Hello!

Greetings from Ines and Kalika who have just returned from a long weekend in the Tahoe National Forest... 
We went to the "Wild West Ride" which is a multi-day competition for various distances. Kalika and I rode 
30 miles on Friday and 35 miles on Saturday and took Sunday off to save some money (entry fees are not cheap,
 sigh...) I won't bore you with another detailed ride report like last time, but here's a summary and 
attached are a few pictures.

We knew there was rain expected for arrival day on Thursday so we had brought tarps which Connie and I quickly 
set up between rain showers. But base camp was at almost 5000 feet so when the weather turned even colder, rain 
turned into wet snow and eventually our tarps collapsed onto the tents from the weight... By that time I was 
already holed up under two sleeping bags with many layers of clothes on and did not want to come out and fix the 
mess but we had no choice. Little sleep was had that first night...

We were up again at 5am to peel our horses out from under their blankets and saddle up. It had stopped 
snowing/raining but the footing was terrible and we had a pretty slow ride at ca. 6 hours for the 30 mile 
course. It could have been beautiful but the wet snow kept falling on us every time we brushed a tree or the 
wind blew, so we were wet and cold by the first vet check which luckily was in camp so we could quickly change 
for the second loop. The horses did great though. All in all, it was a good learning experience and great 
practice riding on treacherous gound. Even with our fairly slow pace we managed to come in 5th and 6th out of
 maybe 20 limited distance riders. Results aren't posted yet so I'm not quite sure. Just like at the American 
River Classic in April, ride management considered the limited distance rides (less than 50 miles) to be training 
rides and the condition of the horse and grades at the vet check are more important than actual ride times or 
placement.

On Saturday, the weather was wonderful again. Cool and sunny, the ground had dried out a bit over night and the 
course was a lot easier to ride with fewer lake-like puddles and less mud in general, so perfect for a faster pace. 
I decided to go for it and separated from Connie and Khajun and trotted wherever possible to the first vet check 
at about mile 20. We even cantered quite a bit this time. Kalika was all business and seemed to really enjoy being 
able to finally move out. She did great at the vet check, we were able to check in immediately as her heart rate 
drops so quickly now. It was only a half hour hold so while she was munching her hay, I tried to eat too but it's
 still hard for me to get anything down during an actual competition... Our second loop followed a different trail 
than the 50 milers so all of a sudden we were completely on our own, riding through a beautiful forest on a wonderful
 but sometimes challenging single track trail. It was a great bonding experience again. About three miles from the
 finish, Kalika realized where we were and picked up the pace again on her own. She was amazing, quick and sure-footed 
and it was so much fun to ride her, truly exhilarating. We finished the 35 miles in 4 1/2 hours and I think we were
 5th again, but again, I'm not sure.

There was a huge bonfire that night and a big dinner Sunday night and I met a lot of great experienced endurance 
riders and got some good advice. The vets really liked Kalika and thought we should move on to "real" endurance and 
do a slow 50 mile ride next so she can learn to manage herself even better. After seeing how well she did this 
weekend and how easy it seemed for her, I think we are ready for that (...as my right ankle protests... ;)

So stay tuned for more Endurance News from us after we do the Hat Creek Hustle Ride in three weeks!

Happy Trails,
Ines & Kalika