Hoss and I arrived at ride camp fairly late, close to 5pm. After getting him set up with water and a nice bran mash, I set up camp and got my rider packet. Once Hoss had a chance to eat and drink, I took him and vetted him in. After he cleared the vet, I took him back and braided his mane. Evelyn Allen had sent me new riding tights, and many strips of cloth left over from making them. I used the strips as ribbon in Hoss's mane. Looked pretty cool, and we matched.
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| ....Even if it does make him look kinda girly |
The ride started at a marginal 6am. I much prefer the 7am start. Especially this time of year, there's little reason not to wait until 7am. Unless it's going to be particularly hot (like it was at Prescott), there's plenty of daylight to do a later start. Maybe it's just me. I don't want to have to be up at 4am.
Hoss wanted to just go. I made him start toward the back (we'd finish back there anyway; might as well start there). One of the biggest problems Hoss has is getting upset when another horse passes him. I decided we were not going to trot until he settled down and walked properly. It just was not happening. Instead he was doing a pretty passable pace. This reinforces the idea he probably has a gait, but doesn't do it as naturally as would be ideal. Several times I circled him to a stop before we continued. Still not walking. I got him to walk and was just about to ask him for a trot when another horse passed us and all bets were off. He was pacing again. It took quite some time and close to three miles, and much "reminding" him he's not allowed to look at other horses, before he walked decently and I was able to ask him for a trot.
Of course, the "trot" I got was more like the jackhammer Nazi trot style. I stood up in my stirrups and just rode it out until he settled a bit and started trotting more naturally. He still wanted to go faster than he really should, but at least he had a trot with a proper rhythm and a little bit of suspension.
The first leg of the ride was mostly on dirt roads. Hoss does very well on dirt roads. It's just about his favorite surface. So, despite some steep but short climbs, it was pretty easy for him to do. Unfortunately we were behind the time I was hoping to make due to his refusal to walk for the first three miles. We walked in to the first vet check about 9am. I had hoped to be there by 8:30.
Hoss recovered in about two minutes, with me sponging him. He really likes being sponged, even if it's not super hot. His favorite is to have the sponge placed between his ears and let the water run down his face. Once he'd pulsed down, I took him and vetted him through. I made up his bran mash and set out his hay. He was more interested in the weeds than the hay once he finished the bran, but he ate decently. I got a little bit of fruit and a couple of donut holes.
Once our hold was over, we got back out on the trail. The second leg was a bit of a shock. There was much more technical trail, including narrow single track along a steep hillside. It was narrow enough not to risk trotting on. Much of the trail through the hilly parts was clearly new, and not as stable as older, more established trail. There were large rocks to negotiate both up and down. Several times Hoss did stupid things and tripped. Once he nearly slid over the edge of the trail.
During this section I got my first notion this ride wasn't going to be as easy as I'd been led to believe it would be. Yes, the footing was "good," but the steep sections were really steep. I quipped to another rider, "Is this an endurance ride or a moto-cross track?" The roads we were on were often very steep. Too steep to more than walk up or down.
The second vet check was back at camp. I hopped off when we were within a few hundred yards of camp and led Hoss in. His heart rate came down in three minutes, again with much sponging off. We got in about 11:30, an hour ahead of the cut off time. It wasn't terribly warm yet, although I was down to my tank top (it's so nice to have nice weather). I took Hoss back to the trailer once he'd been vetted and gave him bran and a flake of alfalfa. I went and got myself a sandwich and drink, then sat with Hoss for the remainder of the hold.
During the ride meeting, we had been told the second half of the ride would be tougher than the first. If they were right, it was going to be really difficult. The first half hadn't exactly been a breeze.
Once our hold was over, we headed back out on trail. Once again we were using trail that had been recently created. Much of it was pretty nice, but there were areas that could use some work. While we were riding, we passed camping areas. One had a stage set up and live bands performing. That was kind of interesting. Hoss didn't seem to care at all. What got to Hoss was the sound of people yelling and screaming ahead at one point. I don't know what it might have all been about, but whoever they were they were loud!
We rode through another camping area where a pair of model dinosaurs had been erected on a hillside. I missed them with the camera – dammit. We rode past a pool were a large group of people were doing something indefinable, but it was clearly some organized event.
We came in to the vet check at 3pm, half an hour ahead of cut off. This time, with the higher temperatures and the much more challenging trail, it took Hoss nine minutes to pulse down. There were no sponges at this vet check – I had been unable to find mine in the trailer during the second hold – so I used one of my empty water bottles to scoop water over Hoss's neck and face and front legs. Once again Hoss got a bran mash (the advantage of the three-hold ride – giving Hoss a bran mash with electrolytes at every stop rather than ramming it in to him with the syringe) and I gave him some hay. There were also popsicles for riders and I gratefully had one. By now it was particularly warm. I had emptied one bottle, which after I used it to scoop water on Hoss I refilled with Gatorade.
After our hold time we got back on the trail again. I saw other horses riding through the open field across from the vet check area, so I knew we should be over there. I realized pretty quickly as we rode along the road that we'd missed a turn. I turned Hoss back to look for the turn. He trotted along nicely, until I turned him where we'd missed. He thought we were going back to the vet check!
We trotted along the road and turned back up toward the hills. Trotting along this windy section of little-used dirt road, I heard a vehicle coming toward us. It was coming fast, and the driver had no way to know we were there. I urged Hoss to the outside of the road so we'd be visible as early as possible. An older white truck came screeching around the corner. I made eye contact with the driver, but he made no effort to slow down. As his truck started skidding sideways toward us, it was clear it was up to us to get out of his way. Hoss didn't really recognize the danger. Why should he? He's never had a vehicle do anything but avoid him. I kicked the hell out of him, sticking him hard with the spurs to get him off the road just in case that idiot driver lost control and rolled it. The truck flew on past and, heart in my throat, I got Hoss back on the road and trotting again. Then I heard a second vehicle, and a police truck came flying around the corner. This truck at least stuck to the road and I didn't fear he was about to wipe us out.
I was still running a little bit of an adrenaline high when we got to the water buckets. I let Hoss get a good drink while I contemplated the hill ahead of us. This hill, basically a dirt road, must have had a better than 7% grade. I've walked 6% grades, and this was definitely steeper. I decided I'd better tail Hoss up it. He wouldn't be able to walk any faster with me on him, and if he didn't have to pack me it would be at least a little easier on him.
The hill was long. Really long. More than a mile I tailed Hoss up the hill. Several other riders got off, but rode more than half the hill, usually getting off midway and getting back on closer to the top. Those horses trotted relatively easily up the hill. Hoss, on the other hand, doesn't do so well on hills. Even tailing up he goes pretty slow. It took us a long time. We're going to have to work on getting up hills better.
Once up the hill, we started down the other side. Well, sort of. It was a bit rolly. Sort of moto-cross track rolly. Again. There was very little trottable area, at least for Hoss, since he kinda sucks at the trotting uphill thing. So we trotted the flattest parts, trotted at the bottom of hills and starting up the hills. We needed to make time. We had less than two hours to complete.
Finally we got out of the hills and were able to get serious about trotting. The wind was at our backs. Who needs to eat someone else's dust when you can eat your own? The wind blew the dust just ahead of us, creating our very own personal dust cloud to ride in.
We were really coming down to the wire, but I could see camp and the end of the ride. Usually we walk the last mile or two back to camp, but we trotted in this time. We came in with just five minutes left on the clock. It turned out we were the last finishers. The final two riders behind us simply could not make the time. They were over an hour over time, partly because they realized they weren't going to make it and stopped trying.
In the end, this ride was a significant challenge. It was described as "moderate," which I would disagree with. After the first half I would have called it "moderate plus." Now I would be more inclined to describe it as "challenging." And the manager is talking about doing a multi-day event there. Oy! Only if it doesn't have quite so many vet checks….
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