First let me say that I am really in love with Reilly, (that sort of happens in relationship when your first night sleeping together is a grand success!) and I couldn’t be happier with him if he had won Grand Champion in Maine on 10/9. He gave me every indication of being a great CTR and Endurance horse. He was calm and happy attached to his HiTie and safely surrounded by my portable electric fence. He seemed unfazed by the strange surroundings and activity of 50 other horses. He immediately ate and drank when he got off the trailer. But then … Reilly LOVES to eat and drink and not much gets in the way of his appetite. When he emptied his hay bag around 1 am he banged it on my trailer till I got up to refill it!  I left him a ton of carrots and soupy grain … and again, I got a bang on my door when he thought he’d like more! Maybe I was rewarding bad behavior (banging on the trailer) but to be honest I thought it was quite endearing.

However, nothing is ever perfect. Although he practically self loads on the trailer he does not travel quietly.  He does not get himself in a sweat, but he rocks and rolls back there especially when the trailer stops.  With this in mind, I planned on making this the best experience I could. It was a 5 1/2 hr drive to Maine and I stopped every hour and a half to offer him water, grain and carrots soup which he slurped eagerly. When I got to the campground and stopped he was dead quiet. When I opened the door my heart sank. He had pulled back enough to snap the quick release on his trailer tie and somehow got his head under the breast bar. He was stuck in what looked like a very uncomfortable position. To his credit, he did not panic and I undid the bolt of the breast bar and he righted himself.  Who knows how long he was in that position on those winding Maine roads. With my heart still pounding he unloaded calmly and I walked him around and let him eat grass and stretch. When it was time to present him to the Vet I explained what happened. I said if there is any indication at all that he’s lame I won’t ride tomorrow.  He vetted out completely sound, although he was reluctant to let the vet touch his butt to check anal tone.  The Vet told me he would check him again at the half way hold.

The woman I was camping next to had a lovely paint. After talking a while we decided to ride together. She said her horse was a Camp horse for years and was solid on the trail and roads. A great combination for a young guy like Reilly. And, indeed they were great together from the start. They took turns leading on the trail and when it came to crossing some scary bridges Reilly was thrilled to have someone go first. We met a bunch of ATV’s on the trail, but they politely pulled over to let us go by. My riding buddy’s horse turned to Reilly and said … hey kid, I’ve seen much worse … stick with me!

I knew they rerouted the trail from the previous day’s ride and there would be some road, but I was not prepared for a very long stretch of highway on a very busy Columbus Day Weekend!  When we got to the road we waited (at my pleading) for about 40 Harley’s to go by.  To be honest, if I were alone at that point I’m not sure I would have taken him down the shoulder of the highway.  But, with the brave paint leading the way somehow we made it through alive. I admit I was terrified. Every other vehicle was a huge truck pulling an even bigger motor home. Reilly held it together despite the quivering mass he was carrying!

At the halfway hold he was a prince.  He munched as I sponged him off and he pulsed down quickly.  I reminded the Vet that he was the horse who was stuck in the trailer. He said Reilly looked great. I was grateful for his confirmation but I already knew Reilly did not take a bad step for the first 12.5 miles.  He was forward, happy and sound.

About 6 miles from the end we went off course. It was windy and one of the markers got blown away and we wound up following hoof prints in the wrong direction…three times. They were from the previous day’s ride but we had no way of knowing that.  We found ourselves back at camp WAY too early and that’s when we knew we went off course. We had to back track … followed wrong tracks and markers again … and wound up doing an extra 4 miles.  Reilly, even though a bit confused about going back and forth had plenty of energy left.  My riding partner’s paint was feeling the heat and was slowing down. Reilly said, “No worries!!” and took a strong lead to the finish and encouraged his new BFF.

Again, Reilly’s pulse went down quickly and he dove in to his bucket of food.  When I touched his back it contracted and dropped! He was sore all over and I felt terrible. He must have pulled muscles in the trailer and once he stopped moving and was sponged off he realized how much it hurt. Typical for human and equine athletes.  He would not let the Vet touch his back safely so we lost the maximum amount of points for “back area and anal tone” from the Vet and Lay Judge.

That’s fair and those are the rules. If you can’t examine the horse safely you must assume the worst. He trotted out perfectly sound and his metabolics were stellar.  We wound up with an 84 after 15 penalty points were taken off and we got a Completion Ribbon.  To me … that was a win! We bonded even deeper and truly enjoyed each other’s company. He didn’t even hesitate when I asked him to get back into the trailer for the long drive back. When we got home he still had enough energy to trot around his turnout and kick up his heals to announce his return to a bemused Rianon.

After a few days of bute and hot towels on his back he is completely fine. My chiropractor who worked on him two weeks before the ride didn’t think he did any real damage based on his performance and recovery.  I gave him a week off and then took a short ride. He felt great and happy under saddle.

Every ride is an opportunity to learn and I so look forward to a lifetime of “Reilly Lessons”.

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