Camp Far west 50, 1998

 

The rain in Northern California has finally (sort of) stopped enough to allow some more local rides to take place.  I went out to the Camp Far West 50 this past weekend, located about 45 miles east of Sacramento in the absolutely beautiful plains and foothills between the big Valley and the Sierra.  The rains have made everything as green as it has ever been around here- the camp was located in a giant, green, grass field complete with huge, craggy old California Oak trees to provide shade.  The weather seemed great- a little warm, sunny, with soft, puffy, clouds billowing through the blue sky.  There were so many people at the ride I was stunned- 240 horses?  Man-o-man!  What kind of start could this be?  I brought my conditioning partner Sally Abe and her Arabian gelding Ahkiba along, since Judy is riding the Mt Diablo ride next week. There were tons of people at the ride I know- the one who gets special mention today is Karen Chaton who braided Shatta's maine for me this time.  Really- I will learn how to do this someday, although I certainly don't mind having my buddies help me out.

 

I have never done this ride before, but everyone I know who has ridden it says it is relatively easy compared to most of the rides in our region, due to all the climbing we do around here.  Shatta is in great shape this year fresh from finishing his first two 100's in February and April.  He has around a thousand miles now and has been conditioned long and carefully over the 3 years I have owned him.  Our plan is to start to turn up the wick a bit and see how he does going a little faster.  This seemed to be a good ride to pick up the pace.

 

The start was surprisingly good since it was controlled about a mile and a half on a huge, wide gravel road.  We took off in the top third of the pack and began trotting quickly right away.  The leaders left us after a couple of miles but we were certainly going faster than usual.  It was a blast!  This course was in superb shape, except for a few boggy spots that you could ride around (or through)  It was mostly single track or two lane dirt roads (that looked like two single track trails due to all the grass).  The footing was great- soft, loamy with almost no rocks to speak of.  It was easy to pass people, the trail was marked very well and the terrain was rolling and flat.  Boogie time!  We sailed along having a fantastic time.  We trotted fast and cantered just about the entire first 23 mile loop.  The only thing that spooked my usually spring-like horse was the sign that the ride photographer had set up.  Shatta drank a couple of times but not real well until we stopped at the creek just before lunch.  It took us 2 hours to do the first 23 miles- not as fast as the leaders, but faster than we had gone in the past.  I didn't realize this vet check was not a gate into a hold. That seemed a little strange to me- no check until 23 miles and it isn't a gate.

 

A ride worker noticed Sally's horse lost a front shoe as we walked into camp.  I saw Kirsten, Mike and Courtney at the in timer and told them this was a bit different than the rocks of Nevada!   We found a farrier and got Ahkiba's shoe back on and went to the vets.  Both horses looked great- Shatta had recovered to 48 before we hit the vets but we had spent 15 minutes with the farrier.  The vet told Sally her horse looked great.  There were no long lines at the vets like the last time Judy was here but we were up in the top 25 or so.  We spent the rest of our hour having lunch; neither horse was eating a lot.  Shatta usually starts eating big after 30 or 40 miles, so I didn't worry too much.  His hydration was a B or so, about usual for him at this point.  Everything else looked great.

 

We started out on loop two after our hour- it was 10:00 am and we were already done with lunch, and were on the second loop!  Both horses took right off and after warming up; we got back to our quick pace although a bit slower.  The second loop was just like the first- super trails and lots of flat and rolling terrain.  We bombed along, stopping to walk up the few short hills.  Shatta did another "good boy" when we tried to go under an oak tree that looked higher than it was.  He walked under a branch that started to peel me off his back.  I asked him to stop and back up, which he did carefully.  We got off course for a few minutes at the bow and arrow range but backtracked and found the route. (lots of people did- there were a ton of hoof prints that went the way we did)  Sally notified me that Shatta lost his right front shoe as we were walking down the one and only rocky downhill on the ride- it was nothing compared to the best footing in Nevada.   I slipped on the easyboot and off we went again.  He didn't drink at the lake very well but was eating green grass.  Hmmmm.   Both horses were feeling great and going strong as we headed towards the second check at mile 44.  Ahkiba lost his other front shoe (!) but an easy boot took care of that.  We saw a lot of shoes out there on the trail- the boggs, perhaps?  I doubt it was the rocks.

 

We stopped at the creek to cool the horses down before we went into the check.  Cripes- it was like 12:30 or so!  This was going so quickly!  I felt like we were out on a trail ride compared to my last two rides.  We entered the check and found the vets.  The criteria was 68 (!) even though it was pretty humid.  Shatta came down to 60 in a few minutes but the vet noticed he was breathing hard.  His respiration was like 70 or so.  We did a CRI and he was 56 / 60 but the inversion continued.  I took him for a walk and back to the creek for a few minutes.  We came back to check on Sally but found another problem. Ahkiba's pulse would not come down.  He was still 70 - 80 after 10 minutes which is really wrong for this tough little guy.  15 minutes and Shatta is still at 60 breaths, his buddy Ahkiba is not recovering.   I talked to the vet about Shatta- he noticed his hydration was Terrible- like a "D".  That and the humidity was probably the culprit.   30 minutes now, Shatta's pulse is 54, which is high for him after that long and he is STILL inverted, but not as badly.  One more CRI shows 56 / 60.  Ahkiba is still spiking after 30 minutes.  Shatta is still inverted and is drinking but not enough.  I talk to the vet who says "well, he's okay but I don't know if I'd risk it with a horse as nice as him."   Same here, my friend.  I elect to pull him.  I know Ahkiba is done at this point as well.  He was beginning to come down and got as low as 68 but would spike back up.

 

Bummer!  I left the horses with Sally as I ran back to the camp for the truck.  We were going to hang around the vet check for as long as it took for the horses to recover.  Shatta was fine by the time I got back and was eating grass.  He was still a "D" in hydration.  Ahkiba was uncomfortable and was still high.  We took him to the creek and soaked him for a while.  He took a huge drink, I mean huge like 60 swallows and began to eat the green grass.  His pulse was down to 60 within 10 minutes of that drink.  We waited for about two hours before loading them up for the trip home.

 

What did we learn?  We went too fast, too soon.  It seemed so easy and the horses were so strong and willing to go.   The ride was an absolute gas right up to the 44 mile point.  Judy reminded me that for all of the mileage and rides I have done on Shatta, I never have done that much extended speed work.  She was right.  You still need to ease into any kind of stress impact on your horse.   The good news is that nothing serious happened to either horse, although we were a little concerned about Ahkiba for a while.   We did wonder about the fact that there was only one check prior to 44 miles and it was not even a gate.   I only wondered for about 1 minute, since I know that the rider is responsible for the horse, not the vets, or ride management, or anyone else.   Even though we didn't see anything going on with the horses we should have looked harder. 

 

I look at this ride as an important learning experience.  Yeah, I could have gone on and finished.  The vet's words rang through my mind all the way home.  "I don't know if I'd risk it with a horse as nice as him." 

 

New words to live and ride by.

 

Nick Warhol

Hayward, Ca.