The trail was a 12.5 mile loop done twice. There had been some heavy
rain & substantial wash-out of the trail so management came up with a
safe lollypop loop to make up the difference. Super concern for horse
and rider safety! Footing was incredibly soft, spongy through the
woods, with the lanes being at least two horses wide the whole way. A
couple really nice short, steep climbs to make it interesting. Some
hardtop but with just enough berm (that's what we call it in PA) so you
could find safe footing and still roll along.
I decided to ask Kasey to hold back at the start--not go screaming off
like we usually do--so that Miss B could get set in a nice trotting
rhythm. I was really impressed with his restraint--ask for a gait,
you've got it, ask for a speed, no problemo! But Miss B went nuts after
awhile since she's used to leading...but Kevin can tell his side of the
story later!
We jigged into mid-point in 2 hours, lots of walking, duh, yawn. Kasey
dropped like a rock to 44, no water--just feed him (gimme, gimme-grain,
hay, goodies-and if you don't his pulse stays up 'til you do!). We were
in and out of P&R's in good form--and could have left but opted to moosey
over to the trailer for some R&R. So we were in camp at least 45 minutes
when Buck, his assistants, everybody starts asking "Are you pulled?",
"You can leave anytime now!". Buck figured we were hanging out--he's
used to us doing this. Gave everybody a nice break and we were fresh and
ready to go for our repeat loop. Now the last horse is easily a 1/2 hour
ahead of us.
We sent Miss B out in front and she zipped along at 12-14 mph in her
stupendous racing trot. Kasey doesn't have a prayer of keeping up at
that trot so we cantered instead. I never liked his canter much--always
seemed a little jerky and "sideways"--but he was good, smooth and forward
yesterday, very comfy.
We did have a little mishap. Going down a pretty steep grade we came
upon a bow--red, white & blue--laying on the ground. "Oh, look at the
pretty bow someone dropped", I thought...and looked down at it. Well, of
course, Kasey looked down at it, in fact he put his nose on it--at the
trot, fast. In the blink of an eye, he steps through the reins, pulls
his head up and somehow flips the bridle with the Sleister hackamore off
his head and around his neck. So here we are, at speed, now going uphill
with the reins wrapped around the leg, across the chest and pulling on his
neck--nothing on the face at all! So what would you do? VOICE
COMMANDS!! As in screaming WHOA, WHOA, WHOA as we barrel up the trail.
Kevin was ahead & unaware of my distress but inadvertently provided a
very nice body-block complements of Miss B. And bless him, he also
dismounted and worked on dismantling the mess from the ground while I
worked on the top section.
So off we merrily went, passing horses right & left, until we caught up
with the original group we came into the mid-point with. And we finihed
the loop with time to spare!
Kasey came in at 44 (good boy). The trot-out was a reminder to me how
unfit and awful I look running after a ride (what with knee & back
problems)--I was trying to save the knee from buckling so I went slow and
my darling Kasey put his nose at my shoulder and gave me his dinky
Western pleasure jog. He had been boinging around before we went into
the ring, plenty of energy, but in the ring he looked really draggy 'cause I
wasn't "moving out"! So we got hit with "length of stride" deductions.
Also forgot to rinse his mouth out after he had chowed down a can of
sweet feed--gums "2" & sticky--stupid me! He had been drinking A LOT and
was not in the least dehydrated, attested to by a "0" skin pinch. Couple
of heat bumps--not sure what from, but since my knee was hurting I'll bet
I was riding unbalanced. I looked at that doggone bottle of DayPro
before the ride, then thought "Nah", & ate Nuprine instead--wrong
choice. Needed the anti-inflammatory.
So--really nice ride. Now on to the MD 30!
Diane @ Safe Haven
Allentown, PA
Mr T, Miss B, Kasey & Chef d'Equippe "Odie"