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Tuesday October 7 2008
I watched Mounted Games (similar to Gymkhana) in the Horse of the Year Show in New Zealand last year - what FUN!!!
I
think you'd do a bit better with ponies than our bigger and
not-quite-so-nimble endurance horses, so Connie and I invented our own
Mounted Ribbon Games as Connie and I pulled the ride ribbons from the
Hart Creek loop.
The rules were, if you can pull a ribbon off a
bush without getting off your horse, you can clip it in your horse's
mane. If you drop it, or have to get off to get the ribbon, then no
hanging it in the mane. The horse with the most ribbons in their mane
wins.
It got a bit more challenging as, on the trail climbing
out of Hart Creek, the bushes got smaller and smaller, and so the
ribbons got harder and harder to reach. 
Now
Mac is a great ranch horse: i.e. he knows how to stand still. So
standing still while I leaned off his side to pluck a low ribbon was no
problem. It took a little convincing at first for Finneas to stand
still for Connie.
After a while he was getting the hang of it,
and stood like a statue even when Connie had to reach for a ribbon
almost on the ground. She was able to get the ribbon... but then she
got stuck hanging off Finny's side and couldn't get back on! So she had
to bail. No pinning it in his mane.
She
tried another one almost on the ground, and got the ribbon, but when
she tried to shove herself back in the saddle - grabbing onto Finny's
breastcollar, which caused him to throw his head up which helped shove
her back in the saddle - she dropped the ribbon. So no ribbon in his
mane.
Here (on the black horse) Connie demonstrates the
almost-right-way to retrieve a ribbon. (Except for the falling off - or
bailing - part.)
Here
(on the white horse) I demonstrate the proper way to retrieve a ribbon.
Although, if you'll notice, my ribbon was a few inches higher, and my
horse was shorter or my arms longer than Connie's.
By
now, our bags were getting full (most of the ribbons didn't have
clothespins, and were just tied on the bushes), so we just started
clipping any and all ribbons on clothespins in their manes, because the
horses just looked cool. 
At the end of the trail on the plateau, we had a couple of paper plates to pick up; the horses wore them too. 
Next
year when we put ribbons out, we'll put points on the ribbons. 1 point
for an easy ribbon, 3 points for a ribbon you have to lean out of your
saddle for, and 5 points for a ribbon near the ground.
Maybe
Steph could add this as a new riding competition option, in addition to
the 50 mile rides, the 25 mile rides, and the Trail Rides...
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| Posted by The Equestrian Vagabond at | | | |
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Tuesday October 7 2008
Jose was all revved up this beautiful morning, and he couldn't get anybody to play with him.
So he entertained himself.
Raced
in and out of the hay pen, down by the girls in their back pen, up
toward the mountains, back into the hay pen, around and around the
other 6 geldings who either kept eating hay or looked at him like he
was nuts. Around and around he went, tail up in the air, sprinting like
a madman.
He kicked at Stormy as he went by, then stopped to paw, slam the earth, kick up dust, and he was off again.
Happy horse.
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| Posted by The Equestrian Vagabond at | | | |
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Monday October 6 2008
If it's not one thing, it's another.
I
was riding Stormy, until the last time he got shoes, and he went lame
again with his navicular. His front feet were finally getting better,
then he came up so lame behind that he was on three legs (he pulled a
butt muscle, probably sprinting in from up the canyon). He finally got
over that, and just as I was about to throw a saddle on him, he got a
rather wicked bite on his back, where the saddle goes.
So I just keep waiting to ride him again.
For
now he can't be the Local Macro Mailman, the Building Inspector, the
Oreana Bookmobile, the Trails Assessor, or the Dog Walker.
Instead he found a new chore that doesn't take a saddle.
The lawn mower ran out of gas, so Stormy took over the mowing job.
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| Posted by The Equestrian Vagabond at | | | |
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Friday October 3 2008
So,
there I was, getting all fat and lazy this summer, when I got recruited
to go back to endurance work. I wasn't real excited about that, but
when Steph came up with the idea to breed me and Princess to that
Creampuff stallion "Stoner" or somesuch next door, Princess was
instantly in love, but me? Noooooooosiree I said! The humans thought
they'd entice me and I'd come around by leaving me in the pen with the
big stud (so he thought of himself) but after a few squeals and pretty
well-aimed kicks, the humans gave up. Even after leaving me there for a
few days I was totally uninterested. I wasn't having anything to do
with that. I had my only baby Dudley a few years ago, and he broke the
mold. I'd rather go back to the endurance trails than have another baby!
Well. They were serious about the endurance riding again. 
M kept taking me out, and making me work, up the washes and up the
hills, working up big sweats, slowly slimming down my big belly I'd
been working so hard to maintain.
And then, here came fall, and
the humans became all busy with this and that, cleaning up, moving
things around, driving off on the 4-wheeler with flying ribbons, and
then one day a horse trailer pulled in, and another, and another, and
well, I knew what was up with that. The 5-day endurance ride was about
to start, and I was going to have to do an endurance ride!
I did a 25-mile ride one day, and I was thinking, well, this isn't that
bad, but then two days later I got put in a 50-miler, and boy was I
cranky by the second loop! By the third and last loop I was back into
my rhythm and I rather enjoyed myself, but man - 50 milers again?  I'd much rather be fat and lazy than have to work at endurance again.
In
fact... that Cremello stud Stony next door really doesn't look all that
bad. A few days after the ride, I decided he was pretty darn hot, as a
matter of fact. And so, the humans took me next door to stay with him a
few days.
He's my new boyfriend.  See how good we look together?  I think having another Dudley isn't such a bad idea.
Check back with me next September. |
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| Posted by The Equestrian Vagabond at | | | |
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Sunday September 28 2008
It
was another ride day for me, and another ride for Quickie - 50 miles,
gasp! Loop 1 started with a short but steep climb up onto the northern
flats, and I left the starting line a wee bit early, leading Quickie up
on foot, laying hoofprints along a new trail I'd flagged a few days
earlier. Halfway up the hill, where the trail became obvious, I peeled
off my jacket (warm from the climb) and waited for all the 14 other
50-mile riders to follow so I could point the way. I climbed aboard
Quickie and followed the last two in the golden sunrise, and I had the
great pleasure of spending most of the day with Jacinta Denton and her
gorgeous gelding Krasniy Kumeer.
The perennially-hilarious
Jennifer LeBlanc was in our company for half of the first 19-mile loop,
out on the northwest side of Pickett Creek, to the base of the Owyhee
mountains, past "Booby Rock" 
(a tamer name than what we normally use), where Jennifer took a picture
of 4 of us, across Pickett Creek, and back toward home on the southeast
side of the creek. Going out we used a new trail I'd never been on, or
even seen - an old canal  that was probably dug in the 1800's and that provided some nice footing.
On
the flats approaching Pickett Creek Canyon, Steve Bradley had set up to
take pictures. We spaced out for photos. Quickie had been fairly
agreeable heading out on the trail, but the closer we got to home, the
feistier she got. All of Jacinta's photos had been at the trot on
Kumeer, and she wanted a cantering picture, so she nudged him to a
higher gear in front of us. Quickie thought she was being left behind,
so Steve almost got a picture of me getting bucked off Quickie. I hung
on, but it was a bit of a wild ride the last two miles back into camp.
I wasn't so sure I'd get Quickie to leave camp two more times today!
Loop
2, at 14 miles, was up along the Rim Trail again, though this time,
Steph added a short half-mile detour through the Pickett Canyon
Narrows. She had debated about it for a while, but decided the very
rocky path would be worth the terrific canyon scenery. 
Red rock walls rose above us as we entered the narrow mouth, and we
walked right up the middle of the rocky creek (a bit of water up here),
ducking under overgrown vines (fortunately not poison oak, as I found
out first hand clearing the trail!), and finally coming out past the
cliffs through the sagebrush, and up and over a little pass that dumped
us back onto the regular Merri's trail that led out of the canyon and
up onto the flats.
We did the Rim Trail to the north this time -
doing trails backwards here in the high desert make them look like
completely new trails at times - but with some of the same company,
Nance and Jazzbo, Tom and Frank. 
It was getting warm, and Quickie already has a winter coat started
(does this mean it's going to be another early, cold, and long winter
again?), so we took advantage of all the plentiful water troughs and
dunking buckets (delivered and kept filled by neighbors Carol and Rick)
out there, Quickie drinking and me sponging her.
We were joined
by Chris Yost - on his backup horse Meadow Manasseh, as his 4-day horse
Turbo BLY was sore this morning from a stone bruise. Kara Yost was also
done after 4 days, her horse being sore from scratches. Chris had been
near the front of the pack this morning, but he and Naomi Preston had
taken a detour along the wrong trail this morning, and had done some
extra miles. It sounds easy, following ribbons, especially if the trail
is well marked... but what is easy is spacing out, losing your
concentration for a short time. As Tom said, "It takes only one
ribbon!" and you're going the wrong way.
Quickie got even
feistier heading home on this loop, as we were in a group of 4 or 5
riders, and Quickie was in back. No chance of me taking any more
pictures now, and instead a good chance of Quickie getting mad enough
to buck me off - and I had no carrots to bribe her with!
But we
made it into camp with me still on top of the saddle, and after our vet
check and 50 minute hold, Quickie and I waited for Jacinta to go out on
our last 10 mile loop. Nance and Tom had gone out ahead of us, so it
was just Jacinta and I, and Quickie once again didn't seem to mind
going back out on the trail with Kumeer. 
We trotted along the rim above Bates Creek Road, and were caught by
Paul Wells, on his 5th day of riding 2 different horses. His wife
Laurie was very disappointed she couldn't make it to this ride.
Something about girlfriends having scheduled a vacation this week.
Don't friends and family members know by now to schedule vacations and
weddings and babies around the endurance ride calendar?
We
crossed Bates Creek Road, worked our way back up onto the flats, and
headed in the direction of the purple-blue Owhyee Mountains, trotting
fast and steadily, following clouds of dust that whirled up into the
air and that must have been seen for miles around. "You couldn't be an
outlaw here!" Jacinta commented. Quickie was in a better mood on this
loop - she probably knew it was her last one, and she had just Kumeer
for company, not a herd to stir her up.
I never forget to be
amazed at these endurance horses I ride. Mile after mile, they go, and
go, and keep going. Quickie was not at her fittest, but we flew along
in her big half-Orlov trot, pounding along the trail, for miles without
easing up.
Another thing that amazes me about endurance riding
is how the horses make everybody feel - young and old people, sick and
healthy and injured people - it's just good for the body and soul. "You
know," Jacinta said. "I look in the mirror, and see that I'm old. But
when I'm out riding a horse, I feel just like I did 30 years ago."
Riding an endurance horse challenges your body and mind, and lets you
share the amazing ability of a horse that will willingly (most of the
time) go 15, or 25, or 50, or 100 miles down a trail, year after
year, (this is Quickie's 11th season of endurance riding) on trails
that you'd never bother to go out and see on foot.
And when we
got to the top of the Pickett Creek Canyon, once again I got off
Quickie and led her down the hill, and stayed off of her and walked her
on in to camp, because she'd done enough today, and I knew I'd be
fighting to hold her back on the way in!
Many personal and
equinal milestones were reached at this year's Owyhee Canyonlands ride.
Cindy Bradley, who's been plagued with health problems for at least the
last year that have prevented her from riding, rode her first 50 since
then on day 1, and rode and completed again on days 3 and 5. As Steph
said, "She's back!"
18-year-old Frank, with Tom aboard, reached
his 4000 mile mark, and with the look of him, he could easily and
happily go another 4000.
Barbara Holmes, who with her husband
Grant came down from Canada, made it a tradition of riding Rhett on her
birthday (and after very recent knee surgery), having a great time and
finishing second on the LD today.
Five riders completed all five
days of the LDs, and four riders completed all 5 days of 50's. For the
second year in a row, Naomi Preston and Karlady were the overall 5-day
winners, and they took home the overall Best Conditioned prize also.
And of course, most importantly, the Raven completed another 155 miles.
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| Posted by The Equestrian Vagabond at | | | |
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Saturday September 27 2008
Ride
manager Steph had originally planned to ride her favorite horse Rhett
the first 3 days of the ride... but she soon realized that would be
tough, even with Regina Rose helping day-manage the ride. But this
weekend there would be plenty of volunteers, and Regina had everything
under control, so not only did Steph get to ride, but I got to ride
again too!
And it was one of the prettiest days of the 5 days -
if one can really be chosen over the other - the 17-mile loop 1 for
both the 55-milers and 30-milers led to and through Hart Creek, 
right up to the base of the Hart Creek Canyon notch, with a climb above
it onto a steep and thin ridge; the last loop for both distances
followed the Hart Creek Rim Trail - a beautiful view looking down on
the morning's trail.
Today I rode Rushcreek Mac and Connie rode
Jose, and in the cool morning we zipped along the trails, over hills,
through washes, weaving through sagebrush and big yellow rabbit brush
to dry Hart Creek. We walked through the rocky creek, below the
cottonwoods and willows with just a touch of yellow in their leaves,
and the quailbush just beginning to turn maroon. There was one little
spot of water when we crossed the creek at the Oreana Savannah (a
hidden cabin), and Mac chose this spot to pee, right when the other
horses were drinking. Argh!
"ARGH!" said everybody whose horses
were drinking just downstream. But what could I do? You don't want to
stop a horse in - pardon the pun - midstream, so, Mac just finished his
business and we moved on. I of course never heard the end of that all
day, "Hey Merri, did you let your horse pee in this water trough, too?"
Argh!
Mac and Jose were both working hard enough this morning
that Connie and I both dismounted to lead them up the stiff climb onto
the ridge. By the time we reached the top, 4 of us were huffing and
puffing, and we were quite hot in the cool air. Whew! That was my Dog
Walk again for the day. Great views of the lowlands behind us and
horses coming up the ridge,  and the Owyhee Mountain range in front of us.
Back
in camp, both horses passed their vet check and settled into their hay
and alfalfa snacks. It's good for them to eat hay before they dive into
their grain. After 15 minutes I mixed some grain up; Mac buried his
nose in his bucket, and Jose turned his nose UP at his. What? Jose not
wanting grain? Something was wrong! I noticed he was breathing fast,
and he had a somewhat glazed glint in his eye... uh oh... you get that
feeling of somebody punching you in the stomach because you know
something is WRONG. And then I heard a weird noise - a gurgling, coming
from his throat - Jose was choking! Connie and I immediately took him
to the vets; Robert Washington, who said he'd never seen or heard a
choke quite like this, worked on massaging his esophagus. The worst
thing you can do is put water down their throat; it's best to let the
horse work it out on his own if he can. Gene Nance asked if we'd been
feeding him leafy alfalfa - yes we had; he said sometimes the dry
leaves get all balled up and can get stuck, so it's better to wet them
before they are consumed. (You can bet that we were over-diligent in
tearing off the leaves of alfalfa and soaking it before feeding any of
it the rest of the ride.)
After several minutes of Robert
massaging, and Jose gurgling and trying to swallow, finally he gave a
big sigh, licked his lips, and his eyes didn't look so glazed. Connie
took him to the grass, where he wasn't real interested in eating but a
few bites, but eventually, after Mac and I went back out on the trail,
Jose went back to eating normally, with Connie keeping a close eye on
him. Poor Jose! He'd never had any problems at a ride, and it was kind
of rattling to watch him choke and to worry about him.
Sometimes
Mac can be a big chicken if he goes out by himself, and it was easier
just to put him behind company. On loop 2 it was my luck to latch onto
good company in Frank and ("his publicist") Tom Noll, and Shahcolate
Chip and his rider Jeff Stuart. 
There he was, the high-headed spirited Frank, working on his
approximately two thousandth Owyhee mile, dragging Tom along with his
reins double wrapped around Tom's hands (yikes!). "I started him on
Adequan shots a while back, and they took 5 years off his life. Maybe I
shouldn't have done that!" We decided if Frank wrote a book, it would
start out like this: "All I ever heard out of Tom's mouth was, 'Slow
down!' " The title of every chapter would be, "Idiot!" Have you seen
the made-in-southern-Idaho movie Napoleon Dynamite? Frank, we imagined,
uses the same tone of voice calling his rider "Idiot!" when he wants to
go out front, and when he wants to go faster, the opposite of what Tom
wants. We imagined that Frank uses this word quite often.
We
moved right along on the 22-mile loop, across the highway to day 2's
Vet Check, where we had no hold, but we stopped to partake of the water
and hay still out there. It was in the low 80's today, and I let Mac
fly toward home behind Jeff's big-striding horse and Frank (well,
sometimes Tom used us for a speedbump for Frank, who was mightily
insulted by that). I wanted to see what Mac was made of, how fit he
really was, because his pulse rate had always been down to 60 or below
as soon as we arrived at the vet checks in his previous rides. But it
was hot today, and we were moving pretty fast for being only Mac's 3rd
50-mile ride. Back in camp for the second vet check, it took him 10
minutes to come down to the 60 bpm criteria. He hung at 70 for a while,
then at 64. It took sponging with cool water, and standing in the shade
to finally get him down to 60. Frank was a little slow coming down
also, as were several others at this time of the warm day, one of the
pulse takers said.
Mac trotted out well, and ate heartily 
during the 50 minute hold, but I was going to slow down on the last 16
mile loop, even if it meant I had to take ol' Spookums out by himself.
But Tom wanted to slow down also (he did not consult with Frank), since
he was aiming to complete all 5 days of 50's on Frank, and though
Jeff's horse was fresher, he stuck with us. In the middle of the loop,
when Mac was really dogging it, I told them to go on, but Jeff said,
"We've been the Three Musketeers for this long, we may as well stick
together!" As we were going out on our last loop on the canyon road, we
saw the leaders coming in to the finish on the trail through the
sagebrush off to our left. Canadian Jan Marsh on Morning Line (they
also won Day 1) was in front, followed by, 50 yards back, Steph and
Rhett. "I'm not going to catch her!" Steph yelled at us when we
hollered at her. Rhett was tossing his head as he darted through the
sagebrush, looking a bit miffed that he wasn't first back home.
Following a few minutes behind them were 9-year-old Barrak Blakely and
his mom Gabriella; Barrak was riding Alias, the same horse he'd been
pulled on for a bruised foot on Day 1. Happily, they completed, Barrak
finishing third. He was the only junior rider at the Owyhee Canyonlands!
Eventually moving up onto the Rim Trail, 
apparently we just missed a big fat rattlesnake, seen by Karen Steenhof
who'd just passed us. We were caught by Lynne White, Chris and Kara
Yost, and Nance Worman. Nance and the Yosts were working on their 4th
day of 50's on their horses; Nance and Jazzbo had taken a tumble during
Day 2 and Jazzbo had skinned his knees and his nose, but Jazzbo, tough
little bugger he is, was still motoring right along.
Mac was
acting so weary I insisted they all go on ahead, and only Tom Noll
stayed with us. But wouldn't you know, turning for home, Mac found his
second wind - more like a first wind, and I almost couldn't find the
brakes! Yea - I know what he's made of now! We got to the top of
Pickett Creek Canyon, and I got off to lead Mac down, and I decided to
stay off and walk in, because I knew there would be no holding Frank
back, and I didn't want to fight with Mac's brakes on the way in
either, so, I took another Dog Walk (minus the dogs, who were probably
busy mooching food off ridecampers) back home into camp.
Mac,
former Rushcreek Ranch Cow-Horse, successfully completed his 3rd
50-mile ride; and had we slowed down just a bit, we would have come in
with Tamara and Aaruba, who also successfully completed their 55 mile
ride, Aaruba's second one.
Tom, Nance, Chris and Kara Yost, Kim Black, and Naomi Preston all completed their 4th day in a row on their 50-mile horses.
Besides
the 28 horses on the 55-mile ride (25 completed), and the 18 horses
(all completed) on the 30-mile ride, there were two trail riders who
came to spend the weekend and ride. One was Phil Carroll and his
Tennessee Walking Horse, Timer (Go Gaiters!). I'd met Phil at the Pink
Flamingo ride in July, and again at the Old Selam ride in August. I'd
been talking up the Owyhee trails, and Phil and his wife Margaret were
able to come this weekend. Phil and his friend chose to ride the Hart
Creek Trail - excellent choice! - and from the story Timer wrote, it
appears they all enjoyed it.
Dr Peterson gave another
InfoLecture, this one on the importance of warming up your horse in the
mornings from the physiological perspective; I never had any class in
college where the 'professor' had such rapt 'students'. Dr Peterson
then segued into one of his terrific Cowboy Poems about the wilderness.
If he doesn't watch out, we'll be bringing him here principally for the
Education and Entertainment duties, with a little vetting thrown in on
the side.
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| Posted by The Equestrian Vagabond at | | | |
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Friday September 26 2008
Another
day on the trail! This time it was the 30 mile ride through Sinker
Creek Canyon. And it was on 18-year-old Quickie. Quickie is not too
excited about anything but eating any more, but, since she didn't want
to get pregnant this summer, she went back to work. (I bet now she was
rethinking spurning the advances of that gorgeous Cremello stallion, LJ Owyhee Moonstone next door.) Today Quickie and I escorted Suri on his first 25 mile ride with Connie aboard.
Now, while ride manager Steph Teeter did rake miles and miles, and miles,
of trails (did anybody notice?), Sinker Creek was R-O-C-K-Y. Pure rock,
in fact. Which you pretty much had to take at walking speed, which was
a good thing, because it was so scenic.
Two-track roads and
cross-desert trails over BLM land led us to where the out-vet check
would be at about 5 miles from camp. We stopped for a good drink and
leisurely munch of hay that was already set out, and as we continued on
over the flats toward Sinker Creek, the first 50-milers (who'd started
an hour before the LD) were already cantering back towards us and the
vet check from their 20 mile loop through Sinker Canyon. We moseyed our
way to Sinker 
- it was an educational day for Suri - and when we got to the top of
the hill leading down, Quickie stopped. I couldn't get her to move
again - she was waiting for me to get off and lead her down. So I did. 
Sinker Canyon 
was just getting its first whiff of fall, the cottonwoods and willows
just starting to turn with a little color. Our rocky trail wound back
and forth through the flowing creek, 
through tunnels of overgrown willows, some that we had to duck under;
and the tall red cliff walls kept us in the shade and cool air. 
Halfway through the canyon we passed some ruins of an old cabin, and a
little further on we came across some cattle. Cattle aren't normally
scary, but when they start making rustling noises in the brush behind
you, and then you start hearing non-cow hooves on rocks, and splashes,
and then human voices where they shouldn't be, things in the overgrown
canyon do become rather spooky.
And it wasn't Suri, the green
horse who spooked while leading in front, but the old hand Quickie
following behind who was scared. It could have been a cougar
back there, after all... Quickie wanted to take the lead and get the
heck out of the canyon. So Suri let the old lady move to the front, and
he protected her from cougar attacks from behind, and we made our way
along the creek-bed out of the canyon,  following an old road carved into the shale cliffside up onto the flats.
John
Teeter riding an ATV followed behind the last riders (just behind us)
closing some of the gates we'd passed through, and he noticed a
mysterious pool of blood beside one of them. A rather substantial
pool... but no sign of humans or horses in distress, no tangled gates
or wires, no torn up or scuffed ground... just a mystery. No
complaining by anybody back at camp later in the day, either.
Coming
into the vet check, the riders behind us caught up with us, and then
the heated race for Turtle was on. Who could go slowest? The vet check
crew was about ready to pack up and leave by the time we got there, and
in fact they did pack up during our 50 minute hold,  and they followed us down the road toward home with all the gear when we left.
We leisurely made our way along the 5 miles back to camp along the wash we went out on this morning, 
and even with me getting off Quickie to walk her in the last
mile-and-a-half over the hard-packed road, I was still only 5th from
last. Well, Quickie would have been quite insulted by the Turtle award!
Back at basecamp after the ride, I finally met Tamara of In the Night Farm,
having just arrived with her horse Aaruba for tomorrow's 50 mile ride -
their second 50 after a horrific near-fatal colic by Aaruba last
October. Tamara and I had been following each other's blogs for a
while, and in fact were both at the Old Selam ride in August, but just
hadn't met yet.
Then there was my Nevada endurance riding pal,
Krysta, who'd come from Reno with her mom and one horse, and room for
two in the trailer - she was coming to look at DIEGO!
My sweet stinker Diego - actually Kevin in Arizona's horse, but Diego
loves me bestest and mostest - might be getting a new owner! And nobody
better than Krysta, whose main horse Sinatra has been diagnosed with
cancer : ( . It was good to see Krysta again, and if Diego must leave,
I'd be happy to see him hop in Krysta's van. I think they are a match
made in heaven.
The pool of blood mystery was solved when Vicki
Green picked up her completion award for 12th place in the 30 at the
awards dinner: she had been closing one of the gates, when the cheater
bar slipped and smacked her in the nose and broke it. (Typical of crazy
endurance riders, she still didn't complain, and would end up riding
the two last days.)
All 29 horses finished the 30 mile ride, and
22 of 24 finished the 50 mile ride. One of the pulls was neighbor Carol
on our riding buddy August. He stepped on a rock just wrong - after the
rocky canyon, not in it - and ended up with a big stone bruise.
This
was the first time Steph recalls there being more entries in the LD
than the 50 mile ride. In fact, some people came to the Canyonlands
just to ride in all the LDs... and this was the first time Steph
offered 5 days of the shorter distance. For many LD riders it was a
stress relief - you didn't have to worry about trying to get your horse
through 5 days of 50's. You're out on the trail for 3 to 4 hours, and
then you have the rest of the day to relax and visit, and enjoy the
Owyhee Scenic Spa at the Teeter Rancho. |
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| Posted by The Equestrian Vagabond at | | | |
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Thursday September 25 2008
While
the ride down to the Snake River petroglyphs was left out this year,
riders still got a chance to ride along the Snake River  , along the old Oregon Trail, and around the base of Wild Horse Butte, 300 feet high and almost a mile in diameter.
And I was one of them!
Connie
rode Rushcreek Mac, and I rode my pal Jose Viola, (with Raven in Bag),
on the 55-mile ride, and we picked up Helen Bonner on the way out of
camp under cloudy skies with an orange strip of sunrise slicing the
eastern horizon. Same ol' trails  I've done at least 4 times now... up onto the north flats, across the highway, 
through part of the 485,000-acre Snake River Birds of Prey National
Conservation Area, through a deep wash that gets so narrow you can
touch the sides as you canter along if you dare to let go of the reins,
on a big loop around Fossil Butte, into the vet check at 18 miles, back
out on a big 38 mile loop to the Snake River  and back to the vet check, and 12 miles back into camp.
And
they never get old. Every time I ride the trails out here, even around
the house, I'll see something I never noticed before - a pile of
boulders, the angle of a wash, a fold in the hills that suddenly looks
unusual, a different game trail I haven't tried yet. Different lighting
- different times of the day or the year - add yet another element to
the trails 
and the Owyhee mountains on the horizon. And it always makes me think
of the pioneers in the 1800's that traversed the area when they had to
blaze their own trails - especially when I'm hot and dusty and tired...
and I know I have a hot shower and cold Dr Pepper awaiting me back at
the house.
A
thin cloud cover kept the day 5-7 degrees cooler than a baking sun
would have, and the bugs weren't so bad along the ever-scenic Snake
this time. We were cruising along with our horses - Jose wanted to go
faster faster faster! - and Mac was pushing a bit to keep up with Jose
- but we'd started out at the back of the pack (somebody
couldn't get ready to leave the starting line on time), and we stayed
there. Everybody seemed to be cruising about the same speed and staying
in their same positions.
Now, a word about the out vet checks
here. Riders leave their gear bags in a pile in the morning, where the
volunteers (namely neighbors Linda and Mike) load them into the horse
trailer, drive to the out vet check, and unload the bags. Some riders
pack efficiently - a little food for the rider and horse - in a bag
that is small and light. Connie and I packed a bag that was very big
and extraordinarily heavy. So heavy, that I had to have help from Mike
carrying it to where Connie and I set up. "What've you got in there, a
body?" Well - it was lots of treats for us humans (Connie doesn't ride
anywhere without a Goodie Bag, and this one was full, and of course we
had to have a few Starbucks coffee drinks, and lots of frozen water
bottles) and horses (lots of beet pulp - wet and therefore heavy, and
some dry grain, and carrot treaties). We hadn't even put any blankets
in, or hay, like we normally would! We had to make sure that we and our
horses wouldn't go hungry, no matter what the weather or trail
conditions. Mac discovered all the goodies in Connie's human Goodie Bag
and was nosing around in it  trying to help himself, while dripping wet beet pulp all over us.
The
trails were mostly soft (and just starting to get a bit dried out and
dusty), the company and conversations good, and the ride really was
coming to an end quickly; too soon, we were zipping along the last
plateau top towards home. We had to pass a shortcut turnoff to our
house that Jose and Mac both knew well, but we didn't have any trouble
keeping the boys cruising past it, to the downhill trail (Merri's
Trail) at the end of our Pickett Creek Canyon. There, when we stopped
to get off to walk down the hill, Connie found Mac had thrown a front
shoe.
We just walked the whole two miles on foot back into camp
- it felt good to stretch the leg muscles after much steady, fast
trotting. Actually, it only felt good once I could walk with my bad
kneecap... which worked itself out after a half mile or so. Jose's a
fast walker, so I had a good workout keeping up with him. That was my
daily dog walk... only the dogs weren't with me (and boy, did they need
their daily walks, as they were ballooning out from all the food they
were begging at the ride dinners!) And we did it - another 50 miles of
trail for me and my great pal Jose. 
29
of 30 horses finished the 55 mile ride, and all 21 riders finished the
30-miler. Evidently many of them were gaited horses again, as evidenced
by the many "Go Gaiters!" cheers during the awards. Apparently they
also kidnapped Steph (she went to their trailer on the pretext of
looking for somebody or something) and they plied her with a (?) shot
of tequila, so she had a good time conducting the ride meeting.
The
well-fed, jocular and sometimes rowdy group of endurance riders and
families were quiet as church mice as Dr Michael Peterson gave one of
his very popular informational lectures, this one on the mechanics of
feeding beet pulp to endurance horses.
Highlight of the day had
to be the completion of the 30-mile ride by Skyla Stewart and her
27-year-old - that's TWENTY-SEVEN years old - horse AW Habod. He had a
great time - as you can see from the story Habod himself wrote.
Then
there was Jacinta Denton, who won the 25 on her lovely gelding Krasniy
Kumeer. She was so excited receiving her award - "I've never won
anything in my life!"
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| Posted by The Equestrian Vagabond at | | | |
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Wednesday September 24 2008
Day
1 was the traditional loop southeast out to Castle Creek Canyon and
back for the 50 milers, and a shorter loop in the same direction for
the 25 milers. I spent the day helping at the out vet check for the 25
milers. Neighbors Linda and Mike set up with horse trailer, hay, gear
bags, hot dogs, and water near an old homestead, 
and were then joined by rider-but-not-riding-today Neil, Dr Robert
Washington and me. We passed our waiting time by exploring the
buildings that were still standing. One was occupied by a screech owl, 
who almost stole Dr Robert Washington's tiny dog off his leash, and who
fluffed up to look as big as a great horned owl by the time a few of us
peeked in and bothered him. It's probably the busiest he'd ever seen
his quiet little spot in the desert.
Excitement on today's trail
included a quite deep beaver pond on Castle Creek that riders had to
wade through (or jump - hold on!). Steph had warned riders of it at the
previous night's ride meeting, saying it was up to her hips when she
went through it. "Were you on foot or on your horse!?" Then there was
the rogue rattlesnake or two that more than one horse was surprised by
and jumped over.
38
of 40 riders finished the 50, and all 14 riders finished the 25 miler.
Jan Marsh from Canada won the 50 miler in a speedy 4 hours and 29
minutes.
Today's
horses and riders represented a good spectrum of the endurance riding
pie: the fleet four-footed included Arabians and mustangs and gaited
horses and mules. The intrepid riders included the youngest rider -
Barrak Blakely, 9 years old and riding with his parents (unfortunately
his horse was pulled on the 50 for lameness), and oldest rider - 67
years young Jacinta Denton.
Milestone of the day's ride was Karen Bumgarner, 
who with today's completion reached her 20,000 mile mark. Today she
rode her horse Thunder - yes, the one who dumped her on a training ride
last November and ran off and went missing for 6 days and had many
worried endurance riders out looking for him. He is looking like a
seasoned endurance horse now.
For those of you who don't quite
grasp the distance of riding horses for 20,000 miles, that would be
like riding from Oreana to Los Angeles to Orlando to New York and back
to Oreana. Twice. With a side trip thrown in from Oreana to Anchorage.
And back. Plus a ride into Boise. And back.
She received a
fitting special award... a little Pokey horse (of Gumby and Pokey
fame), and I'll bet she has many more thousands left in her stirrups.
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| Posted by The Equestrian Vagabond at | | | |
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