Montell Cliffhanger- we made it! (long)

["RACHAEL WARD" <rward@admin.hilconet.com>]

Hi all!
	Barbara Sondock managed an excellent ride once again, the weather was
beautiful, the trails were marked well, everything was wonderful.  We rode
in the 25 on Saturday, Day Two of the 3-Day ride.
	We had a controlled start with everyone leaving camp in a nice orderly
line at a trot, as it turned out I never saw about 95% of those people
again.  Sunny was blowing some about 3 miles into the ride and I got off
and started walking and jogging with her.  There were some MAJOR long,
tough grades on the 1st loop and not much water.  About 6 miles into it I
was walking along on foot and met up with another Turtle, neat lady named
Marci on a beautiful Arab/Pinto cross.  Her horse had hock trouble so she
just wanted a nice slow completion with a sound horse.  That suited me and
we spent the rest of the ride together shuffling along at about 5 mph.  It
was neat having someone with us and perked Sunny up considerably.  BTW, I
took her bridle off and rode in a halter most of the way, she was Very
Good. :-)
	At the vet check 1/2 through the ride, Sunny got lots of B's and a couple
of C's which caused me to consider pulling her.  I electrolyted her at the
trailer and she was eating well and drinking so I decided to try to finish.
The vet had remarked that she "seemed a bit dry".   
	Back out on the 2nd loop, the trail was much easier (smooth, flat roads
and lots of water) and she perked up quite a bit, partly because her new
found buddy, Marci's horse "Prophet", was wanting to go.  Somewhere along
the way, she at last found a perfect trot and we did that for miles and
miles with what seemed like very little effort.  She really felt strong
coming into camp, I was So Proud of my girl!  :-)  (Marci and I had been
fighting over who would get the Turtle Award, we considered a "race to the
finish" at the slowest possible walk.)  I stopped at the little creek on
the edge of camp and we had a nice drink and spongedown before going in for
completion.  She passed the vet check just fine and after resting a bit, we
headed for home.  BTW, I think Marci and I were 55th at the finish out of
59 starters...
	Sunday, the morning after, my girl came tearing up to the fence looking
not the least bit sore or grumpy so I think we did pretty good.  Could be
my imagination but I thought she looked rather proud of herself.  :-)
Rachael & Sunny ( I was just huffing up those hills so Mom could run with
me and feel important)


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