This entry was posted on 6/30/2009 12:54 PM and is filed under uncategorized.
Monday June 29 2009
So said the back of Janis' shirt (all except the Toe stuff) when we rode off on a 25 mile loop today.
I
just couldn't stand it, after missing two 50-mile rides in our back
yard (the Almosta Bennett Hills ride), and Janis saying she was going
out on a long ride today, soI just
had to go riding with her. This morning I got a bigger sized Croc shoe from Steph and stuffed my right foot in.
Yowza. That's when I got the notion that maybe I didn't just rip the toenail off my foot when
I got stepped on, but maybe I broke the dang toe too.
Whoooeeeee
it hurt and I didn't think there was any way I'd be able to put my foot
in the stirrup (hitting the side of the stirrup, putting weight in the
stirrup, etc). But it was SUCH a nice day, and Janis was already on her
horse Cole heading my way at a canter, the Owyhee mountains in the
background framing them, Cole's mane flying in the breeze and Janis
grinning, and that clinched it. I was riding.
I hobbled out to
catch Jose, limped about getting him ready, and whimpered as I stood on
my bad foot to mount. I awkwardly hauled myself up into the saddle
(sorry, Jose!), placed my poor toe in the big shoe into the stirrup...
and off we went!
It hurt, sometimes a lot, but, who cared! A
cooling breeze refreshed us as we trotted north on Steph's ridge; and
the view into Hart Creek along the Rim Trail as we headed south on the
next ridge made up for the rising temperature. We turned back north and
descended the sharp ridge
down into Hart Creek, where the horses gulped cool water, and then I
almost guided Jose over a rattlesnake at the old Homestead! He saw it
before I did and jumped out of the way.
Normally when I ride
this loop I'm going the other direction, so this was almost like a new
trail today. And I don't know if Jose has ever been this direction -
things looked different and interesting to him too, and he had one big
spook when we came around a corner and saw a dead log on his left.
Sure, we've seen that dozens of times from the right side, but not the
left!
I found a long snake skin on the ground (going into a
little burrow - did the snake just slide out of his skin when he
slithered inside?), and, a GPS! Actually Jose must have spotted it
because he stopped right there to get some grass, so I could hop off
him and pick it up. So now Jose has his own GPS.
We followed
Hart Creek (soon it became dry - the water was diverted) to the Potato
Field (full of flowering potato plants this year), and when we turned
for home we had another nice breeze at our back.
By now the
drinking water in our saddle bags was hot, the day was starting to
cook, so it was good to be getting back home when we did. The boys
stood in Pickett Creek - which was 10* cooler than anywhere else - for
a while and took a deep drink right at the barn.
When I
dismounted, I had to lower myself gently to the ground - not land on my
right foot - but in general, my toe wasn't too much different after
riding. It still hurt. And what a great ride! Heck, I even think I
might have been able to do a 50 on Sunday.
Huh - that's the last
time I'm letting a little smashed toe stop me from riding in an
endurance ride. I can rest my toes when I die!
