New York Adventure 2019

Last weekend Mike and I went to Dodie's Ride, New York Adventure. I did the 50 miler with Lunar. Mike was the official ride photographer. Mike has been signed up for that position for about a year so we knew we'd be at this ride either way, but I didn't know I was riding until two weeks before.

First and foremost I want to give a huge shout out to my dear friend, Dodie, for putting on this ride! She is so organized and really thought of everything. I cannot imagine running a ride four hours away from my house, but Dodie manages to do a stellar job every year. Plus, this year she had four distances... 25, 50, 75, and 100 miles! It's awesome to have another hundred mile ride in the Northeast.

NY Adventure is held over Memorial Day weekend which means it's a Sunday ride. This worked out great because Mike didn't have to take any time off and got Monday to recuperate. On my end, I got to give all my regular lessons without wrestling with scheduling.

The ride is in New Berlin, which is about four hours from us. This meant we got to sleep in on Saturday, take our time packing, and hit the road around lunch time.

Hooked up and ready to head out.

There was a minor blip with Reginald. Mike recently picked up a marine battery to run the interior fans (and to give us plugs for charging things like phones). The day before our trip, we plugged the battery in to test everything and nothing happened. We plugged the trailer in to the electric in the warehouse and the fans kicked right on. Then we tried plugging the power inverter into the car battery. Nothing. After trying a few combinations, we figured the inverter was a dud. It was a bummer, but we'd deal with it when we got home. When we got home, Mike went over to Andrew's house to borrow his multi-meter, which revealed that the inverter was working just fine. Turns out one of the cables was slightly loose. A bit bizarre since I watched Mike check them at our house, but at least it was an easy fix.

We stopped at Quick Chek, as usual and this time there was no drama with the dogs. As an added bonus, I now know how to ring up the ice in self checkout so that process was a breeze. Mike repacked the cooler while I waited for our sandwich orders to come up. I think that's Julio's favorite part of endurance rides. I always share my snacks with the dogs and he knows it!

The drive up was mostly uneventful. We did hit some traffic on 380. Also, I'm not sure what's wrong with that road through Pennsylvania, but there was this wavy texture to the pavement that left our entire rig bouncing around for about a hundred miles. It was pretty miserable, and I can't imagine how bad it would be with horses in tow. As soon as we crossed into New York, the road went back to normal.

Along the way, we stopped for gas and beer.

I made a conscious effort to take more pictures this time around since my Bare Bones entry was seriously lacking in the visual department.

The last stretch of the drive was pretty scenic, although I suspect that much of the area is super de dooper haunted. Along the way, we passed this awesome pink mansion.

We arrived in camp at the Pure Country Campground* around 4:30. There was a volunteer directing parking and checking riders in. Mike explained that he was the photographer and that the rig that was bringing the horses was huge. As a result we got parking front and center.

*Love a ride camp with running water and hot showers!

Only one horse spooked at Reginald last weekend.

Once we got parked, I ran over to check in and say hi to Dodie.

It turns out we had perfect timing and a few moments later I heard the rumble of the Freightliner turning into camp, followed by Carla in her van.

Paul turning the trailer around.

The van made our Rav look like a toy!

That's when I found out who would be riding. Jen and I would be on Maddie and Lunar again. Bryn was joining us later that night and would be taking Ally on her first 50. Tina would also be doing her first fifty with her junior, Cam.

We got camp set up, Jen got everyone checked in, and then we headed over to vet. All four horses passed vet-in with flying colors and we got them situated by the trailer.

Before long it was time for dinner and the ride meeting. Dodie came up with a great solution for this too! Basically, dinner was pot luck. Your dinner options were to bring a dish or pay $5 at the door to have access to everyone's food. This was great because you didn't have to feel pressured to bring something, but you got rewarded if you did. Let me tell you something... endurance riders can apparently really cook! There were some really incredible dishes to choose from and I had a hard time picking only what would fit on my plate. Wow!

Also, I ate a huge portion of my dinner before remembering about social media.
The broccoli salad was incredible.

The ride meeting was great! Informative, to the point, and with a dash of humor thrown in. The 50's would be starting at 6am. We'd be riding red (20 miles), blue (18), and pink (12). Holds were in camp, 45 minutes each, tack off optional, standard pulse criteria.

The weather that night was dramatic. Several nasty storms rolled through and there was heavy rain at times. We put the pop-up tent up for Lunar and Ally who were tied to the trailer. Then we threw Tina and Maddie in the trailer with hay and water until the worst of the weather passed.

Meanwhile, we all stuck our chairs under the awning and stayed dry while hanging out, drinking beer, and exchanging stories well into the night.

Around 10pm, we all went our separate ways. Mike and I ducked into the camper with the dogs, and stayed up for a while longer, sharing more beer and snuggling in bed with the lights on while thunder rolled and lightning flashed around us.

At 5am, we were up and at 'em, heading down for coffee and breakfast snacks. The Chobani plant is around the corner from ride camp and they donated a bunch of yogurt to the ride, which was awesome!

A damp sunrise over a misty ride camp.

Mike had his plan for the day and wouldn't have to leave until right after the 50 mile start, which meant he was floating around being generally helpful while we tacked up. As usual, Jen and I had gotten all our saddles, pads, bridles, etc. sorted out the night before (and I remembered my saddle bags this time). I am really loving the low key, stress-free morning routine this year.

Bryn had arrived around 2:30am after dealing with some medical drama at work, and she looked tired after only two hours of sleep.

We were mounted at quarter to six and milling about camp to let the horses stretch their legs. This time I remembered to snug up my girth after I was in the saddle.

Our brigade of grays.
BriGRAYde!
I'm hilarious.
Even if nobody else laughs.

At 6am the trail opened and we moseyed up the road out of camp.

Photo by Liz Thompson.

With all the rain we've had, most of this ride stuck to the gravel roads in the forest. It didn't make for very interesting between-the-ears photos, but I'm perfectly happy to stay on trails that are passable at a decent clip rather than slogging through deep, tendon-straining mud for twelve hours.

The light during the first several miles of the ride was to die for. The mist was rising off the forest floor as the golden rays of the sunrise slanted through endless rows of pine trees. The air smelled fresh and the horses were peppy as we trotted four abreast down the rolling roads.

All four horses were doing really well on the first loop. They were all perky and forward and strong. Lunar led most of the way, which made him really happy. We were constantly going either up or down, and we slowed to a walk on most of the longer inclines to spare Tina and Ally.

About nine miles in, we passed Mike out on trail for the first time. He was in a spot where all four distances would be passing him. The light and background that day were both very difficult to work with, and he was juggling over 80 horses. Plus it was humid and buggy out. It was a tough ride to photograph as your first solo gig.

He did awesome.

The background in this photo is pretty representative of this ride.

Lunar happily leading the charge.

After we passed Mike we stopped at the water troughs at the top of the hill, where Lunar drank deeply. Then the red and blue trails split and we took back off into the woods.

A short while later, we passed the hundred milers coming the other way on the orange loop.

From there, we were heading back towards the hold and the horses knew it. Lunar found the next gear and then the next, and I had to keep reminding him to wait for the less experienced horses. He seemed to be saying, "You're making me lose again! I know you know how to ride faster than this. Remember two weeks ago?" But he listened when I asked him to rate.

Bryn asked me if I have any favorite exercises for helping people sit the canter. I replied that I take their stirrups away and then make them ride with "frog legs" to find their seat bones. I demonstrated and Bryn mimicked me, declaring, "Oh yes, that does work." Behind us, we heard some squeaking as the junior (who'd apparently been trying this herself) tried to get her stirrups back. Haha.

By then, the sun was starting to come out and I knew it was going to be a hot one. It wasn't even 9am and I was starting to sweat already.

Muggy.

Before I knew it, we were heading down the long road back into camp. Twenty miles had flown by! All four horses still looked fresh and we decided to leave tack on for the hold.

We arrived at the in timer at 8:48am. I sponged Lunar a bit, but I don't think he really needed it. As soon as Ally and Tina were sufficiently cooled, we headed over to vetting. I took the junior under my wing and promised not to leave her alone in the vetting.

Lunar's CRI was an awesome 48/48 and he got A's and +'s all around.

All four horses passed the vetting and we got them set up with grain at the trailer.

I went to take care of everyone's out times only to learn that Dodie was twenty five steps ahead of me and had the whole system down to an art. Apparently when they got our pulse times in the box, they automatically radioed out times to the out timer. No need to get the ride card back out. No keeping track of an extra slip of paper. No time lost on walking back and forth. Dodie is a genius and my personal hero.

This was the first time in a while that I didn't have crew, but I was totally fine. It helped that Jen has everything down to a system and it's pretty hands off. I wandered over to the camper and ate a sandwich and a GoGurt before grabbing some trail mix and guzzling down a Gatorade.

The hold passed quickly and before I knew it we were electrolyting, tightening girths, and mounting back up.

At 9:40, we were back on trail.

We took it a little slower now, really insisting on walking the numerous climbs. Tina and Ally were still doing well, but I noticed Bryn was pretty quiet. It turned out she had a migraine and was really feeling pretty cruddy. Meanwhile, the junior was really holding her own... no small feat at just-turned-twelve years old. Lunar and Maddie, of course, were still fresh and raring to go.

About halfway through this loop, we passed Mike again.

As soon as we were  past Mike again, the horses knew we were heading back.

Can you feel the excitement in these ears?

Ally looking fresh and happy almost 38 miles in, the furthest she'd ever been ridden to date.

I'm sure Tina and Ally thought they were heading for the finish line at 38 miles!

We came into camp at 12:16 and the sun was beating down full force. I decided to pull tack and sponge. Still, when I put my hand to Lunar's chest, his heart was beating slow and steady.

We all trekked to the vetting together again and Lunar's CRI was 50/48. We had the "strict" vet and scored a B on muscle tone, but had A's and +'s on the rest of our card. The same vet made a comment about one of the mares taking some funny steps, but all three of them looked great to me when I watched them go, and they all got through the vetting just fine.

This hold also seemed to go quickly. I tried to manage my time well and started putting Lunar's tack back on ten minutes before we needed to electrolyte. I probably should have asked someone to hold him for me because I ended up dropping the nice saddle that Jen has been letting me ride in... seat saver down in the muddiest part of the pen. Damn. So I spent the next ten minutes dunking all my biothane in a water bucket while attempting to sponge mud out of sheepskin (not an easy thing to do, in case you're wondering. 0/10. Do not recommend.)

Thankfully, Bryn and Jen took care of my electrolytes for me so I was able to get my now-filthy butt back on the horse in a timely fashion. At 1:07pm we were back out for the last twelve miles of the ride. Bryn had taken something for her headache and was looking more like herself, though Ally seemed a little shell-shocked that we were still horseback riding.

The last loop overlapped a lot of what we'd already done earlier in the day, but also included the only stretch of trail that wasn't on the access roads.

Along the way, we spotted Mike again. This time we rode right past the car and I made kissy faces at my dogs, who were being on their very best behavior and not barking at all the horses passing by.

Spectating.

By this point, Mike looked pretty worn out. I told him I was sure he'd gotten multiple photos of everyone by that point. The gnats were getting really atrocious. We were alright because we were moving, but I imagine being stationary out there was equivalent to being a target. When Mike told me he planned to stay out there til 4pm, I urged him to reconsider, reminding him that most of the local ride photographers are gone by noon!

A short while later we on that long last stretch back to camp. I was surprised at just how much climbing there had been, especially on this last loop. Just in case "all roads" made the ride easy. This one definitely falls in the "deceptively hard" category in my book!

At 3:30pm, we came into camp for the final time, and I spotted the Rav parked in front of Reginald. Mike had come to the finish to cheer us on!

Gotta love a horse who carries a kid for 50 miles. I adore this mare.

My bad humor still very much in tact.

We stripped tack, sponged horses, and headed over to the vet. I held my breath. All four horses had successfully done 50 miles of trail. Would they all get completions? Would we be able to keep up our lucky streak for the year?

I walked into the pulse box and was pleasantly surprised when the volunteer declared, "48. Did you even ride this horse today?"

We got the "strict" vet again, and she mentioned some old marks on Lunar's back. As I sprinted as hard as I could to keep up with Lunar's final trot out, I knew he looked and felt great. Mike cheered as we officially got our completion. I was delighted when all three mares passed as well! Four for four!! Tina and Ally are both officially endurance horses now, and the junior rider has come to the dark side.

Mike spent some time taking pictures around camp, including snagging photos of Tina and her junior rider and Dodie's dog, Poe.

Mike and I stuck around for a few hours after we finished. Dodie and the campground did a really great job feeding everyone and I had a hot dog and extra salty fries, which really hit the spot.

 I wanted to stay for awards, but we had a horse racing at Monmouth on Monday and I would be doing the race barn by myself in the morning. Bryn and the junior had fallen asleep and we ended up sneaking off while they were out. Jen assured us that it was fine to head out, and that she and Paul wouldn't be far behind.

Before we left, I went over to grab my completion prize (a knapsack in bright yellow!) and thank Dodie for everything.

"I finally got to ride your ride!" I laughed.

The drive home went quickly and quietly and we were in bed before midnight.

I wanted to take a moment to talk about a "gear change" I made for this ride.

You see, my paddock boots have been in pretty sad shape lately. You can see my socks in a few places while I have them on and they are definitely no longer water proof. I used to do endurance in the Ariat Terrains, but they don't make them the same way and I don't like the way they fit now (plus Ariat products don't seem to last more than six months for me, and with the price point, that's not good enough). I didn't really want to get another pair of paddock boots for endurance (they aren't as comfortable long distance as they are in the arena).

So after driving to Dover, REI, TSC, and Dick's, I finally decided on a pair of Merrell Siren Sport Q2 "trail sneakers". I put them on in the store and they felt like coming home. The tread was enough to help with having to hike over some terrain, but not so much that it would interfere with my stirrups.

After riding 50 miles in them, I have to say I'm in love. My chaps fit comfortably over top of them and my feet have never been happier after a ride. They are NOT waterproof, which is a downside, but given how awesome my feet feel in them, I'm willing to take my chances (the Terrains were never waterproof in my experience either...)

And, of course, ride map and elevation profile for those of you who care :)