Well, it's all over and done, and couldn't have been better for a first endurance experience. My last post was the night that I arrived, Thursday night- why not pick up from there?
The photo above was my view from my tent on Friday morning of the vetting arena. Pretty, isn't it? Throughout the first night I heard what sounded like cayotes and plenty of horses. I didn't sleep well but eventually did get to sleep, only to be woken up by the sounds of riders at 5:30am up and ready for the 6:30am start. I'd like to mention that when I got out of my tent, there was literally ice covering it like little studded crystals all over the top and sides. It was as low as 40F over the night, and about that in the mornings. Though the RM said she didn't have need of me until about 9am, I wasn't going to just sleep away my first morning at Ridecamp! I meet with the RM's husband to ride in the truck for the controlled start of Friday's 50's and 75's. While I missed all of the horses actually leaving camp, it was interesting to see how everyone spaced out even in those first few miles. Once the first front runners were on the trail, we counted out the riders before heading back to camp.
Back at camp, I spent most of the morning following him around, seeing a little bit of everything, before spending about 5 minutes in the Vetting arena. I was quickly shown how to be a scribe, and just as quickly taken away (not my fault!) to be a timekeeper. Through the morning of the first day, and every day following, I really got to see the generosity of all of the Endurance Riders and Volunteers. Multiple times I was offered a couch or spare bed in a trailer to sleep in instead of a tent, and many more times another jacket or gloves or even spare shoes. Nearly every hour as a volunteer, a random crew member would come up and ask us if we wanted anything, needed coffee or something from across camp. It was amazing, only having experienced the "look down on everyone" I've seen in other horse events. Well, happily bundled in my layers of hoodies, I spent the morning filling out in-time and rider's numbers on little slips, jumping up to hand them to crews and riders on lovely horses. I had a great spot to look over all of the crewing areas and the first water through. I certainly saw a huge difference between some of the AERC riders who had no to one person crews and some of the FEI riders with 5+ people crews; it made me wish for a crew that big one day! Mid-afternoon, I was able to go over to the vetting arena and spend the rest of the day as a scribe for the Canadian vet. That's something new I have to look up too... They didn't have a single American vet. Even a vet from Germany! I believe this has to do with FEI, but I have to do some reading on that. I saw at least 60 horses multiple times, a very cool experience. I asked plenty of questions to my vet, even joking around about the pre-vet classes that they never use. This is also when the weather changed to a million degrees, and I made my first mistake: I changed to a tank top without sun screen. And boy, did I burn. The day went on smoothly, though I was so excited I didn't eat at all. Eating meant time away from learning! Eventually everyone finished, and I worked with my vet to watch and score the BCs for the 75. I was surprised that all the top 10s didn't show, but apparently this isn't uncommon. Afterwards, I sat through the awards ceremony and the following Rider's Meeting. Following the rider's meeting was a small gathering for FEI riders trying to qualify and get ready for trials. I hung out in the back to listen to that meeting as well, which was very interesting. I don't know much about FEI, need to do more research, but seeing the riders in person, even just once, adds a different perspective to reading the current controversies.
After the meetings, I crawled back into my tent and passed out. Slept like an angel. I think it had a lot to do with how tired I was! It wasn't as cold (or I was too numb to feel it), but the cows next to camp woke me up around 3am. Not too bad. :) I went out with the truck to watch the start again, this time 50s, 75s, and 100s. I ended up going forward again to the next road crossing, where I was able to talk to one of the USA team managers (I wish I had been able to catch his name). Lots of people asked me where I learned about endurance, what got me into it and what not. The two gentlemen were laughing after I explained what I was thinking about everything and what I wanted to do, and they said "We'll see her up front on her Arab in two or three years!" That made me happy too. After that, I was ushered back to Ridecamp to help with timekeeping all day. I wish I had got back to scribing, but I was happy to help were needing. It was a very misty morning!
Throughout Saturday, I definitely felt my own endurance draining. The first 4 100's finished around 7pm. At 6pm, my boyfriend came back to pick me up, because I did not think I could make it through another night in the tent I was so sore. I had been stepped on putting numbers on horses, blistered by my lack of talk socks under paddock boots and sunburned. We were able to spend some time looking at the vendors, before going to the finish line to watch the front runners come in before packing up and leaving. The drive home wasn't bad at all.
Overall, I definitely learned a lot. I was welcomed head over heels, and cannot wait to get back out there. I wish I had had some more time/courage to introduce myself to some more riders, but there is plenty of time for that. :) I was able to meet one of my fellow Green Beans!
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