I got up early enough to get Hoss fed and my breakfast and lunch made. Then we got saddled up and hit the trail.
Hoss, like most horses, is a fan of cold weather. He likes to get up and move when it's cold. He was quite the handful getting out of camp. We started out okay, walking pleasantly, until we hit the road outside of camp and he wanted to just run his legs off.
I spent quite a lot of energy on keeping Hoss in hand until we caught up to Randy Cowin and Assad riding with Jackie Bumgardner riding Fire Mt Zane. Hoss really likes Assad, so I was able to use Assad's presence to get Hoss to behave himself. I didn't mind riding with Randy and Jackie. So long as Hoss didn't get stupid about Zane, we would be fine.
Most of the time, Hoss dislikes having other horses behind him. Assad is an exception. Hoss doesn't mind at all having Assad follow him. So what wound up happening was, Zane would be in the lead, then Hoss, and Assad behind us. Except Hoss couldn't really keep up with Zane's pace. So Zane would end up getting way ahead of us, while Assad and Hoss cheerfully kept to their happy pace and watched him leave. At one point Jackie and Zane got so far ahead we thought she'd hooked up with different riders and left Randy with me.
We alternated walking and trotting, and stayed pretty much in a loose group throughout the day. Approaching the vet check, Randy and I decided to dismount pretty early. Hoss recovers better if I get off and walk him the last quarter mile or so in to the check. It gives him a chance to relax and prepare for rest and recovery.
After I dismounted, I removed Hoss's bit. I was chatting with Randy while I was disconnecting the reins. When I pulled the reins over Hoss's neck, I gave it a bit too vigorous a pull and the snap whipped over his neck and whapped me in the face right in the sunglasses. It got my cheekbone, but thankfully the sunglasses I was wearing protected my eye. Darn thing hurt bad enough as it was!
We found a place to hide out from the wind behind a truck and trailer for our hold. Hoss ate his bran mash and had a little bit of hay, but it was less than he would usually have eaten during a hold. Still, he was okay and there was more hay back at camp. Also, Randy was leaving the next day, and had picked up a bale of hay which he was not going to need. He gave that bale to us, a great relief.
After the vet check, we continued on through some very pretty countryside. We passed what's called "Hole in the Rock," which I got on video pretty well. Much of the last several miles was along the highway and thus less interesting.
We made it back into camp. Knowing I'd have plenty of hay for Hoss, I gave him a bunch of what I'd gotten from Heidi. Just one more day to go!
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