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Grizzly Mt. The perfect ride

The drive down went smooth leaving Thursday afternoon moments after the farrier 
finished. Brian and I loaded the horses and off to the vets to pick up Kevin 
and the papers for the horses. We arrived at camp at midnight quickly set up 
camp (after waking our wonderful neighbors, Joyce and Dennis Sousa from 
California) had a beer and off to bed.

Friday was cold and cloudy, never took off the hat and gloves. The horses eat 
all day, we packed the saddles made e-lytes and got ourselves ready for the 
ride. They all vetted through fine and found we were ready to go nice and early 
for a good night sleep.

Ride day came early for me waking at 4:45am, feed Wyatt make coffee, and saddle 
up. Take Wyatt out for a warm up, Dos calling for Wyatt as I pass, he does not 
understand why he is not out yet. Kevin gently asks me to just go away and I 
do. I head off away from the start line thinking I still have 15 minutes before 
we go. I see all the riders heading off and I think, "Maybe the start is 
farther down" NO the ride has begun, my watch is slow! Off we go in the back of 
the pack, Wyatt wants nothing to do with this so we quickly join the group. 
Wyatt works his magic and we slide in behind Joyce and Dennis and have the 
perfect first 20-mile loop riding it in about two hours, the footing was as 
perfect as can be. We coming in with a group of five horses, Dennis reaches 60 
then me then Joyce, the others take longer
to come down and that is the last we see of them all day. Wyatt has all A's and 
feels wonderful; the weather is partly cloudy and cool.

Off we go the three of us on to the next 10-mile loop. Again the
footing is wonderful, more water than the horses need and just the right amount 
of sun to warm you up and nice cool breeze. Half way around Dennis suggests I 
take the lead and I do. Minutes later I look back and find we are alone. We 
keep going come to some water, Wyatt takes a nice long drink and I see Joyce 
come around the corner. Dennis has chosen to slow down as his horse as just 
rode a three day two weeks ago (He completes a sound Happy horse). Wyatt really 
enjoyed her horse and I her company so we wait a moment while he drinks and off 
we go together. We now pick up the pace and come into camp an hour an ten 
minutes after we left. Both horses reach 60 receive A's again we start our 45 
minute hold. Wyatt eats, drinks and is merry what a wonderful horse!

Now we head off on another 20-mile loop. Both horses feel great,
fresh and happy. We head into the minimal climbing in this ride and trot our 
way along. Now we come down off the mountain to reach a long flat jeep track 
trail and canter our way back to camp getting in 1:45 minutes after we left. We 
reach the P&R and Wyatt pees boom his pulse is 52, the vets give A's and A-, 
not bad after that fast loop. He feels wonderful, eats up a storm and wants 
more trails!

We all now head off back through the hills (I use this loosely) and cut back to 
make it a 15-mile loop. Again both horses feel great, eager, bright and happy. 
Joyce and I are having a blast as are the horses, all enjoying each others 
company. Reach camp and again A's and one B now, Wyatt's pulse is 56 and all he 
wants is food. The hold goes by fast and we are off to finish the ride with the 
same 10-mile loop as this morning.

We head off and find this loop we see people; first time today to see so many. 
We pass lots of 50 milers and a few 25'ers. We do the loop in the same time as 
the morning, one hour fifteen minutes. We dismount and walk into the finish. 
The timer says we are not supposed to be in yet and he is only taking 50 mile 
finishers. We continue in to the vet check receive our time finishing at 4:26pm 
with a ride time of 7:56. Joyce and I decided to not race in, both horses did 
amazing all day and not one looked, rode better than the other. These animals 
are the best and not worth the risk of a race, we tie for the win Wyatt had a 
pulse of 56 at the finish, WOW!

Go to the vet for our 10 minute CRI and completion. Wyatt is 52/42. We have 
completed and won our ride!!!

Now coming in I see Kevin and Brian and ask " How was your ride?"
They say "Great, we still have 10 to go!"

Wyatt received 2nd BC missing it by 10 points to Ritz. Again I
learned something here from Joyce and I will be happy to follow what I learned 
next time. Huge congrats to Joyce for receiving BC!

What an honor to have ridden the ride with Joyce Souse! She is an
amazing lady and wonderful horsewomen. I learned a lot from her and will not 
forget the perfect ride we had on our two totally awesome horses! She was 
riding Ritz, the horse she took to Dubai and Pan Am. What a treat to ride with 
a world-class horse and rider, this was truly the perfect day. I cannot thank 
my trusty steed enough for being who is his, Wyatt the Wonderful!

Kevin and Brian, huge congrats to them. They rode the ride they said they 
wanted. Both completing horses that looked as if they sat in camp all day. Dos 
came through fresh; maybe a bit frustrated he could not go faster but totally 
happy and full of energy! Cal also finished bright eyed and still pulling. All 
the horses; Dos, Cal and Wyatt completed with all A's!!!

A great weekend!

Rusty



===========================================================We are talking about 
all the tools we can use to keep our horses safe and
alive at the rides. Training/conditioning is one of the best tools
available. It makes us better horseman and women, it benefits our horses
and could quite possibly be the key to preventing most crashes.
~ Lisa Salas - The Odd Farm

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