Lakeside Classic, April 10, 1999
I love going to rides I have never been to before. There’s something about riding in new areas that is good for the soul. Gus McCray from Lonesome Dove couldn’t have said it better when he told young Newt: “There’s nothin’ better than riding a fine horse, over new territory.” That’s what I got to do last Saturday. I drove down south to the Lakeside Ride put on by Ron and Barbara Sanchez. They have been doing the ride by themselves for about 5 years or so, after helping someone do it previously. Everyone said it’s a nice ride, so off we went. Judy and Warpaint stayed at home to get ready for the American River ride coming up in a couple of weeks. Besides, the dogs and cats need feeding, too. I brought my riding buddy Sally Abe and her cool little gelding Ahkiba, more commonly known as Akebono. He’s just getting into endurance, having finished 4 or 5 50’s in the last couple of years after a long conditioning program. Besides- he and Shatta get along just great! It’s a real joy to watch them blast down the trail together.
My goal was to take it easy and get through the 50 on Shatta, since he was pulled at mile 35 at the 20 mule team 100 in February for a slight lameness on the right front that was later diagnosed as a mild splint inflammation. That would be perfect for Sally since this was Akebono’s first ride of the year. The weather cooperated nicely since it quit raining for a couple of days. Man, I’m tired of the rain! It took us about 3 hours to drive down to the shore of Lake San Antonio where the base camp was located. I have not seen many base camps better than this one. Big, roomy, flat grassy meadow with tons of water spigots on either side, good access, a building with bathrooms and showers, tables, no dust- nice place for a ride.
Lots of familiar bay area faces, but a smaller turnout than in the past. Val Weiser and Brian Reeves brought Copper and Goofy for a conditioning ride since they have their sites on the North American Championship in Canada. Kathy Webster brought Fire Alaarm for his second ride of the year. Nancy Elliot rode Izzy today instead of vetting. Gertie brought her horse Ed for his first ride since his colic surgery last July. Gasp! He’s made quite a comeback. Jennifer Layman brought Goose, along with her husband Ted that no one had met yet. He really does exist! They had the coolest camper in the joint- when’s the last time you saw a VW microbus camper with a pop up roof? Gary Fend came down without wife Laura- both he and I were loose in camp wifeless! His mare Cinabon, er, excuse me, Cinabar seemed undisturbed by much, except for the pending lawsuit she has filed against that mall chain store that sells cinnamon buns. Julie and Bob Suhr were in attendance as usual. I’m not sure what horse Julie was on, but Bob was on the unmistakable Fadot.
Head Vet Jamie Kerr followed Nancy Elliot’s example and set the criteria at 60, which I think is a good idea. I knew we were in for a special event at the ride meeting when Ron told us to watch out for the squirrel holes out there. This is not so significant, except for the fact that he meant the ones off the trail. He had gone out on the course and FILLED IN all the squirrel holes on the course! Now that’s ride management! We started out at 6:30 am in cold weather, after breaking the ice off the horse’s water. Yuck! In mid April? At least it didn’t snow. The course climbed up a nice hill to begin with and then rolled out across a big meadow. We’re talking green, wide, rolling hills dotted with Oak trees. This is absolutely gorgeous terrain. Sally, Kathy, Gary, and I trotted along just enjoying the morning. The footing was sort of perfect- dry roads with some areas of moist, loamy soil. No rocks, just smooth roads. Gary and Kathy went on ahead of Sally and I after a while- no doubt so Gary could keep from getting lost. (He has this thing about making wrong turns in the mountains, you see. It’s a historical fact) The trot by at 8 miles came so soon I was amazed. We headed out on another rolling 8 mile loop with views of the lake that had mostly up and down hills that were perfect for jogging down. After a quick climb to the top of the hill we headed back down to the road that brought us back to the check at 16 miles. It seemed so calm and quiet! Shatta was at 52 when the P&R person did their job, Ahkiba was only a minute or so behind. To the vet for a quick exam. Except that Dianna noticed a little grade 1 movement on Shatta on the way back. She asked me if there was anything going on with that right front. Groan! I said yes, sort of. He just got over a mild splint inflammation. She said he looks okay, let’s just watch it.
Great. What a way to ruin a good mood. We headed back the 8 miles to base camp at a slightly reduced pace. He seemed fine- I couldn’t feel anything while riding him. It was a gloomy 8 miles for me, anyway. We got to camp and went to the vet. A’s for hydration and gut, 44:40 CRI, but slight grade 1 this time in a straight line, grade 2 in a right hand circle. The vet said the visual was not so bad, but he didn’t like what he felt in Shatta’s leg. He was getting very positive reaction to pressure in the check ligament area. Double groan. I pulled him. Sally was fine and continued on out after lunch. I spent the afternoon in camp. Our whole group came in to the finish, except for me. Nancy in 9th, Gertie in 10th, Kathy around 14th or so, Sally 20th, Gary somewhere, Jannifer finished I think, Val and Brian bringing up the rear. Gertie’s horse was impressive in his first ride back in months. He had the high vet score as well, but BC went to Lari’s horse. She won the ride, with Southern California speedster Jennifer Oltman and Kathy Thompson sort of tying for second.
This is a sport of ups and downs. I had some serious ups last year, now I’m in a down. I’m taking Shatta to Davis to see Dr. Carrol Gillis and her magic ultrasound machine on Thursday to see what’s up. He’ll get a couple of months off no matter what, it’s now just a matter of how much more time it will take after that. Anyone got a horse available that needs a rider for the summer? I did win an entry to Tevis at the convention.
Nick Warhol (bummed)
Hayward, Ca.