How a few miles can change things - Manzanita ride story

[AliFarr@aol.com]

Well, it seems like the last message I posted, I was feeling kind of blue as I
was having trouble finishing a 25 all of a sudden, let alone moving up to 50.
That was the end of July.  For August and September, I am suddenly 2 for 2 and
have 100 total miles to our credit!  Norco Riverdance was our first 50 and we
finished in a respectable 10ish hour time frame.  But I wasn't convinced I
hadn't dreamed the whole thing :) so I aimed to try again at Manzanita.
Ceders has continued to exhibit really erratic behavior at the start of rides.
At Mt. Laguna he jigged, but that was it. At Garner Valley he was explosive;
reasonably quiet again at Riverdance and a crow hopping fool at Manzanita.  I
can't figure out the differences - all the starts seemed roughly the same to
me.  Started in the middleish every time and once we get going, he smooths out
and is fine.  But I do wonder about surviving the start occasionally ;).  Had
2 juniors with me this time, both riding 25 miles for completion, one my son
Kris; he of cholla cactus fame.....and the other a young lady from the Palos
verdes, CA area whose parents have been volunteering at Terry Wolley's rides
for over a year.  Don't know how they got started, but these two couples have
been packing the tent and bringing the kids and helping where ever Terry sends
them, just for the fun of it.  Their daughters love horses and at Norco, Nigel
mentioned that they were trying to find a sponsor so their daughter could try
a 25. Well, since these nice people had been fetching and carrying for me when
ever they noticed I was short handed for two rides running, it just seemed
like a perfect payback to be Emily's sponsor. So I volunteered.  As usual,
when we volunteer for something, (at least that's what usually happens to me)
we receive more than we give.  This kid had more FUN than the proverbial
barrel of monkeys.  What more can you ask for than to ride with someone who
thinks she has died and gone to heaven?  Minor mishaps aside (related
elsewhere in the "riderless horses post"  we made Vet 1 in about 2 hours.
Emily was riding a standardbred who took a bit longer to come down than
Ceders, but was remarkably well conditioned for his first time out.  Headed
out after the hold for the last ten miles; shortly after Emily's folks also
left the vet check to drive back to base camp, in order to have the camera
ready when we came trotting in.  They forgot to mention this plan to me
however, and Emily and I beat them back by about five minutes!  They made up
for it by taking a roll of film while Emily vetted in.  Except for the loss of
forward motion, trotting back (the food is that way Emily, why do we have to
trot this way??) her horse was in fine shape and she had her completion.  Me,
I had an hour to get reorganized and go back out to finish the second 25.
Ceders couldn't believe we were going out on the trail a) away from all the
other horses, b) away from his ride buddy, and c) alone.  We did NOT move
quickly for the first mile.  The wind was blowing into us, worse than in the
morning it seemed and he just squinted and putted along.  About mile 27 he
must have smelled other horses somewhere, as he whinnied once and perked up
considerably.  We continued to move at a reasonable pace, and I took a walk
break (me off and walking) to stretch my bum knee when we hit a nice dirt road
going slightly downhill.  As the road turned unto single track trail and I
stopped to clamber back on, another 50 miler caught up to us.  We continued on
together for the company, successfully bypassing a herd of cows at close range
and stopping for water where Terry had posted volunteers with lemonade and
cookies for the riders.  ya hafta wonder about the term "endurance ride" when
you are sitting in the saddle munching homemade chocolate chip cookies and
drinking lemonade while the horse tanks up!  Off we went again through some
combinations of neat single track trail and narrow dirt roads.  We passed the
dreaded giant tree stump without incident and continued on down the trail.
About the time I was sure this loop would never end, the vet check came into
sight a mile away.  We vetted though fairly quickly, although the vet
commented that he was looking tired behind.  I