The Monterey Hoof Trek was held this past weekend, April 13, 2002. It was the first CTR of the year and I was sooo excited for it until Isabella came up lame about a week before the event. She had some sort of mystery lameness she got out in pasture.. I was incredibly bummed until my friend from the barn, Sandi, told me I could ride her mare, Nellie. Nellie is a 7 year old Tennesee Walker cross who had never been camping or out to an event where there would be 90+ other horses competing with her. Oh boy.. I was excited to be able to go and ride still, but very apprehensive riding a new horse. This would be the third time riding her and for 7 hours/20 miles no less!
BIG BLOODY BUG!!!
Check out all the fog along the coast..
Bob and I arrived to the campsite around 2:30 on Friday. The campsite and trails were located on Fort Ord, an abandoned military base. The campsite was PACKED!! It was a very popular ride.. we wandered around looking lost until we ran into Karel Waugh, the ride manager (along with her husband, Bob). She directed us to a PERFECT spot, not too far from the horse water (which is important since half your time at these events is lugging water back and forth from your trailer) and the porta-potties (very important).
Blade, China, Nellie.
We settled in and unloaded the horses.. we got a lot of comments about the 2 palominos, "Oooo, matching sets!!" Nellie was a bit sweaty and nervous from the trailer trip over, but once we got her settled with some hay and water, she was a happy little camper, falling right asleep and relaxing as we got the rest of camp set up.
Nellie, asleep.
Soon after I took this photo Bob fell straight on his back.
This would also be the first time bringing China along to an event. She did wonderfully.. Blade usually fusses and barks whenever we'd leave him behind at the trailer on previous rides, but he kept quiet with China there. Neither of them barked at the other dogs or riders.. good puppies!
Blade, dead.
Check in was uneventful. I'm really getting good at this stuff.. hehe! Trot out, lunge to both sides, trot back, stay on the side of the judge, etc. Nellie was a pro at this.. we had practiced twice beforehand and she was perfect! I got a 'nice presentation' on my scorecard for this.
After check-in and the ride meeting, I blanketed the horses and headed to the bathroom. Why is it that porta potties are always placed on a slant? As I was leaning way forward, peeing, trying not to fall into the seat, I heard someone scream, "Loose horse!!" and a bunch of commotion outside.. Ugh, I thought.. Please God don't let it be my horses. Lo and behold, I finish up and come outside to see Bob and 2 riders surrounding Tavi and Nellie. Apprently Tavi's leadrope had gotten too long (Bob was putting on his shoes in the trailer to fix it) and he had wound up over at Nellie's side and they had kicked the crap out of each other. One of the women said she heard a pretty bad crack.. I check out both the horses. Both horses were barefoot in the hind (thank goodness) and both seemed to be okay. I walked and trotted Nellie out and she was fine. The rest of the weekend Tavi would be paranoid whenever Nellie would even inch her butt towards him. The crack sound was from the buckle on Tavi's blanket breaking.
Grumpy Tavi, putting his ears up only with Bob's help.
That evening I didn't get much sleep. The airmattress that had served me so well all last year had gotten a huge rip in it so I pretty much ended sleeping on the cold aluminum gooseneck bed. I got maybe 2-3 hours of sleep before the 5:30 wake up call. Oh well, I would be running on adrenaline the rest of the day anyways. We tacked up and I practiced mounting with Nellie. She wasn't very good at it. We tried 3-4 times at the trailer and when we were in front of the judge we totally blew it. She wouldn't stand still enough for me to mount.. and of course the rest of the Novice riders had all lined up after me so I had an audience of 15 or so people. 6 points off the horsemanship card and 3 points off of her card right there.. WHOOPEE!!!! I should've taken this hint as what the rest of the day would be like.
Bob and I started off on the trail mid-early pack because I knew Nellie was a quick walker. We started off at a nice walk.. for maybe 2 seconds!!! Then she got into jig mode which got Tavi into jig mode which got me yelling at Bob, "Make him walk!" which got him yelling at me, "I can't he won't walk!". That happened for about 2 miles or so then we finally decided to split up. After I left Bob it just got worse. She was horrible, jigging, not paying attention to me, she was completely covered in sweat and foam because she was so worked up. People were staring at us. Tsk tsk.. I found another rider to lament to because she was having problems with her chestnut mare as well. We didn't get to talk for long however because Nellie jigging ahead, oblivious to ditches and rocks along the trail. We found some riders stopped along the side of the trail and joined up with them, eager for a rest. My friend with the chestnut mare joined us after a while and we rode up to the first obstacle together.. JOY OF ALL JOYS!!! NELLIE WALKED!! We were even able to stop for me to give her a treat from my saddle bag.
One of the views from the P&R check.
Well, we walked for another 5 miles or so, leaving our friend with the chestnut mare behind. We reached the first P&R stop, passing through with flying colors (11/5). We waited for a long time.. then I decided to just go ahead, leaving our friend behind. Bad choice. We jigged all the way to lunch stop.. I was miserable. I wasn't having fun. I called Nellie a few obscenities and ran into Karel at the lunch stop.. being the big whiner that I am, I told her that I couldn't go on any further!!! I lamented at how bad Nellie was being and how it wasn't worth it! *cry, moan, grumble* She encouraged me, saying how I was over halfway through the ride. The next stop there would be a trailer waiting in case she didn't improve. My friend with the chestnut arab showed up and heard the conversation going on. She asked how many miles it would be from that point on.. only 6 Karel said.
OK FINE!! I'll do it, damnit. My friend with the chestnut mare and I decided to ride together since our horses were doing well during the brief time we rode together earlier. We headed out from lunch and Nellie just did a COMPLETE 180 degree personality change! We.. WALKED!!! and walked and walked.. it was wonderful. I was carefree, enjoying the scenery, walking on a loose rein. I believe most of it was luck though.. being where we were in the group of horses, we had a nice long stretch between us and the horse in front of us so she didn't feel like she had to race.
The walk up to the next P&R was tough.. the trail up to this point was very nice and hardpacked with a few rocky spots here and there. The trail now was deep sand and uphill. Very taxing for the horses, and the weather was getting much hotter than anyone expected. There were quite a few horses that were held at this point. Nellie was panting once we entered the check.. I loosened her girth, lifted the saddle to get some air circulation to her back, and poured water all over her neck and flanks. When they checked her, she recieved a 12/5. At this point, 3/4 of the way into the ride, I finally was able to talk to my friend with the chestnut mare and find out her name (since our horses had a disfunctional relationship where they would walk together, but only with Nellie 100 feet in front of her horse). So hello to Diana and her beautiful arab Xtremely Agile (Jill)! She kept yelling out encouragement to Nellie and me.. "She's doing great!" I'd stop for her occassionally and she'd yell up to us, "Don't wait for us, go ahead, you're doing wonderfully!". I'd yell back at her about her horse, "She's behaving herself also!" We were each other's moral support throughout the ride.. it was pretty funny.
GOing up the really tough, deep sandy hill to the P&R stop.
The stop.. check out my pigtails. You can see Nellie's blue eyes here.. Why does my butt look so big?
Row of horses waiting at the stop.. that is one nice chestnut's rump there!
Us again at the P&R stop.. my feet are there if you look closely.
Finally at about hour 6, Nellie slowed down to a normal horse's walk and Diana and I were able to chat to each other instead of screach at each other down the trail. We rode over a hill and came upon one spot where you could see the fog lifting, showing the blueness of the coast and the long stretch of sea.. we both agreed at that time that this is why we went through all this.. this is why it is worth it. The trail view was magnificent..
When we reached the 2 mile point we stopped for about 20 minutes so we'd have a nice safety margin to come in. Nellie and I were the first Novice group in despite how long I had stopped at all the holds. I swear, this horse has a 7 mph walk.. she is that fast. We boogied! We checked out with no problems and I took a 2 hour nap before the awards dinner.
Me taking care of Nellie, getting her ready for the post-ride check in with the judge.
A pooped Nellie, eating her beet pulp and electrolytes.
Oh yeah, BOb, what happened to him?! Well, several people told me that he had dropped out because of his problems with Tavi. Apparently after I had left him Tavi would not stop jigging and acting up. When he began rearing Bob decided it was time to quit. He would spin and Bob almost came off a few times so they walked back. I met up with him at the second P&R stop and he was able to chat with a few folks and had a good time helping out.
So.. what did we learn today kiddies? I learned to appreciate the bond Isabella and Tavi have. They work really well together and I missed riding my girl.. This may sound cocky, but she would've done aWESOME if she had been there with me. I absolutely love her. Bob learned Tavi can turn into a maniac given the appropriate circumstances. His brain left him during the first part of the ride. He made up for it the next day when we had to pry off the foam-on easy boots.. he was a total angel for that. Need to buy a new mattress for the trailer. I need to lather on sunscreen next time.. I got pretty burnt. :( And despite Nellie being a complete loon, she ended up with a 4th place Novice HWT Horse award. Woohoo!