Day 30, 2001 XP

[Karen <karen@storallnv.com>]

Last night we were at Simpson Springs and today we are 
at.....well...somewhere in Utah :+).  I could get up to go look but I'm 
glued to this chair, at least until it starts to rain!  We had a really 
great day,  one of the nicest rides so far.  I rode Weaver today and he's 
doing really great, it was his 14th day.  We rode on more original pony 
express trail, from station to station and marker to marker today.  In some 
spots we could either ride the trail or use the dirt road since they 
paralleled.....there are bazillions of badger holes out there so it's safer 
to take the trail but funner to ride the trail even though they are right 
next to each other.  I sponsored Kayla again and she rode Buzzy.  The best 
part was at the end when we got to climb up a long steep canyon and then 
got off and led the horses down, it was rocky and steep but more like an 
endurance ride, we really enjoyed it.

Only 10 ride days left, or 5 per horse......hope they can keep hanging in 
there.  I know Weaver can do it, I'm pretty confident with him.  He's 
gotten better each week and is keeping his weight well and has a really 
great attitude.  Rocky also has a great attitude but I feel that he's 
getting fragile to the point that it wouldn't take much for him to go 
off.  I think he's totally fine metabolically and doesn't have anything 
wrong like any saddle or girth sores but one wrong step..........we'll see 
how he looks tomorrow and maybe I'm worrying over nothing.  He's also done 
14 days so far.  I guess any horse can take a wrong step............<sigh>

It's beautiful here, the sunrises and sunsets are astonishingly 
beautiful.......the sky is blue, purple, pink, orange.....and the mountains 
are brown, green and yellow......with rock, and we have grass and sage and 
more rock....and badger holes (haven't seen a badger yet though!)  We've 
even had rainbows over our camp.  Everybody will go home with some 
incredible photos.

Steve Shaw was riding one of Louise's horses this morning when it took a 
dive into a badger hole.  He was explaining that to us about why his horses 
head was covered in white dust.  I wonder if the real pony express riders 
ever had any horses fall into badger holes?

This morning we were trotting along thru the pony express trail and zig 
zagging around all the badger holes, Weaver was feeling super good and it 
felt like I was riding a ballet.  Kayla said that it wasn't as much fun in 
the back when she could see how close we were getting to all of those 
badger holes.  There's no real trail, we just zag and wind around the 
badger holes......somewhere along the way right by a pony express marker 
Weaver stopped and grabbed a bite of grass to eat.  At about the same 
moment I instantly heard a ratttttttttle........RATTLESNAKE!!!!!!  It was 
underneath Weaver's front legs and winding and coiling up and hissing and 
rattling.  In a blink of an eye I kicked him and pulled him up onto his 
hind legs and spun him around and got out of there!  Kayla was scared even 
worse than I was because she saw the snake. I just heard it and knew that 
it was beneath us.  Weaver has no idea how close he came to being bit, he 
may still be wondering why I kicked him so hard though, for no good reason 
<G>.  We had jello knees and heart murmurs for many more miles after that.

Lunch was great, Dave made it over the pass in time and was waiting for us 
along with Rocky and the two girls (Whinny & Dax, the dogs).  Kayla came 
with us since her grandparents hadn't made it in time.  Terry Wooley's 
motorhome broke down on the top of the pass, blocking everybody. So any 
rigs that hadn't made it over by about 8:00 a.m. were stuck.  Ron 
Waltenspiel and Dennis Tribby pulled the wounded rig up over the hill.  We 
both vetted and came over and gave the horses food and ate lunch.   We 
really went fast :^D  in the morning because of the heat.  We started at 
5:00 a.m. and made it to lunch by about 9:30 -- about 4 1/2 
hours.  Yesterday it was 99 degrees and already 75 degrees when we woke up 
at 4 a.m.  So we were moving out pretty good so we'd make it thru lunch 
before the heat of the day so we'd have enough time to slow down should it 
get really unbearable.  Luckily, we had a stronger breeze today and more 
clouds so it was really nice.

The horses are really perking up, they love this country and the 
trail.  Winding thru a singletrack trail or thru sagebrush and up and down 
gulleys and mountain passes has given them a renewed enthusiasm.  They love 
their work!  It is such a blessing to be riding a horse that is having so 
much fun.  We were less tired, our second day of a four day ride 
week.......the first day of each week always seems to be the worse.  In two 
more days we'll get two days off in a row and then be ready to head across 
the Nevada desert from Fort Schellbourne.

Crews kept us watered and everytime Dave was waiting for us I'd dunk my 
hair in a bucket of water and we'd soak our shirts down to stay cool.  They 
dry out in a few minutes but in the meantime the breeze really cools you 
down.  The horses were getting sponged down too, and that helped them a 
lot.  A couple of times we stopped to let them eat for a few minutes at the 
trailer and I think that was a real benefit to them.  Weaver, of 
course....always has a mouthful of food if there is anything available.  I 
figure that I better feed him because if I don't he'll go on strike and 
I'll never get him down the trail because he'll park himself in front of a 
grassy spot and that'll be that.

The thunder is loud and we can see lightning just a mile or two from 
camp.  The wind is blowing and my computer is getting sprinkled on.  The 
screen needed dusting anyhow.  Now I've got mud dripping down. ha ha

We don't have any phone signal so I won't get anything sent probably until 
Schellbourne.

Happy XP Trails,

Karen
somewhere in Utah
.....only 10 days left!