Grand Island Ride, Rapid River, Michigan (Upper Peninsula) May 25, 2002

Before I even begin my ride story, I want to take a moment to tell a brief story.  In August of 1998, Nelson took me to the Midland County Fair.  He introduced me to some old friends of his, Barb and Larry Ward of Mashallah Arabians.  I had just started distance riding and every horse I looked at, I looked at with a critical eye in view of their potential as a distance horse.  Barb made sure we took a look at all the horses they had at the fair and then she brought out their 3 year old rose grey stallion.  In the middle of the open aisle, amid fair goers, big and small (lots of small) and the noise and hubbub of a fair, he stood and surveyed the world as if it were his own personal kingdom.  He was the most gorgeous thing I had ever seen in my life.  A small child ran up and hugged his leg and a lady with an even smaller child in a stroller shoved stroller and child under his nose and asked if the child could pet the horsey.  I almost had a stroke.  This young Arab stallion leaned down ever so gently and let the children pat his nose.  I was terribly impressed with his temperament, not at all like the wild, Arab stallions one envisions or "hears" about.  Even at 3, he had that "greyhound" look, long and lean and athletic.  And that look in his eye....I didn't know then what "the look of eagles" was but I know now.  I knew then he could make a great distance horse.  But his price tag was not in our league and never would be.  So a few weeks later, we visited Mashallah Arabians to look at a younger colt, a half brother of this magnificent creature, figuring we could handle his price tag a lot better.  To make a long story short, we ended up with not one but THREE beautiful Mashallah horses that fall of 1998...the young stallion we saw at the fair was my beloved Mashallah Al Malik.  We also brought home his younger 1/2 sister, Mashallah Impulse and his younger 1/2 brother, Mashallah Mykal.  When Larry Ward looks at you and says "Have I got a deal for you"....you better believe it or you better run!  MANY thanks to the Ward's not only for breeding these beautiful horses but also for making it possible for us to own them.  However, if I can find a way to connect the pain I am feeling in my body right now to them, I may have some other comments for them. .) And the rest is history up to now and must be saved for the important article someday to be written about the marvelous Malik...you know the kind...."before they were famous" kind of stuff!

My story unfolds in the Upper Peninsula of our lovely state.  We had a beautiful drive up, sunny though cool.  We laid over at the home of friends and clients in Harbor Springs, Paul and Sara Matthews (many thanks to them for the hospitality) on Thursday night and as Paul planned to make the leap into crewdom, we strategized with them about the ride ahead of time.  They met us at the ride site on Friday afternoon and though very cool, the (almost) full moon was spectacular that night and we looked forward to the fifty the following day.  We ended up deciding to do the fifty miler because there were only two people in the 65 and we really wanted some competition more than the extra mileage.  I believe we ended up starting with 26 50 milers of which 25 completed.  Which is remarkable when you find out how the trail deteriorated later in the ride!  Malik and Jenny's horse, Max, relaxed, eating, drinking and napping throughout the day and the night.  Good signs...they're getting used to this now!

The ride started out FAST though we started in the middle of the pack.  In retrospect and doing some figuring, I discovered that we actually covered the first 12.5 miles in 1:07.  Paul and Nelson were waiting and we pulsed down within 5 minutes and the boys ate voraciously though Sara's Ruby is a little fussier and not as interested in eating hay and grain.  She did surprise Sara and graciously accepted an apple core from our daughter, Jenny.  At this point, the day was cool and overcast, requiring a turtleneck, warm tights and a vest but I was comfortable. 

The next 14.5 miles took us to the check at Middle Camp and we rode that in 1:13.  Again, amazingly fast for someone as short and lumpy and out of shape as I am.  God bless Malik for carrying me with such care and dexterity.  He is really coming into his own now, picking a sane pace (most of the time) and taking sure, strong steps and never faltering.  After our crashes two years ago, I would never have believed I could ride with the guts and determination and TRUST I have now...on the uphills, I do my best to center myself, grab some mane, and hang on.  I can even trot downhill!  We are finally finding our "resonance" as Lew Hollander calls it...so tuned into each other's bodies that I don't have to think about what diagonal or lead I am on or even consciously telling my body how to ride.  I have had to do a lot of that though to get where I am at now with Malik so the concentration has paid off...I still have to remind myself about keeping my chin down or I end up with a terrible neckache.  My neck doesn't ache at all this time so THAT is working, too!!  Thank God for centered riding lessons!

Anyway, Max and Malik were still eating, drinking, peeing and pooping at the Middle Camp check.  We electrolyted them there also.  I had brought one huge tub for them to share as they have always seemed to eat better out of one tub and if we have two, always try to get into each other's, so I figured we only needed one.  For whatever reason this time, sharing was out and we had to reprimand them more than once for bad manners.  This ride I added soaked alfalfa cubes to their beet pulp and cob mix and they LOVED it....Malik likes finding the ones on the bottom that aren't totally soaked and still have some crunch left in them.  Not to mention the treasure hunt for carrots and apples! 

CRIs, guts, muscles, gaits and everything were good...all As with some Bs.  Malik's CRI was 11/11.  I was happy with how we were doing.  Still hadn't realized yet how fast we were going though I realized we might be able to top ten.  I gave up my heart monitor watch for Nelson to use on the hand held monitor (what a godsend!) so was sort of dazed and confused without it...not unusual anyway.  :)

As we left Middle Camp, it started to rain...lightly.  It got heavier.  In places it had "substance" as Paul liked to call it.  I call it SNOW.  The trail got slicker.  It got colder.  We got WET and MISERABLE and still we went FAST.  And it rained even harder. And the trees got heavier and wetter!  We made the ten miles back to the Pines check in one hour!  We were still having a ball though...yee haaing, whooping it up.  This trail is FUN even when it's wet!  :)  I LOVE it!  (Jenny described the rain this way..it was big, fat rain and small, stinging rain, rain that came in sideways and even some rain that came straight up from the ground....obviously she has watched too much Forrest Gump!)

At this last check, the beloved crew devised the strategy that Maggie and Malik ought to make a run for it and gain some time in order to be in contention for BC.  We were only about 30 minutes behind the front runners at that point.  Max was getting a little sore in front and Ruby's CRI seemed to indicate she might be fatiguing a bit.  Good strategy...but nobody told the horses.  Malik started out slowly, pulling away from Max until we were out of sight...very hard for a mom to do to her daughter.  I HATED it.  Malik was acting fatigued and his heart wasn't in it.  If only I had known about the psych out routine!!  Soon Max and Ruby caught up to us and since Ruby seemed to want to remove Sara's arms from their sockets, she went on ahead and Malik suddenly had the same energy he had had when we STARTED the ride!  I let Sara go ahead so I could check on Jenny and when I decided to go on with her, Malik was off like a rocket.  I won't fall for that trick from him again!!  Poor Jenny was fighting Max, trying to slow him down and help him.  I mentioned this to Nelson at a pit stop along the trail and he suggested it might be better to just let him have his head so we decided to tell her to let him go...she did and caught up with us within minutes and Max looked great.  Obviously he FELT great!!  He is such a tough little horse.  We traded off leading here and there among the three of us but the horses paced so well, there was no need for anyone to go faster or slower...we crossed the finish line together doing the last 12.5 miles in 1:17 though we were careful to go slower on the hills and the slick spots.  It was only ten minutes slower than the first 12.5 miles.  I am STILL amazed at these horses.  I'm also amazed at myself...Jenny is younger than I am, Sara is small and far more fit than I will ever hope to be and I am quite "fluffy" (though I DO maintain that muscles weigh more than fat and I KNOW I have them because every last one of them hurts right now, including the ones in my scalp!!!!).  Overall, Sara and Ruby placed 5th (4th lightweight), Jenny and Max placed 6th (5th lightweight which also qualifies her for the National Championships in October if we decide to go) and I placed 7th again (2nd heavyweight)....all in all what I consider a very successful and satisfying ride in spite of the pain I am in now.  Nelson is a top notch crew and I know he did a good job showing Paul the ropes...and Paul is a quick study.  Hope he is along on more rides.  I also hope we have the opportunity to ride with Sara again...we had FUN.  And I appreciated her encouragement and compliments on my riding capabilities which I am always fretting about.  Apparently I DO ride very centered and balanced and boy, did I need to hear that.  Thanks, Sara.  I always worry about being a heavyweight rider but hope trying to improve my riding abilities helps negate some of that weight.

We did stand for BC though the 45 minutes the front runners had on us at the end hurt us some.  I don't care.... even if the vet doesn't see or appreciate what I can, "I" see how awesome and beautiful my horse looks as he trots out after 50 miles, looking as if he could go out and do it again.  What a feeling!!   An even better feeling was DRY clothes, a warm trailer and blanketing those gorgeous horses...we gave them a warm, liniment wash on their legs and a nice warm mash of beet pulp, a little cob, a few crunchy snacks and carrots and apples.  They ate and ate and ate and then snoozed comfortably in their warm, dry blankets. 

The Grand Island trail is beautiful and FUN... wooden bridges and streams to cross, uphills and downhills and twists and turns and trees and meadows.... and I hope to someday try that 100 miler.  I am soooo glad we didn't try it this year.  I don't think I could have made it through that rain and miserable weather.  Maybe next year the sun will shine and with more conditioning, that 100 will become a reality for us.  Many thanks to ALL the volunteers who made the Grand Island ride possible....this was their 25th anniversary and I hope to be there in another 25 years!!! 

I would also like to add that I am very proud of Jenny for taking such good care of her horse at this ride....not that she doesn't at other rides but this year she is not a junior and it is not easy having me for a mother and wanting to be on your own.  I have always felt responsible for her and her horse ALWAYS and worried if she would know what to do and this time, it was difficult for me to leave her behind...I was worried that she would be angry at me if I left her and angry at me if I didn't...double edged sword.  She uttered words that made me very proud of her..."I have to take care of Max and do what's best for him and not worry about how I place"....something to that effect.  I was very pleased because I know she is very competitive.  I feel she did eventually make the right decision in catching up and pacing with us and Max came out looking better than a lot of 50 milers do at the end of 50 miles!  He may have been sore but he was not lame and he was HAPPY....he looked great.  Jenny did a good job with him and Max took good care of her as well.  I think I should also take time to thank Carol Lambert of McBain for having not only the foresight to breed this spectacular little horse but also the foresight to name him Maximum Potential....he is showing us some now and I can't imagine what his "max" will be! 

And I couldn't do ANY of this without hubby Nelson....his patience and perseverance when I am crabby and in pain or just plain ornery.  His skill and handling of the horses, knowing what we need, when and where we need it.  He is always there waiting for us, cheering us on.  He believes in us and our horses even when we don't believe in ourselves.  He is awesome, too and I thank God for his presence in our lives because we would not be here without him!  It's that simple.

Woo hoo and yee ha!!!  Our next 50 will be at Hopkins Creek in June and I can't wait!!!  :)  Stay tuned!!!