I got up early and fed Hoss, this time able to feed him on the ground as he prefers. He ate pretty well in the couple of hours he had to eat before the ride started.
Fortunately I was feeling pretty good, if not great. When I went to get on, it took several minutes before my muscles gave up protesting enough for me to settle into the saddle.
We set out at the start of the ride, still in the dark, so I couldn't tell who was where. I trusted to the fact that Treasure is faster than Hoss her odds of catching us up if she was behind us. Also at the second day was Rebecca and Misty, who we had ridden with at Coso Junction.
The trail was simply the previous day's loops in the opposite direction. It's amazing how that can make such a difference. It felt like different trail for the most part.
We set out at a good clip, pulled along with the top horses for a time. I knew we couldn't keep up the pace, so I started pulling Hoss down and letting the leaders get away. For some time we were on our own out there, no other horses in sight.
Eventually Rebecca and Misty caught up to us. Hoss was happy to see a familiar face and we rode with them in to the first vet check. Rebecca and Misty trotted in, but, wise to how Hoss is, I walked him in the last half mile. This meant Rebecca and Misty would end up leaving ahead of us. I could only hope they'd leave well enough ahead of us for Hoss not to get locked on to Misty.
The hold was shortened to fifteen minutes. Hoss vetted through nicely, with good CRIs (Cardiac Recovery Index – this is tested by taking the horse's standing pulse, sending it out for a specific trot distance, and taking the heart rate again at a specific amount of time after the first pulse was taken; the heart rate being the same or lower indicates the horse is doing well). After our fifteen minute hold, we headed out again.
Rebecca and Misty were just far enough ahead to be difficult to catch up to, but close enough Hoss knew they were there. During the entire second loop, Hoss could often see Misty up ahead and try to catch up to her. We would get close at water stops, only to arrive just seconds after Rebecca and Misty had left.
This led to a problem. Hoss really wanted to catch up with Misty. He also needed to drink. Because he'd come the closest at water stops, he would duck his head into the water tank and take a token sip, then whip around the follow Misty. I was very much afraid he would get into trouble because of this behavior.
I realized my only hope of getting him through was to let him catch up. We finally did catch up to Rebecca and Misty. Hoss was very proud of himself when he caught up. We stayed with them through the rest of the loop. At the water stop a mile from camp and the vet check, I asked Rebecca not to leave until Hoss had finished drinking. I knew he'd stop to stay with Misty if they left.
Once Hoss was done drinking, we headed back toward camp. I got off to lead the last half mile while Rebecca and Misty trotted in. There was an hour hold, and I hoped Misty and Rebecca would end up far enough ahead of us for Hoss to stop looking for her.
After getting pulsed in I took Hoss to the trailer for lunch and a nice bran mash. He dug right in and ate quite well. I watched him while I heated up a can of soup and munched on some crackers. The vets wanted tack off, so I took off the saddle and put a light sheet over Hoss's back. I took him to the vet with fifteen minutes left in our hold time. Once again he came through well with a good CRI, in fact exactly the same as the first vet check that day. After clearing the vet check, we went back to the trailer and I tacked him back up. I was late getting out on our hold time, so I really hoped Rebecca and Misty would be long enough gone to keep Hoss from obsessing about her.
We were headed out at a pretty slow walk, Hoss preferring to go back to the trailer rather than out on the trail. I got him going and resigned to the fact he was going to have to work.
Another horse and rider caught up. The rider asked if we wanted company, to which I responded, "Only if you're going slow." Well, it didn't take long to figure out the other horse was not going slow. He must have had a trot pace of 10mph or more. They pretty quickly left us in the dust, but now Hoss wanted nothing more than to catch up to them. I had to keep him at a walk – it was a pretty fast walk, which he only does when he wants to catch someone else – for much of the first five miles. I wanted him to let go of catching that other horse before we picked up the pace.
It did not help when the horse's rider, distracted by her new gadgets, missed a turn. This resulted in her heading off course some distance, just long enough for Hoss and me to end up ahead of them on the proper course. Once she realized her mistake and turned around, it did not take long for them to catch us back up and pass us, leaving me to try to get Hoss back in line yet again.
By the time we got to the next water stop, the other horse had disappeared over a ridge and Hoss had pretty much given up any idea of catching up to them. I made him walk to the top of the ridge, then pushed him up to a trot.
The only drawback to not having a horse to "chase" or otherwise motivate Hoss is I end up "pedaling" my horse. He's lost motivation, so I'm working my butt off to keep him moving. I had come up with the idea to keep Hoss's lead rope with us to use as encouragement. The only problem was, it's particularly long, so difficult to manage while riding. I tied it to Hoss's breast collar and made a tail long enough to use as an up and over, but not so long to get caught up in his legs. This turned out to be a rather effective tool. I was able to make him keep up a good pace by whapping him with the leather popper on the end of the lead rope whenever he tried to slow down. By this point I had zero leg. We would've spent the entire last loop walking had it not been for that lead rope.
About halfway through the last loop, Kathy and Treasure caught up to us. This lit the fire under Hoss and he picked up the pace to keep up with Treasure.
I preferred the last loop the way we did it on the second day over the direction on the first day. We were able to trot downhill on the last part, rather than fighting a long uphill at the start. Either way, though, the trails were fine.
I held Hoss back toward the end so he'd come in under criteria. I led hem once we were on the road, what I estimated to be about a half mile back to camp. It's a good thing for me to get off and lead for these brief distances. It gives my hips and knees a chance to relax and recover, and keeps me from developing muscle cramps during the ensuing night.
Hoss came in just under criteria and vetted out just fine. It turned out to be a good ride.
After the awards dinner, I overheard another rider discussing the possibility of a refund for riders who had chosen not to ride on the first day due to the windy conditions. That really caught my ear. I went over and weaseled my way into the conversation. The other rider said she had heard several riders who were "very mad" about having paid for a ride and not been able to do it, then not getting a refund. I pointed out that many others had chosen to ride, had finished and no one was injured. Had ride management decided conditions were too dangerous and had cancelled or postponed the ride, I could see refunds, but when riders make a decision on their own, no, management does not owe them a refund. I was particularly put out by this rider making this complaint as she had been one of those who chose not to ride on day one. Really, if you enter a ride and choose not to participate, you're out your entry fee, too bad! Okay, off my soap box.
This ride put Hoss's lifetime Endurance miles at 1060.
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