Well, I had quite and adventure at this past ride. And for once, Susie was not involved! hahahaha. It started out as an easy ride for me. I was borrowing Koram again. But, this time Terry, the woman I was borrowing him from, was bringing up her daughters horse so would bring Koram also. Terry and Kara were going up on Thursday so they could attend the big cookout. So, they would set up a pen for Koram and I wouldn’t have to worry about that. All Terry wanted me to do was bring some hay. This years Pine Tree 100 mile ride was a “qualifier” for the US Endurance team so there were over 100 riders from all over the country in all the distances combined. 20+ riders were in the 30 mile ride. The 30 mile ride was only being held as a clinic. We would not receive any awards or get any mileage credit. But, Koram was not conditioned well enough for the 50 mile ride.
Bill Rice vetting in. Larry Buggia vet
I arrived in Waterford at about noon time on Friday. I stopped to have lunch at Melby’s before going to the fairgrounds. While I was there Terry and Cara came in. We all ate and then went up to the fairgrounds. The Waterford fairground is not that large and with that many riders, the trailers were packed in like sardines. I was glad I didn’t have to worry about parking a trailer or setting up a pen. Irving McNaughton was riding the 100. Terry was crewing for him. This didn’t really make Cara very happy since she really wanted her mother crewing for her. When we heard how hot they were predicting it was going to be on ride day, Terry and I tried to talk Irving into dropping to the 50 but he wouldn’t hear of it. Stubborn man! Susie and Barbara arrived shortly after we got back from lunch. Barbara McGovern was with Susie. She was riding Susie’s new horse, Monty, in the 30 mile clinic. It would be her and Monty’s first competitive ride. Once they got settled in, we all went out for a short ride just to let the horses stretch their muscles after the trailer ride and before the vetting. Cara and I braided our horse’s manes. Getting the hair off their necks would help keep them cooler. Vetting went quickly and Cara, Susie, Barbara and I were all cleared to ride. Bill Rice wasn’t so fortunate. His horse failed the vet check due to lameness (I think) So, he loaded his horse up and headed home to pick up one of his other horses. The second horse passed and was cleared to ride.
The riders meeting was held that evening at 7:00. It was announced that the 100 mile ride was going to start at 4:30 AM instead of 5:00 AM. This was due to the predicted heat and to space the 100’s, 50’s and 30’s further apart in case the vets got very busy treating horses that might have trouble handling the heat.
Riders meeting. Left-Susie Reinheimer. Front-Terry York. Behind-Barbara McGovern
Sue Greenall did the yearly “Boiled Owl” presentation. Kathy Brunjes got the award this year much to her dismay. The “Boiled Owl” award is a funny little tradition that was started some years ago and is awarded to the person considered the “toughest” rider. The 30’s would still be starting at 6:30 AM. We all hung around Terry’s camp for a while. Heather and Margaret joined us. We didn’t stay up too long though since we all had to be up early. I had decided to just sleep in my truck since it was jut one night and I didn’t want to bother with setting up a tent. That was ok except for a spot light that was shining right into my window. I finally managed to get a shirt hung up in the window enough to block the light so I could sleep!
Kathy Brunjes being presented the 'Boiled owl' award by Sue Greenall and Irving McNaughton.
Kathy Brunjes displaying her Boiled Owl award t-shirt
I was up by 3:30. Coffee and donuts were available. I wanted to be up to see the 100 milers start. At 5:30, the 50 milers started. We 30 mile riders were not feeling bad about doing the shorter distance when we heard what the temperature was going to be. It was supposed to be record high heat with high humidity. The humidity is what will cause problems for the horses. After the 50’s were gone, I tacked up Koram. We started at 6:30 am. At that time it was still comfortably cool. An Endurance ride has a mass start and there was some concerns about who was going to ride with who and how it was going to effect the horses. Susie and Barbara were going to go slowly since it was Barbara and Monty's first ride. Cara, had arranged to ride with Stephanie Rice. This was a first ride for Cara's horse also so she and Stephanie planned to go slow. We knew that separating Koram and Laureado (my horse and Cara's horse) would upset them but Stephanie didn't seem to want me riding with them for some reason. They wanted me to go in front of them and stay way in front so Lauredo never got to see Koram for the entire ride. Well, I could make no promises on that. I wanted to ride with Susie and Barbara and if they went slow, we would run into each other. And with the heat, I couldn't promise to ride fast anyway.
Cara York with Laureado and Stephanie Rice with Micky
Before the start, Cara and Stephanie separated from us by going back up into camp to wait for the start. That got Koram very upset so I just walked him up and down the road and didn't mount up until the call of "The Trail is Open". Then, I quickly mounted and off we went. Susie, Barbara, Margaret and me started together. Quite soon, Margaret and I pulled ahead of Susie and Barbara and we didn't see them again until the ride was over. We decided to go ahead and make some time while it was still cool. Everything was going great. The horses were traveling perfectly together. We were in the front of the pack. Koram is a nervous horse and can be a challenge to ride. But, he was behaving perfectly and was not getting too upset when other riders passed us. I was having the best ride ever on him. Not far from the hold, which is the halfway point for the 30's, we came to the Crooked River. There is a nice spot right off the trail to take the horses into the water. There were a couple of horses in there already but plenty of room for Margaret and me. Now, I had been told that Koram doesn't like being sponged from the saddle but I had done it a couple of time without problems on previous rides before I got that warning. And I had done it a ton of times at the Acadia ride without problem. I went right out into the water and as it got over his knees he got a little nervous. Then, I tossed out the sponge and he eyed it and sidled away from it into deeper water. When the water got belly deep he exploded. (I think it was the belly deep water that set him off especially since I later found out that he bucked his owner off in the Saco River at the Fryeburg ride when he got to belly deep water.) Koram bucked hard and kept getting into deeper water. Which, believe me didn't slow down the bucking. Eventually, I flew off and took a head first dive into the river. Well, it certainly was a nice soft landing and felt rather nice on such a hot day so I was completely unharmed. The water was chin deep to me and with the current it took me a minute to get my feet under me. When I finally cleared the water from my eyes (thankfully, my glasses were still on my face) I looked around and…… no Koram! "Where is my horse?!" I frantically asked as I noticed that everyone was staring upstream. I was told that he had gone up the river around a corner and out of sight. My heart sank. I had just lost someone elses horse! One rider tried to follow Koram but soon her horse had to swim so she turned back. I told every one else to just continue on. There was nothing they could do for me and it would be better if they went on to the hold and alerted ride managment that there was a horse missing. I tried walking up the river but it was too deep to walk with steep banks on one side (sometimes both sides) and swamp on the other. Farther up river there was a ridge of dry ground between the river and the swamp. So, I walked up the powerline until I found a narrow spot in the swamp and I could get out to dry ridge running along side the river. Then, I went up stream hoping that Koram would come out on my side of the river. Eventually, I did find his tracks where he had come out of the river on my side. The brush was very thick but I was able to follow his tracks. He was caught between the river and the swamp so it wasn't hard to follow the tracks. Eventually, I saw where he decided to reenter the river rather then brave the swamp. I looked across the river and there he was, chest deep on the far bank with his bridle caught in a tree. WITHOUT MY SADDLE!!!!! He had tried to climb out on the other side where there was an extremely steep and high sandy bank and had fallen back into the river. There really weren't many good places on either side of the river to get out. It was mostly steep banks. of 3' to maybe 20' or more. I swam across to Koram. He seemed to be unhurt but he was on a bend in the river and there were lots of downed trees in the water on that side. I didn't know how I'd get him out through all the trees in the water without help. And he had no plans on going anywhere. Great! now what? I called a few time and a couple guys in kayaks heard me. They didn't know anything about horses but offered to make a call for help. I told them to call Melby's restaurant. No one's cell phones were working in the area so we were told to call the restaurant if we had any problems and that ride management would be checking in there every hour or so. So, off they went to make the call. I was stuck standing in the water with Koram since the bank was too steep for me to get out and stay with him. I knew I was not far from the road since I could hear cars passing by. About 20 minutes after the kayakers went for help, I heard a car stop and then heard Tom Hutchinson, the ride manager, call out. Tom and I have a history of finding lost horses and boy was I glad to hear his voice!! I called back and he heard me. "Is that you Cindy?" "Yes." "Are you hurt?" "No." "Do you have your horse?" "Yes." "Is he hurt?" "No." "Do you need help?" "yes." "Ok, I'm coming down." Tom came down and assessed the situation. The steep banks were a major problem. The only place to get Koram out was downstream a short way but it was through and around a particularily snarly knot of downed trees. And it was chest deep or more so you couldn't see much of the snarl of branches. But, it was the only way to go. Tom had me lead Koram since I am a bit taller then he is and we figured I had a better chance of keeping my head above water. Tom got behind Koram and made him move. It was not fun. We all stumbled, fell, swam and floundered our way through. But, we got Koram out. Except for a few minor scrapes on all four legs, Koram seems unharmed. Phew! Now, I just had to walk him into the hold and get him checked out by the vet. We hadn't been far from the hold when Koram and I parted company but he had traveled quite a way in the opposite direction during his flight. Tom told me it was only a "couple" of miles to the hold. But, I’m pretty sure it was more like 4 miles! When we got to the hold the vet's checked him and he was fine and got all A's on his vet card. The scrapes on his legs were all very minor. We could have continued the ride except that I had no saddle!!!! There were a lot of horses being pulled at the hold due to the heat so we had to wait for a while for our turn to be trailered back to camp. Once I got him there, he was not happy about being in his pen without his pasture mate. So, I didn't dare leave him until Terry got back and could keep an eye on him.
Cindy Ross with Koram and Margaret Farnum with Promise
So, about 3 hours after I had come off Koram, I headed back out to the scene of the crime to find my saddle. All I could think about was $800 for the saddle, $150 for the Deluxe sheep skin cover, $50 for the packs, $50 for the woolback pad $40 for the girth, $75 for the endurance stirrups.....$$$$$ AAAAGGGGHHHHH. And I knew the saddle must be in the river since I had tracked Koram from where he had come out of the river until I found him. I went back into the woods where I originally had but followed the bank downstream this time. I didn't go far when I looked over the bank and there was my saddle floating in the river!!! Yippppeeeeeee. Now I only had two problems. I had dressed in jeans because the woods were so thick and brambly along the bank. And they were the only dry pants I had. That problem was quickly solved. A quick peek up and down the river to determine that I was alone at the moment and off came the pants. Now I had at least a 3 foot drop into the river. It didn't look all that deep and the bottom was sandy. So, in I went. I had really done all the swimming I wanted to but what are you going to do! hahaha. The water was about waist deep making the bank about eye level to me. I grabbed the saddle, gave a heave, and thought my eyes were going to pop out of my head!!!! After 3 hours of soaking in the river, that nice big western style LEATHER endurance saddle felt like it weighted 800 LBS!!! I couldn't believe that it had been floating! And I had to lift it to the height of my head up a straight bank to get it out. Now, I know I can normally do this. After all, I've put this saddle on Bailey, a friends 16.3H horse!! hahahahahaha. I nearly killed my self getting it out. I truly thought I was going to have to get help. I finally got enough of it out to sit on the edge of the bank, then, I had to find a place where I could heave myself out. All the while I was expecting a hoard of kayaks or canoes to come down the river and catch me in my skivies. Once I was out, and quickly dressed, I examined the saddle for damage. There was none. As a matter of fact it was still cinched up! somehow, Koram had slipped right out of it. I then stripped everything off the saddle and wrung out all the water that I could from the sheepskin cover, girth and packs. Now I had it down to only 750 lbs! It took me a while to get the saddle out of the woods and back to the truck. It was truly so heavy that I could only carry it so far then I would have to put it down and take a rest. And the oppressive heat didn't help. But I eventually got it back to the truck. Minus the saddle pad and sponge which I didn't find. That was all right, I could live with those loses. I drove back to camp and put everything out to dry. Then I waited for Susie and Barbara to finish. Irving was back at the camp by then and had decided to pull from the ride. The heat was just too much for him and he wasn’t feeling well. Terry wasn’t feeling well either so I vetted Irving’s horse out for him. Cara finished the ride but didn’t get a completion. Her horse was 2 min. late getting his pulse down. Margaret also finished the ride but didn’t get a completion. Promise was having some metabolic trouble due to the heat also. He was put on an IV. He was fine after that. Susie and Barbara both got completions. There were many horses and/or riders that didn’t complete their rides due to the heat.
So, all in all it wasn't really a bad day. I was fine, the horse was fine, and I recovered most of my equipment undamaged. I got to take several nice swims on a horribly hot day and I got 15 miles of wonderful riding in before the "incident".
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