spookypony
Well-Known Member
I haven't reported much in a while, so hope some people still remember us! Last year, we tried to do our first 80k ride, but were out at the second Vet Gate. It took until the weekend before last to try again!
I had, pretty much at last minute, managed both to get a ride partner sorted who appeared to have the same goals as me (complete the 81k at min. 11kph, to try to get Silver Thistle Final, but without going stupidly fast and risking the whole ride), and a crew: my best friend agreed to drive up from York (about 5-6 hours!) the night before, despite never having been at an Endurance ride before. At least she knows me and the pony very well!
I managed to do most of the packing before the weekend, and had cleared with the vets that the sick stripy cat could have his meds as a double dose Saturday morning and Sunday evening, rather than one pill morning/evening both days. Nevertheless, I still had so many random things to do on Saturday morning that it was still just after 1pm before I managed to leave. The SP was to stay overnight at a hunting stable just down the road from the venue field, along with his BFF the Normally Grey Pony, and with another mare from our branch whom he knows (among other things) from his trip with the Scottish Team to Ireland. We had to go through the middle of Aberdeen and Dundee to get to the venue, but we still managed to get there in just over 2 hours. I wasn't expecting my friend until about 6pm, so I had loads of time to settle the SP into his stable, give him a much-needed thorough grooming, do his feet with the special thrush powder, and get him his extra-large dinner.
Soon, I got messages informing me that road-works had somehow made my friend lose her way and end up in the middle of Glasgow (this turned out to be a mild exaggeration). Meanwhile, I went to the local inn, where I had managed to make a last-minute reservation after deciding that I really do hate tents, to check in and wait. She finally arrived at about 7:30, and we had just enough time to scout out the two crew points in the dark, before dinner.
The next morning, I wanted to be at the venue for 7:30, to get everything set up ready for the vet-gates and have lots of time to prepare before our 8:30 vetting. Arriving at the yard, we were happy to see that the SP had polished off most of his 2 giant hay nets and much of his water, and shavings in his tail suggested that he'd had a lie-down, too. I was far too nervous for a proper breakfast, but did manage a banana and a cup of coffee: I'd cleverly (so I thought) remembered to pack the camp stove, and had some UHT milk that we could then put in the "organ transplant box". About that: a previous lodger, in a medical job, kindly provided me with a massive styrofoam box, made to hold 6 very big ice packs as well as medications needing refrigeration, keeping them below freezing for 72 hours. This is fantastic for rides, where I can simply take out 2 ice packs for each vet gate, and deposit them in the sloshing buckets to chill the water while I'm riding.
Our companion arrived a little late, due to a lost shoe, but we vetted and started in plenty of time. At first, my biggest worry was about the beach stretch, which was to be about 12km into the ride. And then again, at the same point on the second loop (the first two loops were a repeated 30k loop)! Before we got there, however, we (along with all the other 80k riders before us) took a wrong turn. We met the people in front when they had discovered their error and turned around, so we were soon heading towards the beach in a large cluster of six over-excited horses, exactly the sort of scenario I had been hoping to avoid! Fortunately, we managed to fall back a bit, and rode through the dunes carefully, so as not to have any problems in deep sand. When we finally saw the sea, the SP gave it one good long look, and then simply cantered calmly as you please behind his buddy, and I had the hugest grin ever on my face by the time we reached the end.
My friend crewed us like she'd been doing it for years: calmly offered the pony his buckets (he began drinking quite early, as it was hot and sunny), made sure I had bananas and energy bars and electrolyte drink, and realised without the need for me to say anything that it would be better to offer me the sloshes for pouring over him after he'd had an opportunity to drink.
The rest of the first loop really did loop the loop, back and forth through the forest, along tracks that were mostly just perfectly soft without being slippery or deep. There was one nasty stretch of sharp stones, which we walked because our companion horse was feeling them a bit, and we didn't want to risk a bruise. The SP's Renegades completely protect his soles from that sort of sharp stone, but he still doesn't like it when stones are rolling about under his feet. I don't blame him! Thanks to the little detour, we finished the first loop well up on time, but a bit slower than I had been planning on for this stage.
At the vet gate, we were stationed at the lorry, right beside the vet. I got a little ahead of myself: as soon as I'd hauled his saddle off, I took a HR, discovered that his HR was already down, and shouted "Ready to present" before even taking his bridle off! Despite this minor embarrassment, he vetted in under a minute, with a HR of 48/49 (they take it twice, before and after trotting up). I now put my camp stove to good use and heated a can of bean and bacon soup---and then discovered that I'd forgotten a spoon. My brain wasn't quite engaged enough to simply ask if anyone else had one, so I stirred it with a hoof-pick. Strangely, I seem not to have suffered any ill effects!
Thanks to my friend's aggressive efforts to keep me fed and hydrated, I felt far better than at last year's attempt, when I'd been decidedly queasy. I had a chance to sit down and rest a bit while she made sure the pony had his feed and access to lots of grass. Soon, we were ready to start. Our buddy's time was meant to be 4 mins later, so we waited for her, and just started walking calmly out of the field until she caught up. The second loop went similarly to the first (except that this time, we didn't get lost, and the photographer was waiting on the beach for us!), but we didn't manage to make up any time. We were still over the 11kph required, but we couldn't slow down much on the last loop. This was to prove a problem for the SP!
At the second vet gate, he once again presented in just a few minutes, this time a minute after our companion, with a HR of 49/50. Getting ready to leave again, she was allowed out a minute before me, and began to leave the field. The pony at this point, realising that I was wanting him to go trot round the woods again, had a moment of napping, which allowed her to get out of sight at the top of the field. Once I had him going again, we had to round a few reluctant corners before we saw him again, by which point he'd pulled ahead sufficiently to disappear out of sight around the next corner. And so we lost them, because by himself, he wasn't going to go fast. Now I have to say that before this year, I wouldn't even do a Pleasure Ride on our own because of his nappiness, so for him to actually trot all the way around the final 21k loop of an 81k ride, especially when that loop was pretty much a shorter version of the previous two, was actually pretty tremendous. For the first 6k or so, I was on the verge of giving up, because he just wouldn't move any faster, but by the time I met my crew at 8.5k, I'd decided that we were still going to go for the completion, and for the mileage. And for the points towards the random team in which I'd been entered, which I later found out was called the "Tentsmuir Tornadoes"
. Sadly, our slow speed meant that we came in under the 11kph, at 10.36: still a respectable speed, but not enough for the Thistle grading we were trying to get.
We were the last horse in. The Normally Grey Pony, who had been going for Gold Thistle (minimum 13kph if you do it in one ride, or you can do 2x 80 at 11kph), also didn't manage to finish at his desired speed, but still managed above 11, so got Part 1 of his Gold Thistle! He'd had a few delays at a vet gate, and also had to do the last loop alone. His rider, however, was among several people that waited for us, and cheered when the pony passed his final vetting! I didn't wait the full half hour, because I didn't want him to stiffen up, so I was extremely happy with a final HR of 50/53 after only about 12 minutes.
While giving the pony some time to rest and graze, we got everything stuffed back into the tack locker. We decided that we both needed some coffee, at least, before driving back to our respective destinations. So we left the pony to his hay net, and ended up just having a proper dinner. Although I was very tired, I still managed to be home and horses fed by 10:30pm. My poor friend, however, didn't make it home until 3am, and had to be up at 7 the next morning! I was enormously grateful both for her company, and for her help.
So in the end, the "Tentsmuir Tornadoes" came 5th, and the Spooky Pony completed his first successful 80k ride, and he did the last loop alone, and he went on the beach twice in a perfectly sane and sensible fashion. A big day indeed for both of us!
Two pics from the ride, both from the second loop. Pics purchased specifically for posting on social media.
I had, pretty much at last minute, managed both to get a ride partner sorted who appeared to have the same goals as me (complete the 81k at min. 11kph, to try to get Silver Thistle Final, but without going stupidly fast and risking the whole ride), and a crew: my best friend agreed to drive up from York (about 5-6 hours!) the night before, despite never having been at an Endurance ride before. At least she knows me and the pony very well!
I managed to do most of the packing before the weekend, and had cleared with the vets that the sick stripy cat could have his meds as a double dose Saturday morning and Sunday evening, rather than one pill morning/evening both days. Nevertheless, I still had so many random things to do on Saturday morning that it was still just after 1pm before I managed to leave. The SP was to stay overnight at a hunting stable just down the road from the venue field, along with his BFF the Normally Grey Pony, and with another mare from our branch whom he knows (among other things) from his trip with the Scottish Team to Ireland. We had to go through the middle of Aberdeen and Dundee to get to the venue, but we still managed to get there in just over 2 hours. I wasn't expecting my friend until about 6pm, so I had loads of time to settle the SP into his stable, give him a much-needed thorough grooming, do his feet with the special thrush powder, and get him his extra-large dinner.
Soon, I got messages informing me that road-works had somehow made my friend lose her way and end up in the middle of Glasgow (this turned out to be a mild exaggeration). Meanwhile, I went to the local inn, where I had managed to make a last-minute reservation after deciding that I really do hate tents, to check in and wait. She finally arrived at about 7:30, and we had just enough time to scout out the two crew points in the dark, before dinner.
The next morning, I wanted to be at the venue for 7:30, to get everything set up ready for the vet-gates and have lots of time to prepare before our 8:30 vetting. Arriving at the yard, we were happy to see that the SP had polished off most of his 2 giant hay nets and much of his water, and shavings in his tail suggested that he'd had a lie-down, too. I was far too nervous for a proper breakfast, but did manage a banana and a cup of coffee: I'd cleverly (so I thought) remembered to pack the camp stove, and had some UHT milk that we could then put in the "organ transplant box". About that: a previous lodger, in a medical job, kindly provided me with a massive styrofoam box, made to hold 6 very big ice packs as well as medications needing refrigeration, keeping them below freezing for 72 hours. This is fantastic for rides, where I can simply take out 2 ice packs for each vet gate, and deposit them in the sloshing buckets to chill the water while I'm riding.
Our companion arrived a little late, due to a lost shoe, but we vetted and started in plenty of time. At first, my biggest worry was about the beach stretch, which was to be about 12km into the ride. And then again, at the same point on the second loop (the first two loops were a repeated 30k loop)! Before we got there, however, we (along with all the other 80k riders before us) took a wrong turn. We met the people in front when they had discovered their error and turned around, so we were soon heading towards the beach in a large cluster of six over-excited horses, exactly the sort of scenario I had been hoping to avoid! Fortunately, we managed to fall back a bit, and rode through the dunes carefully, so as not to have any problems in deep sand. When we finally saw the sea, the SP gave it one good long look, and then simply cantered calmly as you please behind his buddy, and I had the hugest grin ever on my face by the time we reached the end.
My friend crewed us like she'd been doing it for years: calmly offered the pony his buckets (he began drinking quite early, as it was hot and sunny), made sure I had bananas and energy bars and electrolyte drink, and realised without the need for me to say anything that it would be better to offer me the sloshes for pouring over him after he'd had an opportunity to drink.
The rest of the first loop really did loop the loop, back and forth through the forest, along tracks that were mostly just perfectly soft without being slippery or deep. There was one nasty stretch of sharp stones, which we walked because our companion horse was feeling them a bit, and we didn't want to risk a bruise. The SP's Renegades completely protect his soles from that sort of sharp stone, but he still doesn't like it when stones are rolling about under his feet. I don't blame him! Thanks to the little detour, we finished the first loop well up on time, but a bit slower than I had been planning on for this stage.
At the vet gate, we were stationed at the lorry, right beside the vet. I got a little ahead of myself: as soon as I'd hauled his saddle off, I took a HR, discovered that his HR was already down, and shouted "Ready to present" before even taking his bridle off! Despite this minor embarrassment, he vetted in under a minute, with a HR of 48/49 (they take it twice, before and after trotting up). I now put my camp stove to good use and heated a can of bean and bacon soup---and then discovered that I'd forgotten a spoon. My brain wasn't quite engaged enough to simply ask if anyone else had one, so I stirred it with a hoof-pick. Strangely, I seem not to have suffered any ill effects!
Thanks to my friend's aggressive efforts to keep me fed and hydrated, I felt far better than at last year's attempt, when I'd been decidedly queasy. I had a chance to sit down and rest a bit while she made sure the pony had his feed and access to lots of grass. Soon, we were ready to start. Our buddy's time was meant to be 4 mins later, so we waited for her, and just started walking calmly out of the field until she caught up. The second loop went similarly to the first (except that this time, we didn't get lost, and the photographer was waiting on the beach for us!), but we didn't manage to make up any time. We were still over the 11kph required, but we couldn't slow down much on the last loop. This was to prove a problem for the SP!
At the second vet gate, he once again presented in just a few minutes, this time a minute after our companion, with a HR of 49/50. Getting ready to leave again, she was allowed out a minute before me, and began to leave the field. The pony at this point, realising that I was wanting him to go trot round the woods again, had a moment of napping, which allowed her to get out of sight at the top of the field. Once I had him going again, we had to round a few reluctant corners before we saw him again, by which point he'd pulled ahead sufficiently to disappear out of sight around the next corner. And so we lost them, because by himself, he wasn't going to go fast. Now I have to say that before this year, I wouldn't even do a Pleasure Ride on our own because of his nappiness, so for him to actually trot all the way around the final 21k loop of an 81k ride, especially when that loop was pretty much a shorter version of the previous two, was actually pretty tremendous. For the first 6k or so, I was on the verge of giving up, because he just wouldn't move any faster, but by the time I met my crew at 8.5k, I'd decided that we were still going to go for the completion, and for the mileage. And for the points towards the random team in which I'd been entered, which I later found out was called the "Tentsmuir Tornadoes"
. Sadly, our slow speed meant that we came in under the 11kph, at 10.36: still a respectable speed, but not enough for the Thistle grading we were trying to get.We were the last horse in. The Normally Grey Pony, who had been going for Gold Thistle (minimum 13kph if you do it in one ride, or you can do 2x 80 at 11kph), also didn't manage to finish at his desired speed, but still managed above 11, so got Part 1 of his Gold Thistle! He'd had a few delays at a vet gate, and also had to do the last loop alone. His rider, however, was among several people that waited for us, and cheered when the pony passed his final vetting! I didn't wait the full half hour, because I didn't want him to stiffen up, so I was extremely happy with a final HR of 50/53 after only about 12 minutes.
While giving the pony some time to rest and graze, we got everything stuffed back into the tack locker. We decided that we both needed some coffee, at least, before driving back to our respective destinations. So we left the pony to his hay net, and ended up just having a proper dinner. Although I was very tired, I still managed to be home and horses fed by 10:30pm. My poor friend, however, didn't make it home until 3am, and had to be up at 7 the next morning! I was enormously grateful both for her company, and for her help.
So in the end, the "Tentsmuir Tornadoes" came 5th, and the Spooky Pony completed his first successful 80k ride, and he did the last loop alone, and he went on the beach twice in a perfectly sane and sensible fashion. A big day indeed for both of us!
Two pics from the ride, both from the second loop. Pics purchased specifically for posting on social media.
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