Conditioning Ride 6-5-2011

I blew off church today in favor of taking a ride. I had planned to ride the day before, but was simply too tired. It had been a long week, and I needed some rest. Besides, over the previous two nights, what I suspect was a coyote had taken three of my chickens, two right out of their pen. So I needed to stay up late on Saturday night with the dogs in order to take care of the problem. So Saturday I mostly spent napping and watching old episodes of Burn Notice. That night, I stayed camped out in my chair. The dogs went off several times, and Mac disappeared after something in the dark for a significant period. After that, there were no more disturbances. I was able to go to bed about 1am.

I didn't want to take the dogs off the property so soon after trying to convince a predator to stay off, so I took Hoss up to Cuyamaca. I wanted to get in some long slow miles. I parked at the Merigan Parking area, where the Descanso endurance ride will start. It was early afternoon by the time we got there. I had needed to charge my phone, since I really don't like to ride alone without it. At the very least, if I'm in an area of poor coverage, I can get somewhere I can get a message out to seek help.

We hit the trail right about 1:30 in the afternoon. Not a bad time to start out this time of year. It was a warm day, but not too warm, with a very nice breeze. Hoss was feeling perky. I had left his front boots on since our last ride two days earlier, just to see if it seemed to make any difference. I have to say he seemed to be far more comfortable than he had on our previous ride. He was still content to simply walk.

We encountered several other riders trotting back along the trail. Several of them appeared to be endurance riders. I know there is a NATRC (NASTR?) ride going on in the Cuyamacas next week, and the endurance ride the week after. I expect those two events are the reason for the traffic in the park. Meeting other horses often distracts Hoss. He thinks he should be going whatever direction they're going. It makes perfect sense. When we go on endurance rides, everybody is going the same way. So, if we encounter horses going a different way, clearly we're doing it wrong! After the third encounter with horses going a different way, he was convinced we were wrong. It took some cajoling on my part to keep him moving on.

We started out on Merigan Fire Road with the intention of following a good chunk of the first 25 miles of the Descanso endurance ride. Hoss was quite cheerful and didn't offer up evidence of being sore on his hind feet, despite being bare. On the Blue Ribbon Trail, he started to slow down a bit. This trail is a bit rockier than the fire road, so I wasn't surprised.

Once off the Blue Ribbon Trail and on the South Boundary Fire Road, we were in some very rocky territory. Walking was definitely all we'd be doing. I dropped my reins around the swell of my saddle and practiced riding solely with my legs. It was good practice. I moved him from side to side of the road and even got him around the gate between the fire road and the highway. Once we were at the highway, I was uncomfortable getting him across without the reins in my hands, so I picked them back up.

After we crossed the highway, we picked up the West Side Trail. Since this is a single track trail, there is quite a lot of grass in easy reach. I had to keep my hands on the reins to deal with Hoss's "snatch and grab" technique for eating as he goes. I've never been a fan of "trail grazing." It's a bad habit I feel takes the horse's attention from the trail and increases the odds he'll make a mistake. Additionally, Hoss is allergic to oats, and much of what is within reach is oat grass. I've never had him get enough to make him sick, but it's not a risk I'm willing to take.

Although I had the reins, I really concentrated on controlling him with my legs, other than preventing snatch and grabs from happening as much as possible. When he would succeed, I would stop him and pull any contraband grasses from his mouth. He's not fond of that, and I'm hoping he'll figure out if he doesn't snatch food, I won't take it away.

We turned on to Lower Descanso Creek Trail. We were still locked in a game of who can beat who on the food front. Sure enough, paying more attention to trying to get food than the trail ahead resulted in near disaster. Hoss stepped off the trail into what turned out to be poor footing that crumbled under his feet. This despite my efforts to keep him where he needed to be. It was probably a combination of not wanting to go over the exposed rocks and what looked like yummy food off to the side. Hoss's feet slipped from under him and he went down. Ever the athlete, he was able to regain his feet without too much trouble, but I was certainly annoyed with him for ignoring me and I made sure he knew it.

From there we turned on to the West Mesa Fire Road. I asked Hoss to move up to a trot, which he did willingly enough. It's funny to observe the difference between the trot he does during conditioning and the trot he does during rides. Sometimes I really wish I could get the conditioning trot at rides. It's smooth and even, unlike the one I get at rides, which is more like attempting to contain a determined runaway. Unless we're ahead of some horses he'd like to be with, in which case I get the "anything but forward" trot.

Once the fire road started getting rocky and uphill, I let Hoss drop back down to a walk. No reason to keep pushing him under the circumstances. He'll be yanking my arms off trotting up that hill at the ride.

We turned off the fire road to the connector to Harvey Moore Trail. For some reason, Hoss decided this must be absolutely the wrong way to go, and slowed down significantly. I found myself kicking and pushing to get him down the trail. Once we got to Harvey Moore, though, he seemed to figure out where we were and moved out reasonably again.

The rocks on Harvey Moore are about the size of softballs, at least the ones not the size of footballs. This makes for hard going, even for shod horses. Those rocks will roll under a hoof unexpectedly. For a horse transitioning to barefoot, it's even more of a challenge. Hoss is learning to pick his way among rocks and choose very carefully where to put his feet.

When we arrived at the Sweetwater Parking area, Hoss was sure our ride must be over. We usually park here, and he was convinced our trailer would be there. It took some effort on my part to convince him to keep on down the trail.

We crossed under the bridge to the East Side Trail. By this time it was starting to get late and a little chilly. While I wasn't yet cold, I was glad I'd had the foresight to pack a sweatshirt in my saddlebags.

There are some interesting obstacles on this trail that require some thought from the horse to negotiate. Some of the boulders we have to get by will scrape a rider's foot right off if the horse doesn't give enough room. To the horse, many of these places look like they should be negotiated by going too close for the rider on one side. In most of these places, I can get my foot over the encroaching boulder, but there are others I must pass by. Having already experienced what happens when he ignores me, Hoss was better prepared to go where I wanted him to go. He behaved himself well getting over the boulders and negotiating the rocks.

We joined up with the Arroyo Seco Fire Road. I noticed a lot of water damage on this fire road. There is a very deep culvert that has been worn into the road, mostly along the side and leaving most of the road in okay condition. At one point we came across an interesting obstacle. A small tree had fallen across the road, easily stepped over except for the water running across the road on the other side. Hoss has never seen an obstacle like this. It took him a few moments to figure it out, but he got over it without much fuss.

I started to feel a little saddle sore, so I hopped off and led Hoss up a steep hill and down the opposite side. The fire road here is very rocky, so it gave Hoss a chance to negotiate the rocks without packing my fat ass along as well. Once we were past the steepest parts, I got back on. My butt was feeling better, so I felt I could manage the rest of the trail in the saddle.

We turned up what I think is a section of the California Riding and Hiking trail toward Sweetwater Trail. About halfway up, I noticed a very large blockage of fallen tree. I was concerned the trail was well and truly blocked and I'd have to find another way around, but rode up to it anyway to be sure. Fortunately someone has figured out how to get by it, and I followed the negotiated trail around it. The tree that has fallen clearly had been trimmed in the past in an attempt to prevent it from causing a problem. I could see where several branches had been cut off prior to its fatal fall. Unfortunately it fell from its base. It is a tangled mess of blockage now.

We turned down the Sweetwater Trail. For the most part it's in good condition, although overgrown. Then we got to water running across and around the trail. For the most part it's simply water crossings, but at one point the stream has created a boggy, nasty spot Hoss wanted nothing to do with going through. Despite my efforts to get him through, he stopped and refused to move on. I thought about getting off and leading him through, but recalled a story of someone who got pretty badly hurt trying to do something similar in a less hairball situation. So I got off, found a lovely thick stick, got back on, and used my stick. With a little encouragement, Hoss decided going through the bog wasn't nearly as bad as being whacked with a stick.

Interestingly, Hoss suddenly decided he could walk way faster than he had been, and could cross water without checking it out and pretending he needed a drink and trying to eat anything he could find. I may have to go back to carrying a whip.

I noticed the sport tape holding the gaiter on Hoss's left front boot had let go and the gaiter was just flopping around. This was with many thick, muddy areas left to cross. After each crossing, I looked down, and that boot was still on. I'm quite impressed with how the Gloves stay on his front feet. Now if I can only find a boot that works for his hind feet….

We made it back to the Merigan Fire Road and continued on back to the parking area. The sun was starting to drop down behind the mountains, so I pulled out my sweatshirt and slipped it on. I'd forgotten about pulling a sweatshirt on and the complication of removing my helmet. Now that I can get a shirt off over my head, it didn't dawn on me that part of the reason I'd been using zippered sweatshirts was so I wouldn't have to deal with removing my helmet. I managed to get the sweatshirt on while my helmet was on the saddle in front of me and Hoss continued to walk, but I expect this will be all the reminder I need to pack one of my zippered sweatshirts instead.

When we walked back in to the Merigan Parking area, I noticed there's a pay station for parking. That's new. I somehow missed it on my way out. Not being the kind of person who absconds, I got an envelope and paid retroactively for my parking. It was $8.00. I'm going to have to investigate if this is some new thing they're doing throughout the park. If so, I'll be riding a lot more at Laguna. It's only $5.00 there! It's not that I mind paying for my use of the park, but $8.00 does seem a little excessive, especially if I'm going to use the area regularly. I'd be happy to pay for an annual pass or something.

When I got off, I realized somewhere along the way my GPS had died. I expect we went somewhere between 15 and 18 miles, based on our usual rate of walking speed and being out for about 6 hours. Hoss's heart rate was 44 when I checked, so there wasn't much point in taking it again at ten minutes.

I'm feeling pretty good about Hoss's soundness. I didn't notice any trouble with his right front on this ride. Our entry is going out in the mail for the Descanso Endurance Ride!