enough, and then an hour to rest and eat and be vetted. My pulse was at 56 right away, but my breaths were a bit fast cos for having a lot of things to sniff, like someone making a mash in front of me, and another pony's sweaty saddle pad. The PnR lady suggested we take me to a quiet spot and I stopped doing sniffing and I met the criteria. Cyd found my crew bag, pulled off my saddle, put on my fuzzy cooler, and took me straight to the vet line. I ate some grasses while I was waiting, and was very polite. Hue and I got seen at the same time, and I saw a vet I never saw before. I was a bit nervous and didn't like all the poking, but it didn't take long. I did perfect at my trotting out and the vet gave me As. Hueypony and I set to work eating any snacks we could get in our mouths, my snack of choice was his beet pulp and carrots, and he wanted alfalfa even though it makes him crazy. I also found some food that someone left behind and scoffed that, and loads of grass and hay, and the mash that Cyd made for me. It amazingly didn't rain while we stopped, so we didn't get chilled. Suddenly it was time to get ready to go again.

We got our saddles and repacked our crew bags, and double checked with Dr K cos for Hueypony passing his vet check but not having had anything to drink all day. Dr K said to keep going unless Aunt-T didn't want to, and as soon as he had a drink to give him a half dose of electrolytes. We mounted up and headed out. The first bit of trail out was the stream crossing, and of course the first thing Hue did was take a drink. I was doing great at drinking all day, even spotting the water troughs and breaking into a trot and throwing my head in to take a big long drink. The ride organisers were great at having water everywhere in big black tubs, as well as there being puddles everywhere. 

The slippy downhill was even worse going uphill, and was an indication of trails to come. We did trotting where we could but it was getting to be slow going. We fell in line with some experienced riders who were setting a good pace, trotting where it was safe, walking if we needed to. It got so slippy that they chose to dismount, so me and Hue went by. A few miles on though it got really really bad so Cyd and Aunt-T got off. Very soon Cyd fell down. I stood still while she scrambled back up, and we started down the slip'n'slide. I was skidding all over the place, and Cyd was grabbing at grasses or branches to try to stay upright. It didn't work very well and she fell down again. It was slow slow going, and Aunt-T and Cyd were starting to get worried. They wanted to do enduring, but they didn't want us ponies to get hurt. They thought we had to come back up this trail, and had pretty well decided if that was the case they might have to do something called rider option, meaning that we pass our vet check but get a lift home in the pony trailer and quit. They were sad about this choice, and decided to talk to the organising people at the bottom of the hill. Cyd fell down 2 more times on the way, but we were finally in a parking lot with solid ground. My pulse was really low and we grabbed some alfalfa for Cyd to hold and me to eat while we went straight to the vet. I passed with my best scores so far. The lady in charge at the vet check informed our people that while the trails were going to be slippery, she didn't think anything was as bad as the hill we just came down, and even with doing a lot of walking we had just enough time to finish. The people got on and we took off right away. Soon after the vet check, we nearly had a disaster and I proved to be a really good pony. We were moving down the trail when suddenly the edge crumbled underneath me. We weren't super close, but apparently close enough. I only had one hoof on the trail, and one hoof on some of the dirt under where the edge of the trail was. Cyd gave me all the rein, and sat really still. Aunt-T made Hueypony stand really still too, and just looked shocked. I did some scrambing and got us back on the trail. We stood and all did deep breathing for a bit after than. We were safe, and I didn't seem to be hurt, so we kept moving. We soon caught up to a friend of Cyd's, who is also the same person who is our rep for my go-faster booties. We had put my viper kind on the foot where the slipper fell off, but the cable had snapped and A pointed it out to Cyd. Not only did she notice, but she happened to have a kind that fit me on her saddle, and she let us borrow it. Thanks A, that was super helpful and kind. There was a lot more walking to do, and we tried to stay in the grass as much as possible to limit our sliding.

I see camp!

We finally made it back to the trail to camp that we had started on this morning. Cyd spotted a handy dandy mounting tree, so hopped off to take off the loaned boot. We didn't want it getting sucked off in the crazy bog, especially that it didn't belong to us. She hopped back on for the final stretch. To get to the creek and the bog, we had to go down a short steep bank. I started sliding again, and did a squat. It seemed to last a long time, and Cyd was very concerned about my hind end. I was moving ok, so we continued across the bog. Then there it was! Camp was in sight!!

We just had 10 minutes to spare! Phew. Uncle J was waiting there for us as a surprise, and Waylon's person, and Tico's people. We walked to the finish people, gave our numbers, and went straight to the pony trailer. Cyd quickly pulled off all my tack, snuggled me into my cooler, and we went straight to see the vets for our final exam. I passed all my criteria, and my pulse was 52. We had only been done for a few minutes. I behaved for my trot out, and I was sound but vet/runner/endurance rider Dr M was scoring me and mentioned to Cyd that there was something not quite right. Uncle J videoed it so Cyd could see. She has since trotted me out the next morning, when I got off the pony trailer at home, and this morning, and each time I'm moving better. Once I got back to the pony trailer after receiving my completion I got my waterproof blanket on over the top of my cooler, and some cooling spray on my leggies, and my compression socks. 

More food please!

I was bright eyed and eager when I went walking around camp that evening, and was cheerfully eating my snacks and drinking my water all night. Sunday morning I woke Cyd up a little after 5am with my fidgeting, and some whinnying. She got up and put shoes and a sweater over her jammies and took me walking to settle me down. I did my quick march and wanted to go and see everybody and sample all the water troughs, and eat all the grasses. After breakfast and packing all our things it was time for us ponies to get in the pony trailer and go back to our houses. Hueypony and I traveled really well, and was patient when the people made stops like for coffee and to pee. As soon as I got home I drank a ton of water, and started eating my hay.

See you next time!