---Most appreciated moment...every step of the ride, for the trail
superbly marked, the wonderful volunteers at check points and vet checks,
area residents who offered water at their farms, crews from ALL teams
there to pour water on "hairy" horses in unseasonably hot weather. A
giant thank you to them and to John Gray and all the members of the Ft.
Armstrong Horsemen's Assn who were responsible for arranging all of this
for us!
---Most thankful moment...galloping over a mile to meet a cut-off time on
Loop 2 on Sunday (along with about a dozen others), and passing the Pulse
with barely minutes to spare!
---Most enjoyable moments...beautiful vistas with touches of fall color,
glimpses of Crooked Creek Lake sparkling in the SUNSHINE below me,
cantering across the fields of farmers willing to share their land with
riders!
---Most appreciated sponsor by ALL the riders...Animal Tacker, who
provided ROC T-shirts and water bottles for ALL the riders in addition to
generous gifts to her Team members!
---Most grateful moment...seeing my faithful crew there to meet me with
TLC at loops' end, a pleasure I rarely enjoy since I usually ride
crewless!
Most rewarding moment...having the head vet pin the "Been there, done
that" badge on my shirt as we passed the final 100-mile check. Nice
touch, vets! And thank you for your careful vetting throughout the ride!
Were there disappointing moments? Yes, one or two...
Learning that Marilyn Horstmyer and her horse had a serious sinking
"bog" accident and that rider ended up with a bad wrist break....hearing
that Hawk (Steve Rojek) was out with a bad puncture wound....seeing a
rider fall and have her horse take off down the trail, so that she missed
a loop cut-off time. Injuries, lameness disqualifications at the finish,
falls--we have all experienced them, but it is not easy at the time, and
we do share the tears and disappointments of those who did last weekend.
Wishing that my horse, instead of me, had been mentioned as the
"finisher." He really deserves the credit and applause far more than I,
the rider! By the way, if anyone out there sees the entire list of
completions on the Internet, could you post it to Ridecamp? I know I
finished, but I don't know where!
Overall, as always, the "best" moments outweigh the disappointments, and
we return to our favorite sport with renewed determination to see our
horses succeed in the tests of endurance for which we build and train
them.
Anne Ayala and "Beau"--19 and still energized and moving down the trail
(no batteries needed)! He DID tell me that he's glad not to have to
carry that extra 15 pounds of lead on most rides!