Death Valley Encounter Day 3

We headed out on the trail a little after 7am, in hopes of being the last ones on the trail. I had discovered on day 1 Hoss is at his most chargy and inattentive when he's been passed by other horses. So, my idea was if I got out behind everybody he'd be less difficult to deal with. Unfortunately, I was wrong. He knew the other horses were out there, and he was determined to catch them. I did my level best to keep him down to a walk, but mostly, he jigged.

It was inevitable that we would catch up to other horses. He was not going to walk, no matter what I did, and even if he did walk, it was a very fast walk. All the other horses were behaving. Of course, many of them were on their third day, so they had already been doing this a while. Hoss, on the other hand, had a day off.

Once we caught up with other horses, I let Hoss get past a few, then settled him in to a walk. This worked until the other horses started trotting! Then, he had to trot to keep up. Since we'd had problems and been pulled on day 1, I didn't want to spend a whole lot of time fighting with him and risk re-injuring him. I still worked on keeping his attention and controlling his speed, with limited efficacy.

We started up a hill, and I wanted Hoss to walk. This, however, meant that a horse he'd decided he should be with would get away from him. So once again we were on the jiggy, head up, can't stay in control nonsense. I kept my cool and worked on keeping him down. I did get to where I was able to keep him from completely bolting without having a death grip on his face. I could use a reasonably long rein and not have him get away from me. This resulted in more often getting the long, low head set we're working on. He still wasn't walking, but he wasn't running away, either.

We topped the hill and rode along the ridge overlooking the Searles valley. The pictures I took do not do justice to the spectacular views. It was a stunning bit of landscape. The horse he'd been trying to catch up to the entire way was stopped by its rider so she could take pictures. I took the opportunity to get Hoss off on his own. We continued down the trail. Many other riders chose to walk this section. I did not. Largely I prefer to ride Hoss since we've reached a point where, especially downhill, I walk a great deal slower than he does. I will get off if I feel I can control his behavior better on the ground or the terrain would be better negotiated separately.

We were caught up once again by the horse which had stopped for pictures. After a while, I let him start trotting and we ended up with that horse and one other. None of us was deliberately riding with the others, it just sort of turned out that way. So we just trotted along together. It worked out relatively well, really. The pace was one I could live with, not too fast like the horses Hoss decided he had to be with on day 1.

The terrain was very rocky, much of the trail unsuited to trotting. There was a lot of walking, but we did take every opportunity to trot. We were trotting over some questionable terrain, when I heard the double-tap sound of a loose shoe. I was thinking Hoss was losing his left hind shoe. He certainly didn't feel quite right on it. But he wouldn't slow down! After a few paces, the sound went away, I was assured by one of the other riders the shoe was still on, and we continued on at a walk. The next time we trotted, though, it became clear Hoss hadn't come out unscathed. Something was wrong. The other riders told me he was short striding on the left hind.

After a bit, I stopped Hoss, letting the other riders continue on, and got off to check his foot. The shoe was solidly in place and no evidence of a stone or any other injury to the foot. I was operating under the assumption he'd bruised his sole.

When I got back on, we caught back up with the other horses and tried trotting again. It was no good. He was definitely off. I decided he needed to walk to the vet check and we could figure it out from there. I pulled him up and fought him the next ten miles to the vet check. I got off once and led for a while in hopes of getting him to let go of the idea of catching up, but when I got back on, he was right back in it. He did go sound at the trot on the soft river bottom sand, but harder surfaces he was lame on. I managed to keep him from getting too hot and let the vet know we were having a problem when I got in.

Hoss ate well at the hold, showing no sign of discomfort. I took him to the vet toward the end of our hold time. She checked him over, feeling for his digital pulse, and watched him trot. It was there, she said, but not bad. She would allow us to continue, but under orders to walk. I'd already been walking for ten miles, and I figured we had enough time to get in at the walk he'd been doing all day. We'd decide on whether he could do day 4 when he'd finished day 3.

We left the vet check alone, well ahead of any other horses. Hoss walked out nicely. I noticed that a couple of the screws on my saddle had backed out. I tried to fix them with my leatherman tool, but was unsuccessful. I'd have to do it from the ground, and decided it just wasn't that important. After a while, horses started to catch up to us. Yet again I was fighting him over speed. I was told one other horse was under orders to walk, so I decided that I'd try to hook up with them in the hopes we'd all be able to walk in together.

About ten horses and riders ended up together. Somehow, the trail markers got removed or blown away, and we all found ourselves riding cross-country over small boulders and through dry creek beds. We did eventually find our way back to mark trail, but I don't think any of us was ever really sure where we'd lost the trail. There was a very distinct marker at the turn, and a couple ribbons up the hill, but the trail seemed to vanish and there wasn't a ribbon in sight. At that moment I thought it sure would've been nice if I'd known how to download the GPS data and use it!

Once we got back on trail markers, there was a steep, narrow uphill on the edge of the hillside. It was a lovely trail. The only problem I had with it was when other horses got ahead and Hoss forgot to pay attention to the trail. I did eventually dismount and let the other horses get ahead for a while. When I got back on, though, he still couldn't keep his head. When we came to some whoop-de-woos in the trail and I felt he wasn't paying enough attention not to further injure himself, I dismounted and led him on.

We were eventually passed by the last two riders. I continued on foot as long as I could, meaning that I finally got my headlamp out and got back on when it was too dark for me to feel comfortable on my own feet. I trust Hoss's night vision far better than my own, even with a flashlight. Despite the fact that he was being very uncooperative, I felt we were safer if I rode than if I walked. I was likely to lead us astray, while Hoss had a sense of where the other horses had gone, so was more likely to keep us on trail.

By this time, I had done quite a lot of thinking. Day 1 ended in a pull. Day 3 we were walking in lame. I decided I was going to take what I could get and quit while I was ahead. Whether the vet passed him to continue on day 4 or not, we were going home! He only has two more legs; I'm not interested in seeing if he can injure all of them.

We got back to camp with just under an hour to spare. I took Hoss straight to the vet, who asked to see him trot. She said he was still lame, possibly a little worse than at the vet check, and we definitely shouldn't go the next day. I told her I had no intention of doing so even if she'd cleared him! We turtle this ride.

I had my daughter trot Hoss out for me. Once I got to see it for myself, it was clear there was no stone bruise involved, but I wasn't sure what it was. I was leaning toward stifle or hock. In the morning, it was clear it was his hock. His left hock was swollen and hot to the touch. The vet looked him over and cleared him to get in the trailer and go home. We packed up, and my lovely daughter drove us all the way home. It's only the second time in her life she's ever driven the rig. I am very proud of her.