My juniors and I had a really fun time at the Save Out
Trails ride in Palmdale north of LA this past weekend.In spite of the rain Friday night and Saturday
morning there was no mud to speak of.The rain was really a good thing as it packed down the sand and made the
footing fabulous. Seeing the San Gabriel Mountains covered in
snow was spectacular.The desert
was green with lots of flowers.
Daughter Danielle rode Lyric who did her best to be a rodeo
pony at the start.Danielle rode it
out and after a mile or two Lyric settled down to business.Neighbor Corrine rode her half welsh pony
the notoriously naughty Merrylegs who did not live up
to her name and was a perfect pony all weekend.Debra Bruno was a wonderful sponsor and
got the girls in on time and with no mishaps.She was even able to get them to trot
most of the second loop!Dani and Corrine
came in 19th and 20th over all and 2nd and 3rd
junior.Debra went on to finish the
50 and almost got the turtle award.
I was honored to assist Bobbie Lieberman, the
photographer.She shot just under
400 pictures.This is a difficult job! Not only due you
have to get a scenic spot, get a good shot, but you also have to get the
pictures developed, sorted and back to camp in a timely manner.Bobbie did a tremendous job in spite of
a computer hiccup at Costco.
I was able to see all the beautiful horses and smart riders.Due to the excessive rain, most of us in
Southern California have not been able
to train much.But in spite of this
handicap, the riders rode smart and there were no metabolic pulls.It could have been easy to race with the
cool temps (50’s) and excellent footing.I believe there were only 3 pulls and I
think they were for lameness.
Looks like Lyric is ready to move up to 50’s.Dani is not so sure she is ready to do
50’s.Merrylegs
may not be doing any more endurance as she has developed an abnormal heart beat
that caused much concern at the vet checks (and the vets were great). This was heart breaking for all of
us as we love Merry and depend on her to mother and calm Lyric at the
rides.I love having Corrine as she
is our resident comic who keeps us in stitches.
Yes, this was a fun ride, the food
was really good – catered by Panda Express.The trails were well marked and the management
did a good job. But the trip home
was another story.To be continued.
