We made the two day drive to Moab, Utah, for this awesome ride. Despite the length of the drive, and the hassle of finding places to park along the highway over night, it's absolutely worth it. On our way, I did get to stop in Las Vegas and visit briefly with my son.
When we arrived at camp, the wind was blowing hard enough to need safety glasses. I was pretty sure I was going to get sandblasted.
I found a place to park which was reasonably protected from the wind, by dint of parking next to another rig so it and my truck acted as a wind break. Hoss was relatively well protected by the trailer. Somewhat on a whim, I decided to use the horse collar I've been lugging around in the trailer tack room to tie Hoss with rather than his halter. I figured it was high time I saw if it would work for him. He doesn't really like to drink with the halter on, since it gets hooked on the bucket, and he's always rubbing is head on things. I gave up leaving a halter on him in the trailer because he just rubbed it off. The collar is slightly big on him, really needing another hole, but I decided to try it anyway. Figured it was unlikely he could get it off.
During the ride meeting, someone hollered about a buckskin stallion being loose. My ears always prick up when someone says "buckskin," because Hoss is nearly always the only one in camp. The part about it being a stallion only temporarily threw me off. I stood up, and there was Hoss, visiting with a mule not far from our camp. I initially thought he'd slipped out of the collar, but was relieved when I realized he'd just come untied. I caught him up and tied him back to the trailer.
Ride start was 7:30 local time, which was 6:30 to me. I got up two hours before ride time to feed Hoss. I went back to bed for a short time before dressing and making myself some breakfast.
We saddled up and hit the trail on time. Hoss was his typical, hyper self on the start, but once again settled fairly quickly. I was able to ask for a trot early on, and this time he set off cleanly. As we were trotting along, I could not figure out why I didn't feel right. I was posting way too high. Eventually I realized the stirrups were too short because Wendy had been the last person to ride. I pulled off the side of the trail and dismounted to adjust the stirrups. One rider asked if all was well as he passed, to which I responded I had forgotten I wasn't the last person to ride the horse.
Back in the saddle, we headed on down the trail. Hoss was feeling good in the nice low temperatures. I didn't exactly give him his head, but I didn't do a whole lot of holding him back, either.
About halfway through the first loop, we came to the dreaded Wipe Out Hill. I wasn't very concerned about going up it, but I knew it would be a challenge. I had borrowed a folding cane from my mother just for the purpose of getting up and down Wipe Out Hill. My hip is still a problem and I knew I would need the extra support. I've been using a walking stick on my morning walks, but it doesn't fold down small enough to fit in a saddle bag, so cane it was.
I dismounted and pulled out the cane. Hoss started up the hill, and I held on to the reins to help guide him. We made it up uneventfully.
Since Wipe Out Hill is at just about 12 miles into the ride, I went ahead and gave Hoss his first dose of electrolytes before getting back on. There was a water stop about two miles on, giving ample time to clear the taste of the paste from his mouth so he would drink.
We came in to the vet check at 25 miles in just over four hours. Hoss looked excited and strong.
Hoss pulsed down as close to right away as he always does. Criteria was set at 60. He was down within five minutes. I took Hoss to the water tank to be sure he had gotten enough to drink. We found our crew bag, and I set him up with an electrolyte bran mash and hay. I set up my little tripod stool and ate the lunch I had packed for myself. I've found it's easier, with the dietary restrictions, to make myself lunch than try to find something at a management-provided lunch table. They always do their best, but my diet is kinda ridiculous, so I don't expect to be accommodated.
After our hour hold, we headed back out on the trail. We were passed shortly by a pair of horses who continued on faster than Hoss can reasonably keep up with. He let them go with little fuss.
Going through the trough of a hill, I spied a hoof boot from one of the horses that had passed us on the ground. I took the time to get off and retrieve it, knowing those things are expensive. Not long after, we caught up to the other horses as the rider of the horse that had lost the boot was replacing said boot. I stopped long enough to give them back the boot I had found.
The problem with stopping for any length of time with other horses except at a water stop is Hoss decides we must be going to ride with those horses. When I asked him to move on, he did the hoof-dragging thing, wanting to let the other horses catch up. They did, of course, and moved on ahead of us. I tried to keep Hoss far enough back that he wasn't really "with" them. It wasn't terribly effective.
As we rode along, we started gradually catching up with the other horses. They had started doing the trot a little/walk a little thing. Eventually they were walking enough that we needed to get around them and move out. I forced Hoss to get by them and keep going by dint of relentless kicking. Once we got ahead of them by a quarter mile or so, he gave up trying to stay with them and went to work.
At some point about five miles away from camp, something told me to check Hoss's shoes. I looked down and sure enough, he'd lost a front shoe. I was terribly annoyed. I got off and put one of his boots on. This time, I had had the sense to bring along every boot I have for him. Lose 'em all now. I have spares....
We rode the rest of the way in to camp. The trail in went past our camp, so I quickly unsaddled him before taking him to the vet for our completion. We ended up doing the first day, 55 miles, in 7 hours, 35 minutes. It's not an exceptionally challenging ride, but I am well pleased with that time, only 15 minutes longer than Manzanita with an additional 5 miles.
Of course, after vetting, I had to unload the truck and replace Hoss's lost shoe. The wind was blowing horribly again, so hard it was blowing the back door on my truck closed on the forge. Still I managed to get Hoss's shoe replaced.
When I went to bed that night, I realized the wind had blown fine red sand into my tent through the netting. It turned everything a dusty red. There was even dust under the screen protector on my phone. Fortunately I had closed my duffel bag and pulled my sleeping bag closed.
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