Gearing up for another Last Hoorah!...or "Please, PLEASE let me beat these trails this time!"

Outwardly, I am calm.  I am cool.  I am zen.  I project a self-assured "We've got this" je ne sais quoi.

Inside, I'm quaking. 

I know my horse is ready.  I'm uncomfortable with his shoes going on next week so close to the ride, but I'm going to take a deep breath and roll with that.  We will go slowly.  We will come to the ride well hydrated.  We will stop on the trail and electrolyte.  And have a little snack.  We will leave behind the front runners. 

We will ride our own ride.

I have already started preparing to prepare him.

Tuesday night I ran to "The Feed Station" here in Austin and picked up some SpeediBeet.
 

In case you're curious about the nutritional value.

Then I went home (my HiTie has arrived, which is a mixed blessing!  HiTie, YAY!  But...nothing to use with it.  Boo!  I may quickly order accessories though and just order the customized tie later) and started prepping after doing the math.

So, for Strider's weight (give or take, I upped it to 900 lbs), he needs 13.5 oz of SpeediBeet (well, for maintenance, but I'm running with it).  0.84 lbs of it.

So, I got out my scale and started weighing it out in the kitchen into sandwich baggies.
 

This looks like the start of some drug cartel movie, doesn't it?  I assure you, it isn't.

My original thinking was "How simple this shall be!  I can grab a baggie, take it to the barn with me, soak it, mix it in with his grain and let him slurp it all down!"

Except, as my friend who went to the Dr. Garlinghouse seminar at the AERC convention told me, despite it saying it has no molasses in it, it still does.  Doc G suggests triple rinsing it.  So I'm still going to have to rinse it.  My friend says she rinses it, freezes it, and then sets it out and uses it.

On the plus side, since it only takes 10 minutes to soak in cool water, I can soak it, and do the triple rinse quickly.  On the down side, I'm still having to rinse it. 

Anyway, I got 29 baggies made.

29.  Yes, 29 "dime baggies" of SpeediBeet.

I'll stop by the store, get more sandwich baggies (maybe something a little larger.  These baggies are straining at the seams!) and attempt to finish this project.

The plan, at least leading up to Last Hoorah;
Electrolyte BOTH Strider and Dakini for the ride.  Should something happen (endurance gremlin), I can take Dakini and drop to an LD with her.  But I need and want her prepared for it.  So, I shall prep her as if she's going.  Actually, I outta do Socks as well, just to get him used to this process too, but, he's a good eater and so mellow about everything I do with him, that I think he'll take it all in stride.  And the fact is, if somehow both Strider and Dakini end up unable to go, I'm not taking Socks.  He has no hoof protection.


By this time next week, Strider will have his shoes and pads on (I'll be taking pictures again of that process).

I believe I've already stated it, but, I'm going to give up on composites for now.  For STRIDER they do not work.  Or, at least, the ones I tried didn't work.  I think they are an EXCELLENT product if they are suitable for your horse.  I just feel they're not suitable for mine.

So, we're padding up and putting on steel shoes.  And we shall "Never hurry, never tarry" on the 13th.  I am grateful that this ride is only "open" for the first 1/4 mile, then we dive into the woods where riders can spread out.

My plan is to ride alone for the whole thing unless we find someone who isn't going super fast and who we can pace well with.  Otherwise, we stay at the back, I put in one ear bud and we spend our day together.  I shall stop every hour to hour and a half to let him have a quick snack (I got in my collapsible bowl yesterday that will go on my saddle pack for him along with some grain).  And my syringes.  We'll electrolyte, nosh on some carrots and apples, have a slurp of soupy water grain for a few moments, then get moving again.

Well, that's the plan.  I know I can feed him carrots from the saddle.  And, I can afford to throw away 5 to 10 minutes per loop [depending on the length of the loop] to let him eat something wet.

Well, that's the plan.  We will electrolyte more than normal because, I expect it will be warm.  I haven't yet started compulsively checking the forecast yet....although, next Friday in Cleburne shows a 60% chance of scattered thunderstorms and a high of 79 and a low of 59.  Mostly clear sky Friday night.

Fingers crossed that the rains help keep the temps down on Saturday.  That would be ideal.  But, in the week leading up to Friday, temps in the mid to upper 80's. 

So, should you see me in the next week or so, while I may APPEAR calm, don't be fooled. 

Inside, I'm really anxious.  This ride season's been wonky for me with a MASSIVE curve and some scary hiccups at our last ride. 

I just feel like, if we can get this 50 done, and NOT OverTime again, that I will have gotten rid of the ill-luck which has been plaguing me this season and be able to move forward again.