Santa Fe Hunt Classic Story

[Lauren Horn <lhorn@home.com>]

Billed as a "moderate" ride, the Santa Fe Hunt Classic made it's first
debut this past weekend. Set in Garner Valley (So.
Calif.); a beautiful green valley surrounded by mountains, pine trees
and ROCKS, lots of ROCKS. 

Base camp was in a very large, flat meadow that was home to the cattle
that occupied the Garner Ranch. The meadow
also served as a hunt field (yes, hounds and all!!) for the Santa Fe
Hunt Club during the hunting season. This was the
clubs first endurance ride and along with Margie Molloy and Terry Wooley
Howe they did an outstanding job of
putting on a first time ride. 

I vetted in Friday afternoon with no problems and later met with friends
as they all pulled into camp through out the
day. I finally met Patty Danely and her daughter (my ABC rep.) who
trailered in from Arizona to ride the 50. Very nice
people and very nice horses too; my first look at Rushcreek horses. 

I had very good luck riding with Jim Fox and his Tennessee Walker the
last ride so I asked to ride with him again. He
brought along his neighbor whom also owns a Walker, so it would be the
three of us riding. 

Saturday morning came and the morning was crisp, cool and clear. When
the 50's left at 5:45 am they left a haze of dust
hanging in the air. The dust had settled by our start time of 6:45am and
I was eager to go. Jim was having trouble
getting started so he didn't make it to the start line until a few
minutes later. The three of us took off and I was having
my usual trouble with Kyla at the start (bucking, prancing, Grand Prix
dressage moves). When will my mare calm
down? This is her 3rd ride and she is like this for the first 4 miles or
so. 

I soon regretted leaving late and riding with Jim and his friend as the
two of them kicked up so much dust with the
Walkers that I was forced to stay way behind. The first 3 miles of the
trail was through the meadow. The kind of riding
that people fantasize about; cantering through  a green meadow with
scattered pine trees. Very uplifting and beautiful. 

Through the meadow and onto a hard dirt-pack jeep road. I made time
there as we cantered almost the whole road,
until the turn off onto single track trail. Soon Jim's neighbors Walker
threw a shoe and they stopped to put on an
EasyBoot. I opted to go on ahead, sure that they would eventually catch
up with me. Almost immediately I was met by
a HUGE mountain with rocky single track trail, zig zaging it's way up
and up. At this point I really wished that my horse
had drank the water that was offered earlier on the trail, as the climb
was steep and long. It was just Kyla and me on the
trail and she was sort of plodding along by herself with no other horse
to provide motivation and competition. 

At the top of the mountain the view was fabulous! I could see forever,
it seemed. But on the trail, I was wondering
when the rocks would go away but they just kept coming. This was not
just a section of the trail that was rocky, this was
the whole trail on the mountain. It was slow going. We seemed to be
going too slow, so I got off and slowly jogged the
parts that I could. I was glad that I was carrying four water bottles.
Two for me and two for Kyla to pour on her neck
every so often. Part of the trail was on the Pacific Crest Trail; a
trail that I have wanted to ride since I was a kid. I came
to a "11 mile" sign which told me that I had 5 more miles to go before
the first vet check. I looked at my watch and
estimated my arrival time into the vet check. Yeah right!! More rocks,
cliffs and steep rocky trail. Very slow going. This
was the part of the trail that Ride Management had warned us about and
to be careful and go slow as there was no road
access for rescues, only helicopter service. I can't tell you how
disappointed I was when I came to a "13 mile" sign. I
had ONLY gone 2 miles in all that time!! 

After what seemed like a long time, I started coming down the mountain
but the rocks still were there. I was getting
closer to the vet check. Finally came to a water trough and I knew I was
close. Kyla drank well. Everything is going
good and still no Jim and his Walker. Must be tough going for everyone. 

I got to the vet check and was greeted by the usual fantastic troupe of
volunteers. Kyla was immediately down in pulse
and I was offered Gatorade and water. "Yes, Thank You, Both Please" I
was really thirsty. The fresh cut watermelon
and bananna helped too. 

Earlier in the ride Kyla had taken a misstep and I felt her limp for a
couple steps. I was worried that maybe she would
be off in her gait, but whatever it was it was slight. Actually, to be
honest, I really wasn't worried at all, I was kind of
secretly hoping that she would be off and I would have to quit and have
her trailered back to base camp. The trail was
that difficult that I would not be upset not to go on. It was hot, I was
thirsty and the trail was tough. (I'm obviously not a
Tevis contender!) The vet looked at her and he said she was tired but I
could go on. No lameness. Oh well. Some
people said the last 11  miles of the trail were easier. That gave me
some motivation. Jim came into the vet check about
half way through my half hour hold. His friend had lost another shoe and
couldn't go on, so he was riding by himself. 

I learned from my last ride to leave the vet check right on time, so we
did. Alone again. I decided that I don't like to
ride alone. Right away the trail was that hard jeep road so I opted to
canter Kyla as I feel it is easier on her joints then
trotting. The road turned into a single track trail and again I was met
with rocks. Downhill on loose shards of rocks with
no dirt, just loose rocks. I got off again as we go faster down
difficult trail when I am off her back. The trail then went
along a stream and zig zaged along. I was met with a funky muddy
crossing which we navigated very well.Two riders
came up on me and were obviously going at a faster pace then I, so I let
them pass. This really motivated my horses to
get moving and stop being a slug. 

Finally the terrain is leveling out and I know the end is near. We come
to the 3 mile meadow and there are four of us,
loosely riding together, but not really. We all start cantering all the
way home. I knew that the finish was a pulse criteria
finish and since I don't train with a heart rate monitor I opted to stay
cantering and see how fast Kylas pulse comes
down. I hoped off the last 100 yards and jogged her in. I reach the
"pulse people" and Kylas pulse is at criteria in one
minute. I felt good that my horse has great recoveries AND that I am
finished. She passes the vet check but looks
slightly "off" but not lame. I definitely was glad that I was safe back
at base camp and not out there doing the 50 in the
heat  with more climbs and rocks. 

This was my fourth ride and Kylas third. So far I am very happy and
proud to have come even this far. I am flirting with
the idea of doing a 50, but I'm not sure yet. At this ride, I learned
that my horse has great recoveries and I could
probably ride her harder, I learned that it doesn't make any difference
in my horses behavior if I start at the end or
middle of the pack. So next time, I am starting at the beginning. It
also gave me great satisfaction to watch my horse
maneuver through the difficult terrain. When I bought her 17 months ago,
I don't think she was ever on a hill; up or
down. It is great to be on her back and watch her pause and deliberately
place her feet and watch her make her way
through the difficult sections of rocks. She has become so much more
sure-footed and confident too. 

The Santa Fe Hunt Classic was a fun ride. Difficult but challenging. As
usual with Terry's rides, the trail was marked
exceptionally well. I didn't have to read my map once. Thanks to
everyone who helped with the ride. I will let
Kyla rest for a while and work on her uneven hoof angles (Mike
Thonlinson DVM gave me and my shoer Linnea
some new technique ideas to help her under slung front foot) My next
ride will be Norco RiverDance ride next month
on my husbands gelding.