Endurance Riding

I am sitting here in front of my computer crying, and as I am, feeling very foolish for the tears.

Jakob and I loaded up the horses in the trailer this morning. It was pouring down rain, so we had to tarp all our camping gear in the bed of the truck. We headed out towards Reno, on our way to the Nevada Derby. We knew clear skies and sunshine awaited us for Jakob’s first 25 on Sunday.

We made it all the way to the Tahoe National Forest, but when we hit 3,000 feet I saw the rain hitting my windshield turn to slush and then, snow. I told Jakob to cross his fingers and hope that the snow didn’t stick to the ground. But as we continued on, the snow got so heavy I couldn’t see 10 feet in front of me. We weren’t carrying chains, but even if we had been, I would have been afraid to go on while hauling the horses. I made the decision to turn around. As I did, we got temporarily stuck and I jack-knifed the horse trailer (which is what I think may have caused a dent in the front of my trailer).  

We did make it down the mountain soon after, heading towards home. I put the truck in the lowest gear and descended at 20 miles an hour. When we hit Grass Valley, on the way to Marysville, Jake and I parked at a gas station and discussed what to do. He cried a lot, out of complete disappointment. I told him I could call my endurance friend, Linda, who didn’t live far away, to see if we could crash at her place for the night and then try to make it to the ride in the morning (by 8 am for our ride-out time). But, later, Linda talked some sense into me. We both decided it was better for me and Jake to get the horses home safely and de-stress ourselves, as there was no guarantee the weather would improve overnight (I later found out the roads through Tahoe had been closed).

On the 70 outside Marysville, when we weren’t far from home, 4 cars rear-ended each other in front of me. I was able to stop in time, but I had to slam on my breaks, leaving skid marks in the road, and jostling the horses. 

Jakob and I spent 5 hours hauling the horses today, only to end up right back where we started from. When we pulled in the driveway to our home, I breathed a sigh of relief that I had gotten my son and our beloved horses home safely.

We’ve been home a couple hours now and the disappointment has left Jakob. He is playing Wii with his younger brother and looking forward to going to the movies tonight. But for me, the disappointment has just sunk in. I know nice weather is right around the corner and there are a plethora of rides we can do together, starting next month. 

My disappointment comes from the fact that this is the third ride I have tried to take my son to. We had to withdraw from a 25 miler last summer when Beauty had an allergic reaction to a bee sting, leaving her eyelid swollen shut. She also felt “off” when I was riding her the day before the ride, which gave me confirmation to withdraw her (I had already been considering it when she had the allergic reaction the week before).

The second ride we withdrew from was in September. I had signed us up for another 25-miler, not realizing we would be closing escrow on our house the same exact weekend.   

This morning, as I pulled out of our driveway, I smiled, thinking, “third time’s a charm,” but we didn’t make it to this ride either. As soon as we got home today, I looked at my husband and said, “Is this some kind of omen? Is someone trying to tell me something? Is Jakob not supposed to do endurance?” Gary laughed and said, “I think the endurance world is just scared of Jakob. Cause once he actually gets there to the start of a ride, he is going to kick some serious ass.”

Cache Creek Ridge Ride – Here We Come! 

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