Ist 50 continued

So back to the mental aspect. I did have several positive things going for me that allayed some fears. One was that my horse was ready, Two the saddle I was using fit him perfectly as well as myself, so I could reasonably predict we would both be comfortable and I would not be crippled as I was in my former saddle, and Three I felt I needed to prove to myself I could do it. Lastly, I had someone who was willing to ride with me who was very experienced and patient so I felt safe.
The preparations where the same, re hydrate JJ, give him plenty of alfalfa and hay, and walk him around. I prepared for the next day's holds and stops. JJ was fine even after doing a 30 so I wasn't worried on the next morning's trot out. The management made sure there was plenty of water on the trails; the day before they ran out! Given the humidity and how technical the trails where that caused several horses to be pulled due to lameness, metabolic etc. I was told that the statistic for both days was a pull rate of 50% for both the 50's and the 30's..very high indeed.
So we started well and quickly took the lead. My partners' horse has a huge trot that made my trot rather bumpy but I hung in there. Close to 10 miles there was a mandatory 10 minute hold. I was completely dehydrated at this point..JJ was fine and luckily was taken care of my several crew members as my crew (my husband..lol) hadn't realised this was a stopping point for crew.
It was close to this point I started having cramps and headache from no water and did not want to go on..I told my partner I would finish the 20, but would rather stop after that. She looked at me knowingly and said what ever I wanted to do which was some small comfort...as we went around a bend there was my husband with water for both the horse and me..I drank a huge bottle of gator aid and dumped cold water on myself...for the next 9 miles or so I re-hydrated and started feeling I could do this. We where the 1st to the hold and JJ ate and drank like a champ. He pulsed down quickly and trotted out well. We were clear to go on the second loop!
Each hold is a mandatory 45 minute stop so the quicker your horse pulses down and meets all the Vetting in criteria you then can concentrate on getting the horse re-hydrated and let them eat..the same for the rider. So the second loop was even more difficult that the first, however, since I was OK, it was surmountable ....cont