Pema has been off now on two days, so she gets a total of 2 weeks off. We both think it is the concussion from the hard packed roads, and she is certainly not the only one: the second day we pulled at 25 miles, 7 other riders did the same thing with their horses. Sage and Scarlet are doing well soundness wise, and Scarlet had what I think was her best day ever in this sport yesterday. She seemed eager and happy and forward the entire 51 miles. We finally got some climb going over Hubbard Gap (which would be a pass if it were in a western state) and we all loved the bluffs rising out of the fields.
Sage has had an event free week, unless you count her getting away from me and trying to jump back into the electric paddock, getting caught, and running through the other side dragging our new and expensive fencing through camp and causing another horse to flip over backwards and bang it head on the trailer. The fencing we fixed, the other horse turns out to be fine, but our name is mud in camp. And I don't trust her. I thought of buying another horse when we spent two days at Rushcreek, the home of some of the finest bred Arabians in the country, but I would have had to leave Sage there and just couldn't do it. So I rode her out of there and she was good for 50 miles. Guess I'll ride her again.
A word about Rushcreek Ranch. The story is that a Nebraska rancher owed a Texan a lot of money and couldn't pay, so he gave him his ranch in Nebraska - about 250000 acres. The Texan knowing nothing about cows was advised to use Arabian horses to work them, and so started a breed line that is world famous. The ranch bred horses for their own use and if they didn't work out as cow horses they were sold for endurance. Soon the endurance community was paying big bucks for the horses, and so now they are breeding just to sell, as the cowboys are using their own (quarter) horses to work cows. But the ranch has to be one of the most beautiful places on earth. We were here in "04 when we did this ride and loved it; it is even more beautiful now. Steve and I took the three girls (ponying Pema, if you can call it ponying when she is leading) for a ride and felt like we were in a western movie.
It has not however been an accident free week in camp. We have a rider with a broken pelvis and another with two broken ribs (neither are me). We have a horse that got away and ran straight through a barbed wire fence (not one of mine) and another that went to the hospital with colic (again, not mine). Most have at least one lame horse, some have several. Two riders bought new horses, one at Rushcreek and one a week earlier. But the worst is a horse with a badly bruised foot because Scarlet kicked it when she was frantic at a lunch stop, trying to get to her buddies in our trailer. I didn't hear that it was her fault until yesterday, and I feel just horrible. The owners are gracious but I have definately altered their trip for the worse. We have been working hard on her manners and she will now stand quietly at lunch even at our trailer with the other horses inside. I just wish I'd done that work before we came.
The dogs are their same ebullient selves. We continue to camp near water for them to play in. Here in Torrington we are in a field near the N. Platt which has flooded a bit, and so has some calm water for them to play in. Two nights ago Lincoln jumped up on the sofa in the trailer at 8pm and was sound asleep, running, almost instantly. He continues to get up with us at 3:30 or 4:30, depending on time zone, while Hula continues to sleep in.
Steve says the context of the week has been that we went from the confluence of the N. and S. Platt rivers down the south bank of the S Platt, crossing it at Julesburg CO, and heading north to reach the N. Platt again at Melbetta, NE. In the process we went from the transistion of the long grass and the short grass prairies and into the cow country in the sand hills of western NE. I've noticed the footing getting easier as the roads are sandier. The horses have noticed the new grass species as they continue to graze their way west. It really has been sensational with the roads lined with grass: we trot a couple miles and graze; we trot a couple more miles and eat some more. Scarlet has learned to dive in for a mouthful without breaking stride, and all three continue to gain weight.
This week has been 3 ride days and a day off, then 3 more ride days and a day off. I've taken an extra day off each section of 3, as Pema is out of the line up and I don't want to ride the others more than planned. So I'm 14 for 16 now with two half days, which amounts to 600 miles. Whew.
I'd like to close for today with a shout out (oh god) to my mother who stands between me and starvation. She is selling a product called Juice Plus which gives you 17 servings of fruits and vegetables. She sent me a supply for the trip, and really it is my staple. Who can eat at 4:30am? I carry some nuts and raisins in my pocket but at lunch (somewhere between 9:30 and 11), when Steve brings me and the horse food, the horse gets my time and attention. So then it is 4 or 5 when I finish and an hour to clean up and get ready for the next day then the ride meeting (and a glass of wine or vodka) and soon it is 8 and time for bed. We mostly have a salad with some protein component before bed, and that is my meal for the day. Even I think I look thin now. But healthy, and I'm thinking it might just be this Juice Plus thing.
Enough for now. We love and miss you. Forgive the typos please. More pictures at some point.
