I am so glad the “First” ride is over!!  The week before the ride I had anxiety attacks almost every day. Every bad scenario passed through my mind. We were having a perfect storm of issues. Shoeing changes, girth marks … and  I was worried about his snarky attitude.  Hmmm, maybe he was picking up on my own tense state of mind. But, the entry was paid, the trailer was packed and the gas tank was full so off we went!

My “fearless leader” Edie always says … “set the horse up to succeed” and I took her advice. Instead of camping overnight for our first ride experience I took a friend up on her generous offer to stay at her home in CT and drive to RI early the next morning. I chose the NEATO 25 at the LeGrand Reynolds Horsemen’s Camp in Exeter, RI for the gorgeous flat trails, the great camp area and the easy going atmosphere of the ride. I’d done this ride years ago with Rianon and remember the kindness of the RI crowd. I wanted this to be a fun ride for Reilly. I didn’t want to have to carry him for the last 5 miles!

This was his longest trailer ride and he did not appreciate the bumpy NY highway or the noisy traffic on the interstate. He got off the trailer at my friend’s house in CT pretty wound up.  He blew off steam in her pasture and promptly fell in love with her Fjord. (Is an Arab/Fjord relationship legal?) He spent the night in a stall which he was not accustomed to, but he did eat and drink well.  Although the weather called for cloudy skies and temps in the high 70′s when we checked before we headed for bed –  we woke to pouring rain at 4:00 am. We looked at the weather site and pondered the huge storm heading our way … put on rain gear and got our horses ready!  Reilly loaded in the dark like a champ.  I must say there were many times during the drive to the ride that I thought “what am I thinking! It’s pouring and they are calling for thunder storms all day”. But, endurance riders in general are committed and crazy so we never mentioned bailing out …

The Vet-in went well and Reilly was pretty well behaved. He even stood under a tent for the first time! Our trot out, I openly admitted, looked much much better when we practiced in my driveway … but the Judges were very understanding of his youth and, um, exuberant nature. One of the wonderful things about my sport is that everyone really wants rookie horses to do well … and they are very encouraging and fair.

Reilly was surprising undisturbed by all the horse trailers, tents, temporary fencing, awnings and all the hoopla of ride day.  He just checked it all out calmly. I was so happy to see that if something did concern him I felt he turned to me for answers and comfort. He loved his “High Tie” and ate out of the hay bag eagerly. I gave him a dose of electrolytes and he ate some “soup” of grain and carrots while I organized my tack.

We barely had time to saddle up when our numbers were called and it was time to hit the trail. My only error was  riding too conservatively for the first half of the ride. I was worried about everything:  slipping on the wet trails (did I mention it was pouring?) … going downhill too fast … pushing him too hard too soon.

The half way hold back at camp went very well. He pulsed down quickly and trotted out strong. He ate like, well, a horse, and drank his fill.  My riding partner looked at her watch and said … “we have an hour and 50 minutes to do 12.5 miles … we have to fly.”  And fly we did.  I was worried that once back at camp he would think the ride was over and not want to go out on the trail again!  But, actually he was stronger and more fluid the second half and he moved beautifully down the trail. It might be that I finally relaxed and he felt that in my body. We finished with 4 minutes to spare thanks to my wonderful friend Rhonda and her Morgan, Asa.  Reilly pulsed down to 34 BPM in 20 minutes and they couldn’t even see his breath to count his respiration. Sadly, Asa did not pulse down to the parameter of 46 and he was penalized 2 points. I felt so terrible because it was really my fault. We knew that being a big Morgan on a steamy day we would need to walk in the last mile so his pulse would come down. But if we walked at all we would have went over our allotted time. Because I was overly cautious the first half we had to trot and canter the entire way and that didn’t give Asa time to cool out.

Reilly was “bouncy and playful” during his trot out and the judges took only one point off for slight muscle soreness in his chest and one other point for a slight swelling on his side.  With a score of 98 (out of 100) he won “Rookie Horse”, “High Point Arab” and we were second overall. There were 13 horses doing the 25. (There were also 20 riders doing the 12.5 training ride)  It was an easy beautiful ride … a perfect beginner’s competition … but for us it was like winning the Tevis!

I felt like a queen. Two big ribbons, a feed bowl, a bag of cookies, a T shirt AND a happy sound horse! Does life get any better than that?? And, as my partner pointed out … all it cost me was a week’s loss of sleep, two tanks of gas and an entry fee!

It’s usual to give a horse one day off for each 10 miles of the ride. I’m giving him an extra two day for the long trailer ride.  However, judging by the way he did his little victory trot around the pasture when we got home, my hunch is he’s not a bit worn out!  I can’t wait to get back on his back and head down the trail again!

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