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Hog Wild ride



We survived.
and we only did 25.......
I'd stop there, but some of you would be wondering just exactly what it was
we had survived. :)

Tammy Robinson presented us Southern California riders with the first Hog
Wild ride in Saugus, CA.  Unfortunately, Mother Nature provided us with the
hottest weekend of the entire summer.  Last time I saw temperatures like
these, we lived in Phoenix, Az.  The upside; ridecamp was nice and roomy,
the banquet food was great, Tammy was really well organized (been taking
lessons from Terry Woolley) and there was Always water for the horses and
riders.  (Heard the food for the 50 riders got a little short at lunch, but
can't confirm)

Didn't hear this until after we got back, but at 12:00 noon, it was 112
degrees.  I knew it was going to be hot (not THAT Hot) and since we have
been training at 50 mile speed and pace, I decided we would try to go out
first and fast, for an average 8-9 mph in the first two hours, then slow
down as it got hot. (We have been training at speed greater than this.)
Tammy tried to slow us down and keep the horses safe by running three vet
checks on the 25. 20 min, 30 min and 20 min holds. The thought was sound,
but in execution, the heat just caught up faster.  Should have sent us out
at 6:30 am instead of 7:00 am and the first hold should have been a 10 min
no vet eat and go.  It was 97 degrees at 9:30 and we hadn't yet made it to
vet check 2, despite the fact that we did average 8 mph for the first hour.

Went out fast as planned and Lynne Glazer joined us on Embers, with some of
the same thoughts in mind.  - Get this over with before its too hot! - Lynne
said I should write this ride story, probably because she was out setting a
Real Endurance Record.  "Riding in the 112 degree Heat with The Stomach
Flu". Now, Lynne's my friend and I wouldn't say a word if she had whined All
Day; she'd have been entitled!  But not one word of complaint Did we hear
and Embers took good care of her all day.  In fact, she looked pretty good
on the horse; when she got off the horse at the vet checks was when she
turned a bit green. The trails were very nice for the 25 milers, good
footing, no rocks, wide enough to ride 2 abreast frequently, single track
often enough to be interesting.

Ok, by the time we left vet 2, we were too darn hot to care.  Which is where
we got lost and spent a mile following yellow gas main flags and faded
surveyor flags that went round in circles.  We had yellow ribbons, they just
weren't Our Yellow Ribbons.  Finally backtracked to where we missed the
turn.  From the reverse direction it was obvious. (May have been obvious
from the right direction too, but we were entering oblivious!) Everybody's
hot and we're taking turns being the rabbit.  Ceders is actually getting
much better about trotting out on his own without another horse ahead of him
to catch and we play rabbit about 50% of the time.  Gydion's dressage
lessons are paying off and Kris convinces him he can lead the way for 1/2
mile or more at a time.  Embers would come from behind every so often and
surge ahead, then wonder why she was up there, but would stay in front as
long as Ceders was right behind.

We leapfrogged this way for about 10 miles into Vet 3.  Did I mention that
it was hot?  The horses are all in good shape and are coming down in 5-7
minutes despite the heat.  We go to vet thru and, oh no, Gydion is just
about grade 2 lame.  Vet says right front, but its not a tendon, so walk the
last three miles.  We start out that way, but hit some nice spots with good
footing so I try a slow trot and watch Kris on Gydion.  The head bobbing
disappears as I watch, so we keep trotting on the soft stuff and walking the
hard pack. Rebecca Florio and another nice lady whose name I don't remember
catch up to us and we all finish in a group, the top 2-6 25 milers in.
Someone was out there ahead of us. (Everyone else was behind us and did I
mention that it was still 108?)

Vet for completion is right there as soon as we pulse down.  We pull saddles
and Lynne vets Embers first - Becky Hackworth does her trot out as Lynne was
a very interesting shade of green.  Yay, complete.  They vet Ceders and he's
still full of it, gets a b+ on back; that's me getting tired and bouncing
too much.  Then they vet Gydion and we discover that he's not lame at all,
but his back is so sore, that he was trying to compensate by trotting funny.
Gets a c- on back, but, Kris and Gyd complete.  I carry Gydion's saddle back
to camp.  (Aside: I am saving my pennies for a Reactor Panel Saddle as it is
the only thing out there that really fits Gydion, but I'm devastated that my
dressage saddle, which was working moderately well, is now giving him
problems.  ::Sigh::)  Lynne is less than 50' from her trailer when she sits
down on a rock in the shade.  I ask her if she's going to be okay and she
says, yeah, I made it.  We walk up the road to where my in-laws are waiting,
having come out to see us, since they live a short distance away in
Palmdale.  Papa Bill takes the saddle out of my arms and carries it the rest
of the way to the trailer.  I am truly grateful.  Mama Lynn mans the hose
and washes down me and the horse.  Ahhh, much better.  Wish I had thought
about washing me down while I was sponging the horse out on the trail.  I'd
have been better.  Spent the afternoon in the company of other riders, all
of us grateful we did the 25 and not the 50.  Dinner was great, the DJ was a
nice touch and the awards well done.  I will come back, but Tammy, FEBRUARY
is a good month for a Saugus ride.

That's my ride story and I'm Sticking to it.  However, some disclaimers
apply.  Some or all of this ride may have been hallucinated.<VBG>

Alison Farrin and Caer Donn (who today was definitely a 50 mile horse with a
25 mile rider)
and Kris and Gydion


alison@innovativepension.com
858-451-9594 x 107



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