I always like to wait a few days to do my official ride write up. This gives me time to stop groaning every time I get up, clean out the rig, and really see how Tarma is doing after we’re back home. Today she had a chiropractic appointment with the ever lovely Dr. Sammons of Lavender Equine, who pronounced her much improved over last year. She did adjust her back right at the hips and her sternum and had Tarma standing square and relaxed in no time. She didn’t note any areas of real concern, other than the expected soreness after 50 miles in sand.

Quite a few things clicked into place to make this ride even better for us, so let’s dive in!

• Pad: This was my biggest change for Tarma, I purchased a new, lighter weight Jen X endurance pads (still with inserts) to help dissipate heat better and she looked bomber in it too.
• Electrolytes, horse: I think I almost have Tarma’s electrolytes dialed in. She got some the night before the ride, then twice before the first vet check an hour apart. I didn’t pack any in my out check bag, which I’ll do next time as she could have used another dose on the back end of the first loop, it had one more climb than I was expecting and we hit a bonk, going from a nice speed of 8.5-10mph to a crawling 2mph. I hopped off and just gave her a few minutes to eat at about 34 miles, which enabled some friends to catch up to us and all of a sudden Tarma found her ability to trot again.
• Electrolytes, human: I ate the fucking banana! Three of them! I also found some tablets to put in one water bottle that I was able to keep steadily drinking, plus the runner’s chew blocks that really helped.
• Food, horse: I’ve discovered Tarma really loves oats. Just…oats, with water. I also put some Flaxen Flow in there for fat, cause I haven’t figured out where to buy rice bran, but I gave her oats at every trailer stop, vet check and after the ride and each time she hoovered them right up, even faster than the beet pulp! Along with extra horse electrolytes I’m going to take something for her to eat in my saddle bags for when there’s not a lot of browse, she was really hungry about five miles from camp both times and carrots, while welcome, weren’t quite enough.
• Food, human: I followed all the advice on a thread Aarene gathered (thank you!!!) and discovered that while I’m not reaching for fresh fruit during the ride (other than the fucking banana!) the crusty French bread, various cured meats and dried apricots went right down. I really don’t need to pack as many snacks in my saddle bags, I only touched the runner’s chews and one fruit leather the entire time I was out there. I also put Tums in my out check bag which helped immensely with the sloshing stomach, plus I had my own red pepper and tomato soup from home the night before. Never once did I have the urge to vomit, though I wasn’t as hungry the night after the ride as I expected and if I had eaten the “wrong thing” it could have taken a turn for the worse. I’m thinking I’ll try bringing a basic fruit smoothie next time, especially if it’s any hotter.
• Girl parts: I rode with my SheFit bra instead of the Nike running bra, and that pretty much locked down the girls. I only have one rub spot from it, so I’ll just put some of Tarma’s girth gall salve on it or something, but happy to report no chest or back soreness!
• Start: Instead of just hiking out of camp to avoid all the emotions of the start, I also used the time to do some ground work and let Tarma know what kind of day she was in store for. We went out well behind everyone else, ending up a bit in front of two friends which worked out wonderfully. Of course she wanted to charge ahead and be the boss, so we discussed that. It was really easy heading out on the old road to see when she started to put her left shoulder into my space and try to push me over, so each time she did so I asked her to yield that forehand back away from me. We had to do this constantly for just shy of a mile before she stopped doing it (mostly). At that point I hopped on and we spent the next 18 miles, give or take, discussing speed. She never felt bolty this time (to my great relief!) mainly cause we never saw anyone in front of us, but as so many others did, I let her really move out until we hit the climb into the first vet check. You might not believe it if you watch our fumbling attempts in the ring, but we can canter quite beautifully on the trail, as we did several times. I learned if I keep my hands lower she’ll drop her neck, round her back and she doesn’t pop my butt up with every stride, and I can really focus on keeping my chin and girls pointed forward instead of downwards. There may have been whooping the first few times she really flew, coming back to a trot with a word. That said, Tarma’s “we’re solo” canter is fun. Her “in a herd” canter is just shy of a “must be in front and in control” bolt and is…less fun. Maybe when she’s 20 we can canter in a group with friends…
• Kid: as it was a holiday, Kade came along and had a blast. He also helped take care of Benny and Tarma, learning how to put on ice boots and volunteer where needed. Luckily we camped right next to a family so he had instant friends while I was out on the long loop. Look for him at more rides this summer!

Futzing and further improvements will include:

• Saddle: The only area of concern was a small hematoma under my right hip bone, which was gone by the morning with some liniment. It was a tad sore right after I took the saddle off, though she passed the final vet check, so I’ll be checking my saddle to make sure there’s no screw loose or wool balling or anything. The vet also posited it might have something to do with her stud bite, maybe it sets the saddle off just enough to have an extra pressure point there? It never shows up in conditioning rides, so it’s something to keep an eye on.
• Legs, horse: I did ice her legs right after the ride and the next morning, plus a Bemer treatment, but with the long trailer ride home she did puff up some. She marched right down and stood pretty as a peach in the river on Monday which really helped, but I’ll be practicing my standing wraps and following Alexis’s guidance after the next ride (poultice, plastic wrap, standing wrap on overnight).
• Trailer: Bringing Kade along meant more stuff and my trailer got a bit crowded and less organized than I like, so I’ll be getting a bigger camping table and bringing along my umbrella for shade next time.
• Legs, human: While I adore my Synergist and I’m a lot more secure in it, I do get bruises on the inside of my thighs from the pommel after these longer rides, so Adriane suggested finding a leather worker to open it up and put some wool or foam inside to help cushion it a bit.
• Lips, horse: Tarma has a delicate muzzle (to match her delicate white stockings), so I purchased rubber bit guards which helps but she still rubs a little but on the sides of her mouth, so I have to figure something out to prevent that.

Overall we kept pretty close to my plan. We walked out, established boundaries and safety, moved out quicker in the morning, found a good bubble that we stuck to until we needed friends, didn’t get lost, and had a ton of fun. The long loop to start with, 41 miles with an out check, was a good set up for us, as Tarma didn’t argue at all about direction, happy to motor whichever way I pointed her. She was a bit reluctant to head out for the last tiny loop of nine miles, seeing little reason she couldn’t be done already. Other than longing glances back at camp (which we had to basically loop out and around) she didn’t argue, though I did have to post to get her to do a trot with any real speed involved. I turned on my custom Spotify playlist called “Trotting On” a few times to help keep us moving forward, as long as no one was around to hear me singing along quite badly. This is also how I learned that apparently Tarma really likes boogieing along to Hawaiian themed songs, such as “Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride” from the Lilo and Stitch soundtrack and the entire Moana sidetrack, most especially “You’re Welcome!”

I had taken a nap in my trailer during the second hold and that helped my energy levels, as I rarely sleep much or deeply the night before. I’m also surprised but happy that despite all the weekend campers at Hole in the Wall with bikes and ATVs and trucks everywhere, Tarma never batted an eye at them, and normally she doesn’t love vehicles moving around her. We also saw a deer at one point, again with not a care from Tarma. The only thing we both really minded as the fifteen solid minutes of hail after the first vet check. This was 100% my fault, as I had taken my rain jacket off the saddle at the vet check and sent it back to camp. Considering how many pulls there were at M&A despite beautiful weather, I’m even prouder we completed so well. Two turtle awards in a row makes me happy, conservative speeds the first year lead to stronger and healthier horses over the years. It also never hurts that each of the three vets that saw her over the weekend described her as “excellent”, “beautiful”, and “a cool little mare.”