BSF Endurance Ride

On Friday Mow and I competed in our second endurance ride.  I came up to Tennessee to visit my parents last week and stayed for the ride at the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area.  We took Mow over to the park on Thursday to check in and go through the vet-in, which means that one of the ride vets checked him all over (heart, lungs, back, gut sounds, etc.) and then watched him trot out and back.


The vet check.  Can you see the rain drops?  It started raining right as we pulled in.


















Trotting Mow out.  He passed the vet check with all A's.


















Since my parents live so close to the park, we did not camp at the ride.  Instead, we got up at 5:30 am on Friday to trailer over and be ready for the 8:00 am start.



















I waited for the 24 other riders to leave before mounting up and heading out on the ride myself.  Mow was quite well-behaved and we walked out of camp to start the ride.

























Here is a professional photo (by Becky Pearman Photography) taken out on the trail shortly after the start.

























Here Mow and I are coming back into camp after our first 16 mile loop.  Behind us is Robin, our new riding buddy whom rode with us for the entire ride.


















Once we completed the first loop, I un-tacked Mow and went over to have his heart rate measured.  Once his heart rate was below 64 bpm, the clock started on our mandatory 50 minute hold time before starting the second half of the ride.


















After the heart rate check, we headed over to the vet again for a recheck of all the same things as the original vet in.  If Mow was off in any way we would have been pulled from the ride.  Fortunately, all was well and he passed again with mostly A's.


















The trot-out during this vet check.

















After passing the vet exam, Mow and I had what was left of our 50 minute hold to rest, eat, drink, and cool off.  Here I am sponging him down to help keep him cool.

























Then I got to sit for a few minutes and snack while Mow ate more hay.  My mom (photographer) and dad, along with our friends Louise and John, helped "pit crew" for me during the vet check.

















Soon it was time to head out for our second 16 mile loop.

























When we returned from our second loop we went through the same vet check.  Here we are at the heart rate check.  As soon as Mow's heart rate was below 60 bpm the clock stopped on our ride (not when we crossed the finish line, as it would be on a longer ride).

























Mow passed the last vet check as "fit to continue" (mostly A's again) so we successfully completed our second endurance ride!  We finished the 32.5 mountainous miles in 6:18 and placed 22nd out of 25.  I am very proud of both of us!