We awoke bright and early to tend to the horses. I took Eclipse for a short walk to make sure he was adequately recovered from the previous day's ordeal. Despite causing us a bit of worry, he was fully responsive and willing to trot off easily enough. He had eaten over night, and drank quite a lot of water. I felt confident with leaving him alone in camp while we were gone for the day. It turned out our neighbors were leaving a horse alone in camp, too, and they offered Eclipse their empty corral to keep their horse company, so he got to relax untied most of the day.
We got Hoss and DC saddled and left once most of the other riders were well out of camp. DC wasn't sure what was up with this new thing, and was not moving confidently. Hoss, of course, knew the routine and wanted nothing more than to get after it and do his job.
DC seemed to forget everything she knew about trail riding. Every remotely unfamiliar object was a horse-eating monster. I rode more sideways spooks in the first five miles than I have in the last five years. And, of course, because I was under ride conditions, I couldn't really take the time to work on every single act of stupidity. I did work on a few, but it was simply too time-consuming to work on each and every one. I was just going to have to ride it out and hope she'd settle in.
At the water crossing, DC seemed to forget she had learned to quietly and confidently cross water. It didn't help the crossing was full of unusual debris (I think there was a shoe in there, and not a horse one). Hoss, of course, crossed quite willingly. DC was just short of hysterical about the prospect. I did finally get her across without dismounting, but I thought it was going to be the end of us both.
At the "T" intersection, we became confused as the which direction to go. The trail directions said at some point to "go the opposite as Saturday." Well, that presupposes I'll recognize it when I get there. Not helping matters, the trail markers had not been removed, and the sole ribbon in the direction it turned out we were supposed to go looked old and dirty. So we went the wrong way.
Remember I said I could go the rest of my life without riding Dawson Canyon again? I did not get my wish. My error resulted in riding through Dawson. By the time I was sure we were going the wrong way, it was really too late to turn around and pick up the proper direction.
After the wrong turn, and with me feeling insecure because I was pretty sure we were going the wrong way, DC was getting more and more flighty. She was less and less willing to move forward. For most of the day Hoss was unaffected by this, but he started to catch it, too.
Going through Dawson yet again on my green little mare was just as unpleasant as it had been with Eclipse the prior day. Because she's green and really has no base, I hiked as much on Sunday as I had on Saturday. The only difference being, Hoss knows how to tail and I was able to hang on to his tail and get a little help on the steeper parts.
By the time we got out of Dawson, DC's mood was really affecting Hoss. He was just as reluctant to go forward as she was by this point.
We made our way back to camp and vetted through. We were allowed the opportunity to finish, as what we'd done would turn out to be longer than what everybody else had done.
Once we had pulsed down we returned to the trailer to give the horses bran mashes and hay before the last eight miles. After our hold, we headed back to trot the horses out. DC was a little confused as to what was being asked. It was the first time I had asked her to trot out with the reins on her bit. It only took a few steps before she "got it," and trotted nicely.
We headed out for our final eight miles. The first five were terrible. Both horses were dragging. DC wanted nothing to do with passing the Longhorn cattle along the ranch road. She backed up, circled, did nearly everything she could to resist passing. I ended up dismounting and backing her all the way down the road.
After that little fiasco, DC was shying and giving the hairy eyeball to every remotely suspicious item she saw. And now Hoss was doing it, too. Hoss wouldn't move out. DC wouldn't move out. We just kept after it and got them through.
About three miles out, suddenly DC seemed to "get it." She upped her game and trotted out along the trail like the horse I thought I had brought to the ride. She even left Hoss in the dust.
We finished in a "squeaker." We pulled into camp just in time to get our completion. Both horses vetted nicely, and we took them back to camp. By this time Eclipse had been returned to the trailer, as our neighbor had finished before us. He was certainly happy to see us! We got the horses untacked and settled, then broke down camp.
I loaded the horses and drove them home, dropping Eclipse off at the ranch in Imperial Beach. All in all, quite a successful weekend.
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