Just before going under the highway we passed some
water, and one of the horses ahead
wanted a drink. Mom said she sure would like it if I drank that early in a ride,
but I wasn?t interested. One of the riders behind us started yelling at the
horse?s rider to go on he didn?t need water so early. That horse probably did
though. Seems like it s hard to drink enough before a race when you spend so
much time in a trailer the day before.
Up to squaw we headed. We were in a large group of
riders in the middle of the pack. They were still going slower than I liked but
things were getting better. The riders were real friendly. Here, though, was our
first mistake, we should have started closer to the front. Back here we losing
time.
Finally we could see the slopes of squaw. The sun
was up and mom was starting to sweat having dressed for a more typical Sierra
morning. This morning seemed quite warm already and it was only 6ish. Finally we
were free of the pack. I would have gladly trotted up that hill but mom wanted
to walk. I don?t think she realized how important it was to make time to
Robinson Flat. We crested Watson monument and stopped and I got some nasty
electrolytes but then mom let me graze for a bit. Boy was the vegetation lush up
there.
The trail then tuned awful. I was perfectly happy
to pick my way slowly through the mine field. We passed a guy who didn?t look
too good (tired). Horse looked fine though. And then we left picking through the
big and little rock boulders. Wasn?t bad. Like those rides that we do up at
Lakes Basin, except for all that slippery water and mud. At one spot I decided
to drink and put my head down, stepped on the reins and then jerked my head up.
Well the bridle broke and I got a nice cut on my lip. Mom fixed the cut so it
stopped bleeding. And put the reins on the halter. Good thing I had that halter
on, but then again I am so good mom could of rode me with a prayer string.
Slowly we went off again. After a while the trail got better and we started
trotting.
At Lyons ridge we stopped and I did my job- drank
and munched on some hay. Mom?s job is pace and direction, she was starting to
seem worried about time. We left with a group of horses (3). Mom recognized the
rider in front, apparently she reads her articles about training. I think she
also liked the fact that from the back she was reminded of her good smokejumper
friend, Margarita Phillips. So mom set me up to tag along behind. The riders
weren?t too friendly and I know mom thought I needed some horse company but
really we should have just passed by and moved along. I don?t mind being alone I
always have mom with me! Mom found out that between them the riders had many
(20?) Tevis completions. They were confident that we would get to Robinson Flat
by 1115. Mom knew instinctively that the pace wasn?t right for that but didn?t
listen, these riders and their horses had experience, something we didn?t have.
