Facing your fear, or....finishing what you started

Once you have an accident on your horse, it changes you. You may not want to admit it, or acknowledge that it happens, but it does. I suppose some people get over it quicker than others, and some might even shrug it off like no big deal. It is probably a lot like getting into an automobile and driving again after a car accident. Getting back on your horse can take a lot of courage (or stupidity, I'm still not sure which?). At least with the car, you get in and step on the gas and it goes. You don't have to worry about what the car thinks, but with a horse you also have to deal not only with your own fears, but you've also now got a very large animal that may have some 'issues'. In my case, Chief became very difficult to put a crupper on him or do anything around his tail or hind end. He would curl it up and tuck it under so tight that you almost needed a can opener to pry him out of it. After a lot of work, we finally got thru that issue and then proceeded to rebuild our level of trust that we had before the accident. It was a long, slow progress, at times I felt like we weren't getting anywhere. Our accident was a real simple one. We fell at Mt. Carmel a couple of years ago, and I broke my clavicle. Chief rolled over the top of me, he got up unhurt physically. I also needed stitches in a couple of different places. This happened to us on the 3rd day. This was my first (and only so far) riding accident that caused me to get hurt, and the only time I've come off of a horse during a ride.

This year I was determined to go back and finish what we started. All three days. We've been progressing together as a team this year, Chief and I. We've been doing Pioneer Rides and even a one day 100 this year. I am learning how he works, which is very much different from my other horses so it is really just like starting over completely new. He takes really good care of himself so I only need to worry about him mentally. Taking him off of feeds with molasses in them has helped tremendously.

We hauled down to the ride, about 650 miles away a day early. That way Chief and I could both rest and have a day to recover before the ride started. Sue Benson and I went out for a ride on Friday and that went well. Then, as I was walking him over to the water trough, Chief started to walk funny on his right front. Uh oh I thought! I came all the way down here and only brought one horse so it would be Murphy's Law if something was wrong with him! I picked up his foot and there was a fairly large rock wedged in between his ground control shoe and his foot. I had to work to get it out as it was in there nice and tight. Once I did, I trotted him out on the dirt and he was sound. Whew! I didn't sleep much that night because I was worrying that the rock may have bruised his foot and in the morning he'd be really sore. Ughhhh!

Morning couldn't come fast enough; I was dying to see how Chief looked. I got up and took him for a quick walk. He looked fine. Looked good when I trotted him too. Good. We got tacked up and took our time about it, wanting the ride to start and all of the frontrunners to get out of sight before we headed out of camp, which starts out up a hill. The ride wasn't very large this year, only 52 or so, and none of the regular 'slow' type riders – so they all took off pretty quickly (yay), and we were able to head out a few minutes after 7:00 to an open and clear trail. This was nice, not the zoo we had at Cuyama. This was exactly what Chief needed! Sue and I rode together (all 3 days). And rode and rode and rode. Lunch was a long way into the ride, we first headed towards the pink sand hills and did some really good climbing up and down thru some very deep sand. The horses did well thru here, Chief feels like he is floating when he goes thru that really deep stuff. He's very coordinated in it.

Then we got to the slickrock and finally found something that his plastic shoes slip on. As we approached it, I thought I would get off since I wasn't sure if it would be slippery or not. I was in the front, with Sue behind me, and Shelley Bridges from Texas and a rider from Japan. I lead Chief down over the rock (it was steep here) at a walk and as soon as he had all four feet on it, he just sorta slipped sideways and then totally slid across and down the entire rock until he landed back into the deep sand on the other side. Yeowwww!!! I was thinking, well….glad I got off! :+P I got back on and we kept going up and down thru more sand. The horses were really getting quite a workout. Shelley said the rides in Texas aren't nearly this hard. It was getting fairly warm too. We kept going, and going and going and going. Like I said, lunch was pretty far into the ride. We had a 7 a.m. start and ended up getting to lunch about 2:30 in the afternoon. We weren't exactly putzing either, we trotted everywhere we could even up and down some hills, and always on anything somewhat level.

Lunch was great. Calina was there and crewed for Sue and I. She had a great spot for us in the shade (now it was hot). We got to sit down in our Coso Junction chairs (completion awards) and Calina hand delivered our sandwiches, drinks, chips, and candybars which we were grateful for. We watched the horses eat like pigs for the full hour then got back on and headed back out onto the trail. The ride this day was one big loop out of camp. We took three hours getting into the finish, keeping a nice easy trot and fast walk the whole time--Chief has a really great walk. We had a gate to go thru, and when we went thru one of them there was a water trough. Chief eagerly went up to it, this was the first water since leaving lunch….and as he approached it he spooked in place. He saw that it was EMPTY and he just JUMPED! O….M….G…..you could tell what he was thinking! He went over to the trough and put his head down in it and tried to lick up anything he could get, but it was bone dry. It is a good thing that Chief can walk so fast, since my head was spinning and I didn't feel like I could trot any longer. I'd been drinking well, but not eating enough (and also probably not really drinking as well as I should have), and tired…..so I just hung on and zoned. Sue and I made it down off the mountain and into the creek, finally the horses got their much desired water, and boy did they tank up. Of course now we were just across the street from camp, so basically finished. When we got in they asked us how the last part of the ride went and I said, well, we rode our horses like there might not be any water, which was a good thing since there wasn't any. :-) Actually, I am pretty sure that the horses were fine with it. They had taken 11 ˝ hours to go 55 miles. Chief stopped and peed again on his way into camp and you would have never known that he'd even been ridden that day. He has learned to really take care of himself, which I do have to credit to him coming to this as his first endurance ride ever. He really benefited from the experience. So I can't really complain about not having water. This is why riders need to pay attention to how many are behind them and not sponge or scoop, so that other horses can drink.

The next day was probably the easiest of the three days. We didn't have as much of the deep sand to do, and we had some new areas of trail to explore. Chief and Rocky (Sue's horse) really perked up when we got to some of the new trail. We had lunch in camp, and it was more in the middle of the ride which made it easier on me. The day before the heat/sun/long day and not sleeping the night before really wore me out. The last loop this day was nice, as this time there was not only drinking water for the horses, but SPONGING water! We thought that was great, and since we were last (until Brent and Jolynn got lost) we figured it would be allright to sponge them really well, which we did. There was still plenty of water left. There is also a lot of luscious green grass on the trail so the horses have a blast eating as they go. You can get whiplash really easily though, if you aren't careful. The horses will stop and grab a bite from a trot if you aren't paying attention!

Each day we headed up the ridgeline trail, which has some technical spots and dropoffs on both sides. I felt comfortable and safe on Chief. Then we would get to the spot on the trail where we fell before, and go down it. It was pretty much a non-event, and each time I got down it I felt a sense of relief. I don't know if Chief remembered anything, or if anything else on this ride reminded him of a bad experience. I want him to have fun and enjoy himself, which he seems to do most of the time. There are a couple of spots on the trail that after three days you have had to repeat, going in and out of camp, etc., and that is where Chief let me know he was not really pleased – by spooking! He is a very opinionated little guy. It is sort of funny tho, how his opinions are usually very similar to mine. I don't like repeating trail either.

Each night we were able to go out to dinner in one of the local restaurants, which was nice. It is sure easy going to a multiday where you don't have to worry about meals like lunch or dinner. I love that!

The wind came up on the third day, so we got a little dried out. It was good for the horses though, since it was still pretty hot. Chief still has a fair amount of a winter coat. I had to clip his neck again since the hair grew back in so thick from the last time I clipped it for 20 Mule Team.

The third day was probably the hardest day because there was so much sand. It probably didn't seem hard to people who trotted or cantered thru it, but for those of us that went slower on our horses thru it, it seemed like quite a challenging day. It's not just sand that you are going thru, but you are going up and down, and down and up, and down and down and up and up…..sometimes the horses are sinking up to their hocks, and usually well past their ankles. It's also quite warm. Luckily there are some good long sections of nice footing on curvy roads where you can trot, or else we'd never make it thru the course in time. Chief's shoes were constantly picking up rocks on this ride. This hasn't happened to him before. I think it may have been all of that sand flexing the plastic shoes and allowing the rocks to get wedged in there. One time I stopped and he had rocks wedged in three out of four feet! I'm gonna have to figure something out about that. Other than that, his feet have been holding up really super well to the GC shoes. He's had them on since last November, and has done over 900 miles in them since that time.

Some riders took a wrong turn on the last day well past lunchtime, and when they passed us, Chief decided he was going to imitate a Beagle chasing a rabbit. {eyes rolling} So, I stopped a couple of times and got off and sat in the shade and waited for him to realize that he was being an idiot and that when he's like that, we aren't going to make any forward progress. He is figuring it out pretty quickly, the second time I did that he calmed down in less than a minute. I got back on then and he walked and totally behaved himself 100% the rest of the time. Sometimes it's little things like that, that make you feel like you are really getting somewhere. Even if it is slowly. Very, very slowly. Slow is good. Slow = sound physically and mentally. We want it all! Everybody keeps asking me when I'm going to go faster with him. Even Calina says he's over 1000 miles why don't you go faster now? LOL. Well. It really is simple – I don't want to hurt him, and when he does go fast I want him to be so well prepared for it that he doesn't get hurt or damaged in any way, and also I don't believe it's fair to a horse to do a lot of miles in a year, or short time period and be going fast. Yeah, I know he can go faster. You guys don't have to keep telling me that. I worry enough about him as it is. I actually enjoy riding slow (go figure!) and putzing along. I also like riding fast. It's all good fun, but this year I may try to do all of the XP rides on Chief, and if so then this will be a good brain training year for him.

The last time I went down “Clavicle Hill” (our new name for it), I felt as I rode away from it that I was leaving once and for all, all my fears behind and would not need to ever look back. I am confident that we have finally put this demon behind us.

I really enjoyed the ride, and getting to ride with Sue Benson and her Rocky (see photos). He's a really sweet horse, and Sue I think worries even more about him than I do about Chief! (that's supposed to be a compliment, am I warped or what?) The scenery is beautiful and not something you see on most rides (unless you happen to live in Southern Utah). It is also a more challenging ride, at least I thought it much more difficult than the last two Pioneer rides (Cuyama and Color Country) were. Only 11 horses out of more than 50 made it all 3 days. Chief's next adventure will be the Cold Springs ride, which will hopefully be his first 5 day ride. He's never done more than 4, but I think he has it in him. Last year only 19 horses out of 90 made it all 5 days. We would have a lot better odds at Tevis. I don't think Chief is mentally ready yet for Tevis, tho physically I think he'd be ok. Another year won't hurt him to wait, and will only make us better prepared.

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It is good to have an end to journey towards; But it is the journey that matters in the end.

The future is not some place we are going, but one we are creating. The paths to it are not found but made, and the activity of making them changes both the maker and the destination.

Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, Doing nothing, and being nothing.

Enthusiasm is the greatest asset in the world. It beats money and power and influence.

The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise And thinking that having problems is a problem.

The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.

You may be sorry that you spoke, sorry you stayed or went, sorry you won or lost, sorry so much was spent. But as you go through life, you'll find-- you're never sorry you were kind.

Ability is what you're capable of doing... Motivation determines what you do... Attitude determines how well you do it.

It's easy to carry the past as a burden instead of a school.
It's easy to let it overwhelm you instead of educate you.

When we long for life without difficulties, Remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds And diamonds are made under pressure.

Football combines two of the worst things about American life. It is violence punctuated by committee meetings.

Be like a postage stamp. Stick to it until you get there.

The reason most people never reach their goals Is that they don't define them, learn about them, Or even seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, What they plan to do along the way, And who will be sharing the adventure with them.

Nature always takes her time. Great oaks don't become great overnight. They also lose a lot of leaves, branches and bark in the process of becoming great.

Correction does much, but encouragement does more.

Your real security is yourself. You know you can do it, And they can't ever take that away from you.

The only normal people are the one's you don't know very well.

Success is not final, failure is not fatal It is the courage to continue that counts.

This is Granite "Chief". I took this after he came home in February from doing his first one day 100--he got a bath on the first warm day! He is a Spanish Arabian (with some CMK). He was given to me three and a half years ago. He is 8 years old now. I didn't know a lot about him but he did only have one family before I got him. I say family, because horses like this are not simply 'owned'. He is a family member. He has the most wonderful disposition and really nice feet. I mean *really* nice feet! He has never once pulled while tied or being led, ever. He is enjoying his new job as an endurance horse. Now when I go to turn him out and remove his halter to leave and turn to walk away he follows me. I think he feels an attachment. We are best friends. One of his best attributes is how well he takes care of himself. Even if he gets excited on an endurance ride, it has never stopped him from eating and drinking. I thought I was pretty lucky to have Weaver and Rocky, but Chief definitely shows that good luck comes in packages of 3!!