What a busy day! Full of new experiences! I got up while it was still dark, did my usual chores, packed up all the little things I needed for the day, saddled up Flash in the dark, which was a first, but thankfully there was almost a full moon to help me see by. We rode out while it was still pitch dark, and though Flash was a bit confused and reluctant, he did what I asked and soon settled down, riding down the moonlit trail which was quite fascinating. I’ve never ridden at night, though I know a local group down in Jupiter does moonlit rides, I always thought it was a strange idea, but I guess I can see the attraction. Anyway, dawn was just breaking as we arrived at the equestrian center right on time at 7:00, but the vet check area wasn’t quite set up so we waited for a few minutes. Even though Flash was tacked up, they were kind enough to do the vet check anyway (because I’m a newbie and don’t know any better :-} ), and he passed with flying colors, except on the impulsion section, because I’ve never trained him to run alongside me (not to mention I tripped on my spurs and took a silly fall!), but that’s something I can teach him in a short time. It’s probably just me, but to my mind, there’s something fundamentally wrong with the picture of me running along side my horse. What can I say, I’m a rider, not a runner! Anyway, we got his rump marked in crayon with the number 16 and went back to the trailer where I got him plenty of hay. He was whinnying up a storm, making friends with all the horse neighbors, and very attention, though not disturbed to all that was going on around him. I got the impression he was really enjoying himself. Anyway, the time came to start the race, so Flash and I, in accordance to advice I had read and heard about how to go about your first race, I held us back while the first group made a mad dash, and a few others followed behind, letting probably a dozen horses get out first, then set off on Flash. I had decided to let Flash run his own race, and I would go along with it, unless I thought he was getting into trouble. So off we went after the strung out horses. Flash, since he was already warmed up from the ride over, started very fast, quickly passing a bunch of horses one at a time until before long, we were neck and neck with the first group out. He cantered and gaited and stayed with the group for the rest of the entire first 14 mile leg, until about a quarter mile out, when I slowed him down, as I had heard that letting his heart rate come down before getting back to the vet check would help. Well, that turned out to be a mistake, I think, but I made quite a few today. Great way to learn, though! Anyway, I knew to check in with the timer, which I did, then went to the trailer and untacked him, rinsed him down, checked his heart rate, and eventually, when it seemed low enough, took him down to the vet check, which he again passed with flying colors, except for impulsion. Then I learned something I hadn’t realized, that we had to wait for another 45 minutes or so before we could leave on the second part of the race. Well that little bit of information would have changed a LOT of things I did had I known, but anyway, that’s my fault for not looking it up beforehand, which had been my plan, but I never had the time. Anyway, we rested and ate and I had a conversation on the phone with Hubby’s doctor about releasing him today, though he was hemming and hawing and making excuses about new things that cropped up, but I made it clear that unless it was life-threatening, he was coming home tonight. Before I knew it, it was time to get back on the trail. Because I had gone slow that last quarter mile on the first half, I didn’t get out with the same group I came in with (not that I would have anyway, because I didn’t really work that hard to cool Flash down the way I should have, another newbie mistake), so we left on our own. Flash wasn’t quite as speedy on his own, but soon some faster horses came up on us, and he joined in the fun then. We cantered and gaited for miles with them, until finally I could feel Flash starting to flag a bit, so I made him slow down, letting him know he didn’t HAVE to keep up with the faster horses, and I think he appreciated that. We walked for more than a mile, which he hates to do, so I knew he was truly tired. And why wouldn’t he be, he’d been going about 10 miles an hour for more than three hours, I’m surprised he held out as long as he did! We had a couple more horses catch up to us and we were off again, with only about a half mile to go, so we arrived in camp “swanking,” which is always a requirement from my perspective (old story from my husband). Anyway, we checked in with the timer, I headed over to the trailer and untacked Flash again, rinsed him off, checked his heart rate until it was almost down to sixty, then took him over to the vet check area, where they gave him another good score except for impulsion, and several people gave me some advice on how to train him to run beside me. I appreciated that, but I know how to train him to do that, I just never had the time or reason to do it before, but now I do, if I decide to do this again. Then I learned that out of 42 starters in the 25 mile race, I had come in 12th! Not bad for a newbie! Several people congratulated me, telling me that was an impressive start, that Flash was a natural, particularly considering I haven’t really been training him up for this very much, and that he had the whole month of October and part of November off, and not really much riding at all over the last few months. We had a great time, I just love this little horse! I let him rest for a while, then learned that the awards ceremony wasn’t going to start until 2:30, so I figured I had enough time to ride Flash back to camp, change, come to the awards ceremony, then head off to the hospital, which is exactly what I did. I had many compliments at the awards ceremony about how well marked the trails I had done were to follow (one woman told me Stevie Wonder would have been able to follow my trail!), which was good to hear. I ended up winning a souvenir hand towel (for participating), a $10 gift card to Riders Warehouse, and a Christmas stocking of horse cookies. My time was 3:51, and my placement was 12th (which I know would have been better if I had known more about the cool-down cycle, etc.), so now I have some goals to better next time, should there be one. (I’m pretty sure there will, I really enjoyed it!) It would have been even better had Hubby been there to share it with me, and after the awards ceremony I headed out to “break him out” of the hospital, as I jokingly told some of the ladies who knew what was going on. Moments before I arrived at the hospital, Hubby called me, sounding better than I’ve heard him in days, so I was much happier about the possibilities of taking him home. I learned they had dialyzed him, taking a smaller amount of fluids off, so he was feeling much better. His fistula seemed to be working okay, so they removed the catheter from his neck. They said he was having extra heartbeats, but couldn’t tell if he had returned to a-fib or not, and tried to sell me on a bill of goods about elevated liver tests and waiting for the results of his last x-ray. Bottom line, it was all nonsense, and they quickly backed off and we were released in short order, leaving the hospital just after 5:00, while there was actually still daylight! I thought I’d be fighting them for hours, but we did it! We got him home!! I resumed my chores, fed the horses, and settled down for the evening, excited, happy, but tired, of course, and Hubby slept most of the evening as expect. Plans for tomorrow, to do absolutely nothing!!
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