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On Friday, Weaver finally got over the 1,000 mile mark. We had a great
ride, I'm not sure where we placed...somewhere in the top ten. Everything
went really well on this day of the ride.
The night before, a helicopter landed (at 2:30 a.m.--ask anybody that was
there!) right behind our rig in the parking lot at the casino and both
horses stood there and calmly watched while it landed and took off. I only
mentioned this because....after the first days ride on Friday (50
miles)...I was cleaning out Rocky's foot. I wanted to put easy boots on
all four of his feet for this ride, since this was to be his first 2-day
ride (100 miles), and the trail was fairly rocky. So.......here I am
holding his hind left foot and all of a sudden, a plastic bag blows up and
spooks the geek. So he takes that hind leg and slams it down with all of
his weight right on top of my foot!!! The same horse that calmly watched a
helicopter land!!! Okay, so I sort of like started hopping around yelping
and whining and yet managing to whack the horse (for whatever that was
worth). Then I ended up crawling into the back of the open trailer and
crying for several minutes before gaining enough courage to take my boot
off. It wasn't good. It was going to get a lot worse too.
So....I had pre-entered all three days of the ride and wasn't about to go
home just because of something minor like a crushed foot. Luckily, some
friends stuck my foot into a bucket of ice cold water right away, gave me
some sort of pills and told me to stay put, keep icing my foot and elevate
it. They also had me taking DMG, MSM, Whiskey <just kidding>...and
recommending I go to the ER. I was given advice that I shouldn't ride if I
couldn't bear weight. I wasn't sure if that meant before or after the pain
pills. <g> I also wasn't about to let Rocky off the hook, by golly that
horse was gonna pay!!!
Day two of the ride actually went rather well. Luckily I met up with two
and then three other riders who really helped me out along the way and we
rode together almost 100 miles together. I rode with Linda Cox on her mare
Amy who completed 2000 miles on this ride, and her friend Chuck...and Geesa
(sp?) on her mule Clovis...all four of us completed all three days. We
were able to watch the wild mustangs and for me it was great having friends
to ride with and take my mind off of other things. There were times I
didn't think I'd make it. (like when one of the cactus' punctured a whole
thru my boot and into my injured foot - no kidding) One of the nice things
about doing a point to point ride, is that you can't just quit and go back
to camp...cuz nobody will be there! So I kept going, and finally we made
our way to the finish line. Yahoo...two days down and one more to go. I
thought (briefly) about not starting the third day. Then on Sunday
morning, I couldn't get my shoe on my foot. Luckily, I found that out long
enough before the start to stick it in some ice. I was finally able to get
the shoe on and off we went! I kind of thought the horse might be a little
tired out after his first day. <WRONG>. We started off at a walk, for a
long ways. Ahhhhhhh...that was nice!!!!
Made it thru the vet check. Rocky drinks like a sponge. I sometimes
wonder if he'll burst. Luckily, again, a volunteer trotted the ding-a-ling
out for me :-). This day we only had a 1/2 hour hold at the (one) vet
check. It seemed to go by fast, and I think we were a little slow getting
out. Rocky was discovering that he was really hungry. So we leave the vet
check and head down the trail. We made it to Bird Springs (water stop),
and when Rocky plunged his face into the trough to drink, I realized that
his reins were still attached to his halter from the vet check....NOT the
bit. hehe. He had been listening to me really well, and I suppose I must
have been too much in orbit not to notice something like that. Guess I
lucked out there. Then, we continued down the trail...Rocky was getting
really Really REALLY hungry....so hungry in fact, that he thought when he
saw this really nice GREEN colored thing about the height of my knee, that
it was worth taking a sample taste. Haha!! It was a cactus and he stuck
his nose on it (very briefly, I might add). This is the part where he gets
paid back for stomping on my foot! Oh but that wasn't enough! Not more
than an hour later he saw another type of cactus, this one lower to the
ground (think it was a cholla?)...anyway, he was going to sample it too,
but it stuck in his nose like a pin cushion. He went down the trail with
it stuck in his nose, then finally got it out. He didn't seem to have
anything stuck in him anywhere...was worried about that one! We were going
slow enough to stop and wonder off the sides of the trail and let the
horses graze on some grass. They were all hungry...all three horses and
one mule...but all in great spirits and surprisingly strong and alert for
having gone so far.
...so we're going into the finish line...and lo and behold...there's my
husband with his camera! (this is like a miracle!)...so Rocky is feeling
real good, we're trotting and the closer we get he goes into a
canter....weeeeeeee...the dork just went 100 miles and wants to keep going.
So then I find out I can turn in my vet card to the vet and do my final
vet thru right then and there. Cool. Only....ooooops...I came in like a
geek running my horse....for the photo op...dah!!! So I check the HRM
(Yes, I made it thru all three days with it intact)..and he was at 56 and
dropping----yeah!!! It was *really* nice of Barney to let me vet thru
without getting off, cuz that getting on and off part was really hard.
Dragged myself into the casino buffet and ate (scratch that...gorged)
myself like a pig. Waddled back to the trailer and crawled into bed,
mumbled something to the husband about giving the horses some hay. Got up
the next a.m. at 5:30 to come home. Hey, they both looked good...couldn't
believe how good Rocky especially looked for having done his first 2-day
ride. His legs were tight and cool and he looked like he was more than
ready to go again. I had to get after him to keep him from dragging me
around camp while I limped (walked) them.
Went to the ER....ah...."I have a sore foot, can you x-ray it for
me"..'when did you hurt it' doc asks..."Friday afternoon" I say...."so
what'd you do all weekend" he asks....would you believe the doctor just
stared at me, like he thinks I'm nuts or something!!!!!
Lessons learned:
Rocky: Don't step on moms foot. She'll ride ya 100 miles if you do. Also,
green things aren't always edible.
Weaver: Stepping on Dave's (hubby) foot won't have the same effect.
Digging a hole to china and throwing tantrums in camp won't change anything
either.
Karen: Friends with drugs are really really great.
Dave: How does she get hurt doing something fun and then get doctors
orders not to work for at least a week?
THANKS CLAIRE AND PEGGIE & LVDR FOR SUCH A GREAT RIDE!!!!! I had a really
terrific time...the weather was awesome :-)))))))))))))))
Happy Trails!!!
Karen
in Gardnerville
& Dream Weaver...1025 miles
& Rocky...350 miles
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