I'm still fairly crushed over our first ride of the season, but I do know what to do for next time.  I've got some sole guard on order and will put it to good use.  I'm trying to "get back on the horse" psychologically - and will work even harder for the next ride.

Some words of advice from veterans:

"Dare to risk failure, because even if you only get to the first vet stop, you will have learned sooooo much."  - Julie Suhr (30,217 AERC miles)

"I would rather go 60 miles in a 100 than to finish a 50, and I would rather go 40 miles of a 50 than to finish a 25 miler.  Endurance rides are specifically designed to enable people to risk non-completion without catastrophic consequences to either horse or rider, such that the consequence of most "failures" is that you don't "get credit" for the miles that you do complete successfully. In the overall scheme of things, such a consequence is a big "so what."
My life is riddled with failures. Here's to hoping that everybody's is...since that means that at least they tried."  - Kat Swigart (5,540 AERC miles)