Miles: Approx. 19
Avg spd: 4mph
Time: Approx. 4 hours, 50 min
HRR: 72
HR10Min: 56
I took Hoss back up to Cuyamaca for this ride, and we accomplished the ride I'd set out to do last week. Hoss was more willing this week than he was the last time we tried this.
There were quite a few other riders parked at Sweetwater parking when we got there. While we saddled up, several left ahead of us, and several more arrived back from their rides. We got there about 11am, and hit the trail right around 11:30.
I've taken up wearing tank tops for working out and riding. Years ago I stopped wearing them when I discovered they don't work very well while shoeing horses. Specifically, there's nothing between my shoulder and the side of the horse, resulting in getting horse hair clinging to my sweat, and there's nothing to wipe the sweat out of my eyes. So I went back to wearing t-shirts and over time stopped wearing tanks except as sleep shirts. The result of this is, I'm being very careful to use sunscreen. My shoulders and back haven't seen sunlight in a lot of years.
We headed out up Harvey Moore trail and turned off on East Side trail. I tried throughout the ride to use the techniques I had learned in the previous day's lesson. This was a little harder than I expected. The seat of my endurance saddle, while very well suited to my body shape, is different from the dressage saddle I'd taken the lesson in. I'm probably going to have to take a few lessons in the endurance saddle, too, so that I can transfer the techniques from saddle to saddle more easily.
I got Hoss trotting pretty easily. The improvement in my seat position has made it easier for him to move out appropriately. We headed on up the Lower Descanso trail and trotted every possible step. We hit the East Mesa Fire road at a good clip and kept trotting pretty happily along.
We did slow down for the rocky sections, but for the most part Hoss was happy to keep up a good trot. This is a section of trail he's not terribly thrilled about. If he had his 'druthers, I think he'd never have to go up it. On this ride, however, he gave me much less "lip" about keeping up his pace.
We hit the connector to the Harvey Moore trail and started on our way back down. I kept Hoss going at a trot everywhere it was practical. He was happy enough to slow down, though, when the trail became to treacherous for trotting.
When we got to Dyar Springs trail, I indicated to Hoss we were turning. He ignored me. I had to drag his head around and boot him down the trail. He knows perfectly well Harvey Moore goes straight back to the Sweetwater Parking where the trailer was. If he had his way, he'd go that way and skip Dyar Springs. I wanted to get in the miles, and I knew we needed to approach and deal with the water crossings he'd given me a problem about last week.
Once we were on Dyar Springs, Hoss gave in to the inevitable and took up a trot. I suppose he's figured out if he trots, we get done sooner. This time when we got to the water, he didn't plant is feet. He did stop and think about refusing, but I waved my whip at him and he crossed. He didn't cross right where he was supposed to, opting for a wider section – go figure – that it appears others have used before him.
The second water crossing proved even less of an issue. After a moment's hesitation, Hoss stepped through it and got his deserved praise.
This time, when we reached the connector to Juaquapin trail, we took that. Last time we'd continued on Dyar Springs, and I wasn't happy with the condition of that trail approached from that direction. Juaquapin is a better trail, and I'm glad we went that way instead, even if it is a bit shorter. After Juaquapin, we came back to the East Side trail, and rode on back to Sweetwater Parking.
Much to Hoss's disappointment, we didn't go back to the trailer and call it a day. Instead, we rode down under the bridge, where he got a good drink while I admired some small fish living in that part of the stream. Now I know what the man and his son I saw at the parking area were gonna do with the fishing rods they had. I expect they were fishing for these small fish as bait.
After Hoss got a good drink, we crossed the river and continued on our way to the West Side trail. I let Hoss walk some time to let the bellyful of water he'd just taken on settle before we started trotting again. Once I felt he'd had enough time, we picked up the trot and continued on our way.
The West Side trail has a couple of interesting spots. There is a rock formation that is almost stair-like Hoss must negotiate. He's getting better at it, although I still have to correct him from time to time. He is convinced the flatter side will be easier, not realizing the rock face next to it will scrape me off at best, and scrape his side off at worst. A bit farther from that, he has to take a pretty high step up and immediately make a nearly 180 degree turn. It's a nice challenge to keep his brain working.
I can't remember the name of the wide trail (possibly a fire road) we took next. We trotted up much of it, and then I realized I'd meant to reapply sunscreen when we'd hit the river. Hoss was more than happy to stop and let me apply it. He was somewhat disappointed when I was done and told him to get going again!
We hit the steeper South Boundary Fire road and continued on our way. I let him walk on this section. We were going over pretty rocky territory, and he was doing the entire thing barefoot. I hadn't even brought his boots along. This section of fire road is steep and rocky, so walking is a reasonable choice.
We had to cross the river again, and it was pretty deep here. Hoss took another good drink then proceeded to cross. I'm not sure what exactly cause him to feel suddenly threatened, it certainly didn't feel to me like he'd suddenly hit a deep hole, but Hoss jerked himself sideways, splashing water everywhere and soaking me pretty well. I got him calmed back down and urged him back through the river. He was more hesitant, and for the life of me I can't figure out what he was staring at, but I managed to guide him through without further incident.
We took the Sweetwater Trail, and Hoss picked up a nice trot on most of this trail. It clearly occurred to him this was familiar territory. I think he was hoping the trailer had magically moved itself to the Merigan Parking area. When we got to Merigan Fire Road, though, I turned him the "wrong" way, and the wind sort of left his sails.
It was tougher to keep Hoss going on Merigan Fire Road. Much of it is rocky anyway, but even in the good parts, he seemed to have decided he was done and was sulking. Every time I shifted position in the saddle, he would stop or try to stop, deciding I must mean to get off or something. It took a while, but we made it to the Blue Ribbon trail, where there was another stream crossing at which he took a drink, and perked up a bit afterwards. I think he realized we were on our way back to the trailer.
A good portion of Blue Ribbon is reasonable to trot over, so we made pretty good time back to South Boundary Fire road. South Boundary, though, is rather rocky. I allowed Hoss to walk over this.
About this time I was really beginning to feel my legs. At some point during the ride, I realized not only was I using my new riding position consistently, I couldn't figure out how to get my old, wrong, and more comfortable position back! The outsides of my hips and my inner thighs were beginning to scream at me. The outside of my right calf was starting to feel crampy. A spot in my left low back was really locked up. Lovely. I think this is also why Hoss was feeling this ride more than usual. My improved position, held fairly consistently for so many miles, was forcing him to work in a more correct manner than he's used to. He was getting muscle sore, too!
We crossed the highway back to East Side trail and cut back toward Sweetwater Parking, Finally! The last I'd looked at the GPS, we'd gone about 15 miles. Now we were almost done, with just about three miles to go. We again trotted as much as we could, and walked in the last mile or so.
When I went to get off at the trailer, I found I had begun to suffer leg death. I wound up worming my right foot up along Hoss's side, over his rump, and levering myself out of the saddle. I'm very glad no other equestrians were around to witness this bit of dismounting hilarity.
I suspect Hoss's high heart rate when we returned was due to needing to pee. I don't know why, but he simply refused to urinate until he got in the trailer (gee, thanks). His heart rate still came down pretty nicely, certainly not so slowly he would have been disqualified at a ride, so I'm not worried about it. The refusal to pee, though, I'm not so happy about! I expect if I'd kept him out of the trailer long enough he would have given in and peed, but I really wanted to get the heck home at that point.
Later in the evening, I discovered I had somehow managed to apply my sunscreen unevenly. I am sporting a sunburn on a small patch of skin on the back of my right shoulder. I guess I need to work on my spray-on sunscreen technique!
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