As we had some late arrivals that didn't get to vet in on Friday night, they were allowed to vet in on Saturday morning. And, while technically the start time was at (I believe) 7:30, NATRC starts are a little bit different.
One, they pushed back the start time so the people who needed to vet in would have time to get back to their trailers and tack up and be ready.
So, all of us at our little trailer camp kind of took our time getting dressed and our horses ready. That was kind of nice.
T.M., as she was riding in the Open division with Sunny, had to leave with the first wave of riders, so she got tacked up and went ahead and got out with all of them. We actually waved to her as she walked by our trailer camp. We weren't even in the saddle yet! That is how laid back the start of a NATRC ride is!
L.B. managed to swing up on Spy. However, he just wasn't really feeling it, and wouldn't settle down. So, L.B. opted to not ride, and swung off. I hopped up on Strider, who couldn't understand why horses were walking by, and we were just standing around. C.B. mounted up on Silas, and we went over to the out timer area and walked around, loosening our horses up. Every single horse, but one, was calm. Walking easily. It was VERY laid back.
For NATRC, you go out in a group of 2 people, and there's a timer who notes when you start. You then have however much time between Minimum and Maximum time to complete the course from your starting time.
Now, I didn't look at my watch, or pay attention to when I was timed out. Several of the experienced NATRC riders suggested getting 2 watches to wear; one that has the actual time, and one you set to noon and start once you're timed out so you know how long you're out on course. Good idea! My Garmin also works for that as well, but as I didn't quite understand how things worked, I paused my ride for the first vet check, so that time wasn't accounted for. And there was a hold at an obstacle that the time waiting could be added back at the end of the ride if needed.
Basically, lots of things I didn't know, but do now!!!
So, timed out, and we ride by our trailers. Strider can see horses ahead and he's pulling on me, eager to get going as fast as possible and "beat" those other horses. I am so grateful his race brain is controllable. Sure, he pulls on me and it makes my hands and shoulders/upper back sore, but he isn't dangerous.
At this point, C.B. realizes her saddle pad is slipping back no matter what she does to adjust it. She decides she too is going to call it a day, go spend time riding in the arena and volunteer instead of risking her horse.
So Strider and I go through the first gate, and the RM is sitting there on the Mule (vehicle, not the 4 legged kind).
"This is the first obstacle. From this point to the judges ahead, we want you to trot, when you get to the judges stop for a 3 count."
Okay then, easily done. Gently nudge Strider up, and he willingly gives me the gait, though he briefly side-eyes the cows milling around to his right as we stop before the judges. I know now, to help the judges out, I should have counted out loud to the 3 count, because I counted it in my head. Once I was done, I asked the judges if there was something else I needed to do, was that really it?
"That was it, thank you!"
So nice! Okay then, so off we go again. And right ahead I can see a group of about 3 or 4 women. I want to be alone for the moment as Strider and I are still discussing our speed, and I'm not sure about ride etiquette with riding with people I don't know. And, to be honest, I'm not good at socializing as I have some anxiety.
So, it's just Strider and I for a while as I keep him back off the group ahead of me. No big deal. We discuss our speed issues, and he just continues to feel a little confused to me. He cannot understand why we're not actively engaged in speeding up and going faster. That wasn't the name of this day's game. This day's game was, first and foremost, see how he was after 6 months and to stay SOUND. Everything after that is just icing on the cake.
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| Coming out of the woods. Not happy with how I look (seems like I'm leaning back?). But, look at Strider! He has his happy ears on, and he's willingly chugging along with no urging! |
At some point on this loop, I eventually pass the group ahead of me, as he really is just moving a little faster than they are, and I catch up with a wonderful lady on a mustang named Vino. Our horses seem to get along with one another, they pace beautifully together, they willingly leap-frog with Vino leading, and then *GASP!* Strider leading willingly.
It was the rare, perfect meeting on trail where it all clicks in to place. And the bonus is Vino's rider is sweet and kind and we both, at almost the same time, ask if the other is okay with buddying up for the rest of the ride.
And so we did.
Let me say I am so SO happy I did. She helped me out through the entire ride. Answered my questions. Gave me some tips and pointers.
I found out at almost the end of the ride she is also a Horsemanship Judge as well, so I got some interesting perspective from her as well about how she judges obstacles as compared to the Horsemanship Judge this weekend.
As we come out of the woods, we come to the obstacle course at 7iL, and our second obstacle. At this point, we're backed up and waiting. Strider doesn't understand, so we start doing circles. I encourage him to stop and graze, but he's having NONE of it. We're just getting warmed up now mom, why the hold?
I see T.M. and Sunny going by on another trail and I wave to them and watch them chug off into the woods again.
Eventually, after watching Vino and his rider do the obstacle BEAUTIFULLY, it's our turn.
This obstacle was a gate.
For Vino and his rider, they needed to open the chain on the gate, maintaining control at all times of the gate, ride through the gate. Vino's rider did the added bonus of putting the chain back on the gate. :)
For my obstacle, I needed only open the gate and ride through. Didn't need to maintain control, just open and get through it.
In true-to-Strider style, it took a few moments for me to even get NEAR enough to get the chain picked up. He "helped" and shoved it open with his nose, and we rode through, as I laughed the entire time.
Now, I had asked the Horsemanship Judge the prior evening, would we get in trouble for swearing? L.B. had warned her that, the last time she and I rode together, I called Strider a name. Actually, that I spelled it out. Which L.B. then spelled out for our Judge at dinner, which made her laugh hysterically (the word, by the way...is the slang term for a rooster...and yes, I DID spell it out...I don't want my horse to learn bad language!). So, as I saw the judge through the weekend, she would have a smile and a laugh and tell me and my "Rooster" (which she also spelled) to do our best.
So, as we went through the gate, she laughed and said we'd done well.
After the gate was our very first vet check. We were asked to trot from one point to the vet check (my assumption is to check recoveries?). We then dismounted, loosened girths and waited.
NATRC is different from AERC in that they don't have a trot out, and go through everything. For a vet check, they check pulse and respiration. The horses were relatively calm, and Strider was down where he needed to be. We cleared through, and used the offered mounting block to get back on and proceeded to head on down the trail.
I want to note that as I didn't really understand how this worked, I didn't carry any electrolytes on trail with me. THAT said, however, Strider drank, or at least sipped, at 90% of the water on trail. Trough, stream, puddle, he drank. Again, I am not sure if this is because he's really got a grasp on distance riding and drinking when offered, if it was the electrolytes working on him, OR, as occurred to me during the day, that because the energy was lower, he felt calm enough to pause and take a drink when the opportunity arose. Unsure. But, we'll find out at our next endurance ride and compare!!!
Vino's rider and I are, at this point, leap-frogging with a duo, and, even once we put some distance between our groups, our boys will slow down, decide they want to graze, or something, and our groups will end up changing positions again.
At some point on this section of trail, it goes into single track. SINGLE TRACK. As in, you can't miss the trail. However, the signage changes from the LARGE signs with a black arrow on a white background, to a smaller sign with a GREEN arrow on a white background.
Is that right? Did we miss a turn?
At this point, we are once again caught up to the other 2, so, as a group, we all turn around and backtrack to the last sign we saw. And follow it again. To end up in the same place. Again.
At that point, someone calls the RM and asks for clarification. No, we're right.
So, we continue along.
Vino's rider and I talk, and realize we're both ready to set up some distance, so, with Strider in the lead, we take off at an easy canter.
Strider was happy to go. Easy to ride. Smooth and rateable. I kept my eyes peeled for chuck holes, or things he could hurt himself on. But we widen the gap handily and have a good time.
At this point, we're nearing camp again. Vino's rider and I talk for a few minutes as she considers if she should electrolyte him. I say I know there's a water trough ahead, maybe offer it to him then, although he's been drinking well.
We go by the large stock pond with easy access and I'm saying I usually listen if my horse asks, nicely, for something. And, Strider asked, nicely, to go to the pond. Thought maybe he was thirsty, so I allowed him to go up to it. And he just walked on in. And seemed like he was going to keep on walking further in.
NOPE NOPE NOPE!! It was a little too cool for me to want a bath. You want a drink, take a drink. But we are NOT taking a bath!!!
So, I turn him back out, and we're both laughing as we keep going.
I was confused internally as we rode through camp, and then kept riding. For some reason, I assumed there was a break/hold there. NOPE!! This really is all one, long, continuous ride.
So, we kept on going, and headed out on the next loop.
This was a simple loop, nothing over complex.
We finally gave up trying to set up a pocket between our group and the other 2 ladies, so we all finally buddied up and stuck together for awhile.
Before we knew it, we were at the next vet check. Hop off, loosen girth, wait.
Passed through handily, and there was the next obstacle with the vet (who once again went over my horse) and the horsemanship judge.
"In this area before you, pick the best area to mount from."
Let me lay the scene.
It's at the side of a stock tank.
There is a metal culvert almost to the water.
Small cow path into the stock tank.
A small little dirt mound.
Immediately ruled out the metal culvert. A horse could cut themselves on it.
Put my horse IN the stock tank water and attempt the mount? He'll lay down. No.
The small cow trail? Didn't put him low enough.
Dirt hill it was.
Internally, I'm like "We've got this! Strider knows the 'Come Pick Me Up' cue!"
Except...I was nervous because Vino's rider was waiting. I was nervous because I was being judged.
And Strider kept doing circles around me.
It was just all falling apart until the Horsemanship judge said "Stop. Just take a single breath. Okay. Now, ask him to take 1 step forward. Okay, take another breath. Now, ask for another step. Okay, you're doing great. Ask for another step."
And so she helped calm me and get my horse and I through it (she's seriously a very NICE woman!!!).
"Great job!"
And we rode off.
At that point, Vino's mom looked down and said "We're going to have to hustle to make cut off."
So, we did.
We pretty much FLEW down the trail when we could. I kept an eye on my Garmin and told her, based on her estimate, where we were, and how fast we were going.
Of course, we came to a water crossing...
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| Coming up to the water... |
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| This is one of my favorite pictures. I ordered it and will be framing it. |
Once they both finally stopped, we handily and calmly crossed the water, and then continued to haul tail into camp as quickly as we could.
When we made it in, the person who took our numbers said we were fine on time. Vino's ride thought maybe we had burned through the time we had given to us at the gate obstacle, but we were told, no, we didn't need to use that time at all!!
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| This is what a (brand new) NATRC pony looks like after he's finished his 18 miles! Blanketed because there was a slight nip in the air, and we still needed to get through the final vet check! |
WOW!! So, at this point, Vino's rider and I hugged each other, the girls showed up, and I went and took care of Strider back at camp. Feed, water...just everything he would need. I asked about final vet check procedures and was told that once the vet came in off trail after the Open riders were done, there was usually an hour or so and then we bring them up and present again.
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| My endurance "tribe" at the NATRC ride (well, one of them has done NATRC before). |
So, here's our ride cards, if you're curious about what they look like. Sorry they're a little hard to read!!!
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| I made this larger than normal in an attempt to make it easier to read. If you've ever wondered what a NATRC score card looks like, this is on the reverse side of the "Horse Scorecard". Basically, these are your vet scores and how you're graded. |
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| This is the actual scoring side of the Horse Scorecard. This is what the vet fills out. Sorry that it's hard to read. The total summation is that out of a possible 100 points, TOTAL we lost 5 points. 1 for Jugular Refill in the morning and 1 for Gut Sounds, also Saturday morning. At the Gate Obstacle, we lost 2 points for head tossing and him being anxious. On the mounting obstacle, we lost 1 point as he wouldn't stand still for the vet check. |
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| This is the Horsemanship Card. This is how the rider is judged by the Horsemanship Judge. I was very appreciative of the judge at this ride as she was very encouraging and actually gave me some good advice at the mounting obstacle. Again, out of 100 points, we lost 2 points. 1 for the Gate obstacle and 1 for the Mounting obstacle. |
Then awards.
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| Yes. Those are TWO blue ribbons!!! (Photo taken Sunday) |
I took first place in Horsemanship, and he took first place in Horse (as determined by the vet due to his vet scores).
One, it was ridiculously hysterical listening to them trying to say his name, as I registered him with NATRC under his registered name.
Two, I was so shocked and surprised I was tuning out a little bit because I figured we bombed so badly that I was just happy to be clapping for the winners (I don't need to win things to enjoy myself...I'm actually REALLY happy when other people do well! I'm competitive, but not so competitive to know others aren't better than I am!).
I am over the moon delighted with him. For his first "anything" at all since his injury, for him to come back, and have enough gas left in the tank to feel like he could have done day two at the NATRC ride (I briefly considered it, but, I wasn't going to push him THAT hard through the sand), is a testimony to his determination and grit as a horse.
I WILL be doing another NATRC ride. Looks like it won't be until this fall, so I told the Horsemanship Judge she'll be seeing us again. But next time, I want to do better, so we'll be working towards improving ourselves until next time.
Which...we will be.....
(And, if you care, here's the ride stats)
| Time | Cumulative Time | Moving Time | Avg Speed | Avg Moving Speed | Max Speed | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16:35 | 16:35 | 15:53 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 6.8 | ||||
| 2 | 11:36 | 28:11 | 11:32 | 5.2 | 5.2 | 9.2 | ||||
| 3 | 13:33 | 41:44 | 13:26 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 7.8 | ||||
| 4 | 13:09 | 54:53 | 13:08 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 7.2 | ||||
| 5 | 13:08 | 1:08:01 | 12:56 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 8.5 | ||||
| 6 | 12:57 | 1:20:58 | 11:52 | 4.6 | 5.1 | 9.7 | ||||
| 7 | 20:50 | 1:41:48 | 18:52 | 2.9 | 3.2 | 8.7 | ||||
| 8 | 17:52 | 1:59:39 | 16:22 | 3.4 | 3.7 | 9.6 | ||||
| 9 | 11:59 | 2:11:38 | 11:14 | 5.0 | 5.3 | 10.1 | ||||
| 10 | 11:25 | 2:23:03 | 11:22 | 5.3 | 5.3 | 9.7 | ||||
| 11 | 10:40 | 2:33:42 | 9:46 | 5.6 | 6.1 | 11.5 | ||||
| 12 | 15:59 | 2:49:41 | 14:57 | 3.8 | 4.0 | 9.6 | ||||
| 13 | 12:22 | 3:02:03 | 12:03 | 4.9 | 5.0 | 11.2 | ||||
| 14 | 14:07 | 3:16:10 | 13:26 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 10.0 | ||||
| 15 | 12:25 | 3:28:35 | 12:06 | 4.8 | 5.0 | 12.2 | ||||
| 16 | 15:28 | 3:44:03 | 15:23 | 3.9 | 3.9 | 8.6 | ||||
| 17 | 37:22 | 4:21:25 | 20:39 | 1.6 | 2.9 | 8.4 | ||||
| 18 | 10:57 | 4:32:22 | 10:55 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 9.6 | ||||
| 19 | 8:03.1 | 4:40:25 | 8:03.1 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 12.3 | ||||
| 20 | 3:18.0 | 4:43:43 | 3:07 | 7.8 | 8.3 | 12.4 | ||||
| Summary | 4:43:43 | 4:43:43 | 4:18:05 | 4.1 | 4.5 | 12.4 |
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