Phoenix does a Ride and Tie!

Last weekend, my retired endurance horse, Phoenix, got his chance to shine in a new sport. He got to do a ride and tie!



For those who don't know what ride and tie is, it's two people and one horse. One person sets out on foot (typically running/jogging) while the other sets out on the horse. At some point, the person on the horse gets off, ties the horse, and takes off on foot. The person who initially started out on foot catches up to the horse, unties it and gets on. The horse and its new rider pass the first rider, and at some time the second rider gets off and ties and the process is repeated. There's typically a vet check in the middle, often more than one.



The series of events that led up to this opportunity were somewhat interesting. A young lady I know from church, Wendy, had decided she wanted to try the sport. She had found a partner, Michael, who had done ride and tie before but hadn't it a good decade. They found a horse to borrow. They tried it out. Then, the day before they were leaving for the event, the owner decided not to let them use the horse.



On Thursday night, therefore, Wendy called and asked if Phoenix was still available. I had told her the day she was to try out the other horse that I had one I'd be willing to let them use if the one they were looking at didn't work out. I said, of course, you can use him. Just let me know where and when to bring the horse. I even said I'd crew for them.



I spoke with Michael and we got the particulars straightened out. Phoenix needed to be at Los Vaqueros camp in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park on Friday afternoon.



So, Friday morning, I loaded Hoss for a quick buzz around Hollenbeck Canyon. I knew I needed to get Phoenix up to the ride, so we went pretty quick and I didn't do anything interesting. I also knew that I was low on gas, so I planned to stop at the Perkins Market on the way up to get a few gallons.



After riding, I got back home, unloaded and bathed Hoss, and started getting everything together for Phoenix. Got him some food, hay, blanket, made sure all his tack was there. Then I got Phoenix and loaded him up. He sure seemed to know something was up. When I got his halter, he was watching me intently, and came walking up to get loaded. Most days, he plays games with me when it's his turn to get out.



On the way up, I forgot to stop at Perkins. Oops. Oh, well. I figured I'd stop on the way back down. So I proceeded on up to Oakzanita Ranch, where I stopped to lunge Phoenix, having decided that Wendy and Michael didn't need to ride him quite that fresh. After lunging, I reloaded and we headed on up the hill.



But we didn't get far. We couldn't have driven more than a mile or so when the truck just quit. None of that sputtering or anything. It just was done. I got no warning whatsoever. Fortunately, it quit just as we topped the rise before the West Mesa parking area, meaning I was able to coast it over to the side of the road and park it safely.



Well. This was not a fun development! I tried my cell phone, only to find I had no service. It was getting on toward 4pm at this point. I realized we were close to the access road that goes by Oakzanita Ranch. So I took Phoenix back out of the trailer and threw his saddle and bridle on, and rode him at a pretty good clip back to Oakzanita.



Once at Oakzanita, I called my husband. My husband promptly left from the house with a gas can to bring me a couple of gallons. I called Michael and let him know what was going on. Our plan had been for him to ride Phoenix a little bit when I got him up there, but this was getting farther and farther from being a possibility.

After about an hour, my husband made it up to the truck and we put two gallons in the truck. We continued on up the road and delivered Phoenix safely into Michael's care. On the way back down, I definitely did not forget to get gas!



On Saturday morning, I headed back up to crew for Wendy and Michael. I also needed to be there to tack Phoenix up. They wouldn't have had much luck with the little creep, I'm afraid. He was all excited about this new adventure! But they did brush him out and pick out his feet. Once he was saddled, Wendy and Michael took a turn at riding Phoenix. Having never ridden him before, they needed a little instruction in his peculiarities. Wendy was instantly impressed with how responsive and quiet he is. Not that he couldn't have behaved better. I was actually a little embarrassed by how he was behaving. Still, he was pretty obedient and responsive to cues.



Most ride and ties allow a "hand tie" in the first mile of the ride. This simply means that a crew person meets the horse on the trail and holds it while waiting for the runner. I was supposed to go out and perform this function for Wendy and Michael. Trouble is, I got led astray and walked nearly a mile in the wrong direction before I (and the person who led me astray) realized I had gone the wrong way! Well. By that point, there's not a chance in the world I'm beating them to the hand tie point. So I found Michael's wife and daughters and we headed down to the vet check point.



It was a cold, rainy, windy morning. It was cold enough I was a little worried that Phoenix wouldn't be warm enough on the trail. Fortunately I needn't have worried. Wendy came trotting in to the vet check on Phoenix, who looked like he hadn't gone a mile, much less seven! He pulsed in to the vet check at 48 bpm! For ride and tie, criteria is set at 72.



Michael came in on foot a few minutes later. Since it was Phoenix's first ride and tie, they didn't want to tie him and leave him where one of them couldn't see him, just in case he got loose. Michael asked me if I thought they were overriding Phoenix. I assured him that, no, they weren't overriding him. Indeed, he looked a little under ridden!



Once through the vet check, Wendy set out on foot, and Michael rode off on Phoenix. Michael's family and I headed back to the camp to wait for the finish. I sat in my truck and read my book. There's very little more boring than crewing for somebody who's out on the trail!



The team came in some time later, Michael aboard Phoenix, and Wendy afoot. The girls and I applauded them in. They finished in third place!



Both Wendy and Michael were very grateful to get to use Phoenix. By the fourth tie, Phoenix had figured out what was going on, and it was pretty clear by the time they got done that he enjoyed himself thoroughly. Phoenix was good throughout the ride, although it sounds like he could use a little more patience with being mounted on the trail.



I must once again give Beth Smith, my trainer, her proper due.  Phoenix has spent the better part of the last nine months doing a whole lot of nothin'.  And yet, he went out and did fifteen miles with a pair of perfect strangers in a completely new sport on a day of crappy weather and didn't look like he'd done a damn thing.  He can do this, and do this well, because of the training and conditioning that Beth put on him lo those many years ago.  The training has served Phoenix well over the years, allowing him to participate in many activities.  And the conditioning has served him better.  Nothing else can explain doing pretty much nothing for nine months, then going out and zipping out 15 miles and looking like he's done nothing.
Phoenix is officially a ride and tie horse!