Sunday, June 14, 2015
OD Preview
It was a tough weekend at Old Dominion for a lot of reasons. Steel felt incredible, fit, and happy. We did the toughest 30 miles of trail in style, but somewhere between Bird Haven and Laurel Run, Steel threw a shoe, damaging her hoof in the process. I dismounted and walked her by hand for the remaining miles to the hold. The farrier put on a new shoe and patched her hoof. She vetted passably sound, but I knew she wasn't right and rider optioned, sparing the horse for another day. It turned out to be the right decision. By the time we got a trailer back to base camp, Steel had some swelling in her opposite leg and was gimping consistently. All the same, it was an incredible ride. I couldn't ask for a better horse, a better riding buddy, or a better crew. I finished with horse and rider in one piece, which is more than many people got this weekend. I am happy with that. Better luck next time. Details to follow.
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That photo was taken at one of my favorite sections of the trail last year!
ReplyDeleteYou always do what's best for the horse, and it is one of the things that I admire so much about you. The horses you ride are lucky to have you as their partner. <3
I wondered how the horses in general faired this weekend. It was horribly hot and humid this year; there must've been tons of metabolic pulls. Liz and I were talking about how great it was to have done the OD 50 last year and not this year...Lily and I completed only because it had been in the high 70s that day, which was highly unusual for this ride. It's one thing to do the Tevis with its dry heat but I think doing a 100 in heat + high humidity is far tougher, and I wish more people would talk about managing a horse in our kind of climate. Though maybe I just haven't found the right information.
Enough of my rambling. :) That piece of trail between Bird Haven and Laurel Run is a BITCH. I was surprised that section didn't lame more horses last year, including ours! I'm so sorry you had to pull, but congratulations on finishing 30 really, really tough miles with horse and rider in one piece. Will look forward to reading the rest of the story!
*Just realized that first sentence sounds really weird. What I meant was, that was my favorite section of the OD trail last year.
DeleteIt's funny how we will remember specific parts of a trail that made an impact. There's a specific slab rock you took a photo of, that you have on FB: Lily slipped and slid all over that particular rock last year. I remember it bc I wanted her to take the skinny trail right next to it and she insisted on going over it. Liz was behind us and she had made a comment about how Lily's Gloved hooves slipped more over that rock than the ones wearing Renegades. Random memory indeed. Lol
You leave me the very best comments. I was looking forward to joining you and Liz on the list of people who have completed the OD 50. I was disappointed not to. This year was especially brutal, I think. It would rain periodically and make the humidity sky rocket up, up, up. I faired ok in the heat and so did Steel, but there were a lot of pulls due to dehydration, and I saw many horses inverted. It was definitely the Beast this year. That part of the trail was lovely. I liked the stretch through the ferns, the stretch on the grassy knoll at the peak, and the stretch through the mountain laurel after the big climb best. I thought of you and Liz often as I climbed and scaled boulders. I actually got down and tailed at one point going down hill. Steel is amazing, but as a former ring riding horse, she is just not always sure footed going down hill, and I did NOT want to die on this ride. Yikes! I kept thinking of your post, where you talked about how nobody shares photos of the REALLY hard parts of the trail. I went up there thinking I'd get those photos for the blogging world. I did not. I was too busy white knuckle gripping the reins with both hands. OMG!!
DeleteYup, during the really hard parts of that trail last year, I was wishing really hard that Lily had a mane to hold onto! It answered the question: no one takes photos of that section because they are too busy trying to stay out of their horses' ways so they don't die. That climb is just insane. 5 miles of pretty much straight climbing, in the heat.
DeleteIt would be awesome if they could switch: Fort Valley in June, the OD in October when it's cooler. But I guess then they wouldn't call it The Beast of the East!
Hope Steele recovers quickly. Old Dominion is tough but beautiful
ReplyDeleteSteel is a-ok now. She went home on Sunday and was completely sound on Monday afternoon. The foot will grow back. The swelling is gone. I succeeded in sparing the horse.
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