GC analysis

So how did I end up with only an hour left to cover seven miles? It's all in the vet checks. Most of the 50s I've done have had only two vet checks - the loops are 20/15/15 (or some combination thereof.) Gold Country was 12/12/18/7. Instead of stopping and pulsing my horse down twice, I had to pulse her down three times. Instead of losing an hour and a half to mandatory hold times, I lost two hours. If Dixie had pulsed down the second she walked in to each check, and I had crew to shove me back in the saddle and back out the gate the second I could leave, I would've had exactly 10 hours to cover 50 miles. But I lost another 45 minutes to pulsing my big thick-skinned horse down, and probably 15 more to me getting my shit together to get out the gate again. I only had 9 hours to ride 50 miles. I had to sustain 5.5 mph to get it done.

That's not prima facie unreasonable, even in July, but it wasn't foremost on my mind. I've never cut it that close before, not even at our first 50. It just never occurred to me that we'd get so out of time - especially when the vet-check cutoff times were so encouraging. Of course I didn't take a single picture of my vet card, but I want to say that the first vet check, 12.5 miles from camp, had a cutoff time of 10 am? I got there at 8:30. I stayed an hour to an hour and a half ahead of the cutoff times. I'd have done better to completely ignore the cutoffs AND my GPS and just go by the mileage points listed on the map + the time on my phone to figure out how I was doing.

I was going to shake my fist at the heavens and say "Well I'll just not do rides that have three vet checks," but you know what? The ride flyer (for this year, no less) says it's a two-check 15/15/20 ride.

I dunno. I know my horse is marginal at this sport, but she's not dangerously marginal. She had good vet scores all day, and I rode her pretty intelligently. Maybe her recoveries will continue to improve like they have for the last couple of years. Maybe she'll pulse down faster.

It was a tough ride. It definitely didn't feel that hilly, but the GPS says it's the hilliest 50 we've ever done. It was very hot, and I suspect the shitty smoky air didn't help things. I'm super proud of Dixie for finding fifth gear at the very end, but I'm upset with myself that she had to find fifth. That's not how I like to ride.

Stuff! Now that I'm really getting the hang of endurance camping, I'm getting way more lassiez-faire about everything.

I didn't even bring the truck tent. I just threw a tarp in the back of the horse trailer and tossed my cot back there. It was fine. I brought plenty of food and ate enough of it I suppose. Some powerbar things (gross) and some nut-and-fruit trail mix (boring), plus tons of fruit at the VC's and steak and chocolate milk at lunch. I really kinda thought the chocolate milk might make me hurl, but it looked SO GOOD when I opened the cooler and it went down GREAT.

Usually, I mix powdered electrolytes for my camelbak. Hot salty lemonade is pretty gross but I drink the hell out of it. This time, I did the whole ride with water in my camelback and electrolyte pills in my bag. I ate a handful of pills whenever I thought about it - I honestly have no idea how many or when. I did not drink as much water as usual. It didn't seem to do me any harm. I kinda missed my hot lemon water though.

Still rockin' that same long sleeve runner's shirt. It totally regulates my temperature - it keeps me slightly cooler in the heat and slightly warmer in the cold. I loves it. Still rockin' the barefoot shoes. I laced them pretty tight to hopefully prevent blisters, but I still popped a blister on one foot. I didn't notice til I got home so I guess that's almost success. I've been going commando and not getting the panty-line chafing.

The participation award was a Cooltie, and they gave it out at sign in. It does, in fact, work. It feels kinda disgusting - it's a warm slimy wet thing tied around your neck - but I felt cooler than I otherwise would've.

Last week, I got a Fitbit. It's a little pedometer, smaller than a cigarette lighter, that clips onto your body somewhere. It tells you how many steps you walk in a day, then extrapolates how many calories you've burned, miles you've walked, etc. The hard-but-not-impossible goal for most desk job people is to walk 10,000 steps in one day. Would you care to guess how many steps the Fitbit thinks I took on Saturday? And how many calories I burned, even after I went back and told it I'd been Riding Horseback (Trotting) for 12 hours?

My quads are KILLING ME. Gonna bike a lot more around town and try to get in better shape for Tahoe Rim.

Sticking your helmet in every water trough is definitely the way to fly.

Horse stuff!!
Used Gloves again. I've gotta be getting near 200 miles on that set, and they're noticeably easier to put on. I only taped the fronts - her front feet look way better, but the Gloves' V still doesn't stretch like it should. I actually lost a rear boot, but the gaiter kept it on. Will probably tape all four for Tahoe Rim.

So Easyboot people, is this the point where I put the powerstraps on? Now that the boots are ~easy to apply~?

My Renegade friends have been giving me vague disapproving vibes about my boot disloyalty, but the Gloves really do fit better right now. Shrug!

Totally forgot to buy applesauce. I only had four single-serves of applesauce, so I rationed them out. Turns out Dixie eats hay-and-BP mash with a half oz of Enduramax mixed in, yay! She ate a lot of her elytes and I only syringed at the first two checks.

She didn't drink til 16 miles. She drank great all the way back to camp, then after lunch she was pissy and wouldn't drink again til the trough at about 39 miles - but again, she drank heavily at that trough, the trough 2 miles from the last VC, the last VC, and the trailer. I have finally started to relax and trust that she's taking care of herself. Her hydration scores were consistently good.

And speaking of that - this was the first ride where I assumed she was ok. Every AERC ride we've done, I have been assuming that she's about to die and hopefully the vets would notice before she fell over. This ride, I just assumed she was ok, mechanically and metabolically, and hoped the vets would notice if I was wrong. YAY.

Dixie looked good after the ride. Her flanks got a little tucked in from the inevitable dehydration (endurance athletes, equine or human, can't replenish their fluids completely during an event - they always finish a couple % dehydrated), but they'd improved the next morning.

All four legs had a tiny bit of fill overnight. I need to walk her more often before bed and before we load up to go home. Do poultices work, or do they just make the humans feel better about things? What about wrapping, does that work and how would I learn how to do it? Is it just disguising the problem, or does it actually help prevent future lameness?

Of course nothing rubbed her. This is the up side to having a thick skinned horse that takes 10 minutes and 10 gallons of water to pulse down. :)

Frenchman 2.5 - gear review

I love reading other peoples' gear reviews, so I like to mention mine whenever I test it.

Horse gear

Pro choice saddle pad: Passed with flying colors. It did not shift, even after all those hills. Dixie had minimal hair movement under it and very nice sweat patterns. It's quite a bit heavier than the Woolback, but we're talking maybe two extra pounds. It's not dirty enough for me to clean yet, so I can't tell you how easy or hard that is.

Renegade hoof boots: Still awesome. If they fit right, they stay put, even when you're due for a trim. Some of the shod horse riders were bitching about how they'd have shod with pads or booted over the shoes if they'd known how rocky it would be, but I was not at all worried about stone bruises. And she gaited very nicely in them - finally! The ride pics show her beautiful stepping pace. As soon as I dig them out of the trailer I'll post one for you.

I still love my Griffin's pommel bags. I had to use some string to get them situated exactly where I want on my saddle, but the zippers are amazing and each bag will hold a liter of water. There's a little pouch in the middle where you can stash your map or ride card, and side velcro pockets for your hoof pick, multitool, etc. They are a million times better than the comparable Stowaway product. Also he has a very nice shade of purple.

Camping gear

Cheap black-bag solar shower: Absolutely marvelous. Mel mentioned hers a while back and it sounded lovely, so I got one too. I set out the shower in the morning, then after the ride I hang it in the horse trailer. I stand in a muck bucket and scrub down with a rag and some of that biodegradable soap, and it is the best. Like clean socks at lunch, it's one of those things that feels utterly amazing and totally changes your attitude about everything. A 2.5 gallon solar shower has more than enough hot water.

Truck tent: The mesh roof gives great views of the stars, but leaks like a sieve, can you believe it? The rain fly is a little hard to get on, but it effectively keeps the rain out. Do not trust the National Weather Service.

35 degree Sierra Trading Post sleeping bag plus Coleman air mattress: Keeps you toasty to 50 degrees, even in the drizzle. Miserably cold at 45. The air mattress is much nicer than just the eggcrate, but next ride I will try air mattress, eggcrate, busted zipper sleeping bag, and 35 degree bag. Thank god I don't try to pack out; I'd need a string of mules to haul all my crap.

Camelbak with Vitalyte electrolytes: I attribute all my success to this. Yes, it makes my back sweaty, but everything else gets sweaty anyway. Yes, it changes your balance a little, but once you get used to it you won't notice. And just think, if you fall on your back it's like a back airbag! Two liters of fluids is barely enough for a 20 mile loop, but it definitely saved me from heatstroking out.

Square blocks of ice last way longer than the same weight in bagged ice. This is common sense physics, but it actually holds true in the real world too.

Toklat Woolback final review

tl;dr: Doesn't work for Dixie.

Just over a year ago, I ordered the Woolback and was initially delighted with it. I still want to love it - it's super lightweight, Dixie gets good back scores, and it's easy to clean. (Unless you get caught with it in the brand-new clothes washer. Spouses do not like that shit.) But it wads up under the saddle, and that's totally unacceptable.

I can't flat-out blame the Woolback, because it only seems to bunch up when we're going downhill. Dixie paces downhills. That side-to-side motion, plus the braced hollow/neutral back position, just works the pad forward. There's no stiffness to the Woolback to hold it in place. :(

But getting off and untacking and straightening the pad after every set of downhills is totally unacceptable. Bottom line: Don't buy a Woolback if you have a pacey horse and a western-type saddle.

I'm trying out a Reinsman next; I'll review it when I get some saddle time again. :)

Camping gear roundup

Gear:
I was pretty sure my feet were going to blister. It was close - they were super hot and sweaty - but they didn't. Go go wool socks! I've had the same hiking boots for two years and they're getting pretty beaten up/broken down, so I give all the credit to the socks. I just bought some new knockoff smartwool-type socks at Sierra Trading Post.

My new women's Camelbak backpack worked just fine and fit much better than my old men's camelbak. It came with a reservoir with a baffle! You know how good water tanks and waterbeds have baffles to keep the sloshing to a minimum? The reservoir in the new Camelbak had a baffle. I guess it worked, but honestly sloshing never bothered me that much.

I bought Cersei a self-inflating roll-up travel dog bed at Costco, and she seemed to think it was acceptable. My summerweight sleeping bag was perfect, and I actually brought my own pillow from home - I slept amazingly well.

I last-minute splurged on a nonstick camping skillet. I'm glad I did - those eggs would've stuck like MAD on my existing steel camping skillet - but I have to get used to how thin camping stuff is and how hot propane travel stoves are. I am considering bringing my flame tamer next time! Any camping cooking tips?

I also bought a big cooler at Costco earlier this year. I dithered a lot about it - I had a perfectly useable small cooler - but it was only $30 and seemed like it would make my life a lot easier. I'm glad I did - a 7 lb block of ice kept a six pack of beer and a ton of random food cool for three full days with no problem. And I could bring the small cooler with Cersei's chicken in it without worrying about nasty chicken salmonella on my good people food.

Find my Rider!

I, like a lot of my blog friends, often worry that my horse will fling me from her back and leave me for dead.* Yeah, some dirt bikers would probably find me before I perished, but still, the thought of getting de-horsed and possibly hurt in the wilderness gives one pause. G and I have worked out what is probably the optimal solution on the market right now (as long as you have a 3G Apple device).

Before we went to SF, we installed Find My iPhone on our phones, in case some skeezy Tenderloin pickpocket managed to snag one. Once we got back, I started thinking about non-theft uses for it. We've tested this a couple of times now, and Find my Phone really does work great.

I had him do the initial install tied to his (free) .mac mobile me whatever you call it account. I've got the account info, so if I need to I can log in there. But mainly it's so he can find me, so it's linked to him. When I'm ready to ride, I still tell him roughly where I'm going and how long I expect to be out. If I'm overdue and not answering the phone, he can just check in on the website and see where I am. Instead of calling the sheriff and saying "Uh yeah she's in Hungry Valley somewhere," he can call and give them my coordinates.

If you don't have an iPhone, you should rush right out and buy one. They're wonderful. I suppose you could also get a Spot Personal Tracker thing - but it's $100 for the device, then $100 per year in service. And it doesn't play games or take pictures or ANYTHING.

The only real problem is if I manage to lose the phone on the trail. Maybe the sheriff's deputies would find it and give it back? I have an extremely unglamorous fanny pack, so that's not a big worry really. And any GPS device attached to you can be de-attached from you - you can't eliminate all risk.

*you may also worry that your horse will fling you from its back, but of course the world revolves around me so I'm sure yall all worry about me and Dixie. ;)

Vendor reviews

Here's a tale of two vendors for you. One I already loved and will definitely order from again, and one I used out of convenience and probably won't use again.

My pretty princess pony has a very white nose, and it gets fiercely sunburned in the summer if she's not stalled. The first summer I had Dixie, she was in horse heaven - a 40 acre pasture - and it just burned. Last year, in Ohio, she was in a stall and the BO would (sometimes) smear sunblock on her nose when she turned her out. This year, I am trying a long nose fly mask. I'd looked around for a while but just hadn't gotten around to ordering one when I bought that damn trailer and joined USRider, and USRider gave me a $10 gift cert to Dover as part of my membership package. See? Procrastination pays off!

So the Sunday before last, May 9th, I ordered a long nose Cashel fly mask from Dover. The cheap $10 shipping and the $10 GC cancelled each other out, so I ended up paying $27.85 for a fly mask. The package didn't even ship til Wednesday, May 12, and it shipped FedEx SmartPost. IME, SmartPost is a horrible way to ship and takes way longer than USPS mail.

One week later, on Sunday May 16th, I ordered the crupper and a pommel pack from Griffin's Tack. I had to call to read Henry my CCV number from the back of the card, and he mumbled something about "Tuesday." I thought he said "You should get it by Tuesday" but that couldn't possibly be right - I mean, he's only 50 miles from me, but still! Nothing orders, packs, ships, and arrives that fast. Anyway, I paid $12 for that shipping.

Tuesday the package from Henry Griffin arrived. Via US mail. Less than 48 hours after I ordered it. Today, Wednesday, the package from Dover arrived, via FedEx, all of ten frakkin days after I ordered.

I'm not sure whether I'm more disgusted with Dover/Fedex or happy with Griffin's/USPS, but I know where I prefer to spend my money now.


I'll review all the stuff properly once it gets applied to the model horse, but for now I think I'm happy with everything I bought. The fly mask looks comfortable? I guess? I don't know much about these things, and smart money says Dixie destroys it. The crupper has stiff wire in the tail loop, for flexibility, and it's ~C's shade of blue. (Sorry C!) And the pommel bag looks like it should attach ok, the zippers look indestructible, the workmanship is fantastic, and it's a fantastic royal purple.

Gloves!

I am a dainty Southerner with dainty little hands that get cold easily. I've always ridden in cheap unlined leather gloves - usually something like this. They're a damn sight better than NO gloves, and they're leather so I get good grip on my reins, but they leave something to be desired as riding gloves.

Also I'd always end up using them as riding-and-work gloves. Every pair of leather gloves I own has some holes in the fingertip and funk embedded in the leather. Roofing tar, paint stripper, dirt, etc.

So I wanted some riding only gloves. I spent a couple of days looking at the different gloves in random stores, but nothing really struck my fancy til I stopped at Cowboy Corner. I got so distracted drooling over the Tucker saddles that I almost forgot about gloves, but I eventually remembered what I was there for. I found these Heritage Performance Riding Gloves and I love them so far!

They come in numbered sizes (instead of that S-M-L-XL nonsense) so the pair I bought actually FIT. And the "rein cut" thing is pretty brilliant - between the ring and pinky fingers, the seams are moved. They're still Thinsulated gloves, so you can't feel the reins as well, but you can definitely feel them better without the seams in the way.

Anyway, so far I love these gloves. If they fall apart or something, I'll post again, but for now I would recommend them.