Shine and Shine Only Ride- 4/21/97

 

The third Shine and Shine Only ride of 1997 went off as scheduled last

weekend, but was certainly not a traditional laid back SASO ride. Ride

manager and all around endurance wiz Becky Hart was out of town, leaving

the management to the capable hands of Judith Ogus, who definitely had

her hands full. The first anomaly was the turn out! The American River

ride is usually held on this same weekend, but was moved to October

this year due to flood damage to the trails. All those riders came to

San Jose! There were something like 90 plus starters on the 50, and a

bunch on the 25. There were so many rigs at the camp it was like trying

to park at an In and Out Burger joint at lunch time! (West Coast joke

there, guys) This is about twice as many riders as normally attend

these rides.

The second anomaly was the rain. Friday afternoon at 4:00 it started

pouring hard in the Bay Area, but apparently it poured everywhere but

the Quicksilver Park area. It was raining so hard when I was loading up

I had to move the truck to avoid standing in a pond! No way is this

ride going to happen, I thought. We had dinner and began calling to see

if the ride was a go, and much to my surprise it was! We pulled into

camp at 10:30 pm, and were lucky to find anywhere to park. We checked

in and vetted at 5:45 am, the start is at six-thirty. RUSH! Once

underway, it turned out the trails were in fantastic shape. It rained

just enough to soften everything up, but without mud. I told Judith she

couldn't have had better traction if she had called

1-800-Endurance-Footing and tried to buy it.

Judy and I started out at the very end of the pack again, for 2

reasons: that was our plan, and we were so late in the morning we didn't

have much choice. The air was nice and cool in the morning as we

trotted the 13 miles to the first vet check. I stopped for one disaster

just before the check- long time Northern California rider Gloria

Vanderford took a fall and injured herself. We heard a report later she

broke some ribs, but was fine other wise. The first vet check was a

madhouse! This spot is not designed for that many horses, but the ride

workers did an unbelievable job of keeping order. The hold was bumped

to 30 minutes, which made it possible for everyone to get through OK.

Good job by the P&R people and Vets! The other bummer here was Judy and

Warpaint were pulled for a muscle cramp in his rear end. He was moving

well to the check, but got cramped up a bit standing in line. It could

have been us at fault as well- we forgot to dose the horses with

Electrolytes in the morning before we left. It was VERY humid, and

getting warmer by the minute. Warpaint walked out of his cramp- in fact

Judy rode him on a long ride on Sunday- he seems fine. The bad luck

that follows Warpaint should be bottled and shipped somewhere very dark.

Judy did manage to have a lucky break, though. Her waist pack opened up

while she was flying down the trail, scattering everything behind her in

Warpaint's wake. (including her ride card, easyboot- all her stuff.)

She managed to recover all of it on her next pass, before the vet check,

with the exception of her Granola bar. Some happy raccoon was no doubt

waiting for her to come around again.

The first loop ended without incident, except for one bizarre episode I

had. I was riding with a lady who asked me "I have to ask. Why are

you only wearing one chap?" (I wear those little shorty leather half

chaps held on by velcro) I looked down- my right one was gone. "Whoa,"

I said, "I must have lost it, but never even noticed!" She looked at

me and asked "Then why do you wear them, if you didn't notice it was

gone?" I thought for a second, trying to come up with an answer. "Uh,"

I said, "because I've always worn them?" She shook her head no. "How

about they keep the gravel out of my shoes when I run?" "No gravel here

today," she said. "They keep my ankles warm?" I was really stretching

it now. She shook her head no again. She had me. I took the other one

off at lunch, finishing the ride without them. One less hunk of tack to

remember now!

The second loop was once again the same as the first, but it was

getting hotter. The back of the course was so humid in places it made

me think I was in Florida. Hey Truman- how do you guys ride in that

stuff? Yuck. Everyone slowed down a bit as a result. I had one more

little episode where Shatta spooked at yet another of his trail goblins

which don't exist, depositing me neatly on the ground beside him. The

good thing about this horse is he stops when he does this, rather than

take off. Thank goodness. I toppled off him, got back on, only loosing

about 30 seconds in the process. We finished again in great shape with

a ride time of just under seven hours, for 34th place. He looked great

again at the post ride check- that's what I'm looking for this year. He

drinks better with every ride as well.

There were tons of netters' in attendance, the Northern California

chapter Internet group called "Endurowest" was well represented.

Endurowest administrator Dom Freeman was there, but not on Fadjurs this

time. She was riding the 25 on a first time horse- she got through

fine, although I think she had to hold him back a bit. Jennifer

Hickson-Laymen was working the ride since her neat little mare is having

some foot problems. Val Weizer was also working the ride while her

significant other was riding.

Helen Harvy was there, Judy Ethridge, Karen Chaton, and Kristin

I-can't-remember-your-last-name rode as well. Donna Snyder Smith had

her small herd of Mustangs at the ride, with the speedy Mustang Hawk

taking third place ridden by Pam Loftus. David Jenkins won the ride,

Marcia Smith took second. Don't know any more- sorry 'bout that. It

was another fun ride for most folks. Next stop- Castle Rock!

 

Nick Warhol

Hayward, Ca.

 

Shatta- Who has been around this same damn loop six times now in the

past 10 weeks.

 

Rowan- Who only rode this ride once five years ago, and got pulled.

But- he got to ride in Rio's Race of Champions trailer!