Leah’s first Solo and 3rd LD Endurance Race

So, Ms. Leah (i.e., Heavenlei Days or the ‘Princess’) is a hot, young Arabian mare that I have been bringing along as my next endurance partner. We’ve been moving pretty slow up the training ladder simply because of time and the fact she still looks like she’s four years old (she’s 7, and I keep waiting for another growth spurt).

We’ve been trail riding, slowly legging up and getting balanced physically and mentally. She was a rock star last fall at her first 15-mile Intro ride, not batting an eye at much of anything. But that’s usually how it is at your first race…but not your 3rd…

This spring we had a great 2nd 30-mile race with Glory riding with us to ‘babysit’. I only almost fell off once when she decided a puddle was too deep to trot through and jumped it. The absolute goal of these first few races is always to finish with a healthy happy horse, not win.

So, for our next intrepid test of the waters of endurance racing, I chose to ride her solo (without a buddy), as she’s independently minded, and I want to avoid some of the mistakes I made with my first endurance horses. Relying on a buddy horse all the time can really backfire because they get very attached to each other… and I want to avoid the ‘must stay with the crowd’ mentality and ‘race brain’ where the horses tend to get emotionally upset when they are passed during the actual race, and these emotional tantrums can really drain their physical reserves.  (Oh, and for all of you all thinking your steady trail horses would never have that happen to them, think again. An endurance race is not a trail ride, and all the horses know it.)  Riding a horse with race brain is also just plain NOT FUN (exhausting).

The third and fourth race is when a horse really starts to understand the gist of the whole sport. They learn how to take care of themselves and their riders, or they test your abilities to get them through it safely…

The day before I rode Leah I formulated my plan, because I realized Glory and her were REALLY starting to bond. Glory started to call for her every time we came into and out of the ride camp and vet area. This was a BIG problem, because a horse that’s screaming for his friend will not pulse down. After a tense hold, I realized that bringing them both to rides will have to wait a few years if I want to ride them both on separate days! My plan was to get her to forget about Glory and regain independence.

Below is everything going to plan about 5 minutes into the ride.

At the 6:45 a.m. start of the ride the next day she was pretty ‘up.’  This means high head, high tension, high energy! So instead of riding her out onto the trail with the rest of the 25-mile riders, I walked her out on foot. She led very well out of camp, almost relieved that I took the lead. GREAT! Leadership role is going according to plan. Then a mile out from the camp, the back of the pack riders started to pass us, and she was like, WAIT A MINUTE! She said NO WAY to being last inline and could not understand why we couldn’t keep up with them. What started as a lovely walk on a loose lead became a bit of an argument… she tried to nip me and leave me in the dust she was so mad. We argued for a very long mile on foot.  Then I realized my hardness on the end of the lead was making her worse, when I’m hard she’s hard, a perfect mirror of athletic (stubborn) proportions.

So, I tried to get her back to me by softening my back muscles just so, giving a little here and there while still making sure she didn’t blow past me. All while walking/hiking as fast as I can without tiring myself out too early. It was a VERY long four-mile walk.  It was here I had some interesting mental crisis’s and doubts. (Am I asking too much of her? Am I training her correctly? Can I even make it past this loop after riding 50 miles the day before?

Like most distance athletes, I simply said screw it ‘Let’s just see how far we can get today and call it good.’  We walked, walked, breathed, and breathed. Did I mention Leah is as stubborn as I am? She got less and less upset (we were the turtles at this point, which means last place). I finally screwed up the courage to get on her even though she was still on high alert. I snapped the air vest in and arranged my ‘get down’ rope (a light lead attached to her halter so if she dumped me, I could grab it and she wouldn’t run away back to camp across the busy road…).

Within 2 minutes of getting on her back, and her tip toeing down the trail at a cautious walk, a rabbit dashed under her feet. She barely registered it. Phew! I told her I knew she was brave! She said back to me, ‘I miss Glory…’ So, we walked on the nice sandy trails, with her Highness the Princess (high headed to boot) on high alert and me just trying to breath and telling her to enjoy herself. A mile later not 1 but 3 button bucks popped out at us. She spooked, thankfully backwards (learn how to get to a horse’s feet people, it will save you in times like this…). I righted myself in the saddle and told her to just keep walking. The bucks never moved, we yielded to them. 

Here is us tip toeing in the first loop…

This loop was constant reassurance to her. We jogged where we could and walked down every single down slope and hill. She could not trot down the wide-open field trails, she was telling me that caution was the order of the day. She said ‘You never know when a bird might fly up or a bush might walk, or some rock might grow legs…’  I told her it was okay; she was brave anyway. I also asked to please put her head down just a little bit. Pretty please…  I wondered where my brave adventure partner from last fall went. I think the first ride was more a fluke than lucky.  Now she understands the concepts of endurance riding, and because she is very self-aware and self-sufficient, she understands that riding with Glory is just WAYYY more safe, fun, and easy.

Coming back up this loop on the way home, we encounter the biggest challenge. A little dog is being walked off leash (these are public trails in the suburbs). We both see it and think hmmm, how much do we trust that terrier and his bumbling owner to keep us safe (Not at all).  Since I know (and love) terriers well, I promptly dismount, and we walk past the little small bundle of joy who wags his tail and then snaps and growls at our legs. Note to all dog owners, if you are going to walk your dog off leash on public bridle trails, please make sure they don’t do that… 

The terrier is behind us now. She’s still suspicious.

We left the dog with his apologetic owner (all unharmed) and breathe some more. I feel like we just made it through a major hurdle. We walk and jog back to camp, still not relaxed, but thinking about it. Some of the 50-mile riders start to pass us, and Leah doesn’t seem to care much. Hooray! 12.5 miles down in three hours. 12.5 to go.

We vet through fine at 9:56 a.m. and she pulsed down fast even though it was hot. I am really pleased, as I want her to be my ‘summer’ endurance horse, and Glory can be my ‘cool weather’ horse. Glory hates the heat, Leah thrives in it. We have 50 minutes to rest after our vet check, and I put her in her pen and promptly sit down and close my eyes. The mental effort of sustaining her hit me like a ton of bricks. I just needed to sit and not think about anything. I knew I needed to get right back out on the trail if we were going to finish in time (we had until 12:45 to finish). But I just needed that extra ten minutes to rest myself, so we saddled up and got back out a bit later then we should have.

Out we go back on the trail, this time with me firmly in the saddle instead of walking. I feel her grow a little braver after her rest.  The ride manager told me we weren’t going to make time unless we go really fast (Basically giving me an out if I wanted to quit). I replied, ‘Today it doesn’t matter, her training matters more than the completion prize.’  Which was perfectly true. She’s still a bit high headed and twitchy, but no full-on spooks happened. She even got brave and dropped her head to balance herself during some short trots downhill. I got to physically relax a little bit more too! We trotted as much as we could, and she trucked along very well. Maybe not like Glory can, but a hint of it was there!

Slightly looser reins on the second loop. I’m still holding us together.

I fussed and praised her, and we met a beginning endurance rider on their first solo ride too. Leah happily led this other rider until they got too tired to keep up. We knew the end was in sight. Riders passed us a bunch of times and she didn’t bat an eye. I felt very good about my ‘training plan’. 

We had no more spooks and jumps, and Leah just felt a little tired and sore. I knew she was getting a little fatigued from simply holding her head up so high the whole ride! At 1:10 p.m. we arrived back in camp. We were 25 minutes over the maximum finish time, but I didn’t care, we trotted through the finish line on a completely loose rein! I was just so happy we didn’t quit, fall off, or injure either one of us! We vet through and her heartrate was lower than when we started at 52. She was an angel for the vet, except for the trot out. I try and trot her for the vet, and Leah says ‘NOPE! YOU said we were done!’  Yikes, well, I guess that will have to be another training adventure! (If your horse refuses to trot for the vet they will pull you…)  Since we were overtime, the vet just laughed it off.

Look! Finally have loose reins! And I’m smiling. She’s getting it! This is at about mile 21 of the race…

After getting her settled and finished, and waiting for Audrey to finish, I realize I was more mentally tired then anything. Holding mental space for Leah to explore and be confident totally drained me. It reminded me just how in the moment and true to myself I need to stay in order to keep her focused. I have always known her tremendous sensitivity was special, and I hope we can have wonderful adventures together, but I must match her feel to feel across the WHOLE spectrum. Physical feel and release are just part of it. The mental and spiritual feel and release in the face of the pressure of an endurance ride is a whole new level of strength and vulnerability. There is no mind wandering off and distraction allowed on this horse. If I do not do my own mental self-care, Leah will call me out on it big time. My current plan is to keep doing a few easier 25-mile races like this, not worrying about finishing on time. For the future partnership to come will be incredible. Leah is such a graceful athlete; I am more excited now to keep on building her up. And myself up…