Wandering in Wandering

This weekend coolie and I went to our second endurance ride, 21km in Wandering. Wandering is a wheatbelt town just over an hour away from home, and somewhere I haven't been to before. I was really looking forward to my second endurance ride, and it didn't disappoint. 

I pulled in quite early, parked up and checked in after giving Coolie a little walk around. He settled into his hay while I got all my gear organised and then we vetted in. Once again he got A's across the board and we were cleared to start.

My friend pulled in a little while later, but their day wasn't off to a good start with the vet picking up a mild lameness. the vet allowed her to proceed and see if it resolved, however she decided not to ride (which I agreed with, I wouldn't have taken my horse out either). That meant that it was just me and her other friend riding together. I didn't mind at all, and felt bad my friend had driven so far to turn around and drive home again. 

We went to the pre-ride brief and were told we had a 21km ride, following 1, 3, and C markers. There were three check points on course, one at 6km, the same one at 12km and one and 18km. 

It was a cold day again, and very overcast, so I had a warm but lightweight long sleeved top and a softshell jacket over top. This combination worked well as I was warm enough but not too hot and was a bit showerproof as it was quite drizzly. I tacked Coolie up and we were ready. the ride started at 10.0 and we were the last riders in the 20km to go out on course. Coolie seemed to realise that we were out for a long time but was full of beans. Addy was also raring to go, feeding off her riders nervous energy. I gave her rider some pointers and suddenly they both took a breath and started to relax. The first km or 2 was up up up a gradual but decent hill. The trail was quite rocky with mainly golf ball sized stones which could be a bit uncomfortable for Coolie. We took it very steady the first 6km, letting Addy settle into her rhythm and moving out a bit when the rocks allowed. 

Up, up, up

We got to the first check point 50 minutes into our ride. One of the volunteers indicated we were going a bit slow, but that the footing improved from there on. We let the horses have a snack and offered them water. Coolie ate ok, and dunked his nose but didn't drink. Then we moved on from there and onto the trail again. Very quickly we had nice sandy trains, with a little bit of gravel. We let the horses move out and then spent most of the time trotting with a few walk breaks to let the other rider catch her breath. I had Coolie on the buckle the whole time enjoying the scenery and letting him balance himself as required. 

Rocks up the top

This ride I also asked him to canter to use different muscles as we were riding, and because it was just me and one other riding together, I was able to set the pace a bit more. We had a really nice ride and came into the CP at 12km with lots of gas in the tank, the horses cantering up the hill after overtaking some other riders. Coolie had some carrots, a little bit of Lucerne but no water. It was cold and drizzling, and he wasn't overly sweaty so I wasn't surprised. The volunteer came and said hi to Coolie and asked about his and told me he was a good stamp of a horse. I was quite chuffed!

Then we went out again and the next 4km zoomed by on farm roads, nice and open, lots of trotting and enjoying the view. We passed through the check pint at 18km and started our decent to ride camp, I really loved that bit of trail, crossing streams, picking our way across paddocks, having one last trot so we could walk them the last km into camp. It was really blissful. 

We came into camp exactly 3hrs after we left. I though we might get in a little sooner since I thought we were moving faster overall, but that was fine, given it was only our second ride. Our official time was 3.11, they didn't put an out time on our ride cards. Not that it matters! 

A little creek

I untacked, sponged Coolie and offered him a drink. He wasn't interested, but did a big pee. I offered him water again and he had a token sip before trying to eat grass (trying because the grass was slippery and he has no front teeth! He couldn't pull it easily). I checked his heart rate and he was down, so we headed over to be vetted.

After checking him over, the vet asked me how he was on course and if he ate and drank well. I said he ate ok but didn't drink. Her questions made me worry there was a problem, but I think they ask that every time. His heart rate was 40 this time (they have to pulse under 55), as an 80km rider came in as they were taking it and he was quite interested in that, which made it a bit higher. He was sound and again had all As on his card. We had completed our second ride!

I put his rug on, and gave him his feed while I had something to eat. He really just wanted grass though, so I took him for a pick while we waited for presentations. I think keeping him moving a bit and keeping him warmer helped him post ride, as he was much more energetic and happy through the week and his first ride back was quite bouncy (my friend rode him, and he was actually quite rude!). 

Smiles coming into camp

Once again we both had a great day. Coolie seemed to know why we were there this time and was more conservative with his energy. he still had plenty of pep, but wasn't pulling and still offered trot when he wanted to, but was on the buckle most of the time. endurance makes for a long day, but it's so relaxing, and I met some really nice people too. Now I am plotting Henry's first ride, though he wont be so easy. But fingers crossed he likes it. 

The best view