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[RC] NASTR 50 (Part 2 of 4) - Aaron Turnage Poor Sinatra, he didn?t know if he was in a ride or
not. He thought he was when we got to camp, but now
we were out on the trail by ourselves, with no one in
sight. He was being pretty sluggish, not wanting to
walk out and trotting really slow. I took advantage
of the pace to study my ride map. We had a 28-mile
loop with a quick trot-by at 20 miles, before
returning to camp for an hour hold. Then it was a
17-mile loop with a 15 minute hold before that last
5-miles that essentially went ?around the block? from
ridecamp. This first loop was supposed to be pretty
difficult with a long climb in the first half. So
Sinatra and I trudged along, me pushing him at times
in order to maintain a 6 to 7 mph pace. And we started
to climb?..
Slowly at first, just a gentle slope, but it kept on
going, and going, and going. Soon we were in a
canyon, following a little natural stream headed the
opposite direction. After several miles (about 10-12
miles in maybe) we came to a spring-fed watering
trough. Sinatra took a long drink and I sponged him.
Then the hill took a turn for the worse and was
virtually straight up for the next mile and a half or
so. Once to the top we were rewarded with beautiful
views of the surrounding valleys (hey, I can ALMOST
see my house from here!). We were at the highest
point for miles around and it was spectacular. We
started to drop slightly and followed the single-track
trail along through the canyons on top of the ridge.
In one of these canyons, a flicker of movement high
and to my right caught my eye. It was a mustang herd!
The stallion was either black or a really dark bay
and he had at least three mares with him. He started
trumpeting down to us (that really loud snort they do)
and Sinatra just STOPPED! NO, stupid horse, GO! He
had his neck stretched to it fullest and was locked on
the stallion, who was clearly agitated and running
back and forth several yards in front of his mares. I
was kicking Sinatra only to be rewarded with one small
step, then another, still not paying attention to me.
GREAT, just what I need is a horse fight in the middle
of nowhere with no one coming behind to save me if
something went wrong. Sinatra then made matters worse
by trumpeting back at the stallion, challenging him.
That?s when I lost it and started screaming at him and
slapping him with my hand on his neck as hard as I
could. It was enough to get his attention and he
promptly trotted out of there, with QUITE the spring
in his step!
This was what I needed all along, finally a horse with
some energy and forward impulsion. We easily trotted
the next couple of miles (with Sinatra and I both
checking over our shoulders every so often) until we
met up with a couple that were just getting ready to
leave a water trough. They politely asked if they
could leave and I said yes. Asked if they had seen
the mustangs and they had with no issues, luckily
since they were both riding mares, one of which WAS a
mustang. They left and I got off and took a few
minutes for Sinatra to drink and be sponged. Got his
head back on me and not the other horses (Oh Mom! Now
we have someone to chase!) and started down the trail.
This next section was single-track that ran along
side of the mountain, often with a steep drop off.
Good training for Tevis (a future dream of mine). I
didn?t mind the heights and Sinatra is very sure
footed. We followed this little trail for a while
through some small up and down little hills and then
started our descent. YUCK! Steep, nasty, loose,
shale footing. I was off walking and would slide down
until I hit the end of my reins/leadrope. Sinatra?s
job was to eat weeds and act as my anchor until I came
to a stop. Then he would slide down behind me as I
took off again until he stopped to grab another bite.
We looked like a dysfunctional slinky I?m sure but it
worked. It took a LONG time to get down this hill but
with the footing I just didn?t want to ride it.
To be continued...
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