[RC] how broken is too broken?! our Moab ride story! - Marlene Moss
My husband Stace and I decided we really needed a vacation
and since we missed Moab last year, that ride became our goal this year.
Well, 5 weeks ago Stace broke 3 bones in his left foot when a 700 pound bale
fell on him – he was very lucky. Then last week I got tossed and
bruised my tail bone pretty bad (still mostly assuming it’s not broken except
when I move wrong or my horse decides a shadow is worth jumping). Then
our truck started having starting issues (no pun intended). And our
intermittent trailer brakes (on a 3H LQ) became more consistent – on the
non-working side!
Stace managed to get all of 17 miles on his horse in the
past 2 month, but luckily she keeps her conditioning and his foot was feeling
pretty good so he aimed to do the first and third days. We bought a fuel
pump (hoping it was the solution to the starting problem, but it wasn’t)
in Grand Junction on the way to the ride and relied on the exhaust brake to get
us safely down the hills. We were quite determined to get to this ride.
And it was absolutely worth it! I was riding a new horse
this season and we were still learning about each other. She starting the
season as a fairly sane idiot. Mostly great when riding but a lunatic
otherwise. She has slowly settled in and can go from race mode to
sleeping standing in an instant (except for the need to rub her head all over
me) so I was having to learn what was her learning to deal from what might be a
horse that was getting tired. But she did great and rode all 3 days,
ending strong. Stace met his goal of riding 2 days and both horses camped
well (other than a little exploration during the wee hours one morning).
This was an amazing ride, and shouldn’t be
missed. Each day brought new trail and different types of terrain and
gorgeous views. We learned our horses can canter over slick rock.
For those of you who need a place to condition for sandy rides this certainly
fits the bill! On the second day when Stace let his foot recover, I rode
by myself for the first time. I started out near the front runners but
got tired of trying to pace my horse without creeping up on the leaders all
day. So I made her walk for a bit and found a nice window. It was
nice to find that she was still as forward as I asked her to be, remaining
willing to suggest cantering on her own as the terrain allowed, but also, she
didn’t care that we were alone and there were horses “up there”.
We had one fun moment! This horse is very opinionated
and a little barn sour. When we ride from home she will make instant left
turns in an effort to go back home – it gets frustrating, but I still
have to laugh at her. So at one point we were cantering along on the last
leg of the ride and we came up a hill and she could see the big rock hill that
had camp right behind it. She saw that rock and immediately dove left,
plowing into a sand bank and some bushes, thinking she knew a better way back!
Aside from the spectacular views (which I can’t even begin
to describe), this was a great ride. With over 100 riders each day, ride
management and all the volunteers had their work cut out for them. Vet
checks were out each day and lunches were provided, which was fantastic.
We were fed better than we would have fed ourselves. The horses had
excellent hay and tons of carrots provided. And best yet, there were
plenty of water stops, all very well supplied by the water trucks. Trails
were well marked and dinners were excellent, along with a bonfire.
Griffin’s tack provided the top awards (I got the LD first lightweight
award each day – a half bale bag, a crew bag and a rump rug) – all beautifully
embroidered. Sheri outdid herself for the ride completion awards –
the first day she bought an 8x10 photo for each rider from a local
photographer. The second day was a table top grill and the third day was
either a log book (which I had already bought separately) or a really neat map/ride
card pack also made by Griffin’s.
Next year Sheri is considering trail that goes down to the
Green River. Another ride not to be missed! Hopefully we’ll
have less broken things next year (and we made it home by not letting the truck
come to a complete stop anywhere, we’re now back to researching the
problem.)
