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Friday night I slept well even with the occasional horse bump and middle of
the night call of nature.  Dani was out and did not move all night.  At 5 am
I am wide awake, just like a normal school day at home.  I sighed and
dragged my butt out of the warm bed and refill the hay bags, serve another
beat pulp and electrolyte soup.  Now it is only 5:20.  I could still be
sleeping!  Too keyed up I turn to a Richard North Patterson murder mystery
set in San Francisco.
At 6:45 I awake the Sleeping Beauty.  Dani is a dream in comparison to many
teenagers.  She gets up with minimal complaint and starts getting ready.
The camp is relatively quiet even as the 50 milers queue up to take on the
trail.  The weather is cooler than yesterday, but will be in the high 80's
with the possibility of humidity and even rain.  This is very different from
last year when it was in the 70's to low 80's, dry and cold at night.
I recheck my pack, apply sunscreen and nag Dani to speed it up.  At 7:30 we
are ready to complete the last horse preparations and mount up.  Somehow it
is 7:50 by the time we make it to the starting line.  The camp is way too
quiet and I start wondering just what I missed at the ride meeting when my
brain was turned off.
We are joined by a true gentleman, Pat (sorry, I can not remember your last
name) on an equally kind gray Arab gelding.  We attempt to move down the
trail, but Jazzi and Lyric are being naughty, small bucks, failure to
respond to cues, speeding up when asked to slow down.  This does not help
Pat's horse at all and within minutes all three of them have shared a
secrete pact to test their respective riders ability to stay seated.  We ask
to pass a large group from Challenge Ranch who's leader is having a stern
conversation with his black gaited horse about who is boss.  Lyric gets
really silly when she is turned in a circle and some scrubby bushes rub her
belly.  Dani is getting mad. I have my hands full with Jazzi who thinks she
is a race horse.
Lyric now has 2 full season's of CTR and 3 or 4 LD's under her belt.  She
has matured and grown up.  At 7 and 1/2 years of age, she has learned to
drink, eat, pee, poop and rest when it is offered.  I trust her to take care
of her self.  Dani is a beautiful rider and together they are a TEAM.  I am
only concerned about Lyric's left front hoof.  On Monday the furrier
discovered she had crushed her left front heel.  We believe it is due to the
high speed trail work Dani had been doing over the previous several weeks.
The right only had some mild damage.  Lyric is very left leaded. Due to the
crushed heel Team Lyrelle (Lyr-e-elle, Lyric and Danielle)  was bumped to
the LD from what was to be their first 50.
Jazzi (a 6 year old National Show Horse) on the other hand has one year of
only CTR and has not learned to drink early in the ride.  She usually waits
until 10 or 15 miles before she drinks.  But when she does drink, she tanks
up.  Last year at the Warner Springs CTR, I had a real problem with lack of
control with the Little S Horse Hackamore.  Jazzi is now in a French link
snaffle and has more training with Michelle Nicklo, a Clinton Anderson
trainer. At the start I still had my hands full, but I was still in control
and after a few circles, neck bends, side passes she started to settle down
and walk.
What I love about this horse is her walk and willingness.  She has a 4 to 5
mile per hour big strided walk that eats up the miles.  Her trot is very
comfortable and easy to ride.  But, Lyric can out trot her any day of the
week and Lyric is a full hand smaller than Jazzi.  Needless to say this
really makes Jazzi mad!
After about 45 minutes all 3 horses have settled down and we start taking
turns leading, following and bringing up the rear.  Jazzi prefers the lead.
Lyric has recently developed a fondness for the lead too.  Pat's horse is
very well behaved in any position.  The trail was very well marked and no
loose cows.  The footing had a lot of new deep sand and moguls from
motorcycles.  It was getting hot and I was glad I had a full camelback of
water for me and two large bottles to cool Jazzi with.
Up we go through the brush, them down into the off road staging area.  Less
than a dozen off roaders were in the staging area and all were friendly and
turned off their engines. We were monitored by the ham radio team known as
"React."  They were all business getting our numbers and making sure we were
all fine. Water was available in large black troughs kept full by
volunteers. As expected, Lyric drank well here, but Jazzi just looked at it.
Pat had a GPS and kept us informed of our mileage and pace.  (I could not
locate mine, bummer.)  It was getting hotter.
Next was up a moderate hill and down the other side with amazing views of
the badlands in the San Diego and Imperial County desert.  An old railroad
line cut a path down the side of a steep rugged mountain.  It disappeared
into a tunnel.  It was beautiful and frightening all at the same time.  The
horses did well and we were trotting much of the trail.  My heart rate
monitor was working well. Jazzi was between 120-130 while trotting and in
the 90's when walking.
Soon it was time to climb in earnest up to the vet check.  Our horses did
well and moved out.  I was ready for a rest.  Dani and Pat looked great.  In
fact Dani even tailed up some of the hill.
 Continued in part 3.


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