[RC] My Time at COLD SPRINGS XP 2004 - Part I - TypeF \(Jackie Floyd\)
Two weeks before Cold Springs, I was still undecided as to whether I was
going. I don?t usually take off for parts "unknown" by myself and my husband had
to stay and work. AND ? it was his 50th birthday on the Tuesday I
would be gone. Of course, all my endurance buddies urged me to go and said "you
can celebrate his birthday on the weekend when you get back." At first I wasn?t
sure I could do that but he didn?t want a party and he urged me to go, too. So
off I went.
After a six-hour drive on Sunday, the 10th, into the middle of
absolutely nowhere (between Fallon and Austin, NV) I arrived at the ruins of the
one of the original Pony Express stations at Cold Springs, NV. It?s a quaint
little restaurant/bar/RV camp with a lot of space (after all we?re in the
desert) and even a 4-unit motel. The new owners were quite charming and very
nice. They fixed us all dinner every night and went around making sure that we
all got enough to eat.
The biggest anticipation of my trip was not that I was planning on riding two
different horses at least 4 days (one of which is very green) but getting to
ride with Tank?s previous owners, Brett and Katey Gies. As I pulled into camp,
Katey immediately saw my rig and started my way. Silly to say, it was kind of
like the movie "10." I got out of my truck and started walking towards her
before I could even get halfway in camp. We ended up in the middle in a sobby
bear hug. SHEESH! I only got to spend three days with them in Idaho when I
bought Tank but I felt that I?d made immediate and life-long friends and just
couldn?t wait to see them both again. We ended up riding together 3 out of the 4
days I rode. I was very sorry to have to say goodbye to them at the end of the
week.
My plan was to ride Tank on Day 1, James Dean on Day 2 and then play it by
ear. James is very green and hasn?t had much conditioning so I wasn?t sure if I
was going to actually ride him on a 50 or just ride my own 25 or something.
Day 1 found us trotting across the desert floor, getting totally dusted by
each other?s horses. I?ve never eaten so much dust. Maybe this is why they use
this ride for a Tevis trainer! We climbed these two huge hills, having to take
one of them on the Mustang trails, weaving back and forth up the mountain as it
was too steep to actually walk up the jeep road. The views were awesome. We
passed a cabin on the first one and I stopped to take a picture of Les Carr in
front of it. Since we were going pretty slow, the trot back across the desert
floor in the afternoon was REALLY hot. I have altitude problems and the heat
really got me. So much so, I was considering staying in camp on Day 2.
When I vetted Tank out I had to take James with me because he was being such
a ROYAL pain at the trailer on the Hi-Tie. The Kirkpatricks were parked next to
me and they said he raised such a stink all day. The Duck asked me "So ? you?re
holding two horses ?" I said "Tank needs to be vetted out and James is just here
because he?s being such a butt." "Are you riding tomorrow?" he asked me. "I
think I?m going to sit tomorrow out." "I?m not giving you a completion for today
if you don?t ride tomorrow," he said. "But I?m really tired," I said. "There is
absolutely no reason in the world why you can?t ride tomorrow. You brought two
horses," he replied. I stood there staring blankly at him in silence for a
couple of seconds. He said, "I?m serious! If you don?t ride tomorrow, I?m not
giving you a completion for today." Of course, I knew he was just pulling my
leg. Or I think he was. Maybe not, I don?t know! I finally said, "Ok, I?ll ride
tomorrow." I?m really glad I did because it was the best day for James and we
went really slow and he had such a good time. He got renicknamed The Mountain
Goat because he just kept trucking of the long hill, passing everyone on his
little short legs, like he was having the time of his life. I think he has lots
of potential just from his attitude alone. On the way down the mountain he had
to cross the stream 40 million times. The first 20 million were a real coax on
my part but he did what I asked of him even though he wasn?t sure it was the
best idea in the world. It took him until halfway down the mountain to
understand that the running water in the creek was something he could actually
DRINK. He?d stick his mouth in and open it and all the water would run out and
then he?d look around at the other horses with a rather perplexed look on his
face. It was the funniest thing. Needless to say, he was very thirsty by the
time he finally figured it out.
