I decided to ride Bo the first day. I’m not sure why, maybe because Chief did more miles trail marking so I figured he could use the extra day break he’d get before going on day 2? In either case, there wasn’t any real definite reason for picking which horse to ride which day. Sometimes I make the choice about which horse based upon the logistics of the ride. For example, whenever possible I’ll take Chief on the days that we are out of camp all day, or are going on a point to point day. He just simply doesn’t get tired going 50 miles and when he is heading back to camp repeatedly he can be really strong. If he is out all day, it’s much easier to rate him on a loose rein and we have a nice pleasant ride. Same thing for going point to point.
I started out the first morning with the group. The Duck said “go ahead and start them”, as he drove off in the jeep, to find a spot on the trail where he could watch the horses. The group was fairly small, only around 30 between the 25 and 50 mile distances. I let most everybody pass by and then alternated walking with a slow trot for the first couple of miles. It didn’t take long for the horses to get spread out. I was riding with Dave Rabe who was on Tigger. Tigger and Bo have done rides together before and seem to get along pretty well.
Neither of us wanted to go fast, but we also didn’t want to go very slow either. We didn’t start until 7:30 and with the weather change that was coming we knew it would be a real good thing to try and get finished by dark.
The morning went by pretty nicely. As we rode higher up in elevation we were in some fog. It seemed kind of surreal, beautiful and tranquil. It felt great to breath in deep that clean, crisp fresh air! I loved that so much of the trail was on singletrack. There was a good amount of climbing though and the horses were getting a really good workout. On the downhill, Dave got off to lead on foot. I stayed on Bo, because he can walk faster downhill than I can. Boy he did move out great too! Dave said he was having to jog all the way down to keep up with Bo’s walk. Now if I could find which button to push that would get him to do that walk all the time!? Wouldn’t that be great!
Soon we approached the first vet check out on the trail where we had a trot-by vet check with no hold. We didn’t stay long as it was cold and foggy there. The horses were happy to go and were finding bits of grass to munch on along the way. We played tag off and on with a few of the riders.
We found ourselves on the last of the big climbs. The storm had moved in even more now and the wind was kicking up. We rode higher and higher and towards a more dense fog. As we neared the top the wind was blowing and we couldn’t see more than a few dozen yards ahead. Even though we were way up on top of a mountain we might as well have been inside a big tent for all that we could see! We soon dropped down and out of the storm and back down into a more comfortable climate. It was really not so bad for our horses as they have thick winter coats. It would have been a lot harder on them if it had been sunny and warm.
We had a 45 minute hold at lunch. It would normally be an hour but was shortened due to the weather. We hadn’t been rained on yet, but it was looking pretty promising that was going to be coming up! Sure enough, as we headed out on the second loop we ended up getting sprinkled on and it came down lightly for the rest of the loop. Fortunately it wasn’t that cold or windy (like I know it could have been, lol)…so I wasn’t too bothered by it. It really helps to have the right gear.
It was nice to see that Bo was happy to go and eager to see what was around the next bend. I love horses with that kind of happy-to-go-all-the-time atittudes. This made me happy that I chose to ride him on this day. Most other bad weather days in the last year I chose to take Chief (he also loves to go no matter what). Of course, my husband would tell you that these horses aren’t very smart. Some of the best and most memorable rides I’ve ever had were during less than perfect weather conditions. I can’t really say that this was that bad though, it really wasn’t bad at all.
On this second loop I rode with Heather and Dave. We had a great time cruising along talking and sharing stories. Before we knew it we made it into the finish about a quarter after 3. Not too bad! The sky was dark due to the rain clouds. It was nice to have time to get everything cleaned up and the horses taken care of before the sun did set.
Saturday night is when the storm really hit. It rained pretty good almost all night long. The wind blew hard. One of the porta-potties even blew over. Fortunately, just as it was time to get up and get ready things cleared up. It was going to be a gorgeous day!
Chief was happy to get to go out on the second day. On the days the horse I’m not riding stays in camp they get to stay on the hi-line on the trailer which gives them a lot of room to move about. I could tell coming and going the day before that Chief was getting lots of exercise going back and forth.
The ride was smaller today, only a dozen riders – 11 in the 50 and 1 in the 25. We headed out behind the majority of the horses. Chief was pushing his nose up through his hackamore when I held him back behind the horse in front of us for the ride photographer, so of course Lynne got a nice photo showing how obnoxious he was being. Fortunately once I got Chief out on his own he settled in pretty good and we did most of the ride that day relaxed and on a loose rein.
I rode alone most of the time, which is really the best way to ride Chief especially when he’s just doing one day at a ride. He can get pretty competitive and I’m pretty anal about not letting him trot super fast or go down the trail like a yo-yo. There aren’t very many people that we can pace next to that keep a steady speed throughout the entire day so it’s just better for me to go alone most of the time. Over time Chief has gotten to be pretty good with other horses and in groups, it’s just that I’m usually the one that wants to be going at the pace I want to go at.
Important lesson: I learned that zip ties will snap and break when they have been frozen down to minus temps. So from now on, I won’t leave them in my saddle for months on end. I used them on the toe straps on Chief’s Renegades and that worked for the ones that didn’t snap. Toe straps need the extra help when you are riding in wet, wet sand for 50 miles.
I had a pretty funny experience with the boots in the morning. I was trying to get out on my own with Chief. Well, Dave and Heather were behind us as we came down the big mountain. Today we were able to see the great scenery as the weather had cleared and the sky was blue – what a wonderful day to be riding! Anyway, as we came down the hill I started trotting. The straps came unstuck on one of Chief’s front boots, which came off. This was during the rockiest part of the ride too, lol…and wouldn’t you know it, the horse just keeps trotting along like everything was just fine.
Since Dave and Heather had been right behind me they picked up the boot and hollered to me. I thought they were just waving at me, and Chief of course thought it was a great opportunity to get ahead and we speeded up even more. We were flying up and down the dips and washes and next thing you know we popped out onto the road right at the vet check. Trotted out for the vet. It was only after that I noticed the missing boot. Which arrived about thirty seconds later <g>. I pulled out a spare and put it on since the other one had sandy wet straps that I didn’t want to fiddle with. Once I got the zip ties on everything worked the rest of the day with no further issues. Lesson learned – keep your zip ties inside and not outside in minus 10 and 15 degree temps if you plan on using them to snug up your boot straps with! The cool part I guess, is that at least it didn’t bother Chief at all to be minus a front boot. That is one benefit of a barefoot horse, they can keep going whereas if a shod horse loses a shoe they will often come up sore.
I do have to say that the boots did work pretty good all things considered. After two days of riding all day (for both horses, when you include their trail marking time) on the wet trails the horses came home with their feet and pasterns in great shape – no rubs or scratches.
The second day seemed harder on the horses than the first day because we had to go up the steep sand hill. It was quite a climb! That’s where we were able to get ahead of the others and get out on our own. From that point on I was pretty much on my own for the rest of the day. We finished the 2nd day 15 minutes later than the day before, but since the lunch hold was an hour on the second day the ride time for me was the same. What a coincidence! The results are here for both days. I finished both days in the middle of the pack. This ride was perfect timing to get the horses worked and ready for the Death Valley Encounter.
For me, I’m glad to have two weeks between rides so that I can get home, get caught up and fix everything that needs fixing. This trip was really hard on things. The extremely cold weather at home took it’s toll on a few things. On Saturday night at the ride, my fuses started blowing. Actually, I think the first one blew on Friday. It was downhill from there. A couple of wires shorted out, which Joseph managed to get fixed for me. By then I was out of fuses but not totally out of luck – I was able to move them around to get the things working that I needed. The screen door latch broke, the rubber seal on the roof vent let snow in (before leaving for the trip). My zip ties broke. It was just one of those trips where it paid to bring along a good sense of humor! I guess it wasn’t all bad though, at least the horses both had good rides, right? 
looks like a well planned adventure.. learning lots from you
cid and gazi