Uno vetted in with somewhat dehydrated vet scores on Friday afternoon (we got there about 4:30 pm) and I hoped that he'd tank up at the trailer overnight - which unfortunately he didn't, really, despite feeding him multiple slurpies laced with dynamite elytes.
Kaity and I were aiming for a 75 percentile finish and left accordingly at the start, trying to start with the pack - sort of successfully - but not too much to avoid Uno having a melt-down. He was doing fine until two horses came leaping up behind us...a bit more than he needed, but he dealt with it.
Kaity n' me were doing pretty well - passing people and keeping ahead of them and riding in our bubble - both boys doing very well. For reasons unknown, Uno ended up leading a whole bunch of horses going up the long, long climb, and was a slug which was a bit embarrassing - several times I tried to get people to pass, but they didn't want to. Like Roo, he definitely isn't a leader... that, or I need to ride with a crop and *make* him do it?
Coming off the mtn, we got off and ran with the pones the whole way down (Uno did an excellent job here) - or at least until my bad ankle expressed displeasure and then we just walked briskly. While walking, we were caught by a group who passed, but then one of their horses had a small melt-down at a soggy part of the trail and the ensuing drama did nothing to settle Uno down and cause him to feel like drinking. On the lake road a big gaggle of riders came running up behind, passed us in a big commotion - and then went our speed, just in front of us, which also didn't help [grr] - he sure as heck wasn't going to drink for fear of someone rushing up behind him. So he didn't drink, and he didn't drink, and he didn't drink.
Came into lunch at 11 am (and hour earlier than in previous years! which greatly pleased me) and he ate and drank a little at the trailer, but nothing like he should have, so we stayed an extra 15 minutes to give him a bit more time.
After lunch we took it easy, he drank a little at the trough at the bottom of the mtn, but again was too distracted by the 30 milers coming past on their way in. Climbing the mtn took *forever* as usual and was about as much fun as it always is (i.e. not much), but we were in good spirits once we started down - which is when Uno finally started to drink, only 30 miles and 24 hours late.
We passed through the check at 3 pm (first time through we didn't have to stop) and zipped on, not even pausing since we'd stopped on the mtn and let them have a grazing-fest in the good green grass. In the process, we passed the five riders who'd gotten out ahead of us at lunch when we left late, so we were quite proud of ourselves.
Kody set us a great pace going down the long meadow valley and although we stopped to sponge and drink (it was hot) a couple of times, we made great time. Made one small detour following a ribbon that shouldn't have been there into an interesting grove of young aspen that was a bit like a chinese puzzle - lots of crossed logs on the trail and lots of trunks to duck under. Finally decided that wasn't right and reversed out again - only to get passed by three of the riders.
After another grazing/sponging fest at the big creek, Kaity and I hot-footed it out of there ahead of the other three and started back up the valley towards the VC. Unfortunately, Uno was again in front and apparently isn't blessed with a good sense of direction, as he didn't really want to move at more than slug-pace. So Kody again saved the day by going out in front and zipping along.
Back at the VC, we pulsed down quickly and Uno and Kody tucked into a big pans of slurpie and scoffed vigorously. We opted to do vetting towards the end of our 30 min hold and Uno's VC at this point was less than stellar - I suspect his lack of eating/drinking caught up with him and the fact that he was now eating and drinking properly hadn't yet made its appearance in his vet scores. Anyway, I was a little worried about him, although he seemed bright-eyed and happy.We left for the last leg with 55 minutes to spare and made as good time as we could, while I fretted and tried to go as slowly as we could while still moving out briskly (not possible, but again, Kody did a great job getting us in). In the last half-mile, five riders passed us, one at a canter, which again, totally freaked poor Uno out. And so we finished with 7 minutes to spare - but at least we finished and Uno's final vet scores were pretty good (and he finally deigned to trot out - another thing we need to work on - he has gotten *bad* about bothering to trot out).
Uno had a fine day getting to push Kody around - apparently Kody is his personal slave for all things - rubbing on, sharing food, and planting his face in Kody's tail and flipping his head forwards - big fun, esp. when Kody's just entering into a bog and ends up sliding 2 ft forwards. Uno gets no points for manners and his rider even less for letting him do it, even if it was quite fun to watch.
Fud with a high-proportion of rice bran in it is good. Starting a ride looking like a tub less so, but it probably saved him from going south from lack of drinking. Kody started the ride looking like...well, Kody - that is to say "well covered" - and he finished the ride looking "well covered" and like he hadn't done anything. :)
Kody did an amazing job all day. This was his 2nd 50 and he impressed me no end with his calm behaviour (even if he did pull pissy face the whole time he had to trot next to Nick and Don) and eating and drinking his way around, climbing the hills with cheerfulness and generally setting a great pace all day, towing slug-Uno around. Gold star to Kode.
Our booting exploits were also successful...
Uno's two glue-ons amazingly stayed on and still look really solid - although he didn't jump around much or show much sign of high-torquing behaviour. Luckily I checked his Gloves carefully beforehand, tightening screws, etc and discovered that one of the fronts he had worn the previous Sunday had ripped out the back screw. So I replaced that with an old-style gaiter Glove and put on a pastern wrap. At the end, when I took them off, he'd ripped out the back screw in that one too, so I'm not sure what he's doing there. But the boots were all very solid.
Kaity had fancy red glue-on Renegades all around. This makes for *very* easy boot spotting, esp. in creeks where they shine out like beacons. She'd done an interesting thing where she glued the toes on first (these boots are open in the back), then once they were firmly in place, prised the sides down with a screwdriver, inserted the tip of the glue gun in and squirted more glue in to get the sides firmly glued (this meant that there was no danger of getting Adhere down in the sole). Her boots stayed on beautifully all day, although the sides were looking a little worse for wear at the end and gapping a bit.
- Took me four hours to get down there, 16.3 gallons, 11 mpg.
- On the way home, it took me 4:45 to get back, 15.4 gallons, 13.9 mpg
(came home via Lake Tahoe to avoid the jams on 50 through Placerville).
pft and Fergus took the recently-returned trailer and went out to ride Dead Truck and I'm watching him on the SPOT.
> How did it go glueing them on?...
I'm all proud of myself (despite the foul language at the time) - I glued Uno's boots on using Adhere (instead of Goober Glue) for the first time and although the first boot didn't go on at all (the glue had set up before I got within 10' of the horse, so all that happened is the beads got pushed to the bottom of the boot and it wouldn't go on).
The second two boots I put on seemed to go relatively smoothly, but despite this, I didn't have the vaguest conviction that I had used enough glue or that they would stay on for longer than 1 mile.
When I came to take the blimin' things off on Sunday evening, I needed two screwdrivers and a small hammer - and some fancy footwork to avoid getting kicked when I prised wrong. Those puppies were on there *solid*.
> > Uno goes on hunger strike unless the rice bran appears in copious amounts.
> WOW Uno, really? He knows how to work it!
He is a spoiled brat. A spoiled *tubby* brat.
(although ....I was inspecting Hopi's girth last night and he is even fatter, if that's possible!)
I am still getting to know him.
This ride put Uno over 500 miles, so I was pleased about that. He's continuing to learn each time we go to a ride, although he seemed to regress a little at this one with regard to his eating/drinking habits. That said, I don't think he spooked at anything, and he only bolted forward a couple of times - but they weren't with the usual warp-speed he can manage to attain in two strides. I didn't feel concerned on the drop-offs, and he was pretty peppy as we were coming in the last few miles.
As I told pft, I'm not concerned about his physical capabilities when it comes to doing VC100 - on the contrary, I think his body will handle it fine. But I *am* concerned that he won't do well metabolically if I can't get him to imbibe properly before/during the ride.
One of the things I forgot to do during the lead up to this ride was feed him a bunch of salt in his feed to make sure he drank well ahead of time. And I forgot the part where in the past I said that if I took him and Roo to a ride, I'd ride Roo on the first day to give Uno a chance to tank up again, as he doesn't seem to eat at all while travelling. pft suggested that it might be a good idea to unload him half-way along the journey, to try and get him to eat.
For VC100, I'm planning on going up to Tami Rougeau's in Reno on Thursday evening. That way, he'll eat/drink overnight and we'll drive the 45 mins to VC ridecamp on Friday morning, giving him and me all day Friday to settle down and not feel uptight (the way I usually do). Hopefully that plan of attack will mean he's nice and rounded come Saturday morning (when I'm already having mild heart palpitations about the idea of having to start with the pack in the dark in the middle of Virginia City).
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