Sunday May 25 2008
Another fine day in Owyhee county, another 55 miles for me and the Raven. Gretchen and I rode together on her horses Spice and Raffiq again; Connie joined us on Fly, neighbor Linda's horse, and Caroll the Belgian joined us on Jose.
Caroll was a bit nervous about her US ride debut... she didn't know Jose, she didn't want to hurt Jose, he had seemed pretty eager when she rode him the previous two days... Then there was the fact that she hadn't ridden in a while, and she'd never ridden 55 miles before, and there were likely some very sore muscles in store for her at some point during the ride, probably beginning somewhere near the 20-mile marker!
Connie and I assured her she would love Jose, because everybody (and every horse) loves Jose, but I think there were still a few nerves fluttering when Caroll woke up early Sunday morning.
Besides our 55-mile ride, which started at 7:30, there was a 100 and a 75-mile ride; many of the 100-milers were here hoping to achieve a qualification for the World Endurance Championship in Malaysia in November (which is: each horse and rider, as a team, has to finish 2 100-mile rides in the last two years in 13 hours and 20 minutes ride time, which was definitely attainable over this course). There was also a 25-mile ride.
Our three 'loops' were really one big loop out to the Snake River and back, with two out vet checks at the pretty Sierra Del Rio ranch.
A miniscule recap of the ride: dusty trails, scenic desert, wide deep blue Snake River, fertile irrigated farmland, no thunderstorms till after we were finished : )
And before we knew it, there we were, the last four miles to go on another great day of riding, good company, good strong horses. Raffiq was so strong and eager in the lead, I was almost sad to not have another 45 miles to go. (Though I didn't know Raffiq's thought on that.)
Here's a few pictures from the day...
For the detailed ride story, see Owyhee Fandango Day 2 ,
and for more pictures see the Fandango page.
No comments:
Post a Comment