Up bright and early the next morning for vetting at 6.45 and a start time of 7.30. Dougal duly passed the vetting and stayed calm until about 5 minutes before the off when he seemed to realise where he was and we went into side stepping mode. As this was our first 120km ride we were aiming for a maximum speed of 14kph and a minimum of 12kph so to try and help us achieve this we set out 5 minutes after the leaders so I would not have to fight Dougal all the way. So we walked over the line at 7.35 and broke into a gentle trot. Within about 10 minutes we caught up with Gilly Payton and Simeric Shoman, another horse doing his first 120km ER and on a similar ride plan. We stayed together throughout the first loop of 40km, with both horses working well together and arrived back at the venue together at an average speed of 14.57 kph. We got caught out a bit here as Dougal was ready to present quicker than we are used to so lost a little time vetting 6 minutes after finishing on 58/54. Dougal ate very well during the forty minute hold that followed while I did some tack cleaning and eating myself, as well as administering electrolytes to Dougal. 

With five minutes to go I tacked up mounted and rode over to the start, Gilly was about 3 minutes ahead and we soon caught her up and again rode together on this 30km loop, and caught up with another rider. Dougal was drinking well throughout this loop and felt well within himself. All three horses were working well together and we returned to the venue at an average speed of 13.67kph taking five minutes to vet this time, again I think we could have been quicker here as Dougal’s heart rate was 57/54. Despite eating well Dougal’s gut sounds were not great at this point and we were asked to represent 10 minutes before our hold time was up. so during this 30 minutes Dougal ate, electrolytes were administered, while I ate and cleaned tack again. We represented and things had improved so we were allowed out again with a caution to take things easy. 

Gilly was three minutes ahead again and we were gradually catching here and being caught by Heather Giles on Hilton Hajar, who was another first timer 120km horse. Heather and I rode together for a large section of the 30km loop with our horses egging one another on in a sensible fashion. About half way round the loop we caught up with Gilly and all completed the loop together. Having stopped several times to drink from puddles and be crewed. Dougal took seven minutes to vet this time with heart rates of 62/58 and an average lap speed of 12.15kph. Again his gut sounds were not as good as they could be but he was eating very well and I administered electrolytes. However he improved during the 40 minute hold and on the thirty minute compulsory represent his vitals had improved so we headed out on the last loop of 20km three minutes adrift of Gilly and two and a half minutes adrift of Heather. We completed the entirety of this loop by ourselves. Dougal felt like he was going well within himself and given the warnings from the vets to take it easy I did not push to catch up with Gilly and Heather. I stopped at several puddles and let Dougal drink. He may have been getting a bit bored and could possibly have gone faster as he started spooking at things even though it was our fourth time past most of them! After nearly 9 hours of riding we passed the finish line to cheers from the trail riders and other competitors at an average speed for the whole course of 13.41kph. I hoped off removed Dougal’s saddle and took a slosh bottle from Steve. 

In order to make sure we passed the vetting we took our time over vetting and 11 minutes after crossing the line presented with a heart rate of 61/56 and passed, pleasingly our metabolic readings were as good at the end as at the first vet gate. Dougal was washed off and rugged and cool booted up then left to mooch round his coral with plenty of grass, hard feed, sugar beet water and plain water to hand. Steve and I attended the prize giving, then went for a celebratory dinner in the pub and a well earned sleep. The following morning on arriving at the venue to take Dougal home we found him stomping round his coral as if to say and where have you been, bright eyed and looking ready to go again. 

Below are my heart rate monitor and GPS readings from this ride.