50 IV

The last loop is what endurance is about. JJ was tired, and I needed to let him go his own pace..and know when to slow him down also. Two horses together can pull each other better than being on ones' own. At every puddle we encountered he drank, he also was still pulling grass up and eating it which is hearting because a horse cannot tell the rider specifically if he is having problems and going into distress. One defiantly gets to know ones horse better because of the subtleties they exhibit. The only way to notice these though is to be OK yourself.
The loop was long, the terrain mixed, though not as rocky. At the crew stop I was grinning ear to ear. Two ladies where also there to help out and one commented how much happier I looked than I did on the first loop. JJ also peed and it was yellow which meant his kidneys where ok and he wasn't in any internal distress. That also made me believe we might actually finish this ride!
7 miles to go...only 7 miles...that was my mantra each passing mile until we knew where we were in proximity to the finish. And then, we saw a bunch of people waving us on in the distance and my partner said this was the finish and her horse took off, mine following. It was exhilarating coming to the end of the race. My partner wanted to finish together holding hands. I would like to say that's how we finished, fate had other plans...I lost my right stirrup and I started worrying about an inevitable fall prior to the finish as our horses were galloping and my legs were shot. Smiling, though I am sure I was listing, we crossed the finish line just behind my partner. Then I needed to stop and that presented other flashes of me hitting the dirt. JJ took care of me though, and slowed down without being abrupt. I was sooo happy we had finished and my horse was ok...of course to complete one needed to meet the correct parameters, so I got off my horse to walk the last mile to the camp. My partner was going for BC..best conditioned so she headed off ahead of me. I talked to JJ the whole way back, telling him he was the best.
You are allowed 1 hour from the time of crossing the finish line to meet the criteria to complete. We took most of it making sure JJ pulsed down (dousing him with water and scraping), letting him eat (for gut sounds) and walking him so that he didn't have his muscles tighten up.
JJ had no problems eating and drinking, and chomped on grass as I walked him around camp.
My partner mean while was having problems pulsing down her horse and her mare was sore on the leg that had lost the shoe. 10 minutes or so before our time was up I brought JJ up to be vetted. My husband trotted him out beautifully. JJ also recovered well, and the happiest words said yet was that he completed! Yippee! Hugs for everybody!
The sad thing was my friends horse didn't complete because she was sore and didn't pulse down.
That put a bit of a Pall on things though at the time I didn't realise the ramifications of that..I had therefore come in 1st place.
JJ happily munched on alfalfa and drank water, seeming to know he had completed and was done for the day. I continued to walk him the next two hours on and off as we broke down camp, finally putting him on the trailer at 8:30 pm. Our race had started at 6:15 am, and we had 5 hours driving to do. Though it was a sort 5 hours compared to riding it!