I wasn't feeling any better when I woke up on Day 3, but I wasn't feeling any worse. Besides, I was going to make all five days unless I couldn't get up. So up I was and fed Hoss and got myself going. I made sure to take the meds I needed and ate a decent breakfast.
The vet check would be in camp, so I didn't need to make myself a lunch or pack a crew bag. I'd get a decent hot lunch!
We started with Merina and Chance yet again, heading out across the highway along the Virgin River. We were able to keep up a nice trot on the flat dirt road and up onto the hills.
Merina had spoken with another rider who encouraged her to start letting Chance trot downhill, so we made a little better time. While I have always worked Hoss on trotting downhill, Merina had bought into the old yarn that a horse only has "so many" downhill miles. So after I had suggested I disagreed with that notion, she had spoken to someone who is well respected in endurance and confirmed what I said. At any rate, this made for a little faster going.
After a few miles, we caught up with a Limited Distance rider who was having difficulty with his horse. We let him hook up with us to help get his horse in check. Hoss did not like Monty, this new horse, and made sure Monty knew it. He wasn't terrible, but it was clear he'd rather Monty moved off on his own.
We circled around back to camp, only to pass through camp right by our trailer and back across the highway on trail. Hoss found this peculiar. He didn't complain about it, but he was pretty sure we should stop and have a vet check.
After we got out of camp and across the highway, the LD ride split off and we parted company with Monty.
While riding along, Chance developed a slight head bob. It was initially very mild, and it appeared she had bruised her foot because of dirt getting under her pad. Unfortunately as we continued on, Chance got worse, and Merina made the wise decision to pull. At the juncture where the LD went back to camp and the Endurance ride continued on, Merina turned and walked back to camp.
Hoss was quite distressed by this development. He really thought we should go the same way Chance was going. He went slowly, but he went, and he was very sad. It wasn't long, however, before Cheri Briscoe and Echo caught up with Helen and Rocky. Hoss likes Echo, so he was happy enough to hook up with them for the rest of the day.
The only drawback to being with Echo is, Hoss worries Echo won't wait for him. He didn't care if Chance waited for him. So when Echo would get ahead, rather than chug along at his own pace and catch up as he could, Hoss would get anxious and go faster than he should if I let him. This meant we disagreed a lot. I had to spend much more time controlling his pace.
We made the five or so miles back to camp, pulsed in, and went to the trailer for lunch. I gave Hoss his bran mash and a flake of alfalfa hay, then heated up a bowl of soup for myself.
I kinda like in-camp vet checks. I have everything I could possibly need, there's no chance of forgetting to pack something or needing something I didn't send. It does seem like an hour vanishes in no time in camp, probably because I'm doing more. An out check feels like forever as I sit around watching my horse eat, but in camp, I'm cooking and doing stuff and that hour goes by in three seconds.
Once we were close to the end of our hold, I took Hoss over and we vetted through. I kinda hoped Cheri and Helen would be gone already and we'd be able to go on our own. I put my spurs on, just in case I needed them if we were on our own and I needed to be able to cue him more strongly.
When we headed back out on trail, Cheri and Helen were there, so we went ahead and rode with them.
Hoss really cannot keep up with Echo or Rocky, and anyway he prefers to keep up the "rear guard action" if one of the other horses is a good leader. Rocky is especially swift, so he led most of the time. The three really went along together okay, other than Hoss getting left behind and playing catch-up.
We got through quite nicely. It was fun to ride with Cheri, who has done this ride in the past, and has a lot of knowledge about the area and many of the little tidbits of history. There is a house that Dave and Ann Nicholson used to live in on the top of a mesa. Dave used to stand up there and watch the horses go by on the ride. Now there is a small group of llamas living near the house, and they look down over the edge and watch us pass.
Listening to Cheri's stories and riding along, we got through to the end, and the new trail down into the back of camp. Hoss paused at the top and stared down into camp, contemplating how he could perhaps get there faster. I allowed as he could get down there sooner, but he wouldn't like the sudden stop at the bottom. Being a practical fellow, he chose to go down on the trail.
After we got to the bottom, I looked up, just to confirm for myself that it is not possible to see the trail from the bottom. It doesn't look possible to have a trail down the side of that mountain, but it's been done. Yikes.
After vetting Hoss through, I took him to the trailer and tended to his needs and my own.
At the ride meeting, I learned Chance had evidently suffered some sort of ligament or tendon injury. She was still lame after being tended by a farrier at the ride. She had gotten a little better when her shoes were changed, but it was clear she was done for the weekend.
Link to Day 4 Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhDYbRHaYac
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