Ridecamp: [RC] Norco Riverdance

Had a great time at Norco Riverdance. Met so many nice people from the list 
who came over to say hi. The vet had never vetted an Icelandic before and was 
mildly concerned about his low HR checking in (28). She said she thought he 
would have been a bit more interested in all the activity!

Many people thought Klaudius was a Mustang because of his freezebrand. He did 
great for me, especially since he hadn't been in training for the ride. He 
pulsed down fast at the checks (criteria was 56). We took the ride very 
slow...I got off and walked most of the hills. Finished it in 5 1/2 hours. 
(The winner of the 50 came in as I was finishing!) Would have been faster but 
I went off trail and had to backtrack a couple times. The trail was extremely 
well marked but when I ride alone my mind tends to wander  and I forget to 
look for ribbons.

We were camped right next to the vet check so I got to watch LOTS of 
interesting things happening...some good...some not so good. Some horses 
needed shots, thumps,  one went to the hospital, some were lame or had sore 
backs. Watching horse after horse vet out you could really see which horses 
had something left and were fit to continue.

The ride was so organized...everything ran very smoothly. Lynne is a pro and 
treats riders like they are her guests. She handed out water and hay at the 
vet check. Not sure if all RM's do this but I thought it was nice.

So many volunteers! They even blocked off streets for us. I tried to say hi 
and thank you to all the people sitting alone in chairs at various points on 
the trail. They were really watching out for us!

There were 2 Icelandics at this ride (and not one was John Parke <g>). 
Jennifer Billings did a great job on her pinto mare Flekka. Only had one 
snide comment.

I left before the awards dinner because I was driving alone and was burned 
out from the HEAT.

Again to Lynne and all the volunteers....thanks so much for putting on this 
ride. It was a great time!! I found out that when crossing a river don't look 
down or you can possibly fall into the water. (I got some sort of weird 
vertigo and had to grab my saddle).

Next ride--Manzanita on Jenni. Hopefully his back will be OK and the saddle 
issue will be fixed. I'm trying a dressage saddle to stay off his loin.

Melanie Snowhite
Poway, CA.
Check out my Icelandic Horses and Congo African Greys:
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