44 – 5000 qualified kilometres in our grasp
After two 80km rides two weeks apart there was a break of six weeks until the next. It was a Ruahine ride which was pretty exciting for us as most of their rides were usually out of our normal range and of course any ride run be another club is always great, a chance to relax a bit more!
This was a new course, at Piriaka, near Taumarunui.
Even though Lace had been being ridden about four times a week since Whakamaru she had a slight tie up the week before, so when asked what my plans were on the way down it was “go slowly to be sure she doesn’t tie up and qualify to get her 5000km”.
Richard was riding Julina, it was her first 80km since coming back into work part way through the previous season, she’d been out for a few years trying and finally succeeding in having a foal – that foal is now out at rides with Kerry… Prima. So we were going to enjoy ourselves going out slowly together on the first loop.
Piriaka later became one of our must go to rides as it was a lovely course… that year however the heavens had opened in the week prior and all the land owner’s hard work grading the tracks for us backfired big time, the newly graded tracks had absorbed a huge amount of water and just got boggier and boggier as the day progressed. Also, due to the gap in the calendar, there were a lot of horses there – over 50 in the 80km alone! That many horses going over the same muddy ground three times just wasn’t pretty, and being near the back of the field we were getting the worst of it.
But we struggled on. Richard and Julina dropped back after the first loop, Lace hadn’t tied up so could truck along a little where the going was ok. Kerry reported that Tigger was going well up the front and didn’t care about the mud too much, but Emma said Shimar was truly over it and sulking!
Tigger was third, Lace ended up 7th which was a surprise and possibly more a reflection on the fact that quite a few people chose not to go out on the later loops… but I wanted those 5000km!
The weather wasn’t great either… not terribly wet but very windy. So when Lace and I finished everyone was dealing with Ezy-ups that were suicidally trying to blow away… we vetted and got our 5000… and nobody noticed.
Because of the tie up threat Lace didn’t get any days off, there is a little dead end road not far from home, if I go to the end of that and back it is 3.5km… this I discovered can be jogged before you go to work in the morning.
So by Saturday I figured she was ready to do a little more. Still planning to go slowly I got Bill to drop me 10km from home as that is always more pleasant than an out and back ride. I am actually a little surprised he was still up to doing that then, he was having a lot of trouble walking but as long as I did all the setting up of the car and float he could manage to drive, although I suspect that was the last time we had a “ride home”.
But in spite of no time off and going slowly I could tell she was very close to tying up again. Initially she was ok but after a few kms every time we tried trotting I could feel the saddle was uneven as the muscles on one side of her back were getting tight, so we would walk for a while, then try again. Still not right, walk some more. Then with less than 5km to go she improved and was trotting better, and I then discovered she was lame. We walked home.
There was a bit of swelling below the right knee at the back and it was warm. So a trip to the vets – ultrasound -moderate strain of the deep digital flexor tendon… it cost over $500 to be able to say that.
Turns out that tendons often feel scratchy but then warm up and are ok, (at least that’s what runners say!) exactly how Lace had been all season. And that problem with the stretches was probably the knee not the shoulder after all. Which explains why she was worse when doing the side stretches. Isn’t hindsight great?
The verdict from the vet? Chance of returning to riding? Good. Chance of returning to endurance? Maybe, maybe not. Six months off. What about a foal? Yes! I could tell the vet thought that was a splendid idea. November, not too late, so I just had to choose a stallion! At least she was embarking on this next stage of her life having managed those 5000 km – 5055 to be exact.
