WOOHOO!!, Mr. Sandman TOP TEN’d and took BEST CONDITION and he did it on a tough rocky trail and in unusually warm conditions this past Saturday, finishing in 8th place at the Jingle Bells ride. Sandman was chosen by the Veterinarian for the coveted BEST Condition award with a score of 741 out of a 800 points and an A+ on his overall condition. His pulse at the Vet check was 44 and well under the criteria of 60. His finishes have improved in each race, with his first finish in 24th, second race 18th, and Saturday he finished 8th with Best Condition. We are so proud of this boy, who has come a long way from being the underweight 4 year old racehorse with bad feet who knew only how to run very fast counter clockwise for 2 minutes to a more mature, confident, and stronger more muscled up endurance horse who can now trot in tough terrain for hours and he seems to enjoy it as well. On this day, he got stronger as the day wore on even with the heat and rocks, and he was literally on fire in the last six miles and cantered and power trotted the last mountain without drawing one deep breath. We knew all along he had the engine for endurance and the friendly demeanor and his willingness to “get after it” is just icing on the cake. This is such a great Christmas present for Lori and I, and for lots of reasons, the timing could not have been better.
That said, there is a humorous story about this ride that fits well with this unusual Covid year. One of the riders asked me, a few miles in when our little group was moving pretty fast over some messy terrain, “so, what’s your plan?”, I replied, “hmm, have you ever seen the TV series Yellowstone?” They replied “yea” I replied, “ok, well then do you remember the Yellowstone, flawed logic scene? “Yea”, well I said, “I think that’s my plan today” and having seen that episode we all chuckled. I don’t know of a better descriptor of our ride for at least a few of those miles on Saturday and also now of our reaction to this year than that scene. If you want a giggle, google “Yellowstone flawed logic”, the 3 minute YouTube video will bring a smile to your face, and know, here we ALL are at the end of a weird year, throwing caution to the wind a bit and just going for it. 🙂, within reason of course 🙄
In Endurance riding, it really does take a team to get a horse across the finish line, and with this in mind, I’d like to publicly thank Ashley Earick, Ida Hammer, and Anastasia Keyser who worked together and independently with me over these last 2 plus years on Sandman’s feet with a dozen + x-rays that helped inform our decisions on his hoof trimming and directed our custom trims and boots, and now his feet are like stone with much thicker sole depth as evidenced by his ability to move across those rocks this weekend like a mountain goat with speed and sure footedness.
I’d also like to thank Mary Jane Fridley and Susie Kramer, who were riding with me over these last two years in an on again off again manner as I worked thru all of the hoof hurdles and related setbacks and whiny 🙄 downtime and then later they patiently rode thru Sandman’s various on-trail emotional melt downs as he got used to the speed and energy as a newbie horse riding with their more experienced, calmer, and fitter horses and who along the way, would ride to accommodate our training needs. Lastly, I’d like to thank Debi Sanger and Andrea Maitland for putting together yet another fun, safe and well organized ride weekend. These are to a T, every one of them, good people who will always take great care of their horses and their riding partners, friends, and family always. Enjoy the week, have a great Christmas and as always, enjoy the ride 🙂 this was a great one.