The Last Ride of Team Fluffy

Team Fluffy!

Yesterday I took Mac, Ash, and Jazz out for one last Team Fluffy ride. Jazz is going home with her mom! After nearly a year, Jazz's mom is back from Afghanistan and settled in and ready for her dog.

I didn't bother to take data for this ride. This was more of a leisure ride than anything. Besides, Hoss has developed some evil looking girth galls, and I didn't want to feel like we needed to push anything. I rode in my dressage saddle in the hopes the girth on it wouldn't further irritate the galls. I couldn't get the girth to stay back off the galls, but I was able to grease them up well enough to prevent further damage.

We went to Hollenbeck Canyon for this last ride. It was a foggy morning, which I hadn't realized when we left. There was no fog up on the mountain, and I hadn't seen fog lower down on our walk, so I was caught by surprise when, driving down the hill, I saw the wall of fog. I was a little apprehensive about riding in the fog. Coyotes tend to be more active under these conditions, and just a few days ago, Team Fluffy took off after a coyote on a morning walk. If they saw one while on a ride, they were already fired up from chasing the other one and were more likely to take off uncontrollably. I finally put my misgivings aside and just went for it. I know I can keep a keen eye out for coyotes. If they took off, I'd just have to hope they stayed together and wouldn't get beyond a fence I couldn't get Hoss around to follow.

Despite his girth galls, Hoss was perfectly happy to get going. The galls don't seem to really bother him. I've been treating them daily and he doesn't flinch or try to move away when I wash them. I just walk up to him in the pasture and take care of it.

Once we got on the trails proper, Hoss picked up a nice trot. I kept him slower than usual to try to keep the galls from getting rubbed further on the hilly terrain.

Team Fluffy were their usual exuberant selves. They ran all over looking for things to chase and people to greet. There weren't any other horses on the trail, but several mountain bikers and hikers were out. I really think I need to put bells on my saddle so hikers can hear me coming. Sometimes they're looking around because the dogs have run up to them and appear to be alone!

Jazz coming up to the single track -- always looks down as soon as I snap a shot!

We walked most of the single track trail, then took up the trot up the hill and ran up the last part. Team Fluffy ran along close on our heels. We made the turn down at the top of the hill and began our descent.

Several mountain bikers were resting on the side of the trail. Hoss was his usual friendly self, trying to greet everybody. The dogs wanted to make friends, too, but were also hot enough to want to get to the nice shady spot with the creek running through it.

Shortly before we made it to the shady spot, the mountain bikers caught up to us. I turned Hoss off the trail to let them by. The dogs were less forgiving. I had to call Ash several times before he got far enough off the trail to let the mountain bikers pass!

Ash and Jazz get a good drink

We stopped at the creek and let the dogs get a good drink and cool off. Being a cooler day than we've had for some time, it didn't take them nearly so long to recover as it has in the last few weeks.

At the flat, Hoss wanted a good run, so I let him go and we cantered for some time. The dogs were lively and kept up well. Since I didn't want to overuse Hoss with the girth galls, I kept him to a trot or a walk for most of the rest of the flat. Hoss wanted to move out more, and I let him several times, but tried not to do a lot of downhill trotting. I was noticing he felt very slightly off at the very end of his stride on his right front. The galls on that side are worse than on the left, so I think he was hitting them at the end of his stride, creating a slight limp.

We finished our ride well. Team Fluffy flopped around the truck, tired and happy. Of course they had no idea Jazz's mom was coming to get her, only that they had another great ride!

Today, Jazz's mom arrived to pick her up. Jazz was absolutely beside herself when she saw her mom. There is no doubt she recognized her owner and was excited to see her.

Jazz and her Mom reunite

We had some hamburgers and lovely macaroni and cheese and brownies Jazz's mom brought (with the severely restricted diet I find myself on for my gall bladder, macaroni and cheese sounds so good). We had a lovely visit. I put a yellow ribbon around Jazz's neck and got some pictures of her and her mom before they left.

Jazz's mom was incredibly grateful for our care of her dog while she was gone. All I can say is, we were glad to do it, and happy to be able to provide the service for a deployed soldier. My husband was particularly happy to have provided the service. While he was in the Navy, he had been forced several times to give up pets because he couldn't find someone to care for them while he was gone. To enable a soldier to keep her pet despite deployment was important to him.

I will miss Jazz, and I am glad she is with her mom again. She was a pleasure to have around. I'm hoping we get to see her frequently.

Conditioning Ride 9-22-2011

HRR: 60

HR10min: n/a

Distance: 10 miles

Avg Spd: 3.3mph

Time: 3 hours, 11 minutes

I had originally planned to go up to Laguna again, but we got a late start and I was tired. So we went to Horsethief instead. Usually we get a very short ride here, but I had a suspicion I'd be able to find more trail if I was willing to explore a little bit.

While grooming Hoss, I noticed he had crusty patches just in front of his girth area. He's developed these before. I've experimented with every type of girth available and nothing has changed it. After 20 or more miles, he has these patches of hair pulled out that turn crusty. If I'd had something to put on it for a little lubrication, I would have done that. I figured I wasn't planning on a hugely long ride, and I was planning on a walking ride, so I didn't worry about it. I made sure the girth was snug and we headed out on the trail.

I checked the map on the board at the trail head, and knew there was a trail that headed up toward Pine Valley from where we started. I've never seen it before. What I have always used in the past are "user created" trails. So we rode on down, and I kept my eyes open for trails I've not noticed in the past.

When we got to what in winter is a pond, I looked to the right and sure enough, I saw a little used trail. I recalled once seeing a couple of people on foot coming out of that area. I decided it just might be the trail I was looking for and headed Hoss on up it to explore.

Out from Secret Canyon

The trail was clearly pretty much unused. I didn't see any tracks beyond wildlife. I did see some dirt bike tracks after a while, but they were clearly old, from the last rains. It was also clear that I had, indeed, found the trail I was looking for. I found the Secret Canyon trail!

We came to a cowboy gate – which had a convenient trail around it rather than through it – and came out at a Jeep road. I decided to turn left, figuring it was our best bet for getting back without being forced to turn around.

We climbed up the Jeep trail and it seemed to be bringing us around to the road that comes through Horsethief Canyon. It wasn't far, though, until we came to a locked gate across the road. Clearly we weren't going that way!

Up the Jeep road

We turned around and headed back down. We'd been out for two hours at this point, and I wasn't real keen on staying out a great deal longer. Had there been more time, I would have explored further to see if we could pick up trail again. Instead, when we reached the trail we'd come up, we headed on back down.

I usually prefer to do loops rather than go up and back. There is, though, a certain advantage to the up and back thing. It feels faster going back, and Hoss knows where he's going. And really, going back down affords a different view of the trail.

Coming back down Secret Canyon

We had a good walk over trail with plenty of strong climbs. Despite being shorter than I would usually do a slow ride on, I felt it was a good challenge.

After we got back to the trailer and I stripped the saddle, I noticed Hoss's crusty patches had become raw, tender and swollen patches. They weren't bloody, but they were definitely not okay! As a result of checking them, I forgot to take Hoss's heart rate at the ten minute mark.

When we got home, I gave Hoss a bath and treated the tender spots. Although we've always had this problem to some extent, I suspect I've allowed the fleece cover for his girth to get too dirty. It's never been this bad. Hopefully I can get it sufficiently healed up before the ride.

Conditioning Ride 9-17-2011

HRR: 72

HR10Min: 52

Distance: 18.2 miles

Avg Spd: 4.8mph

Time: 4 hours

I took Hoss up to the Laguna Mountains after having received the trail description for the Best of Both ride coming up on October 1^st. I had spent some time the previous evening perusing the trail description and my map of the Lagunas. I decided to stage at the Pioneer Mail picnic area and trail head. From there I could pick up the Pacific Crest Trail, ride that down to Big Laguna trail, and come back around to the trailer.

Pioneer Mail is described on the map as a picnic area and equestrian trail head. Picnic area, sure. There were several families there enjoying a lunch. Equestrian trail head, not so much. The parking area is narrow enough I couldn't have turned the trailer around with the cars parked there. Fortunately, with my plan to be out for several hours, the odds were good I'd come back to a nearly deserted parking lot and not be forced to back my trailer up to the highway.

On my way through, I stopped to pick up a parking pass at the general store. I learned a yearly pass was only $30, so I went ahead and bought one. Now I won't have to stop and buy a pass every time I go up there!

PCT, looking out toward the desert

I packed my trail map and the trail description in my saddle bag before we headed on out. We picked up the PCT out of the trail head and headed south toward Big Laguna trail. The trail here is spectacular with beautiful views down into the desert floor. It winds along the side of the mountain, in some places narrow enough to make me just slightly nervous. Hoss is a rather surefooted mount, and I've become much more confident in him and his ability to negotiate trail. He only makes me a little nervous because he is rather wide in comparison to his predecessor and he still trips if he gets distracted. He gets distracted a lot.

PCT looking down across the desert.  Wow!

Climbing up toward the Palomar Observatory, we caught up with some runners on the trail. The first we came up behind moved aside and let us pass. Unfortunately, the next pair was unwilling to let us by. They were on an organized run/race and wanted to keep up their pace. Hoss was happy enough to stay behind them but it quickly became clear he was faster than they were. I didn't raise a fuss because we weren't on any kind of time limit.

We came out to a staging area at the highway which was being used as a comfort station for the run. Hoss saw it and thought, "Hey, a vet check!" He stopped and we waited for the runners to get ahead of us across the highway. One of the runners stopped here while the other continued on her way. Well, lo and behold, a friend from my church was one of the radio operators for the run. We chatted for a few minutes before Hoss and I continued on our way.

When we caught back up with the runner, she was walking and I asked to pass. She let us by and we stepped out smartly.

Several times I stopped or slowed Hoss to peruse the trail description and map. I was beginning to find it rather confusing. Some of the description is less than helpful. Why do I need to know an area was used as a vet check on a ride that has since ceased to be held? Also, it is formatted in paragraphs, making it more difficult to find where I left off. Still I think I understood it well enough to keep to the trails we'll be using.

The trail splits at a cowboy gate and we took the fork to the left as seemed to be instructed by the trail description. This took us off the trails the runners were using. Now we could move out and not worry about breathing down the necks of competing runners.

Coming around Big Laguna Lake

The trail here is pretty flat and nice, so we were able to keep up a good, steady trot pace. I kept Hoss's speed up as much as possible, keeping his attention focused on what we were doing. I was using the hackamore on him, and I noticed I have a much harder time getting him to collect or even just keep his head down. He pretty much ignores the hack unless he wants to stop. I can turn him with it, and if I really need to, I can stop him, but I think I need to move him back into a bit to get better control of his head.

When we got to Noble Canyon trail, I was pretty sure we were "off trail" as far as the trail description is concerned. I did not see a "rutted road" that we went along before heading down Noble Canyon. By the map I knew we'd make it back to where we wanted to be regardless.

Off Noble Canyon

We turned off Noble Canyon onto Indian Creek trail. We wound our way down into the valley and eventually came to a very narrow, deep stream crossing. I knew Hoss would think I wanted him to step into it, but I most surely did not want him to. We've never worked on doing "short hop" jumps in saddle, so I decided to get off and work on hand jumping him. I hooked one end of his reins to the tie ring on his halter and held the other end. I crossed the stream, and encouraged him across. When he made a move to jump, I praised him and after a moment he jumped across. I let him get a couple bites of the delicious grass growing there before I got back on.

Right after the crossing is a junction. One direction leads up Indian Creek toward Cuyamaca Rancho State Park. The other is a little-used – perhaps even better described as abandoned -- Jeep road. Reading the trail description, I decided I should head up the Jeep road. It joined up after a steep climb with another, more frequented Jeep road, making me feel a little more confident. Following up the road, I could see on my GPS unit we were coming back to Pioneer Mail.

We made our way up the road, which turned to paved, and crossed the highway back to the trailer. By the time we got back, sure enough, there was only one vehicle left in the parking lot. 
I was a little disappointed with our average speed.  After all, we'd been doing steady 7-8 mph trots.  But, I had been forced to slow Hoss down several times to consult the map and trail description.  I really found this trail description less than helpful.  Had the trail description been the only thing I had to go on, I would most certainly have been lost.
After collecting my data, I got Hoss loaded up and we headed on home. My husband, bless him, had a wonderful dinner prepared and waiting for me. I'm on a rather strict diet in an attempt to control my gall bladder pain until the damned thing can be yanked out. Bland, low fat, high fiber, gluten free seems to be helping, but wow, is it ever boring. I can't tolerate anything more "spicy" than salt, so it's rather tasteless. My husband, however, can make the most boring meal at least tolerable. He made for me a lightly spiced chicken breast, broccoli and rice. Perhaps it was just because I'd missed lunch – other than a granola bar – but it was a pretty darned good meal!

Conditioning Ride 9-15-2011

HRR: 64

HR10Min: 44

Distance: 11.2 miles

Avg Spd: 5 mph

Time: 2 hours, 20 min

I took Hoss down to the steel bridge for this ride. Having had Team Fluffy out running twice with the mountain bike and once with Hoss at home, I elected to leave them home. They were so wore down when I got up to get dressed early in the morning, only eyeballs moved. I think it was the first day I ever went to the bathroom without an entourage of dogs. Even when I changed into riding clothes, the dogs didn't reach their usual level of excitement.

We arrived at the bridge fairly late in the day, so I wasn't able to do my usual parking. I had to get a little creative. I backed down and pulled up alongside the highway. Hoss was clearly a little confused. It took a few minutes for him to come on out of the trailer, thinking I couldn't possibly be done parking.

I put Hoss's front boots on. His hind shoes are still on from Big Bear. I've decided to leave them until I get the right size hind boots to try. That way I can go ahead and ride at places like the steel bridge trails. I have ordered the boots, but of course I can't be sure when exactly they'll arrive.

Because he was so slow at Big Bear, I've decided I need to work on getting Hoss's speed up. I know he can trot fast, damn fast. He's kept up with other horses trotting at up to ten miles per hour. He can do this. So my goal is to get him trotting eight miles an hour by himself. In addition, we need to get faster on the hills. Hills are a fact of life, and he needs to get used to the idea that he'll have to do them at a faster pace than he really wants to.

We picked up the trot fairly early on and head on up to the steep trail to the power line access roads. Hoss trotted willingly enough, and I made sure to praise him when his speed was where I wanted it. Once we hit the steepest part of the uphill climb, I did let him slow to a walk. We got to the top of the ridge and started down the other side. Sticking with the speed him up protocol, I kept him trotting on the majority of the trail, even on the downhills. There were places I had to slow him down because I wasn't sure where the trail went.

When we hit the power line access road, Hoss was clearly feeling pretty good. I asked him for speed up the hill, and he launched into a canter. Once we topped the hill, we trotted as much as we could until the downhill side got too steep.

The next hill is a real booger. It's steep and rocky. I pushed Hoss into a trot, and really got quite a bit of fight about it. In the past we've walked this hill, so he thinks he should get to walk it every time. Halfway up, the hill gets less intense, and he cantered up the rest of way reasonably willingly.

When we turned on to the single track, Hoss was definitely feeling more willing. It took less "ask" to get him to take up the trot. Sometimes I didn't need to ask him at all. When we got to where we could turn toward the trailer or continue on, he tried to turn back toward the trailer. I told him no, and after a brief moment of irritation he headed the way I wanted to go. He had plenty of energy, and really did want to go, even if he thought he wanted to be done.

Every stretch of trottable trail we used. He went along willingly, and mostly kept to a good rate. When we got to the flat road, we picked up a good trot. He would slow down, but I would urge him faster. It didn't take much for him to recognize what I wanted. He really does respond to praise. The more I told him he was doing right, the more time he spent at a higher speed.

There really are coyotes on the road

After crossing the cowboy gate, the trails are more technical and harder to keep a good speed on. I did keep him trotting, but I did let him go a little slower. When he got up to speeds I really wanted, though, I praised him. At the bottom of the hill up to the gazebo, I saw a group of coyotes beyond the fence. I stopped Hoss so I could get a picture. He took the opportunity to pee, which made him more willing to move on. I know I don't like to work if I need to pee!

The reservoir with the sun from behind the clouds.  Purty

We walked up the hill to the gazebo, paused for a minute or so, and continued on our way. Hoss kept up a good trot, only slowing where necessary to negotiate rocks. He picked up the canter to head up the access road. I had to push him to the side so he didn't step on the rattlesnake sunning on the side of the road. I figured there was no reason to stop for a snake sprawled across the road. If we could get by without it ever realizing we were there, that's all to the good.

The gazebo and beyond

Once we topped the hill, we walked down the hill back toward the cowboy gate. We crossed the cowboy gate back and picked up the trot. I might sometimes have gotten up to a canter, but I wanted to work on keeping up the trot speed. So we trotted along, and I kept him up to between seven and eight miles per hour.

At the river crossing, I stopped to give Hoss a chance for a drink. He was in a full body sweat – humid and hot day – and I was planning to swim laps at the YMCA before we went home. He didn't really show much interest in a drink. I figured he'd be fine for the extra time in the trail with some hay, so I didn't stress about it.

Once across the river, we took a good canter. We cantered up the hills and trotted down most of the hills until we got to the bridge. We crossed the bridge and picked up the trot again, all the way to the last quarter mile or so. We walked in from there, and I felt we had a very good ride. At a 5mph average, it was definitely not something to complain about. The goal will be to get him to where he can do that ride averaging 6mph.

Big Bear 55

With so much having gone wrong in the previous weeks, I chose to believe my ride would go just great. Wishful thinking, I know. It should've been a warning!

Thursday afternoon, the power in much of San Diego County went out. I was on the phone with my mechanic at the time, arranging to pick up my truck. He was telling me that, after changing the air filter, the truck started making a strange noise. The head mechanic said "It sounds like it swallowed a moose!" to which his brother, who runs the administrative side of the business, responded, "No, it was a dog!" A little gallows humor for the day.

I headed down with my husband to pick up my truck. I'm really glad I've developed such a good relationship with my mechanics. Obviously I wouldn't be able to pay them electronically, and I was out of checks. They let me have my truck, knowing I'd be back to pay for it the next week.

Traffic was okay until we got to the more heavily traveled areas. Most of the traffic lights are on battery backup and operated normally, but a few were just flashing red. This is not a good thing when you're talking about two lanes of straight travel and two lanes of left turn in three directions. And people are very impatient when they come into these situations. I saw a lot of people jumping ahead instead of waiting their turns. That's life, I suppose.

Once we got the truck, my husband stopped on the way home at the Target, which had the good sense to put in back up power to operate all essential electronics, including the computers and credit card machines. So he was able to purchase a few things we still needed and make sure there would be enough water at home while we were gone. It was kind of funny, though. He saw one guy who had eight cases of water and had half filled a shopping cart with candles. That guy'll be okay for a while on water and candles….

We had a pleasant dinner under the stars, cooked on the grill. By the time we went to bed, it was still rather hot. We had opened the windows, but there wasn't a breeze to move air into the house. It was an unpleasant night until I was awakened by the fan coming to life at about midnight. I got up, closed windows and turned on the AC. The rest of the night was better.

I was up extra early to feed Hoss and take a shower. We were able to get on the road reasonably early to get our last-minute purchases made and heading on up to Big Bear.

Once we arrived at base camp, we found a nice campsite on the opposite side of the campground from the corrals. It quickly became clear Hoss would have to stay in a corral rather than at the campsite. I later found out he wasn't supposed to be on that side of the campground anyway. So I walked him over and stuck him in a likely corral. I returned with a bucket and his hay net. I'd left the bottom two chains that closed the corral open so I could duck in and out easily while getting everything set up. While I was filling Hoss's water bucket, I heard him fart and turned around to find he'd ducked out of the corral under the top chain! Not being the most adventurous type, he stood there and waited for me to come get him and put him back.

Shortly after that, I realized the young lady we had ridden with at several rides was there with her horse. Hoss and her horse get along famously, so I moved Hoss into the corral next to him. We wouldn't be able to ride together, however, as they were doing the 100.

At just about 330am, I started hearing the patter of rain on the tent. As I lay there, thinking I needed to feed Hoss in about half an hour, the rain got steadily worse. Just before 400am, it died down and I got up and took Hoss his breakfast. I went back to the tent and lay back down. The rain proceeded to get worse. Much worse. It didn't take long to realize the tent was leaking. The rain fly had been overwhelmed and water started dripping on us. My sweatshirt got a little wet. My rain coat stayed dry, seeing as how I'd left it in the laundry room at home.

By 530am the rain had pretty much stopped, but the ride manager pushed back the 600am start half an hour to reroute the ride. At 630am, 8 riders started the 55. Several riders scratched because of the rain. They sure missed out, in my opinion.

Through the meadow

The reroute of the ride had us ride about a mile and a half through a meadow, then turn around and head back toward camp, staying on the trail to the left of where we had entered the trail. That was a thrill. It was sort of like doing a gymkhana event, heading the horse back toward the gate even though there's more to be done in the pattern. Hoss was an absolute handful. Once we turned around, it was everything I could do to keep him from bolting. He even ran through the river crossing that was up to his knees!

Once we got back to where we'd turned on to the trail and headed straight on instead of going back to camp, Hoss settled back down and was more manageable. As a group, the eight of us largely stayed together for the first loop. There was some spreading out, but mostly we hung out together. We hit a jeep road and headed on up that, then down the other side back to the Pacific Crest Trail. Most of the jeep trail was adequate for trotting on. I let Hoss maintain a good clip with the other horses around us.

When we got to the PCT, even though we weren't out front, I was the one who noticed the turn off and ended up in the lead. This worked out fine for a while, but when the trail opened out and was faster, Hoss had already topped out on the speed he'll consistently go without another horse in front of him. We pulled off and let a bunch of the other riders ahead of us. They pretty quickly left us in their dust.

Looking out from the "hairpin" on the jeep road

We came back to the road and trotted on down the hill toward camp. At one point we met the leaders coming back the other way, thinking they had missed the turn. As a result, we all pretty much came into camp together.

Because we weren't sure exactly how far out we were, Hoss and I ended up trotting all the way to camp. This is not something I would typically do. He needs more time than most endurance horses to recover in the first place, so I don't like coming in to vet checks "hot." In addition, he was giving every indication he needed to pee, but was making no effort to relieve himself. It took him a good ten minutes to come down, leaving him now ten minutes behind everyone else in terms of when we'd get to leave to head back out on trail.

My husband mixed up a nice sloppy bran mash for Hoss. Hoss was so excited about this idea he nudged my husband in the back while the mash was being mixed in impatience. My husband has a good sense of humor and did not take this behavior personally.

Thinking we hadn't gone very far (13.6 miles), it wasn't very hot, and Hoss seemed his normal, chipper self, I didn't have my husband put electrolytes in Hoss's bran mash. This would turn out to be a mistake. It was a very humid day, so even though it didn't feel very hot (although I will admit I took off my sweatshirt and was walking around in my tank top at the vet check), it was affecting Hoss badly. I had hoped the electrolytes the night before/electrolytes the morning of routine would resolve the riding in humidity issue. The lesson here was, if it's humid, give Hoss electrolytes at every stop. Just do it.

We headed back out on the trail about ten minutes behind the rest of the pack. Hoss was not thrilled about it. He did not want to be out there alone! I got him trotting, but I couldn't get him to maintain a trot faster than 5mph. We were headed back up the jeep road, and going uphill, Hoss's biggest problem. Usually we can make time on flatter parts of the trail or slight downhills, but this ride was very up and down with little flat. So I was getting a lot of fight about trotting up the hill.

View from the overlook

Looking back from the switchbacks

At the overlook – gorgeous view from a cliff drop-off – we turned left onto the PCT again. This is very narrow, single track trail, and after stopping at the photographer for water, we headed up the switch backs. Much of this trail was too rocky to trot, and Hoss just wanted to turn around, so even where it was trottable, I had a hard time getting him to move out. This was where I'd started to suspect electrolyting him would have been a good thing. I think he would have taken a bigger drink and felt better sooner if I had.

We got to a point where the trail crossed a driveway. In the driveway were puddles. Hoss chose this moment to pee and drink water out of the nasty puddle. Then we continued on our way up the single track.

Yup, they meant you will SEE BEARS!

Now, at this point in the trail description, it said, "Watch for BEARS." I was thinking, okay, there are bears in them thar woods. Kind of a scary thought, but I figured our odds of actually encountering bears was pretty low. That was not, however, what was meant. When the description said "bear sanctuary," it wasn't taking about bears living in the woods. It was talking about bears living in a sanctuary in chain link cages! I was so surprised, we came to a halt. Hoss showed quite a lot of curiosity, and I decided we needed to move on before he thought to wander over and try to make friends with a bear. On our way by the sanctuary, I saw there was also a tiger living there!

Between the sanctuary and Onyx Summit, we started encountering the other riders coming back down. This did not help Hoss's attitude a bit. He had just wanted to turn around the entire time to begin with, and now all the other horses were going back. He was really unhappy about the situation, but I was able to cajole him into continuing on his way.

From the top of the swtichbacks going back down

At Onyx Summit there was water and food for Hoss. This made him a happy camper. He took a good long drink and I let him eat for about five minutes before getting him back on the trail. Of course, now he wanted to stay. There's food, so why should he leave? Once we got moving, though, he picked it up, although not nearly as much as we needed to.

This guy thought we looked mighty, er, good

On our way back down, just out of sight of the bear sanctuary, we heard that tiger "chuffing." Hoss planted his feet and absolutely refused the move. Honestly if I hadn't known for a fact that the critter making that noise was "behind bars" I would've turned Hoss on his heels and we would've run as fast as we could go! I got off and led Hoss on past. That tiger, upon seeing us, jumped off his house and stared at us as if we looked mighty tasty. Really glad he was behind bars!

It took us four and a half hours to cover the twenty miles up to Onyx Summit and back. We got into camp for our hour hold about 2:15, and his heart rate wouldn't come down. I ended up stripping his saddle and putting a lot of water on him. It took him close to half an hour to come down, but he seemed perfectly content the entire time. When I took him to the vet, he was his usual chipper self again and trotted out clean.

Unfortunately, after putting Hoss in his corral to eat and drink, I ate lunch, and was immediately beset with gut pains. It quickly became clear I wasn't going to be getting back on my horse. I went to the vets and pulled.

We made the drive home, as I needed to be at church at 7:30am on Sunday morning. Sunday was not my best day. I couldn't eat most of the day. Since then things have improved somewhat. It's still pretty consistently painful, but it's not crippling.

I've been having this problem off and on for years, but in the past six weeks or so, since I've really put an effort into working out regularly, it's gotten steadily worse. I've since seen my doctor and gotten the ball rolling on figuring the whole thing out. My doctor thinks it's my gall bladder and that I'll probably end up having to have it remove. Not real thrilled about that notion as it will mean three surgeries in four years, but I suppose if it solves the problem it'll be worth it.

Conditioning Ride 9-4-2011

HRR: 52

HR10Min: 40

Distance: 9.6miles

Avg Spd: 3.5mph

Time 3 hours

I loaded up the dogs and the horses with the original intent of going to Hollenbeck Canyon for a quick ride before church. I was feeling a little tense about it for a couple of reasons. One, I knew I was pushing it time-wise in order to make it to church, and two, the last several times we've been out there, we've had encounters with coyotes. So, before we had driven very far, I decided we were going to the steel bridge, and I was skipping church.

As we passed the staging area for Hollenbeck Canyon, I realized I had made the right choice. Five or six horse trailers were parked there, and eight or ten horses and riders were preparing to head out on the trail. With Jazz having acquired a fear of strange horses, Hollenbeck would have been a bad place for us to go today. I certainly did not want to spend half my ride trying to control a terrified dog!

Some of the early part of the trail

We set out at the steel bridge at about 9:30am in the beginnings of what would be a hot, humid day. I had already decided it would be a largely walking trail ride (as evidenced by our low average speed) since I still haven't had time to get shoes on Hoss's hind feet. The trails are hard and rocky, and Hoss not nearly so inured to trail conditions to do this area fast without hoof protection.

More off across the river

Hoss bobbled a few times, primarily on his left front foot. I even stepped off at one point to check his feet for stones, but found nothing. We encountered bicyclists who stopped to let us pass. I stopped a moment to speak with them, at which point Hoss decided this was his chance to get attention from strangers and poked his head into one guy's hands. At least we encounter nice people on the trail!

Another bicyclist we passed later on told me he had chased off a coyote he saw on the trail, having passed us earlier and knowing I had the dogs with me. Because of the heat, the dogs were sticking pretty close to me, so I was pretty confident they'd be fine.

We worked our way up the switchbacks and continued on our way. All along the way I felt Hoss was sandbagging me. He just plugged along slowly. It felt like he was crawling! The spurs helped, but the crop sped him up a little more reliably. I just wanted him to walk at a normal pace! Our average is pretty good for a walking ride, but I'd like to see him do better. I happen to know he can walk a good deal faster than he was today!

Looking out across the reservoir

We made it up the hill to the gazebo and took a break for five minutes to let the dogs cool off. I got off Hoss. My right hip has started to give me trouble. I suspect it's largely because of the improved riding position I'm it. It's a better position for riding and communicating with the horse, but my hip doesn't like it. It may take me some time to get the right muscles fitted up for this position. In the mean time, I'll be doing more targeted hip, thigh, and butt exercises to help build it up.

After our stop, we headed back toward the trailer. Suddenly, Hoss could walk at a more normal speed! Yup, he'd been sandbagging me. Rotten horse. I don't know what he's got against this particular trail area. It's not like it's our first time out there. Somehow it seems it's just his least favorite place to go.

The "flat road"

The dogs were getting pretty desperately thirsty by the time we got back to the flat road. Ash started getting far ahead. I think he realized we were getting close to water. I called the dogs back several times to keep them from getting too far ahead. We finally made it to the river crossing where the dogs stopped for a much needed drink, and Hoss pushed through on his way to the road and good run. I had to pull Hoss up to give the dogs time for a drink.

Once the dogs were done with their drink – as evidenced by Jazz coming out of the river and rolling in the sand – I let Hoss head up the trail. He got pretty excited about the idea of running. I got him on the road, and let him loose. We got a good run in about half the way back to the bridge and walked and trotted the rest of the way.

After we crossed the bridge and were well on our way back to the trailer, I saw three horses coming toward us. I decided to hop off Hoss and get hold of Jazz. She was going to freak out and run away if I didn't. I squatted down beside the trail with her and helped her deal with the strange horses. She wasn't thrilled about it, but she got through it.

We rode the rest of the way back to the trailer. Hoss was dripping with sweat from the heat. During the last half mile or so, I noticed the sun felt particularly scalding against my shoulder. I think we were all glad the ride was over, but happy we'd gone and done it.

Hoss's heart rate was, not unexpectedly, low when we got back to the trailer. We'd walked, so it better be low! We drove home with just enough time for me to have a little lunch then head out to the airport to pick up my husband.

When we got home, I didn't see our littlest dog, Tanner anywhere. I wasn't worried about him. It's not unusual for him to be hiding out in the house on a hot day. I heated up a piece of leftover pizza and sat down to eat. That should've had Tanner parked right at my feet, but still he wasn't there. It got to be time to leave, and I was starting to get pretty worried about where Tanner could be. I walked around the house, calling and looking for him, but didn't find him. I walked outside and called him some more. Suddenly, I realized where he must be. I walked over to the trailer and opened the gate. Sure enough, there was Tanner. He'd hopped into the trailer when I unloaded Hoss, looking for yummy bits of horse poo to eat.

After letting Tanner out of the trailer, I headed out to finish my day. Hoss was finishing his breakfast and took a very long drink from the fresh water I'd given him when we got home. Yet another good ride day.